The popularity of craft beer continues to rise as consumers seek out offerings from local and regional breweries. Now, though, it looks as if craft beer may be taking to the air. Airlines have started adding craft beers to their in-flight offerings.
"We already had our drinkers on airplanes, we just didn't have the beer," said Jim Koch, co-founder of the Boston Beer Co., maker of Sam Adams, in an interview with News Day. "They want to drink in the air what they're drinking on the ground."
Craft beer continues to grow as an industry. In fact, craft brewers sold an estimated $14.3 billion in beer in 2013, according to the Brewers Association. That's up 20 percent from 2012. In fact, craft beer's share of the total U.S. beer market grew to more than 14 percent, according to USA Today. It accounted for about 10 percent of the nearly $100 billion in beers sales in 2012.
Because of its popularity, it's unsurprising that airlines are offering it on flights. Southwest Airlines began selling cans of New Belgium Brewing Co.'s Fat Tire earlier this year, and cans of Sam Adams have been sold on JetBlue since this summer, according to News Day. In addition, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air offer brewers from the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii.
"[Customers] began asking more and more for craft beer," said Sonya Lacore, senior director of base operations for Southwest, in an interview with News Day. "We're running out of Fat Tire right now...It's clear that they are really going all out for it."
The recent surge in beer popularity reveals a growing trend. It's likely that beer sales in this particular area will continue to rise-especially as more and more airlines begin to offer it on flights.
