Founders to Colorado?

Well, you gotta figure they will been in Colorado sooner or later. Looking at this on their website, they're in Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma, so Colorado seems like an obvious state for expansion.

 

Probably just a rumor for now (like the yearly "Bells coming to CO soon!" one) but I'm sure they'll end up out here eventually. They're one of the few regional players that could succeed in this market. At least assuming they approached it properly.

 

Hopefully some day. I'm guessing KBS would either not make it here or be in short supply. But I'd still love to be able to get Backwoods Bastard, Imperial Stout and Breakfast Stout. I'm not sure where they are in production amounts on their Backstage Series, I just know Canadian Breakfast Stout was another we had to knife-fight each other for.

 

Founders only has limited release in Nebraska (think they get most of their stuff, it's just not widely distributed), and they get KBS. Granted, most places in Omaha only got one case this year, but if you played your cards right, it was possible to get a four pack ($25). That being said, I would full well expect it to be a lot harder to score any out here, were they to start distributing (though my guess is that they'd also sell it by the bottle).

Me? I'd just love to have regular access to all their stuff, so here's to hoping the rumors come true

 

Not sure New Holland is a great example. Seems like they're a prime example of everyone buying Dragon's Milk a single time and then leaving everything else (and future packs of DM) to gather dust on the shelf.
Founders is a different animal, but like everyone else - they're going to have to bring out the big guns. If they show up with All Day, Porter, Pale, etc. with none of their famous beers that won't fly. CO is not a good place to try and infiltrate with flagships. If people want a blueprint of how to do well here - look to Firestone Walker.

 

Is it that our market is super competitive which makes Bells and Founders intimidated to distro out here? I think 2 Hearted and Founders IRS would do well in CO but if they never come out this way I won't be mad. FFF and Pipeworks on the other hand I can't wait for.

 

FWIW, when they first showed up in Texas, their seasonals (FBS, Rubaeus, etc) were pretty widely available and the more limited seasonals (Curmudgeon, Backwoods) had decent availability. KBS however was pretty much nonexistent at the time and is still pretty limited.

 

Then why am I still seeing cases of Union Jack and Pivo Pils canned in February?

 

You can probably say the same about literally anyone out of state if you really look. It depends on the store, too. Stone, Victory, SN, Boston Beer, Bridgeport, Anchor, etc. That's not universally the case as the so-so little store down the street from me keeps stuff from the last 2-3 months. Generally speaking, their stuff moves, we get all of their normal special releases. They're on tap regularly including specialty items. Other than places that sell-out instantly (Russian River and BP's Sculpin variants) FW is as good as any flagship-bearing brewer.

 

Bell's and Founders are both doing big brewery expansions. That beer will have to go somewhere, right?

Bell's went into southern CA, so maybe they are not intimidated.

 

Pipeworks has said multiple times they are coming to Denver full time In June via Tivoli if I'm not mistaken...

 

Unfortunately, it seems more times than not expansions simply go to making sure allocations are met in existing markets...it would be great to get Bells, Founders, etc. And hell, why not welcome Allagash back into Colorado while we're at it...

 

I never noticed they were gone...go figure. Do we no longer get any of their beers or just the specialty bottles?

 

Allagash has been gone for quite a while...we don't get anything from them, and when I was there in October they were pretty clear they're having trouble keeping up with existing allocation, so we won't be seeing Allagash in CO again anytime soon. I'm a huge fan of their Coolship series, but most of those are available at the brewery only anyway.

 

That has been true, but Bell's is expanding from 300k+bbl/yr to a million barrel/year brewery, and founder sold about 200k-bbl/yr to a 900kbbl/yr brewery. Those are national distribution numbers. Founders is in more states than Bell's the right now, and has been expanding at a faster rate, so you might look for them first.

 

Colorado's a great market for beer....if you're a consumer. Out of state beers coming into CO have to compete with local stuff, which may not be as good as theirs, but it's local and it's shelf space, which is crowded. New Holland did well at first, but tailed off (with exception of Dragon's Milk). Granted, NH doesn't have the name recognition as Bell's or Founder's, but if those two were to enter CO they have to keep two things in mind: price point and availability. It's hard enough finding room for one beer, let alone 4 or 5. That lineup better be good, always ready and affordable. Stone Brewing does well, but even they run out of stock, and if a shelf spot is empty it can be filled darn-tootin-sweet-quick

Oh yeah, throw in the headache of selecting a distributor--some of which do more harm than good.