Dogfish Head Reduces Distribution

[Pennsyltucky]

http://beernews.org/2011/03/dogfish-head-pulls-out-of-four-states-uk-and-canada/

Interesting business move... Tennessee, Indiana, Wisconsin and Rhode Island as well as Canada and The UK will no longer be getting DFH...

They say demand is too high and supply is too low. I see rising prices in the future... time to brew some clones.

 

[Randar]

WTF? During that Brewmasters show they were just doing a huge expansion.

 

[dataz722]

Oh well, they will have to drastically cut the distribution for me to not be able to find them.

 

[jakead]

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/dishing/2011/03/dogfish_head_pu.html?rss_id=Top+Stories

This sucks big time for me in TN. Not sure whether to run out and pick up some Burton Baton and others or not buy any out of protest to them for pulling out. Distributor is already out 60 min.

 

[robbiex0r]

I'm raiding the liquor store tonight, hopefully I'm not too late.

 

[nepatsfan1]

I won't miss DFH at all. I cannot say I like any of the beers I have tried at all. All the IPA;s taste like grapefruit juice and Sam can keep all his weird screwed up beers.....

 

[Smooshed_Snoot_Brew]

Good that he's staying true to craft and not to cash.

 

[JoeBronco]

Good that he's staying true to craft and not to cash.

 

[smears]

I won't miss DFH at all. I cannot say I like any of the beers I have tried at all. All the IPA;s taste like grapefruit juice and Sam can keep all his weird screwed up beers.....

Did you have the midas touch?

 

[Runyanka]

More for Texas!

 

[birvine]

Start homebrewing.

B

 

[fivehoursfree]

Love me some Indian Brown, but they have priced themselves out of my range. I haven't been wowed by anything other than the brown.

 

[mhenry41h]

I won't miss DFH at all. I cannot say I like any of the beers I have tried at all. All the IPA;s taste like grapefruit juice and Sam can keep all his weird screwed up beers.....

Wow. DFH makes some of the greatest beers I've ever had. I never expected to read that post...ever...

Coming soon...to a fridge near you.

 

[fivehoursfree]

I think they have succeeded on gimmicks and hype more than beer quality. I think there is a reason no one besides them makes beer similar to theirs. I'm trying not to be a hater, but I truly believe if you were to take their beer and put someone else's label on it, it would not be as popular as it is.

Also some of their "beers" really push the line of being beer. Some of their stuff is closer to being wine cooler than beer. Not that it's bad, it just is what it is. And granted I haven't tried all of them, but like I said, they are priced such that I'm not going to risk $12 on one bottle of "beer" that I may or may not like, when I can spend $8 on a six pack of beer that I may or may not like.

 

[azingsheim]

bummer........not coooooooool

 

[jakead]

Not so worried about the 60 min but I'm going to need some Punkin Ale.

 

[peachwein]

The one time it pays to live in NY...

 

[kanderna]

Yeah, sucks. They pulled out of Iowa a while back.

 

[Slowfro]

First an NFL lockout and now this...bad news for Wisconsin!

 

[rico567]

Could be a lot of reasons for this. I like DFH....but there are an awful lot of good craft beers around these days. We had Bell's go away here in IL because of a dust-up with the Illinois distributors (I don't wanna get started on IL beer distributors......think about the reputation of Chicago politics, and the two previous governors.....now apply it to beer), and now they're back again, after coming to some acceptable distribution arrangement.

We were touring the Newport Storm brewery in Newport, RI, and one of the owners explained (when somebody asked about getting their beer elsewhere) that their philosophy was to fill 100% of the orders in their existing customer base (at that time in RI, and I think maybe some of CT) before taking any orders from further out. At the time we visited, that meant nothing off their existing distribution list. They may have since expanded, I think so, but I believe that their approach was not only good business, but it rewarded good customers. I agree with it.

 

[beach31684]

WOW. thats way too bad for DFH. I can credit them for helping me realize that I am a hophead. So while I thank them for that, I am now boycotting them. (I guess I dont really have a choice since I live in IN) but either way I have broadened by taste buds and have started to love many Bells and Stone beers. I am currently enjoying a Stones Brewery IPA Ruination and I love it. See ya DFH!

 

[Hoppin_Mad]

More for Texas!

High Five! :rockin:

 

[misterVT]

Here's Sam's explanation...

http://www.dogfish.com/community/blogfish/members/sam/thanks-for-understanding.htm

 

[biochemedic]

As much as I love DFH brews, I do feel their downside is that they have always had supply problems. It's pretty hard sometimes to find the seasonals and special brews with any consistency (even in states where they presumably distribute, such as NC)...although I suppose it's good for them in a way...I know whenever I come across something of theirs that's uncommon, I snap it up right away (such as the recent Old School and Burton Baton that I was lucky enough to stumble across.)

 

[Dogphish]

sorry to everyone that loses out on this decision, but this is a simple supply and demand problem, dictated by the laws of physics, not Sam the owner. he's dealing with the problem the best way he can.

Dogfish Head is in the process of building a second factory to solve this problem, am i wrong? have patience people.

 

[Grinder12000]

That really sucks - Indian Brown is one of my favs! First Arrogant Bastard and Stone Brewery and now Dogfish Head out of Wisconsin - thank god we have Ale Asylum!

 

[Thakog]

DFH makes some great beers, but they are getting a little over hyped imo. Same thing with Russian River. At this point, Sam could bottle horse piss, talk about it on the discovery channel for 15 minutes, and still sell it like hot cakes.

 

[rico567]

DFH makes some great beers, but they are getting a little over hyped imo. Same thing with Russian River. At this point, Sam could bottle horse piss, talk about it on the discovery channel for 15 minutes, and still sell it like hot cakes.

DFH is only a symptom of the phase that the craft industry is going through- hop bombs, imperial everythings, the search for he 100 proof beer, etc. It will run its course, and then there'll be change. My guess? A brewery will have three or four beers they're very good at, which they will serve 365 days, with maybe a different wild card from time to time, and the rest will be other brands. Not much room for more than one or two companies that do the type of thing DFH does. I applaud their creativity and innovation, but it's not a recipe for broad market appeal (or success). As long as people are willing to shell out $10-12 a bottle for the over-the-top brews, it'll work. So far, so good.....

 

[Thakog]

DFH is only a symptom of the phase that the craft industry is going through- hop bombs, imperial everythings, the search for he 100 proof beer, etc. It will run its course, and then there'll be change. My guess? A brewery will have three or four beers they're very good at, which they will serve 365 days, with maybe a different wild card from time to time, and the rest will be other brands. Not much room for more than one or two companies that do the type of thing DFH does. I applaud their creativity and innovation, but it's not a recipe for broad market appeal (or success). As long as people are willing to shell out $10-12 a bottle for the over-the-top brews, it'll work. So far, so good.....

I agree with you to a point- I think there will always be a market for hop-bombs and imperials though. It also depends on the beer culture of the area too- in Portland, I can easily see a regular 6 beer, two seasonal, 4-8 others tap list. I doubt it will ever get to the point over here where most breweries just have 4 standards. Now, if I'm in Vegas, I expect that sort of thing.

 

[steinsato]

I live in New Mexico and we've never had DFH anyway, so this doesn't really affect me. I do look for DFH whenever I make a trip to Colorado though. I applaud Sam in what he is doing by choosing quality over quantity. Isn't that what craft brewing is all about?