Brewery, Retail Store, or Both?

Both for me.

I like buying at the local brewery because I like the atmosphere and I like the beer.

Bottle shops are great for variety, which I really like.

 

Used to be almost exclusively retail, now way more (mostly canned) beer purchased at breweries. Massive swing in this direction over the last 2-3 years. But I’ll still buy some stuff when I’m at Wegmans or occasionally at other places, especially for convenience. One thing I prize in retail stores is when they are good about updating their arrivals in BeerMenus. I like to have a plan!

 

Here is why I primarily shop retail.
Today for $21 from my local store down the street from my office I got the following beers:
1 can of Stone Idolatrous IPA (drinking it right now)
1 12oz bottle of Aventinus Eisbock (love this big beer and will share with friends)
1 bottle of Lagunitas Cherry Jane Sour Ale (haven't tried it yet)
1 bottle of North Coast Passion Fruit / Peach Berliner Weisse (haven't tried it yet)
1 bottle of La Chouffe Blonde (love this beer)
1 bottle of Houblon Chouffe (love this beer)

Now in my local area we have about 10+ breweries now. If I were to drive to one of them during rush hour traffic (most aren't open during lunch break and most are only open Thurs-Sunday)to buy a crowler from any of them I'm spending $10-$12 for a crowler (2 16oz beers). Of probably 50+ beers these brewers may be offering this week, I doubt more than 5 of the 50+ beers are of the quality level of the beeres I listed above. The Stone beer I'm drinking is better than all but 2 IPAs I've had in my local area, and its decent but nothing spectacular.

That's why I buy from retail most of the time, and maybe 2-3x a year I'll drive a few hours down to Aslin, Triple Crossing or Veil, etc. to stand in line for a short while and mule home $100 worth of high level NEIPAs that will last me a few weeks. Not practical overall but I'll do it every now and then to get my NEIPA fix. There are NEIPAs in stores now pretty widespread, but I've sample many and although many are decent, they aren't at the level that those 3 in my 3 hr. drive radius are making.

 

If a brewery becomes popular and folks start asking for it at retail, they find a way through the 3-tier system to get their products further out in the market. This requires further markups from the wholesaler, then from the retailer. If a brewery sells their product at the brewery at the same price at retail as through the "system", and given that production is nearby, there's a good profit in there. Not as good as draft, but it's a good triple dip through the market! Around here, this is how it seems to be done.

 

We are in a bit of a unique situation. Being so far away from most of our retailers, we aren't competition for them. There are a few hardcore guys that will make the 3 hour drive from Phoenix every canning run and then they buy enough to make up the difference in gas money, sometimes 2-3 cases of each beer for a total of 6-9 cases. I think those are the guys that are really into beer trading or guys that want to tour Tombstone. Some retailers also drive down to the brewery so they can put beer on their shelves on evening of the beers being canned and because we don't put case limits on people that drive down. Our retailers are also constantly telling us that we are giving them really good deals for the styles we brew. Around here, rather than marking up a set dollar amount, most of them mark up about 30%, so they make more on more expensive beers ($5 a four pack on beers like Most Hops vs $2 a four pack on Pils or Pale Ale.

Another thing for us is that we prioritize our original retail accounts when we get orders. We like doing that because it helps us feel like we are maintaining our relationships with our main accounts and it helps increase their business overall since the beers are somewhat exclusive to 20 accounts or so. To a small extent, that relationship helps the consumers as well since our trusted retailers will not mark up a $10 4-pack of IPA to $20 even if they could get the price because they don't want us to stop selling to them. We work with accounts that we are comfortable with using respectable business practices and we think highly of these people. It is possible that our mutual respect would allow us to keep our business model if we were located in one of the big cities, but it is a balance that takes years to work at and achieve that level of trust.

In contrast, we had multiple accounts when I was in Alabama that told our brewery there that if we undercut them by any amount they would stop carrying us.

 

You touched on one item I was going to mention, location and relationships. I have noticed here in AZ that a lot of the shops have very good relationships with breweries and that level of trust is pretty deep. I think that goes a long way in achieving your model. Like you said in Alabama they basically told you our way or no way which shows they really don't care about a good relationship just dollars. It is a win for people like me on the consumer end because I can get your beer for a really good price and its 10 min from my house verse heading down which is almost 4 hours.
Cheers

 

Actually @deesonic owns what I consider to be the best beer store in North Alabama and we had a great relationship. We were told by him not to undercut him and I don't think it was a matter of not caring about us. I think he's got a business with overhead, employees, and inventory and selling local products is a big part of his success and the exposure and business we got from his shop was great. It is a very different business industry in Alabama than we've got here. Local breweries in Alabama try to be on the shelf in the $10 a six pack price range because that's what customers are willing to pay. That meant that the brewery sold that six pack for $4-$5 to the distributor, who takes a cut, then the retailer takes their margin. It leaves very little money for either the retailer or the brewer. The temptation might be there for a brewery to sell at $8 a six pack in a brewery and then the retailers would be hurt because they couldn't compete with that price. Our brewery was 5 miles away from deesonic's shop and we relied on his business for our distribution sales. It is a difficult way to operate there.

