Reached the Saturation Point?

Ba Ten Fidy on tap tomorrow for 16 oz growler fills.

 

80/20? I thought that "it is all good!"?

 

Michael, a few months ago I had a conversation with one of my local beer store guys (part owner and the beer buyer) and I asked him: Matt, with so many new breweries coming up how do you decide which beers to put on tap (they have 30ish taps) and bottles/can in the beer store? His reply was: Jack, I mostly stick with the established guys.

I try to give some of the newer guys my business (e.g., I buy draft Tired Hands beers a bit) but more often than not I mostly buy beer from breweries that have been in business for quite some time:

• Stoudts (next year will be 30 years)
• Victory (20 years)
• Sly Fox (20 years)
• Sierra Nevada
• Firestone Walker
• etc,

Cheers!

 

Order four

 

My feelings are actually a bit different regarding draught beer- that's where I'll be willing to try something new, and at least I won't have extra bad cans laying about. But for drinking at home, it's going to be tried and true, or at least newer brewers and styles that I have some confidence in.

 

Probably 90% or higher of what is in my fridge at any given time is either New Glarus, Sierra Nevada, Founders or 3 Floyds. Most of the rest is Old Rastputin when I want something black. I'd rather know what I'm buying is consistently good than take a flyer on a brewery that started making beer six months ago. I realize this attitude makes it hard for the little guys to make it, but I don't have the time or money to give everyone a chance.

 

Probably cost $100. I'll take one, lol.

 

WTF is a Butter Bomb?

 

No problem Jack...
Yes, I do take the reviews and posts I read into mild consideration and try to remain objective. But again...I learned long ago to never buy a full sixpack of any new brew I haven't tried before, regardless of how they are rated on the interwebs...I've just felt disappointed (or even burned) far too many times (and am occasionally downright shocked at the high ratings some of the beers receive on the review sites and blogs. So many of them just taste like failed beginner homebrew to me. But I guess that maybe it's just me...

I'll own up to the idea that my 50/50 ratio was possibly a bit harsh...I can probably revise that to perhaps 75/25 based on more recent experiences (except for most brewpub operations...in that instance, with very few exceptions my assessment would be far more negative than 50/50; most brewpub operation seem to rush their product to the taps, and it is reflected in the often 'green', immature taste).
Honestly, it's probably just me and my long developed hyper-fussy tastes ( I've always been pretty particular, especially given that since the late 60s, I never developed a taste for "normal" beer; and to be clear, I am certainly not under any delusion that my skewed opinions reflect in any way the overall state of the craft industry.
But I do still maintain that the ratio of very good to 'meh' was considerably higher with craft/micro breweries in the '80s and early '90s (and quite a few brewgeeks I've spoken with agree). Some of my favorites from back then are still around, but I'm actually quite surprised that some of the others couldn't hang on and thrive; maybe they were mismanaged, or perhaps simply ahead of their time (which can sometimes be worse than being behind the times).

I didn't mean to ramble...nor did I mean to suggest that the 'craft' industry isn't delivering the goods. There are certainly some superlative new brewers out there...but more often than not, I more favor the ones that have been around for a good while.
It's just that with the explosion of new brewers going commercial, it only stands to reason that not all of them are going to be great (or even very good) at what they do. Fortunately for them,. modern beer drinkers seem to be becoming less and less particular, and more forgiving about things that in the past would certainly have been viewed as flaws.
Taste and fashion do, after all, change and evolve.
But it IS a great time to be a beer lover.

 

I can certainly see that being the case.

I suppose I am just being a bit more selective here. I personally do not go to brewpubs unless I am confident they produce high quality beer. Also, as I have previously posted, much of the packaged beer I drink are from breweries that have been in operation for 20+ beers.

IMO there is a lot of high quality beer available and for my experience there is a greater selection of high quality beer today than during the 80's (or 90's).

I suppose this is a case of YMMV?

Cheers!

 

The more choices the better!

 

someone in the South Atlantic forum called what Florida did the "brewery cash grab of 2016" lol. Basically, everyone had their membership renewals up in November, their annivesary parties come up to order in November, mutliple releases (Angry Chair, CCBx2, Cyclex5, Funky Buddha), along with BCBS.

