Russian River Rant

I think they did this just to make you upset.

 

Yup. Aint nothing wrong with that.

 

(Psst, your sense of entitlement is showing.)

 

I don't even know why you bother with beer.

You seem to have an affinity for whine.

 

They're not obliged to expand.

If I was in their situation I would do the same thing (i.e. as long as I felt I was making enough money to be comfortable, I would cap growth to allow me to maintain a high level of control, and to ensure continued desirability for my product).

I haven't been to RR since they opened the merchandise store you mentioned. Would need to see it for myself, but I'm not sure that's something I would have done. But it's their business to run, not mine.

 

Didn't we establish last week that the way to deal with things like this is to buy a helicopter and property near your favorite breweries?

I feel breweries can't win in situations like this. Either they stay small and people complain they're hard to get or they go big and people complain about them moving in on the locals and dismiss their beers as too common or "shelf" to consider. Might as well do what makes sense for them.

 

And with that you have ceded the only real tool to express your displeasure in a meaningful way.

I have a similar experience with beer and Three Floyds. During my first visit, after waiting 45 minutes in line to get some ZD, they sold out. The line to get into the brewpub was 1 1/2 hrs. I decided that this was not the kind of show I'd seek out in the future. It did not stop me from buying their beer. The difference? I am quite happy that they are enjoying success on their terms. I just know that while others may groove to this aspect of the culture, the lines and the chase, I'm not one of them. I buy Three Floyds when I see it, something else when I don't. I don't worry too much about it.

Because they don't owe me anything. If I don't like their business, I won't buy their product. That is really the only alternative you've got.

 

You want them to expand, therefore they are obligated to do such?

They have built up a cult like following with their quality beer and limited distribution. It seems to be working, so why would they change? More money if they expand? Possibly, but there is also the possibility of decreased quality with increased production and the possibility of increased headaches too with increased production.

Vinnie is probably very comfortable with his operation and reputation, so why change.

 

Hipster brewery is hipster. The world is shocked, shocked I tell you.

 

Exactly. And if they did expand, the same people complaining about availability would be complaining about loss of quality / selling out / loss of exclusivity

 

Was going to say just this. People feel so entitled to things that they feel it's unfair if others don't accommodate. RR doesn't "owe" anyone anything or have a "responsibility" to expand. Just appreciate the beer more when you do get it and if it's not worth it for you to fight the masses, laugh at the hype and let others waste their time.

 

Sounds like a Yogi Berra quote. Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.

 

I am/ was a small business owner that buys and enjoys too much craft beer and I'm also a Homebrewer that has done clones of Pliney and Blind Pig and would love to taste the originals and with that said here's my story

Small successful business that grows steadily and is cash based and free of any bank commitment minus a mortgage for the building.
Continued growth and success till I'm bursting at the seams, I need to expand so I need a new building
I need to increase Sales to pay for my building, more employees and more product. I need a business loan
More competition, more Sales people,needed horizontal and vertical growth, more success and a larger bank loan.
Totally unforeseen circumstance, a few assholes hijack commercial airliners and you know the rest of that days story, I spend the next dozen years begging, borrowing and working to the bone to stay afloat. I have the business, it's profitable but the loans are too large to continue and it's gone.
We had larger profits with 7 million in sales than with 12.5 million
This could be craft beer or door knobs

Vinnie, you keep doing what you want and how you want, I'll keep hunting for your beer

 

One other thing that no-one has mentioned yet is the risk of expansion.

It is rather late in the game for craft brewing in business terms. Companies like Lagunitas, Founders, Sierra Nevada, Firestone, stone, etc... have already invested and taken up what I think of as the "third tier" of beer
Bud/MGD etc... = tier 1 - slosh for masses
Sam Adams / Goose Island etc...= tier 2 - nice every day drinkers
Lagunitas, Sierra, etc... = tier 3 - big boy craft
Everyone else = tier 4 - basically all the other micro brewers

The cost to go from tier 4 to tier 3 is enormous - I mean Lagunitas built a brewery in Chicago to expand their distribution, so these businesses are big, well run, and very competitive. Not to mention, it is a very crowed space so it will get even more competitive in the coming years - I expect to see a correction in the brewery market where a lot of the smaller craft brewers struggle to compete

Why would a little brewer like Russian River take the risk and invest when the path forward has been trodden down by so many other breweries already? The big payoff is already taken by others, and there are significant up front investments (millions I would imagine) with significant foreseeable risks.

If you had done really well as a small brewer but would have to risk everything (take a massive loan, risk your retirement etc...) to expand would you do it? I certainly wouldn't. I would just keep making great beer and selling it all close to home and put that money in the bank to pay for kids college funds, a mortgage and a retirement. They have already worked really hard to become a successful Micro - why take the risk to expand if you don't have ambitions to become the next sierra nevada?

 

You visited an increasingly popular brewery you've enjoyed visiting in the past and found that you had to stand in a long line.

 

well RR is in like area of what 10 million folks? sadly this club of craft is gotten way too popular, especially the places there that have top ranked beer. Not surprised RR is hard to get into, but some places are going to be like that in big population areas.

I have long known their beer is highly overrated but to each his own...I thank my taste buds every day I don't like to be hop bombed in 1-2 flavors to death like so many others seem to be.....