Spokane winery getting into brewing business

Discussion in 'Northwest' started by woemad, Jul 18, 2015.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. woemad

    woemad Grand Pooh-Bah (5,601) Jun 8, 2003 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    A couple of years ago, a friend of mine who knows the family that owns Arbor Crest told me they wanted to do this. Since nothing seemed to happen, I thought it had just been a passing idea. Guess not:

    http://www.spokane7.com/blog/2015/jul/15/new-varietal/

    $8 per pint seems a bit much for "a Blond, Red and an IPA."
     
    #1 woemad, Jul 18, 2015
  2. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I'll say. And it seems especially odd, coming from a winery that's made it's repuation produing value based wines.

    And so sorry Mr. van Loben Sels, but your explanation smacks of BS and greed to me.

    “We don’t want people to come up here and think it’s a beer pub,” says van Loben Sels. “We want to sell wine first, and have beer as an add-on.”

    If that's how you feel, then don't sell it in the tasting room. Ponzi has been selling draft beer for years out of their Dundee tasting room, and while they also are trying to sell wine first, they don't use that as an excuse to stick it to beer drinking customers that stop on in.
     
    #2 John_M, Jul 18, 2015
    NWer, Strangestbrewer and woemad like this.
  3. woemad

    woemad Grand Pooh-Bah (5,601) Jun 8, 2003 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I don't see this going far. I think they just want to make more money from selling beer to people who come to their summer concerts that refuse to drink wine. That might have been a good idea a few years ago, but the local beer scene is almost literally bubbling over with beer choices, all of which will be cheaper than what AC wants to sell their beers for, excepting some ba beers and rare one-offs.
     
    #3 woemad, Jul 18, 2015
    fuhkyou likes this.
  4. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    It strikes me as bad PR as well.

    At the Ponzi tasting room, most of the folks who buy beer there are folks who are only there because they're with a friend or spouse who wants to try some local pinot or the current Ponzi line-up. So it's an absolute treat for them to see 3 or 4 draft offerings that they can enjoy while their friend or spouse is sampling the vino. It tends to make everyone happy, and so even non-wine drinkers leave the tasting room happy and with a positive impression of Ponzi. I have a feeling that wouldn't be their reaction if the pint of red thistle ale they purchased cost $8.
     
    #4 John_M, Jul 18, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2015
    NWer and woemad like this.
  5. distantmantra

    distantmantra Pooh-Bah (2,954) May 23, 2011 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Crux has the same reasoning with pricing, and it doesn't seem to be hurting them. I guess the market will decide if it's a smart move for the winery.
     
    #5 distantmantra, Jul 18, 2015
  6. fuhkyou

    fuhkyou Initiate (0) Feb 20, 2013 Idaho

    The last time I was in the Ramblin' Road taproom their barrel aged offerings were $8 and I'm not sure if that was a full pint or not.
     
    #6 fuhkyou, Jul 19, 2015
  7. the_trystero

    the_trystero Initiate (0) Mar 19, 2013 California

    You're comparing apples to bananas. $8 for generic blond, red, and IPA is ridiculous.
     
    #7 the_trystero, Jul 19, 2015
    fuhkyou likes this.
  8. woemad

    woemad Grand Pooh-Bah (5,601) Jun 8, 2003 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I agree. For Spokane, $8 for a pint of some sort of barrel-aged sour or other fairly exotic beer is a little high but still defendable. $8 for a freaking blond ale is ridiculous.
     
    #8 woemad, Jul 19, 2015
    fuhkyou likes this.
  9. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Last I knew, in WA a brewery wasn't allowed to make wine or cider, and vice versa (that's why Two Beers opened Seattle Cider in a separate facility). Has that changed, or are they producing this beer elsewhere?
     
    #9 BBThunderbolt, Jul 19, 2015
  10. distantmantra

    distantmantra Pooh-Bah (2,954) May 23, 2011 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    They can't make both at the same time, that's what I was told at Laht Nepur a few years ago.
     
    #10 distantmantra, Jul 19, 2015
  11. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    We've got a meadery here in town that makes cider as well, and the owner also owns the local homebrew shop, and he wanted to put a small brew system in a few years ago, and LCB wouldn't approve it. If they've found a way around that, good on 'em. Seems rather arbitrary to say a brewery can't make cider.
     
    #11 BBThunderbolt, Jul 19, 2015
    woemad likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.