Is Finch's abandoning cans?

Winner winner chicken dinner.

 

I haven't found one person that likes their brews....very disappointing.

 

Heard that this was coming to Michigan for distribution. I'm usually excited when new stuff comes into our market, but once I looked into their beer, I wasn't excited anymore.

 

I really wish more Mid-west breweries distributed to CA. This one can stay in the Midwest.

 

To be honest, I'm still rooting for them. I'm supportive of all local craft breweries, for the most part. Like many of you, I haven't been all that impressed with Finch's offerings to this point. In my opinion, it's not that all their brews are awful, there's just not much there that makes them stand out. I did purchase their recent release, Secret 'Stache Stout a couple of days ago since it was $6 a bomber, and I am always willing to give any craft brewery another chance. Honestly, I really want to really like this one...

 

This brewery is dead to me local or not. Ive drain poured everything I've tried from them. Including a $17 dirtier bird. They will not get any more of my money. Rather give my money to a few other local breweries.

 

I asked the beer guy at one of my local spots about the bottles of Cutthroat. He told me that they find, on average, eight leaking cans per case from Finch's.

 

First brewery to fail on this new wave of breweries.

 

the cutthroat isn't anything special but it isn't a bad beer like people are making it out to be. The dirty bird was waaay overpriced though.

 

I thought it was insane of them to try to get 17.99 for Barrel Age Dirty Bird. I have a bottle of the Secret Stash Stout, about the first thing I've bought from them in 8 months. Will try it but don't have much hope that it will change my mind about their stuff.

 

As a retailer, I kinda hope they do abandon the cans. Frankly, I love cans, but my cases of Finch's cans just don't move. The bombers, on the other hand, have been doing quite well so far.

As for leaky cans, I've only seen a handful of examples, and it's been a few months since those surfaced...

 

Hello everyone:

I wanted to step in here and speak on behalf of Finch’s. We are NOT at all moving away from our cans. We put Cut Throat in to bombers, just so people can try the beer at a cheaper price point. $8.99 is a lot of money for someone to simply try our beer, so this gives us a chance to hit a different price point and turn more people on to our product. We will still be moving forward with Golden Wing and Cut Throat, and by next month, we will be introducing our Threadless IPA in cans.

As to why anyone would wish failure on us is beyond me. I might be a White Sox fan, but I certainly don’t hope that the Cubs go bankrupt and disappear. Chicago is a huge market craft beer market, with tastes varying greatly. We are simply trying to put out a product that people enjoy. We are invested in the success of the entire Chicago market. We love Half Acre, Metropolitan, FFF, Pipeworks, 5 Rabbits and the people behind those beers. You’ve probably seen us at local events and you’ve might have even sat next to us the Map Room, Hopleaf or Fountainhead.

While our Cut Throat and Golden Wing might not be the most exciting beers for Beer Advocate, these beers do actually sell (crazy, I know). We are now putting out specialty beers like our Secret Stache Stout in to bombers to satisfy those that are looking for something different. We would love to be able to put these brews in to cans, but for to the cost of doing so, it doesn’t really make financial sense for us now. Secret Stache hit the shelf for $5.99, so hopefully that can satisfy those that were upset with the price of Dirtier Bird.

Dirtier Bird was an expensive beer to make and that is what warranted the high price. No one forced anybody to buy it. If you bought Dirtier Bird, it’s because you wanted to try it. It disappointed some, which was hard for us because we believe it is a damn good beer. For those of you who have trashed the beer, just remember, it did win a silver medal at FOBAB and it is sold out in stores. We are pretty proud of that.

To speak to the quality of our cans, when we first started there were leaky cans, not eight per case, but leaky nonetheless. We have come extremely far from where we were and I can guarantee that every can that leaves the brewery now is 100%. We have only been in cans since September, and haven’t even been open a year yet. Don’t expect it to be a problem again.

I think some of you underestimate actually how much blood, sweat and tears goes in to the work that we do here. There are families that depend on the success of this brewery and we all have a lot invested. We are striving everyday to make the best beer that we possibly can. You had better believe the negative reviews we read provide us the fuel to push ourselves harder. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinions though and that is what makes Beer Advocate great. If you have any questions, please feel free to message me and I will be glad to answer. I know we are all trying to fight for craft beer, but for some of you…

 

I have to say that Finch's has been a disappointment. The stuff just sort of sits there. I'm sure if it was FFF, it would fly even with leaky cans. I'm all for more local brewers, but it's more than the technical glitches that hold back this brewery and a few other new ones in the region. The fact that their beers are just so much like every one else's.... I recall when the bubble burst in the late '90's. Then it was because so many brewers were making the same basic seven styles- "we got a red, a blond, a pale ale, a porter, a stout, a wheat, and a fruit". Well now it's getting to be that again, plus "we got a sour, a IPA, a double IPA, a bourbon stout, an imperial pilsner, a gooseberry triple porter aged in merlot barrels, and a i-don't-know-what-the-fuck-this-is".

 

I'll add this- there is a solution. Make one beer, make it exceedingly good, consistently. Do one-off's okay, but stick to one regular beer. KISS

 

I quite liked Cut Throat, but if you've been a brewery for less than a year why aren't you building a solid core line then going into barrel aging and the like?

 

I've only tried Cut Throat and it was terrible I like to consider myself supportive of the local beer community and often only buy Chicagoland brands when I bring beers to peoples homes for BBQ's and parties, etc. That's how I first tried it and we both spit it out. It was like overhopped Miller Lite.

It was honestly enough to keep me from being motivated to try any of their other beers.