Contract Beers

Scottatron · Post by **Scottatron** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 2:59 pm

Do you guys have any personal stigma against a beer that is contract brewed at a brewery the brewer doesn't own? If the beer is great does it matter? If the brewer creating the brand brews it (such as mikkeller), does that affect your perception?

I had a conversation with a friend the other day and this came up and was wondering other peoples opinions.

KwaiLo · Post by **KwaiLo** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 3:25 pm

If the beer is good Scott, I'd drink it. I think that contract brewing is a good way to have product come out in areas it may not otherwise.

matt7215 · Post by **matt7215** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 5:12 pm

i have nothing against contract brewing as long as everyone is upfront about it

Tapsucker · Post by **Tapsucker** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:19 pm

IMHO, contract brewing is benefiting the beer scene greatly. More recipes can get tried out and it helps some smaller brewers cover the costs of more sophisticated systems and even staff.

There is nothing un-authentic about it in my mind, but there are those with romantic attachments to breweries they have visited. Perhaps that's why some might turn their nose up at it.

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:56 am

Tapsucker wrote:IMHO, contract brewing is benefiting the beer scene greatly. More recipes can get tried out and it helps some smaller brewers cover the costs of more sophisticated systems and even staff.

There is nothing un-authentic about it in my mind, but there are those with romantic attachments to breweries they have visited. Perhaps that's why some might turn their nose up at it.

Tapsucker summed it up nicely...

Cheshire Valley, Spearhead, Indie Ale House until they're up and running, Kennsington, all great stuff...heck even the Black Creek that they make at Trafalgar is decent!

Having said that, though, I wonder if there's a saturation point.

Last year we saw an explosion in contract breweries, and I just wonder how much more Cool, Black Oak, Wellington, or whomever can brew of other people's beer.

Contract breweries are great but let's hope that is match with at least some new bricks and mortar breweries (or brewery expansions) so that growth can keep going.

cfrancis · Post by **cfrancis** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:20 am

Denison's Wit is the proof that contract brewing works.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 12:01 pm

It really depends on the business.

If it's a beer marketing company with a budget product, are they really doing anything but filling their wallets? I think it's these companies that have given this business model a bad name.

Now if the brews have soul, I'll certainly support them. People have already listed a bunch of great 'brewing' companies... I'll add De Struise.

If I had the time & money and was able to find a good local brewery with excess capacity, I'd certainly consider starting my own business. This might be something to consider before (early) retirement... when I'd have plenty of time, would absolutely love to do it, and could use some supplemental income (and it wouldn't be the time to dump my life savings into a brewpub). That said, I don't think my retirement will be that (early), so by that age I may be ready to sit back and drink, rather than brew.

With private liquor store sales, I'm surprised there aren't more of these popping up in places like BC. That said, I'm even more surprised people are making a run of it in Ontario. TBS and LCBO distributions are so HUGE and costly, your basically left with keg sales... and getting tap space isn't easy, unless of course you own the tap.

I guess the other 'problem' is when companies don't have the capacity in their own brewery, then contract some of their work out... but still claim it's brewed in their hometown or whatever. That sparked some interesting blogging a while ago:

http://www.madisonbeerreview.com/2009/0 ... ument.html
http://www.madisonbeerreview.com/2009/0 ... creek.html
http://www.madisonbeerreview.com/2009/0 ... pital.html
http://www.madisonbeerreview.com/2009/0 ... ughts.html

Another interesting idea is an alternating proprietorship:
http://hereticbrewing.com/blog/2010/12/ ... portunity/

matt7215 · Post by **matt7215** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 12:42 pm

cfrancis wrote:Denison's Wit is the proof that contract brewing works.

the canning of denisons hefe is a disaster and totally destoyed the reputation of what used to be ontarios best beer. it still drinks well on tap.

im interested in this denisons wit you speak of.....

cfrancis · Post by **cfrancis** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 1:34 pm

matt7215 wrote:
cfrancis wrote:Denison's Wit is the proof that contract brewing works.
the canning of denisons hefe is a disaster and totally destoyed the reputation of what used to be ontarios best beer. it still drinks well on tap.

im interested in this denisons wit you speak of.....

sorry hefe. I've never had it on tap because well, it doesn't get north of the 401. I had to order a case of cans for the summer and it was damn good.

Now I want it on tap.

Scottatron · Post by **Scottatron** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 1:50 pm

Cool. All really good opinions guys thanks for the replies.

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 3:33 pm

i'm a music snob.
i'll still admit that i like some Tragically Hip.

if its good, who cares where its brewed?

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 7:20 pm

Do I plug it in? Or do I stick it in it?

S. St. Jeb · Post by **S. St. Jeb** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:52 pm

matt7215 wrote:i have nothing against contract brewing as long as everyone is upfront about it

I'd agree with this. The one case I find interesting is Hogsback. They made a big deal of it being a 'local' Ottawa beer, but I think it is brewed by Cool.

atomeyes · Post by **atomeyes** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 9:50 am

i still cannot comprehend how Cool has a brewery.

"Cool: Beer for People With Really, Really Low Self-Esteem"

matt7215 · Post by **matt7215** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:09 am

atomeyes wrote:i still cannot comprehend how Cool has a brewery.

"Cool: Beer for People With Really, Really Low Self-Esteem"

Cool is basically just a contract brewery now anyway.....