2015 New Glarus upcoming beers

What about the milk stout Dan mentioned a while back?

 

Eh, it just sounded more confronty than i meant it to. Bottom line is pumpkin beers are hot, and new glarus sold a shit ton of that beer in a hurry last year, and has always said they'll bring back the beers that sell best. It's frustrating when people throw around hyperbole because a brewery isn't ran the way they'd prefer, or making the cult favorites. it just seems silly to worry about when there's so much good beer available, even in the same style.

 

No word on that. Maybe next year?

 

Oh well, I'll still spend the money exploring some other beers.

 

Sigh. You're right. Mumbles about lack of self-control.

 

So what's the deal with not being able to post in the trading forum now? Thought Id ask here since I can't over there...

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/replying-is-now-a-privilege.317968/

 

Thanks! Looks like I need 50 more posts, soooo how bout them Packers?!

 

It feels to me like they are phasing out the Thumbprint (Unplugged) line. Maybe it's been coming for some time and I'm just realizing it. In the last couple of years, we've seen

1. More emphasis on the R&D series (not necessarily a bad thing).
2. Thumbprint beers are now "Year-Round" contrary to the original mission: "A few times a year, we cut Dan loose to brew whatever he chooses..."
3. Fewer thumbprints and/or more repeats when they do make them.

The beauty of the old Thumbprint series was that the beers were different year-to-year, we got a new one every few months, and they were very well made. Scream certainly is well-made, and Apple Ale is both well-made and different. They lose they luster (for me at least) when available year-round and/or repeated regularly.

Feels to me like R&D is now Dan's outlet to cut loose (and has been for a while), and the Thumbprint series is going to just give way to Seasonal and/or Year-Round 4 packs. Does the Scream label say Thumbprint on it anywhere?

I'm sure this is all well thought out and the right business decision for them, but in my opnion it devalues their brand. While they didn't make as much money on it, the Thumbprint series and how they used to run it was a differentiator.

I suspect if you ran the numbers, the best dollars and cents business decision probably would be to just make Spotted Cow.

Just my opinion though.

EDIT: I take back the part about uninteresting styles. The styles are all interesting.

 

As the Thumbprint schedule seemed more 'Copy & Paste', this theory crossed my mind.

 

Well they updated the calendar and nothing new. scream and apple for thumbprints and only yokel for seasonal release.

 

Fewer to no Thumbprints certainly makes New Glarus a less distinctive brewing company, but I'd say more R&D releases isn't necessarily a bad thing. So I think I agree.

 

But what is the point of R&D'ing beers if they are never put into distribution? The thing that makes New Glarus great is that they make great beers that anyone in the state can get. Moving to more brewery oriented releases would be great for those in proximity to the brewery, but pretty lousy for the rest of the state.

 

It makes sense for the R&D styles they're making - you don't want to send unfiltered/unpasteurized wild ales out into the hands of distributors. While some have become savvy on how to handle/store beers like these, many still treat all beers like they are American adjunct lagers. So keeping these perishable beers close to home is smart (and not just from a "marketing" perspective).

So they cut out the middle man, which means our $'s go directly to the brewery. They minimize risk of the beer being mis-handled, and they also minimize the ability to hoard the beers.

They did send their 20th Anniversary Belgian out into limited distribution a few years back. Not officially an R&D, but same bottles and a very nice label. So at least there is a precedent for a rare special distribution release.

 

I would counterpoint that other breweries, Jolly Pumpkin for instance, have no problem distributing great, wild, unfiltered ales at the national level. There is no reason that NG couldn't do it for one state. I don't think the R&D beers are so delicate that distributorship would be a problem. I think quantity would be more of an issue, which brings us right back to why I love new Glarus. I have yet to not get my hands on a thumbprint that I wanted to try.

Also, I loved that anniversary beer. First, beer I bought when I moved to WI. I have one left in my cellar and have a hard time not opening it every time I open the cabinet.

 

Good points. We've already seen them release Wild Sour as a Thumbprint so there's a chance they'll Thumbprint some additional wild ales. I know Cran-bic was pasteurized but I don't think Wild Sour was...

I also have a single Anniversary left. It's hiding in a box somewhere but it's probably going down sometime before Fall.

I do think there is intrinsic value in getting people to the brewery for a release, and that goes for all breweries. I was a bit surprised that they lined up 4 R&D's this summer, but it seems like they are selling out (even if it took until the next release, in the case of Wild Bitter). We'll see how the October release goes- if they don't sell out there is a chance they'll have bottles of whatever that is well into the winter, so maybe they'd distribute leftovers (if there are any).

 

Is their any fresh Scream? I stopped looking.

 

My local packy just got "fresh" bottles from the distributor.

Bottled late May.

 

I got some scream 1675 (June 26 I think) from the depot.

 

Drank my last Aniversary 2 weeks ago. Drinking fantastically.