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Fear among some brewers is that legal cannabis will siphon sales away from beer . ( The pot industry does not assuage these concerns when it advertises as the “ safer ” alternative to alcohol .) But do consumers really trade one product for another ?

Not necessarily , according to Bart Watson , chief economist for the Brewers Association , which represents small and independent breweries . According to data compiled by the national trade organization , sales of craft beer are actually better in states with recreational cannabis .

Explosive in past years , craft beer ’ s growth has slowed in recent time . But those gains are actually higher where pot is fully legal , according to Watson . “ States that have the most access to cannabis have the best beer trends ,” he says .

The second-best craft beer trends are in states without recreational cannabis , but with operational medicinal pot markets . Again , according to Brewers Association research , the more cannabis is legal , the better for craft beer .

This would seem to oppose news released last year by the Cannabiz Consumer Group ( C2G ). The company ’ s research found that legal cannabis had already sapped into beer revenue by a wide margin — 7.1 %.

Moreover , 27 % of beer drinkers polled by C2G said they had already substituted cannabis for beer , or would substitute their retail beer purchases with cannabis in the future if legal . C2G predicted that if cannabis became legal nationally , the beer industry would lose more than $ 2 billion in retail sales .

Why the conflicting reports ?

MGP has become three dirty letters that stand for sourced .

If a new whiskey brand tastes of high-rye bourbon or grassy dill rye — and says “ Bottled in Indiana ” — you know it ’ s likely from MGP . The company ’ s facilities , including its massive Indiana distillery formerly owned by Seagram ’ s and LDI , supplies much of the industry ’ s sourced whiskey and vodka . This includes around 80-85 % of the market ’ s rye , according to MGP estimates .

Purists bemoan when large-batch spirits are purchased and passed off as craft . And there ’ s entrepreneurs who buy MGP stuff and mar the product with bad branding , poor finishing or misleading statements of origin . While these are not MGP ’ s fault — it ’ s just a business that sells premade spirits — that has not stopped some consumers from criticizing the company .

Perhaps for this reason , and out of courtesy of its customers , MGP has stayed largely out of public view . Its vast , Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory-esque distillery has remained closed off , even from journalists .

That has changed . MGP recently ditched its low profile and opened the doors for media in Indiana , as the company launches its own whiskey and vodka brands .

While there were no Oompa Loompas in this sprawling facility , there was plenty celebrating the site ’ s distillation history in Lawrenceburg , Indiana , which dates back to the early 1800s .

The new MGP house brands include Till Vodka , George Remus bourbon , Rossville Union Master Crafted rye , and the Indiana-only blended bourbon Tanner ’ s

Creek . Till launched in 2016 , Remus in 2017 , and Rossville hit markets this past May .

Consumer tours are in the plans , once the company “ gets its brands right .” Which , when combined with these new house brands , should go a long way towards making MGP three letters that stand for quality .

www . beveragedynamics . com November / December 2018 • Beverage Dynamics 5