I’m not really seeing that on the west coast. There are definitely a lot of changes in 10+ years, but I think the quality and availability is just as high. Probably more. One possibility (a complete guess with no evidence) Massachusetts based Shelton bros used to be the main European importer. When they went out of business in 2020 Lime Ventures picked up their contracts. (IE Cantillon, 3F, etc). Lime is located in the Bay Area of California, so that may lead to some of those being more easily available here.
Retail cost per bottle/can will vary depending on the cost of living where the purchase is made, and I'll guess that large city areas are 30-40 percent higher than other areas. I live in a small community and my retail cost is probably $2.00 - $2.50 for standard styles such as pilsners, amber ales, but the price heads upward for double/triple IPAs in the $4-$5 area, or barrel-aged beers, which are around $6-$7 per bottle. I don't pay attention to Bud prices (or other AAL brands) but I'll guess Bud can be purchased around $1.50-$1.75 per bottle, but the cheaper AALs can be had for $1.00--$1.25 if you buy a 12- or 24-pack.
I have offered my collage age son a variety of styles to try, including NA beers. He came to his own conclusion that he liked beer with more malt. Not neccesarily all porters or stouts, but if it had more hops it needed a solid malt base, and carmilization didn't hurt. He started at Banquet because that was what he wanted to afford. But given a choice without financial constraint, and someone throwing varied choices out there, he arrived at his own nuanced individual tastes. The kids are alright.
And in five, or ten, years someone who missed out on that will be sitting in a taproom and go, "What if we married...". Kinda like what happens with music and fashion.
Yep, and people will continue little tiny innovations that mean nothing to most of us until eventually they get a hit that seems to work and they release it and then the nerds among us will get to learn some new terms about some obscure aspect of the process of brewing or of ingredient processing that they tweaked. The cycle of life. Right now, I'd be really happy for the US beer industry to settle into dialing in their lager brewing, perfecting their efficient production of hoppy ales, and bringing back the spectrum of ales that aim for balance above any big flavor.
Yeah, call me when it looks like this - when during a 15 year period, more than half the breweries* disappeared. * Note - this is the number of operating breweries, not brewing companies. So, for example, 1976's total of 97 breweries includes AB's 10 breweries, Schlitz's 8, Pabst's 5, Falstaff's 7 and Carling-National's 6, etc.
As long as "lager brewing" means all lagers and just not the hottest new version of a pilsner. Hear, hear! Agreed, but you know that they could (and should, in my opinion) do both?
Ah i see, I just misunderstood what you were saying. And yeah, a brewery can definitely do both. I honestly just find the "extreme beer" thing to be pretty tedious at this point. For sure, if you've got your annual thing you do or whatever then go for it. But anymore, once I start seeing the flavors stacking up on a label or whatever other "extreme" thing brewers come up with im pretty checked out. If they ceased completely it would take me several decades, at least, to miss it.
I guess we might be talking at cross purposes here as well. When I say "extreme beer", I mean beers like World Wide Stout, 120 Minute IPA, Utopias, Pliny the Younger, etc. and decidedly NOT all the dessert, smoothy, triple barrel aged, double dry hopped, fruit juice silliness that's out there right now.
You hit the nail on the head $10.00 is a tough entry point. Price has become a consideration for me on what breweries I visit. In the past price was not a factor at all. This is coming from someone who has been in this game a long time. Remember the days of free samples?
Yes I feel like liquor stores who once had a beer buyer who was passionate about beer had four or five different “craft” distributors and now maybe the same store has two or three. Forget about stuff carried by Shelton/lime. If I see blaugie, de la senne or new bottles of lambic it’s a special day. also, taprooms are no longer concerned about the beer geek. The beer geek who’s had it once and checked off your cool beer isn’t gonna return. Hype is dead
No, not at all. Example, brown and red ales are appearing places where hazy used to dominate. I would say simply that drinkable/session-able malty beers are the opposite of hype.
