What's all the buzz over Fat Tire?

If I had to pick a beer to have the absolute broadest appeal to craft beer drinkers and macro drinkers alike - I can think of few beers better than Fat Tire. It was one of the first craft beers I enjoyed and, even now after years of drinking everything from Kolsch to Gose to Bourbon Barrel Aged Stouts to Dry Hopped DIPAs - I can still enjoy and appreciate a Fat Tire.

 

Having read this thread only this morning, I must say, I'm totally pissed at myself for ordering a Fat Tire last night. Apparently, it was an epic fail.

 

I would say the determining line between popularity and hype can be determined by where sales stabilizes after a brand has been in a new market for X amount time....the drop in sales from it's entry into a new market to its stabilized average sales measures the amount of hype...average sales measures popularity...
I think what is really at the heart of this thread is the unanswerable question..."Is Fat Tire a good beer?" Some say yes, some say no, some say it's drinkable or a go to in a pinch...Who's wrong there?
And for what it's worth...I get asked if we carry Fat Tire all the time (not yet)...and I liked the beer the first time I drank it and was turned off by it the second...
Finally, New Belgium is very anal about beer being kept at proper temp from brewery to retail...this often is a barrier to new markets because in some cases in may require a distro to expand it's facilities by adding additional cooler space...at least this has been true in this part of PA

 

I work at a store in nj and everybodys the same way "you dont carry fat tire?!! Ill take my business elsewhere!" Rather annoying

 

My first fat tire was 9 years ago, out of a bomber, at a crappy bar in Chicago. I live in Michigan and when I got back I realized that they did not distribute here. Every time I've gone to Chicago since, which is about once a year, fat tire has been my go to. Readily available, cheap, and I can drink a ton of it. Now that it is available in Michigan I find myself drinking it less and less, but if I'm in a hotel room, in Chicago, and it's before noon, the first thing I go for is a fat tire.

 

This happens everyday with Pliny. People walk in ask the "do you have any Pliny" the answer is almost always no. They ask where they can get it and leave empty handed.

 

I live in Cleveland. We started getting distribution of New Belgium not too long ago, so people are likely still excited about these new to us beers. I know lots of folks from around the Cleveland area that travel to upstate New York for long weekends and such, so maybe it has something to do with this.

 

Was the option for golf course beer. Many courses carried it in cans (for on course drinking), when Hienie was the only other option that was not Bud, Lite, etc...... Slowly, those options are expanding and I drink less and less Fat Tire.

 

It's a decent beer, that's it. Tons of marketing. NB is a good CO/NC brewery that, IMO is overrated. There are so many other great beers in the Denver/Boulder area. Skip FT.

 

I don't mind simple or "entry level" beers, but I didn't much like Fat Tire. I got into Craft through Stone, so I guess my reference point is very different.

 

Its marketing. They market it as craft, its an intro to craft w a lot of exposure. Pretty smart honestly. But yea its is not good.

 

Its one of my go to beers when there is no other good beer available. But I never seek it.

 

gonna be a bunch of ignorant responses to this, since more than 36 cases of it are produced and since you don't have to travel to northern cali or Vermont to get Fat Tire. It just isn't cool enough for the cool kids anymore

 

Fat Tire isn't: high ABV, sour, bourbon barrel aged, obscure.

Fat tire is: reliable, available, looked down on by self-appointed craft beer "guardians". Just like Samuel Adams, in fact.

Do I drink Fat Tire? No. Not really my beer. Do I slander it? No. It's beer. Drink it if you like it. If you don't, just walk on by and let someone else try it and decide for themselves.

 

Other gateway beers are SABL and SNPA (1 and 2)... so not sure what you mean.

 

If you're on the C concourse try Timberline, usually have Odell IPA on, plus a couple Avery rotators one of which is usually one of their Ruler series or whatever it's called--like Kaiser or Czar, or Maharajah--I've definitely had a Maja there. In any event, I think 8 craft taps and not limited to New Belgium. Root Down also has 4-5 good beers on every time I've been there.

If you're on the B concourse where New Belgium is, I think there may be a more varied selection at Lefty's but I seem to be flying a shit ton of Southwest these days and so am usually on the C concourse...

 

Yes and no...taste is subjective...hype is fickle...quality and consistency wins the day eventually...Fat Tire...which I am not a fan of is a consistent, quality beer

 

The problem with this whole thread is that the OP is talking about a group of consumers (those who seek out Fat Tire) and most of the responses are from a completely different group of consumers (the average BA). Many people here often forget or just don't realize that we do not make up the largest piece of the pie when it comes to beer consumers. Fat Tire is a decent beer that sells very well. It is a beer that gets hype among people just getting into craft or who just happen to like it. It's not the latest Prairie Bomb variant, Hill Farmstead one-off or Cantillon rarity. Whether you like it or not is irrelevant to the point. Some people like it and seek it out. All you can do OP is let your customers know that it is not distributed to your area and offer alternatives. End this f'ing thread already

 

I don't know that you can really categorize everyone who likes it, though. It may not be a very adventurous beer, but the same person who climbs Mt. Everest may also enjoy slow walks through city parks. Beer is no different. I probably drink more ounces of SNPA per year than I do all other beers combined. That doesn't tell you much about what beers I like outside of SNPA, though.