Greenbush Brewing

Good point.
Does anyone think that if MI could get all the west coast (Cali/OR) readily that it would be putting a serious dent in the MI craft movement? MI distro laws have slowed the invasion somewhat. What happens when its a truly open market?

I guess the same question can be asked of CA folk when MI brews invade there.

 

Not sure of any laws that have inhibited the West Coast Breweries. Can you define that?
Some say it is a tough market. Do you know that in MI we are under the average for Craft sales vs. the reast of the nation? Bells and Founders are the big 800 pound Gorillas in MI.

 

You bring in more strong breweries from out of state they would replace the breweries that already struggle to compete. There are still several breweries in state that can and will stand up to any competition that comes in. Homerism comes into play but a lot of the beer does stand up to the competition.

 

And Shorts and numerous others. It wasn't meant to be exhaustive. Though if you were wondering, I believe Bells to be slightly overrated and Shorts to be absolute garbage.

Now, I think the question posed about out of state beers is an important one, because Founders aside, we have nothing on par with Lost Abbey, Russian River, Green Flash, and Cascade. And we miss out (at least in Grand Rapids) on the more exciting Stone releases. Michigan may be better than most states when it comes to quality of breweries, but we're nowhere closing to being on the level of Oregon, California, or Colorado.

 

I know that distro requires licensing, but thats the extent of my knowledge. Sorry, I'll plead some ignorance as to all the laws and red tape. I do know that when I order beer online that some places will not ship to MI. They don't have a license to do so.
This is a minority of my beer purchases. Most are MI brews.

 

Question is now, do we want this?
When does homerism lose out to quality? Lets be honest. MI is a proud state (and I'm not even from MI). I would say that the SE portion is very big 3 heavy when it comes to cars. Fair to say the whole state is. Banding together during tough times. Including beer.

Now, what sacrificial lambs will we throw to the slaughter to get RR, Cascade, Alesmith, Great Divide, etc here?

 

To be honest, sure there are a lot of great breweries out there that don't distribute in Michigan but only a handful I am interested in.

Atwater, Arbor, Mt Pleasant, Tri City, Frankenmuth, Keweenaw, Saugatuck, Schmohz and Round Barn all take up shelf space at many of my local stores and could really benefit from stepping up their game. I could see any of these being replaced if stiffer competition comes to play.

None of the breweries I purchase on a regular basis are ones I would fear losing significant ground to competition. I will pull for the locals because I want them to succeed but if they cannot stand up to competition I am not going to spend a significant amount of money supporting them.

My question I have is how many out of state breweries are out there that have a better line up than Michigan breweries at a price point that makes them attractive across the board? There are a few breweries out there who just do not delivery the 12oz/6 pack products at a price that will displace a good share of Michigan breweries who focus on this format.

 

I don't know of any laws that limit distribution, except MI is a 3 tier state.
As for shipping, if you don't go through the 3 tier, that may be part of the problem. There may be something from Granholm vs. xxxxx (can't remember) left over. Someone who really knows needs to have a say on that.

As for RR? Come on, interject some reality please, as they just pulled from WA.

 

Reel me in, I'm hooked.

Your statements are your personal opinions, which obviously you are entitled too. This is an internet forum, you can type whatever you'd like. I have differing opinions.
Calling Short's absolute garbage is something I just can't wrap my head around. They are a brewery that is loyal to this state, had to fight location issues, and overcame some huge growth pains about 3-4 years ago...They are slowly climbing out of it, and putting out some very tasty brews, and consistently. Huma, Soft Parade, Pontius Road are all very solid, relatively easy to find brews.

As far as the breweries from the West Coast you mentioned, other than Russian River, I'd argue none of the others are doing anything better than any brewery in Michigan. Lost Abbey has had as many problems with bottling issues as Short's has, and there are very few beers of theirs I would chose over a Michigan beer, not only for price reasons but for quality as well. Their Belgians are solid, but I've been disappointed by more than I've been wowed. Green Flash does some really solid brews, but again, nothing to set them on a pedestal above ALL Michigan breweries. I'll pass on Stone, I've never had anything from them that stood out to me...

Like I said, obviously all opinion. Michigan people are passionate about alot of things...Cars, sports, beer, large bodies of fresh water, as they should be, that's what it means to have a connection to something. The explosion of small craft brewers IS a good thing, even if they all don't make it. It's a good tool to keep people honest, educated, and interested. The more the consumer is into the product, the better for all, and everyone raises their game.

Some won't survive, but in a whole, Michigan has a great brewing community, a Guild that for the most part is active and passionate, and consumers to support. Ra Ra Michigan beer *jerk off motion*. I'm proud to support this economic sector of our state.

 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion...But to call Shorts absolute Garbage is just flat out ridiculous..

 

Sorry hahahah, there are a tonne of other CA breweries that are just as good. First one that came to mind. Again, apologies. But it was JUST an example.

 

Bell

Bells probably made about 250,000 barrels of beer last year and was in 18 states. We already get the breweries that are close to that or above from CA. You know, ones like Sierra Nevada, Lagunitas, Stone, Anchor, and Bear Republic. Don't hold your breath for the ones that are small like RR (13,000 bbls) or smaller like Alpine ( what < 4000?). A brewery can't be everywhere at once if they are small and have a high demand in the home market.

Edit - there are some MI breweries that we don't get on the east side of the state. Haven't seen Perrin yet in my area, the one beer I had from them in GR was very good.

 

Points taken.
Agreed about Perrin. Heard amazing things, excited to try them out but no luck this side of the state.
But Kuhnhenn is a nice consolation prize for a lot of things.

 

Funny you keep putting Founders on top, I find they are more "over-rated" than almost anyone. This is not to say that they are not one of the better breweries in the country but people place them on a pedestal and give them far too much credit then they deserve at times. To be honest, I don't even think they are making the best beer in their own city.

Opinions vary. Some of the breweries you chose to mention that Michigan cannot compare to I see as easily beaten by a couple Michigan breweries line ups. I would have picked other breweries in that example. Sure I can sound like a homer and say that Michigan stacks up well but put up a line up, Michigan beers do stand up to breweries from Oregon, California and Colorado.

 

Lots of great points about MI breweries.
But back on to the OP.
How good/bad is Bro Ben and Greenbush?

I love a rank/dank/boozy DIPA occasionally and this fits the bill for me.
Reminds me of a less offensive Double Crooked Tree.
I think I should do a side by side.

 

You will be getting one next weekend. You can decide then.

 

Wow, I'm extremely critical of our beers and will state that not everything we make is a home run but I do feel we brew some extremely interesting, high quality beers. I wish I could meet you at our pub sometime and drink a few beers with you there--I think you might be pleasantly surprised. I've never worked for a company that is as passionate about what they do as Short's.

If that's how you feel though I respect your opinion. If everyone liked the same thing this world would be a boring place.

 

While I agree that everything is not a homerun, the pub is a destination for us. We had 2 beers last time, and I really liked both. The Mrs. liked hers.

 

I was in Oregon in June, and there are some good ones and a few fantastic ones. Colorado in August was much the same. In both states some of the well known ones dissapointed me, but some delivered. A few small/new breweries were great in each state.

 

Your experiences mirror those of my own, and most likely those that travel to Michigan...