Half Acre (2019)

Whatever it is...I’m game for 10%.
JC

 

Honestly, as a big fan of Half Acre's can art...The OG Akari Shogun cans were way cooler.

 

Maybe they got some "cultural appropriation" complaints...which, after the Heyoka / Senita brouhaha, they may be especially sensitive to.

Just wild speculation on my part.

 

Cultural appropriation is a myth... Especially in this case. The Lakota had no written language so how is it they are claiming rights to Heyoka which is composed of language from the Western alphabet? Society, cultures, etc. are too enmeshed together for there to be such a thing.

 

Agree. Still see the original art on delivery trucks.

 

On the Lawn was dope - I remember it from BN, and thought it stood out, even after hour 3 of the event.
Jealous.

 

Really like this move by Half Acre. I find myself shopping more at places like Open Bottle & Trader Joe's where I can break out any beer to a mix pack & less & less at Binny's where I can't.

I was thinking Pipeworks would have been the first to do this, but kudos to Half Acre. Would love to see this move at the Dojo too @NOTpipeworks

 

This looks less like a response to pleasing consumers and more like trying to drive sales in a stagnating or competitive beer market. If it's the latter it really isn't a good sign for the brewing industry.

 

I absolutely love this news! So many times where I've been on the fence about getting whatever new Half Acre 4 pack is released vs. going to Bottles and Cans and making my own 4 pack, and I usually do the latter.

I'll be shopping at Half Acre a ton more now.

It could be but I think it makes sense with some of the new pricing Half Acre has been going with. A lot of their newer releases have been much more expensive and since they are new, it's kind of tough to want to drop a lot of money on a 4 pack that you're not even sure you'll love.

 

I think this is evidence the consumer is looking for new and variety rather than a loyal purchasing of beer or even taking a gamble on a 4 pack. We want new and they(the industry) gave it to us by having so many one offs that we can't possible try them all and now we would rather just pick and choose a beer to try. It's great for the consumer, but I'd be pulling my hair out as a brewer. "We gave them more choices by having new beers weekly and now they don't even buy 4 cans of it and want one of each?"

 

Its getting really difficult to go to the store and see three 4 packs by three different breweries that I want to try but its going to cost me nearly $60.

 

I both agree and disagree, if Half Acre was consistently putting out new beers in the $10-12 range I'd be more likely to buy a 4 pack of something I haven't tried than I am now because of the price. I'm a bit different than a lot on here though in that I generally don't go crazy for the triple dry hopped hazy double IPAs which tend to be more expensive.

 

Yeah, I haven't had as many recent HA releases as I used to, mostly due to A) palate fatigue and B) cost. I'd be much more likely to drop in for a mixed 4-pack of a couple newer beers, because that would address both issues (more variety for my palate without paying for 2 full 4-packs).

 

100% truth. We as consumers are definitely divas. We want the newest and greatest but it can't be expensive.

That being said, love the move. The new $16 standard sucks so much that I just find myself going to reliable standbys like Two-Hearted or Fresh Squeezed. Now it's a little more enticing to plunk the big bucks.

 

Brewers need to start competing on price due to the market saturation and increased competition. If the consumer's pocket book is also getting fatigued from these higher priced beers, that is going to force beer prices even further down as they vie for the consumer. I know I've had more lagers in the past 4 months than the previous 4 years partly because I like the lower ABV, but also because I get sick of paying premiums for hoppy beers that are no longer unique enough to command a premium.

Edit:
It used to be a brewpub polished their one off at their place and got feed back and grew a demand for it before pushing it into production. Unfortunately, brewers are just putting these out without any sort of customer review period.

 

I think part of this is market fatigue with NE IPAs in general. A well made NE IPA is no longer a novelty and people are waking up to the fact that a lot of these beers are really similar.

A ton of breweries have popped up and made their name in NE IPAs, I wonder what will happen to those breweries long term.

 

I think that's why you see Hop Butcher starting to make Kolsch's & such...they know they better diversify if they are going to sustain their momentum.

 

Isn't this just hoppy beers in general? Most of the beers Pipeworks/Rev/HA put out aren't NEIPAs, but they pump them out in different iterations all the time.