(Portland, OR) – Craft Brew Alliance just reported Q4 and FY11 earnings on Wednesday. Will post up notes from this morning’s conference call this afternoon but for now, here is a breakdown of barrels shipped by brand with some additional details.

Overall, it was a bounce-back year of sorts led by Kona Brewing though Q4 trends are behind full-year trends. The company put a lot of investment into re-launching the Widmer Brothers and RedHook brands on management’s newly focused vision. One that went as far as a re-branding for the parent company; Craft Brew Alliance will even adopt a new NASDAQ stock ticker symbol next week when BREW replaces HOOK.

The key in 2012 is whether the early 2011 brand initiatives will increase overall brand health for the long-term and not just lead to short-term gains. With SG&A expense increases likely coming down in 2012, we should get a clearer picture.

When considering the numbers below, it is important to keep in mind that an increase in prices may help explain volume decline where it occurred (Widmer Brothers). That brand in particular is being positioned as the premiere offering of the three brands so price increases are more likely to happen there.

Net sales in dollars (up 13%) nearly doubled CBA sales in volume (up 6.6% not including contract barrels).

Overall:

• Q4 CBA barrels shipped up 3.4% from 137k to 141k
• Full-year CBA barrels shipped up 6.6% from 585k to 623k
• Full-year contract production grew from 21.3k barrels to 49.3 barrels due primarily to contract production for Goose Island
• Full-year bottles/cans shipped as a percentage of total shipments (versus draft) grew from 61.2% to 64.8%
• Annual working capacity around 900k barrels

Widmer Brothers Brewing:

• Q4 barrels shipped down 3.9% from 64.1k to 61.6k
• Full-year barrels shipped down 2.2% from 277k to 271k
• Annual working capacity in Oregon went from 481k to 455k barrels (5.4% decrease which may partially explain why production for CBA brands sold in Oregon were down in 2011. A CBA rep confirmed that some production for brands sold in Oregon come out of the Washington plant.)
• Adding 190,000 barrels worth of annual capacity during 2012 (“Capital expenditures of $8.5 million in 2011 were primarily for the purchase or retrofitting of equipment to upgrade our breweries and the planning and design of a company-wide supply chain management system. For 2012, we anticipate capital expenditures of approximately $8.5 million to $9.5 million primarily for investments in capacity and efficiency.”)

RedHook Ale Brewery:

• Q4 barrels shipped approximately the same from 42.6k to 42.8k
• Full-year barrels shipped up 3% from 174k to 179k
• Annual working capacity in New Hampshire went from 181k to 215k barrels (18.7% increase)
• Annual working capacity in Washington went from 236k to 220k barrels (6.8% decrease)

Kona Brewing:

• Q4 barrels shipped up 23% from 30k to 37k
• Full-year barrels shipped up 29.5% from 133k to 173k