Well there you have it. The fact that I don’t know and live 5 miles away says everything you need to know about over saturation. And I have a fridge full of local brews and have been drinking local for greater than 20 years. I guess I can burn that $50 gift card. You know their product is bad when you can’t even find something to buy with a gift card.
Zoomers definitely prefer smoking weed and vaping over drinking. Millennials and Gen X are basically the generations keeping craft beer and alcohol in general afloat.
Kane and Icarus are the cream in that list. I like cape may for quick access and dependable easy drinkers.
Distribution is not as important as the taproom success. Distribution has too much expenses, the distribution and retail components. Tap rooms are selling beers on tap for $7/8 which is almost all profit. They aren't making that on a retail 4pack. In PA many are opening other tap rooms away from the brewery and making a lot of money by doing that.
Yep agreed. Mentioned distribution only because some people only know of certain brands they see in their local liquor store. Can’t get caught up in being everywhere. But you have to be somewhere.
Yea but they distribute in a much smaller geography (intentionally) than Cape May dog fish etc…
Battle River here in Toms River is underrated and worth a trip. Lots of different beers and seltzers for the ladies
The Cape Maybe model isn't a success financially. To support the Philadelphia region most of that beer is being contracted out so they are making very little. However they did a great job self distribution along the south Jersey shore as they are on tap in every place I've been to down there. That may change as they gave up their rights this past September and signed on to several distributors.
Disagree. A good disto deal will keep the lights on, allowing the taproom to move beer, host events and make $.
Yes so far. I know Kane also started their own distro company but not sure that went anywhere.
Yea from what I heard that was in direct response to Covid restrictions. Looks like they have backed away from that idea and are back to concentrating on limited distribution and enhanced taproom experience.
Yea I saw that much of their product for larger distribution is produced in upstate NY and Lehigh valley area.
I didn't say distribution was not important. I said it's not as important as a good taproom. Any distribution success is icing on the cake.
Just about every liquor in CNJ has Cape May beer as well, they really do a great job in distribution.
That why I stopped going there. It's like hotels in Manhattan. Same thing.
They also completely went in one flavor direction…. Electing to go all in with who can out hop the next it seems. IMO this has only shrunk the market of potential buyers (other taste preferences moving on) and flooded it with one style that there simply is too much supply on the market to be supported by the current demand.
And this the underlying issue with craft beer today. The people who started off with craft beer (primarily millennials in their 20s after college) have graduated to bourbon or tequila or rum or scotch in their 30s as their palettes have matured along with their disposable incomes, and the Zoomer generation are tee totalers who just smoke weed primarily so the craft brewery industry has a loss of volume on their hands.
Someone mentioned Autodidact which I thought was solid. Double Tap is within a couple of miles and does a good job. Nice beer selection, live music sometimes and it's in an old post office.
Some places just don't get it. Plenty of times, I look at a tap list to help make a decision where to eat. At least put two local taps with decent beer and that helps sway my decision.
Totally… If I was a brewery nearing the possibility of closing because we were struggling to grab a portion of the saturated IPA market, I would really rconsider looking at producing some other styles that are impossible to find right now.
Problem is the people in NJ who are most actively brewery hopping are not looking for those styles, your taproom would be empty
San Diego is IPA heaven, so I found it interesting tonight that this place had so many other offerings, speaking to your point…
viewpointbrewing.com
Sounds like Gen X to me. Early millennials were still in HS in 90s.
Second for Farm Truck. https://farmtruckbrewing.com/on-tap-1
That may be true our not… I don’t (brew hop) because I HATE IPA and I cannot believe all the people like me that enjoyed the original microbrew and other offerings just disappeared.
Mentioned this new brewery earlier in post. The fact that everyone else concentrates on IPA is why they decided to go “all lager”. They have some hoppy stuff. But it’s not one specific vertical in a wide range of styles available.
birdsmouthbeer.com
They're all aging into bourbon and tequila as they mature into their 30s. Trust me.The real issue is running out of dudes with beards and flannels
