Old Beer from outside the state.

All things being equal, I would think so.

But I think huge conglomerates tend to prioritize the beers which keep them huge.

I would be interested in finding out what percentage Founders beers represent in their annual sales.

 

@jesskidden ????

 

At the end of 2018 the hop dealer Barth Report listed San Miguel Mahou as the world's 19th largest brewer with 0.7% of the total beer market, with a barrelage (sic) 12.7 Million hectoliters, so approx. 10,822,533 US bbl.

The Brewers Association put SMM's US breweries output for '18 at 617,701 bbl. (Founders = 563.1k / Avery 54.5k).

So, Founders barrelage accounts for a little over 5% of San Miguel Mahou's total.

I'd be reluctant to suggest that having a Spanish brewery as, at first, a major investor and then owner, is a reason why Founders beers are found nearly coast to coast in the US. IIRC, most folks had little knowledge of SMM when they first got involved in the US with Founders. (I follow the industry pretty closely and I'm sure I said "WHO?" upon the reading the news). I don't recall any significant US distribution of imported Mahou beers before their deal with Founders (post-Founders: Oh, yeah). I'd say Founders distribution can be primarily attributed to their being one of the Top Ten US "regional" (both craft and non-craft) breweries. Granted, a brewer's wide distribution area and total sales is a chicken/egg sort of situation.

Complicating matters is the confusing history of the Phillipines San Miguel Beer (which once was a large import in the US*) and the Spain-based Mahou (which I ain't about to sort out right now ).

* Mid-1980s, San Miguel Beer (Phil.) was in the top 30 of US imported brands, selling in the same basic segment (1-1.5 million gallons) as brands like Bass, Sapporo, Kronenbourg, Tsingtao, DAB and Carta Blanca.

A bit off-topic (hey, it happens) but one of my favorite bits of US brewing history trivia is that during and after WWII the Philippine's San Miguel company became a major investor in both the Lone Star and Muehlebach (of Kansas City, MO) brewing companies, eventually taking full control of the latter by the late 1940s (even brewing San Miguel Beer for the US market in KC).

By the mid-50s, SM would sell the brewery to Schlitz (at the time, neck and neck with AB for the #1 spot in the US). Schlitz operated the brewery until 1973, by which time is was pretty old and had a small capacity relative to the huge super-efficient +5m bbl breweries Schlitz was building in the 60s and 70s.

So, "furrin" breweries have been investing in and buying US breweries for a LONG time (hell, that's not even mentioning the infamous pre-Pro buying spree that the so-called "English investors" participated in.)

 

I have to say that one upside of this plague thing is a number of local breweries who were draft only --- I'm thinking for myself primarily of Stoup and Seapine --- starting canning and distributing their beers and I've able to grab those within days of canning. I've been drinking super fresh beer pretty much every day during the plague.

 

I don't mind admitting my comment was blurted out with no data behind it, informed by nothing more than several beers and a general suspicion of brewery conglomerates. Thanks, as always, for the info and the big picture view.

 

Likely just a requirement by PR on beer labels that might be sold in the territory to signify that their local excise tax was paid. Lots of US states used to require similar labels or specific crowns on bottles / lids on cans that showed the state excise tax was paid. (The brewers had to buy the cans/lids from the state in some cases). Florida and Pennsylvania were two of states that required such tax "stamps", but most states no longer require it on the packages themselves. (I'm sure one could find "PUERTO RICO" on lots of other beer cans/labels).



Similar to the can lids that list all the 5¢-10¢ deposit states one sometimes find for sale in the non-mandatory deposit states, or the labels that state "CRV" (California Redemtion Value) even though they weren't purchased in California. (Due to some recycling law that never took affect, many beers sold in NJ also note "CRV", too).

 

It's eerie the name that came up several times and it was one I was going to make a post about. I came across Jai Alai just under a month old this weekend. Remarkably mediocre. The regional standards and differences in quality and hype strike again!

 

Weirdly, I picked up a 6er of Jai Alai at a Spokane grocery store earlier this spring and it was well within my acceptible parameters for a packaged IPA- probably less than two months old.

 

My impression, after having a reasonably fresh 6er of that, was that it was an IPA that I'd have been impressed by during the 00s. Same with the one from Surly (blanking on the name, but I had it on draft for the first time about a year ago). Had it, and...meh.

 

They had tons of Surly Hell the weekend before last. It has a green label.

 

Yeah, that was it. Only other one I've had from them was Todd, which was better, even in bottles.

 

The last time I had Todd it was still quite good. I've heard folks talk about the decline of Surly, but I personally still have them on my list of beers I'd be happy to have again. Coffee Bender is pretty good, Todd is excellent, and Darkness is very good, if maybe not quite up to the hype.

My family moved from Minneapolis to Duluth, so we haven't been in the Twin Cities hardly at all the last few years, but I'm still fond of Surly.

 

Of all the places, Costco got me with old beer. Grabbed a 4 pack of Laugunitas’s phase change. Advertised as “a seasonally unexpected wet-hopped juicy ale.” Never saw it before, so thought what the heck. Get home and crack one open. Not good, malty water? So, I research the beer. Looks like this beer is from February or March based on an article in brew republic ( from the article... “The tropical aromas from Phase Change offers your senses what you’d expect here in the Pacific Northwest in mid-September during the heart of the hop harvest.“ ahhh no dice). Of course Lagunitas makes things even tougher by using Julian dating. The can says 041 0 2 4421 1920. I am guessing 041 means Feb 10. Not sure why it just showed up on Costco’s shelves now. Shrug.

In hindsight I wished I grabbed icicle’s hazy enchantments instead.

In more hindsight, the last few Lagunitas beers I had were pretty average. At one time they could do no wrong in my book. It may be time to break up with them and we go our separate ways.

 

You can't say you weren't warned. It is a surprising, unseasonal and unexpected wet hop beer :-)

 

I noticed some at my Costco too. Distributors 2, Costco 0