Bear Republic pulling out of TX

Unfortunately the local shops ( or distributor) in B/CS do a poor job of making sure fresh stuff is on the shelf. Main reason I have passed by Racer X and other normally wood raising IPA's from BR.

 

Sucks!
cafe racer...no mas

 

That's too bad. I'm actually a huge fan of Apex. Breweries and distros need to stay on their toes if they want to stay relevant these days.

 

As I said on another site, if they are not cutting back on production, I do not see how the drought is factoring in at all.

It seems like a convenient excuse (if production is the same).

As far as new approvals - they have a brewery approval. That is good for 2 years. Every 2 years, they have to renew it anyways. I do not know if beer label approvals stay good after a brewery permit is expired and not renewed (and then, lets say, 5 years later they renew it). But, either way, when a brewery stops sending beer here, it does nothing for approvals unless they let the brewery one expire.

And, I like their beer. I just do not remember the last time I bought it either.

I will also wait for some official announcement from them on the issue as opposed to a bar's facebook status (granted, I have seen them post things before that are true way before it is announced).

 

From what I've read, they've either cut back production and/or are having trouble meeting demand at home. Here's the blog post from when they pulled out of Massachusetts.

 

I don't buy a lot of stuff from them either, but whenever Cafe Racer hits town, I pick up several. Big Bear Stout was pretty great too. I guess ultimately there's just too much good beer in Texas now to be too sad though.

 

That and I'd probably be more sad if I ever actually saw fresh Bear Republic (D)IPAs.

 

Then blame it on demand. Not on water restrictions.

 

Hop Rod Rye is a GREAT beer also...

 

Amazing to think that Racer 5 won't be available anymore. It's been awhile since I've bought any of their beers though. The last time was a Cafe Racer that arrived 1 month away from it's best by date. Their distribution has been poor on ensuring their products are always fresh on the shelves. When it comes to hoppy beers, I just don't bother with breweries that can't routinely guarantee their beers hit shelves within 3 weeks of bottling.

You hate to see one of the OG's go, but they've haven't kept up with others.

 

The big problem with them is they over ship and the beer sits on the shelf. A lot of local breweries have the same problem, especially with IPAs.

 

Nooooooo!!! Hop Rod Rye, Red Rocket and Racer 5 are 3 of my favorite beers!!

 

Interesting.
Luckily this might be the easiest brewery to trade for, as you can get bombers/ 6ers for under $6/12 in all of CA or a closer state. Probably a very easy pickitupformebro if anyone really misses it.

 

The issue they're facing is evident right here in this thread - look at the number of people who say they like their beer, but then immediately say that they never buy it.

Breweries can't live on good feelings alone. We'll likely see this happening more and more, as TX distribution improves, and local breweries keep making great beers. Simple reality is that some beers will have to fall out of the market.

 

Had an Apex @ Lucky's Cypress and it had definitely bit the dust..but I loved it

 

I would expand on this to say that the problem is more pronounced for breweries mostly/only known for hoppy offerings. If you can't get it here fresh and also have great marketing, then your IPA is just one in a million. Some breweries, like Stone/Lagunitas, have great marketing, lots of variety and excellent distro and people feel like they have to try each new thing.

 

I tend to buy very little out of state IPAs anymore. I can get week old TX stuff off the shelf for cheaper (usually). IPAs are one of those things that I think should be more local, while you distribute more of your non-IPAs across the US.

But, that is just me.

 

This is similarly a problem I continually see with dogfish hoppy products in Texas. 60 and 90 min is hardly less than 60 days old by the time I find it here on shelves. I was happy to see 90 min under 15 days old last year or so but since then their distro (Ben e Keith right?) has failed in delivering fresh product. I used to really enjoy both fresh when living on the east coast and would purchase it more often it was fresh. I think the whole "we can't get it on the shelves fresh enough" issue we see with out of state ipas is one of the things that perpetuates the homerisim that is abundant throughout craft. The locals are usually the freshest and therefore move. Then again perhaps it's the homerisim that gets people to buy more of it, thus keeping the stuff on the shelves fresh. Sorta the chicken or the egg there huh?

Ok /end long post

 

There's still plenty of Cafe Racer with a best by date of Novemeber still sitting around stores in Dallas.