Green Flash pulls out of 33 states

[FoudreGuy]

Off-topic but what is there in Lincoln? I'm heading there for a few days sometime this year and have no clue what to expect.

In addition to White Elm, Boiler Brewing is making some great beers. They're right downtown. Zipline and Blue Blood aren't far away and worth checking out.

 

[beerindex]

I think the number (33 states) might seem striking at first but the pullback only accounts for 18% of their wholesaler shipments, so it's actually not that much of a hit. Reducing workforce by 15% and then focusing on more relevant markets definitely seems like the right thing to do.

I think the interesting piece here is who else will be following suit? I think we'll be seeing a lot of the national/almost national brands needing to do something like this at some point in the future given the local and hyper-local shift in brand presence. I read some interesting stats the other day that taprooms and brewpubs now account for 9% of all bar traffic in the US (!!!). This number goes up to 20-35% in some regions, including usual suspects like San Diego and Denver. Interesting to think about the fundamental changes happening in consumption patterns across the industry.

The only widely distroed brands that regularly send stuff I want to buy to GR that I would be upset to see pull out of our market would be the Bruery and Dogfish Head. I'd add Cascade to the list, but I get the distinct impression that they sent a huge shipment of standard stuff a while back and washed their hands of MI, since I never see any of their relatively newer creations that I'd happily spend the money to try, and that other markets seem to get. But when I think about other big brands (Sierra Nevada, Rogue, New Belgium, Anchor, Stone, Ballast Point), and I can honestly say that their disappearance would minimally impact my purchasing habits and satisfaction.

I happen to buy a fair amount of local craft because that takes up so much shelf space and is most conducive to my inclination to tick, but I'd be perfectly happy to spend 100% of my beer budget on non-local beer assuming favorable distribution conditions. The problem is that non-local breweries tend to ship too sporadically, they often send stuff that is already old (Alesmith introduced themselves to MI last month with a pale ale that was close to 3 months old at launch if memory serves), and there is often a premium that is hard to justify compared to the local stuff (Almanac being especially brutal). And so between those negatives and the internal distribution of Michigan breweries (Transient and Ellison especially) improving a great deal, I feel like I'm being forced into buying local without being terribly enthusiastic about it, since my favorite breweries aren't local.

 

[Kasher]

Bruery and Dogfish Head. I'd add Cascade

Keep being you

 

[PurityControl88]

They still make it, just renamed it and moved it to 750ml bottles.

Word? What do they call it now? I've been meaning to try that beer again.

As for Lincoln, White Elm and Boiler are doing good work. Boiler is cool because it usually has some solid IPAs and then a few barrel projects to try. As well, they get food delivered from a great steak place next door. Either way hit up both.

I haven't been to the Zipline Lincoln but the Omaha location is a solid stop. If you like coffee there's a great coffee shop that's got great coffee and breakfast called Cultiva. Definitely recommend that. Let me know if you'd like more info!

 

[FoudreGuy]

Blue Blood’s beer is fine, but they store their barrels in Robbers Cave which is cool. My father in law met my wife’s mom there at a kegger when they were students at UNL.

 

[JonathanAmes]

The only widely distroed brands that regularly send stuff I want to buy to GR that I would be upset to see pull out of our market would be the Bruery and Dogfish Head. I'd add Cascade to the list, but I get the distinct impression that they sent a huge shipment of standard stuff a while back and washed their hands of MI, since I never see any of their relatively newer creations that I'd happily spend the money to try, and that other markets seem to get. But when I think about other big brands (Sierra Nevada, Rogue, New Belgium, Anchor, Stone, Ballast Point), and I can honestly say that their disappearance would minimally impact my purchasing habits and satisfaction.

I happen to buy a fair amount of local craft because that takes up so much shelf space and is most conducive to my inclination to tick, but I'd be perfectly happy to spend 100% of my beer budget on non-local beer assuming favorable distribution conditions. The problem is that non-local breweries tend to ship too sporadically, they often send stuff that is already old (Alesmith introduced themselves to MI last month with a pale ale that was close to 3 months old at launch if memory serves), and there is often a premium that is hard to justify compared to the local stuff (Almanac being especially brutal). And so between those negatives and the internal distribution of Michigan breweries (Transient and Ellison especially) improving a great deal, I feel like I'm being forced into buying local without being terribly enthusiastic about it, since my favorite breweries aren't local.

Out of all the breweries mentioned in your first paragraph I’d miss Sierra Nevada the most.

 

[JCastle1]

Word? What do they call it now? I've been meaning to try that beer again.

As for Lincoln, White Elm and Boiler are doing good work. Boiler is cool because it usually has some solid IPAs and then a few barrel projects to try. As well, they get food delivered from a great steak place next door. Either way hit up both.

I haven't been to the Zipline Lincoln but the Omaha location is a solid stop. If you like coffee there's a great coffee shop that's got great coffee and breakfast called Cultiva. Definitely recommend that. Let me know if you'd like more info!

Rayon Vert is now Baroque Belgique. Never had it so can't say if it's still good but supposedly the recipe is the same.

Thanks for the Lincoln suggestions, only gonna be a couple days (busy for one of those days) so that should keep me plenty busy!

 

[matedog]

Some time around when stopped making their best beer, rayon vert.

Beat me to the rayon vert praising.

 

[tosh1]

I should open my last bottle of Rayon Vert at some point I guess.

