F.X. Matt to Acquire Flying Dog

What does this mean for the Original Flying Dog in Colorado? (sorry, haven't chanced the paywall* -- yeah, kicked out)

Or is it even still around?

 

They've been gone from here for a long time. They left for Maryland in 2006 and everything tied to them here disappeared soon after. They even left our market entirely for a while, but popped back up a few years ago.

 

That rather sucks since CO is where it all began.

 

My history is a little shaky, but Flying Dog started up in Aspen. They moved into the the former space of Tabernash Brewing when they merged with Left Hand up in Longmont. That was Eric Warner's place. I think that was around 2000. When Flying Dog left, I think that space just sat for a few years, but River North Brewing moved into it 2012. They ended up demolishing that building and RN ended up a few blocks away after having to move twice in 5 years. The space either apartments or condos now.

 

I have fond memories of Flying Dog since their Old Scratch was one of my early-ish experiences with craft brewing, at least to the extent that I liked it enough to keep buying it. Even owned an Old Scratch tee shirt. Loved those Steadman labels.

 

Here's a local radio station's text story:
https://wtop.com/business-finance/2...is-being-acquired-and-flying-out-of-maryland/

Recall, too, that Brooklyn Brewery bought 20% of Matt a few years back, and Kirin owns the infamous 24.5% of Brooklyn.

This might make a good junior high* math question:
"If (above stats) then what percentage of Flying Dog does Kirin own? (Show your work.)"
(*Banned in Florida schools, tho' - alcohol-related and other stuff.)

 

I still like Flying Dog and I think they make good beers. They have a pretty good presence here and still make most of the beers that I have liked historically. I do miss the oyster stout Pearl Necklace though. Hopefully with the sale they don't change too much.

 

And Brewbound, normally behind a paywall, has their article on the purchase online for free:
https://www.brewbound.com/news/fx-m...g-creating-top-10-ba-defined-craft-brewery-2/

 

Maybe they will change Flying Dog's wack-ass label art as part of the deal

 

Don't be slammin' my man Ralph -- Flying Dog wouldn't be Flying Dog without his labels.

 

They’ve gotten pretty gimmicky and I’ve had some absolute misses from some of the goofier stuff. But I can’t say they aren’t keeping things interesting.

 

Yeah I agree. For example that cookies and cream beer was awful. Dead Rise is another one that comes to mind. I'm surprised they still make it and that people apparently enjoy it.

 

It just seems to be another 'example' of consolidation in today's craft beer market.

Hopefully this will be a smart business strategy for F.X. Matt and Flying Dog.

Cheers!

 

I worked beverage retail ca. 1999-2005 and initially held a similar view while stocking and/or recommending the Flying Dog line.

Even considering the Hunter S. Thompson connection, the labels were outlandish, and branding and naming equally unappealing to most day-to-day beer department regulars.

It probably took me a year to get over my apprehension, and I learned that the ‘proof was in the pudding’, as the saying goes, and the beer inside the bottle held up rather well per stylistic intent.

After that I was happy enough to recommend them to any of curious shoppers who hadn’t yet tried them.

Come to think of it, they’ve been scarce in our local market (and maybe absent entirely) for quite some time. Maybe this new arrangement will allow them to come back?

 

Slowly raises hand…it’s a novelty beer, but dead rise is well done for what it is imo. Doggie Style was my first pale ale love. Still enjoy it when I can find it fresh. And Gonzo and the barrel aged version are fantastic.

 

Haven't had anything from Flying Dog in years but they were one of my gateway breweries when I lived in NYC and would stop in my local bodega on the way home to see what was new.

 

Isn't F. X. Matt primarily a contract brewer? Do they own other brands?

 

F.X. Matt does indeed brew their own beers. They have been brewing Utica Club, an AAL beer, for a very long time. They market their craft beers under the Saranac brand.

Cheers!

 

With the sale and move, perhaps distro will widen. I’d love to get those stovepipes of Raging Bitch here in So Flo.,.
And Steadman’s art is among the best and most expressive in the biz., hope he stays on.,,

 

Being a local Frederick native, sad to see Flying Dog go but they closed down the taproom during the pandemic and never reopened it. They also dodged a major bullet a few years back (about the time when Stone was expanding as well) when they were looking to build an even larger brewing facility by the Frederick airport but backed out of that. I still really like most of their original classics and some of the new offering have been hit or miss.

 

The fact that Matt bought the brand but not the brewery suggests that FD could always make a separate deal to sell the brewery to another company as a turnkey operation since most of the brewing and packaging equipment would be too big for this operation "...FX Matt will maintain some sort of presence in Maryland. The company said it is seeking a location for an innovation brewery and taproom in Frederick."

