Beer has existed for just about as long as wine has but the evolutionary changes of the beer world has caused a shift in the drinking habits of the common beer drinker. Macro brewed adjunct lagers have dominated the beer industry for fifty years but times are changing for the mass conglomerate beer industry with the mainstream movement of craft beer.
Craft beer is brewed by craft brewers. These microbreweries produce small, independent, and traditional beer. Small refers to six million barrels of beer or less. Independent refers to 25% or less of the craft brewery is owned or controlled by someone who is not a brewer themselves. Traditional refers to having an all malt flag ship beer or 50% of it's volume through all malt beers or beers that use adjuncts to enhance the flavor of their product rather than for cheaper ingredients.
While the standard adjunct lager, Anusher Bush and Coors comes to mind, can be found in just about any bar across the country, the new standard for bars are beer bars. Beer bars specialize in craft beer produced throughout the United States as well as exceptional beer from all over the world. In a great beer bar you'll find little to no macro brewery beer whatsoever. What beer a beer bar carries however is determined by the distribution of beer from a brewery. Here's where things get complicated.
Macro brewery beer is distributed across the entire United States. This is the reason so many people still drink light fizzy adjunct lagers or lite beer over craft beer. Craft breweries are limited to distribution based upon a number of factors. The distribution company that handles where the beer goes may only allocate a brewery's beer to a certain number of states; either because of the amount of beer that is produced or the size of the distribution company. Sometimes it has to do with the brewery themselves. A lot of breweries start out as brew pubs. A brew pub is a place where one can enjoy food and beer. Most of the beer produced by brew pubs are only on draft or available in growlers; making distribution of one's beer harder to come by. The main reason a brewery might have limited distribution is supply and demand.
With so many craft breweries breaking into the beer industry market share, name recognition, and brand loyalty are the number one factors to starting up a brewery and keeping it going. If you're a new brewery that has just started up then you want to be in as many states as possible. The more people who see your beer will try your beer and in turn return to buy more of your beer. In time people will recognize your logo, the beers you produce, and will begin to share your beer with people they know. This is the three-step process to making a brewery's beer stay on the market and gain a following.
There are however repercussions that come from trying to dominate market share in multiple states and building a breweries brands. This comes back to supply and demand. Many breweries in 2011 are facing the issue of supply and have begun to pull out of states across the country. All these breweries started small, broke into tons of markets, built up their name for making great craft beer, and now the demand for their beer exceeds the amount that can be produced. For many breweries they can't make enough beer to keep on the shelves, regardless of quality. For many more the quality would drop in order to keep up with the demands and that's something all craft breweries will never sacrifice.
Dogfish Head (Delaware) announced they will be pulling out of four states and two other markets in 2011. Dogfish Head's the fastest growing brewery in the country this year and you'll be lucky if you find any of their beer on shelves at your local liquor store. Sam Calagione made the decision to pull from these markets because he was tired of never seeing his product on shelves. Who can blame him? When you can't make enough product to support the demand of your distribution company, retail stores, and your loyal drinkers then you have a serious problem. This problem however is better than no one enjoying your beer.
Dogfish Head will be pulling out of the U.K., Canada, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Rhode Island in 2011 indefinitely. Being the fastest growing brewery has caused a demand for Dogfish Head that can not be met. With no plans to expand in the near future they will continue to produce beer for the markets that have bought the most of their product. While this will absolutely upset loyal fans in these states and countries it will however bring joy to those that will continue to get Dogfish and now hopefully even more of it.
Dogfish Head is not the only brewery pulling out of states this year. It seems this is the trend for 2011. Avery Brewing Co. out of Boulder, Colorado announced this week they will be pulling out of eight states and seven other markets. Avery broke into as many markets as humanly possibly in order to sell their beer. Now they are in a position to get out; which they have to in order to continue to supply their beer to loyal drinkers and beer markets. Too many markets aren't moving their beer while other markets can't keep it in stock. It only makes sense they pull from some in order to replenish others. Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Tennessee will not see Avery in their state for the foreseeable future. The partial state markets that will lose Avery include Northern California (Bay Area and Sacramento), Eastern Arkansas, Upstate New York (outside of New York City), Central Florida (Orlando), and Wisconsin.
With Colorado being the Mecca of craft beer it's not unimaginable that more breweries than Avery are pulling out of states. Great Divide, Oskar Blues, and Left Hand Brewing are all pulling out of states this year. Great Divide has removed their beers from six states (Michigan, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Kentucky, New Mexico and Alaska, and Washington, D.C.) They will be reduce their distribution to Minnesota, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, and Virginia.
Many craft beer drinkers will be disappointed this year as they found out their favorite breweries are leaving their states. The key to a great brewery is fresh quality beer. Fresh means beer that is continuously on the shelves. If you aren't getting new beer releases from your favorite brewery then you're lacking fresh beer. Quality is the second concern for great beer. The beer the brewer conceives needs to be the same from conception to delivery. A lot of breweries are faced with the issue of creating the same product their fans know and love and keeping up with demand for their beer. No brewery wants to cut corners and make a beer that isn't exactly the same as what their fans fell in love with. In order to ensure that doesn't happen, sometimes you have to pull out from certain markets.
It's definitely upsetting seeing breweries having to pull out of states but keeping up with supply, demand, fresh beer, and quality means some sacrifices are necessary. Many beer drinkers will stop being fans of their favorite breweries if they can't procure their favorite brands. While this is never good for a brewery it's better to have upset fans than bad beer. The demand for craft beer is at an all time high and not being able to supply enough beer for all markets is a better problem then not having their beer sold or producing a lesser quality product in order to meet demands.
Marc Bayes is an expert author and scholar on Craft Beer as well as a certified beer server. Want to know more about craft beer, new releases, great breweries, and amazing events involving the world of beer then head over to http://www.notyourdadsbeer.com Sign up, take a look around, and join the conversation. Always on Face Book: http://www.facebook.com/notyourdadsbeer
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