New Directions for New Glarus

I want them to continue to move in the same direction you just outlined. Huge fanboy here. Keep it coming!

 

quality improvement - nope, always been that good.
catering to the new generation of beer nerds into sours - nope, always brewed those. Money has allowed them to build a coolship, but aging, etc, is nothing new there.
exclusive releases - nope, they've done that GTM release 4 years in a row and used to have R&D beers more often.
thumbprints - some new, some old. Imperial Weizen is not exactly a beer nerd style? Thumbprints have always been good, and more then half are old recipes/brews.

How much history do you have with their beer or drinking their beer (meaning have you been drinking it for 5+ years?) because everything they are doing now is only a continuation of what they've always done and seem just like logical business steps.

As I said before - New Glarus doesn't brew a bad beer (except maybe winter warmer) , only beer whose styles your not aware of or don't appreciate yet. You'll get burned out on sours, stouts and DIPA's and one day come running to a delicious Czech or German Pils and Dan will be there waiting for ya with a cold pint.

 

Well said OP. I agree. I've always enjoyed their standards/seasonals when I can get my hands on them in IL. It could just be that you, like me, are now venturing into their higher-end segment. It's good stuff. It's worth the trip over the border for me. Visiting that brewery is like nothing else. Spectacular facility that is as beautiful as it is functional.

 

no I'm not, and I didnt want to come off as such. Just saying that the hype is new, the beer is the same. The R&D seemed to be the same amount as its been for the last 4 years, it just lasted longer before due to less hype surrounding the brewery or the style. I thought I was being productive, my bad.

I bet if they released the Kriek & Gueuze this year you'd see the same fervor that surrounded this R&D. Watch the imperial Weizen sit on the shelves because the name sour isnt in the title. People love sours these days, they've happened to always brew them. Dan was ahead of the game.

EDIT - I just noticed you didnt think it was a continuation, how isn't it? They've done Belgian Sour fruit beers for over 12 years & they've done sour thumprints (actually unpluggeds; sour brown) for 10 years. These dates are from old ratebeer ratings, as I was in college 10 years ago and poor. If you had a brewery doing these things and started making more money, you'd do it on a bigger and better scale like using a coolship. Also since the demand is present for it, why wouldn't you do it more. Seems like a logical continuation.

But seriously, don't read things with malice or one-upsmanship, this is just a fanboy that hasn't noticed any changes in the last five years of fanboys worship. Here's an emoticon to prove it -

 

Anybody remember when the Imperial Weizen was last brewed? I seem to remember it was somewhat recently, but I drink a lot so many things seem new to me.....

 

I remember getting some in '09, but it might have been a little old.

 

Looking at the BA reviews it appears it was last released in April 2011.

 

This post hits the mark quite hard. Kudos.

 

Ugh.

Exclusive releases suck. At least with NG, their R&D stuff tends to show up in Unplugged bottles.

(Of course, I also go to exclusive releases. Doesn't mean they're not a pain in the ass.)

 

On point.

And yes, the Imperial Weizen was released back in '11. And damn good.

 

I think they do the best job with their sours (fruit beers, wild sour, berliners, R&D) And it seems that they have focused more on those in the past year.

 

We're going to end up in circles about this, but as already pointed out: 'they' haven't focused on sours in the last year, they've always been a part of their lineup. Since it's kinda the current style craze, everyone else's focus has been on them. For as many sours that they've come up with or put out in the last year, we could match a list of non-sours.

 

I think growing up in WI you start out with NG being the first craft beer you try, but after seeing so much of it all over you start to think of it has just a normal shelf beer. It was not until joining BA and starting to do trades it kind of forced me to "rediscover" NG.

 

In the last 4 years I've been living in Wisconsin, I had been happily drinking Spotted Cow and trying seasonals like Fat Squirrel, Two Women, Coffee Stout, etc. as they came out. I didn't pay much attention to special releases or anything like that- this is before I got into homebrewing last year and a bit later after that, BeerAdvocate.

I always enjoyed these NG beers; however, as soon as I joined BeerAdvocate and started learning about all these acronym beers- BCBS, KBS, ZD, etc etc. and seeking them out, I kind of left NG by the wayside. NG doesn't make anything like BCBS so when I had that, I was blown away and went chasing the dragon, which was going after big imperial stouts first, then IPAs & sours, etc.

I guess I still am chasing the dragon (Loooooooons!), but I'm starting to settle back in and appreciating NG shelf beers. I actually enjoyed a couple bottles of Staghorn last week and am happy to say that it's the cleanest, tastiest Marzen I've had in a long time.. chasing the dragon over the past year has definitely helped me appreciate beer styles more, even the less popular ones as I go back to drinking these again.

Cheers to New Glarus and to Wisconsinites for drinking Spotted Cow so Dan can brew all the cool stuff that us beer geeks love.

 

10-4, I hear ya. but in regards to the nope, they've been constantly expanding for as long as I've been visiting. I dont see any change, again the only change I see is in the hype and fandom. Beers becoming more sought after has to do with the public finally coming around not the brewery catering to anybody; berliner weiss, sour brown, etc (bring back old english porter) have been brewed before but fandom & hype have finally come around. Also there is a yearly beer vote, if everyone votes sour (since everyone loves sours) guess what, he'll probably brew them again. My cursory interactions and readings from Dan lead me to believe he doesn't cater to anyone and brews what he likes, if you like it so be it. Again look at the countless beers brewed that aren't geared towards nerds (which is pejorative, as I'm a fanboy but I love Bocks & Pilsners, do I not have a seat at the barrel aged sour table) they sell like crazy and are consistently ranked in the high 90's. When I do trades I get just as many requests for staghorn as I do for wild sour.

As the greatest BA name DooshBagalow says, "We're going to end up in circles about this, but as already pointed out: 'they' haven't focused on sours in the last year, they've always been a part of their lineup"

EDIT - this is my final peace on the topic to prevent more circles

 

I attended the last R&D release and have been buying Spotted Cow and others since I turned 21. Anytime I camp in Wisconsin, New Glarus finds its way into the cooler as well . After walking through the brewery and listening to Dan talk about his passion for beer and the many people that supported him over the years he earned a fan for life. He is one brewer who seems to really embrace what its all about...oh and they keep the prices very friendly!