An AB Family Member Making Craft Beer! | Brewing Report

? Billy Busch?s family built the nation?s largest brewery, Anheuser-Busch. One year after breaking out on his own, Busch also is finding success selling a classic American lager in St. Louis.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Busch?s Kr?ftig Lager and Kr?ftig Light make up about 1 percent of beer sales in the St. Louis market.

Busch launched the beers about a year ago, hoping to capitalize on his famous last name in St. Louis and turn loose mainstream beer drinkers away from bigger rivals.

Busch hopes to eventually expand to other markets but for now is focused on St. Louis. He says the push to new markets is going slower than expected, but that sales are ahead of projections.

His company, William K. Busch Brewing, plans to roll out 30-packs of Kr?ftig this month in an effort to tap more volume in supermarket sales.

?I think the story of our company has been resonating with customers,? Busch said. ?And people in St. Louis know a good beer.?

Billy Busch is the son of the late August Busch Jr. but was never directly involved in the operations of Anheuser-Busch. Busch, 52, spent years overseeing and assisting operations at Grants Farm in St. Louis County, but last year decided to answer the calling to brew.

The private company doesn?t share sales figures, but trade publication Beer Marketer?s Insights, citing data from the Missouri Beer Wholesalers Association, reported earlier this month that William K. Busch had shipped about 8,000 barrels in the first nine months of the year in Missouri. The company had sold about 5,900 as of June 30.

That would put Busch on pace to sell about 10,700 barrels in Missouri for the year, or about one-third of the volume sold by Schlafly parent The St. Louis Brewery in the 12 months ending June 30. The St. Louis Brewery is the largest independent brewery based in St. Louis. Anheuser-Busch was purchased by InBev in 2008.

Sales of Budweiser have slumped for two decades. But Busch points out that the premium lager category includes the four biggest-selling beers in the U.S. ? Bud Light, Coors Light, Budweiser and Miller Lite. They combined to make up 43 percent of all sales last year.

Busch sees room for Kr?ftig to pick off some of those customers.

?It?s still a big pie,? he said.(Columbia Daily Tribune)

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Source: http://brewingreport.com/an-ab-family-member-making-craft-beer/

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