How Has The Last Year Changed The Beer World?

I can only imagine the packaging and distribution nightmare that the pandemic caused. Interesting article. I do think breweries should diversify their menu, but what incentive to diversify when haze sells best? Maybe the reason lighter and more tried & true styles are becoming more popular are that they are lighter and healthier options. A growing number of people want the fruity haze, but the body and calories of a lager. Here comes the IPL, such as Summer Break from Sierra Nevada. I don't see the IPL trend going away and likely will continue to evolve for the foreseeable future.
Overall, I think the bar scene will rebound soon.
Do you think there will be permanent, long-term effects from the pandemic on the beer industry?

 

It drastically changed my beer world. I've been able to lay hands on exactly one craft Pilsner in the last calendar year.

 

Not pandemic related, but I recently had gastric sleeve surgery, which prevents me from drinking any beer for at least a year, according to my doctor. Counting down the days. . .

 

While I appreciated the content of the article, it seems more like an ode to the downfall of editing. How can Forbes editors release an article that repeatedly uses "premise" instead of "premises"? There were also some horrible sentence constructions: "While production has shifted, as did styles that came into favor." Really?

Getting back on topic, I've really appreciated local breweries that went back to (or stuck with) the basics during the pandemic. When things are crazy in the world, I don't want crazy beers.

 

I definitely do especially where it comes to canning and distributing. We saw a lot of tap house only type breweries at least start producing crowlers to go and I’m sure they have even more incentive now to try to get beer on store shelves. I think many breweries are going to continue pushing in that direction now that they’ve seen there might be a legitimate reason to do so.

 

It will be interesting to see how many breweries discontinue distributing once the COVID rules change and taprooms are full again. Maybe the brewery's production capacity can only support the taproom demand and crowded store shelves might become less crowded soon.

 

Notch brewery in MA already said they were going to scale back what they have available for cans now that the tap room is fully operational (with a second one just about ready to go).

They said pre-pandemic people didn’t care as much about the cans to go.

 

Unable to get Andech's products at my German social club in Pittsburgh due to supply chain issues.

 

Expensive craft cans don’t make much sense to this consumer. We buy some as souvenirs from road trips and share with friends and family, but not a staple. Another thing that doesn’t make sense to me is the current obsession with breaking down style barriers, pushing weird ingredients (pickles?), and never being satisfied with a beautifully made beer in the classic style. Quality endures for a reason.

 

There’s a lot of breweries that are successful though.

So it makes sense to some consumers right?

 

I wonder if it’s a different case post pandemic?

I’ve wondered about this at many breweries how will the full taproom capacity affect their distro. Slowly decrease what goes into cans till it’s back to pre pandemic levels or immediately slow down what goes into cans?

I guess Notch went with the latter?

 

There is a financial motivation for smaller breweries to sell draft beer directly to customers at the brewery's taproom. Lots of profit in a draft pint sold at the brewery.

For this situation of canned beers sold via distribution (Brewery -> Wholesale Distributor -> Retailer) the profit margin is much smaller for the brewery.

Needless to say but their are operational costs associated with operating a brewery taproom but once a decision is made to have a brewery taproom is just makes business sense to optimize sales directly to the beer customers (i.e., draft pints) to maximize profit.

Cheers!

 

Getting world class beer shipped right to my door is awesome. But I also find myself buying more Hamm's and Hamm's light

 

Local retailers told me it's both a supply and distribution problem and those may ease up in the coming months.

 

Certainly seems to be the case. I went there this past weekend, and they only had one offering in cans.