http://beerpulse.com/2012/07/firestone-walker-may-have-just-sold-the-nectar-ales-line/ Just finished reading this... Love the Red Nectar and IPA... and the Xantus... Sad to see the switch as FW busts their balls making great beers... I'm sure they'll be fine... Just curious on everyone's feelings.. cheers I apologize if this is in the wrong forum...
Looks like it's a wait and see what the product is like. As long as they sold the recipe with the brand, I don't see a major problem.
If this means they can produce more Parabola or Abacus, or release even more special beers, I am totally fine with it. The only Nectar beer I've bought in the last three years was one bottle of Black xantus, so this has little effect on me.
The effect may be that the Black Xantus moves further away from tasting like Parabola. I always thought the Black Xantus was underappreciated and a good find and substitute until Parabola showed up. I can live without the rest of the line. The sweetness was always a bit much to take. With any luck, they can tweak the regular line-up and bring that down a notch or two.
Looks like FW has officially announced the sale - Firestone Walker Sells Nectar Ales To Total Beverage Solution - and so the next question, unanswered in the Press Release, is who the new owner, importer/master distributor TBS, will get to brew the beer. The implication is that FW won't continue to brew it for them, since the sale was due to "production and operational demands". Besides importing brands like Weihenstephan and Affligem, they also act as the national master distributor for US brands Shipyard (and Seadog) and Southampton.
I agree, Black Xantus tastes a lot like Parabola but its also just as pricey! As long as they produce a good amount of Parabola I will be OK
Looks like the deal does include a 3 year production agreement for Firestone-Walker to continue brewing the Nectar brands, while TBS "...will begin looking at “like-minded” production facilities on the east coast to augment the production coming out of Paso Robles, Calif." according to this Brewbound article - Total Beverage Solution Purchases Nectar Ales Brand From Firestone Walker Brewing.
Considering that they also brew tons of super cheap yet tasty beers for their mission street line and their new expansion into sours soon this was a smart move. The price point of mission street ale and availability at tjs makes that product move fast enough to turn profits even if it isn't their recipes and such, I bet it makes a hell of a lot more money than nectar ales.
