Question from the West Coast. Can anybody give me any information about distribution from six point and carton? Where do they distribute and what is available from just the brewery? What are the prices people have seen for their cans?
Sixpoint distributes to several states as their brewing operations are in Tennessee (I believe). They do not have a taproom (yet but hopefully soon!) @Sixpoint drop some knowledge, per favor. Carton's distribution is much more localized. Carton cans brewed at the brewery never make it out of NJ as far as I know. Kegs will show up in NYC and the surrounding areas from time to time. When the beer is brewed at another place such as is the case with SS CREAM at Smuttlabs, the beer will have a wider distribution but still limited to NY/NJ and the immediately surrounding areas. I believe @augiecarton would be the one to ask.
Sixpoint is widely available where it is distributed. It is also very reasonably priced $10-15 for a 4/6 pack. Carton doesn't have much distribution outside the brewery. When stores get cans they sell out immediately. There 4 packs range from $14-16.
They're based there, they produce beer in Brooklyn that is draft only and doesn't go full distro. As Boardwalkbook said, they are primarily brewing and canning out of the South, Memphis I think.
Sixpoint has an alternating proprietorship brewing arrangement at the multi-million barrel capacity brewery in Memphis that Schlitz opened in the 1970s which now owned and operated by City Brewing Co., of La Crosse, WI under the dba of "Blues City Brewing Co." Besides a lot of malternative production (Joose, Blast), the brewery has also been used by CBA, Pabst, 21st Amendment, Magic Hat, etc, in recent years. In the 1990s Coors owned it and brewed Blue Moon and other non-Coors-branded beer there. I agree they sell out fast where they are sold at retail liquor stores - supplied directly by self-distributing Carton - but I was typically paying $10.99 for Boat (summer, 2015 - Cranbury BuyRite).
Question on that topic, is that something semi new like 2-3 years or has cans always come from there, I originally was blow away by the Bengali and now like last 2-3 years time frame have been way disappointed?
Sixpoint is one of the few "craft" brewers that takes advantage of the legal TTB loophole that allows multi-site brewers the option to only note their headquarter brewery ("principal place of business " below) location on the labels. I think they started brewing in Memphis around 2013 - before that, canned Sixpoint beers were coming out of The Lion, in Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Am I the only one who finds this practice deceptive and disingenuous? Even a "microbrew master" thought they were brewed and canned in NY.
That's why I love supporting Carton. They made Sit Down Son on contract at Smutty Nose and wrote it on the can. Why hide that?
I agree - why not tell the consumer where the product is really made? Southampton correctly labels their beer, so does Brooklyn. Its one of the many reasons I do not support them. Plenty of other locals really brewing in NY.
This topic comes up every once in a while on here and unless I missed it, I don't think Sixpoint has actually answered this question. I'd be interested in hearing the rationale too. I don't really care one way or another if they brew outside of the city (Grimm does too!), it's the fact that they are shady about it.
He did in this thread (sort of skirting the main issue, but implying it was a cost savings so he could use the cans at another brewery if he changed AP): Don't know if that -moving empty cans - actually happened when he switched from The Lion to Blues City-Memphis. Also, from what I've read on TTB COLAs, they give brewers permission to "use-up" old, obsolete or otherwise incorrect labels, even specifying how many more can be used until a new label must be used. For instance, this reply from a FAQ on the topic of a new ruling on labeling:
