Big Brewers Emulating a Popular Beer

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by TheNoodleIncident, Dec 10, 2012.

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  1. TheNoodleIncident

    TheNoodleIncident Initiate (0) Apr 30, 2012 New York

    Has this been discussed? So I get the impression that with a certain amount of skill and patience, you can clone or create passable copies of most beers. I'm curious why more brewers don't try to create their own versions of highly popular, yet limited distribution beers. Pliny on the East coast, or Heady on the West? Heck, how about just heady outside of VT?

    As far as I know you cannot copyright a recipe (can you?), so as long as you don't copy the bottle design or name, I would assume this could be done. Also, I wouldn't expect a brewer to announce that they had copied a beer, but instead just put it out there and let the public decide. Perhaps there is an ethics discussion to be had as well.
     
    #1 TheNoodleIncident, Dec 10, 2012
  2. marquis

    marquis Pooh-Bah (2,313) Nov 20, 2005 England
    Pooh-Bah

    Probably too small a market to be worth while.Gain a part of Pliny's share? How much beer is actually involved?
    Add to this many BAs' contempt for anything from the BMC stable and BMC regulars' fixed drinking habits, where are the customers going to come from?
     
    #2 marquis, Dec 10, 2012
  3. TheNoodleIncident

    TheNoodleIncident Initiate (0) Apr 30, 2012 New York

    I think the market would be the same as for any new beer, whether it was meant to copy an existing brew or something totally new, so why not? If a brewer plans to release 5 new beers this year, why not make one of them a copy? Again, they may not need to announce that it is a copy, but if they make a beer equally as good as a successfully one, I think people would by it.
    This all takes more a "business" approach than a "creative" approach to brewing, obviously.
     
    #3 TheNoodleIncident, Dec 10, 2012
  4. tronester

    tronester Pooh-Bah (1,653) Nov 25, 2006 Oklahoma
    Pooh-Bah

    Not really the same thing, but I've had several amber ales from small breweries over the years that taste very similar to NBs Fat Tire.
     
    #4 tronester, Dec 10, 2012
  5. alexipa

    alexipa Initiate (0) Oct 7, 2011 Colorado

    They absolutely do this. It's incredibly hard to copy a beer exactly due to differences in water, temps, process, yeast (house?), etc; it's not as easy as gaining a recipe. Breweries do attempt to copy successful beers all the time, though. That's why there always seems to be a popular hop strain at a given time in IPAs for instance.
     
    #5 alexipa, Dec 10, 2012
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  6. reverseapachemaster

    reverseapachemaster Zealot (722) Sep 21, 2012 Texas

    I guess you could argue this happens with the special release-prone styles, like imperial stout. Lots of brewers try to compete in that space because people will buy and compare them, even if they are fairly different beers.

    However, who really wants to make an IPA/IIPA so obviously similar to Pliny that your version is "like Pliny but not as good"? That's not an effective strategy for developing a brand. However you could look at the hop combinations or grain bill to Pliny and come up with a different beer with some of the same characteristics. That happens all the time.
     
    #6 reverseapachemaster, Dec 10, 2012
  7. Steeeve

    Steeeve Initiate (0) Nov 16, 2010 Pennsylvania

    If there was profit to be made doing that, they would do it.
     
    #7 Steeeve, Dec 10, 2012
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  8. yemenmocha

    yemenmocha Grand Pooh-Bah (4,116) Jun 18, 2002 Arizona
    Pooh-Bah

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    #8 yemenmocha, Dec 10, 2012
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  9. TheNoodleIncident

    TheNoodleIncident Initiate (0) Apr 30, 2012 New York

    That's kind of my point. Even if it's not as good as Pliny, but better than many other IPAs, I'll absolutely buy it.
     
    #9 TheNoodleIncident, Dec 10, 2012
  10. Steeeve

    Steeeve Initiate (0) Nov 16, 2010 Pennsylvania

    I actually got my threads all jumbled up. For some reason I read this as "why don't BMC copy Pliny and mass produce it".

    To respond to your actual meaning, I believe it's more an issue of breweries wanting to forge their own identities rather than copy beers. Where's the fun or satisfaction in copying another brewer's hard work and creativity? People don't open breweries to make a hefty profit, they do it for the pride and joy of hand crafting beers.
     
    #10 Steeeve, Dec 10, 2012
  11. Longstaff

    Longstaff Initiate (0) May 23, 2002 Massachusetts

    There are a plethora of pale ales that taste similar to Sierra Nevada's.
     
    #11 Longstaff, Dec 10, 2012
  12. beerjerk666

    beerjerk666 Grand Pooh-Bah (5,155) Aug 22, 2010 Florida
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Isn't the "art of brewing" about coming up with something new with your own spin on it than copying everyone else?
     
    #12 beerjerk666, Dec 10, 2012
  13. cavedave

    cavedave Grand Pooh-Bah (4,157) Mar 12, 2009 New York
    In Memoriam Pooh-Bah Trader

    Wanna make Pliny? Vinnie Cilurzo not only publishes the recipe, he will help you over the rough spots if you contact him. Wanna make Heady Topper? Good luck. John Kimmich is notoriously close lipped about the recipe. The recipes for many favorites are shared by many brewers, though, and I am sure many other breweries try to use those recipes for their own named beers. I know I use Younger as the jump off for most of the IIPA's we make.
     
    #13 cavedave, Dec 10, 2012
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