Limited release: better or worse? And, for whom?

The limited release schedule of Deschutes's Red Chair is definitely for the worse...for me.

 

if certain beers were really that 'easy' to get they would become old news rather quickly, and they wouldn't sell as much anymore because people would get sick of them thus being discontinued IMO. give em a taste and they will be back for more, you cant always have your cake and eat it too or in this case, beer <- so clever i know

 

Lagunitas is pretty good about making popular seasonals into year-rounders, so it does happen.

I would suppose all things have to fall into line with the rest of a brewery's production schedule, space, ingredient contracts, distribution contracts (that probably demand a seasonal release of some sort), etc...

fwiw- I wouldn't call Nugget Nectar 'limited'- we're swimming in it and probably will be for a while. It's really just a 'seasonal'.

 

Almost every brewery is capacity-limited these days. So if they make a certain seasonal beer year-round, there's no capacity for the other seasonal beers normally brewed in its place. It's not possible to make them all year-round, generally.

Secondly, we as consumers like variety. I think most of us would prefer 5 seasonals to 1 year-round. It would be boring if many breweries did just one or two beers instead of a seasonal rotation.

Brewers like variety too. They don't want to make exactly the same thing every day forever.

And there is a natural seasonality to beer. For the most part, folks prefer a lighter beer in the summer -- you just wouldn't sell as much strong bourbon barrel stout in the summer when it's 95 degrees, compared to 15 degrees in a snowstorm.

Heady Topper is an exception - the ONLY beer they make, severely capacity-limited so oversupply cannot be an issue, and a huge hype surrounding it. (not necessarily an justified hype...but hype nonetheless)

 

Well everyone knows a beer tastes better when not as many people get to drink it.

 

Well this forum fails to mention any bourbon barrel aging beers. Founders can't have an unlimited supply of Kentucky Breakfast Stout or Backwoods Bastard. Since those beers age for 9 months and 12 months respectively. But I agree with certain beers not being year around or least being brought out a couple times a year. Hopslam is the perfect example of this. It's pretty much out in January and is drinkable for 2 months and then boom gone for another 10 months. I think it would make perfect sense for Bells to bring it out in July or August when it's warm out as well.

 

It's about feeding the great hype-machine, making beers limited adds a mystique factor and that drives up acquisition inventive in the consumer.

 

Can you really compare Heady Topper with very limited distribution to Troegs 30ish distributors in 10 states?

The Alchemist's business model is an anomaly. When their brewpub was destroyed by Irene they were fortunate enough to have the cannery to fall back on, and a ridiculously popular product to sell. They've chosen to focus on that for now - for which many people love them - but its been at the expense of a more well rounded and creative product line.

There's a trade off there for any brewery - more beers that go year-round, the less room there is for innovation, experimentation, and variety. Making more limited beers increases opportunities for those, and this consumer thinks that's a good thing.

 

I think if founders made CBS year round it would still sell well same goes for 3 floyds and Dark Lord I'd be happy even if that meant both those breweries made nothing else.

 

People want things that are difficult to get. In the case of limited releases by larger breweries the beers are hard to get because of the limited release. In the case of Pliny and Heady they're available year round but they're still hard to get (for most people) because of limited distribution coupled with high demand. I actually think it's the same phenomenon driving the desirability of both the limited release and the limited distribution beers.

 

I agree with some of what your saying so why not have Founders and 3 Floyds keep making the good stuff but only distribute locally or even only at their Brewery I'd like that much better than a single day a year for Dark Lord and basically a single day for CBS.

 

no brewery can make everything all the time. beers are rotated seasonally or occasionally so they can free up room in the tanks for more beer. if troegs brewed nugget nectar all year round, it would come at the expense of other year-round brands they might depend on.

barrel aged, high ABV, sour, etc type beers typically have to be smaller releases since it's dependent on how many barrels the brewery has, as well as available resources and man power. unless they intend on being a niche brand like Jolly Pumpkin or Cascade, there's only so much time and money they can spend on these projects if they intend to regularly produce pale ales, IPAs, brown ales, etc which pay the regular bills all year round, not just for one week out of the year.

 

you might have a point but seriously 1 DAY A YEAR and in the case of CBS even less than 1 day a year!!!!!!!!!????????

 

Part of it is "always keep them wanting" and part of it is that some beers have lower margins and have opportunity cost impact with things like longer fermentation time and -bal aging. It's just not realistic to constantly pump out certain styles for most breweries.

 

brewers like to drink their beer too. i'm sure if it was easy for RR to do PtY year round they would if for no other reason than the fact that theyd get to drink it year round themselves.

 

Doesn't bother me at all. There's plenty of good year round beers that I havent even tried yet.

 

I think seasonal limited releases also keeps these breweries relevant. Lagunitas, while many of their styles are good, doesn't have that once a year blast in publicity that these other brewers have. How often do you hear the Lagunitas name on this site? When a limited release comes out from Kuhnhenn all you hear about is Kuhnhenn this and Kuhnhenn that... you even see an uptick in other Kuhnhenn beers being trading in the trading forum. It's all about branding and marketing.

These breweries are not just selling beer, they are selling the feeling of being part of a special small group that gets to experience this limited brew. The end result is a sense of accomplishment from the buyer who hunted or waited hours in line and who has a sense of being part of a small circle who gets to taste these delicious beers. They in turn feel a connection to the brewery and are more apt to purchase the year round offerings. My 2cents

Neuromarketing... great book.