Epic Brewing to Begin Distribution in Texas

Anyone have any news on when we should start seeing bottles on shelves? Article said early August but haven't heard much since they got several labels approved.

 

Still August. I believe around 8/15.

 

I think the most likely reason for these limited rollouts is distributor signings. BEK and Silver Eagle both have very saturated craft portfolios, and I know BEK in particular has really slowed down product expansion over the last couple of years (to Silver Eagle's benefit). Negotiating distribution agreements isn't exactly a walk in the park, and it'll only get harder as distributors get more and more selective with who they carry. This is one of the drawbacks of a rapidly growing market.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that new arrivals are going to have a very difficult time finding one (or even two) distributors to carry them statewide. With that in mind, it makes perfect sense for them to start small and test the waters while they negotiate contracts in other cities. If we waited to them to get statewide coverage, we'd end up waiting much longer for the product to hit shelves anywhere in TX. It sucks that SA won't see Epic right away, but I'm glad to know that they're at least on the horizon somewhere.

 

Tuesday the 12th is looking like the date.

 

Here is the beer List for The Common Table's Epic Tap Takeover on Saturday August 23rd:

Brainless on Peaches
Brainless on Raspberries
Brainless IPA
Big Bad Baptist
Imperial Pumpkin Porter (Fermentation without Representation)
Sour Apple Saison
Barley Wine
Wit Imperial Stout
Imperial Red
Imperial IPA
Brainless Belgian
Smoked Belgian Strong
Hopulent Nitro IPA
Brainless Peaches "Wild"
Elder Brett

 

Just saw a tweet that Lonestar got in a bunch of the Brainless series.

 

Had the wild brainless peaches over the weekend in Denver. Freaking amazing