SweetWater's westward expansion

The reason that you see the western breweries expanding east has to do with the larger population in the east, coupled with shipping costs. More food and other goods go from West to East than East to West. Rather than deadhead back west, loads are discounted for what they can find for a load.

 

As a GA native, I would guess most people who live or have spent a good bit of time in GA would say that Sweetwater used to be the best brewery in GA...when there was no competition.

Creature Comforts, Orpheus, and Burnt Hickory, all fairly new, seem to come up with better quality beers on a more consistent basis (in my opinion). Hell, Sweetwater has been around since the 90's, and they just bottled their first ever bourbon barrel aged stout - the 3 other breweries have all already done this in a reasonably quick time frame, with Creature Comforts hitting a home run with See the Stars.

Sweetwater to me isn't bad, but it's not great. I enjoy the 420, IPA, and the occasional Hop Hash, but if you look at the other breweries around, I will take an IPA/APA from any of the other 3 breweries I mentioned before I grab a Sweetwater.

As someone mentioned earlier, I think Sweetwater might have a difficult time expanding out West. I think their beer will initially see demand and a craze, but I think they are sadly mistaken if they think their beers (current lineup) can compete with any of the solid lineups someone can already get in California.

Good luck to them though, they were basically the original brewery in Georgia, and I give them props for expanding as big as they did in the state considering the shitty beer laws we have down here in GA.

 

Hope they get to Texas soon! Just finished my last 420 and IPA purchased in Alabama in August. Both in cans and both still good. Will buy and keep around as soon as they hit the shelves. Cheers!

 

They will certainly have some competition in California, but this expansion should also allow them to distribute to many states between GA and CA which they would be very competitive in.

 

Yeah, and don't underestimate the power of crossover appeal and branding. They just moved into this area, and seem to be making quite a splash.

 

I like their beers, but I'm not so sure they'll be able to infiltrate western areas with heavy competition. I already have like 100 solid to good IPA's I can buy. Even if 420 and SWIPA are good, would I really choose theirs often? Probably not. I'd imagine the metro areas of California are probably similar. I wish them all the best, but I dunno if this will work out for them in California. I'd shoot for some of the areas with wide open space and limited competition.

 

Is this the measure of a good brewery - how quickly they bottle a barrel aged stout?

 

Considering barrel aged stouts are one of the biggest styles in demand, and some of the most highly rated beers in the world, then yes I consider this somewhat of a measure.

Maybe I didn't explain well enough, or maybe you just want to be argumentative, but my point here is that in my opinion, Sweetwater does not branch out much and makes mediocre beers that are in mediocre styles. Considering they've been around for 20 years and they just made a barrel aged stout (which by the way, they don't really have a regular stout unless you include Happy Ending) then that concerns me to a degree since they seem to love to pump out the pilsners andipas that all taste roughly the same.

No, it's not the main factor as to what measures a good brewery, but I think selection of beers and variance of styles is a good determining factor of what a brewery is doing and where they are heading.

That said, I think Sweetwater will see good demand in the beginning, but in my opinion it will inevitably drop off at some point in the near future.

 

Sweetwater is far down my list Service, Eagle Creek, Wild Heaven,Coastal Empire,Fannin Brewing,Grumpy Old Men, Orpheus and Creature Comfort all sell far better in our shop Georgia has a lot to offer in the craft brew market.

 

I agree. I had several of their regular offerings while in Florida a couple of weeks ago (420 Pale, Hop Hash, Sweetwater IPA, and Take Two Pils.) All were very solid and very drinkable. They would definitely be a nice change of pace here.

 

I don't consider making a barrel-aged imperial stout a hallmark of a good brewery. Make a big 10+% imperial stout, toss it in barrels for a year, receive accolades - not that difficult for someone who's been brewing commercially for a few years. That's why we see so many of them. Also, define "mediocre style," because unless we're talking about adjunct lagers or maybe cream ales, there aren't many styles I would consider mediocre.

