The origins of the term ‘flagship’ are appropriately nautical, befitting a beverage that’s as much as 95 percent or more water. According to Merriam-Webster, its first definition comes from the Navy, with the flagship being “a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the first, largest, fastest, most heavily armed, or best known.” Over time, the definition has moved onto land and is now more commonly used as “the finest, largest, or most important one of a group of things.” So if you have a chain of stores, the location that is your best or biggest is your “flagship store.”
With beer, a Flagship is the beer that defines a brewery. It’s the one that you immediately think of when you hear the brewery’s name, the one that most people associate with the business. In most cases, it is their best-selling beer and often the one that outsells all their other offerings by a wide margin. A good flagship also allows a brewery to be able to afford the seasonals, specialty beers and the other one-off beers in their lineup.
One might think that the brewery decides which beer is their flagship, but that’s not always the case. Often, they may expect that a certain beer will be the one that sells the best, but consumers have a different idea. There are numerous examples of this. Widmer Brothers Brewing, in Portland, Oregon, thought they’d be an altbier brewery, but consumers responded to their American hefeweizen and that became the beer they’re known for. Similarly, Deschutes Brewing, in Bend, Oregon, did not believe their Black Butte Porter would be their best-selling beer, but consumers really took to it and the rest is history.