New dynamic between new breweries and "old" breweries in SoCal

Discussion in 'Pacific' started by sandiego67, Mar 31, 2013.

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  1. sandiego67

    sandiego67 Initiate (0) Feb 25, 2008 California

    I was speaking to a sales rep for one of the "old" San Diego breweries (10+ years old). There is an interesting dynamic being formed in the local beer scene. Some of the old breweries are losing shelf space and tap handles to these new breweries and they are not thrilled about it. The idea that these new breweries are not paying their dues is a prevalent theme. So of these new brewers are going straight to bottling and distribution without ever having a tasting room.

    While the entire beer market may be growing and craft beer is gaining against BMC, it may turn out the any gains are being diluted by new breweries. If craft beer were to double its market share (from 10% to 20%) but that 20% was made up of 4,000 new breweries, would that be better?
     
    #1 sandiego67, Mar 31, 2013
  2. tyrsis

    tyrsis Savant (1,074) Mar 13, 2009 California
    Trader

    I don't care if they're new or old. Whoever makes the best possible beer, wins. That is who gets my money.
     
    #2 tyrsis, Mar 31, 2013
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  3. stupac2

    stupac2 Pooh-Bah (2,031) Feb 22, 2011 California
    Pooh-Bah

    Good, a lot of the old breweries (not just in SD, everywhere) don't actually make great beer, they make okay beer. But 10 years ago okay beer was often the best around. That's not the case any more, and some of those old guys are going to start losing money and failing.
     
    #3 stupac2, Mar 31, 2013
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  4. Vanlingleipa

    Vanlingleipa Maven (1,480) May 19, 2011 California
    Trader

    Natural selection is a bitch
     
    #4 Vanlingleipa, Mar 31, 2013
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  5. sandiego67

    sandiego67 Initiate (0) Feb 25, 2008 California

    So, we are happy that Golden Road can come out and buy their way into new accounts with marginal beer but lots of hype?
     
    #5 sandiego67, Mar 31, 2013
  6. stupac2

    stupac2 Pooh-Bah (2,031) Feb 22, 2011 California
    Pooh-Bah

    Is there something in particular you're accusing them of?

    And I'd take their IPA over a bunch of other SD IPA's (haven't had much else by them).
     
    #6 stupac2, Mar 31, 2013
  7. tjensen3618

    tjensen3618 Maven (1,391) Mar 23, 2008 California

    Pubs and bars will put on whatever is in their best interest. Due to a strong ticker mentality in the craft beer scene, rapidly changing tap lists seem to be what the market is demanding.
     
    #7 tjensen3618, Mar 31, 2013
  8. JasonFromLA

    JasonFromLA Initiate (0) Jan 9, 2013 California

    Even if they're doing this, I think most people will end up disappointed and see the hype wasn't correct. Nothing they produce is outstanding, and there are much better options on shelves. The only decent beer they brew is the Berliner Weisse and they don't can it.
     
    #8 JasonFromLA, Mar 31, 2013
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  9. errantnight

    errantnight Pooh-Bah (2,015) Jul 7, 2005 District of Columbia
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Out of curiosity, which ones?
     
    #9 errantnight, Mar 31, 2013
  10. stupac2

    stupac2 Pooh-Bah (2,031) Feb 22, 2011 California
    Pooh-Bah

    Green Flash and Stone come to mind. Although I've never done side-by-sides, those two are just "serviceable" to me while I recall thinking Point the Way was pretty good.
     
    #10 stupac2, Mar 31, 2013
  11. vacax

    vacax Initiate (0) Jun 3, 2008 California

    While the number of places selling craft beer is still growing rapidly, there is still a fixed quantity of tap handles and shelf space in each location. It is important to note that you picked up on this sentiment from a sales rep... if your sales pitch basically consists of "buy my beer because we are local" that may have worked when there were only a few local players. Now you're going to need either a good product or a good salesman. Golden Road is the latter, fwiw.
     
    #11 vacax, Mar 31, 2013
  12. errantnight

    errantnight Pooh-Bah (2,015) Jul 7, 2005 District of Columbia
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Yeah, I'd go as far to say that I both agree with your assessment of those two IPAs and also think they blow point the way out of the water. Or at least they did... Haven't tried the new (completely revamped) recipe.

    But as they say, to each...
     
    #12 errantnight, Mar 31, 2013
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  13. sandiego67

    sandiego67 Initiate (0) Feb 25, 2008 California

    I'm not accusing Golden Road of anything. I am addressing the larger impression that BMC is bad because of their cutthroat business practices and craft beer makers are good because they are artisans.

    Now that there is some momentum in the craft beer world, real-world business practices are infiltrating the once-pure craft beer world. Instead of actually honing recipes and gaining a fan base, you can now just hook up with a distributor and get your un-tested beer on the shelf.

    In my particular conversation, Golden Road wasn't the target, another yet-to-be open San Diego brewery was. Apparently, they are going straight to bottle and being distributed by a local distributor without any real-world exposure.
     
    #13 sandiego67, Mar 31, 2013
  14. errantnight

    errantnight Pooh-Bah (2,015) Jul 7, 2005 District of Columbia
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Like last summer when LA was overrun with uinta. Everywhere you went the IPA on tap was theirs
     
    #14 errantnight, Mar 31, 2013
  15. sandiego67

    sandiego67 Initiate (0) Feb 25, 2008 California

    Uinta has been around for 20 years. They were just moving into a new market.
     
    #15 sandiego67, Mar 31, 2013
  16. vacax

    vacax Initiate (0) Jun 3, 2008 California

    Production breweries almost always go straight to bottling... that is why they are called production breweries--they produce beer. I am really confused by your comments. Are they supposed to start brewing beer and begin by not selling it? Who would do that?
     
    #16 vacax, Mar 31, 2013
  17. sandiego67

    sandiego67 Initiate (0) Feb 25, 2008 California


    I don't mean to confuse you.

    Please name another brewery that has their product on the shelves without actually having a brewery up-and-running for at least a year?

    Obviously, some brewers get their kegs on tap with local bars/restaurants right away and that is part of the public feedback process that helps brewers hone their recipes and skills.
     
    #17 sandiego67, Mar 31, 2013
  18. stupac2

    stupac2 Pooh-Bah (2,031) Feb 22, 2011 California
    Pooh-Bah

    I doubt the Bruery did. And I don't really see why distributing kegs is different from distributing bottles. This sounds like an incredibly inane and poorly thought out complaint.
     
    #18 stupac2, Mar 31, 2013
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  19. Xul

    Xul Pooh-Bah (2,139) May 18, 2008 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    The Bruery was definitely under a year...they opened in May of '08 and I recall buying Orchid White, Black Orchard, and Batch 1 Levud's at Beverage Warehouse that same fall.

    Other examples:
    1) IronFire Brewing in Temecula, I've started seeing their beer on shelves and they definitely haven't been open for a year.
    2) Rough Draft in San Diego had bottles on store shelves before their first anniversary.
    3) Mad Lab in Otay Mesa, not much shelf presence but they had some before being a year old.

    It's not necessarily the norm, but it's not as if this unnamed brewery is the first to hit shelves without being open for a year.
     
    #19 Xul, Mar 31, 2013
  20. Sebowski

    Sebowski Zealot (613) Jan 11, 2010 California

    Let's go ahead and make this a True Daily Double, Alex.

    What is Saint Archer?
     
    #20 Sebowski, Mar 31, 2013
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