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UPDATED: See below.
(Milton, DE) – Another piece of evidence in growing palate promiscuity…
The Washington Post reports:
Dogfish Head president Sam Calagione admits that some of his distributors and retailers would be happier if he spent more time pumping out his India pale ales and spent less time on exotic and experimental brews. That’s not going to happen, though. Calagione estimated that 60 Minute IPA, his top seller, decreased from 55 percent of sales to 48 percent between 2010 and 2011. “We’re the only brewery who celebrated to see our main brand drop,” he laughs.
Dogfish Head reportedly brewed around 145,000 barrels this year, up from just over 120,000 last year. So, if we do some math then…
https://twitter.com/#!/beerpulse/status/157596398295072768
There are a couple of issues with the “exotic” beers though. First of all they are hit and miss. I wasn’t really thrilled with Hellhound, Bitches Brew was ok, 120 was decent, I wasn’t a fan of World Wide Stout. The next issue is , a lot of the “exotic” beers are little more than notches on the belt for people, so they rush to get them in the first batches, but as the batches go on, they stick around on shelves for longer and longer. The third issue availability/distribution, it is pretty tiring to want to get a beer calling up like 99 Bottles in Federal Way and here them tell you “oh we had that, it sold out in 3 minutes”. I still really like drinking Dogfish Beers, but I am beginning to become fatigued at the whole circus that surrounds getting them.
anyone ever hear of a company called Pete’s? they got away from their flagship Wicked Ale, and now look where they are… dead in the ground.
While I enjoy Sam’s adventurous brews – some more than others (Hellhound is terrific!) – the core brews are like old friends who will always be there for you. 60Min, 90Min, Indian Brown… each is there when I want one, or two. Don’t lose sight of the fact that the production numbers for 60Min fell because DFH is willing to try new things. Besides, with the coming expansion, I’m sure there will be plenty of 60Min available.
Production actually rose for 60 Minute IPA as stated in the piece.
I wish these experimental beers like Hell hound, Bitches Brew, etc etc would come in 12 oz bottles like WWS or 120 min. I don’t like taking chances on beers that I have never had but I generally don’t want to drop $15-20 on something that isn’t good. It would be cool to put WWS in a 750 ml because I love that beer. But with all that being said it doesn’t matter because Indiana doesn’t get DFH any more, well I guess I will just have to drink more FFF and Founders.
@ Travis, Pete’ Wicked Ale got run into the ground because they tried to over capitalize on the craft beer as FAD in the early to mid 1990s, they peaked, sold and then the brand, all of them were run into the ground, it had nothing to do with “getting away from their flagship” and everything to do with quick hit capitalism (by which I mean making money as fast as humanly possible).
@ AJ what is hit and miss for you is the next craft drinkers version of beer nirvana. I did not get Hellhound, mostly because is came out to late in my neck of the woods, any hoppy beer from Dogfish I want within three weeks of bottling. But as far as Bitches? Awesome beer. Maybe not to you, but everyone’s palate is different.
What exotic beers are sitting on the shelf? That may have more to do with over reaching sales managers or worse over reaching distributors and retail outlets assuming it will sell out quicker. Distributors and stores need to do a better job of keeping tabs on volume, Dogfish would be happy to diversify their distribution I imagine but just a year ago they had to pull out of markets due to high demand.
Shelf sitting is going to be a problem with all breweries in the coming months and next couple of years because product growth (ie out put of craft brew) is going to over supply demand, based on the number of breweries in planning and growth of existing breweries in operation. Maybe I will be wrong and bigger hunks of large brewing companies such as Miller, Coors and Bud will be picked off, but I think that migration of palates will continue to be slow. Craft is destined for a bit of a over saturation struggle in the near future.
Bear in mind that Burton Baton is now going to be a year-round beer, and Sam is also bottling 75 Minute. He isn’t an idiot. The experimental brews keep DFH in the news, and if something becomes wildly successful, he will produce it with more regularity. I don’t think he just blindly tries to pound weird beer down our throats.
Dogfish Head has jumped the shark in the WORST way. Of their most recent ventures I’ve had almost all of them on tap and most are simply gimmicks. Te Henket is almost undrinkable. I work at a bar and we can’t GIVE the stuff away. Mint Stout is a bad idea that taste disgusting. Namaste is bland and worthless. I’d rather have a Clown Shoes Clementine, Allagash White, White Devil, etc. Hell, I’d rather have a Blue Moon. 120 is gross, WWS is gross. Honestly, the last time I drank either was playing flip cup.
60 min, Palo Santo, Bitches Brew and IBA are all excellent and the only beers by them I would consider, but frankly, I’m actively rooting against them now. I won’t buy or sell any of their products because I think they are make better brewers (Firestone Walker, Founders, Allagash, Ballast Point and my favorite Sixpoint) look like jokers for doing any educated experiments.
People, you vote with your dollars, don’t vote for Dogfish Head. Hopefully they will just go away!
Sam, if you view yourself as a true artist, stick with it. Continue to experiment. If you listen to your trusted business advisers however, they will tell you to listen to your customers. Your customers love a few of your classics. Don’t expand regions or beers until you can satisfy your current customers.