 

[sacrelicio]

Before the sale, I thought that Nelson was one of the best beers I've ever had, and with Green Flash, it was still really awesome. I thought the other beers went from pretty great to not that great, or even bad, sometimes. I'm not sure if it was the distributor's fault, but I've had to choke down a particularly gross Duet or Hoppy Birthday before, and that should have never happened.

I loved OG Duet, more than Nelson (JulianB) but the GF version sucked. Same with Hoppy Birthday. Nelson stayed awesome somehow.

 

[JulianB1]

I loved OG Duet, more than Nelson (JulianB) but the GF version sucked. Same with Hoppy Birthday. Nelson stayed awesome somehow.

OG Duet was one of my top 5 IPAs of all time.

The GF version I thought was good as a "grocery store IPA", but obviously was a shell of its former self.

 

[ASUBeer]

I should open my last bottle of Rayon Vert at some point I guess.

I’d imagine you could fill up the TB Stein with all of the foam that one will poor.

I do love that beer.

 

[ASUBeer]

OG Duet was one of my top 5 IPAs of all time.

The GF version I thought was good as a "grocery store IPA", but obviously was a shell of its former self.

OG Duet had such a crazy floral hop thing going on. I’ve never had another IPA even close to being similar.

 

[Beerontwowheels]

I’d imagine you could fill up the TB Stein with all of the foam that one will poor.

I do love that beer.

pour*

 

[tikk]

Seems like with this and smuttynose news we may need to start a breweries in trouble thread.

 

[JCastle1]

Seems like with this and smuttynose news we may need to start a breweries in trouble thread.

Don't forget Saranac It's gonna become way more common, there's way too many local breweries that the big regional ones are no longer interesting to most people.

 

[Shakedwnst]

What happened to Saranac? They might have been the first real craft beer I started drinking in college (not like I’ve had it since though)

 

[keef1]

Don't forget Saranac It's gonna become way more common, there's way too many local breweries that the big regional ones are no longer interesting to most people.

What happened to Saranac? They might have been the first real craft beer I started drinking in college (not like I’ve had it since though)

Saranac has a huge local following. Much of their business is in contract brewing as well. I don't see them ever going the route of smuttynose. They stay the course and make safe and smart decisions.

 

[JCastle1]

Saranac has a huge local following. Much of their business is in contract brewing as well. I don't see them ever going the route of smuttynose. They stay the course and make safe and smart decisions.

My bad, I meant Saratoga which just shut down earlier this week.

 

[reverseapachemaster1]

Surprised they're not pulling out of Texas....

... I almost never see them on tap in the big 4 cities (SA, ATX, HOU, DFW).

We get it a fair amount in DFW but not like we used to. It lost a lot of handles to local IPAs but it's still all over grocery stores. I don't think they have much if any of a marketing presence here, which doesn't help. Their beers are still significantly better than most of the local options.

On the broader topic:

I don't think this move by GF to pull back is necessarily a sign that they are struggling but instead that they recognize they are spread too thin to be competitive everywhere they currently compete.

 

[keef1]

My bad, I meant Saratoga which just shut down earlier this week.

Ahhh, gotcha. It sounds like Saratoga's production and business was fine, it was the owner's financial/fraud issues in India that lead to its closure.

 

[Lutter]

My bad, I meant Saratoga which just shut down earlier this week.

That story is ******* wild.

 

[SeaWatchman]

Welp...

https://thefullpint.com/beer-news/green-flash-brewing-puts-virginia-brewery-up-for-auction/

 

[tikk]

Welp...

https://thefullpint.com/beer-news/green-flash-brewing-puts-virginia-brewery-up-for-auction/

I have seen the same Alpine bottles sitting on the shelves at my local shop since they first hit distro here. Haven't even seen a GF bottle in a year or so. I saw this coming from a long way away.

 

[dbannister]

OG Duet was one of my top 5 IPAs of all time.

The GF version I thought was good as a "grocery store IPA", but obviously was a shell of its former self.

I went to Alpine for the first time about 6 months ago and the difference between their Duet and the store Duet was very noticeable. I'd definitely recommend people to make the trek up the mountain because Alpine still had some of the best IPAs I've had.

 

[libbey]

Welp...

https://thefullpint.com/beer-news/green-flash-brewing-puts-virginia-brewery-up-for-auction/

https://thefullpint.com/beer-news/g...reclosed-sells-green-flash-and-alpine-assets/

 

[JulianB1]

https://thefullpint.com/beer-news/g...reclosed-sells-green-flash-and-alpine-assets/

After a general slowdown in the craft beer industry, coupled with intense competition and a slowdown of our business, we could not service the debt that we took on to build the Virginia Beach brewery — and in early 2018, the Company defaulted on its loans with Comerica Bank. While we took substantial efforts to recapitalize the Company over the past several months, both before and after the bank default, we were ultimately unable to close a transaction.

Every beer geek who has ever said something like "Why doesn't *insert brewery* just expand and make more beer so it's easier to get?" should read that paragraph, then read it again several more times and very slowly.

 

[user 305778]

Every beer geek who has ever said something like "Why doesn't *insert brewery* just expand and make more beer so it's easier to get?" should read that paragraph, then read it again several more times and very slowly.

Eh, they'll just say Green Flash did it poorly and <insert other brewery> would be way smarter about it.

 

[flexabull]

Or...

Every brewery who has ever said something like "Why don't we just expand and make more beer so it's easier to get?" should read that paragraph, then read it again several more times and very slowly.

 

[middlebrow]

can i buy the recipe & water profile for rayon vert from some business/debt folks that now are looking to collecting bucks?