Any Smuttynose News?

There has definitely been less stuff around for what seems like a couple of years and even less so leading up to the auction. I haven't seen much draft around MA. Social media seems show them business as usual, but showing more discounts and specials, etc. I'm wondering if they will retract their footprint a bit while they figure out what direction they are going in.

 

Wonder if Finest Kind will still be available at Fenway and if not what will replace it?

 

I stopped in for lunch on Monday. I had the Vunderbar Pils and a Finest Kind. Both did not taste great and I have enjoyed them in the past. The 2016 Wheat Wine was fantastic however. I used to work for Portsmouth Brewery so I would get the employee discount on cases of Finest Kind. I would swing by during bottling and grab cases fresh off of the line. That is a fantastic beer when fresh. They need to figure out a way to get that beer into the hands of consumers.

 

I think they had to rehire much of their sales staff, so it will take a while for them to start showing up again. And it's not like bars are hurting for breweries to fill taps. I imagine it will be quite painful to re-enter the market. I think Be Hoppy has replaced them as the standard "cheap" IPA in many bars.

Also total rumor here, but I heard from someone in NH that knows the buyers a bit that there are plans to develop the Smutty real estate and that's where the real value in the transaction lied.

 

So you think they served you old Finest Kind at the brewery?

 

I didn't see it there earlier this week. 16 ounce cans I saw were Harpoon IPA and Wannamango, Wachusett Blueberry, Magic Hat #9 and a few different Sam Adams. On the bright side at least the team is very good.

 

I asked a person that is involved in seacoast small business stuff if they knew the buyers and they said yes, but they weren’t close by any means. I said something like “it’s nice that a local group bought it and likely solved some of the debt issues” and the response was “yeah, but from what I was told the value in the deal was the land not the brewery”. So, we’re several steps removed from firsthand knowledge, but this person has a lot of connections to these types of investors in the area so likely had some insight as this was obviously a very notable transaction.

 

Or maybe there's enough land on the periphery to keep the brewery but subdivide the remaining land for condos. The brewery would be a nice "clubhouse" amenity.

 

Yeah somehow the Fenway selections managed to go downhill AFTER reaching the deal with Sam Adams (maybe not by accident if SA wanted less craft competition). No House Lager no Finestkind which were my only 2 go tos before. IPA being the most popular craft beer style even among non-snobs yet they offer Harpoon IPA cans & maybe Goose IPA draft (can't recall for sure if it was still on like last year) and that's it. I was thinking at least offering Sam NE IPA would force me to buy a few beers at a game this year. Happy to save the $10.50...

 

There's a fair amount of land there--keeping the brewery and developing some of the remaining land would be my guess. If that keeps Smuttynose going, and keeps Robust Porter, Vundebar Pils and others in my fridge, I'm all for it.

 

I would love to see some sort of public accommodations on site so I can drink my fill of wheat wine or Gravitation and not drive anywhere!!

Prosit!!

 

Had a 6-week old bottle of Finest Kind last night and it was as good as ever. Maddening how inconsistent this beer is.

 

I do not. I think that beer has probably just gone down hill from the spot in Portsmouth. I also don't think Finest Kind kegs are flying out of Towle Farm, so who knows how fresh the stuff is. Finest Kind has potential to be a great seller in New England again. Just needs consistency and freshness.

 

Seriously? Why would it be a great seller in New England? They could make it perfectly consistent and fresh and I really don't think it would sell well. Its just not the type of beer people are buying today. I could see if they canned it that it would sell better just not great. Even so the reason people would buy it in cans is not because cans are cool but because you can take cans to beaches, pools, rivers, etc..

I think some of their Smuttlab beers on the other hand could have potential. First get rid of the entire Smuttlab brand, its useless and stupid. Just sell them as limited releases from Smuttynose. Next get new bottle art. The color choices and art just look unprofessional or at least archaic. Do tastings at beer stores, I don't think I've ever seen a Smuttynose beer tasting. I've heard their sours are one of the best kept secrets in the industry. Bring some of those beers into yearly release and then start testing out new beers to put into rotation. Its pretty elementary the things they should have been doing. Simple marketing and product planning failings have been their biggest problem. Some of their barrel aged stouts sound pretty interesting but I've never bothered buying them. I think I've only really seen them at one store to be honest. They really don't seem to be doing anything, perhaps their goals are to just make their money back through the real estate development of the property and milk the revenue the brewery brings in. With the debt removed from the equation they are probably moderately profitable now. There's no real driver for them to improve the brewery, make a few million off the real estate, make some money off the brewery, and then in a few years sell off the brewery. Too much risk for them to invest more money into the brewery as a bank.

 

Back when I was still living in Mass, Finest Kind was my go-to beer. Would be sad if quality sank or they stopped producing to the same level.

Too many good memories with that brew

 

there's other brewers in new england selling fine IPAs that aren't hazy juice bombs. Bldg8 and Fiddlehead come to mind. I've bought more Second Fiddle than any other IPA this year. There's still a market for classic IPAs.

I still buy FinestKind a couple times a year.

 

They do can Finestkind. At least, they did.