What's up Sacramento?

I've honestly never been all that impressed with their stuff. I do have a contact in the midwest if you want me to proxy a trade for some stuff. I got Double Wide and Rye on Rye in my last trade with them. Double wide wasn't bad and I'm still sitting on the rye on rye. I'll also be heading out to Nebraska at the end of July if you want me to keep an eye out for something when I'm back home.

 

I really love their stuff. Someone mentioned the Bruery and they have one of the one of the worst saison w/brett that I have ever had. Boulevard on the other hand, has an amazing one. Not to mention their "standard" Tank 7. Great pils, dopplebock and IPA's. I love both Double and Single Wide. Not to mention Zon, a great american made wit...

 

I would love to get some Boulevard Saison-Brett if you go! And anything from Schlafly's

 

Yea, I'll talk to you when it gets closer to when you're leaving. I get back from mexico in mid july, and if I have any money left, I'll definetly give you a few bucks to grab a beer or 2.

 

This is where Jesskidden or someone else in the business is supposed to enter the conversation and explain the difference between importers and distributors for the sake of those who still haven't figured it out.
Speaking of figuring out, I can't figure out whether it's the lack of Parabola or the total absence of a so-so brewery that's the real beef here, but Sac<Bay Area and Sac<LA/SD area. Or are you saying that there's an equal demand that suppliers are for some reason refusing to fill in Sac? And what could that reason be?

 

Shelton is both an importer and a distributor. And either we are a small market which should be easy to supply. Or a big market which would be worth supplying. Seems like you have beef with us wanting better beer in sac. Not really sure what your deal is. But those are just 2 examples of our Sacramento dilemma.

 

You are wrong. Shelton is not a distributor, at least not in California. When I was working for a chain, the beer buyer contacted Shelton and they couldn't sell him anything directly.

If the choice is that you are either
1) a small market which should be easy to supply or
2) a big market which would be worth supplying
then I guess being a small market means that you are not worth supplying, by your own definition. What reason is there for Indian Wells to look for somebody to take a few cases off the truck that's passing through Sacramento so you can have the beer of a "not highly rated" brewery on the shelves of your local stores? If somebody wanted to carry it, they'd make it happen. That's supply and demand.
It's great that you want better beer in Sac. If you let the stores know that you want better beer, and enough other people let the stores know they want better beer, you'll get it.
My only beef is that I can't make sense of what you're complaining about.

 

If it makes you Sac guys feel better Avery stopped shipping beer to NE and Oskar Blues never has. The trucks pass through the state when they deliver to other places but nothing from them ends its journey there...

 

So if enough people want founders, FFF, and GI in California, its gonna happen? I don't think thats the case. And shelton is a distributor on the east coast, but lime ventures is the distributor for those beers in california (and maybe the rest of the west coast). I'm not sure what your point is. Mine is that I wish sacramento got the same beers that are available in areas that are a couple hours away. And that it would be nice if Shelton gave lime ventures some of those cantilloons that are off the shelf in the east coast so we could see more of it out here. Please clarify what you're trying to argue.

 

Oh, and also, being a small market doesn't mean we aren't worth supplying, if the trucks are already driving through town anyway. If i was a distributor and could sell a few more cases of beer by stopping somewhere that was already on my route, it would make sense to do so, and make the sale.

 

No, you don't always get everything you want. Supply is part of the supply and demand equation. But it's a lot easier to get a beer that's already available in the state, and it's not as though there's not enough Indian Wells beer to meet the demand. You don't sound as though you want it that badly, or maybe "not highly rated" is praise in your book.
If they distribute on the East Coast but not California, I don't know why it's a mystery to you that you're not getting served by them. And how are beers that "are off the shelf" supposed to be reshipped? Again, my point is this: I don't understand what your point is, because you're not really making any sense.

 

You're the one who came up with either/or of "easy to supply or worth supplying," and it's one ting you've said that makes sense.
I don't know the business as well as Jess, but I know enough that it's not as easy as having a truck stop and unload a few cases of beer like newspapers. I wish it were, but that's just not the way the laws are.
And a truck headed out of state probably doesn't belong to the California distributor.

 

And if Sac isn't getting beers that are available in the Bay Area, it's probably because no store is trying to get them. They may think there isn't enough demand to make it worth while. They may be wrong, or they may be right.

 

Please keep me in mind for your tasting, I may have some stuff that you might like. Will be heading to the Lou in September too.

@ Squid - I've been told that Lime Ventures ships east to west, and there is nobody in touch with them here. All you need is a connection. Word is the lime/shelton rep lives in Santa Rosa and has cantillon. Your best bet would be working through a place (ok y'all are going to hate) like Pangaea. These guys get Hanssens, which I haven't seen in Sacramento for some time.

You go through Bevmo or TW, it won't even hit the shelves unless there is a mass supply.

 

You'll be invited. Heck, we'll have room for 70-ish! In fact, I'm headed to Oregon on Friday to supplement my cellar...

I have been in contact with Lime Ventures and a circled half of their catalog to order. There will soon be another place to find what they have to offer

 

excellent. Love what Oregon has to offer.

 

Thanks - that's just what I was telling Cowcakes. The posts of his that I was responding to have all been deleted, so the conversation must look pretty weird.
Rare stuff is another story, but it's related of course. People like to complain that there isn't enough of it, but why do they think it's rare?

 

it also depends on what the distributor can get from their wholesaler. shoot, there are some beers I'd spring for an entire case of just to get them in my local store.

 

Anyone looking for tickets to the Firestone Walker Beerfest this weekend? I have two tickets available at cost. Let me know.

 

What's the difference between the distributor and the wholesaler? Do you mean retailer and wholesaler?
If you've got a good relationship with the local store (meaning that you're a regular customer and that they appreciate it), they'll probably order a case of anything that's available for you (you're not talking about trying to get the corner store to get a case of Parabola for you, right?).

They might ask you to pay in advance to show you're serious and not just some salesman trying to get them to buy something. And of course, they have to be doing business with the distributor of that beer in order for it to be available to them - that's the question of what they can get. They may not feel like opening a new account to just sell one case - but a good retailer will figure that if one person wants something that much, other people will want it to.

Maybe your local store will actually pay attention to what you want, if they know you want it. You don't know until you try.