C. James "Jim" Koch family's craft beer recipe and his marketing skills had been a perfect match. This was after Boston Beer Co. became the second biggest US-owned brewery. It also made Koch  a billionaire after frothy sales of the Samuel Adams brand turned Boston Beer shares double last year. On Friday, the shares of Boston Beer reached a record high.

The once stale US beer market had become a bright spot for craft beer such as Sam Adams. The sales for American beer had fell 2% in the first half of 2013 while the craft brew segment increased 15%. This was according to a data compiled by Bloomberg. During the same period, Boston Beer's sales grew more than 17%.

President of D.L. Geary Brewing David Geary said, "What he has done is amazing. He's very focused, a brilliant marketer and he sort of taught us all how to sell beer."