Out of Code Beer and Etiquette

Again i go back to what @Sixpoint has said.

So with this knowledge where is does the onus fall??
Is it the brewery warehouse to blame for not pushing out the product?
Is it the distribution warehouse to blame for holding product too long or having too much inventory?
Is the retailer to blame for product that has sat at the distributor's warehouse for 2 months?
Is it the consumers for not buying enough beer to keep the retailer in fresh product?

The only real power we have is with our wallets.

 

Blame can be placed across the entire supply chain, but I would refrain from blaming the end-user customer in this situation. In general, its the wholesaler and the retailer who are supposed to be monitoring their inventory situations properly. They also should be rotating their product to ensure it is moving on a first-in, first-out basis.

Breweries generally produce according to forecasted demand, but if they faulty information or bad forecasts from downstream, they will most likely have too much product - or not enough.

I can assure you this is one of the most difficult parts of running a brewery -managing the perfect amount of inventory to supply everyone with fresh beer, and never running out of stock but never having enough either - its really hard!

 

In my experience- mostly before understandable dating was a somewhat common practice- old beer, being obvious to people that know beer (with or without dating), most retailers continued to sell any beer for as long as possible, distributors would promise to have it "picked up", and suppliers would drag their feet across the state, doing nothing. Generally all tiers ignored the issue, but Bud and Miller were good at checking dates...to their credit for sure. Anyway, the plethora of beers that have emerged over the past 10 years or so has created great choices, but even greater competition between brands. Old beer is inevitable and a good reputable wholesaler, brewery rep, or wise retailer will step up and remove the beer. The problem has always been just exactly who in this crazy distribution system, with all of its moving parts, is going to be the most responsible entity ensuring the freshest beer possible. Also, you are correct in noting that some merchants "specialize" in old beer at big profits. Buy an old case for $6 and sell it for $18. Buyer beware, but some people just want cheap beer! Figure out which merchant cares most about quality product.

 

Indeed, it's very hard at all three tiers of distribution. I'd venture to say that even with optimal production, FIFO at the distributor, and optimal, perfect ordering and rotation at the retailer, could all three of these requirements ever actually possibly be in sync across the broader market?

Do you, as a brewery, believe that the "4th tier" consumer's rising demand for all IPA to be under 30 days old is even realistic or possible? It's hard to imagine that the supply chain could ever be that perfect -- that efficient -- to have no IPAs or other hoppy beers take more than 30 days from packaging to be consumed.

Would a brewery likely err on the side of not having enough supply in the market, resulting in lost business, or having too much supply in the market, thus at least ensuring that all demand was met? I'm thinking the latter, but it's a genuine question.

 

I personally think its best to err on not having enough supply in the market, vs. too much. Its much better for a product to be scarce but fresh, then for it to be overly abundant and not fresh.

I think peak efficiency can be reached - but it does require seamless execution across all three tiers, and also stable demand from the end user!

 

It would require a software solution that ties breweries with distributors with retailers to have true synchronization. But such a thing could potentially run afoul of some three tier laws and separation of the tiers. And I don't see distributors wanting to play in such an operational environment, which would really be the brewers and retailers coordinating operations in the market, with distributors feeling like just the necessary, legally-required pass-through with zero control over quantities to carry, timing of delivery to market, etc.

It's interesting to think about, but hard to imagine coming to fruition soon.

 

Damn, how does dreadnaught sit anywhere for 9 months, that stuff is awesome haha.

 

I am frequently sent lists of kegs from my Bud house distributor that are priced at $25 or $50 dollars. Lots of Shipyard stuff on there. Stuff taking up warehouse floor space. Stuff that sucks. So a lot of this get purchased by someone. I did get a nice Unibroue Tripel for a song though.

 

My vote is with @Sixpoint of: “I personally think it’s best to err on not having enough supply in the market, vs. too much.” I feel compelled to thank Shane for being magnanimous here since for Sixpoint Brewing to ‘undersupply’ means that they are not maximizing sales/revenue here.

When I personally go to a beer store I am not terribly upset if they are out of Sixpoint Bengali as long as I can buy some fresh (insert another preferred hoppy beer brand here). In other words the retailer (@RobH) can function as the ‘arbiter’ of fresh hoppy beer for the consumer. For example in a given month they could balance:

· First week of the month fresh Sixpoint Bengali, Sierra Nevada Torpedo, Ithaca Flower Power

· Second week of the month fresh Firestone Walker Union Jack, Victory HopDevil, Stone IPA

· Third week of the month fresh Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Oskar Blues IPA, Smuttynose Finestkind

· Fourth week of the month fresh Anchor IPA, Bells Two Hearted, Founders Centennial IPA

· First week of the next month some ‘renewed’ Sixpoint Bengali, Alesmith IPA, Victory DirtWolf

· Etc.

