????可以肯定的是，Tenth and Blake公司也沒有干涉旗下精釀啤酒品牌的自主發(fā)展：一如此前的100多年，雷內(nèi)恩庫格爾啤酒的釀造地依然是威斯康星州奇佩瓦瀑布市。事實上，Tenth and Blake更像是一家控股公司。匯豐銀行(HSBC)分析師勞倫?托雷斯警告說：“在我看來，人們不會因為米勒康勝建立了一家專門經(jīng)營精釀啤酒業(yè)務(wù)的Tenth and Blake公司，就想當(dāng)然地認(rèn)為他們在這一市場空間采取了比其他公司更多的措施。”

????就連喜力啤酒公司(Heineken)也并不是對這個啤酒類別感興趣，盡管有消息稱它目前不想染指精釀啤酒領(lǐng)域。托雷斯說：“他們目前還沒有進(jìn)入，但喜力擁有紐卡斯?fàn)?Newcastle )這種本身不屬于精釀范疇、但在某些國家和地區(qū)確實擁有不少擁躉的品牌。”

????這或許正是“精釀”這個標(biāo)簽自身存在問題的原因所在。就以喜力啤酒為例：這家公司并沒有自主研發(fā)、也沒有收購任何精釀品牌，喜力美國公司CEO多爾夫?凌科說：“我們專注于打造高端、標(biāo)桿性和進(jìn)口品牌，我們可以用更少的商品類別更有效率地做到這一點。”但面對競爭對手品牌的成功，這家公司肯定也在不斷創(chuàng)新。作為含有龍舌蘭花蜜的Dos Equis陳貯系列的新品，喜力美國公司很快將推出Dos-A-Rita啤酒，以應(yīng)對百威英博旗下品牌Bud Light Lime-A-Rita 和Straw-Ber-Rita咄咄逼人的攻勢。此外，喜力公司還推出了一個名叫“拉德樂”(Radler)、類似于香蒂啤酒的品牌。它既帶有檸檬味，又不失啤酒的口感，而且比檸檬味的雷內(nèi)恩庫格爾夏季香蒂啤酒包含更高的酒精含量。這種啤酒目前只在歐洲銷售，但預(yù)計過不了多久就將進(jìn)入美國市場。雖然這些產(chǎn)品并不一定是“精釀啤酒”，但它們都是旨在為消費者提供獨特新口感的創(chuàng)新成果。所以說，刻意區(qū)分“老大哥”和小型獨立釀酒商（后者往往被視為真正的釀酒行家）分別推出的獨特新品，或許毫無意義。

????身為全球最大啤酒公司的營銷負(fù)責(zé)人，保羅?池比也認(rèn)為，精釀啤酒熱潮或許依托于毫無意義地區(qū)分釀造商這一現(xiàn)象：“啤酒的優(yōu)劣與釀制者的規(guī)模沒有關(guān)系，而是取決于釀造傳統(tǒng)和工人。僅僅因為它是一個小品牌，并不意味著它的口感就好。同樣，僅僅因為它是一個大品牌，也并不意味著它的口感就差。”

????歐洲同樣受到了精釀啤酒的熱潮沖擊，但在歐洲給啤酒分門別類或許更加沒有意義。在拉丁美洲，傳統(tǒng)智慧認(rèn)為，巴西人喝巴西啤酒，比如百威英博擁有的梵天（Brahma）和斯科爾(Skol)；墨西哥人喝墨西哥啤酒，比如現(xiàn)在也被百威英博收入囊中的科羅娜(Corona)。但這種狀況已經(jīng)改變。“兩個星期前，我去了一趟巴西，所見所聞讓我備受震動，”分析師托雷斯說。“我喜歡問人們喝什么啤酒。幾年前，他們會提到梵天和斯科爾，但現(xiàn)在，一些人說他們喝喜力，或者其他我從未聽說過的品牌，也就是當(dāng)?shù)氐木勂【啤Ｋ哉f，精釀啤酒也來到了巴西。”換句話說，在啤酒世界，品牌忠誠基本上已成為過去式，除了業(yè)內(nèi)人士所稱的“買半打啤酒的喬”(Joe Six Pack)之外——這類消費者依然存在，依然重要，他們依然會購買一大箱“米勒淡啤”(Miller Light)或“百威淡啤”(Bud Light)較量一番酒量。

????即便如此，無論公平與否，越來越多的飲酒者認(rèn)為，小型獨立釀酒商意味著更好的質(zhì)量。正如經(jīng)銷Tenth and Blake啤酒的商人格雷戈里?溫伯格所言：“這一點同樣適用于奶酪、巧克力和威士忌市場。一種頗為流行的觀念是，小批量、或者不歸某家大公司所有的制造商就是好品質(zhì)的代名詞。”而這種思維方式正在產(chǎn)生影響。無論是否建立了一個專營精釀啤酒的分支，所有大型啤酒制造商都在密切關(guān)注這一市場；它們無法承受忽視這個市場的后果，原因在于，盡管精釀啤酒在美國啤酒市場的占有率依然不到十分之一，但這種啤酒的售價更高，而且增勢迅猛，而大多數(shù)主流品牌卻缺乏增長動力。就在上個月，以生產(chǎn)督威啤酒著稱的比利時督威摩蓋特釀酒公司(Duvel Moortgat Brewery)發(fā)布公告稱，它將收購大道釀酒公司(Boulevard Brewing Company)。后者位于堪薩斯城，是美國第12大精釀啤酒釀造商。

