Breweries that have lost their way/identity

Stone lost me a few years back when they tried making everything taste like jolly ranchers with the hops they used.

 

I was in London last week and a pint of London Pride on cask sitting in some Victorian-era pub is still really fucking good.

 

Well if brewers like SingleCut and Other Half were making other styles at a very high level before they switched to theif primary focus on NEIPAs, sours and Pastries, then if the hype dies and they've collected their quick cash for the near term Instagram culture, they can go back to making assortment of lagers and other ales for the long term goals. Sounds like both are just plain awesome brewers and can do most anything better than majority of other brewers.

 

I don't know about that - neither of them have shown they can make (or want to or appreciate) an unadulterated kolsch, porter or barleywine.

 

I would say Boulder Beer Company lost their way but I never thought that they were on the right path in the first place.

 

The Highland IPAs that I get in Asheville are far from just solid, it’s really a terrific beer. For my palate it leans towards fruity, and they just don’t age well imo, I have no clue to the Hop combo they use. I’m sure it’s not a fast turn around beer here in Greensboro, but if guys were buying this particular beer under 30 days old there’s simply nothing there not to love. It’s far better than the messy hazy beers being rushed to the shelves.

 

Just to be clear, I wasn't nominating Dogfish Head as an answer to the thread topic. I do see a slight shift in emphasis at the moment - that's all. I never cared for their tendency to create high ABV brews. Sam can claim that the beers they are pushing today are a result of a lifestyle change due to him getting older and an expanding waistline, but he's obviously responding to a shifting market instead and their present successes (which is fine).

 

I think Victory hasn't lost it's. It's just adjusting to the changing market for beer. As are most of the other breweries posted about.

 

I haven't had any Fuller's since the sale but that's not because of those events. I've always had wildly different experiences with their beers - be it due to batch variation, my own shifting perceptions, or varying levels of import abuse... so experiencing a difference now wouldn't mean anything to me. I kind of gave up on their imports before the sale. Regarding changes at Fuller's, their head brewer (who was with the company for two decades) left shortly after the sale. That could just be a coincidence... or it could have been a case of her being cautious or seeing the writing on the wall. Who knows. I'm not suggesting anything bad because of that event but it's still an interesting shift. Continuing to buy their product is a good way for a consumer to send a signal that things don't need "fixing."

 

I also feel like DFH remains true to their core values/brewing style while adapting to some changing trends in beer--as you would expect an innovator like Sam to do.

Folks often criticize them for price, quirkiness, etc. For me, they make great beer that is ALWAYS consistent. I loved it when 75 came back last year and enjoyed a few pints of American Beauty this year and love to get a 60 and 90 on draught when I find them.

 

I honestly would still drink Rouge, as I think they make a lot of 'classics' just like you pick up a Weihenstephaner or Orval when nothing else catches your eye... but the prices for Rogue are so bad for very average beers, and no dates... I think it is actually shameful, and really disrespectful your customers to unload potentially old product at a premium price. I have a soft spot for Dead Guy, and the John John Dead guy (aged in Dead Guy Whiskey barrels) was one of the first beers I really "got" (and bought a ton of since it was in a clearance bin and someone told me "that's a really expensive beer that's only $4.89 we are trying to get rid of it"). Man that is/ was a good beer.

Anyways, I think they make a lot of good beers but just lack a marketing strategy, distribution network, or overall vision, to be relevant in 2019, sadly. The idea of an all estate beer is really cool, but no one even knows that is what they are selling. It's a shame more than anything tbh.

 

Delicate balance between keeping up with the times and being a trend chaser. staying true to your roots and being stuck in the mud.

Ballast Point seems to have fallen off a cliff

TG seems to have gone the route of hypebeast rare whalez bro. Saw their pricing roll-out for Assassin and just knew they had jumped the shark.

 

Some of these breweries have definitely lost their way (Anchor brewing Mango Wheat and Blackberry Daze IPA), and others seem to have just not kept up with changes (Weyerbacher) while others have just dropped the ball within their lane (Stone's lame IPAs)... but for some of the brewers that have moved beyond their usual inspiration or "lost their identity" wasn't it really the consumer that forced them to do it?

Believe me, I don't want to see another brewery start to make milkshake beers but hey, shelf space is tight, and if that's what the consumer wants I can hardly blame them for going after that market (Victory I'm looking at you, please don't do it). One simple example: back in the day Kalamazoo Brewing (now Bell's) used to make almost exclusively dark beers, that was what they were known for, but they had to start making lighter colored beers to keep up, and they've made some excellent stuff (Two Hearted, Oberon). I certainly don't blame them for doing what they needed to do to stay in business. But please, no milkshake beers, your sours were bad enough.

 

Local: Trillium. Changed fermentation profile of their IPAs, quality declined. Sours have never been all that great. Poor labor practices (that discussion was beat to the ground). I feel they're expanding too quickly. Rhode Island breweries such as Long Live/Proclamation/Buttonwoods/Tilted have all surpassed this once great brewery.

Large Distro: Victory. Downhill since replacing Hop Wallop with Dirtwolf. I don't see their stuff as often, very hard to find their IPAs fresh. Still brew quality beer, just not at the forefront like they were 6-7 years ago.

 

I’d say they have a pretty boring line up, but man I do love me some Shake chocolate porter.

 

The short answer is: yes, the breweries are changing to respond to a portion of the craft beer consumers.

Longer answer below:

Not every craft beer consumer is a Haze Bro. As popular as these Hazy/Juicy IPAs are with a segment of the craft beer market there are waaay more folks purchasing beers like New Belgium Fat Tire, Sam Adams Boston Lager, Yuengling Traditional Lager, Founders All Day IPA, Blue Moon,....

One 'advantage' for the breweries to cater to the Haze Bros is profit - they can price their 4-packs for $15-20 and if they sell directly at the brewery/tap room they are making a shit ton of profit.

Every brewery needs to construct their individual business plans and their individual strategies on which portion(s) of the craft beer market to serve. For example sell lots of quantity at more economical prices (e.g., 15 packs of Founders All Day IPA) or sell lesser quantities but at high profit (e.g., Tired Hands weekly releases of Hazy/Juicy beers).

Cheers!

 

I predict that within 10 years there will be threads here lamenting how someone's favorite brewery is no longer brewing hazy IPAs.

As for Weyerbacher, I wonder how much growth they can expect with a lineup of 20-odd beers, mostly high-ABV Belgian styles. Maybe it's just me, but those are beers one buys, and enjoys, in small quantities. I drink one QUAD and I'm pretty much done.

 

There's always that exception. Agreed.

 

Yeah, one quad an hour is about my limit too.

 

I'd say "yes" to that. After discovering the Victory Saints I had a standing order with my local retail distributor for a case of each every year for some years. Then, according to my retail distributor Saint Boisterous disappeared because it wasn't selling well enough. A few years later Saint Victorious went away.

The last year that Saint Victorious was available in bottles the only reason I was able to get my case, according to my retail distributor, was that the local sales crew convinced the brewery that they should bottle enough to keep their home market customers happy.