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Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

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Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#281

Post by unethical_ban »

0xB31B1B wrote: post #18
rationalist wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have so many great, local breweries My city has a lot, but I personally can't share in them. I will instantly vomit if I drink any local brews (in any locale). Same with whiskey. I can drink nationally-distributed beers and vodka with no ill-effects. I have no idea why. I'm jumping on this comment because I imagine there are some HN readers that might have a theory and I would be very interested in hearing them.

I hate local beers. Local wine makes sense, there is terroir, a sense of place etc. Local beers are just some weird competition to see who can make the hopiest bitterest beer. I don't want to try a new lager every time I cross county lines, when I want beer I want something reliable.

There are almost two dozen breweries in my city and most of them have non-IPAs.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#282

Post by nortonham »

subpixel wrote: post #40

I live in New England. There isn’t a single brewery in any New England state that would cause an uproar if it ceased to sell beer tomorrow. Sure I have some preferred beers but they are all interchangeable in the big picture. Such is progress - there is no more regional taste, only trend. Even the bottle conditioned beer you stand in line for on vacation - a bottle of Duvel will be reliably better and probably cheape…

Allagash? Sam Adams? Budweiser (they have in operation in NH iirc). Smuttynose in NH? I feel like there are breweries across new england that if they stopped tomorrow would affect a lot of people, but maybe on a smaller scale. Of course people would buy something else, but they would still be sad to see it go.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#283

Post by osigurdson »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #252
osigurdson wrote: post #251

It is interesting, the market wants 2 types of colas and an infinite number of beer varieties at the moment.

Sodas are staples, beers are a treat. Consistency vs novelty.

I completely get it on some level - I feel exactly the same way as the market does, but I can’t really put my finger on “why”.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#284

Post by osigurdson »

mattmoose21 wrote: post #258
toomuchtodo wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sodas are staples, beers are a treat. Consistency vs novelty.

I wonder if it is more of an issue with how dominant the two brands are? There are a lot of exclusivity deals with restaurants.

I don’t think so, there are no barriers to entry for colas. People just aren’t interested in more options.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#285

Post by rainbowzootsuit »

Anchor Steam, Anchor porter, and Anchor liberty are longtime favorites.

I think that the porter is a real standout, and have based some of my home brewing on trying to simulate its flavor.

There's a lot of stouts out there but not many porters.

The prevailing trend seems to be hop-bomb this and abv max out that. I'm usually not looking for an extreme sport in my mouth.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#286

Post by Reubachi »

pdntspa wrote: post #195
monocasa wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> people should be free to express their political opinions however they see fit But that doesn't apply to boycotts?

It does. Not sure what that has to do with anything though.

have you reread your comment back to yourself this morning and seen the irony?

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#287

Post by sheepybloke »

flyinghamster wrote: post #29

Sometimes a brewer realizes that concentrating on their core market makes more sense than trying to compete on crowded store shelves nationwide. New Glarus Brewing in Wisconsin is famous for refusing to distribute out-of-state. It's always worth taking a case home if I take a roadtrip.

100%! My uncle lives in Wisconsin, and all I ask for Christmas from them is their homemade fudge and a pack of New Glarus. Always an amazing gift!

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#288

Post by subpixel »

wrycoder wrote: post #97
subpixel wrote: post #40

I live in New England. There isn’t a single brewery in any New England state that would cause an uproar if it ceased to sell beer tomorrow. Sure I have some preferred beers but they are all interchangeable in the big picture. Such is progress - there is no more regional taste, only trend. Even the bottle conditioned beer you stand in line for on vacation - a bottle of Duvel will be reliably better and probably cheape…

Sure there is. Alchemist. But, you can only get it within 100 miles of Waterbury VT, it’s so popular and limited. Try the Focal Banger.

Their beer might be subjectively better in a head-to-head with the dozens of other beers that are just like them, but there are dozens of other beers that are just like them.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#289

Post by sheepybloke »

osigurdson wrote: post #251

It is interesting, the market wants 2 types of colas and an infinite number of beer varieties at the moment.

There is definitely a market for craft soda, it’s just hard to get the same or even a small percentage of the distribution. The 2 cola companies have done a great job of pushing other competition out.

Re: Anchor Brewing Company ends national distribution, kills Christmas Ale

#290

Post by BeFlatXIII »

flyinghamster wrote: post #29

Sometimes a brewer realizes that concentrating on their core market makes more sense than trying to compete on crowded store shelves nationwide. New Glarus Brewing in Wisconsin is famous for refusing to distribute out-of-state. It's always worth taking a case home if I take a roadtrip.

Whenever I travel to Wisconsin, I always return with a large purchase of New Glarus to share with family & friends.
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