????那么，在今年夏天收獲雷內(nèi)恩庫格爾啤酒創(chuàng)造的累累果實之后，米勒康勝麾下的Tenth and Blake公司接下來有什么打算呢？一個選擇是自主創(chuàng)新，在公司內(nèi)部研發(fā)一款全新的精釀啤酒。公司CEO湯姆?卡爾代拉承認(rèn)存在這種可能性。“你知道，我們已經(jīng)針對精釀啤酒業(yè)務(wù)進(jìn)行了非常充分的考量，”他告訴《財富》(Fortune)。但他同時也表示，藍(lán)月亮和雷內(nèi)恩庫格爾依然擁有巨大的市場潛能，所以他們或許不需要這樣做。無論他們做或不做，其他的啤酒釀造商肯定將變得更加“精釀化”。(財富中文網(wǎng))

????譯者：葉寒

????To be sure, Tenth and Blake leaves its craft brands alone, too: Leinenkugel still brews in Chippewa Falls, Wis., where it has for over 100 years. If anything, Tenth and Blake is more like a holding company. And Lauren Torres, analyst with HSBC, cautions: "I don't think people look at Tenth and Blake and say that because MillerCoors has an established category to focus on craft, they're doing more than others in the space."

????Even Heineken (HEINY), which sources say does not currently want to get anywhere near the craft scene, is not exactly completely uninterested in the category. "They're not playing in it, but they have brands like Newcastle that are not craft per se, but in certain countries do look nichey to consumers," says Torres.

????That may be why the "craft" label itself is problematic. Take Heineken for example: It hasn't created any craft brand from within, it hasn't acquired any craft brands, and U.S. CEO Dolf van den Brink says, "Heineken USA is focused on building upscale, badge, import brands ... And we can do this more efficiently with fewer SKUs." But it is certainly innovating in response to the successes of rival brands. Heineken USA will soon come out with Dos-A-Rita, a line extension on Dos Equis lager that has agave nectar. The product comes in the wake of AB InBev's massive success with Bud Light Lime-A-Rita and Straw-Ber-Rita. Heineken also sells a shandy-like Radler -- part lemonade, part beer, and higher alcohol content than Leinenkugel Summer Shandy, which is lemon-flavored beer -- that currently only sells in Europe but will likely come to the States soon. While these are not necessarily "crafts," they are innovations that seek to offer consumers something new and different. Thus, the distinction between unique new beers from the big guys and small-brewed, independent beers -- perceived as true crafts -- may be meaningless.

????Chibe, too, speaking from his perch as marketer in chief of the largest beer company in the world, says the craft craze may rest on meaningless distinctions about ownership: "It's not about the size, but the brewing tradition and the workers. Just because it's a small brand doesn't mean it will be any good. But just because it's a big brand doesn't mean it will be bad."

????In Europe, which has also experienced the rise of craft beer, the definition may be even less relevant. In Latin America, the longtime wisdom was that Brazilians drink Brazilian beers (think Brahma and Skol, both owned by AB InBev) and Mexicans drink Mexican beers (like Corona, now also owned by AB InBev). But that has changed. "I was in Brazil two weeks ago and I was shocked," says analyst Torres. "I asked people what they drink, and a couple years ago they would say Skol and Brahma, but now some people said Heineken or brands I'd never seen before, meaning local craft beers. So craft has reached Brazil too." In other words, in the beer world, brand loyalty is mostly a thing of the past, save for the "Joe Six Pack," as the industry calls it, who indeed still exists, still matters, and still buys a big case of Miller Light or Bud Light for the game.

????Even so, the perception among more and more drinkers, either fairly or unfairly, is that small and independent means better quality. As Tenth and Blake beer merchant Gregory Weinberg puts it, "It's the same as with cheese, chocolate, and whiskey -- there's this notion that being small-batch, not owned by a big company, means automatic quality." And that association is having an impact. Whether they start a craft division or not, all the big brewers are taking note of craft beer; they can't afford to ignore it because, while crafts only make up single-digit percentage volume of the U.S. beer market, they have higher pricing and they are growing, while staple brands are mostly flat. Just last month, Duvel Moortgat Brewery of Belgium, which produces Duvel, announced it would buy Boulevard Brewing Company, the Kansas City-based, 12th-largest craft brewer in the U.S.

????So what's next for MillerCoors's Tenth and Blake after the summer success of Leinenkugel? One option would be to innovate from within, creating a new craft beer internally. Tom Cardella, CEO of Tenth and Blake, acknowledges it's a possibility. "You know, we've thought about that a lot," he tells Fortune. But he says there's still so much potential with Blue Moon and Leinenkugel that they may not need to. Whether they do or don't, expect the rest of the industry to keep getting more crafty.