Four Friends Brewing Shuts Down (Charlotte, NC)

On a positive note, I will no longer have to hide my daughters eyes when I see a bottle of Santa's Little Helper on the shelf

 

Won't be the last. The market can only absorb so much. We are living in a golden age for craft brewing. Business economics and corporate ownership will be re-shaping the industry in significant ways over the next 10 years.

 

I enjoyed thier raspberry stout. Hate to hear that they couldnt make it happen.

 

Unfortunately this is the nature of the beast. With huge expansion, comes contraction when the market gets saturated. I've had Four Friends and was not impressed, so as much as it sucks, it doesn't surprise me that it was them.

 

yea same here. They took a huge leap, and we all gave them a shot. They just didnt live up to the bill.

 

The market is hardly saturated. Plenty of room for good breweries.

 

The market is saturated enough in Charlotte that 'good' breweries aren't going to cut it anymore. 'Great' breweries is what the market is starting to demand.

 

A good brewery can survive. They weren't good.

 

You really have to do some economic calculations to determine if the market is saturated or not, but as a consumer and casual observer it looks to me like the market is getting very competetive. Its not like retailers can't keep good beer on their shelves. Just look at all the old IPAs from great breweries for sale out there. Its not because people are jerks and trying to rip you off, its because there is more supply than there is demand, and great beer sits on shelves and collects dust. That is not a marketplace I would want to compete in right now, especially as a new company.

 

And if you are going to compete in it, you have to have a solid product with some kind of niche, or a stellar product. 'We're the local guys' doesn't cut it anymore when they're a number of other local breweries as well. So as a new brewery you have to have another niche to fill, or make a stellar product. Sounds like Four Friends did neither unfortunately. Don't make it down to Charlotte as much as I'd like (Asheville is equidistant from me so...), so never had a chance to try them.

 

I didn't want to just come out and say it, but yeah, you nailed it.

 

I had their beers once. There are dozens of other breweries in NC and SC that produce beers of a similar quality.

 

Just look at the market share that craft beer fills versus the Big boys. There is plenty of room to grow if you grow your consumer base from those people.

 

Agreed, and they will eventually be weeded out as well.

 

I don't really know what you mean by look at the market share, but I don't have any data to look at. There is more to economics than popular perception. Either way, it comes down to how much beer is sold vs how much is produced in any given time frame.

 

When their beers didn't have off flavors, they weren't terrible. If they had been able to brew clean on a consistent basis, they could have survived. I77 was a decent enough beer, I just learned to stop ordering it (and their other stuff) after getting a few really buttery pints. That is what killed them. I wish the beer could have been as nice as the people behind it.

 

Great folks behind this brewery, sad it didn't work out.

 

Nobody is going to buy an average local beer when they can get a better version of a style from some other craft brewery. It doesn't make sense just because it's local to drink a worse version of something.

I've never had their beer but that is just common sense. I'm not going to drink an average IPA when I can buy Jai Alai at any gas station near me. Local or not.

 

Craft beer accounts for about 13 million of the almost 200 million barrels sold each year.

Not even 7% of the total market.