Founders coming to New Hampshire

Keep your eyes open, because I can confirm that Frangelic Mountain Brown will be on the shelves shortly. 14 cases will be hitting the state.

 

Damn, my wallet didn't need the extra damage

 

Update: Berts posted a picture on their Facebook. Looks like they got Reds Rye, Centennial IPA, Porter, Dry-hopped Pale Ale, and Dirty Bastard in today.

 

All deliveries should be going out on Friday north of the notches. Just waiting on state approval of the Frangelic Mountain Brown..

 

http://beerpulse.com/2012/08/founders-breakfast-stout-bottles-banned-in-new-hampshire/

Just saw this from BeerPulse. NH Liquor Commission really sucks sometimes.

 

Can still get kegs

 

My buddy went to the Bert's event and told me this. In his words "Live free or die, my ass!"

But seriously, atleast you're getting kegs.

 

Kegs of Breakfast Stout in NH, never thought I'd see the day...
Nice!!!

 

Well it doesn't say we'll definitely get kegs, just that they would be allowed as long as the tap handle doesn't have the baby on it. Probably wouldn't work in my favor either as not many places around here branch out beyond SA, Harpoon, Tucks and maybe Smutty or Allagash for their tap selection. Maybe we should all write a letter to the Liquor Commission telling them that since those big government pinko commie liberals down in MA allow it, then the Live Free or Die state should allow it too!

 

My buddy that went talked to the rep, I believe, who said they probably would be getting kegs. Take it for what it's worth though, as 2nd and 3rd hand info at this point...

 

I often wonder why NH's distribution selection is so poor relative to Maine and Mass. I'm aware of the thread and thoughts of Peter Egelston that NH residents should just drive over the border for their fix (I can't be bothered to search it out - sorry).

After asking several bottle shops about it, I've found that they often reply that the distributors have access to some of the Belgian offerings, but no one is asking for it. It seems weird that Maine would have more demand for these beers than seacoast NH, but I guess it must be true. We need a bottle shop that pushes hard to get these offerings.

 

Well for the Belgian imports, I think it's worth noting that Shelton Bros doesn't distribute to NH. I'm not really a big fan of Shelton, but they do bring A LOT over here. Hard to tell whether or not there would be enough demand for them either. Personally, I don't think I would buy more just because it's not that often I want to spend $10+ on a 750.

 

Something sounds fishy about that? I really don't think there's a ton of difference between NH and Maine, except maybe exposure to Belgian offerings. How do you expect people to be demanding something they don't know exists? And the growing bottle shops and bars right over the river from Portsmouth indicate to me that there's an unmet (in-state, at least) demand at least on the Seacoast.

What did you mean about Egleston's take? My guess on why NH's distribution is worse than Maine or Mass is a combination of things. Obviously, Mass is a much bigger market, so there's that. And Maine is a bit more isolated and homogeneous. And that plays a bit into another post by Peter Egleston about NH's relative lack of support for local products on a statewide level. My guess as to why there might be more demand in Maine is that Mainers have been use drinking local beer on a fairly wide scale for longer than NH drinkers. My guess is that the novelty of drinking locally brewed beer got a lot of folks in Maine more interested in beer, in general. Even if just a small portion of the people who started drinking local beer got interested, you've got a solid and growing set of people demanding more good beer in general. It's definitely behind Maine and Mass, but I think New Hampshire is catching up on that front. I'm less familiar with the ins and outs of the laws, but NH's strict liquor laws can't help either.

