article: How the craft-beer movement abandoned Jim Koch

[jamie_savoie]

interessting article (and comments)

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/restaurants/article/2015/01/05/jim-koch-sam-adams-beer/

[robcoombs]

That was an interesting read.

[paulmaybee]

Yes, very interesting indeed. I almost posted this yesterday. 

[jamie_savoie]

2 more
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-these-craft-beer-pioneers-hate-snobs-2015-01-05

https://antiherobrewing.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/sam-adams-and-why-we-need-to-stop-listening-to-hipsters/

[pliny]

https://antiherobrewing.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/sam-adams-and-why-we-need-to-stop-listening-to-hipsters/

All interesting articles. I liked the one above from antihero (minus all the unnecessary cussing). Jim Koch is a hero and he enabled many things in the craft beer movement. The author of the bostonmagazine article is a moron and most definitely paints an all around bad picture of Mr. Koch and his company.
3200 breweries in the U.S. and hundreds more are in planning stages. I think everyone is waiting till the bubble bursts (saturation) or if some kind of correction will happen down south. There may be alot of stainless steel for sale at a good price in the coming years, who knows.

[blisster]

I'm part of the problem (like most of us on here I suspect).

I see most of their offerings as gateway beers for BCM drinkers to "real" craft beers... They are all good, but nothing really stands out for most of their regular (widely available) products.  The Utopias and limited release stuff is a different story of course.

If I'm in a pub, I'll def get a SA over any big brewery offerings but if there is anything from small local micro/nano breweries, I'll go for those first. 

We wouldn't have the craft revolution we are seeing everywhere today without Koch. Sam Adams (specifically Boston Lager) is one of the beers I credit for getting me into craft beers... Sadly, I can't remember the last time I had one. 

[Al-Loves-Wine]

Those dirty hipsters!

[ECH]

I am probably as guilty as anyone else, but when I go to a beer store in the US, I am generally not looking for something I have tried before (unless it is something that is just fantastic that is generally hard to get, Heady Topper, Hill Farmstead, etc), I am generally after stuff I haven't had before.

I too would take SA over pretty much any mainstream beer out there (the fizzy yellow piss types as so eloquently put on the back of a bottle of Stone Arrogant Bastard), but if there was something else on tap, that maybe I haven't had before (which is usually the case), or some other micro brewery from the area, I will probably pick it over SA every time.

The article paints Koch in a bad light, I get where he is coming from, but at the same time, it should make him up his game, to put out a better product that will compete with some of the other micro brews.

Eventually there will be a bubble pop, but I don't see it happening any time soon. True, 3200 micro breweries is alot, but out of those 3200, how many of them are small micro or nano breweries say like Railcar, whom have a very small foot print, beer is in a couple of pubs, or only available directly from the brewery, and only in growlers, ie: no bottling/canning line. My guess is probably half of that 3200 is like that. Then you have the ones that are slightly bigger, (like say Shiretown), beer is available over a wider area, but still only within the state they are in, they do have a bottling/canning line, but even then are only available within their state, or the ones very close by, my guess is with that, likely 1/2 of the remaining 1600, so now we are down to 800. You then step up to say the level of Picaroons/Pumphouse, bottled beer available over a larger area, many states east and west...maybe not quite nation wide, but getting their in due time, take another 3/4 of the remaining 800, now we are left with 200 nationwide micro breweries, the likes of Stone, Sierra Nevada, Lagunitus, Dogfish, etc, etc. ones that have larger or multiple breweries  those make up about 90% of the what is left, which only leaves the brewer like Sam Adams, multiple breweries, definite nationwide coverage, and branching out slowly to international places.

So while 3200 is quite alot, a very good majority of those, are very small production, and either only available locally(Alchemist, Hill Farmstead), or only within their state/region (Russian River, Cigar City, etc, etc).

I think you would have to get a lot more of the local/state/regional micros to a level where their beer is readily available nation wide (on a level with say Sierra Nevada), before you get to the point where the bubble is getting to point of bursting.

[Two Wheeler]

I was once a BMC drinker who would drink the odd picaroons like Dooryard or Blonde. Wasn't a big fan of hoppy beers, or dark beers.

I went on a trip to Boston in 2012, and we toured the Sam Adams brewery. The tour was of their smaller test brewery, and wasn't overly informative but it was a great time especially once we got to the tasting room. On that trip I drank a lot of Boston Lager and some of their other varieties.

