Looks like after 24 years, Smuttynose is most likely closing its doors. The article states they are selling at auction, I’ll be hopeful but skeptical they will survive.
Their FinestKind IPA was, is, and will continue to be my favorite IPA of all time. Luckily I based my house IPA on it so I can still try to keep the memory alive.
No! Solid brewery with a big well-known name. I’ve been fond of their pales, IPAs, and the Brown Dog. Just like the beloved Hostess Twinkie, hopefully someone will work to keep the brand going, and hopefully the quality as well.
oh no!! I love smuttynose. a great lineup of beers. seems like there is hope they’ll continue under different ownership.
2 other excellent breweries, great divide and green flash significantly pulled back their distribution recently as well.
Great Divide just added a second location as a packaging facility, canning line, barrel aged and sour beer storage so maybe they are just changing where/how they distribute.
It is getting harder and harder for me to find Deschutes (one of my favorites) here in Colorado so I assume its a decision by them not to distribute as much out here because of so much competition. Widmer which has been around here forever is almost non-existent these days…
Every time a new brewery starts distribution in your state, an old fave seems to go. I’m not sure it’s the breweries’ decision, retailers are probaly the real limiting factor – not maliciously, but they can only handle so many SKUs. There’s a natural limit to the variety you can have, so the territory of most brewers’ distribution will have to shrink as numbers grow. Until they sell out to you know who. Another kettle of fish.
In the instance of Smuttynose, it would be a tragic irony if one of the premier legacy IPAs from New England is being squeezed out by the torrent of “New England” IPAs.
If it is a bank auction that would seem to indicate they could not repay debts. Kinda sad to make 10 million in revenue per year and be broke.
Looks like I will be buying some Finestkind on the way home tonight. I’ve never had a beer from Smutty that I didn’t like. But it goes to show how oversaturated the craft beer market has become, and I’m sure it doesn’t help getting pushed off of taps by Goose Island and Elysian. I hope they pull through.
They showed up here in Texas maybe a couple years ago with zero marketing. Another regional competitor who came in and just assumed they would take taps from somewhere. They are gone in Austin and I think Houston. They are barely present in Dallas, mostly at larger non-craft venues.
I don’t understand why breweries continue to do this. Green Flash corrected with their recent pullback from several markets. It’s infeasible to half-commit to a market and pull product away from markets where the brewery has a competitive presence and can expand market share.
Regional breweries are in a really tight spot in the current market. There are so many local and hyperlocal breweries popping up all over the place now, and AB-InBev seems to be going all-in on their craft portfolio. Craft beer bars and restaurants are leaning closer to home with many of their selections, and Goose Island/Elysian/etc are taking over the chains. This doesn’t leave a lot of room for the middle ground breweries. The craft beer market tends to gravitate to the hot new thing, and the demand for the solid old standbys isn’t quite what it was.
In TX recently I picked up some Real Ale Hans Pils, one of my local favorites. Saw a Sierra Nooner and picked it up to send them some money. After drinking both, I told the wife we should have bought more of the Nooner, sometimes those older regional or national breweries do it right. Real Ale Co are good sized, and make good beer, but the Noon was so good.