Worst Distribution Regions

It was the Bell's Expedition Stout as I recall although now that I think about the math I paid about, three fiddy for 10 fidy so thatone would be wor$e lol ok n steepness to bad bevmo doesnt break up their bigher end sixers like they do others

 

Southeast Kansas is not great, but it's getting better. Brews that have showed up in my area the past year that I'd never had before are Stone, Deschuttes, and Odell. I'm sure there's more but those three come to mind. We've always been able to get Boulevard, which is right up the road in KC so I shouldn't complain. Missouri gets more stuff, so when I'm back home there I stock up on the stuff we don't get on the Kansas side (Founders, Kona, Mothers, ect)

 

Has anyone mentioned this yet? It seems relevant.

seekabrew.com

 

Have you ever thought maybe there's a business reason behind that?

 

This is fantastic (if it's accurate). Thanks for sharing!

 

Amen! VA gets Bell's, Founders and Avery. So does Philly. But somehow MD gets skipped .

 

Seekabrew is very accurate. There are always new beers popping up and distros changing. They do a great job of taking users' e-mails and incorporating new info into their website at very reasonable time intervals. I've corresponded with them before on changes here in Florida, and heard back from my e-mails.

 

I couldn't have put it better myself. I would say we are at the middle of the pack. We get some great beer, just not stuff that is highly sought after. Flying Dog's Brewhouse Rarities can be good for locals, but they usually bottle the bad ones. Burley Oak is great and does limited bottlings, but nobody has heard of them (good but still not big for trading). DuClaw, don't even get me started on them. Evolution does some great 750s. Heavy Seas is good but not really a big trader. Brewer's Art seems to draw some people in. Stillwater, I guess they are technically local (feels like Mikkeller). At least we get Max's, which kind of makes up for the lack of readily available trade fodder (if you live near the city). They get stuff I've never heard of or would even think to trade for. Great for draft-only stuff (BA Narwhal!) and rare/obscure bottles.

p.s. Dawson's has Perennial as well, but none of their more prized brews.

 

HAHA, Note to self don't drink and post. Apparently I can't tell directions I'm referring to Memphis which is West Tennessee not East Tennessee.

 

Founders should be here this year. Bell's should be here in a few years and Avery used to be here. So, who knows. We also get shafted by Hoppin' Frog and Great Lakes.

 

If you think your beer selection is bad, travel to WV. Then let me know how you feel.

 

Unfortunately, I've traveled to Mississippi a few times for work. That state, by far, has been the worst I've seen.

 

Houston! It's not that the selection is bad, it just takes forever for anything to get here. We'll get that FW 17 someday...

 

Eastern PA/Central NJ sometimes seems like a black hole. We tend not to see a lot of good midwestern beers, plus somewhat surprisingly, a lot of east coast beers from the southeast and new england don't seem to find their way here either.

 

North Dakota! Which now has the drunkest city in the US...

 

Northwest Pennsylvania is atrocious. Half the craft beer I can get has to go through four wholesalers before I get a six pack. The other half gets caught up in wholesale hell and we can't actually buy it, despite it being available in this territory.

 

I'll bet. I was just checking a map and it appears that NW North Dakota is Minot and the Missouri River. Looks like tough country indeed.

 

Aren't NJ and PA the two states with the highest numbers of breweries available on Seek-a-Brew?

 

For the breweries mentioned above, I can only enjoy them while my yearly visit in KY. Thank Goodness for family in the Mid-West. I am looking forward to seeing Founders coming here.

 

umm... Philadelphia probably gets the most, if not then equal, distro of any city.

 

I wonder if those breweries look at the plethora of great beer that is brewed on the west coast and decide that the market is too crowded with craft beer so they distribute where there is less competition. Just a thought.
To Beer

 

I cant really complain but living directly between LA and SF really hurts with distribution here. Too far north for socal beers and too far south for norcal beers.

 

I know that's what it is. Plus hauling beer across the country isn't cheap, and the margins are probably already too thin to make it worthwhile.

It just kind of sucks sometimes when so much of the chatter on here is about beers and breweries I don't have easy access to. But, based on what I have had from other regions that don't distribute here, I know firsthand that what I can get is at least as good.

 

Northwest Indiana. Besides FFF we get almost nothing

 

The real answers are Hawaii, Utah, Mississippi, and West Virginia. Each of these states gets less than 60 different breweries distributed to them. To put that into prospective, most good beer states have well over 200. Not to mention an endless amount of small local offerings that undoubtedly aren't present in the states mentioned. I know they aren't in WV.

If you're buying good beer in WV, you're essentially limited to Sierra Nevada, Great Lakes, Southern Tier, and Flying Dog. And good luck finding any of these if you're not around a bigger city. If I didn't live 10 mins from PA, I really don't know what I'd do.

 

Nonsense! I was just at my favorite Antarctican bottle shop last night, and they had fresh Pliney, Heady, and Hopslam, all out on an iceberg side by side..

 

Fargo, ND
Letterman just did a Top 10 on it.

 

Agreed, and even though things are getting better....yea...........It still needs a lot work to get better. Total wine is helping out a lot....but still.......

 

I've yet to have Pliney and Heady, but is it really possible that they're better than Hopslam (if you've had them)? I don't see how it'd be possible.

 

I've had all 3 lately. All are quite delicious

 

When La Cumbre hits shelves in PA, then all will be good. Until then I'll stick with PA distro and PA beer laws both SUCK

 

In Erie, PA. All craft beer seems to stop at Cleveland in the west, Buffalo in the east, and Pittsburgh in the south. We are the asshole of the great lakes when it comes to getting distribution.

 

Well, one of my good friends will be working at a brewery in southern MD about to open up in a couple months or so: Calvert Brewing Company. 7 regular beers, 5 planned waxed-and-barrel-aged offerings, and a beer garden in Upper Marlboro. If ANY MD brewery has a chance to jump on that hype train the way Westbrook and Prairie have (and give Marylanders the means to trade), this is the one.

 

I don't get that... So how do Uinta and Squatters and Epic operate? They produce beers above the 4% and damn good ones at that.

Are there specific parts of the state that are exceptions?

 

This post was like my Thanksgiving. It gave me a chance to reflect on the state of craft beer and distribution in New Mexico. You know what? We ain't got it half bad. Matter fact we're really spoiled.

We get a lot of good beer, especially from California and other mountain states (Stone, Sierra, Odell, Oskar Blues, Deschutes, North Coast) and the local options have us spoiled rotten (La Cumbre, Bosque, Duel, Marble, Second Street).

I ain't mad at our distribution, even if I grumble when I can't get Great Divide even though its from a border state or Firestone Walker even though Arizona gets it (along with a whole lot of other stuff we don't get).

 

Hey, hey.... I happen to love what I find on the Central Coast... First of all, Firestone Walker.... I'll trade half the breweries in the country for that one brewery.

Second, you got Figueroa Mountain, Tap It, Central Coast Brewing and Barrelworks all doing interesting and good beers.

Then you have Cali distribution which means you still get a ton of stuff that a little ol' New Mexican like myself would never see.

 

Beer over 3.2 ABW can only be purchased at Utah state owned liquor stores.