Funky Buddha Joins Constellation Brands

That would be the fair thing to do.

 

Does this mean I might actually score a bottle of Morning Wood?

 

Price and availability, do you want to sell a .50 cent beer for $9.00 or a $4.00 beer for $9.00??? Only massed produced beer would be sold at a venue like that. AB does make some of the GI brands at their large breweries but the variety is limited to the IPA, 312 and a few other brands. The majority of the High End is still made in their original breweries. Cost/Availability limit what is sold at a sports venue.

 

It's even easier to open a can Also, there's the portability factor. Good for camping, the beach, parties, whatever. I'm not saying you aren't right that it's easy to make your own (and that's what I prefer, personally), just that it's not very hard to imagine why people might want these things.

They just started showing up around here at $12.99-$13.99 a 4-pack.

 

True, but if a large company has purchased the smaller guys in effect they should be able to lower the overall cost to produce depending on what steps they are taking to assist in the brewing process. I do agree they want to sell the cheapest they can to make profit but again if they now sell a lot of new brands that have a high fan base in effect their sales could rise due to people consuming that said beer over passing on the beer purchase because they won't drink the usual watery options. Very good observation and one I was not thinking about so thanks for pointing this out, does make sense on those companies operating without their help, then yes those beers won't show up.
Cheers!

 

I'll miss them (if they're not invited). They brought great stuff to the BA fests.

 

Yep. Legally in the US, "natural flavors" on the bottle/can means use of extractives (think vanilla extract, orange extract) vs. brewing with the actual ingredient. Not something you do because the extracts taste better than the real thing, but instead because it's much cheaper and consistent to brew with them at scale.

Not a craft move, but a crafty bottom-line move. So you can see why it might agitate around these parts, yeah?

(You might also look up definitions of "adjunct" and "slander")

 

This deal seems only really to be interesting for those outside of FL. Around here FB's shelf space far exceeds demand (can't find the info now, but thought they were with ABI distributors for much of FL), so there really doesn't seem to be much headspace for Constellation in the existing distribution area. And unless Constellation has a cache of Buffalo Trace barrels laying around, I'm not sure I care

 

The word "craft" is now about as annoying as the word "juicy" is to describe IPA's

 

Thanks, I'm aware of what the term "natural flavors" means in the context of the TTB definition. My post was in response to something BreakingMyBalls wrote earlier up the thread. "Adjunct" was their word, not mine. I'm also very aware of what an adjunct is, as it pertains to brewing. This person has been spouting misinformation about Constellation/Ballast Point in this thread, and my hope is to challenge them to get their facts straight before ranting.

As far as brewing with extractives, you seem to have a negative outlook on the practice. There are many advantages to it, and you touch upon some of them. Often a brewery isn't simply being cheap by using an extract. Maybe they just can't source enough of a particular fruit or ingredient. Maybe using a particular fruit or ingredient in a batch would lead to the final product being unfeasibly expensive to put on the shelf. Maybe it would gum up their brewing equipment and lead to lots more labor and time lost. And yes, it can be much more consistent to brew with extracts, leading to a more shelf stable and maybe even better tasting product. Plenty of reputable craft breweries do it. And at least if you see the words "natural flavors" you know you aren't getting a beaver anus in your beer. It's WONF and artificial flavors you should probably look twice at.

Finally, I suppose I should've used the word libel since this thread is in writing. Ya got me.

 

On the note of extracts, there is nothing wrong with using them. It is along the lines of making a coffee beer, you can dump the beans in, or you can brew it and add it (coffee extract). Both have advantages and disadvantages. Most often extracts are not cheaper than the original ingredient. I think if you hang out in the home brew section you will find a lot of the brewers there talking about tinctures, which are extracts. They prefer it to adding the raw ingredient in so they can dial in the flavor.

 

Unless you have access to some very specific information, to say that FB's shelf space far exceeds demand would be based on limited, anecdotal observation at best. There may well be a lot of growth potential left in FL. They are the fastest growing brewery in the state after all. And even if they are in ABI distributors, what does that have to do with anything? These are most likely privately owned distributors. Regardless, Constellation will align them with the "gold network" anyway, if they aren't already in those houses. What do BT barrels have to do with anything either? If you're interested in barrels, what Constellation does have is access to a cache of High West barrels, as well as wine barrels I'm sure.

 

Not according to the TTB Ruling 2015-1, of which Attachment #2 gives allowable examples of "statements of composition". Just from the first two pages, beer brewed with cherry or raspberry juice, spices or honey, as well as beers with those flavoring ingredients added post-fermentation, can all be labeled "with natural flavor(s)" if the brewer wishes.

 

IIRC, Ballast Point were already releasing a number of such beers, both in bottle and at their brewpub, while they were still offically a craft brewery.

 

That's like saying at least I cut my hand off instead of my arm when the snake bit my finger.

 

They're the same level of bullshit.

 

Dude! You got JDubs. Darwin is okayish. Motorworks is getting there. But Townie from JDubs is awesome.

Shit. Go to Coppertail! Or Red Cypress. You won't be disappointed!

 

or Cage, Cycle, Green Bench, Angry Chair, etc...

 

To just name a few...

 

Well they *can*, but given that TTB also allows them to list the natural additives, how often do you think they choose the food-industry term "natural flavors" when they are marketing a beer as <Fruit> <Base beer name>?

I think it's a different bag entirely to use, as TTB allows, "natural flavors" in the case of a brewer shoving a ton of adjuncts in a beer and want to keep some mystery about what's in it -- in this case, unlike BP's, they are not basing their marketing on a specific additive.

Thanks for dropping that knowledge though. It's interesting yet unsurprising that FDA and TTB are not terribly aligned on definitions of standard food industry terms