2018 Azbee Awards of Excellence

Category

Overall Excellence > Website of the Year

Awarded to

Keith Gribbins, Editor; Chris Crowell, Editor; Sean Wright, IT and Website Manager; Pete McNeil, VP Sales and Marketing

Entry details

Craft Brewing Business for Website of the Year

Issue date (if applicable): 
Publication name: Craft Brewing Business
Publishing company: CBB Media Inc.
Website home page: https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/

Please describe the publication's mission and readership:

It’s all right there, distilled in the title. Craft Brewing Business is a trade website dedicated to helping craft breweries grow their businesses. From bottling to branding, fermenters to filling lines, malt suppliers to mashing tuns, Craft Brewing Business investigates the many vocational challenges of running a commercial craft brewery. To get more specific, the website and newsletter covers the business of craft brewing from four distinct angles: 1) Equipment and Systems; 2) Supplies and Ingredients; 3) Marketing and Branding; and 4) Business and Management Services.

Beyond the vital operational and managerial information for today’s brewer, Craft Brewing Business is the most informative news page exclusively focused on the indie brewing trades. It’s a running tab of today’s biggest breaking brewing news, updated multiple times daily with headlines spotlighting breweries, ingredient suppliers, equipment manufacturers, legislative updates, trade shows and the brewing professionals themselves. Our readers are brewers, brewing supervisors, packaging managers, chemists, brewpub managers, distributors, merchandise clerks, facility maintenance workers, brand managers, art directors, and anyone vital to the success of a commercial craft brewer.

We as writers are beer enthusiasts, but this is not an enthusiasts’ site. Craft Brewing Business is committed to the big business of running a small brewery. We post four times a day (except for Friday), and we generate more than 60,000 page views each month. We also have a weekly newsletter that goes out to 5,800 plus.

Please describe the enterprising work that went into this entry and its significance or impact on readers:

The indie beer business was built on moxie and bold talent, and that force of character (propelled by determination and experimentation) is captured daily on the posts and pages of Craft Brewing Business. Since 2013, Craft Brewing Business has been a trade publication dedicated to investigating, analyzing and explaining the enormous amount of business hurdles that small breweries face every day. From machinery and ingredients to trademarks and distribution, the brewing industry is one of the most challenging and controversial markets in America — transnational corporations vs. small owner/operator businesses; a three-tier distribution system that controls point of sale; ridiculously capital-intensive brewhouses; and insane competition with more than 6,000 breweries now in America.

Craft Brewing Business helps breweries navigate the mountain of entrepreneurial demands that comes with owning a brewery, and we do it with the same flair and bold indie spirit that personifies our readers. We bravely challenge giant corporations to play by the rules (https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/business-marketing/ab-inbevs-craft-brands-against-brewers-association-certified-independent-seal/), we deep dive into profiles with industry icons (https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/featured/20-questions-with-green-flash-brewing-brewmaster-erik-jensen/), we pen trade tech features you can’t find anywhere else on the internet (https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/featured/12-best-brewing-equipment-features-2017/) and so much more.

Most importantly, we are independently owned. We are four entrepreneurs with nearly 40 combined years in the trades. We embody the same indie spirit as our readers. In fact, we posted hard-hitting trade journalism four times a day for the first two years without making a dime. Today, we are the top trade publication dedicated to the craft brewing industry. Just go read our site: https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/

Links to entry URLs

Please note: These URLs are only required for entries in the Online division categories, entries in the Design division categories that are specific to websites, entries in the Website of the Year category, and entries in the Cross-Platform Package of the Year category.

Entry URL(s), if applicable:
https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/
https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/business-marketing/ab-inbevs-craft-brands-against-brewers-association-certified-independent-seal/
https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/featured/20-questions-with-green-flash-brewing-brewmaster-erik-jensen/
https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/featured/12-best-brewing-equipment-features-2017/
https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/featured/books-and-beer-for-armageddon/

Links to Uploaded Entry Files

Please note: The links below are the same links as clicking on the Preview images at the top of this column. You may click the links below to view each submitted entry file.

View entry file #1 
View entry file #2 
View entry file #3 
View entry file #4
View entry file #5 
View entry file #6 
View entry file #7 
View entry file #8 
View entry file #9 
View entry file #10