Nice article Doug. I can honestly say I’ve never had a Dark IPA before, at least to my knowledge. This is something I’ll look for this Fall after I’ve recovered from OD’ing on Marzen. Regarding the BAB’s I think it’s a product that will always have plenty of hype behind it and a strong following from those fans. One brewery who makes wonderful BAB’s is Brothership in Mokena. Their Space Debris line is amazing.
I agree that this category isn't going anywhere. I think everyone, at least in the Midwest, decided that they needed a barrel program, and the market has been saying "too much". I think the number of homes for it all is stagnant or shrinking.
Great read as always. Long gone are those halcyon days of my youth when any and every barrel aged beer on a shelf was a must-buy, and the Goose really appeared to be cooked last year as the retail chains they've snugged up to were seen heavily discounting BCBS variants. Of course, adding a nickel's worth of adjuncts and doubling the price per bottle was only going to be a viable strategy for so long....
I don’t think this is probably makes your cut as a prediction (more so it’s just going to be reality and not a hot take)…but more closures. We’ve seen at least two in the Chicagoland area as of late. I can’t see where that doesn’t continue. Some likely have debt on the books (which the service costs have risen dramatically). There are too many that won’t be acquisitions targets, but will unfortunately just close doors.
Yea you are 100% right. I didn't touch on that in part because I covered it in my 2023 Predictions piece and also because it's been happening so regularly that it's not much of a prediction at this point, which is sad. I was trying to keep this one fun, hyper specific, and fall-themed when possible. There will be breweries closing regularly from here on out for sure, but I don't think Nostradouglas' special powers are needed for that call. Thanks so much for reading and please keeping bringing the feedback.
Nice article Doug. I can honestly say I’ve never had a Dark IPA before, at least to my knowledge. This is something I’ll look for this Fall after I’ve recovered from OD’ing on Marzen. Regarding the BAB’s I think it’s a product that will always have plenty of hype behind it and a strong following from those fans. One brewery who makes wonderful BAB’s is Brothership in Mokena. Their Space Debris line is amazing.
I agree that this category isn't going anywhere. I think everyone, at least in the Midwest, decided that they needed a barrel program, and the market has been saying "too much". I think the number of homes for it all is stagnant or shrinking.
Great read as always. Long gone are those halcyon days of my youth when any and every barrel aged beer on a shelf was a must-buy, and the Goose really appeared to be cooked last year as the retail chains they've snugged up to were seen heavily discounting BCBS variants. Of course, adding a nickel's worth of adjuncts and doubling the price per bottle was only going to be a viable strategy for so long....
Well said. Thanks for reading and the kind words.
I don’t think this is probably makes your cut as a prediction (more so it’s just going to be reality and not a hot take)…but more closures. We’ve seen at least two in the Chicagoland area as of late. I can’t see where that doesn’t continue. Some likely have debt on the books (which the service costs have risen dramatically). There are too many that won’t be acquisitions targets, but will unfortunately just close doors.
It was bound to happen.
Yea you are 100% right. I didn't touch on that in part because I covered it in my 2023 Predictions piece and also because it's been happening so regularly that it's not much of a prediction at this point, which is sad. I was trying to keep this one fun, hyper specific, and fall-themed when possible. There will be breweries closing regularly from here on out for sure, but I don't think Nostradouglas' special powers are needed for that call. Thanks so much for reading and please keeping bringing the feedback.