When I first got into homebrewing/craft beer, New Belgium was on the same level as Sierra Nevada- commercialized for craft beer, but still solid and fun, with a lot of good variety. I even went to their state of the art brewery in Asheville, and it was awesome. Seems like ever since they changed their logo and labels, it has all went down hill… I thought their original packaging was very attractive and fun, with quite a bit of style selection.
With that being said, SN isn’t quite as diverse as they used to be either, but at least they still have the same logo we fell in love with.
Over the years, a number of privately held home brewing related businesses (e.g. New Belgium, Bells, Northern Brewer) have seen a change in ownership. WIkipedia seems to be a reasonable starting point for current information on the ownership of various craft brands.
Over the years, preferences in beers change. While I enjoyed the “old” Fat Tire, I can also “appreciate” the new Fat Tire (i.e. if I’m ‘out and about’ and it’s on tap, I know what I’ll get),
IIRC, the back issues of Zymurgy magazine (and BYO magazine) have quality ‘clone’ recipes for New Belgium, Bells, SNPA …
I was never the biggest fan of Fat Tire; so I can’t comment on the old vs new there. And I can’t usually find their more esoteric stuff (La Folie, etc.) in my market; so no data there either.
I’m also pretty sure Voodoo Ranger is the strong majority of their trade and revenue nowadays.
But I find their Trippel and 1554 as good as they ever were. 1554 is one of my favorite commercial beers.
I think we’re at a saturation point for quantity of breweries. I don’t know how many there are in the US, but it’s a big number. And they’re all competing for an ever decreasing slice of the pie.
When I was 21, a beer distributor might have 30-40 different beers. Now some have 500. Sooner or later, some have got to go away. Also, when I was 21, there were very few truly good beers to choose from. Now, you can almost never drink the same beer twice and still won’t run out of decent beer choices. Is that a good thing or bad?
I agree that we have an embarrassment of riches to choose from as compared to when I was young. But I don’t see how in the world that can be a bad thing. Sure, the market is always sorting itself out, but craft beer isn’t going away even if some breweries are bound to fail.
What I mean is from the standpoint of old breweries who made the stuff we loved when there were few choices, if they’re still making the same thing, it’s got to be tough.
I still like Sam Adam’s Boston Lager, even if it’s not the exact same as it was. Still love SN PA. I like Yuengling’s Porter, in spite of it not having progressed the way craft porter has. I even still like Chesterfield Ale, and bet I am in the minority there. Fat Tire, loved it. Used to drink a 1/2 keg of Sam Adams a month back when that was $150/keg. (I don’t know what it costs now but I bet it’s a lot. ) I virtually never buy these beers any more, just because I rarely buy beer. It’s not even because they did something wrong, they didn’t. I went another direction. I think this is more common than people think. Then too, folks will go out and pay insane money for a pint of craft beer on site, but not so likely to buy cases. Now they buy 4 packs for $15…
The beer industry today is almost unrecognizable from what it was when I was young. I’m not sure that making huge volumes of good beer is even profitable any more.
I thought I had read somewhere that they got bought out and that’s why the label change? I have not had 1554 in a long time. Cannot say I have even seen it on the shelves. Might have to pick up a six pack if I see it. I remember that I thought it was pretty good.
I might be missing your point, but I don’t put a lot of stock into comments like “beer X doesn’t taste the same as it used to”, short of some admission by the brewer that the recipe has changed. Over time, I know our tastes change though.
Maybe Brand X didn’t change at all. Instead, maybe age began to hamper our taste buds and sense of smell, or we became conditioned to different levels of bitterness or hoppiness, or simply because many people just have a tendency to romanticize the past. Now does that mean SA Boston Lager is worse (or different) today because it hasn’t kept up with current trends and my deteriorating palate? Maybe so. Or maybe SABL was once one of the few beers that could actually leave an impression and today it just gets lost in the weeds. (I still enjoy an occasional one.)
And I love Lord Chesterfield Ale. Definitely my favorite Yuengling beer.
Well, I would say all the beers I mentioned have changed with the exception of SNPA, and I’m not positive about that. Sam Adams and Fat Tire are known to have changed the recipe, and I’ve heard/read plenty of people complain about the fact it’s “not the same” any more. Personally, my brain is programmed to draft Sam Adams as that’s what I drank years ago. Now I have it in bottles when I’m out to eat, and often it’ll be one of the few beers I really want to drink. I really like it, if it’s different, fine with me. It’s still a great beer. I’m surprised at the reactions people have about a beer changing, with the change being real or perceived.
[quote]Maybe Brand X didn’t change at all. Instead, maybe age began to hamper our taste buds and sense of smell, or we became conditioned to different levels of bitterness or hoppiness, or simply because many people just have a tendency to romanticize the past. Now does that mean SA Boston Lager is worse (or different) today because it hasn’t kept up with current trends and my deteriorating palate? Maybe so. Or maybe SABL was once one of the few beers that could actually leave an impression and today it just gets lost in the weeds. (I still enjoy an occasional one.)
