Why does NJ distribution suck so bad?

Some other things to consider-
- a few years back I was told the NJ's approval process for each label/style is more onerous than the surrounding states, which means that breweries aren't going to be inclined to bring something into NJ that won't make it worth their while. I also suspect that is why we get some beers a few weeks later than our neighbors.

- for the breweries that are here, the sales force at the distributor level isn't all that hot (I've been told) and it is usually me who tells the stores when something is coming out rather than the salesman. These days I am pro-active and really give the beer guys advance notice on certain things I will be wanting.

 

If your desire to try something new is so great just suck up the drive to PA or NY. The only place in NJ that is an inconvenient distance from either state is Cape May, so unless you live there I don't see the problem.

Many craft beer drinkers are always looking for the stuff they can't have or don't have readily available to them (and generally overrate those hard-to-get beers in the process).

 

See this thread that was going on today. A lot of good points for one specific beer, let alone brewery(ies).

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/what-is-all-the-buzz-over-fat-tire.217844/

 

I thought Dinner was a brewery only release.

 

Now, just to get a bit beer snobbery, there are a number of breweries that I'd be willing to see out of NJ and giving their valuable shelf space to others not here already: Full Sail, Tommyknocker, Epic, Horny Goat...

 

Keep Epic for Big Bad Baptist (top 250) but agreed on the rest.

 

I live in Cape May, and we just even get half the stuff that stores outside Philly and NYC get. If your close to NYC or Philly, come down here and Ill gladly walk you around our 3-4 stores that get barely nothing.

 

If you want breweries to consider NJ as one of their next states to distribute, try emailing them directly to discuss how much you want to see them in our state. Don't go on to a public forum which many breweries avoid because of childish rants.

- Joe

How has nobody liked any of your comments in this thread?

 

I've been drinking. But I think I might be able to explain the whole "population density in NJ!" and "why don't breweries want to come here?!" thing.

NYC - Population 8.4 Million - 469 sq miles
Philadelphia - Population 1.5 Million - 142 sq miles
NJ - Population 8.9 Million - 8,729 sq miles

Does that help? Yeah woohoo population density! If I'm a medium sized brewer from Florida (Cigar City), I don't give a fuck about the population density in the state of NJ, bc it's exponentially more dense in NYC and Philly.

I mean, come on. Do you realize how much shit just sits and sits in your average liquor store in NJ? And that's because the population is so spread out. Look at Dirt Wolf - I haven't seen fresh Dirt Wolf since it came out. The best store in North Jersey - Boonton Liquor Outlet - still has Dirt Wolf with a best by date of fucking September.

So yeah. If I'm one of these breweries on the fence, I'll put my shit in NYC and Philly all day before I come to Jersey.

 

This has little to do with this argument. This is on the distributor and store. Victory is the same distributor as Firestone if that helps you visualize it.

If the store sees it out of date, they need to pull it. Call their distributor, call Victory. Get the stuff out.

Epic Escape to Colorado is an awesome IPA. There's a ton of other breweries I'd let go from NJ before Epic.

 

I agree with you OP. As far as year round stuff, I do not have much to complain about, except for the absence of a few awesome breweries. Seasonals are still decent, but anything that is relatively limited is just about impossible to track down.

Plus, we get everything late.

 

Speaking as an outsider from NY, I frequently visit friends down in Woodbridge and the liquor stores there all have great beer selection.

 

Also, it may be better to talk about North Jersey vs Central/South Jersey. The more urbanized North Jersey has better distro from what I hear. I'm in the Princeton/Lawrenceville area, so I rely liquor stores along route 1. Not many options as far as bottle shops...

 

Once stores pay for it, they will let it sit until it is bought by someone who doesn't know better. We all went through growing pains and not realizing which beers are fresh. Some beer managers are wise and buy only what they think will sell over the course of a few weeks. That is, if they care about the freshness of certain styles.

Many of these top breweries have not expanded their distro due to the high demand locally. The Alchemist seemed poised to distribute Heady regularly until it became so well known. VT stores learned and, now, who knows of it will ever be distributed out of state, even with the new brewery on the horizon. Expanding distribution for breweries can be more of a headache for them.

My recommendations for limited beers: Learn what stores have earned the right to get them and become familiar with the beer managers. Most of them are knowledgeable and great people to boot. If you're a good customer and a good person, they will help you out will the tough-to-land beers. Share beer, too.

- Joe

 

In my mind, I'm thinking of large breweries distributing to PA and NY, but not to NJ like OP mentioned (Cigar City, Bells, etc). I wonder about the tax issue mentioned above.

That's the strategy I hear about all the time, and I'm sure it works. Sadly, I am forced to rely on large stores that avoid relationships with specific customers (Joe Canal's) and many of the smaller liquor stores ([sarcasm] bottle shops [/sarcasm]) have a poor working knowledge of limited releases/seasonals. I usually have to drive 30 minutes to find bottle shops that know what they are talking about. So perhaps I'm more frustrated with my county than my state, though NJ doesn't really help the situation.

 

How has no one mentioned that New Jersey is one of the top four states in the country, IIRC, for beer distribution?

Plus, you have Philly and NYC nearby.

It's like living in Florida and complaining you don't have enough oranges.

Try living in Mississippi if you want something to complain about