 

That info helps a lot. Not being on your side its hard to understand all the driving forces involved. For the consumer you really only see the price and never know the entire process of how that price became.

 

So biggest question, yes I prefer to buy my beer at a brewery, always. Line is never an issue for me, you are either in the game or you aren't. I prefer to go to the breweries always with the best releases,not just to stock my fridge. More recently I've decided not to buy much beer at store unless I've never had it or it's a new brewery to the area.I'm more trying ro build a network where I can trade and find people to get to breweries I cant get too. Im from NewEngland and have had luck in that respect with such breweries such as Other Half especially and now Veil and Aslin, that's right!..Happy hunting!!

 

I’ve gone from buying beer at Safeway only years ago, to moving toward specialty bottle shops a few years back, and nowadays I buy almost half my beer from any one of the 5 breweries within 3 mi of my house that have opened in the last few years. The rest I get from a smattering of great bottle shops that have sprung up around where I live.

In fact, I was buying so many crowlers from local breweries, that I decided to just get a uKeg instead. This way I can have small pours if I want and still keep the beer fresh. The uKeg is amazing for being able to slowly drink a full growler over a weeks time with your going flat or spoiling.

The brewery I buy the most from, Fieldwork in Berkeley, doesn’t do any retail (store) sales. They only sell from their own taprooms. I can get a 64-oz growler fill of a world-class NEIPA for $17. Compared to retail prices that’s very competitive considering the quality of the product.

 

Welcome to BA.

I personally prefer breweries where I can, but unfortunately that's a rarity. So it's mainly the local beer stores. I rarely go to bars, theyre loud, they're hot, crowded, I'm not really a social junkie. There's not a bar here that I can't so no to here, there's good beer but nothing compelling. I can't think of a cool bar close to here, and I'm thinking of something along the lines of BlackBack in Vt, 3 Penny, Hulmville Inn in Pa. , bars that have a bit of character to them as well as great beers.

 

I do the vast majority of my beer shopping at the local liquor store, with probably a sixer a week from the grocery store. (better prices, less selection) No breweries releasing cans in my area, so that's a rarity for me.

 

I tend to buy six-packs of singles at the local (large) beer/wine/liquor store, as that’s my way to sample bottles and cans of beer from all over the place. I’m fortunate that I can also head over to a few great local breweries here - Founders, Short’s, Bell’s, New Holland - to try their new offerings on tap or buy six-packs of favorites.

Recently I’ve been much more in an experimental mood so I’m really trying more new beers rather than just falling back on the usual old standbys.

 

In MA, if you purchase a growler full of beer from one brewery, you cannot have it refilled at another brewery. (sucks.) Luckily there are a bunch of quality breweries within two miles (Jacks Abby; Exhibition A; John Harvard; Framingham Beer Works). So, in order of preference, my frig gets stocked when a) a family member comes to visit and brings me some quality craft beer; b) when I'm already out driving by (or eating in) a brewery; or c) when it's Sunday or late at night and the only thing open is the local packie.

 

I am more retail than brewery. I will go to the breweries and may but things I can’t get at retail. I was spoiled and worked 200 yards from Trillium in Fort Point but found I would go next door to FortPoint Market almostas often. Tony has a much better selection for less $

 

As far as the OP's question goes, I couldn't be happier with what my favourite retail store is doing for the cause of good beer in Casper. It has never been this good!!

We only have 1 brewery currently and the guest taps can be very impressive but there's only pour your own; no take aways as in Growlers...

 

Retail.

 

I am all over the place on this. There are so many good beers available retail now. Beers that are better than I would have hoped for 10 years ago. Looking in my fridge it's about 60/40 retail. Some of the retail cans are from a brewery that I've visited many times (OldOx) but have begun selling their most popular beer through retail chains. Another local ran into beef with neighbors over parking and maybe the zoning board so closed their tasting room. Now you buy cans or growler fills at specific times listed on their site. I read the site and there seemed to be a lot of rules about buying beer from them so I dismissed them as BS. Browsing this site I found that they brew about 5 of the top ten beers in the state. I decide to check it out. Not far away. If its BSC I'll leave. Two people in front of me -- not bad. But they're selling 4-packs at $15 to $22 across a folding table in front of an open garage bay door. Brass balls award for the tip jar. Bought a Gose for my wife and an IPA for myself. Never going back -- right? IPA is pretty special and after the gose ran out my wife took a sip of her favorite summer sour and winced. Might be back but at $5.50 a can it is going to be a very sometimes thing. There are a couple breweries I go to because they're run by nice people, the beer is good, and they've created a nice place to be. Not trying to sell bar food or flip tables. I'll meet some people there, have a beer or two but never really take anything home. I really don't drink enough beer for a growler, and my wife and I don't like same beers it wouldn't work. It's a long way from the days of bud, mich, lowenbrau and heineken.

 

Almost always retail. The exception being when a beer may not be available outside the brewery. Of course the beer on draft at the brewery is always a top choice.