The American craft beer scene is going global, but there are some hurdles:
Pease says the limited shelf life of most craft beers is the primary overseas shipping hurdle. “Most craft beers are not pasteurized like commercial beers, which makes them basically the same as an unpasteurized food product and causes all sorts of export problems. But there are some styles of craft beers that fare better because they contain natural preservatives.”
One of those natural preservatives is hops, the bitter herb that enabled the Dutch brewers to ship beer to Britain as early as the 15th century (many of the earliest beers made without hops had a shelf life of less than a week). Pease says craft beers that are heavy on hops and have a high alcohol content, which also acts as a preservative, fare best when being shipped long distances.
Still, navigating the logistics of shipping to multiple countries can be difficult. “It took us two years just to figure out how things work in Italy because the system is somewhat archaic,” says Eric Wallace, the 49-year-old co-founder of Left Hand Brewing in Longmont, Colo. The former Air Force communications officer lived in Italy and Germany during the 1980s and opened Left Hand Brewing shortly after returning home to Colorado in 1993.
In 2004, the Brewers Assn. launched its Export Development Program with a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help American craft breweries meet the increasing demand for their products in international markets. According to the Brewers Assn., since 2003 total U.S. craft beer exports have tripled to more than 1.3 million gallons. (Sweden is the largest importer of American craft beer, followed by Canada, Japan and Denmark.)
Sweden imports more American craft beer than Canada?