Tallgrass shutting down

Bummer. I felt like their standard lineup was mediocre at best, but my wife and I have been enjoying their sours lately.

 

Interesting to read that the taproom is separate and thus the brand will still exist. I liked 8-bit, and a couple beers like key lime pie, but here in Chicago it just doesn't make sense to purchase a good pale ale from a regional and the crushable fruit sours aren't as unique as they were 2 years ago.

 

That's just it, we will see a lot more of this but I'm not so sure it's over saturation as it is survival of the fittest. Tallgrass was good but there's just so much better out there now. Haven't purchased any in a long, long time.

 

I used to love Ethos. Then they discontinued it

 

Bummer. Buffalo Sweat and it’s variants were a go-to for me during the fall/winter months.

 

Yeah haven't bought any Tallgrass since.

 

I thought this was pretty interesting in light of your comments:

“It almost seems like it doesn’t matter what you do with an IPA in today’s craft beer climate,” Gill said last August. “After two or three months, people are off to a new one, and what do you do? You rename it, reformulate it. It’s not really what we like to do as a company.”

https://www.brewbound.com/news/tall...-brewery-ceases-production-lays-off-workforce

 

That's a bummer, man. 8-Bit Pale Ale is one of the ten beers I've given a perfect 5 on BA. I haven't bought it in years though so I'm clearly part of the brewery's problem. I was never sure what I saw on the shelf was fresh.

 

I really liked Ethos. If this is what they said, and I think it is, You continue to go forward like most breweries. You do the best can. I don’t know. Did they give up? I thought they were a very good brewer.

 

First off Jeff is a nice guy and I wish his brewery well. During the time his brewery went from 22k barrels to 15k barrels he got rid of his sales staff and discontinued brewing traditional beers and went tart. By doing this in my opinion he may have alienated his traditional beer loving customers.

 

Once upon a time endless brewery expansion was a thing. Now its "hip" to stay small. Maybe it should have always been that way?

 

By "hip" do you mean 'smart'?

 

Yep

 

I can't say I'm thrilled with all of the flavored beer with which they choose to fill their tanks, but Rob Miller and company at Dangerous Man are looking smarter by the day. They eschewed opportunities and resisted pressure to expand to become a distribution player, and many people thought they were crazy for leaving so much money on the table. It turns out they were crazy like a fox. Pocketing a few hundred grand a year in profit (I'm estimating) -- instead of pouring any gains along with massive debt-financing into expansion -- and not constantly having to worry about the prospect of bankruptcy isn't the worst life for a small business owner.

Lift Bridge, on the other hand...

 

Steel Toe is another one that's looking smart, or 'hip' as some might say.

 

Yeah I hate flavor, too

 

When will Surly start pulling out of markets? Talk about a brewery that should have stayed small and local....

 

Now I'm "hip?!?"
Before you know it, I'll be brewing all IPAs...
Putting small in "smallest brewery" since 2009!

 

DM on the other hand?