Changing times in the beer world...

Ian Robinson

Ian Robinson

Location
San Diego
Last weekend, Verdant Brewing held their (sold out) Little Summer Beer Bash, which featured a handful of guest breweries including New York's esteemed Finback Brewing.

This was days after BrewDog announced the upcoming closure of ten bars in the U.K, while The Guardian was stating that 400 pubs closed in England & Wales in 2024.

It's no different in the U.S. where breweries have been closing left, right and centre since COVID. San Diego was particularly badly hit, with the changes in the economy and the increase in the cost of raw materials being a major player in these losses.

I'm always interested in seeing what the surviving breweries actually do to survive and how brand new breweries are (in many cases) able to hit a winning formula.

Verdant seem to be permanently on a roll, consistently releasing beers with American hops (I noticed they are big fans of New Zealand hops too) and holding events. They were present at Firestone Walker's Invitational Beer Festival at their Paso Robles site in California in May, alongside 65 other breweries.

Interesting times indeed...(excuse the dodgy Verdant screenshot).

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Trade press suggests the UK market is still very troubled. Circa 150 small breweries closed or went bankrupt over the past year or so in the UK. There is substantial overcapacity in the market and consumer spending remains depressed. Input costs and taxes are a major issue, but I also think many of these small craft breweries struggle with marketing and distribution. People start brewing in entrepeneurial fashion, but without having established a route to market.

People like Jeremy Clarkson have cracked the latter, as he is a new entrant (2021) but has got his Hawkstone premium lager product into several supermarkets.

For our restaurant drinks list we support a local brewer Tonbridge Brewery, who are in fact 5 minutes away from us in East Peckham. They have a dozen or so beers, all with nice label designs and a story.
 
Absolutely right about marketing and distribution. Stone Brewing had a sign-up list of small breweries whom they would distribute their beers, as a service to them - basically, just helping out the smaller breweries. But when Sapporo bought out Stone, the distribution service was stopped.

New generations have also put pressure on breweries over here. The latest group (the "influencers" - social media obsessives), don't gravitate towards good old fashioned stouts, pale ales or even IPA's, so most breweries cater to their needs (and help keep the revenue coming in) by brewing a variety of seltzers, slushies and Kombuchas (sweetened, fermented, effervescent black tea).

Even Stone, for all their different and ever-changing beers have resorted to brewing the above. And our favourite brewery in San Diego County, Pure Project, currently has a "hard" seltzer and a "hard" smoothie on tap..."hard" meaning alcoholic in this country.

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In this day and age, the beer scene has drastically changed. I'm just thankful there's still enough of us around to really support our breweries and enjoy a good pint!
 
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I do enjoy the poetry of the Pure Project tap lists you post from time to time, Ian. There was a previous one that read just like the set of a live double LP by the Grateful Dead
 
Most breweries offer lower ABV beers, but it's rare to find an IPA under 6.0%. When we lived in the Midwest, we were members of the Michigan Craft Brewers Guild and lower strength beers (as in the 4.0% region) were common.

Moving to California was an eye-opening experience. Just about every beer was a high ABV and double-figures were commonplace. That hasn't changed.

It's funny how you adapt to things - my wife's "session" strength now starts at 7.0%, although she prefers 8.0%. She won't touch anything under 7.0%. I'll go down to 6.0% and I have no interest in what they call "triple" IPA's which are over 10.0%. I prefer to actually taste the beer rather than the alcohol.
 
In the UK, the government of the day is proposing to lower the alcohol limit for driving to (I think) 50mg / litre from 80mg. The pub trade is on its knees anyway and according to trade press is worried.

I'm torn on this, as I deeply disapprove of drunk drivers: my best friend was prosecuted twice and it really tested our friendship.

High alcohol UK beer does not appeal to me. I like it with Belgian beer - when we are over there - but the commercial stuff in the UK is unappealing.

We stock a little bit of six local artisan beers from session at 3 ish % to around 6% I think. No one asks for anything stronger.
 
Whatever the craft brewers do is up to them. The big industrial brewers are going after low or no alcohol beers and making strides, because that is where research tells them the market will be. A few enthusiasts is not enough to sustain a market!
 
So, Dan - I was at our local Pure Project last night and I mentioned to the bar staff about your Grateful Dead comment. They thought that was hilarious and totally appropriate as indeed, some of their beer names are named after Grateful Dead song titles.

Would you believe it!

Now, if Pure Project were naming songs after Yes, Genesis or Camel songs, then I could relate!
 
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