 

I've had 6 of their beers and haven't been excited by any of them. Not sure why people elsewhere in the US would get excited about this brewery expanding into their area (unless you are in AL or WV or other beer wasteland and don't get much selection). I bought the sampler 12 pack when they first came to MD and haven't bought any more. Shelf space is getting stolen by another average brewers lineup.

 

FWIW, I had Sweetwater for the first time a few months ago at a beerfest pouring nothing but IPAs and I thought Sweetwater IPA infused with pecans and peaches was the best regular/non double IPA there. Hop Hash was also available but unfortunately I did not try it. So much beer, so little time.
I have not had any since.

 

I was excited to see RAR and Burley Oak (2 MD eastern shore of the Chesapeake brewers) distributing cans on the western shore of MD in my area. Does that count for western expansion? :-)

 

I had their IPA a few years ago and wasn't very impressed. But, I'd totally give it another shot, as well as other offerings.

 

I think @zid is hinting at the disconnect between how craft beer geeks* measure up breweries vs how the the larger population of craft beer drinkers measure up breweries. This forum tends to be dominated by the former, but craft beer geeks are really an extreme niche within the niche of craft beer drinkers; and as such their views and opinions are not necessarily reflective of the larger craft markets. One can argue that Sweetwater's brewing legacy, sales, and growth are as good or better measure of a brewery than a barrel-aging program.

Also, for what it's worth, many people on this site are biased against or outright disregard more subtle styles (e.g. almost every lager style, ESB, pale ale, etc.) which are actually much more difficult to brew well than a high ABV stout, super hoppy IPA, or almost anything barrel-aged. So again, there's a disconnect between most craft beer geeks and the larger market.

* - Or whatever term you choose to use for craft beer drinkers who tend to the more extreme side of our hobby [e.g. aficionado, nerd, advocate, super-fan, etc.] To be clear, I don't mean this term as an insult and would call myself a beer geek.

 

After moving west from the east a few months ago, the difference in the local vs. out-of-area beer availability is quite noticeable. There is a lot more emphasis and availability of local and in-state products here in Denver than local and in-state products in suburban NY so your opinion and conclusions are spot on. One of the main reasons is the number of local breweries here in Denver and others scattered around Colorado so it follows that there are more local products to emphasize and fill the shelves, coolers and taps. And although I have only visited California on two recent occasions, local products are also more prevalent there.

 

I think words have been put in my mouth, I said I do think it's somewhat of a measure, in my OPINION. I didn't state it was a "hallmark" of a good brewery.

Anyways, good luck Sweetwater, I think you're going to need it out West..

 

I was about to tell you they have been here for a while, but in checking Specs distribution, it seems that they are only in Houston and San Antonio. So it would seem that the haven't moved into Austin and north of Houston. As mentioned in the previous post, their beers are somewhat solid, Hop Hash is above solid. Since having them when they first entered the State, I haven't purchased any of their core lineup, better choices available. For Hop Hash, that is a different story. I will grab it whenever I find it on tap

 

Three Taverns beers are very easily obtained and light years better too. In fact I don't really see any other brewery from GA that would sit below Sweetwater in my opinion, everyone is doing better, more esoteric, more challenging beers, and they've all had way less time to establish themselves. To be fair though, I'm not a hop guy, and SW tends to hop everything they do, most of the time over hop, and that's a big turnoff when they call Happy Ending an imperial stout when it's clearly a black IPA, or GA Brown being a slightly less aggressive version of DFH Indian Brown. Per style both of these are way off. I get it that hops are popular, but there's no need to make every beer have the same hop profile. They also may be the largest GA brewery, but they're certainly not the oldest, Red Brick takes that claim and they're brewing way better beers than SW ever has. I also find it amusing that a brewery who's tagline is "Don't float the mainstream" seems to do nothing but mainstream beers. As mentioned they've begun to branch out, but it took them a very long time as they were busy getting into every supermarket, gas station, sporting venue, grocery, and liquor store.