But Tom, if the need is for Sierra Nevada…I mean we do have a lot of great breweries over here, But SN is my go to beer, its just about everywhere I go, so I can trust to find at least a good craft beer even if I am at a nonbeer bar. Should the “local” beers step up and take the place of that over here, sure, but they aren’t or the buyers aren’t buying them over SN.
I don’t know if the quality suffers but I think Schlafly went to some contract brewing as they got big. I’d agree that if it means we can now have better access to craft beer, its good. But I don’t drink as much Schlaflys now.
Then again, I try not to spend much on craft beer since I have so much of my own on hand. But I’ll seek out a restaurant just for the beer selection.
I’ve been hearing Asheville for quite a while now.
Big question is, though, are they gonna change their name? Different mountain range in NC 
I take exception to that comment, good sir. >:(
why are you a huckleberry?
Thank you
Your argument could be applied to BMC beers too. That doesn’t mean we have to like it. 
It could be that the other breweries beer isn’t good enough, or it could be marketing, or it could be that they just can’t brew enough to fill the need. They may be growing as fast as they can, but that might not be fast enough for the demand.
Let me put it this way - I’m a fan of Dogfish Head beers and sometimes it’s sad that we can’t get more of them out here. But I don’t want them opening another brewery here.
just wait! I read sam’s book and one of the things he mentions towards the end is that they are (were?) working on a franchise scheme with another company to open BJ’s style brew pubs in the DC area with an eye to expand furthur at some point.
Don’t they have a pub in DC? To me there is a big difference between a pub and a production brewery. I don’t really want a DFH pub here either though.
They talked quite a bit about this when I was at Beer Camp a month back. There’s no way they aren’t going to grow, so you might as well get over that fear, Tom! Thia is the most logical way for them to accomplish that. It’s lees expensive and more eco-friendly (in keeping with their philosophy) than shipping beer across the country. Let’s face it, SN is a business and as such wants/needs to keep growing. Based on what I’ve learned about the company and their mindset, I’m much less worried about expansion from them than a company like, say, Ninkasi.
One of the things they stressed to us was that the places they were looking at had similar water chemistry.
Why? One thing I learned at beer Camp is that quality is what they value above everything. Add in the fact that it’s a sole proprietorship, without board or stockholders to satisfy, and it would seem that they have the best possible situation to maintain a quality product.
This is a significant consideration IMO.
That is some bold font right there. ;D
There is a budweiser plant less than 75 miles from Golden Colorado, I wouldn’t worry about SN affecting local craft breweries. SN DFH and SA are merely stepping stones to the true craft breweries.
I second this. If it’s one thing I took away from the beer camp it’s that they are very conscious about their product and who is drinking it. They take pride in the fact that they are brewing the best beer possible. I think that if they thought this would jeopardize the quality of their product, they just wouldn’t do it.
Come on man. I’m in ALABAMA. Make all the jokes you want. Besides I happen to love huckleberries and have plenty of hillbillies in the family.
I’ll give you wants but there is this attitude that a business must keep growing andI have never gotten a solid reason why. If I am in business and I have a solid customer base which is replentished at replacement levels why do I need to keep growing? particularly if it’s not a public company. Now I will concede that if demand conintues to rise and I can meet that increased demand without compromise why NOT continue growing which I suspect is more the attitude of a SN. But take snapple. when I first started drinking snapple it was only available in health/natural food stores and it was amazing. the cream soda was one of my favorite drinks as a kid. then they grew and became the corn syrup sweet glop it is today. but they HAD to grow right?
okay rant over! ;D
As a small brewery owner I can say that I would like to actually cap production at some point to keep the brewery small. I agree with you exactly - why do you have to keep growing? Is it to keep from being swallowed by a bigger player? I just don’t get it.
Whaaaaa???
Sierra Nevada IS a “true craft brewery”.
In truth, it’s one of the better ones.
And if they are committed to maintaining the quality (as I’m certain they are) they’ll still be a great “craft” brewery even if they eventually build five new plants.
Shareholders. They want to see a company grow.