Business & Tech

Port City Brewing Co. on 'CBS This Morning'

Alexandria craft brewery featured in a story about the beer market and the growth of small, independent beer companies.

The West End’s Port City Brewing Co. was featured Tuesday morning on CBS This Morning in a David-veruss-Goliath story about small breweries and the beer behemoths.

Last week, the Department of Justice sued to prevent Anheuser-Busch InBev from acquiring Groupo Model, which makes Corona. The acquisition would have essentially given AB InBev control of more than 50 percent of the beer market in the United States, The Washington Post reported this weekend.

The proposed acquisition brought to light the difficulties small, craft brewers have gaining a foothold in the market. Craft beers make up just 6 percent of the market in the United States by volume—but demand is picking up.

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Bill Butcher, founder of the of Port City Brewing Company, told CBS News, "We're in a fortunate position in that we're selling all the beer we can brew and we struggle to keep up with demand."

Port City opened in January 2011 on Wheeler Avenue in Alexandria. In took less than two years for the company to brew its one millionth bottle.

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Butcher spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. in September 2012. The Obama administration produced a video on Butcher and Port City as an example of how the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act helps small businesses.

On the craft-beer trend, Butcher told CBS News, "It's very similar to what happened to the wine business 15, 20 years ago. People stopped ordering just a generic glass of white wine and they started ordering Chardonnay. It cost a little bit more, but it tastes better and people were willing to pay a little bit more."

See the full video from CBS This Morning above. 

Also see:

Man Finds Port City's One Millionth Bottle

Port City's Butcher to Speak at Democratic National Convention

White House Showcases Alexandria's Port City Brewing

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