And I love Lord Chesterfield Ale. Definitely my favorite Yuengling beer.
[/quote]
I think that is a big part of it also.
I know breweries are going under, and often. I look on Craigslist and there’s brewing equipment on there ALL the time. Last week I saw 15/30 and 60 barrel equipment available from a local place that went under. Loads of equipment. I do not know what brewery, but it was in southern PA. This wasn’t receivership, looked like a court ordered foreclosure sale. It’s a tough business.
New Belgium did what several other legacy craft breweries did: focus on a single brand as the face of the brewery. There’s a seemingly endless stream of Voodoo Ranger variants out there. Deschutes did the same with Fresh Squeezed, Bell’s with Two Hearted, Firestone Walker with Mind Haze, etc. Many other beers that used to be staples in their lineup went away (e.g. Abbey) and others took a back seat (e.g. 1554). They aren’t pumping out as many one-offs and completely new beers as they used to but I don’t notice a difference in the quality of their beers from the past, minus changing Fat Tire to a completely different beer.
Everything is a Voodoo Ranger variant nowadays. I’ve only been to the brewery in Ashevegas once and found it cold and uninviting. It really didn’t conjure the image of NB I had from having their beers over the years. I believe the beers are still solid, but haven’t purchased one outside of some VR stuff in years. Maybe I’ll revisit a few of the oldies.
I haven’t noticed any decline in quality, although I just don’t buy their product/s anymore… I guess it was how they went from offering a nice mix of classic styles, with the same packaging, to spinning off Voodoo Ranger as a whole “separate” line. I always liked their mix packs, that would have a seasonal pilsner, etc.
I remember going to the brewery in Ft. Collins years ago. I was excited to get samples from the foeders of la folie and being really happy. Those days are over. Now it’s all about the variants of Voodoo Ranger.
ive only recently had access to new belgium here in canada (not in their hayday, we do not get 95% of all the big name american craft breweries at all). im guessing them being owned by (had to google) kirin has helped with their distribution and yeah we get fat tire and voodoo ranger along with the occasional voodoo ranger variant seasonally i think.
cont’d below
i know this is my particular complaint - but this is a great example to explain - new belgium and most american craft breweries we get product of up here make good beer. they make solid, clean, reliable examples of certain styles and i thoroughly enjoy them.
i, as a drinker, literally just want good beer at a good price. i dont care who makes it at all, i actively dont care if it says “LOCAL, CRAFT, ARTISANAL” etc, and frankly those are warning signs for me.
i can imagine and i sort of hope, that we see the successful and stable craft breweries stabilize as known brewers of X beer style(s) and we can expect to see them at the taps of bars in the future. there is absolutely something to consistency and reliability in a good beer, and thats why i’ve always respected those european brewers who make one or two things and do it really well. i hope we can get a situation like that here, because the craft breweries in my mid-size regional city throw everything at the wall and i absolutely feel they dont try to nail down any one thing. its all swill.
so, since all i’ve got is swill i might as well make my own and make it cheaply.
Over 20 years ago I used to buy their trippel (that’s how they spelled it) and abbey beer all the time. Also liked their 1554 beer. I haven’t seen them widely available for a long time, although I did find a sixer of trippel at a specialty shop in Missoula a couple of months ago.
Nowadays its the usual hazy/tropical/juicy IPA hooey. Hard pass.
I try to enjoy going to the local watering holes, but between the beer being a bit meh, and the pricing that simply drives me over the top, I know my day of swearing off going to them isn’t far away. Yesterday I broke down and went to another place. Had 3 14oz beers and one 7oz. 1 was 7.x%, the others were 5-6.2. Just to illustrate these were not barrel aged imperial stouts or some insane high dollar beers. Total bill? Remember, no food, no snacks, no shirt or hat, no glassware… $32.50. I filled the car with gas on the way back, that was $74. Used probably 25% of a tank of gas going and returning, there’s no place close really. 3-1/2 beers… And people wonder why these places are going under. Without exaggerating, none of the beers were something I’d have more than $45 in a 10 gallon batch. 1 was downright awful, but I concede that’s a subjective thing. The IPA was devoid of aroma, and I mean it had 0. It didn’t taste bad, but seriously nobody here would have picked it out from a lineup with their nose. And it could have been sitting between Busch and Michelob. I just made a Wit Pale Ale that is out of this world, and it has 1000% more aroma and hop flavor, and it cost nothing to make. $30/10gal.
On topic to the thread, I am not sure the people posting here are the target demographic of places like New Belgium. In spite of the fact that many here may appreciate the beer, it’s the people who simply buy it and don’t brew, those are the folks who pay the bills in their brewery. People like us probably make up 0.5% of their sales.