 

Ah I've heard of (but never seen, let alone tasted) both of those brands. I wonder if they are considering acquiring more brands?

 

They've picked up brands over the years - as noted in articles, they own the Buffalo NY "Flying Bison" brand, and I'm pretty sure they bought some small brewery/brand a few years back in the Adirondacks (?) and they were the contract-brewer for the New Amsterdam brand (which pre-dated Samuel Adams) and they owned that brand for a few years in the 1990s when the original owner sold. And they also bought another upstate NY brand many years ago and used it as their discount brand (99 cents/sixpack sort of beer) - the infamous Fort Schuyler.

 

I really don't know but I would expect they would do a 'wait & see' after digesting Flying Dog.

The craft beer market, well the entire beer market, is very tricky now. I have read many articles advocating that younger folks are more inclined to drink non-beer products (e.g., Ready to Drink cocktails) so perhaps acquiring more beer brands is not the best investment right now?

Cheers!

 

If a brewer's sales are down, it makes sense to add proven brands from other companies to their portfolio to maintain the brewery's efficiency by continuing to brew nearer to capacity. Obviously, the cost of the brands is an important consideration.

 

I was thinking that it may be a good time for a large brewery like F. X. Matt to pick up brands because the difficulties in the crowded market might make current owners eager for an exit.

 

Yeah, you never know - well, until a decade later after the results are in when it's explained in a book or an article. Lots of cases where a brewer overpaid for a brand and it brought down that company, too. (Falstaff's purchase of the Ballantine brands, which included paying royalties, resulted in them being taken over by the notorious brewery-killer Paul Kalmanovitz). And sometimes the brand might be worth more than the entire company, which could come with outstanding bills and loans, employee responsibilities (<rare in "craft", of course).

It sounds like Matt and Flying Dog, since they already had a relationship, may have arranged a simple, relatively friendly "personal" deal without other companies getting offered the brand, etc. Contract-brewers tend to know more about the contractee's business than an outside company might.

 

….good point, there are a lot of top quality US craft brewers I’d love to see either expand or relocate into the existing Flying Dog brewery space. It’s a pretty large square footage of space from various breweries I’ve visited.

 

An interesting case of a contract brewer (at least in part in the case of Matt) expanding as it acquires other brands. One thinks of City Brewing, which started out as a pure contract brewery and has since expanded quite a bit. City was initially, I think, what was left of Heileman after it went under and the plant was acquired by the employees. Contract brewers can obviously do quite well if they know what they're doing, or completely flop if they don't (eg, Pittsburgh Brewing, which was the original brewer of Sam Adams, then went bust).

 

New Amsterdam was a great beer in its day. Their seasonal for Xmas was always top notch.

 

Thanks!! I don’t really think of Flying Dog first when I think of MD and craft beer. And I was always under the impression that when Frederick Brewing built that brewery there’d be plenty of capacity for whomever might buy or need it. Wonder why a large portion of beer was being brewed by Matt?

 

It does seem strange that over the last 5-10 years you’d figure Flying Dogs sales in US would have taken a hit with the addition of so many brewers. I think I heard at one point that Flying Dog was one of the top craft exporters out of the US so perhaps they truly expanded sales but just into emerging markets with less competition.

 

Way back when I was a young one, one year on vacation my folks let me pick a few things to do. I chose the baseball HoF in Cooperstown, and a brewery tour at Utica Club/Matt. Nice tour that ended in a fancy bar room, the folks each got a couple beers and I got a couple root beers, and a never empty bowl of pretzel nuggets. I was 10.

 

But is now 'busting out' HUGE!



Do you think they will sell enough beer (i.e,, Iron City beer) to recoup this cost to build out this new, HUGE regional brewery?

Cheers!

 

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Nope, just a "relationship with Lake Placid Pub & Brewery".

City, after the collapse of Heileman and then Stroh (which bought Heileman in the mid-90s) leaving the industry, initially had several of its own brands - notably Lacrosse Lager (said to be the same recipe as Old Style) and other brands like City and Kul. They later sold the brands to another company (a local distributor IIRC) to become exclusively a contract-brewer.

City now is owned by new group of investors, including some owners of Pabst which announced 2 years before the deal that they were moving their contracts from Molson Coors to City.

 

Haven't thought about the Saranac brand in a long time. Do I understand that FX Matt has been contract brewing?

 

Yes, F.X. Matt contract brews beers.

One example is Flying Dog beers.

Cheers!

 

They have also brewed for Cape May Brewing, some of their Shandys, to my knowledge, were brewed there. Both The Grove and The Bog have had Cape May and FX Matt on their label in the past.

I’m not sure if it’s still the case but a few years back I know it was.