Old Dogs and New Tricks

I do think we are starting to see some "blow back" where other styles are taking precedence. I think we stopped at four breweries on our vacation, and I would have to say that IPA was in the minority - not by much at one stop, but one place only offered one IPA. The popularity of a place like Oxbow would also seem to indicate that people are at least willing to try different styles.

I remember those days too - shot, beer, cigarette/cigar (even though I never smoked). Two kinds of beer - warm and cold.

 

I live pretty much at the center of Hazy IPA heaven, in northern RI. The top breweries - Proclamation, Tilted Barn, Trillium etc. focus mainly on Pale Ales/IPAs/Stouts. It's world class stuff but if you want variety look elsewhere.

 

I always chuckle when I see Lord Hobo get some stick around here (particularly on the NE board), because several friends, as well as some family in the area, swear by it. These are your classic, recent-to-craft-but-really-only-because-they-know-it's-not-cool-to-drink-Budweiser-anymore crowd. I remember one friend being in town here out West, saying how he had a case of Heady in his fridge at home. I was like, "Yeah, man, Heady's great stuff," and he replied, "Dude, we got this one called Boom Sauce. Just like Heady. Everybody loves it, and you can get it way easier."

I highly doubt I'd read the NE sub suggest Heady and Boom Sauce are in the same leauge, but, point is, in the real world a lot of folks could care less about BA ratings/reputations, they just want something that's local and "cool".

 

I am having a hard time feeling sorry for you

 

I remember when it was mostly bars like that - I drove past many of them to get to the good places .

 

Yikes! Oh well, it just takes some places longer to catch on than others, unfortunately.

 

Give us derivative Stony Brook Red and La Folie variants, guys. Grab your "mother" sours and start fruiting and aging in different wine barrels. We'll buy.

 

Well, I can forgive them the insipidness, just as long as they keep making their tasty Boston Lager.

 

Agreed. I'm not a fan of these offerings that are a new brand but in reality an extension of big craft. I don't recall any of them producing an innovative beer to market. If anything, it makes the big craft's products seem better by comparison.

 

I don't enjoy seltzer water with or without alcohol, but if Boston Beer was looking for an uptick in sales, they hit the nail on the head with Truly. The variety 12pks have been flying off our shelves all summer. In fact, once we brought in Truly we phased out the AB owned Boathouse Spiked Seltzer because sales died almost immediately. We still carry White Claw products, but for us at least, sales numbers pale in comparison to Truly.

 

While local beer is great and fresh it has a much bigger price than the big guys. $14 and up for a 4 pack is not what I want to pay for beer. $16 and up for a growler and it goes on up.

Many don't even see packages and any others you need to line up for.

Beer is a thing I like to drink with people I like to hangout with. If it's Hamms or Heady I don't really care.

For me its much easier to buy what's readily available and be done. I don't live close enough to any place that i can walk there and driving to drink one beer is not worth it to me.

Enjoy

 

The article refers to SNPA and "but who drinks it?" Well, I do and it is till a huge seller with more production than the prob the lowest 1000 breweries added together. Sure not as big as once was--they also have more things prob stealing away but no doubt local/small have affected it.

As far as Old Dogs and New Tricks, SN does seem to be staying relevant. There are several things this fall personally I am looking forward to and, oh yeah--the seasonals Bigfoot and Celebration are annual tricks I NEVER miss--fo' sho'

Sure not on the trade boards but SN remains relevant and a winner in MY book with new tricks for this older dog.

 

There seems to be a lot of taking a piss on "drink local" here, which I don't understand. There are only a limited amount of beer dollars to go around; why wouldn't I prefer to spend it picking up six-packs at my local, where the brewers will walk out to the regulars and ask what kind of beer they should brew next, as opposed to Sam Adams, which has traveled across the country through uncertain conditions, and where my money is funding their new alcoholic seltzer line (?! honestly thought this was a joke at first) instead of anything I'd like to drink. What am I missing here?

 

Nothing wrong with loving local--I really support my local. Just went by a new place in town en route home. Exceptional.

But I still love SN--great beer now, ok-- a little nostalgia . And some well earned respect.

It's all good.

 

In the long run it's better for everyone if we hold our locals to the highest standard. If you don't cut it, sorry Charlie.

 

Agree completely! Buying from a subpar local just because it is local is just silly. But buying from a local brewery that makes beer you enjoy, and that engages in substantive involvement with their local community, is pretty awesome.

I should note that I'm completely spoiled in this regard, as Bruery, Bottle Logic, and Beachwood are all practically in my backyard, as well as less-talked-about-but-still-great breweries like Good Beer Co, Unsung, or Gunwhale. Given how easy it is for me to drink great beer and drink local at the same time, it just seems a no-brainer to me. I definitely understand that this situation isn't the case for everyone though!

Also, to refer to a thread from a few months ago: regardless of how you feel about "drink local", if you turn down a free SNPA because it's not "craft enough" for you, then you are a bad person. Enough said.

 

Interesting discussion that you had with yourself, there.

 

I think its important to support your local independently owned brewery. We're lucky that there are so many new breweries making really great beer. On the flip side, I don't shun the beers the big independently owned breweries are doing. So far Deschutes is incapable of making bad or even mediocre beer in my experience. Same with Sierra Nevada. New Belgium has been doing a lot of fruity beers that I don't care for lately, but the Belgian white is fantastic. And I don't understand why everyone knocks fat tire. If you want a biscuity amber ale it is really good!

 

If the new business model is small, local brewers focused on small geographic areas in the pursuit of a "drink local" customer base, then I'd say a shakeout is eventually coming. The market can only withstand so much fragmentation, and nobody will be making money. Lack of economy of scale will kill off a lot of them. Indeed, rationalization has already started and may be the next big trend.

 

Financially, it's the other way around, isn't it?