Where's craft beer movement going?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by admiral1, Mar 29, 2013.

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  1. RockAZ

    RockAZ Pundit (983) Jan 6, 2009 Arizona

    I travel enough to appreciate SNPA at any bar when I am desperately hungry for a restaurant that the people I work with on a project can relate to. SNPA has been a lifeline to me many times when there was nothing else but drowning in BMC. Far Far from my favorite beer, but I have been grateful for it. I always leave a filled out comment card at the corporate chains asking for craft beer, and that is not a snub to SNPA, but I do like my full flavor beers and SNPA is a little bland in comparison. I hope if the corporate chains get enough of these comment cards they will change their taps, even with the despicable pricing/value added games going on from the BMC distributor reps.

    When BA has a listing in the area for a quality place, I do try to steer the crew towards it, and honestly for the first 7 years I was on this forum the only reason I used BA were these reviews of pubs, not the beer reviews. When I was home, I never went to anywhere I thought I could not get a decent beer, and hardly cared what other people I did not know might think of one beer or another. But your thoughts on the atmosphere and beer selections for your local or places you visited were appreciated immensely when I was out of town.

    Thanks to the founders and admins who put together these pub reviews over the years, you have made my night many times over.
     
  2. Premo88

    Premo88 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,486) Jun 6, 2010 Texas
    Pooh-Bah Society

    the craft beer industry is every so slowly taking over Houston ... I've seen Karbach on tap in a handful of places, and I know others are doing very well there.

    TGI Fridays? That's awfully low-hanging fruit, so the fact that they had SNPA is probably a good sign.
     
  3. schnarr84

    schnarr84 Initiate (0) Nov 27, 2011 Canada (AB)

    depends on where you go. was at a bar tonight in calgary that had alexander keiths as one of their 6 "micros". other 5 were all owned by molson or labatt. that being said, if i wanted to i could go to a bar that has mikkeller and lagunitas on tap. wouldnt say craft beer is dying because of bar a.
     
  4. Jake1605

    Jake1605 Initiate (0) Nov 24, 2009 Missouri

    You doesn't understand where his is came from (ass).
     
  5. cavedave

    cavedave Grand Pooh-Bah (4,145) Mar 12, 2009 New York
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Easy pardner, craft lovers are 6% of the population, probably 3%, or less, of the cust. base of that TGIF.

    In UK craft lovers are 20%, at best estimate, of beer drinkers, and that country has a long and vibrant history of drinking fine beer, unlike the U.S..

    We prob. will get near 10% of beer drinkers at some point, so it would be silly to expect offerings to be more than 10% of taps.

    SNPA is a damned good beer. Why complain there wasn't any Ithaca or East End?
     
  6. CwrwAmByth

    CwrwAmByth Initiate (0) Jan 24, 2011 England

    Not that I've ever done any research on it or anything, but I'd say that was a bit high. Craft beer and ale (in the modern sense of the word - i.e. US style experimental breweries) I'd put at like 5-10% absolute max, and real ale probably something like 30-40%. Although quite a few breweries are merging parts from both areas so it's always hard to tell.

    To me it looks like some small breweries are going to grow and grow and dominate the market (the craft beer market that is) even more. I guess it was always inevitable though, capitalism and all that.

    Edit: sorry I thought this was going to be an actual discussion.

    Blargh TGIs and over expectant customers *shakes fist*
     
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  7. dennis3951

    dennis3951 Initiate (0) Mar 6, 2008 New Jersey

    SNPA & 2 Sam Adams = a good tap list at TGIF and the like.
     
    TongoRad likes this.
  8. TongoRad

    TongoRad Grand Pooh-Bah (3,848) Jun 3, 2004 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    And that's the answer to the question- where is the craft beer movement going? It's making inroads into places where you would never have expected it to go 10-15 years ago. This is a good thing.
     
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  9. Lutter

    Lutter Initiate (0) Jun 30, 2010 Texas
    Deactivated

    The Friday's in Austin have those same choices...

    Doesn't mean we don't have 5+ bars with 60+ taps each (one with over 100) as well. They don't seem to be going out of business either.

    Personally, every time I go to a Friday's, disappointment is the only sure thing on the menu.
     
