Rebel IPA vs Lagunitas?

I just finished reading "Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer" by Maureen Ogle (I recommend it highly) Amazing just how cutthroat the beer industry post-21st Amendment has been.
Craft brewers by and large are above the fray and usually get along almost to the point of what most "business people" would call insane. There is room for everyone at the craft table and plenty of room for growth.
BTW Tony how did you learn to write so well at BGHS?

 

ISO: Sam Adams/Lagunitas Sucks to be a Rebel IPA

 

I just hope this means more Sucks!!

 

When 'Beer Wars' was shown in the theaters, there was a live broadcast of a panel discussion with the Alstrom Bros, Rhonda Kahlman (sp?), Greg Koch, probably others I'm forgetting ... AND Maureen Ogle. At the time, she was basically predicting that the current craft brewers would follow in the foot steps of the macros eventually & develop a more 'dog-eat-dog' mentality. This prediction was seen as heresy at the time (mid-2009), at least that was my impression.

 

Interesting to see responses from both sides. I don't have access to Lagunitas unless I make a 3 hour road trip, and I do enjoy having the occasional Boston Lager on tap from most major restaurants, so I'm looking forward to see if Rebel shows up around here before too long.

 

All press for craft beer is good press. I have been to both locations and I love both of their products. I haven't tried the Rebal IPA yet but Lagunitas IPA and Sucks are great beers. Unfortunately I also see a lot of old Lagunitas here in NY which is a shame, maybe the distributors should focus on product rotation and keeping their beer fresh. Jim is a stand up guy with a very corporate response. I will keep drinking beers from both... as long as they are fresh.

 

Nail on the head. Not everybody in a large company is always on the same page. Sales reps work on commissions and the very nature of their job tends to make them a little more braggadocios than the average bear. They often say things that would give the executive team a coronary. The only thing shocking to me in any of this is that Lagunitas would be so surprised at any of this.

The more craft beer grows, the more it's going to resemble any other competitive industry.

I love Lagunitas beers and have nothing but the utmost respect for everything Sam Adams does. But they're still competitors who are going to be fighting hard for our dollars whether they want to or not.

 

Yeah, but are you raging about it on your business' twitter? Guess you ain't doin' it right then!

 

Love the idea. This should definitely happen. But don't steal any IPA secrets while you're doing it, ok Jim?

 

The business' twitter is @lagunitasbruhws. Pretty sure Tony's just using his personal twitter, though it's definitely higher profile than the actual Lag account.

 

I was just about to post something similar. An over-zealous sales rep maybe trying something unbeknownst to his manager.

 

I think we need a collaborative "Boston Sucks" IPA to mend the fences here.

EDIT: To make sure I'm not misunderstood, I like both breweries though I do have a more favored of the two.

 

Just a thought this post happened to resurrect: it's not hard to make an IPA, and there aren't really any secrets. ABI could make enough Pliny the Elder to flood the market without much effort, as could BBC, and many professional brewers could make essentially the same beer. There are reasons they don't, but none of those reasons are, "They don't know the secret." I think BBC's historical attitude towards IPAs specifically and American-style hoppiness in general is silly both from a business and a subjective point of view, but it's not my business: Jim Koch controls the company.

 

Interesting thought. I have seen the recipe for the Pliny floating around. You think someone would try it.

 

A recipe for a beer is a ‘dime a dozen’. It is the specifics at the brewery (brewing process specifics, the attention of the brewers to their specific processes, etc.) that truly create the beer. I have no doubt that AB could create a world class DIPA (if AB devoted the proper resources to this effort) but I seriously doubt that AB could produce a Pliney the Elder. There are just so many variable to brewing for this to happen 100%.

Cheers!

 

oh I agree if some 1 could make a pliney clone they would have and called it heady topper, ducks, its a joke.

 

I didnt like Toni's responses on twitter. I thought they were over the top. However, his first post in this message was well done and wish this was the way he explained his feelings about BB (rather then the tweets). Lagunitas makes great beers and BB are usually very average. Let the beer do the talking would be my advice.

 

The whole undergrad, law degree and MBA from Harvard probably helps in the communication as well. It is very impressive that a billionaire would take the time to address this issue here on our little forum.

 

one thing remains true that jim failed to comment on. the beer was indeed modeled after his beer.

 

I was being sarcastic, you've just reinforced my point.