I appreciate information like this Major. I like to be an informed consumer and I don’t care if it is “Merikan” or not. I hate predatory business practices and one of the most refreshing things about the true craft brewers is the amount of support they selflessly have been known to give one another.
You’d be missing out because St. Lamvinus pairs well with Buffalo wings and ranch dressing. :o
+1. If a brewery’s beer really is worth its reputation (and not just a measure of advertising $$) , then you shouldn’t need to strong arm/cutthroat local small breweries . But as we know, business is often cutthroat. It’s a shame.
I’m not sure Major’s analysis is spot on with regards to who is perpetuating this sales tactic. For example, in our area, the distributor who has New Belgium also happens to have a number of other classic macro brands and I believe their sales tactics are their sales tactics (i.e. the distributor’s) not New Belgium’s.
Anthony,
Brewery provide sales incentives like $50 for each new (captured) tap.
Distributor just execute most lucrative sales incentives for them.
Also in most cases those large craft brewers have “feet on the ground” sales reps in the area.
I have to say this that they do act lot like mega brewers.
Yes please seek out your local brewers. Those are your neighbors. You buy their stuff and they buy yours.
I have to admit, I rarely buy beer, but when I do it’s almost always from the local brewery, about 25 miles away.
You have a lot to learn about the beer business.
When New Belgium came into our area they set up shop with a competing distributor (meaning, competing against our distro) and the distributor they went with basically paid a million dollars for the rights to sell their beer. The local brands they carried suffered because they had a bigger incentive to push the New Belgium. Then New Belgium gave incentives to the said distributors’ sales force that every time they took over a competing tap they would get $50.
hey, I get it, it’s just business. That’s the way business works. but if you want to see your local craft brewers succeed then you should never drink a New Belgium beer on draft. Ever. You should ask for your favorite local, and tell the owner that you will be drinking water until it is put back on.
Trying hard to think of breweries that got big enough to afford enough $$ to spend on choking out competitors and their beer got EVEN BETTER. Coming up with … none. 90% of NBs stuff is ok/average/ pretty decent IMO.
EDIT - Everyone understands how business works. But this forum is dedicated to the appreciation of drinking and (more importantly) brewing GOOD beer for the sake of good beer only, not forming business plans or portfolios to the exclusion of other small brewers. People are gonna feel passionately .
As I read this I’m drinking a homebrewed IPA that won a blue ribbon at a recent local comp. Can’t get more local than that, right? Well I’m drinking it from a New Belgium glass I got for free just for being an AHA member on a recent visit to the brewery. It was a pleasant experience and they had some solid beers on tap. The iPA I’m enjoying was brewed with hops and malt from the Pacific Northwest. The yeast came from San Diego. The water’s local but filtered with an RO filter made who knows where and treated with salts from who knows where. It’s carbonated with co2 purchased locally and made who knows where. My point is, beer is rarely a truly local commodity from a standpoint of environmental sustainability. It’s great to support any and all local businesses for economic reasons. But if you’re supporting the locals for environmental reasons, maybe a local estate winery would be easier to find.
The caring, sharing, lovey-dovey, hippy-dippy, artsy-fartsy image of the professional brewing community is nice but when it gets down to brass tacks it’s an extremely competitive profit driven industrial business. Personally I don’t have the stomach for going pro. I’ll stick to the caring, sharing, lovey-dovey, hippy-dippy, artsy-fartsy world of homebrewing. Drink what ya like. Especially if ya got something local worth spending your money on.
That is disturbing. It makes sense from New Belgium’s business perspective but it is underhanded. My guess is if you try to buy back the tap New Belgium will just pay more and more. They probably wouldn’t mind a bidding war because that would exhaust the little guys of cash.
First they buy the taps, then they buy the surviving local breweries, then you get another InBev.
I hate to sound pessimistic but in 50 years will the craft beer revolution be dead?
I think this thread has gone steered quite a bit from my original post. Can’t we all just get along ???
Joe,
Thank you for pointing it out. I had my brew house made 29 miles away. I got my tanks made 250 miles away. I did not buy them from china. I gave a paycheck to local people.
So yes it is also our responsibility to source local if we can find what we are looking for. We might pay a little bit more but we give a food in our neighbors table and via versa.
Leos, I love the frame of reference: it is easily expressed as “drink local beer” just a matter of how far you want to take it. It sounds like you do everything you can to source locally. I am happy that the BruGear kettle I kicked in for is made in USA, not nearly as excited about the vessel that I supported on indiegogo, which surprisingly ran into production spec issues during manufacturing in China! If everyone chooses their favorite local brew at every bar, new Belgium will be relegated to their own locality: apparently no big loss for the rest of us in their distribution circle. Couple/many beers in, hope this comes off as supportive and not trolling: I support local Cincinnati breweries whenever I have a choice!
I did not detect any dissension, only discussion. Sorry your post got side tracked. But it went somewhere interesting, right? 
Here’s some irony - I bought a hat from the AHA at the NHC in Grand Rapids last month that says “Support Your Local Brewery”. The label states it was made in Taiwan.
I have bought Leos’ beers regularly as I pass through Eau Claire on my way to Hayward Wisconsin - I have several Growlers at this point. They are great. I can’t wait to try one of Major’s beers. A new brewery opened in the town next to where I live. I have been there 3 times since they opened in April - if I go to dinner in the area,I make it a point to plan a stop at the taproom. I want to see them succeed - they are making only Belgian style beer and they kick the pants off New Belgium IMHO.
As New Glarus proudly states - “Buy Local, Drink Yokel” and “Drink Indigenously”. They expanded beyond Wisconsin for a short while, but then said screw it, we’re going to be available “Only in Wisconsin”. I like their beers and look forward to it when I visit the Madison area.
Greatly appreciate your support. We will start canning our seasonal beer on August starting with Oktoberfest.
New Glarus has a great philosophy. They sell 120,000 BBL is single state with 5 mil population. May be that is why we do not like to see Alaskan Brewing or Deshutes brewing or others like that around. Message here is do the better job selling your beer in your state.
Nope, only kidding. I did alter the thread subject to better reflect the discussion!
There is a lot of good and passionate discussion on here that is all valid. I will say for New Belgium that they have some of the best customer service of ANY business I have ever encountered. I find some of their behind the scenes business practices a little disturbing, but the rest of the industry could learn from their customer service.
Bell’s is fairly local for me. They are also great to homebrewers.