Elevating Premium Lager

Thinking about this there isn't really a lager that comes to mind as the predominant local for me.

Perhaps Uinta -801?
Or maybe Squatters - Provo Girl? (Haven't seen this one lately or tried it sadly)

I think for those few of us in UT anyway, it's going to be hard to overcome Rogue - Dreamland (go to cheap favorite) or even Coors Banquet

 

Is it too much to make quality number one? I get everything else from a marketing sense but if the beer itself is terrible then no branding in the world will get me to pick it up twice.

 

I really have no idea what this article is trying to say. They don't even define what they mean by the term "Premium Lager", which is critical considering it's also used by AAL breweries.

In point #2, they tout Yuengling's independet ownership. But then #3 they talk about avoiding adjuncts which Yuengling uses. Huh?

 

California's Enegren Brewing has all 4 and all these other trendy/hype/cookie cutter IPA breweries are just now tryina ride the lager wave .

Great Notion has one that costs $ 4+ for a pint can These boutique style lagers / pilsners have NO place in the market charging those prices. 15+ for a 4pack of pints? hard pass .
they made their ipa bed and now have to lay in it.

Enegrens are 11-13 for the aix Pack and they've been doing it for years.

The answer is to support those who were there before the hype because the trend chasers only chase whats hip at the moment

 

Revolution started selling Cold Time lager in December, and that beer fucks like Karl Hungus in Logjammin'. I really hope they start packaging it, because it would always be in my refrigerator.

Price point is key, but larger regionals and perhaps even larger locals can make some inroads converting AAL drinkers with a quality product at a competitive price, while also keeping their core craft drinkers happy.

 

If i were a Chicago person 80% of Rev beers would be a staple like arroz y frijoles up in the pantry

 

"Craft" breweries, especially if they're going to go play in the big boys sandbox with pale lagers, need to understand that this is backwards thinking. With your Nelson and Riwaka ipa you are playing in a premium price market, you want me to buy a pale lager? You are competing in a market where excellent quality has been available at moderate prices for decades. @Resistance88 mentioned Enegren, up north we've also got Northcoast scrimshaw. It seems like most regions have a lager brand that makes good shit for prices that are maybe 1.5x the industrial beers.

So if you think you're going to pitch a helles or a pilsner that's pushing 3x the price of industrial beer you sure as shit better be bringing your A++ game as far as ingredients and process. I can buy a 12 pack of scrimshaw for $15 bucks. Why would I buy your 4 x 16 for $20?

I haven't had the pleasure of trying revs lagers. Giving the quality of the few beers I've had from them and the generally recognized improvement their barrel program has seen year over year, I'm sure that @BeerCruncher and the brew crew over there can do various lagers right. But I would never recommend some random brewery turn to premium priced lagers in a desperate attempt to drum up more revenue.

It seems like the craft lager brands that are thriving are doing so primarily by providing a product that is not otherwise available in the market. Not by making a "premium" AAL.

 

You’re correct about quality. Southeastern Pennsylvania has been blessed with great lagers for at least a couple decades (Victory, Sly Fox), but breweries with great quality (and great branding) seem to be doing fine charging higher price points, especially with direct-to-consumer sales. Here’s what’s currently available to-go from Human Robot:

4pk Hallertau German Pils $15

4pk Czech 10 Pale Lager$15

4pk Polotmavy 12 Garnet Lager $15

4pk Old Tudor English Mild $12

4pk Kolner Kolsch $15

4pk Dreams Of Orgonon IPA$18

4pk Sentient Vortex IPA $18

4pk Kleiner Wald Schwarzbier$15

4pk Burgenstrabe Zwickelbier $15

4pk Dresden Codex Mexican Lager$15

4pk Content Therapy DIPA $20

 

In the Midwest, Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold Lager doesn't cost much more than macro AALs, and it's really good.

 

Similarly, point #1 (Local Pride) uses Pabst-owned brands like National Bohemian, Stag, Lone Star, Rainier and Old Style as examples and then say for #2 that "...a mega corporation that’s using the brand as a chess piece can certainly be a turn-off to some drinkers." Most of those Pabst beers aren't even brewed in their original state or region much less original brewery, and even "independent" Narragansett (which was formerly a corporate-owned brand since the 1960s, by a predecessor company to Pabst ) has it's AAL-flagship brewed at FIFCO USA's Genesee brewery in New York state.

 

And Bell's apparently thinks that people don't like the 'Premium' taste of lagers by getting rid of their Lager of the Lakes in favor of a dumbed-down, lighter-flavored recipe now called Lager for the Lakes. Go figure!

 

How many times are you Michiganers gonna post and complain about this?

Let me know if I miss any, so I can "LIKE" those posts I haven't seen. With Bell's being "near national" lots of folks outside the "Great Lakes" forum also were fans of the original Lager of the Lakes.

Granted, not sure how much sway posting and "Liking" has with the Bell's management in Kalam....um, Fort Collins, CO... I mean, Australia... well, you know ---- Japan.

 

We/I like our/my lager to be premium, and from the comments made on this site so far, this new one isn't in that category. (I'll admit that I haven't tried it yet, but I trust my fellow members here who have.)

 

To me the main problem for craft brewers to overcome with the “premium” American lager market is price.

Why would I pay craft prices for a beer that’s comparable to (and in many cases worse than) a $5.99 6-pack of High Life? I can’t figure out why people pay more for Corona….

Maybe do what Off Color is doing locally with their lower abv products (Stoutling at 3.x% and Beerathon at 2.62% - both really good) at $10.99/ 6 pack of pints. I don’t know if the economics work, but I’d at least consider the purchase then.

 

You do? All of them? All of their palates and opinions? Trusting soul.

 

Gullible.

 

At the end of last year the prices of all GL beers jumped about $3 per six-pack here in NE Ill -- much higher than the AALs I see. Stock up while you can.

 

Nice find. How we consumers may be experiencing things. Some combination of these may make a winner.

Waiting for the lager revolution, not sure citrus will be the way forward forever, even if it tastes good.

 

Definitely price/quality ratio is the main obstacle, before getting into any other considerations.

From northern NJ my request would be this: make it better than Narragansett and sell it for less than a buck per 16oz. can. They've already established the baseline for you. If you can't, then don't even consider this part of the market.