Now in this above example scenario a customer coming into the beer store on the third week of the month seeking Sixpoint Bengali could be disappointed to find that the store did not have this beer in stock. The beer store manager (or other employee) could direct the customer to consider choosing from other fresh hoppy beers that are in stock. If this does not suit the customer they could take his name and contact information down and see if he could expedite a delivery of the Sixpoint Bengali for his next weeks (fourth week) delivery.

I recognize that what I am suggesting here is not perfect but it seems to me that it would be a better alternative to selling older product to the customer.

Rob, I recognize that this retail scenario may not be doable for a big chain like Total Wine & More but it seems to me that for a smaller retail outlet this could be implemented. I also recognize that this requires more effort than just ordering a half-palate of beer x, a half-palate of beer y, etc. but the current situation of having so many old hoppy beers on beer store shelves just sucks IMO.

Cheers!

P.S. The other aspect that needs to be considered here is that the retailer needs to be vigilant in dealing with their wholesale distributors. This vigilance involves inspecting the beer as it is delivered and refusing any beers which are not consistent with the freshness requirements they expressed during the ordering process.

 

Agree 100%. If only all breweries had this approach, perhaps distributors wouldn't have old beer in stock.

Jack, if you know of a retailer that is able to do this as described above, please let me know as I'd love to shop there, too.

Smaller retailers can certainly be more nimble, however to do as you describe would require controlling brewery production and output as well as distributor operations with respect to what's fresh and what's not; this according to some definition of "fresh" that the distributor certainly won't agree with.

Agree with you wholeheartedly on this, Jack. But who's going to pay for all the non-fresh beer in the supply chain? It certainly shouldn't be the customer, but then who?

Edit: To get quicker results in eliminating old beer from the supply chain will require all breweries to scale back production. There's simply too much beer in the supply chain, so there's beer growing old on both distributor shelves or retailer shelves. Scale back production across the industry. Clean out the old beer and have nothing but fresh beer in supply. This will mean lots of out of stock conditions at retail. Customers will bitch, but the all beer will be fresh (and more rare and therefore likely higher priced).

 

The retailers who do not personally check the beers delivered to them. I am 100% sure you know who they are.

I will not disagree with you here since that solution, if it was realistically implementable, would 'work'. Whew, with that out of the way I will propose that the only realistic solution is on the demand side. The retailers (and end consumers) really need to step up here. If beer retailers would refuse delivery of old product then the breweries would be forced to modulate the supply side of the overall supply chain. As long as retailers (including BIG chain retailers) will accept anything that is provided to them then nothing will change here. All beer stores will have inventory of old beer which will leave customers less than satisfied.

Needless to say but in this scenario I am personally part of the craft beer stakeholder community of end consumer. I really wish that the craft beer industry could properly figure out this vexing issue. I will continue to advocate for a solution as I see it (from my perspective as an end consumer) but I fully recognize that there is no easy/simple solution since the other stakeholders here (breweries, wholesale distributors, retailers) have their own perspective(s) on this complicated matter.

Cheers!

 

It would be far less complicated if every beer bottled and canned was dated as such.

 

I can tell you that the "old beer" issue is known to the new CEO and with continued consumer feedback being sent up to him (last week I sent senior execs some consumer posts on the issue from here on BA, and the CEO got that) it's getting much needed exposure.

 

The rational behind blaming the end user customer, is among beer drinkers we are still a minority (a growing minority) and some beers are going to be left behind. Or as you said

Thus ensuring that your product moves swiftly.
Am I saying the end consumer should shoulder the entire blame? Not at all .

 

"some beers are going to be left behind"

This is a good thing. As a matter of fact, its a great thing. Not everyone makes the team, some people get cut.

Last thing we need is bailouts for non-performing breweries ;-)

 

We as consumers need to shoulder a good part of the blame, because we helped create this beast. 100 tap bars, 1,000 SKU megastores, these come from customer demand. In our constant fervor for "more options, more options!"we have actually created a marketplace that is vastly overstuffed. If more beer fans were brand loyal, even to a handful of brands, and not so quick to write off a smaller shop or bar with "only" 20 taps, this wouldn't be such an issue.

 

The Rising Tide may float all boats but sometimes you gotta let a few sink i totally agree.

 

The issue is that savvy consumers know what seasonals are fresh, or what date is appropriate, and buy accordingly. Therefore customers that are newer to craft or just starting on craft are left to drink out of date, faded stock.

 

Please do not listen to this person. That is incorrect for 99% of IPAs. And as someone said before unless you are getting the beers from the breweries themselves that is unobtainable. Most the beers you listed have almost no distribution and they may age that way, but MOST do not. Even Stone which has the strictest best by days are 90 days. Do not confuse your opinion for an actual fact.