Any bad/average breweries at start eventually become excellent?

Curious what breweries you're thinking of that strike gold almost immediately

As others have pointed out, it seems to me its almost impossible to do this. Learning curve exists for most everyone. Now, you might see a certain brewer's 2nd attempt strike gold.....

 

Wasn't that their premise for bolt cutter or why they commemorated a pair of them with a beer?

 

I can't say I was overly impressed with Half Acre at their initial start. I loved Daisy Cutter, but didn't see myself as a Gossamer or Over Ale drinker and early iterations of Space IPA didn't really do anything for me. That being said, I think that Half Acre has exploded into being the best brewery in the city. Daisy Cutter has remained their staple, but with so many new offerings available, and almost all of them hitting the mark, they are definitely my favorite local brewery now.

 

Not quite in line with what the OP wanted, but I think Sixpoint has a bit of an inverted bell curve thing going on. Strong start, dipped when they grew and first started contracting out some of their beers, but are now back in a strong place again.

 

I don't know what the time frame is for "almost immediately," but two examples I know of firsthand are Cigar City and Toppling Goliath.

I lived in Tampa when CCB first opened and remember them asking for volunteers to help them bottle. It seemed that in a ridiculously short period of time they went from a curiosity to a local phenomenon. Every beer geek I knew in Tampa fell in love with them as quickly as I did.

I then moved to Iowa City and lived there when TG first started coming into the city. Back then, I think it was only Golden Nugget kegs that came through, and it felt like it took the local craft scene by storm. It was all I and a number of friends drank for a long while. The hype machine started quick with them and never died down.

 

One of my favorite local places . Extra Billy's had less than good beer until they hired a different brewmaster. Prior to his arrival, the last beer I had from them actually tasted like watery tequila. And not in a good way. Ever since he started though, everything I've had has been spot on or better. I'd hope that by now most people that were previously disappointed have given them another shot.

 

I would add Revolution to the list. Their earlier offerings were very average, but between year round anti-hero and their BA offerings, they are putting out some awesome stuff.

 

I would say, while not considered "excellent" yet IMO, Otter Creek and Long Trail have definitely upped their games in recent years. Otter Creek especially. I used to think their beers were mediocre at best but there new seasonal offerings have been pretty solid.

I'd also have to agree with @rollom about Sixpoint. I was never a huge fan of their beers, just thought they were okay, but in the last 4-5 years there beers have just become downright excellent.

 

Almanac Beer Company has been brushing excellence for a bit more than a year now.

 

Not excellent by any means, but Golden Road went from undrinkable to fairly good. At least a few of their IPA offerings (Wolf Among Weeds, Heal the Bay...)

 

Jester King was an average brewery at first.

Then Atrial Rubicite came out during the summer of 2013.

Now they can't stop making amazing fruited sours.

 

Noble Ale Works in Orange County was meh until Evan took over. Now they have a ton of hits.

 

I've been holding out for great things from Swamp Head, but they haven't made the jump. New brewery about finished so hopefully they were waiting for that to start getting crazy. Great beers in Tropical Disturbance, Smoke Signal, Day Trippin', and Peat Dunwoody. But Smoke Signal gets inconsistent, those IPAs are rarely around, and Peat Dunwoody was only 60 bottles (and I am told will never be made again). The awesome beers are extremely few and far between and there's a lot of stuff I just want to ask them "why bother with this"?

Crossing my fingers they start going in the direction I saw with Peat Dunwoody. Great guys there and always friendly and helpful.

 

Locally, in ATX, they were "in favor" long before Rubicite. And I'm not their cheerleader. I don't generally like sours, theirs included. But to each their own.

 

Cigar City had multiple infection issues, along with recalls for other issues in the early days. The learned and eliminated the issues.

 

Sure, but that was more of a QC issue than one of ability/ambition. Despite those issues, they were still making some great stuff from pretty early on.

 

I'd put Columbus Brewing Company in this category. I remember them in the late 90's being just "meh", but then it was enough to be "better than Bud." They've changed ownership since then, narrowed their focus, and now seem to hit home run after home run. If you're ever in the Columbus area, do yourself a favor and seek out their Bodhi or Creeper (their regular IPA and Pale Ale are pretty good too).

 

BG's only been open for 8 months, I'd still consider them in the start-up phase. I was going to mention Draai Laag - they had a decent start, got shaky pretty fast, but lately have really righted themselves.