Ballast Point now in the bag...

[Jwin]

This is the new American Dream. Start small comapany, grow small company into larger company, sell successful large company to corporation for 2-4x it's value. Buy awesome car.
Props to BP, hoping I see sculpin in TN soon.

 

[Talgrath]

So...craft beer bubble? Craft beer bubble. So when does it burst? Any bets?

 

[flars]

Together??

 

[Homercidal]

I don't think now is the time to complain about how little selection there is in the craft beer market.

Those folks who care about WHO they buy their beer from, as much as WHAT they buy, can still find quality craft beer if they refuse to do business with a Big Brewer.

It's not as though there isn't a TON of other craft brewer out there.

And, lest we all forget; we're HOMEBREWERS!

 

[Konadog]

So...craft beer bubble? Craft beer bubble. So when does it burst? Any bets?

About the same time everyone stops drinking beer!

I don't see this ever happening. Things may slow down, but go back to BMC........ never.

 

[MaddBaggins]

Personally I don't think ANY of their beers are outstanding and outside of their "fruit juice" IPAs I rarely see their beers at bottle shops or bars.

Interesting, I think they're one of the tops out of San Diego (that I can get locally). I like them far better than Stone any day. I've had at least a dozen different beers from them and only one I thought was meh. That was Even Keel session IPA, but I'm sort of biased against session IPA's. I really don't like any of them.
Among some of my favorite beers:

Victory at Sea
Sea Monster
Dead Ringer
Grunion
Dorado
Big Eye
Indra Kunindra
and yes, Sculpin which IMO is their only really fruity IPA.

 

[MaddBaggins]

Ballast Point doesn't distribute here. Turns out they do have a huge lineup. That no-one says anything about.

All anyone talks about is the degrees of Sculpin.

Sculpin is good, but there is so much more and better from them.

This deal may actually bring some of their spirits into Tucson. I hear good things about them. We get a lot of their beer here and I really dig their stuff.

 

[MaddBaggins]

I'm not sure what kind of pricing is elsewhere in the country, but the only BP beer I find high priced is Sculpin. Everything else I've seen and purchased has been right in line with pretty much any other good brewery.

 

[GarageDweller]

will never understand why so many people get emotionally involved in some company's internal business practices. drink your beer and STFU!

 

[zman]

will never understand why so many people get emotionally involved in some company's internal business practices. drink your beer and STFU!

Probably the same reason they do with sports, politics, and religion

 

[KeninMN]

We get Ballast Point here in the Land of Ice and Snow, and pay between $9 - $13 plus tax for a six pack, depending on the variety. Grapefruit Sculpin is my favorite, and Northern Brewer's clone kit (Grapefruit Pulpin') is dead on. It's still cheaper than 3Floyds, for which I usually pay $18 for a six pack in Chicago or Indiana whenever I travel there...

 

[aprichman]

Ballast Point sells for $10-15/6-pack in Oregon

 

[JKoravos]

I'm not sure what kind of pricing is elsewhere in the country, but the only BP beer I find high priced is Sculpin. Everything else I've seen and purchased has been right in line with pretty much any other good brewery.

My local sells 4-5 types of BP; Sculpin, GF Sculpin, Even Keel, Grunion, and one other. All $14.69/6. This is one of the lower priced shops in my area, I'm guessing it's priced higher at the higher traffic bottle shops.

I don't think anything else is more than $12.99/6, outside of some high gravity stuff, IIIPAs, RISs, etc.

 

[Phunhog]

I don't think now is the time to complain about how little selection there is in the craft beer market.

Those folks who care about WHO they buy their beer from, as much as WHAT they buy, can still find quality craft beer if they refuse to do business with a Big Brewer.

It's not as though there isn't a TON of other craft brewer out there.

And, lest we all forget; we're HOMEBREWERS!

I agree that there is a ton of craft brew out there but maybe not in a good way. Here is what I mean. When I go to my local grocery store they have a half an aisle devoted to nothing but beer. Of that it is probably split 50/50 craft/macro. The 50% craft beer part is probably 85% dominated by Stone, Firestone Walker, New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, Lagunitas, Deschutes and Ballast Point beers. The rest of the craft beer is rounded out by the odd imported six pack and a few bombers from the local brewery. Now I can only imagine that same scenario is playing out across the nation. There is a reason why so many breweries are starting satellite breweries on the east coast. More distribution!!

 

[passedpawn]

This is the new American Dream. Start small comapany, grow small company into larger company, sell successful large company to corporation for 2-4x it's value. Buy awesome car.
Props to BP, hoping I see sculpin in TN soon.

Haha, my thoughts too. I feel really good for the people who become zillionaires. $1B, that's a big number.

I don't know why, but I don't care a bit when Goose Island or Ballast Point or whatever gets bought. Not 1 little care. When Russian River and Cigar City get bought by Red Stripe, don't care at all. The beers are always still there after the acq. And if they are not, meh, I've got 4 taps here always flowing.

I was unmoved by Beer Wars. Completely.

The only one that kinda bugged me was when Bud was acquired by foreign company. Bud was Americana.

