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formerly DrinkingIllini
Posts: 649
  
Location: Redondo Beach, CA | This is apropos of nothing but I was thinking recently that most breweries that become sucessful / widely distributed become victim to market factors and have to dumb down their product for consistency or for widespread acceptability. This leads me to wonder if, from a strictly taste and quality standpoint, is it better for a brewer to stay local and rare or to go for the bigtime? Is it always the deathknell to go for a wide distribution? I feel like if Russian River or Alesmith were more widely available then they would have to dumb it down. What do you guys think? |
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Boozehound
Posts: 972
Location: Leeds, UK | Assuming that if a beer was successful in a small market, it can continue to be successful in a larger market (I know that’s not an insignificant assumption), why don’t breweries make new products such as Successful-beer Lite? This would no only make them more money (assuming that mass market is the reason they dumb it down in the first place) but could also bring people onto better beers.
“Well, I really liked the lite, let’s see what the big boys are drinking.”
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Boozehound
Posts: 972
Location: Leeds, UK | Come to think about it, it’s probably just that as you expand you need more staff, like a commercial director, and their experience is going to have been all about maximising profits.
They know the markets and as a small time brewer you might not; “This is what you need to do to survive” etc etc.
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Heavy drinker
Posts: 476
Location: S.E. Michigan | Sam Adams may not be everyone's idea of the best beer going but they have consistently produced the same basic product from the start and they produce a quality product. They have at least attempted to be true to style in their expanded offerings and I think have done a reasonable job of it even though I don't like a few of their offerings. (A perfect example is that I love stout but hated their cream stout.) Bells is another brewer that has expanded and continues to produce the same beer without watering or dumbing it down. Bells may not be available everywhere (at least not yet) but they have expanded significantly from the rather small brewer. I think those are but two examples that it can be done if they choose to stay true to the calling that made them brew in the first place. I think the main reason that Sam Adams stays consistent is that Jim Koch views what he does almost as a labor of love. He started the brewery because, in reference to his home brew, he thought "if I could drink this every day for the rest of my life I would be a happy man." Or as they say, do something you love and you will never work a day in your life. |
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Success Is A Bad Thing?
