Sociology Professors Study Craft Beer Entrepreneurship

Professors of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology Carolyn Keller and Saran Ghatak have received a $95,020 grant from The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation for their project “The Cultural and Political Contexts of Craft Beer Entrepreneurship.” They plan to examine the role of cultural, economic, locational, and political factors that explain entrepreneurial success as well as the local impact of the craft beer industry in the US, focusing on five cities: Portland, ME; Kalamazoo, MI; Asheville, NC; Cincinnati, OH; and Kansas City, MO.

“We will be studying a broad definition of craft beer including microbreweries, nano breweries, and brewpubs,” explained Dr. Keller. “We are interested in examining how very different political and cultural contexts have supported the recent exponential rise in brewing. … We are studying small/medium sized cities to determine how brewers work together to generate a friendly beer culture. This is also interesting because for craft beer to be as successful as its been, it can’t just be a unique niche of people who imbibe. The breweries have been successful at extending their consumer base to incorporate a wide swath of different demographic groups. We expect that some of this is a function of buy-local movements but also a function of America’s broadening palate.

“Craft beer is also interesting because of how cooperative the brewers are. Since they see themselves as largely competing against big beer (which is getting bigger every day) they co-brew and cooperate, which is a unique function. Since there are many interesting features of craft beer, we’ll be interviewing three groups—sellers and producers, consumers, and state and local politicians.”

The researchers will begin travel and data collection for this two-year study in January. Stay tuned!