Lagunitas Brewing to lay off 12 percent of its workforce
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In the Houston area, there has been a few casualties in the craft beer market as well. Karbach sold to InBev in 2016 which was a huge disappointment to pretty much everyone in the area. Since the sale they have trimmed the selection and eliminated the seasonal beers I really liked.
Another brewery near me, Texian, gave up their brewery and now contract out through another brewer. However I’ve not seen any of their beer on the shelves lately so they may have suspended operations completely.
There are 2 independent breweries here that I think are doing things the right way- saint arnold and 8th wonder. Both are in my fridge most of the time.
I knew Lagunitas got too big though when I saw them in supermarkets in Boston and Europe. At that point you're just a brewery.
I fail to discern the difference. If the beer quality remains higher than the draft swill the major brewers have offered years, what does it matter that they've developed new markets?
Putting that aside, though, there may be reasons why it matters. Scaling up production while maintaining quality and consistency is actually very difficult. You simply can't stock supermarkets across the country using small-batch brewing methods, so it's inherently a sign that they've moved away from what made them good. Even if they're still much better than the "swill", they're probably no longer the best thing you could be drinking and it's time to search for a new favorite.
I have a social circle of friends who are very into craft beer. I have seen them throw out beer they had already purchased just because a brewery had sold to a big brewer like InBev.
At first I thought it was an ethical boycott like boycotting Nestle. After talking to them I found out it was solely because they were cool anymore and they didn't want to be seen associated with the brand.
The exact quote I heard was "I don't want to be caught drinking anything someone in college knows about"
I do think that means theres still a lot of growth in the market. The IPA market seems fairly tapped out, along with porters, stouts, and lagers. There's still other people that aren't really into craft beer because their tastes haven't been served, like myself with craft beer.
It's not like the current craft beer market is serving the population of the earth - the percentage that are teetotalers
As a lot of posters noted, Sours and other beers are becoming more mainstream but I do think the "microbrewery" boom is finally coming to an end. Most of the famous ones are already owned by Heineken or A-B. Consolidation seems to be the natural state of the market it seems. I would like to see some in depth studies to see how this has changed the flavors, if at all. I'm always skeptical when people claim that the quality of these brewers lowered when purchased; however changes in the supply chain could result in that.
I also love strongly peated smokey whisky and outrageously strong cheese :-)
Brown Shugga seems like a fairly unique beer, but I don't have a lot of experience to compare it to. It's interesting on their tour to hear about how it was an accident. Not really to my taste though.
I live in the area, so it's widely available here (possibly along with variations in the supermarkets that aren't as widely available farther away?), and they all seemed fairly different, but I'm not sure I'm experienced enough to judge.
Aunt Sally - Did not like. Don't think I like sours though.
Supercluster - Had it the other week at a family gathering. Was pretty good.
The Pils you mention, I don't recall the name, I seem to recall liking it.
There was one super hoppy one with raw hops my brother had me try. I was not a fan, reminded my of drinking mowed grass. He seemed to like it.
The Red (called "Red"?) - Had once, really liked it, but it's been a few years.
Brown Shugga - It's been years since I tried it, but I recall not liking it too much.
IPA - Okay in a pinch, but not a first choice. I'll probably order something else if it looks remotely interesting at this point.
Lil Sumpin / Lil Sumpin Extra - My current favorites for the last few years.
I'd love to know what people recommend for other things like the Red or Lil Sumpin.
Fortunately, sours are finally starting to become more widely available. If you haven't had one yet, I'm a big fan of Rodenbach as a good sour to start with.
This is the way things should be, and the way things used to be. It's about time we return to sanity. I hope more and more things head toward the care of the past.
Some examples which people may disagree with: Odells(rupture is very good IMHO), Founders, Stone, Boulevard, Deschutes(still putting out some good seasonal and one-off), Prairie, ... Actually I could probably go on and then get into singler beers that I like a lot from different breweries. Too much to choose from, and sometimes you don't want to pick out something new when you already have 30 beers available you know you're gonna like.
Wouldn't mind clearing some of the shelf space of generics and getting some New Zealand beers in though.. They are doing some fantastic stuff down there.
The choice out there is amazing; easy to say goodbye to breweries like Lagunitas and Anchor for selling out to overseas companies.
I'm also probably not alone in enjoying the feeling of at least pretending I'm supporting independently owned and operated craft breweries with my purchases :) It's getting harder these days with all the consolidation occuring.
The brewmaster quit when they sold. He moved to a tiny city in western Michigan (Fennville) and started a hard cider company. It's really interesting stuff - kind of like exploring what wine would be like if made with apples. No idea how widely it's distributed (if at all), but worth trying - Virtue Cider.
Cider has definitely been increasing the last few years, but even the funkiest wild-fermented ciders don't come close to what you can find in beer. In my experience!
Wait, I know it was a throwaway comment, but are you saying Windows 10 (or some previous version) is actually better than any other OS?
Also, fwiw, I have tried a lot of craft beers but now find that Coors (the original American "microbrew," since it was only available in a relatively small area when I was young) satisfies my beer thirst. Though I'll admit that I'll happily drink Budweiser, Miller, Shiner (another original "microbrew"), or a number of other ordinary beers. Time-tested and true, all of them, with the bonus that their CEOs don't turn into politicians.
I guess we're probably completely opposite in tastes.
Edit: Have you ever had a Rolling Rock? It's a good beer.
> Wait, I know it was a throwaway comment, but are you saying Windows 10 (or some previous version) is actually better than any other OS?
Ha, yeah it was definitely a bit of a throwaway comment. I meant the opposite of that. I think a more accurate way for me to have said it would've been: "With craft beer, and unlike with OS, the independent options are indisputably better".
I'm not referring to the standard Macro brew styles - Bud, Coors, and even Rolling Rock are all indisputably good at what they do (American Lager, generally. https://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style01.php ). But they aren't trying to be flavourful, adventurous, craft breweries. The independent craft breweries are the ones that have tried new things to see what stuck. They brought us the waves of IPA, and more recently kettle sour and gose. And the craft breweries that have been bought out (eg Goose Island) have generally not been as adventurous or responsive with new styles, and have not even maintained the quality with their existing recipes.
Unlike most of the user base on this site, craft beer is definitely my strong suit, and computer stuff secondary. That said, I think with operating systems, there is a lot of room for dispute (eg, Windows is definitely the best operating system for running AutoCAD or most games, but that doesn't make it the best for every use case). I guess the same could be said for beer. If you're looking for a nice lager, you're probably going to be better off with something reliable from the big breweries, than the ester-y "lager" some brand-new independent brewery is trying to sell you on. Sum it up: yep, a throwaway comment :)
You are also right about West Coast IPA changing after Silva left. They turned it into a DIPA and it wasn't nearly as good. Much sweeter and less balanced.