Honest question, does it seem like some breweries skip Michigan?

Do you guys at least get Great Lakes stuff?

 

Yeah, we get GL and a lot of the more basic stuff. Don't even think about trying to find White Rajah in Toledo though...

 

Nosferatu just came out =D

 

if i could like this 564765413486413215341321 times, I would.

 

I'm sure fuel and logistics play a large part, but I bet the distribution contracts and other state laws likely play a larger part.

 

I keep hoping that with Matt's ties to Kalamazoo, Michigan might get lucky if/when FW increases distribution now that their new brewhouse is completed. It definitely looks like Michigan is a tough market to crack on paper with all the great in-state options, but it seems like a lot of the recent additions (Epic, NB, Sixpoint) are doing pretty well.

 

Yes, it'd be nice to be able to actually try Parabola sans a road trip or whale trade.

 

I didn't see brewery capacity mentioned . You can only spread things so thin.

 

Quick look at BA directory, OH has 57 breweries and MI has 103. Obviously OH has a few gems here and there, every state does but MI just has a bunch of the small independent brewpubs, which is something that doesn't really exist in OH. I mean I'm from OH originally, I'm here a lot visiting family....just sayin.

 

I'll take quality over quantity any day. I live in the Cleveland area, we have more than enough local beer to keep me happy. I'm not going to turn this into a pissing match, but the only time I visit Michigan is when my wife forces me to visit her aunt; it certainly isn't for the beer. Just sayin...

 

I have heard from a couple people at FW that Matt would enjoy nothing more than distribute in Kalamazoo (or Michigan in general). Granted he does not make the those decisions but he's a good guy to have in our corner.

 

Those of us out here in Warren beg to differ about the availability of brewpubs...

I do agree that the Cleveland brewpubs are awesome though! Just not really close enough to hit regularly for me.

 

There are dead spots in every state, even the really good ones.

The only reason I posted was to refute the claim that "Ohio doesn't have shit for brewpubs". I have a dozen great places within an hour, and a few more decent ones to boot. If I wanted to add the rest of Ohio, I could claim several more. Broad claims with no basis in fact irk me, what can I say?

Whatever, carry on with the thread... sorry for the interjection.

 

Lol, damn what a burden for you that you are forced to come here now and again. It's sounds like Cleveland is a great area for beer. That's cool ive heard that before. To be more specific, what I should have said is that I grew up in the Cincy area and there just never has been much going on by way of brewpub culture. So my statement was obviously rooted in my own experience, sorry to offend the buckeye state :-)

 

Eh, no biggie. It's been a rough week and sometimes I like to vent.

 

I used to live in OH and I can confirm that CLE is a great spot for beer. But after moving here and experiencing Shorts availability(along with the supremely easy availability of every other brewer that bottles); and the tons of stores that have an insane selection around here. I am in beer heaven and I really wouldn't want to move out of this state, for real. I still like to make hauls of locals when I visit my parents during holidays(Mt Carmel, Rockmill, Brew Kettle, Columbus, Fat Heads etc). Believe me I love the Ohio only local offerings, and had a good attachment to them when I did live here. But choosing one or the other, I am choosing MI. Also have fun with finding the beer that is over 12% .

Plus where I am at, I have Kuhnhenn and Jolly Pumpkin within a joy ride distance. (Founders and Bells within a couple hour trip) I see no reason to live anywhere else.

 

Was in St. Louis over the weekend, and did a couple brewery tours. One of the guys at Schlafly flat out said they have no interest in going to the west coast, since the scene there is overly crowded already. This is a marketing guy, so take it with a grain of salt, but...

The reasoning seems to make sense. The brewery is doing fine already with its current distribution. The sales efforts needed to break into a new market are pretty high, and breaking into a market with a lot of good, established players has to be brutal. Michigan is known as one of the top contenders for "best brew state," so I'm guessing many places just don't see a point.

I'm guessing that MI distributors probably play into this too, somehow, since distributors always play into these things in the end.

 

I feel the same way... no need to visit Michigan when I prefer the beer here. All about opinions...

 

oh absolutely, no worries whatsoever, and sorry for being a smartass. hey, just be glad neither of us live in some totally dead beer area like north dakota (sorry north dakotans)