[Wilbur]

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/drink/ct-food-chicago-beer-stores-skipping-bourbon-county-stout-goose-island-20211122-7fr5t65qenhtzcoeho3434yhjm-story.html

Shortly after opening Orange & Brew in 2018, Schmidt said he ran into a similar problem with Chicago’s Revolution Brewing that he did with Goose Island: some of Revolution’s core beers, such as Anti-Hero IPA and Rev Pils, weren’t selling. Instead of penalizing him, Schmidt said, a Revolution sales rep tried to find a solution, offering him different beers in different packages until something resonated with customers.

Interesting read on Goose Island and Bourbon County Stout, sounds like things are still a mess at Goose Island. Thought this part was interesting. Grocery stores sound like a better market for them anyway, but I remember a few years ago reading they bought a canning line with their marketing budget. Kind of surprised they can't find a solution for the specialty bottle shops.

[MDixon]

I quit buying it when it went AB. Same for Wicked Weed in NC. I'll drink it if it's free at an event or at a tasting, but I'm not shelling out my money for it.

Now I can fully understand the mindset of sell more of our products all year and be rewarded with an allocated product. At the same time I applaud those who told GI and AB to take a hike as a result of the practice.


FWIW - I don't buy Bell's because they sued a small NC brewery over their trademark and lost. Now that they are Lion (New Belgium) it gives me another reason to skip purchasing their products. AFAIK they never noticed I wasn't buying their beer and probably don't care either.

[kramerog]

AB's marketing strategy is about volume -it sells Bud, Bud Lite, etc - so bottle shops just don't figure in that. To play devil's advocate, perhaps selling Bourbon County through grocery stores democratizes barrel-aged beer.

[brewthru]

While I understand the BIG BOYs business plan (kill the small guy, kill the craft brewer so we can return to selling pi*s beer), I am troubled by the apparent deception. Pretending to be a craft brewer, small brewer, etc, but in reality are one of the BIG breweries. Especially, when they charge a premium.

Years ago, while shopping at Costco, I was happy to discover a case of Pilsner Urquell. Yumm! Unfortunately, I've learned/realize any beer, for the most part, carried by Costco/BJs, et al is a brew from one of the BIG commercial outfits.

I don't get to a Wegmans that often. When I do it's beer nirvana.

Total Wine is good too.

Shame what recently happened to Bells.

[MDixon]

Shame what recently happened to Bells.

I'm sure Larry is crying all the way to the bank!

[brewthru]

I agree, Larry made out. Was writing about us (consumers of Bells).

[denny]

While I understand the BIG BOYs business plan (kill the small guy, kill the craft brewer so we can return to selling pi*s beer), I am troubled by the apparent deception. Pretending to be a craft brewer, small brewer, etc, but in reality are one of the BIG breweries. Especially, when they charge a premium.

Years ago, while shopping at Costco, I was happy to discover a case of Pilsner Urquell. Yumm! Unfortunately, I've learned/realize any beer, for the most part, carried by Costco/BJs, et al is a brew from one of the BIG commercial outfits.

I don't get to a Wegmans that often. When I do it's beer nirvana.

Total Wine is good too.

Shame what recently happened to Bells.

Certainly not like that at our Costco.  They carry craft beer from independent brewers, even som3 local ones from here in town.

It's NOT a shame what happened to Bell's. Larry worked hard to build that business and he deserves to be rewarded as he retires.  Never forget ALL breweries are businesses, large or small.

[denny]

I agree, Larry made out. Was writing about us (consumers of Bells).

Why would you think anything will change? The group that bought Bell's is about as benign as it gets.

[Big_Eight]

I agree, Larry made out. Was writing about us (consumers of Bells).

Why would you think anything will change? The group that bought Bell's is about as benign as it gets.

Benign? Lion is a subsidiary of Japanese beverage giant Kirin.

[nateo]

The MO for those big brewery takeovers seem to be about focusing on a single beer as the flagship "brand" for the brewery. See the proliferation of everything "Ranger" from New Belgium. Pre-Kirin NB sold a ton of interesting beer that was pretty readily available in Colorado. Not the case anymore.

I would expect Bell's two hearted and maybe Oberon to be available but I wouldn't expect anything else to have wide release in the near future.

[denny]

I agree, Larry made out. Was writing about us (consumers of Bells).

Why would you think anything will change? The group that bought Bell's is about as benign as it gets.

Benign? Lion is a subsidiary of Japanese beverage giant Kirin.

Yep.  And they have a pretty good record of buying breweries and not interfering.

[Wilbur]

The MO for those big brewery takeovers seem to be about focusing on a single beer as the flagship "brand" for the brewery. See the proliferation of everything "Ranger" from New Belgium. Pre-Kirin NB sold a ton of interesting beer that was pretty readily available in Colorado. Not the case anymore.

I would expect Bell's two hearted and maybe Oberon to be available but I wouldn't expect anything else to have wide release in the near future.

Goose Island tried to do it with 312. New Belgium is trying it with Voodoo Ranger. Sierra Nevada is doing it with Hazy Little Thing. Seems more like a thing once a brewery hits a certain size.

[Visor]

   When I was at N.B.'s Ashville campus 3 years ago, 1554 was the only thing on tap that wasn't Voodoo Ranger. I was not favorably impressed.

[MDixon]

SN still focuses on SNPA, Torpedo IPA, and Tropical Torpedo IPA in NC. Hazy shows up, but the SN space at the store is dominated by the first three.

New Belgium can't seem to figure out what Voodoo Ranger is exactly. I just saw VR LightLager. Looking at the website it's an IPA, Imperial IPA, Hazy IPA, Future Hop IPA, V2K Juicy IPA, and Pumpkin Ale. It's everything but a sour at this point. At one time you could walk into a bar and order a VR and know what you might receive. Now it's a crapshoot.

[MDixon]

All I am seeing in my Facebook feed is stores selling BC and people posting about BC. What's interesting is the small guys are almost out, but the reports are Wegman's is fully stocked.