More pick to pour craft brews over big brands

By Jeff Barnard - The Associated Press 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. 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 to more than $100 for a single bottle. "We are looking for what we like to term that 'Wow Factor,'" said Deschutes CEO Gary Fish. "We want somebody to take a drink, stop, look at the glass and say, 'What was that?'" Sales of premium beers, which include the household names of Budweiser, Coors Light and Miller High Life,... [read full story]