Thoughts on Spencer Trappist Ale?

no idea about the veracity of the story, but an agreement to brew only one beer for the next 5 years smacks of some weird agreement. I can't imagine any reason to do that unless there was a backroom quid pro quo of some king. it's ludicrous a business would allow themselves to be pigeonholed like this - I mean what if people don't like the beer?

 

I don't know, it also sounds sort of Zen: Focus on doing one thing for several years and make sure you're really doing it right. Then branch out. Sounds like something monks might do. (I know there's a business element here, but they're still monks; they're not likely looking to dominate the market -- just make a little revenue.)

 

but you can be zen and focus on one thing without a legal contract that says you are obligated to only do one thing for 5 years. 5 years is a loooong time to be stuck doing exactly one thing.

 

They introduced a competitor and gave them a very, very valuable brand...for free. I'm sure they have two interests in this requirement. 1. make sure every beer Spencer sells is worthy of the Trappist brand, preserving its value and 2. slow down the pace of competition with the other Trappist beers. It is fair consideration for use of the brand in my opinion.

 

on one hand I agree with the brand designation. on the other, I'm not sure we really know it was given for free so I'm not sure I would assume that.

and in addition - Chimay has many many competitors for beer in the USA. Spencer being introduced should really only affect them minimally. While there probably are some people who go to the store and say "hmmm I'd like to pick up a beer brewed by monks today" I think there is a wider group that would just be looking for Belgian beers (which may or may not be Trappist) and a much much bigger group just looking for good beer. IOW if I was Chimay I wouldn't look at this as my slice of the pie being cut thinner, I would think of this as a tiny, tiny new slice being cut into the entire pie

 

A

a competitor who has the added advantage of being local and who does not have to pay the shipping/ storage/ distribution costs that their brethren have to pay.

 

Thank you, guys, for saving me some wasted dollars... I've almost been sucked in by this locally made 'Trappiste'. Recently, I dumped my spare change collection into the (no fee) coin machine at my bank and took the proceeds across the street and bought a 4 pack of Duvel and a 4 of Chimay... Wow! I'm really into saving those coins now for another enjoyable several evenings. (Yes, Duvel is not a Trappiste, but boy is it good.)

 

I think that Spencer is well worth at least a try.