During a Power Hour session with the Brewers Association today, Information Resources Inc. SVP, Dan Wandel, said that amidst a bleak year for the beer category overall, “Craft Beer success has reached epidemic proportions.”

Notes from the Power Hour and other beer tidbits after the jump . . .

A few bullet points from today’s session (to access the full 45 slide presentation and be in on future sessions, sign up for a BA membership):

-2009 was 6th straight year that craft beer has outpaced the rest of the segment in overall dollar growth
-2009 was 4th straight year that craft beer has seen double digit growth in supermarkets
-January 2010 was a record month for craft beer sales, continuing the momentum from a strong 2009 finish and setting the stage for another huge year
-Sales have been gaining tremendously during the holidays, especially Labor Day
–Sierra Nevada Torpedo and Widmer Drifter Pale Ale set records for new craft brands in supermarkets
-High-end products are gaining ground on value products in the segment (22 oz. bottles seeing significant growth, etc.)

Compare all of this with Beer Marketer’s Insights data published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch saying the craft beer segment rose 8.8%. Things are looking GREAT for the niche and I will be the first to admit that my stance on declining growth in the past has been prematurely pessimistic. When the Brewers’ Association comes out with its final numbers, they may not show double digit growth (perhaps they will?) but I’m confident that the numbers will still be rock solid.

In other news:

New Glarus Brewing has put up a page for its new year-round brew, a “No Coast Pale Ale” called Moon Man. Admittedly, there’s not very much info on that page.

Multiple breweries have been featured by their local television affiliates. You can check out the Hoppin’ Frog video above to get a peak inside the brewery. Boulevard Brewing was featured for the second time in the last month.

BrewDog announced the reincarnation of its Hardcore IPA:

“The new Hardcore is much darker and more malty than its previous incarnation. The huge beer benefits from having a more robust, encapsulating malt backbone for the ensuing avalanche of high alpha American hops. This beer is absolutely loaded with awesome hops making the theoretical IBUs all out off the charts. Our first double dry hopped beer, Hardcore has an insane aroma which hits you as soon as you open the bottle. The avalanche of Centennial, Columbus and Simcoe provide an intense rush of flavours and mercilessly hammers the hop resins into your tongue as the bitterness punishes your pallet. Our new very light filtration regime means the mouth feel and body of this beer are incredibly full.”

Finally, Fulton Beer out of Minnesota announced that the brewery will launch its second beer early next month: The Worthy Adversary Russian Imperial Stout.