Spaten Production / Availability Problems?

I have yet to find a single bottle or tap of Spaten Oktoberfest here in Illinois. It has put a small damper on this fall to be honest because it is one of my favorite Märzens. We still have other Spaten varieties on the shelves though. I will have to check to see how recently they were shipped to the stores.

 

First of all, the Spaten Okto is only available year-round in certain U.S. markets. But yes, I've noticed a a decline in availability of all Spaten products lately -- especially the Oktoberfest during its high season. Some of the Okto that showed up around here was bottled in January -- some was even bottled last December (yeah, most imports claim 1 year shelf life, but c'mon)!

Ever since importation into the U.S. was switched to A-B's division Spaten's availability seems to have dropped to nearly nil. Be interesting to hear some answers.

 

It finally started showing up in Northern Lake County late in the season (well after I'd already seen it in Kenosha). Not sure where you're at in Illinois, but I saw a good stack of the Okto 12 packs at the Binny's Buffalo Grove store a couple days ago -- dates seemed pretty good too.

 

Spaten/Franziskaner was sold many years ago to AB/InBev but just within the last 1-2 years have the distribution rights of Spaten been transferred from Wine Warehouse to the AB houses (in CA at least). I agree that they they are not putting much emphasis on this brand, and I agree that they have (again) been terrible about getting the Oktoberfest into stores and onto shelves this year. Same goes for Optimator.

 

That's good to hear. I'm downstate in Champaign county. We don't always get the same distribution that you do up around Chicago (most noticeably Three Floyds and Great Divide for me), but I'll have to check our Binny's again. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Spaten is a declining brand even in Munich. While Franziskaner is ever-present, it's kind of unusual to see any signs for Spaten's lagers.
I might be imagining this, but I think I read somewhere that they are considering either dissolving the brand or making Spaten an export-only, a la St. Pauli Girl. If true, that's kind of sad as I consider Spaten to be the best of the 2nd tier Munich beers.

 

Yet another world-class beer getting pushed out of the way to make space for more mediocre "craft" crap.

 

In our area, the selection on imports has been dwindling for years, but I have a feeling it's making more room for AB "focus brands" rather than craft.

 

Going back for more of one particular beer is completely counter to much of the current "craft" culture. Same situation exists here in SC....

 

Probably has a lot to do with the American-brewed Beck's push too, I imagine.

Where's Andreas Hildebrandt when you need him? Oh, yeah...

 

Here in Philly, we've had little problem obtaining Spaten Oktoberfest. The past couple of weeks our store has run dry, but considering the time of year I'm not surprised our wholesaler's stock has dwindled because of the increased demand. We typically see more demand for the other Munich brewers' offerings during this time of year, though, while Spaten Oktoberfest does well the rest of the year. Supplies of the lager, Optimator and the Franziskaner brands seem fine here: we have no problems filling our orders.

Last year was a different story. The entire Spaten portfolio was fraught with supply issues. We went over six months without any new product.

 

40+ years of representing the brand, and the carpet is pulled out.

 

Seems like a flip-flop. I saw Spaten Okto available around here well into February 2014.

 

Isn't he a major part of S&H Brands now? More power to him!

 

Give other information available about ABInBev senior management decisions, etc.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-25/the-plot-to-destroy-americas-beer#p1

I'd be inclined at this point to favor your idea here.

 

Meanwhile, back in Boston, I've been seeing more Spaten Oktoberfest around my local packies than any other German festbier. Strange.

What I haven't been seeing is much Weihenstephaner or any Ayinger. Sucksola.