10 Barrel Brewing Portland Update

lol, nice. still it would have been funny to see pitchforks.

 

Has anyone seen any craft industry response to this? I saw that Rogue tweeted a tongue in cheek remark, but just curious if anyone is "capitalizing" on the news.

 

I still do not know why they did this so early, unless they were in real trouble.
They had a place in Bend, then Idaho then Portland..i imagined in my mind maybe they are going the McMenamins way..which wold be cool since no one in the craft brew sphere has tried to duplicate this.
Hey any other coold brewer want to go the McMens way? I am sure there is room in that market

 

Without any lodging component or landmark locations, I'd say 10 Barrel's model looks more like The Ram or Rock Bottom than McMenamins. Different styles obviously, but with 3 locations in 3 different cities I think they'd reasonably be called a brewpub chain now.

 

Yeah but McMens did not start with lodgings.
But whatever you are correct. Doesnt matter now

 

So this all came from a few AB reps from WA. Some are brand new reps but one is a 20 year AB veteran rep:
-Swill recall dramatically hurt 10 barrel.
-10 barrel needed an influx of cash to bounce back
-AB sees the writing on the wall and wants to lead the "fast sour" category (Berliners) as miller/coors starts playing with sours under their AC golden brand.
-AB corporate NW has told everyone internally that this is the first of a few acquisitions in the pipeline for AB. The target breweries are from the PNW too and not Midwest.

My conclusion: if you want to make swill a national brand, cool! We need more education on fast "sours". If it's just a leinenkugel replacement then BOO. Also my guesses are Elysian, ninkasi and ale apothecary. One of those is a lie.

 

Ale Apothecary facebook didn't seem to happy. Posted "wtf" with the original link to article about sale, made a few comments in that thread. Then posted the New Schools response article with "Precisely" or something short in agreement to that effect.

Gary Fish from Deschutes was interviewed by a local channel. Said he'd never sell. Gets like 15 calls a week with offers. http://www.ktvz.com/news/bend-breweries-react-to-10-barrel-sale/29589630

 

Dare I say, the 10 barrel model was quickly looking the Fat Head model.

 

Hmm thats a really interesting take and not one I've heard before. If they want to make Swill a national brand, then they should go for it. Its disgusting.

 

Elysian would make me really sad, but I could see Ninkasi, Oakshire or maybe even Fish. What about No-Li? They've been expanding like crazy right now.

 

Just for the exercise. If ABI wanted a WA brewery, I think it would have to be fairly well established (say 4-5+ years), have a decent footprint along the I-5 corridor, reach over to the Eastside at least somewhat, have a decent (if perhaps not spectacular) reputation, be seen as "local/regional", and it wouldn't hurt if they were already being carried by an ABI house (ie: not one of Columbia's brands). Maybe Dicks, American, or Snoqualmie? I don't see Elysian happening.

Now, don't throw too many stones here, but, what about Fremont? Great reputation, large capacity, with more coming, the 77, Interurban, and UniversAle could all be made in huge quantities in ABI's LA brewery, and all the smaller batch stuff could be brewed in Fremonts new facility, and the existing brewery used as a test brewery.

 

I think someone mentioned in the deleted thread that Elysian is already carried by an ABI house. I see it being a brewery that already distributes in 6-packs of bottles. That leaves us with Fish, No-Li, Dicks, Hales, Maritime, Pike and Elysian. I really don't want it to be Elysian. Maybe Two Beers?

People always forget just how big of a player Fish really is. We don't drink their stuff, but they've got their Fish Organic Ales, Spire Cider and Leavenworth beers. Plus they somehow managed to get the Hobbit beer contract.

I just dropped a fucking bolder on your head. Let's not even joke around about Fremont.

 

Boulder.

I just posed this question to a brewery friend of mine, and the first name out of his mouth was No-Li. He also doesn't see it being Elysian. With Pike, would the Finkels sell Merchant du Vin along with the brewery? That could create some complications.

 

Touche.

No-Li has been aggressively expanding over here on the westside recently, they seem like a good candidate. I could still see it being Fish.

And I know he's not our favorite person, but here's that guy's take on the situation (with yes, a Sidor name drop like he always does):

http://blog.seattlepi.com/thepourfool/2014/11/07/the-short-life-and-ugly-death-of-10-barrel-brewing/

 

I'm hoping it's Two Beers. Would give me another reason to never drink their beers.

 

I'm curious to try the sour they're releasing tomorrow, but I never think about buying their stuff.

 

I forgot that they were making a sour. I'll be interested to hear what people think of it.

 

I think he was being a bit over dramatic, but made some valid points. Thing is, he, you, me, us, we, don't know what the brothers plans were from the beginning, maybe they just wanted to "build a brand", and then sell that asset off. Maybe they were planning on running that brewery the rest of their lives, and the recent problems they had forced their hand? We don't know. I'm not as emotionally attached as Pour Fool seems to be, I'm only disappointed, not heartbroke.

 

I agree with Fish. They make a shitload of mediocre beer. So a perfect fit for A-B. I'm sure they would also love to get the cider side as well.

 

Oh and I forgot. AB in Seattle distributes:
Elysian
Ninkasi
10 barrel
Alaskan