Come to Intersect! My wife works there a couple nights a week, we are both ISU alums and die-hards.
Craft Beer Sellouts
- Thread starter dmclone
- Start date
I don't think Surly actually created Todd the Axeman. Wasn't it created by some European brewery because of Todd Haug?
I have been on an Anti AB-Inbev crusade for a while. My friends sometimes look at me weird when I pull my phone out to see who owns the new bottle of beer I am looking to try out. While maybe not the best written article paste magazine had a few good points on why we should try to support the craft beer makers instead of the big corporations.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/05/the-straw-man-arguments-of-craft-beer-sell-outs.html
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/05/the-straw-man-arguments-of-craft-beer-sell-outs.html
Most successful breweries all hit a point where they either need to sell, make due with capped capacity, or risk millions on a brewery expansion project. It's hard to turn down the money...
This is how I go about my decision process. Unless it's something like Bourbon County I will skip over any AB InBev offering in lieu of something not owned by them every time.. Especially when it comes to core beers, you can find something to drink that is identical or better for nearly every single AB InBev owned craft. Unfortunately it's the price point where AB InBev wins out with a lot of consumers, even craft consumers. You can easily tell the AB InBev brands because they are $3-$4 cheaper per six pack than many others. I've seen 4 pack tallboys of Goose 312 for $4.99. It's that kind of undermining and the fact they are gobbling up shelf space that's going to set the craft industry back.
I don't either, and I'm sure I'd be very willing to sell my (fictional) brewery for millions of dollars.
But I'll be damned if it doesn't take the wind out of my sails for certain breweries. It's a double edged sword as it usually does increase distro, but never increases beer quality.
The thing about craft beers now a days is that everyone wants to have a foot in the door. Hence MillerCoor/Heineken/Anheuser-Busch buying large portions of these successful craft breweries and then distributing their beers national. The true-to-the-craft-brew-name breweries are the ones who only sell within their state or distribute to only immediately surrounding states. If you want a true feel of craft breweries go to NorthEast Minneapolis/St. Paul or River North area in Denver, IMO. Obviously there are other great craft breweries around the country and other cities, but it seems like those are the most densely populated with local craft breweries.
Yeah, I moved up here last year and my girlfriend and I try to hit a new brewery every weekend. Its amazing that they just keep popping up and it only makes the craft beer market more popular. It is a really cool trend to this city that I hope doesn't go away any time soon, and I don't think it will.
It is pretty amazing though, SURLY, probably the most main-stream of the Twin Cities craft breweries (other than summit) is going through all sorts of changes because of turmoil within their company. Apparently the whole thing started because the owner wanted to continue to expand nationally and start making a more selective beer list, where as the head brewers were not having it and wanted to keep experimenting. Long story short most of their head brewers left, then their chef just left, and now they are reducing their tap room to solely that, with no food. Where as every other small named brewery around them is thriving. Very interesting to see.
- Mar 27, 2006
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Have you hit Dangerous Man, yet? I love that one. Just a really cool place.
Their chef leaving was more to do with the decline in demand for fine dining, not the beer.
http://www.startribune.com/surly-to-close-brewer-s-table-adding-to-fine-dining-casualties/425387733/
Yeah it is awesome. There are two new ones opening up this summer within a few minute walk of where I live. Honestly, well I like Surlys beer, I haven't been to the brewery in awhile. Always overcrowded and not near as cool of an atmosphere as some of the other breweries around here. Will be interesting to see how they do. If you like craft beer I would recommend the Beer Dabbler. There is a summer and winter one. It's a great time.
Yup, been there only once solely because it is always so packed with people in that small location. That is one of my gf's favorites because of their peanut butter chocolate beer in the winter
My favorite brewery! Fantastic beer and an awesome atmosphere.
- Mar 27, 2006
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Yeah, it's a great place. A couple year ago, some friends and I did a walking tour of some of the breweries up in that neighborhood. Dangerous Man, Fulton, Indeed, etc. We probably spent the most time at Dangerous Man, just because it was such a cool atmosphere. The long tables really lend to talking to other patrons, and you end up getting to know a lot of people. Minneapolis is a great town for craft beer fans.
I read that article. And idk. Every time I walked into Surly whether it is a weekend afternoon or week night, whatever, their tables were packed with like a 30 minute waiting list.
That could have had something to do with it, but I think the crappy relationships going on up at the top (which started when they got huge in MN and started expanding, eventually pushing Todd the Axeman out because of said relationships) and they have had continual stories/problems coming out since then with more brewers leaving and things like that. Don't get me wrong, Surly isn't going anywhere and they'll be just fine overall, but there has been lots of problems recently. It is a great move for their beer, i think, but it still isn't a great look.
Yeah that's whole area is awesome. Bauhaus is another good one. Especially in the summer.
Yup. Same! It's literally across the street from me. I can take a skyway over to that building so I won't even have to go outside. I will probably spend way too much time there
That could be deadly. But I am very, very jealous. I'm about 2 miles from there so I will be visiting regularly as well.
