Breweries that might need to step it up?

Would be interesting to see how Drifter's replacement Alchemy ale is doing now that the newness has worn off.

don't know if its a chicken or egg thing (low retail sales = no one ordering, or just not being pushed by distribution, therefore low sales), but in my area (within an hour of its east coast brewery) Widmer has very poor distribution - I see Kona and Redhook in just about every store I go to, but rarely see Widmer beers - and the stores I do see them, their 12 packs are usually 4+ months old if they carry 12 packs at all and new batches don't show up until they are 2+ months old. Alchemy ale is ok and I would buy more of it if I could find fresh 12 packs.

 

Rivertowne needs to step it up. That is for sure. Especially with Full Pint very close and always turning out new products. The new FP offering Gus rocks as does the Little Brown. I hate Tri-PA though! And with Hell Town gaining steam. Forget it......

 

And I wouldn't put ST on there either

 

I'm interested to know "why" people think certain breweries need to "step it up"? If they're not brewing beer you care about anymore why do you care about them? Or if they do make beer that caters to your "palate" what's not to say that you won't just pan it?

 

Rogue intentionally sets its prices higher than everyone else to give the impression that they are a better product - same technique that Corona used back in the day. Over a year ago I saw some Rogue six packs for over $20 and asked myself, who the heck is buying $20 six packs of mediocre and likely stale six packs.

 

I'd love to see them do away w/Star Island and Winter ale.I think star island's days are numbered,recently read that sales are slow on that one.I don't drink a ton of summer ale,but pretty sure it does well sales wise.And to think they retired Portsmouth Lager to bring in Star Island....


Cheers

 

Right. Some people want their well crafted beer to use the same stuff everyone else uses, and others decide to move that end of the production towards their own backyard. Rogue is trying to move it into their own yard and cut out that using the same stuff that everyone else does and also has to bid on and run into problems acquiring which stymies their production schedule for the entire year. They've put their money where their mouth is with the Rogue farms which follows through on some of what they promise right up front with their mission. That's some of what you will be paying for. I, personally would like to be seeing far more ingredients in my American made beer to have the text on the grain sack which reads, made in the U.S.A. and a brewery that starts a farm because they want to get into that part of the adventure. More power to them. They have definitely stepped it up by investing on this side and following that mission.
We have the land. We have the space. Our farmers have the knowledge, and I am sure many of them would be more than willing to look for new revenue streams that isn't subsidized and is actually used for something. Connect those dots.

 

Yep. Again, I do like the Yetis I've had. But Hoss, Hades and Rumble (the 3 I've had) weren't very good..

 

Theyve already starting stepping it up. It started with their White IPA and its been slowly building.

 

Seems like "step it up" means "brew extreme examples of styles." I'd actually like to see Founders step it by having their next Backstage series be a 4% ESB that comes in 6 packs of tall boys.

 

Elysian

 

Abita....they seem to have great distribution but I have never had any beer from them that I thought was better than average....IMO, of course.

 

I am just looking for Pittsburgh to have that "elite" craft brewery. Cleveland has Great Lakes, Philly has Victory, shoot, even Harrisburg/Hershey has Troegs. Michigan has Bells and Founders and on and on. East end could get there but they seem content to stay Small and humble. We have a good size city, cheap building space and quality labor. Any brewers want to open something great in Pittsburgh?

 

I was in Newport (Rogues hq) in September. At the only craft beer bar in town, they had ZERO Rogue on tap....kind of telling.

 

To me it's not always about going bonkers and making trendy beers (although that seems to be what many posters want), but just staying in the public eye.
That can mean everything from brewing new beers, to keeping your marketing fresh, to killing off shelf turd flagships, to changing up your packaging.
When beers stores have a wall of selections and tap houses with 20+ handles are popping up all of the time you have to stay relevant beyond brewing the same good pale ale or porter that you've been brewing for 10 years. It's not to say you have to change your beers, but you have to keep them in the public's mind. That can be everything from pricing, to promotions, or even doing what the big boys do and bragging that you have a "true pilsner" because it sounds impressive. Let people know why your beer is worth buying, because being a random craft beer using good ingredients only matters if people know or remember who you are.
If you have an IPA that is selling and your porter stopped - you'd better have a plan to either kill off that porter or make people care about it again.

 

Burton Baton is their only great beer. The rest range from very good down to plain old bad.

Southern Tier...you know you're in trouble when your best beer is a pumpkin beer.

 

That's fair. the DPA is tasty as is wolfgang and fresh hop.

 

That would be far gutsier than a "barrel aged thing."

The problem is that people here want every brewery to put out beers for trading and bragging.
God forbid we have breweries that cater to other needs... like putting out inexpensive mixed packs every season. Magic Hat, Saranac, and Sam Adams are doing what they do just fine - I am glad for that and for the people who buy it even if It doesn't cater to my tastes.

 

Funny enough, Great Divide essentially did "step it up" based on industry trends a few years ago.
Great Divide opened back when everyone had the same amber, ESB, wheat, porter, etc. that the next guy was brewing. By the mid 2000’s half of their line-up wasn’t selling. However their IPA and massive stouts were in high demand. Their one-off massive beers were, too.
What did they do? They culled their whole line-up of “common” beers and went big. They killed off literally about 1/2 of their beers in about a year. They took what people were buying and made a whole line-up focused around that malt profile and massive stouts. There are now a bunch of Yetis, and while not everyone loves the malt profile in their hoppy beers (I love it) - they DO sell. They're kickstarting a bigger sour program right now and they've been really good about changing up seasonals based on what people want and what isn't moving anymore.

 

Seriously? Narwhal is terrific!