End of 2nd wave?

I don’t know what wave of craft beer we are on, but I do know the wave of hard seltzer (Bud Light Seltzer anyone?) has come ashore hard at my local and has taken many feet of the limited shelf space that once belonged to craft beer. From what I can tell and guess, that space is gone for good, so now my craft choices are limited.

 

I will posit that Rheingold ,Encore, Erlanger, Natinal Premium, Red Cap Ale, and some others filled the gap for some of us. And spending time in England and Germany as not much more than a boy.

 

Is this the thread where we get to complain about breweries that make Slushie IPA's?
Because if it is. Dagnabbit, I'm here to complain about those.

 

I agree there's lots of bad beer out there, but I think the real problem is there are too many expired, shelf turds at the bottle shops. Every time I go 80% or more of the IPAs are 4+ months old. And they sit there..sometimes for well over a year.

Plenty of variety though!

 

i did like National Premium. Wish I had one right now.

 

With the amount of beer/brewery options, lack of resources on new beers (especially on this site), and local bias - it's tough to get an accurate read on how a new brewery is doing in terms of beer quality. With that in mind, it's incredibly easy to 'out pace' any viable research if you're getting out and trying new beers at local breweries.

 

It's available, again - or a facsimile of it (second "revival" the brand, in fact).
www.nationalpremiumbeer.com/

 

There has also never been a time where so much out of date stuff sits on the shelf.

 

This may be true, but when I first became aware of the wider world of beer (~2009?) the shelves were filled with out of date imports, which seems to mean that those beers were mostly over 1 year old. Now those same stores shelves are filled with out of date US craft beers but those beers are usually just 6 months old. So it seems like the freshness has improved but not kept up with the consumer awareness of the importance of freshness

 

Last revival it was only available IIRC around Baltimore. I was actually going to go over there when I was at my parents’ place near Warrenton VA but that revival was over by the time I was back in VA...

 

I kind of put this into perspective for myself last night.

I picked up a 6 pack of Bell's Hopslam Ale for $18.99. Back in 2015 I was giddy to even find Hopslam on the shelf, and there was always a mad dash to buy it up. When I was drinking it last night, I just shrugged my shoulders and said to myself "ehhh it's alright, but I have 3 other IPAs in the fridge right now that are better and I got them for a lot cheaper". I honestly don't know if I'll buy any next year TBH.

That's sums up what craft beer has done in 5 years.

 

Yeah, not sure how well that guy is doing (think I read something about him self-distributing it, which likely limits the distro. region).

First revival was by the old Frederick (Blue Ridge, Flying Goose) Brewing Co., (the brewery now operated by Flying Dog) in 1999. They bought the brand from Stroh, which had bought Heileman, which had bought Carling-National back in the late 1970s. That's how the two sister brands, National Bohemian (now Pabst-owned, of course) and National Premium, first got split up.

 

There has been no better time for beer drinkers in America than right now. The amount of breweries making well made, to style, and interesting beers has never been this high. Yes there are numerous crappy breweries making crappy beer, but that is law of averages. Enjoy it Spudboys and Spudgirls.

 

True but does not mean it wasn't good when it was made.

 

One of my running training partners is big into craft beer. The questions have changed over the years from, "how much KBS/Hopslam did you buy this year?" to "did you buy any KBS/Hopslam this year?" For both of us, that answer now is "zero."

It's rather sad. I remember getting big into craft beer and landing two six packs of Hopslam. It was the only time of year I'd use my matching Hopslam tulip glass. Fast forward a few years and that glass sits gathering dust (actually, I think I gave it to a local brewer as a trade for one of his glasses) and I only bought one pour of Hopslam last year. At $19 a 6 pack, it just isn't justifiable for me anymore considering what else is on the market now and my own shift in tastes/preferences.

 

So I'm curious, by calling it possibly the end of a wave, are you implying you think there will be some sort of major shake up? Breweries closing? Pivot into a new market? Reorganization of distribution roles? I'm curious

 

I agree with spending my money and expecting a good product. Some breweries are very expensive for an average product. That being said, I keep an open mind to my tastes and expectations of a beer compared to you or others' opinions of that same beer. I don't think brewers intentionally make bad beer, I think they make beer I'm not interested in drinking more then once. I can't get though a bottle of Duval without gagging, yet it's one of the best beer brewed I'm told.
There has been an ongoing discussion of sorts on WBAYDN about a brewery in my neck of the woods that made awesome beer but changed their yeast profile or something a while back and F'ed it up. I can't really taste a noticeable difference. I believe whats being said though because the source is extremely knowledgeable. I always thought their prices were high anyway so I never get it much.There are so many other tasty brews around at a better value. I guess in my long winded way I'm saying it's all a matter of personal taste. Maybe we have a few bad ones together some day. Cheers.

 

Ain't that horse country"

 

oh yeah

 

Respectfully my friend I have to disagree. Having moved to Sioux Falls recently, Sioux Falls area beer is pretty plain. Nothing infected, (not sure if that's what you mean by bad) but there is nearly nothing worth drinking on a regular basis in the local area. Closest would be Covert, but only if you are a sour fan. I remember an English Breakfast from Woodgrain that was decent, but I never felt urged to return to it. I bought a Crowler for a friend of it since he liked Funky Buddha's Maple Bacon Coffee Porter but he said it completely sucked in comparison. I felt pretty bad about that. South Dakota is in dire need of real brewing talent. We have nothing to offer really, except for out of state distribution from Wisconsin, Iowa, or Minnesota.
I hope it improves soon.

Cheers