Beers with more alcohol, flavor gain market share

BEND, Ore. - Tucked in a corner at the Deschutes Brewery, barrels that once aged fine wines and whiskeys are nurturing beverages that are challenging drinkers to think of beer more like wine. Carl Raskin pours a craft beer during a tasting Friday, July 18, 2008, at his Elegance wine and antiques shop in Grants Pass, Ore. Craft brews are the fastest growing segment of the beer industry, and many of them are making big or extreme beers that are forcing drinkers to think of them like wine, with higher prices, alcohol and flavor. (AP Photo/Jeff Barnard) High-alcohol brews like Black Butte XX and The Abyss, known in the trade as big or extreme beers, are among many craft beers that are grabbing a growing market share in the United States from their mass-produced and heavily advertised counterparts. Even at prices ranging from $4... [read full story]