 

[slym2none]

Interesting - the grocery stores in my area have one side of an entire aisle for beer. 50/50 between BMC and craft. The craft sections have Stone, Lagunitas, Great Lakes, Shiner, Bell's, New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, Brooklyn Brewery, SamAd, Guinness/Harps, Goose Island, some locals like Red Oak & Carolina Brewing Company... and that's what I can remember, plenty I have forgotten. If any one brand dominates, it's New Belgium and/or SamAd, but I wouldn't call it "dominating".

 

[Paps]

Wild Irish Rose.

:barfs:

You just brought back memories from high school days.
That garbage was like $1.25 a bottle back then
(yes, i'm old)

 

[beergolf]

Haha, my thoughts too. I feel really good for the people who become zillionaires. $1B, that's a big number.

I don't know why, but I don't care a bit when Goose Island or Ballast Point or whatever gets bought. Not 1 little care. When Russian River and Cigar City get bought by Red Stripe, don't care at all. The beers are always still there after the acq. And if they are not, meh, I've got 4 taps here always flowing.

I was unmoved by Beer Wars. Completely.

The only one that kinda bugged me was when Bud was acquired by foreign company. Bud was Americana.

This nails it perfectly. Who really cares? If the beer is still goood buy it. If it is not then don't. There are thousands of breweries out there, plus your own home brew.

Actually when Goose Island was bought I was bummed, but it seems like they gave the brewer more freedom to do brews like Sophie and Matilda and not have to pump out the average stuff that makes the bucks. Let the big boys make the average beers. They are good at that. Let the good brewers make good beer.

 

[JKoravos]

Same here. The grocery stores carry a lot of local beers. Sure there's more BBC and SNBC than the little guys, but there are plenty of little guys.

 

[C-Rider]

So no matter how much I liked my job, company if someone offered me 1 billion dollars for it and I got to keep like 1/2 of that I'd sure as hell sell and buy me an island somewhere warm in the Pacific and RETIRE. LOL.

 

[bob1852]

So no matter how much I liked my job, company if someone offered me 1 billion dollars for it and I got to keep like 1/2 of that I'd sure as hell sell and buy me an island somewhere warm in the Pacific and RETIRE. LOL.

Sell out.

 

[C-Rider]

Sell out.

I'm already RETIRED for 11 years and man let me tell you IT'S A GREAT LIFE. No more work. I bowl 3 days a week, hike 2 days a week and on the other two I brew and or bottle home brew.

Oh yea I"m on a Pacific island, but it's to expensive to buy all of it, but I have my two acres.

 

[Pkrd]

Can the OP please edit the thread title, you have spelt bog wrong.

 

[Jwin]

Can the OP please edit the thread title, you have spelt bog wrong.

No its correct
In my shopping bag... once distribution hits TN

 

[biochemedic]

BP is about $18 a sixer here in western PA. Only time I ever get one is if it is something different I haven't tried (like the Habanero Sculpin, which was pretty damn good, that I had recently). There are plenty of just-as-good-if-not-way-better local IPAs out there, so I have seen the same lone 6-pack of regular Sculpin sitting on the shelf at Giant Eagle for weeks or even months at a time.

Still, I'd rather see a brewery opening up a new regional location to boost distribution like Sierra Nevada or New Belgium did...but then again, it's not my brewery. At least they didn't sell to AB-InBev....

What I would like to see is a new major company...let's see, for example, SN buying up a craft brand or two, and expanding that way as well as the way they have expanded geographically!

 

[JKoravos]

What I would like to see is a new major company...let's see, for example, SN buying up a craft brand or two, and expanding that way as well as the way they have expanded geographically!

I would expect that from BBC, if anyone. Private companies (like SNBC) don't have nearly the incentive to make acquisitions. Once you're public and the shareholders start demanding more revenue, more profit, less risk. It then gets difficult to grow organically (higher risk, long gestation period) so acquisitions are made of private companies that have already jumped over the heavy risk areas of establishing a successful brand.

BBC has been very successful, so I don't see any obvious need to start acquisitions, but you can bet if they start faltering on their organic growth the idea will be floated.

 

[DrVertebrae]

....yep, bought up. I only ever managed to get Sculpin once on a road trip.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...-point-brewing-for-dollar1-billion/ar-BBn4lS3

Sculpin is a great one. I've been picking up one of those a week at Albertsons for well over a year now. GREAT IPA!

I wonder if their brewmaster is restricted from brewing by contract of the sale?

 

[Brew_G]

I bought on six pack of Sculpin and was fairly unimpressed, especially for $14.59. It wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't worth the cost. I personally prefer Big Eye, and since it runs about $12.99, I like it even more. Longfin is a favorite of my wife, and while it costs a bit much for a lager, it's a damn good beer. As for Grapefruit Sculpin...not bad. I still find it cost prohibitive for a beer to sit around and drink at home/a buddy's house.

This all said, I try not to buy beer if I can help it. My main issue is finding a beer for my wife, who's mostly a lager drinker. I don't have the temp control setup yet for a lager, so I'm of no use to her in that department!

 

[CA_Mouse]

I think what a lot of people are missing is that Constellation is paying $1B and have valued BP in the high 10% of that price. This is what caused a lot of the buyouts and then bust in the Tech Sector. Eventually there will be a balance or there will be lots of court battles because of monopolizing the industry. When Stone can no longer get shelf space because the big 4 or 5 breweries have consolidated and taken all of the space in the local bottle shop.