Spaten Production / Availability Problems?

No problems in the Detroit area. One brief interruption of a couple weeks last year but nothing major. Local distributor issue?

 

Nothing here for years. Luckily I can get plenty of local peanut butter and jelly brown ale though.

 

One local wholesaler doesn't want beer gathering dust in the warehouse. That means the lower sales volume beers are not purchased until he can buy another shipment when he is certain the lot will sell. Don't know if that's what you're up against. Around here the German beers move slowlllyyyy.

 

What @KansasBeerLover said. I noticed a huge decrease in sales with the German beers over the last decade in my area and it really only picks up during Octoberfest. Bitburger moves though

 

Yup, as others have posted German beers in my area simply do not move well. I periodically check them out and invariably they are old.

I have also noticed that the selection (number of brands) has decreased significantly in the past decade. It would seem that beer consumers would prefer to drink fresh German style beers brewed by US craft breweries instead? That is what I end of doing, buying beers from Stoudts, Victory, Sly Fox,...

Cheers!

 

Not sure where @BeerPugz is in Wisconsin, but I see a lot of German imports around Southeastern Wisconsin -- specifically Kenosha. And the Spaten always seems to be available.

To that, I had seen a downturn in Spaten in Northeastern Illinois, but in the past year it seems to be making a comeback.

 

Central Wisconsin. I didn't say they were not available. The sales volume has decreased drastically over the last decade. Have German pils and hefe sitting on shelves with 2 months before expiration -- that's not fresh. And, as @JackHorzempa stated, the selection has decreased.

 

That pretty much 'sums up' my experience here in Southeastern PA. I assume that most German breweries use a 12 month best by date and while technically these beers are still 'in code' in my opinion a 12 month best by timeframe is BS.

One of my favorite German beers is Jever and they use a 15 month best by timeframe!

Fortunately Jever has started listed two dates on their bottles:

• Bottle on date
• Best by date

Unfortunately I very rarely see Jever on my retailers' shelves that is less than 6 months old.

Cheers!

 

I do my part by picking up a case of 0,5 liter cans every month or so. Here's to Spaten availability not becoming a problem in the Po Valley!

 

That's definitely a problem all over. Getting used to dating codes is helping me out... at least helping me to avoid the old stuff.

@bonsainut Just saw Spaten Premium in Illinois that was bottled in January -- not too bad, all things considered.

Well, I've been rather surprised by a few spots in K-town that seem to have a decent variety of both German and UK beers -- maybe not exactly like I used to see in Illinois back in the 70s and 80s, but definitely worth my border run once in a while.

 

This is the boat I find myself in, as well. All things being equal, I think Weihenstephaner Original is better than Sly Fox Helles. But I think 2-week old Sly Fox Helles is better than 6-month+ old Weihenstephaner Original. When I see fresh-ish Germans, I buy them. Otherwise, Victory, Stoudts, Sly Fox, Tröegs, etc do fine work.