Product that doesn't move

Haha yup I was just in there the other day and saw them stacked on the floor. I remember laughing months ago when I got an email from them advertising that they bought a bunch of surplus cases and were selling them for a "discount." Maybe they're now wishing they didn't order so many additional cases? I'd consider buying a 4 pack if it were less than $8, but selling it at retail is stupid

God the MA laws on discounting alcohol are so stupid

 

Livingston

We're in Northern Jersey about 20 minutes from Newark. If you were planning on coming all the way out here I'd wait til we move into our new location in a couple months. Major expansion to our beer section is coming and I, for one, am pumped.

 

Trust me, Jules, you're better off. I did just what you described when I picked one up following my promotion to Beer Consultant. Shared it with friends in celebration. It'd been a while since I was so disappointed in a beer's taste vs. cost. Take the Mariage Parfait Kriek and be happier with your world...

 

That's interesting - why do you think the Weyerbacher doesn't move? I'm glad that you pay attention to what is selling and what isn't - at many of our local six pack shops that sell a good variety of craft beers, I end up buying what hasn't been sitting on the shelf for 9 months instead of what I really want. Major bummer.

 

Overall I'd say that Weyerbacher is a quality brewer, though perhaps they have a bit of an identity problem. What they seem to push as their core products (i.e. Merry Monks) doesn't really interest me. But their barrel-aged products are incredible, as well as a tremendous value, and stuff like Tiny is excellent. Some of the one-offs are also really good (like that Lupus whatchamacallit...I suppose it's poorly named since I can't remember it ).

Another error, imo, is that for some reason they have a killer product on their hands- one without much competition- that they aren't marketing properly. We (the 'craft' community) could really use truly complex and interesting 5%ish Belgian Pale Ales, and their Verbotten not only fits the bill, but is head and shoulders better than its nearest competition (De Koninck). That's something they can make their name on and reach wider markets- which will, in turn, lead to increased interest in their other stuff.

I am sure that they are successful in certain respects; it's just that I think that, with proper management, they can easily make it to the next level.

 

Part of the reason good product doesn't move is definitely because of freshness. Firestone Walker is my favorite brewery, but I live in New Jersey and can never find Union Jack or Double Jack anywhere near fresh (the FW in most stores by my house is about six months old). If I ever found it fresh I would buy it in a heartbeat. But given a choice between six-month old Union Jack and a more local IPA that wouldn't be as good on a level playing field but that is fresh, I will usually go with the fresh beer.

 

No shit. I drank a ton of fresh Union and Double Jack over the winter when we had fresh shipments but I honestly the freshest I've seen lately has been bottled in February or March. Really disappointing because I love those beers

 

Very poor packaging+mediocre beer=sitting around. Not to mention some of their 4 and 6 packs are quite pricey.

 

I wonder if bottle shops just keep the old Mikkellers on the shelf just to say that they have some in stock. Either that or they refuse to take the loss on what they purchased. There is a bottle shop here in Tulsa that has had the same bottles of Mikkellers on the shelf for a long time now. I asked the clerk once about when they planned on discounting a 4pack of Boulevard Double Wide that was 4 months past the best before date.

 

It's funny how the comments about Weyerbacher have divided into 1) great beer/awful label; 2) mediocre beer/awful label. So, at least, we can agree on the awful label. We might also agree that they might be pricing themselves above the selling point. But I doubt there will be much agreement on the quality of the contents of those bottles.

 

Not always- breweries have been known to ship us "close dated" aka within 30 days of expiration beer. And no, I don't mean Stone Enjoy By Our beer buyer will let us know when we've been shipped close dated beer and that she's sending it back, which means sometimes we are out of stock on a particular beer for a couple of weeks, but it certainly beats having to sell rapidly aging product and/or having to deal with out of date beer.

 

In my "go to" store, the Big Sky Brewing stuff just sits (Moose Drool, Trout Slayer), and Green Flash sits. I don't get that one, I always check the dates and it's the same old bottles every time I go. I also agree with who mentioned Lakefront Brewing. There are just so many other better choices, I think people see this one and just keep on moving.

 

Many factors go into "shelfed beers", as I call them---those that become one with the shelf. As a beer buyer, there are some instances where a distributor's policy comes into play. For example: Distro A offers Stone Brewing, but will charge extra for orders under 10 cases. So I'm in a pickle, do I buy 10 cases to keep the price down, but know that the beer will sit...or do I buy 3 cases to maintain freshness (to a point), but charge extra and possibly lose business to my competitor (which is a national corporate chain)?

But, if a certain beer just doesn't sell...it won't be re-ordered for a while.

But even then, the Distro affects shelving. Example: some distros (and breweries--Avery, RRiver, Boulevard...) won't release certain beers to stores that do not carry that breweries' full lineup of regular 6pks, even if they don't all sell. This is the part that really pisses me off, and will be reluctant to support those breweries.

 

Two Hearted Ale sits around for fucking ever where I'm at. If it was beer that held up well over time it wouldn't really be a big deal, but it drops off pretty fast, so whenever I manage to see some that was bottled a month ago or less I snatch it all up (happens maybe once every few months, which is lame cause its one of my favorite IPAs).

I'm not really in the business, but if I had to guess i'd say that the rather dull packaging plays a part.

 

Not worth 50$ to be sure, but put it up against the 2012 or 2013 and you can taste a big difference. BIG.

 

We have 2 cases of Deviant Dale's that we have had for at least 1.5 years, it never sells. I don't get it.

 

It sits here in southern Illinois too. It's a damn shame.

 

Can you clarify whether you are a distributor or a retailer? That is, who are your customers, beer stores or beer drinkers? Thanks.

 

Here in ct evil twin, brash, Stillwater and clown shoes bombers collect dust.
High end allagash and ommegang 750 ml bottles never move and very few people buy weyerbacher. No one seems to buy Brooklyn lager either.
Saranac does well, probably based mostly on price point

 

Agreed. I love their stuff but I'm not paying $20 for a bottle of Hop God, especially when I live 25 minutes from the actual brewery.