Capital, Great Dane, New Glarus: small craft breweries could benefit from the latest potential merger in the beer industry.

On Tuesday, SAB Miller and Molson Coors announced they intend to cut costs. The reason: customers are reaching for small-batch craft beers like those made in New Glarus.

Fat Squirrel, Totally Naked and Spotted Cow are not just clever names. They are carefully designed beers.

"I think that's why the big ones are merging," says Eau Claire native Steve Candell, as he visited New Glarus Brewing Company Wednesday. "They're losing customers."

"We've had better than thirty to forty percent growth for every year for probably the last six years," says New Glarus Brewing Company Founder Deb Carey.

This year, New Glarus Brewing is listed among the top Fortune 5,000 companies and is ranked even higher among industry peers.

"We are number forty among the fastest growing for food and beverage, so that's kind of exciting," says Carey.

In Wisconsin, craft beers still only account for three-percent of the market. But against giants like SAB Miller and Anheuser-Busch, the brews distinctive qualities put them in an entirely separate category.

"We're digging a very deep hole in the area of quality, quality and breadth of flavor," says Carey. "The resurgence of looking for things where you know where they came from and were grown within 100 miles. Our wheat is grown right up on the hill in New Glarus and that's what it's all about."

Carey says rising costs of hops and barley coupled with rising health insurance costs for employees makes it tough for any company to stay afloat. Still, news of major mergers in the industry means small frys are giving the big guys a run for their money.

"We use the same network for wholesalers and our distribution of our beers is very important to the success of our brewery," says Carey. "I just looked at it yesterday and said good news for us! That opens up opportunities for small craft brewers."

If approved, the merger between SAB Miller and Molson Coors is expected to save the companies $500 million annually by the third year.

In other beer news, the cost of your average six-pack could go up anywhere from 25-cents to one dollar in the next year.

Carey says glass bottles, paper labeling and packaging products have gone up thirty-percent. A drought has caused a shortage in barley and hops growers have had to deal with a deadly fungus that wiped out crops. Right now, breweries are having a tough time securing the raw ingredients needed to produce their brews.

"I'm expecting it to impact our brewery at close to probably $1 million when it's all said and done just for next year," says Carey. "It's going to be tough."

New Glarus contracts with its barely growers three years in advance to secure the varieties it wants. Farmers want to be assured of their income when they grow it.