Skip navigation

Whole Foods gets crafty with beer

About 1.2 million people in the U.S. brew their own ales and lagers at home, according to the American Homebrewers Association, Boulder, Colo., a division of the Brewers Association, a craft beer trade group.

Most of these novice brewers purchase the necessary equipment and ingredients at home-brewing supply stores.

But in certain markets, they can head to their favorite food store for all their home-brewing needs. For instance, Whole Food Market’s Coddingtown store in Santa Rosa, Calif., is a fully stocked brewing supply store. Not only does it sell brewing equipment, but also bulk grains, yeast and other ingredients. It also hosts homebrewer how-to classes. Other Whole Foods stores have similar offerings.

The Whole Foods website even includes a video of the founders of the Brooklyn Brew Shop, which markets home-brewing kits:


CONNECT WITH SN ON FACEBOOK

Like the Supermarket News page for updates throughout the day.


Meanwhile, the Austin, Texas-based chain operates its own microbrewers on site at two stores: one in Houston and another in San Jose, Calif.

In Houston, the Whole Foods Market Brewing Company has a five-barrel, two-vessel brewing system with the ability to produce about 400-500 barrels annually. Its on-site bar includes windows overlooking the tanks:

 

Here, the Whole Foods Market Brewing Company's Facebook page announces new flavors:

 

WFM's efforts come at a time when the home brewing market is on the upswing. The AHA saw a 20% growth in membership between 2005 and 2015 to 40,000 members.

I spoke with Steve Parr, the AHA’s assistant director. He told me that home brewers like experimenting with recipes to create the flavor and style of their choice.

“There’s a trend of do-it-yourself,” he said.

A demographic shift is aiding the home-brewing market, according to Parr. Once dominated by the over-30 set, there’s now significant growth among Millennials. Millennials have jumped on the home-brewing bandwagon because they like to save money, and create unique food and beverage offerings for their friends.

“Home brewing is an art form,” Parr said.

Suggested Categories More from Supermarket News

 

Hide comments

Comments

  • Allowed HTML tags: <em> <strong> <blockquote> <br> <p>

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Publish