Caveat - I have not listened to the broadcast yet since I am on the process floor and can't hear squat...the written summary looked interesting, maybe should be cross-posted into Beer Talk or Beer News.. Enjoy....or not... http://digital.vpr.net/post/look-economics-craft-beer
I'll give it a listen and add this story. When Fiddlehead did some can releases here in MA my local bottle store had Matt Cohen in for the sale. I told him that Mastermind was one of my favorite beers and wondered if/when it would come back. He explained that right now he's having to scramble to get enough hops, and that MM used a HUGE amount of hops, so at that point (April maybe?) he'd secured enough hops for his next four production runs and had people already looking for more. I'm sure his "problem" comes from the fact that he wants to source his hops from the highest quality sources possible, but he definitely had the economics of it in mind as well. If he makes Mastermind, maybe he only gets 3 production runs instead of 4.
Also why Mastermind came in 12 oz cans as opposed to 16 oz. I got the first case that came off the line. It was incredible.
somewhat superficial but in general, a good overview. also not about VT craft beer but craft beer in general...just happened to be featured on VPR
I heard that they just brewed a batch of MM the other week. Look for it to be coming out soon. Not sure if just draught for 1st batch of the year or if they'll go straight to cans.
Someone tweeted a picture of their chalkboard which said Mastermind would be released on 7/18 at the brewery...