In a social beer group on Facebook, out of 7 Florida guys, i think im the only one that is actually still in the El Catador club, and i offered my extra round 5 bottles to people who hadn't gotten in. it is insane the beers that are being released down here, and even distributed.

my problem is I get these new beers, b/c i think their still producing quality beers even though production has increased exponentially. Where the problem lies is I have decreased my consumption, and trying to lose weight, i have lost my tolerance. Drinking a heavy BA stout, or even 2x relatively higher ABV IPA's makes me tired. I have actually resorted to drinking more mainstream options, such as Weighenstopher (spelling??) hefewweisens, and other german offerings. they are 2.99 for a 19 oz bottle (i think) or 8.99 for a 6 pack. they are light, crisp, and do not make me tired. I love my IPAs and stouts, but i just do not like the effects and how they make me feel anymore. So, the result is I have tons of higher abv beers that i can mostly cellar and enjoy throughout the year. I truly think at least Florida is getting closer and closer to the craft bubble where what used to fly off the shelves, or be behind a counter, will sit on the shelves for weeks or even months. Pricing makes people pass on certain beers, and just the vast selecion of great beers is keeping incredible beers available for longer periods of time.

 

100% with. The problem is that people aren't buying the beers to drink them. They are buying the beers to either sell them or trade them.

 

That's just a bit of slang used to describe a beer with excessive diacetyl, which is a fermentation byproduct that smells and tastes like artificial butter. In short, it will be present if the yeast isn't allowed enough time to clean it up, or it could be the result of poor sanitation. It's especially unbecoming in a hop forward style like an IPA, imo, yet those beers are being rushed out too often it seems.

 

I pretty much agree with that. What brewpubs in NJ do reach your exceptions? I'll try to get to them.

 

Two different issues floating around here. One is, "have I reached a saturation point." The other is, "has the marketplace reached a saturation point."

For the first I'd say "no," because my interest in trying new beers has not gone away, just gotten less intense so I don't feel any need to ignore beers I enjoy in favor of chasing novelty.

For the second I'd say "maybe" since there are signs that there may be too many beers sitting too long on the shelf and that growth of market share for flavorful beers may be slowing, leading to more intense competition within that share as more and more new breweries come online.

 

It looks like the larger craft breweries are starting to feel the effects of market saturation. For most of them their sales are down. I expect some of the sub par smaller breweries would be next. Just too many options available at most beer stores at the moment for any brewery to keep their sales up at the point of the craft boom a few years ago.

 

Isn't too many releases what we all want? New beer releases happen all the time in the past but now with social media now I can release something and get a crowd They're not going to like the release but because it was hyped there's a line waiting for my release.
Maybe there was an infection or possibly the pate.

Seriously we wanted choice and now have it, stand in line if you want or don't and miss out, either way there's still probably a beer in your hand, a good one that someone probably stood in line for a while ago and now it's on most all the package shelves and being passed up while the line moves on

 

There is no such thing with over-saturation of beer, IMO. The more the merrier I say. This way if I miss a beer, another beer I have never tried I might be able to get my hands on.

 

I like Tom's take on it - personal saturation and market saturation points may be different things (@drtth )

Personally, sometimes yes and sometimes no. There are times when I walk into the packy and just go into input overload looking at everything is available. I default to the tried and true, or walk out with nothing. Other times when I'm in the mindset to go treasure hunting, I'll take my time and look for new beers to try. While I consider input from this very site, I don't always follow the trends and I will try what I think appeals to me. I prefer single bottles - if I like something I can always hopefully find it again and if not, life goes on.

In my stash at the house, there's a ton of Jack's Abby and Allagash, then everything else I have one or two for new beers to try. So my own buying habits are telling me I mainly rely upon things I know I like with a bit of variety thrown into the mix.

As far as the market, I would lean heavier towards yes than maybe. I see a LOT of old beer sitting on shelves and "discount" bins where before there would be empty slots where beers had sold out of stock. Unless a store is horrendously managed, the shelves are now almost always full. Now, they may not be full of beer I personally want to buy, or the same beers on every visit. I can imagine retailers having a hard time figuring out what to stock. But I haven't recently run into an instance where I've been told "no, sorry...we are out of that" for anything reasonably available. Granted, some things move faster than others and there's a seasonal influence. Wicked Weed recently showed up in the area and it appears to be moving fast - is that the novelty factor that is temporary? SEMass and RI are not exactly beer wastelands - will people buy the WW for a while then go back to their "normal" choices? Based on what is in this thread, those "normal" choices might be becoming more consistent. Risk vs. reward on new beers doesn't seem to be as good a ratio as it once was unless you pick and choose. Whether it is "speed to market" or poor understanding of packaging/processing/fermentation technology - whatever the reason - it seems the risk of getting an "inferior" beer is higher.

I also think there is a big influence coming from small breweries and the on-premise sales at breweries. And I will get on my local soapbox and restate my opinion that just because it is local doesn't automatically mean the beer is good. And sometimes the locals will prevail in spite of the quality (or lack thereof) of the beer for other reasons. But that uncounted sales volume is a factor and it seems reasonable to me that on site sales will erode sales in retail outlets.