  10. jesskidden

    jesskidden Grand Pooh-Bah (3,071) Aug 10, 2005 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    6% total market share for craft beer does not nessesarily equal 6% of the population (or even 6% of beer drinkers), for a variety of reasons. For one "A majority of American beer drinkers now drinks craft beer at least occasionally" according to internal Boston Beer Co. market research, parts of which are explained in this free article on Beer Business Daily from last year - The Numbers Behind Majority Craft Consumption

    So, there are a LOT of "switch-hitters" - beer drinkers who might primarily drink adjunct lagers or mass market imports yet still have the occasional craft beer - "splurging" on a Sam Adams (if one can call buying anything at TGIF "splurging"). Of course, for such a drinker, SNPA or the SA options are probably "good enough" (esp. in light of the story told about carrying more crafts that "just would not sell"- we've all seen that).

    That reports also notes that even those considered by the report as "real beer geeks" and equal an estimated 7% of beer drinkers still mostly drink craft only 80% of the time - so that probably put most BA's and "BA-types"in an even tinier percentile.
     
  11. Horbar

    Horbar Maven (1,397) Feb 24, 2012 Rhode Island

    It's going in my belly.
     
    sicilian likes this.
  12. Ericness

    Ericness Zealot (622) Nov 21, 2012 Massachusetts

    Beat me to it!

    Sounds like the "kid" aspect is irrelevant to this equation unless they're somehow the ones making the purchasing decisions for the bar. Not the "kid's" fault the bar doesn't have craft as he knew enough to note that the location actually tried to serve craft and had a legit business reason for stopping. He does lose some points for the Guinness in place of an IPA thing, but he was at least recognized you weren't a BMC guy and tried to offer you something different (and thus make a sale/get a tip).

    That list is also WAY better than the last Friday's I went to. Sam, Sam Seasonal, and standard BMC.
     
  13. dmnielsen

    dmnielsen Initiate (0) Jul 1, 2011 Michigan

    I am going out to a bar that says they have 16 beers on tap, with about half being craft. Here is their list -

    Bud
    Bud Light
    Coors Light
    Labatt
    Labatt Light
    Miller Lite
    Blue Moon
    Bass
    Leinenkugel
    Stella Artois
    Guiness
    Sam Adams Seasonal
    Mackinac Pale Ale
    Frankenmuth
    Ghetto Blaster

    I am not surprised or upset at the choices; I will certainly enjoy a Ghetto Blaster. I am upset at the math. 5 is not almost half of 16.
     
  14. RobertColianni

    RobertColianni Pooh-Bah (1,705) Nov 4, 2008 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    What time did you arrive at the pub that was cleaning all of their lines? 9am? Why couldn't you just ask them to load "Beer A" first? It takes about five minutes per keg to flush a line. You should have been drinking within minutes.
     
  15. cavedave

    cavedave Grand Pooh-Bah (4,145) Mar 12, 2009 New York
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Great info. I did mean specifically 6% of the population of beer drinkers, but it is true such a cut and dry figure is hard to pinpoint, as you note lots of switch hitters, and other factors involved.

    That said I would be surprised if total volume of craft as a percentage of beer brewed and purchased in this country ever got much above ten percent. Probably a safe bet TGIF will never have more than one or two taps of better beer in most markets. BA's find it hard to accept, but folks in this country buy AAL's because that is the beer they enjoy to drink.
     
  16. kingofhop

    kingofhop Initiate (0) May 9, 2010 Oklahoma
    In Memoriam

    If they got Sam and SN, I ain't bitchin'.
     
  17. StubFaceJoe

    StubFaceJoe Initiate (0) Nov 24, 2011 Colorado

    You don't bitch much. You probably would have said that about any beer list.
     
  18. kingofhop

    kingofhop Initiate (0) May 9, 2010 Oklahoma
    In Memoriam

    True, stub. I'm happy with any kind of beer. Hell, High Life is better than iced tea.
     
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  19. cde1218

    cde1218 Initiate (0) Sep 13, 2012 Rhode Island

    I was reasonably surprised at the craft selection at the UNO's I have been to in NJ. Not all that horrible and significantly better than this list at Friday's. With that said, every once in a while a good old Sam Adams isn't that bad..... There's a place local to me that always has Cherry Wheat on tap and its damn good.
     
  20. StubFaceJoe

    StubFaceJoe Initiate (0) Nov 24, 2011 Colorado

    Couldn't agree more.
     
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