How is Brewery Vivant doing?

I know they let go of their entire sales team last year which is never a good sign.

 

Never a good sign for sales. I'm sure the taproom is doing fine. People seem to love going there.

 

They also have a new taproom/offshoot project, called Broad Leaf.

 

Anecdotal, but I haven't seen their beer in Chicago in some time.

 

Same here, but I haven’t really looked lately. I do enjoy the brewpub quite a bit though. Hope it doesn’t go under.

 

I still see local stores getting their beer in now and again. I'm sure a lot of it's old stock. But always seem to get new beers from time to time from them. I live on the east side of the state.
Love their BBA Quad, Wizards Burial Ground. Fantastuc stuff.

 

I visit once/twice a year and each time they are busy. I've been following their new Broadleaf Project on Instagram. I still see their beers at Binny's in Chicago.

 

Someone better check those dates. They haven't distributed to Illinois for a while. Looking around it seems for well over a year now.

https://www.breweryvivant.com/beer/

 

Brewery Vivant, to my knowledge is still going strong and a brewery and pub. Broadleaf is close to where I work so I get there more often than their main location, which is really worth the trip for the atmosphere and food. (And beer, don't forget the beer!)
They do concentrate on French and Belgian styles almost exclusively, and they do a great job with them. Heck, I like their Wizard Burial Ground (BBA Quad) more than Love Shadow (BBA Stout) and I'm a stouts freak. Er, so to speak. As to why they let go their sales staff, no idea. But I may be able to find out.

 

The dry hopped barrel aged golden sour Space Queen Immortal remains one of my favorite sours. They're still cranking out great oak aged, fruited sours, like the recent Jam Jar.

 

I get to Vivant three or four times each year. It's still the same ol' Vivant to me. I keep going back because the beer and food have always been top notch.

One other reason why I enjoy going to Vivant is that they always have a few one-off batches in cans that they sell in their tiny store up front. I always find a pleasant surprise.

I don't know about any financial issues that they may have but I have not heard anything myself. I will say that if you have enjoyed their beers in the past, nothing has changed to make me believe you won't enjoy them now. I hope you enjoy your visit. btw, be sure to check their website for their hours - some weekdays they don't open until 3:00PM. I've burned myself a few times with this.

 

If anything I hope this thread reignites the discussion about this place. They are cranking out some of the best stuff around right now and seem to get very little love. Several of the stores around me get their full distro and they don't seem to sit long. Their recent releases have all been stellar, the jamocha love shadow, jam jar, as well as their whole line of fruited saisons they started last year were all great. I hope to see Lemon drop saison again, along with peach raspberry.

Also Tree Bucket is finally coming back this spring, a great Belgian double IPA. They haven't done it in a few years and it's fantastic.

 

I don’t love most of the styles they are producing but I feel like they are very unique. The food at the taproom is out of bounds delicious, not to mention the atmosphere is amazing. Their side project Broad Leaf is more my style and they are making really solid hazies and lagers. I don’t think Vivant is struggling at all. @Hoos78 you make a good observation though, I don’t see them mentioned much in the social medias.

 

Must be shelf turds I saw Paris at Binnys in last 2-3 months

 

Vivant and Broad Lead are pumping out some of the best beer I have had from them in years. Jam Jar was terrific, fruity and funky like a true back-sweetened Belgian fruit beer. And the NEIPA's from Broad Leaf are some of the best in the state. I can't speak to their profitability but if they have retracted distribution it might not be a bad idea. I mean, how many breweries have failed trying to expand production to grow distribution? Being a successful local brewpub as opposed to trying to get your beer on every store shelf isn't necessarily a bad thing.

 

...and perhaps it’s precisely because of their lack of brand recognition that their excellent ales don’t move well outside their region, so what point is a sales staff?
Competition is very much a two edged sword- it allows for out of area offerings to be local, but it doesn’t guarantee sales there.
Any way, I probably need more coffee. Vibrant is a local treasure, maybe it doesn’t translate well at the price point that they dwell in.