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Economy Worries Brewers At Beer Festival

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Oct 13, 2008 8:19 am US/Mountain

Economy Worries Brewers At Beer Festival

Reporting
Ericka Lewis
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DENVER (CBS4) ―

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The slowing economy left a bitter taste at the annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver over the weekend.

Craft beers in particular are hurting because of higher prices. Their unique flavors don't come cheap and it's getting more expensive.

The ingredients that go into those specialty beers, like hops, shot up an average of 500 percent last year. Malt is up 100 percent.

Some bottles at Brooklyn Brewery sell for $13 each. Large commercial brewers can offer a case for an average of $5.

"You will probably see some of the smaller guys who can't get ingredients and can't grow their business either not grow their business or go out of business," said Mike Vitale of Brooklyn Brewery.

Others predict large brewers will try to take advantage of high costs by lowering prices to drive smaller brewers out of business and take back some of their lost market share.

"It's competitive for that shelf space," said Julia Herz of the Brewers' Association. "It's competitive for draft handles and beer lovers today hope that those retailers carry those local brands."

Despite the lagging sales and rising prices, tickets for the festival, which features more than 1,900 different beers from around the country, were sold out over the weekend.

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