 

Here is Peter Egelston's take that I was referring to (from his blog as I can't locate the BA thread):

"A number of people participating on the forum expressed that legislation should be proposed to raise the 14% limit, or do away with it altogether. To them, I say go for it. However, I hope I don't sound too cynical by adding that it is far easier for a single individual to get in his or her car from time to time and drive to a store in Maine or Massachusetts to purchase beers unavailable in New Hampshire, than it is to become educated about the mechanics of legislation, draft a bill, locate sympathetic legislators, take time to travel to the state house to testify (sometimes multiple times), round up public support, persuade potential opponents to change their positions or at least keep quiet - in short to lobby for a change in the law that will benefit some consumers but have limited consequence in the grand scheme of things. "

Now - granted this was written back in August 2010 but I think it's still relevant today. NH has gotten better by adding Founders, Maine Beer Co, Firestone (union jack was fairly recent), and somehow we even got Green Flash before Maine. I think we do okay for local offerings, but I'm mostly referring to our lack of Belgian offerings. Kinsman may well have it correct if Shelton Bros do not distribute here.

In regards to people being able to demand something they don't know exists: I suspect the beer consumer that is willing to drive to Maine or Mass as I've been doing for 6-7 years knows the Belgian offerings are much deeper in those markets. Speculating on why demand would be higher in Maine rather than here is anyone's guess. I can only speak to my opinion on the seacoast's beer scene, which I think is pretty vibrant and could support a wider offering at specialty shops. I can completely understand your point about the MA market being big enough to support the product depth.

At any rate, it is something I think about when I drive 30-40 minutes from the seacoast to find better options. I also believe it's worth some civilized discourse, maybe even over a beer.

 

I agree with all that. The Seacoast beer scene is especially vibrant, and I think it would be even more so if some of the beers--specifically some of the Belgians and other good imports--that are available across the river were also available in NH. I meant that if a place like the Black Birch can exist in Kittery Foreside, it could certainly exist in downtown Portsmouth. Or maybe even Dover or Exeter or somewhere. There are definitely well-educated consumers in NH driving 30-40 minutes like you say, who I'm sure would be happier to drink and buy nearby, and there are even more people in the dark who would be able to find out about these beers.

Anyway, I hope I didn't sound like I was saying what you were saying was "fishy"--it was a pretty poorly written post--I just meant that I didn't necessarily believe the bottle shops were right about an inherent lack of demand. I don't think beer tastes or knowledge stop at the Piscataqua, and I think any lack of demand that may exist in NH but not in Maine is due to a relative lack of awareness. It's getting better in NH--in terms of in-state beer and out-of-state distribution--but it could still get more better!

 

Like previously addressed, NH will not allow the bottles of Breakfast Stout into the state due to the baby on the label. After spending a couple days with the Founders rep, I have learned that these sort of things can be changed. Founders will be re-submitting the beer at every opportunity for another chance to be let into the state, however, he mentioned that if enough people mail or call the state complaining, it is likely that they will re-consider. A perfect example is one of the other states would not allow Dirty Bastard because of the word "Bastard." The state (Alabama I believe) now carries the beer because enough of the citizens wrote letters until they finally caved. I can confirm that NH WILL have Breakfast Stout on draft when it is available; as well as all of their other limited beers including a very small amount of KBS.

 

The main reason why NH doesn't have the selection of Maine, Vermont or Mass has always been due to the higher registration fees per label. It doesn't make sense to bring in limited releases or small brewery beers because a distributor won't make money off of them. Period. New Hampshire has it's fair share of beer lovers who have been making the trip over the borders for better beers for years as Peter suggests. Our selection has improved dramatically over the past two years but we still don't get many brewers better beers because of the prohibitive label fees. Once this changes (or if -I have to stay positive) we'll have a good as a selection as our neighboring states.

 

I've heard this argument from restaurants and bottle shops alike. Do you any have any direct information on what these fees run relative to Mass or Maine? I recall this was a major reason Shelton Bros had issues with selling to NY state as their wide product offering was less profitable than a distributor selling five BMC product lines (with greater volume).

Seems to me this comes down to states needing funding and label fees being a good historical way to raise revenue. My counter to this thinking is that my dollars are going to Mass and Maine completely, rather than me picking from the available beers.

 

I'm curious to see how much higher these fees are as well. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they are quite steep, given how NH prides itself on having low taxes by calling everything a "fee" instead (I know this is true in states with higher taxes as well, but it seems to be worse here).