Whether it’s the tortoise and the hare, David versus Goliath or small-market sports teams versus large-market franchises, many Americans have a soft spot for the “little” guy. The same could be said for the U.S. beer market in this year's beer report. According to Chicago-based Mintel’s January 2016 report “Beer – US,” craft beer’s market share of U.S. volume sales nearly doubled from 2010 to 2015 — 5.2 percent vs. 10.2 percent, respectively.

It seems as though U.S. consumers are having a love affair with import beer, based on analysis in this year's beer market report. According to Chicago-based Information Resources Inc. (IRI), dollar sales for import beer were $5.4 billion — an 11.7 percent increase — for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 27, 2015, in U.S. supermarkets, drug stores, mass merchandisers, gas and convenience stores, military commissaries, and select club and dollar retail chains. Case sale gains were just shy of 10 percent during that time period.

Information Resources Inc. (IRI), Chicago, released data detailing the sales lift of various food, beverage and consumer product categories that are most impacted by pre-game preparations and shopping sprees for the Super Bowl. 

Three cities in Maryland recently named October “Shore Craft Beer and Hard Cider Month.” One of them in Ocean City, also hosted a Shore Craft Beer Festival, which took place Oct. 24 and featured local brewers, according to the Caroline Times Record.

The Brewers Association, Boulder, Colo., released its annual list of the Top 50 craft and overall brewing companies in the United States based on beer sales volume. Of the top 50 overall brewing companies, 42 were craft brewing companies.

Maybe I just have beer on the brain this month, but I feel like the popular alcohol beverage is everywhere I turn.

Although many historians have coined the Industrial Revolution as a turning point in history, it would be interesting to hear what beer historians might say about the current state of this category in relation to the rest of beer’s history and future.

One segment of the beer category that continues to garner increased attention throughout the industry and pop culture is craft beer.

St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch (AB), a division of AB InBev, hosted media members at its headquarters during the fourth quarter of 2014.

When you think of the top beer-consuming nations, countries renowned for their breweries and pubs — like Germany or Ireland — likely come to mind.