Expanded Distro A Bad Thing For The Movement?

Can you imagine what a world of beer reviews would be like when palates no longer have the chance to taste of rareness?

 

I agree with marking down old seasonals that aren't selling, the problem isn't always that stores don't want to mark it down but that some states have laws, that say you can't sell below cost, I know some stores do anyway but they could potentially get in trouble with the state.

 

Not sure how that law works nearby, but I do see sales from some stores. My guess is none of the stores in question are getting anywhere near below cost...

 

I don't think the threat of "all beers everywhere" is very realistic due to several factors:
#1. Beer is expensive to ship across country, so it adds to the retail price or cuts the breweries margins.
#2. Most people are not BAs and never will be. They are not constantly trying new beers they don't recognize the name of. Thus, many breweries that try to expand to new markets will fail.
#3. It is hard to scale up to massive quantity and keep good quality. Some have done it, some have not.
#4. All states have different distribution laws to deal with.
#5. Having a local brewery that one can visit increases their cred and visibility over the non-local beers. Plus many beers are better fresh.

I could go on, point is it is non-trivial to expand distribution and navigate the different markets. Some breweries will accomplish this, some will fail, and some really good breweries have no ambition to expand this widely.

 

The day when all beer is available to everyone is never gonna come. I believe that these out of area upstarts will have to retreat once the "drink better, drink fresher, drink local" movement really takes hold, as it is in process of doing right now across this country. I support the right of everyone to have access to all products, but this doesn't mean the market will support.

However, complaining that increased availability is a bad thing is kinda like complaining that your shoes are too comfortable, or that your car gets gas mileage that is too high.

 

I think that if the breweries will offer some kind of online ordering by mail that is the real way to extend your distribution well beyond your borders. How many of you right now wouldn't prefer to simply order the beer you want right from your computer rather than have to go out there and broker a trade? This would create jobs too.

I don't think that trucking beer all over the country is working right now because as it stands, you have lots of beer spoiling on shelves and then the distributor never comes back. Perfect example here in Ithaca NY is founders. They had bottles from 7/12 taking up space until just recently. Providing access by mail is the way to ensure fresh beer and repeat customers. Also that opens up your limited releases to customers outside your local area. I only bought the founders last july when it was fresh. It would also mean that the shop owner would not have to guess what the next hot or popular beer will be and that means he can really focus on locals. That takes the "one and done" aspect of losses to the bottle shop and the guesswork involved in predicting which beers from which distributor will sell practically out of the equasion.

 

can you break that out by year. because I log this for my area. I noticed no BIG changes in SN until 2012. In 2008 the porter was 5.79 to 6.19, it stayed there until 2011, then 6.99 (on avg) a sixer. now in 2012 it jumped again to 7.99+. Total wine prices.

does that match your numbers? I realize different areas have tax differences.

 

I would love it. Still I have done the mail order from stores and when shipping is more than the cost of the order it hurts....not to mention we have to change the USPS regs.

 

also NOT all BA's are tickers,. I know I am brand loyal until they drop what I drink...anyway.

 

ah trade bait.....whatever, I gladly send CCB out to the world if it was up to me.

 

This is interesting and something I notice in my own consumption patterns. When I first started out, I was in the try everything mode and my modest collection reflected that mentality. I had more beer from outside my area by a wide margin. That has shifted quite a bit - I have more Jack's Abby, Mystic, MBC, CBC, Pretty Things, etc. on my shelf these days, some from the foreign lands of NY and PA, and only a handful from truly exotic shores. This despite a noticeable change in what's available on the shelf. I don't know if that was an intentional change on my part, my true "homerism" coming into play, or just a subtle evolution into learning to enjoy what's right in my backyahd. My "imports" are pretty limited - usually Stone and Founders because I generally like everything I have tried and they are relatively easy to stumble upon. I'll still by a beer because I have heard about it and want to try it if I find it, but that is becoming much less common.

If you think about it, there are solid examples of every style imaginable from a whole bunch of breweries, local or not. I also think if our feet were held to the fire, some of us would admit that there is significant overlap in taste and quality. So if I can drink Mayflower Porter why would I buy Founders, for example.

Yes - there is increased availability here but my personal buying habits have changed over time. I really think there will be a polarization - the local brewers with very loyal followings and the larger craft breweries with broad distribution.

 

This.

I think some (like Green Flash) are expanding too quickly, while those larger breweries like SN/Lagunitas/NB have the presence and base to expand. And as others have said, there is only so much shelf space.

 

Um, what are you talking about?

 

Why would I do either of those when I can just purchase it online from France44, Merwin's, or Haskell's?

 

But hopefully not for long. When demand goes up, there never seems to be a shortage of people willing to provide a better supply. The problem is whether the demand will sustain itself until the supply is better.

 

Whats bad for the movement is the obsession over IPA's and DIPA's and ignoring other styles and not buying them.

 

Impressive. You track this for many beers or just ones you buy?

 

It's a lot of transportation of flavored water, which weighs more than 8 pounds per gallon. With more and more quality breweries popping up there is less need to haul beer all over the place. If you have any decent breweries nearby, there aren't that many beers that are really worth the expense of petroleum products and associated environmental degradation.

 

Well yea it would be impressive if I did it for all of them. In fact many have thought of this. On this site at 1 time you could enter prices on reviews, not anymore. So I tracked anchor, Sa, sn, CCB, ABC, terrapin, sweetwater, and many Belgians. Though i sort of know what many are just because i go to TW so much. plus you can hit the way back machine for Total wine, lol

 

oh we have 5 Micro brewery locals, and many think they are decent. just like 4 years ago we had zero. Still there is nothing near CCB here. In fact 2 of them IMHO are less than average. 2 are average and 1 is promising. actually there are some others that were here longer but they were micro pub restaurants of the Gorden Biersch clone type. Which were/are frankly, quite poor.

2 seem to be selling well, why I don't know 1 is near a bud clone...but this is a HUGE BUD town.
So hey you make something they like. What I what and what they make just do not jive. Of course many ba disagree with me, so its hard to say. Still I bet none of them would even place or have the guts to enter GABF.... I said it before the local HB club makes better beer than they do.