A month or so later, I was bored and found a beer documentary on Netflix with Jim Koch and others, and they showed someone homebrewing and the light went off. I did some research and then went up to Noble Grape the next day and bought a festa brew kit, and started branching out to different styles.

Now, I've shed my BMC ways (for the most part... not going to turn down a beer offered to me) and I enjoy pretty much all styles of craft beer. I see Sam Adams as my gateway into craft beer, like most, and have a special place in my heart for SA.

The problem I think, especially in Canada where their distribution isn't as good as the US, is that people like us are always looking for something new and different. We know Sam Adams, and we like it. When presented with something new and shiny on a draft menu, we're going to go for it.

And there certainly are the beer hipsters who won't drink it because it's too macro. I'm interested to see how that crowd reacts to Dogfish who seems to be growing at an enormous rate. Will they become too mainstream too?

[jamie_savoie]

I also think the article is just sensationalism journalism.  I highly doubt that the event took place like the article said.  I mean, who can go to a bar, make a scene, make the bartender cry and then allowed in the backroom to check freshness dates on kegs?  Seriously wtf lol

Mr Koch has done great thing for the craft beer movement and he has my respect for that.  When there was a hop shortage a few years back, he sold hops to his competitors at cost, not many would do that!  I also think most of their beer is just ok (as a beer geek point of view) but I think it's because we're used to more extreme beer and that we don't like to drink the same thing.  Variety is the spice of life   And brand loyalty is a thing of the past.  But at least their beer is constant, un-oxidized and even to the extreme, uninfected; flaws I see more often nowdays.

It's hard to say what the future of craft beer will be but I think we'll see more nano/micro and less of the bigger ones (including SN, Stone, Lagunitas etc).  People like to eat and drink local now.  People know the difference between a loaf of artisan bread (or meat or veggies or anything) vs store bought.  Freshness goes a long way and it's the same thing for beer (especially hoppy beer).  I will take a local and fresh beer over a one year old bottle of SNPA anyday.

[Al-Loves-Wine]

And there certainly are the beer hipsters who won't drink it because it's too macro. I'm interested to see how that crowd reacts to Dogfish who seems to be growing at an enormous rate. Will they become too mainstream too?

I think Sam is too creative to allow the market slip away from him, he stays pretty down to earth and in touch with the consumer base, while still remaining savvy at the business. Jim Koch has a lot of great offerings outside of the usual SA, I can't see him laying back and allowing market share to slip away. He'll find that edge again, if anything that might be a wake up call to him.

[robcoombs]

Like @jamie_savoie said variety is the spice of life. Every time I make a trip to Maine I want to find something I haven't had before. Gone are the days of people drinking the same brand and same beer day after day. Aside from trying to get my hands on some hard to get favorites like Lunch from MBC I only buy beer I haven't had before when I'm in the US. The same goes for here, nothing against SA but I've had it. Numerous times.

[JamesC]

Yep. I like peanut butter sandwiches... I wouldn't want to eat one every day, and I certainly wouldn't order one from a steak house.

[paulmaybee]

Yep. I like peanut butter sandwiches... I wouldn't want to eat one every day, and I certainly wouldn't order one from a steak house.

That's a good way of putting it for sure.  I think it's silly to get pissed off about changing trends, and place the blame on others when our products become less relevant once they become "standards", regardless of their place in history.  Yes, SA is good beer, and yes, Koch is an important part of the Craft movement.  But people's tastes change, and let's face it, he's still selling a shitload of SA.  This is not a hipster problem, I think it's a cop out to blame the hipsters.  It doesn't matter why people want something, the fact is that people, and not just "the hipsters", want variety.  I'm not saying the customer is always right, because sometimes they're an asshole too.  But this is not one customer, but consumers as a whole displaying a trend, and those who don't respond to those trends will get left behind in the "been there, done that" pile.  I like SA, and will order it if there are no local craft beers to try, but I want variety, I want local and I want to try something new, to be surprised from time to time.  You can't be in two wedding parties at the same time.  Or can you?

[JamesC]

All that being said, SA is way more than Boston Lager. They make a bunch of different beers, and some of them are very good. Merry Maker was my favorite Christmas ale this year, and I had a few. Their barrel room selection is also quite good.