Breweries that have lost their way/identity

Stone. Is anyone excited by them anymore? I cannot remember the last time anything they did made me want to go out and get it, everything just seems blahh.

 

I can second that about Noble but thats what happens when you lose your best brewer and then he leaves for Green Cheek, only to be replaced by someone who wants to MAINLY brew an ever changing board lineup, I cant go in and get my faves from before, no "core" beers are safe as they make so much room in their brew schedule for more haze. I stopped going altogether.

 

I would add Harpoon.

 

I understand the point of this thread, but it seems to be a damned if you do damned if you don't situation.

Try to adjust as quickly to trends makes a brewery lose their identity in an attempt to stay "cool" to a segment of beer buyers who on average don't have high loyalty to specific beers, even if they have a mild brand loyalty to always try beers from a certain brewery.

 

Don't know if it's a different strain of hops, more hops, or a change in process, but to me it tastes "hoppier" than it used to,

 

Dogfish Head for me. Their IPA lineup (60, 90, 120, Burton) was for me the best when I started getting into craft beer and I still love those beers but new beer releases have largely been meh.

 

Trillium still calls themselves a farmhouse brewery but all they release are creamcicle IPAs, balsamic vinegar-esque over-fruited sour beer and imperial extract/adjunct stouts in "collaboration" with whoever the hot brewery of the moment is.

Not to mention their public fall from grace as a family owned brewery that treats their staff as family....

 

Saranac was a "gateway" beer around here. Groceries carried everything they put out and they introduced many people in my area to unfamiliar styles. Now they're losing shelf space. My regional supermarket only carries three Saranacs plus the seasonal 12 pack and Walmart only has the lager.
Saranac makes some good beers, but they're losing out to the "cool kids".

 

I agree with you. For local breweries it would be Saranac. To me they brew waaaaay to many styles and are not particularly good at any of them. Although their price point was and still remains great for an intro market

Another brewery I would have to say is Rogue. Dead Guy was on point back in the day but they really haven't done anything groundbreaking since.

 

As of this moment, it feels like they shifted (a bit) from too-high-ABV to low-calorie/carb.

 

Just to qualify that statement, they sold off their iconic (almost two centuries old) brewing operations to a Japanese company so they can focus on their far more profitable hotel business.

Here's a link so you can check room availability:
https://www.fullers.co.uk/hotels

Somebody remind me why this is the "golden age."

 

Does this issue pose a deeper concern about why people keep buying beers from increasingly commercialized breweries? After all: trends make money, and consumption outlines trends. Or are we resigned to the fact that our days of chasing CBS, Heady Topper, and Darkness have inspired the very mass-production we lament now?

 

I had the new low call IPA the other day, it wasn't bad. I think it is a solid move, selling cans of lower abv at events and outdoor activities seems a good market.

 

Agree. Just doesn't seem like there is any concrete plan with their IPA lineup and for whatever reason they have decided to forgo bourbon barrel aging their dark beers.

 

Youre right about that. Saranac used to be pretty easy to find around here and now I hardly see it around.

 

The quality has slightly increased to me and while they do have NE IPAs and NE Pale Ales like everyone else now, I feel they still aren't overloaded with hoppy offerings and are still pretty varied. The success of the DD Porter is a good thing IMO if youre worried about hopped up beers dominating their line.

 

Rogue are still the kings of the "dusty shelves", that much has not changed.

 

I think the problem is that BPAs and Saisons don't really sell so well, and this guy being a gyspy brewer there is a different pressure being that he's making the beers or having someone else make the beers in his name, but then they hand it of to 12% and they have to figure out how to sell it. They seem to be sticking tight to this new formula (1) 16oz can? Bright colors only (2) goofy name? of course (3) lactose? Lots! (4) Gose or IIPA, pick 1 (4) adjuncts? all please, seems to be what Evil Twin is doing exclusively now, and Stillwater is following suit.

Stillwater and Evil Twin are (in my market) exclusively in the singles section with really expensive single cans, that are not dated. I'm definitely not buying a $7.99 adjunct IPA 16oz with no date, not a chance. Oh but there's Gose Gone Hopped that's almost 2 years old on the shelf... not because it didn't sell, I saw them putting it on the shelf and it was already a year old. Well done.

 

Couldn't agree more. I miss Oaked Arrogant Bastard the most. I just walk by every time they have a new beer out.

A few other notables: Green Flash, Rogue.

 

Haha ya I guess that's why I don't think that they go on this list. They haven't lost their way, their way is just unexciting. The few attempts at 'getting with the times' from them have seemed like duds. But I hope they keep putting out Steam at a good price, make their porter more available, and that's about all I ever drink from them