Jim Koch’s impact on the beer industry goes way beyond being a craft brewing pioneer. For example, when a variety of German noble hops was on the verge of extinction due to wilt, Jim Koch spearheaded the effort to save them. When a global hop shortage threatened to extinguish the craft beer industry, Jim Koch sold tons of his hop reserves to craft breweries in order to keep them alive. This is part 3 of a 3 part interview with Boston Beer Company founder Jim Koch.

“The ethnic cleansing,” is how top executives at Anheuser-Busch described their effort to destroy Sam Adams, Jim Koch, and the nascent craft beer industry in the 1990s. The efforts of Anheuser-Busch, makers of Budweiser and Bud Light among many (MANY) other brands, led to 8 long years of negative growth for craft beer in the United States. This is part 2 of a 3 part interview with Boston Beer Company founder Jim Koch.  

As the founder of the Boston Beer Company - makers of Sam Adams and many other brands - Jim Koch was an early pioneer in the craft brewing industry. Not one to mince words, his father’s reaction to the news that his son was starting a brewery was rather blunt. However Jim’s father was also a fifth generation brewer whose advice would be critical to the success of the Boston Beer Company. This is part 1 of a 3 part interview with Boston Beer Company founder Jim Koch.