meddin

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Me either...

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meddin

Primary 1 - Engish Mild Ale
Primary 2 - Three Dog Pilsner
Secondary - Empty
Keg 1 - English ESB
Keg 2 - Scottish 70-/
Keg 3 - Commercial EPA

mullenite

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Because a brewery is not a clothing line, there are many other considerations besides distribution that differentiate the two.

You could, it would be similar to the same process as starting a restaurant as a home based business. You would have to apply for zoning changes, provide adequate facilities and pass the various inspections. It has been done before; albeit primarily in states that allow self distribution.

Essentially this is what you do, distribution contracts are not all or nothing. The local brewery here in town for example started at one account, then two, then three and so on. Now they can be found in pretty much all of the decent, and half way decent, bars in town. When they are not sold out of their products.

Let me set up an example here. Let's say I wanted to start a microbrewery (not a nanobrewery... a microbrewery.) I go out and a find the space, a nice commercial/industrial warehouse space. I buy a 15bbl brew house, 4 15bbl fermenters and bright tanks and start building. Eventually I am ready for market and hire a small staff, maybe one or two other people. We keg 10bbl of each batch and bottle the remaining 5.

Now, lets say I am in a state that allows self distribution. I have two options. I can buy a LARGE refrigerated truck and have one of my employees a dedicated sales/delivery person (this means going to each account once or twice a week for orders and once or twice a week for deliveries.) Alternatively I can work with a local distributor, preferably one who has a good reputation for craft beer and they can do that leg work for me. I can then have dedicated help in the brewery for things like cleaning, tours, sampling, etc.

But for the sake of this example lets say I go the self distribution route. A year passes and there is demand for my beer in other markets, including markets several hours away and in other states. Now my options become expanding my self-distribution network two interstate commerce (which requires a much different set of legalities when compared to intrastate) or going with another distributor. I choose to go with another distributor at this point.

I am now a part of the three tier system, and chances are my distributor will be tied with either ABI or MillerCoors. The three tier system, and in a way, BMC, have now expanded the beer selection for people in another market.
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Without the local ABI distributor I would not be able to get Victory or Southern Tier, without the MillerCoors distributor I would not be able to get Avery, Dogfish Head, Lagunitas, etc. The three tier system has made beer in North Florida tolerable and has given, at least this city, enough knowledge to support a brewery.

Do I think breweries should have a choice? Absolutely. However, when comments like this come up:

An accurate representation of the facts should be given. The three tier system helps brewers, large and small, get in to markets they would not otherwise feasibly get in to, and as a direct result, grow.


BTW, ABI and MillerCoors each belong to two brewing lobby groups. One of which is the Brewers Association. In fact, they pay BA dues for EACH of their breweries and for the Craft Brewers Alliance (Widmer, Redhook, Kona, Goose Island) locations seperately. So just as strong as the "big brewer" lobby is in one direction, they support the people who lobby in the other direction as well.



Crack open a Bourbon County Stout and toast it to the company that made it possible for you to drink it outside of Chicago... AB-InBev.

uechikid

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I just watch this movie. I felt it was very informative. The only thing I didn't like was the three tier distribution law in this country. As far as some of the practices that determine how much space an item gets and where it is on the shelf...money talks. And that goes for all categories, not just beer. I just retired from the grocery business after 35 years. 30 years on night crew. So many time I would see a reset and just shake my head wondering how a small company could pay prime shelf space. That's right pay for... You want the best placement in a section, you pay for it. Every quarter. Pure profit for the retailers.
Like I said, Over all I liked the movie.

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"Carpe Diem"

Bru

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This may be a bit off topic slightly - I havn't seen Beer Wars yet but SAB has long been critisised for being anti-competitive and monopolistic, hence the total lack of beer culture in SA. They're currently involved in a spat with our Competitions Tribunal for anticompetitive behaviour.

hal2814

Recipes 

Yeah, and if you live in a state without self distribution, you have one option. And suppose you do all that setup work and the distributor won't give you the time of day because they're busy catering to the companies that comprise the large bulk of their sales? Or worse yet, suppose they take you on for distribution and then twist the arms of bars and restaurants to get them to buy products from their larger breweries instead? (I've seen the that happen at a restaurant I used to work at back when Marthasville's brewery first opened up in Atlanta.) So then you have all this product you're pushing out to a distributor who's doing their best to help out other breweries instead (and kneecapping you in the process). I don't mind a 3-tier setup as long as it's not legally mandated. Sometimes if you want a product to get out there, you have to get it out there yourself. And that's really tough to do when the getting-it-out-there-yourself part is illegal.

jacksonbrown

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I don't know where you're getting your definition of documentary from, but they don't have to be fair and balanced. So long as they're presenting facts they're doing their job. Many documentaries are very one-sided and are out there to make a point. Nothing more.

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Barefoot Brewery

Primary: German Alt
Bottled: Kolch, German Hefeweizen
On tap: 60/- Light Scottish Ale

RenoDean

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The moonshot lady brought the movie down. Horrible idea for a beer. Why did she leave Sam Adams? There has to be more to that sotry, you just don't leave a company like that after 15 years to sell a gimmicky product.

jjones17

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Well said! People want the best of all worlds, unless what they are getting was their own idea. People are dumb, by nature, and I am not saying I am exempt from that. Anyway, kudos. Go documentaries!

mullenite

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So you find a different distributor, even here in this small town we have 5 distributors who work in the area, all of them carry craft brands and two of them ONLY carry craft brands. If you make a good product and work to get your name out there you can be successful.

Cigar City in Tampa is a good example, they have been open for just about a year and have had to add a 30bbl fermenter and will be adding more shortly. They started off with 3 employees and a 15bbl system. They got there name out there by making an excellent product and the three tier system helped them get their beers in to the Orlando, Gainesville and Jacksonville markets which increased their sales and allowed further expansion.

Swamp Head here in Gainseville has only been open since November of 09 and are already getting close to maxing out their 10bbl system. They recently expanded in to the rest of North and Central Florida by way of the three-tier system. They can now send beers 150 (or more) miles away and still only have two full time employees, the owner and the brewer.

The system has allowed these two breweries to grow at a rate that self-distribution would not allow them.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for breweries being allowed to self-distribute. I do however feel that it is necessary to have, and use, dedicated distributors. Wouldn't you rather breweries focus on the beer and not on delivering it?

jjones17

Recipes 

Yeah, pretty sure people just make up what they think it means to suit their own opinions. I looked it up...

Documentary:
1. Consisting of, concerning, or based on documents.
2. Presenting facts objectively without editorializing or inserting fictional matter, as in a book or film.

Ok soooooo... 1 does not apply here, but 2? Check. No fictional matter there at all, unless expressly stated. So I am pretty sure we can all agree this was a documentary?