Over at the Atlantic, John Tierney performs the important service of analyzing Beverage Industry magazine’s 2014 U.S. Beer Category Report. The biggest takeaway for beer fans: Northern California’s Lagunitas Brewing Company is hot and on fire.
That 84 percent sales increase from 2012 to 2013 is far and away the largest jump of any of the top-10-selling “craft” brands. Lagunitas is now the fifth-largest microbrewer in the country. (Sam Adams is still on top of the category by a wide margin.) And if the “Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale” your Slatest editor saw on draft last night at a Manhattan restaurant among more typical selections like Goose Island and Hoegaarden is any indication, 2014 is going to be a good year for Lagunitas too.
This post has been updated.