Craft Brew Alliance (BREW)

[ctrumabll]

Audible winning is interesting, and may point to good things for Red Hook. A little light for my taste, but it could be pretty well placed inside its market segment.

Widmer Hefe winning isn't going to mean very much. The days of Widmer Hefe being the one microbrew every bar in the northwest had to have on tap are long over, and consumption is declining. The hardcore beer snobs treat it with contempt, because of its Americanized hybrid nature. Even the success of other light BREW products, like Audible, may serve to cut into what is left of its market. The only thing that will return Widmer Hefe to its former glory is a sudden shift in taste- either away from crap mass market beers to the "intermediate" beers, or from heavier IPA-type beers to light wheat beers.