Texas-Based Revolver Brewing Joins Tenth and Blake

it's been a busy month for Miller's Tenth&Blake, it doesn't look like they will be stopping anytime soon either......

 

lol at press releases. Good for them and all that. Their beers seemed extremely ok, so maybe it's a good fit. The Austin market seems like a lot of better "approachable" options are usually on tap instead, but DFW must be different.

 

Inevitable. A rising tide lifts all boats. It's beerconomics.

Revolver Brewing has been very successful in growing a brand in North Texas. As a Dallas resident, I can confirm that a large contingent of Dallas-Fort Worth residents new to craft beer in the area view Blood and Honey as the "gateway" beer.

One can rightly choose to view the acquisition of Revolver by MillerCoors with with a bit of negativity if you are anti-BMC, but one cannot dispute the benefit the brewery has had on the beer local scene--even if I do find Blood and Honey far too sweet.

 

I just wonder who's next in the Central/North Texas market to get bought. Blood & Honey is a good yard beer for me but most of their stuff I find average.

 

This is a real question, no snark. What do you think their effect on the local beer scene has been? Do you believe there are many people drinking more craft beer because they tried B&H and liked it? There are far better (and still very popular) breweries in the area, like Community or Lakewood or even Rahr. I just have a hard time separating Revolver from the large amount of new-ish breweries in the area. Looks like they're quoting Revolver at 25k barrels, which is about the same as Rahr, so that's pretty great growth considering their age. They do seem to fit the profile.

 

I agree vociferously with this post.

 

“We are excited to be joining the Tenth and Blake family, which shares our commitment to brewing great craft beer,” co-founder (Insert guy who wants to Cash Out) said via a press release. “This partnership will allow us to maintain our brewery and operations in (City where now Sell-Out-Brewery started), while providing us with the additional resources to invest in and accelerate the growth of the (Insert Sell-Out Brewery) brand in (Insert State).”

Same comment...different brewery. Pathetic. They aren't buying breweries...they're buying shelf space and taps. That's all.

 

While I can state unequivocally that Revolver beers lag behind the likes of Community, Lakewood, and Peticolas in terms of technical prowess, I also know--personally--a more than a handful of Dallasites who wanted nothing to do with beer until they tried Blood & Honey and now have embraced beer as an entire beverage category. I don't believe most astute beer drinkers in Dallas prefer Revolver, but the reach and prevalence of their beers is hard to dispute.

Notoriety of any beer in Dallas will help get out the word that the Dallas beer scene is actually a pretty great place--which I'm all for.

 

If they wished to simply "buy shelf space and taps" I think the legion of accountants and MBAs could find a cheaper way to do it. They're buying brands, the reputation and the rights to create and distribute a successful product, which is probably cheaper and a faster route to increased revenue than attempting (again) to create that brand, the goodwill and recipes themselves.

 

They are buying brands that yes, have a reputation and in most cases a moderately successful business. The goal is to have that brand take up shelf space and give consumers the illusion that they're walking down the beer aisle at the store and there are hundreds of flashy packages competing for their attention. Sadly, a large portion of those beers on the shelf are bought and paid for by InBev, 10thBlakeMillerCoors, Constellation etc. It's like going in to a bar and seeing 5 different tap handles in their "craft" section. Most consumers would never know that Elysian, 10 Barrel, Four Peaks, Goose Island, and Blue Point are ALL owned by InBev...but the illusion of these little indie breweries is the one that matters to big guys. Illusion of options...while the cash flows to them.

 

You have me confused. If those big kids have as much power as you seem to think, how did they lose all that shelf space in the first place? (Especially if they had already "bought and paid" for it?) Why are they going to have to be buying anything back? Are you claiming that all those new small brands we've been seeing pop up like weeds the last 10 years or so have been out spending the big kids to buy that space space they've been eating up the last 10-15 years?

Owing to some recent changes in PA laws and their linterpretation, we are recently seeing a fairly rapid growth of total shelf space. Guess what is eating up more of all that new shelf space than beer owned by any of the big kids.... It's mostly cider and "soda pop" beers, many of which are locally produced.

Recently I stopped off at a mega beverage store (with outlets in several states) while on my way through a neighboring state, I was shocked at what had happened to their "new beer section." In the two months since my last visit. Fully 20-25% of that section's shelf space had been given over to cider. None of those brands you mention were anywhere in sight. Then I went over to the area where GI's Sofie was to be found and the only other GI beer in the place was Matilda. The other GI beers were nowhere to be found.

Those big kids are losing market share and shelf space left and right and their efforts to regain it are just slowing their overall decline in a notional marketplace they used to dominate.

 

That is most definitely the business plan of AB InBev and MillerCoors in terms of addressing the craft beer market.

I suspect they will be more successful in some beer markets vs. others depending on the maturity of the craft beer market in the various regions. For example I do not expect much penetration of AB InBev and MillerCoors in the Pacific Northwest; they will likely at best maintain themselves there.

Cheers!

 

Revolver has zero rep outside of DFW... most people I know here in Houston that have tried Blood and Honey weren't looking to try it again.

I know most of the serious craft bars here in Houston and Austin won't give them a second glance now at being put into rotation... but I'm sure it will get them into those places that are split between BMC and craft.

 

MillerCoors has been quite busy as of late.

 

You are grossly overestimating how much control the big guys have over the "sets" at most chain stores. The giant chains like Kroger, Albertson's/Safeway, 7/11, etc have teams of people who do nothing but analyze sales & trends on a national, regional, and local basis, and reset their beer aisles accordingly, usually every 6 months.

Yes, a small amount of pay to play happens, but less than you would think, especially in the chains. 90% or more of the beer you see on the shelf is there because their buying team determined it was a better use of shelf space than some other product.

If the shelves at your local chain grocery store are filled with BMC products and their subsidiaries it's most likely because the people in your town actually purchase that stuff.

 

And that is going to vary from region to region. Pay to play may be “small” in Oregon buy quite different in Chicago, Arkansas, Oklahoma,…

Cheers!

 

Here in North Carolina, the BMC guys do control the beer sets in the chains. One time it may be Bud, another time Miller, using their shelf space programs to play roulette with their multiple package options. The chains also garner FREE labor from the distributors, from shelf cleaning, dealing with discontinued items, to dick-blocking smaller distributors that very often have options that SHOULD be included. Having beers "authorized" for the chain/store means nothing to those in charge of the set. They'll look at you with their perfect political glibness and tell "you", "that item shows no movement"....This is with them knowing full well that item "A" had never been included to start with. It is a sorry state of affairs, that is likely technically illegal, that has been happening for as long as I can remember. As I have stated often before, this is why I support independent retailers that care about beer and their customers, and not the semi-sleazy and demeaning system now in place.