
Lagunitas Brewing to lay off 12 percent of its workforce - hakh
https://www.sfgate.com/beer/article/Lagunitas-Brewing-to-lay-off-12-percent-of-its-13278713.php
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S_A_P
I’ve been thinking we were getting close to peak craft beer for a while now.
I’m thinking that a lot of independent craft brewers agree as there has been a
lot of these breweries selling to the super majors in the past few years. As
others have mentioned there is simply too much to choose from that really
isn’t all that different. This is my own opinion, but the recent trend of sour
beers hasn’t helped matters either. Sour beer is just gross.

In the Houston area, there has been a few casualties in the craft beer market
as well. Karbach sold to InBev in 2016 which was a huge disappointment to
pretty much everyone in the area. Since the sale they have trimmed the
selection and eliminated the seasonal beers I really liked.

Another brewery near me, Texian, gave up their brewery and now contract out
through another brewer. However I’ve not seen any of their beer on the shelves
lately so they may have suspended operations completely.

There are 2 independent breweries here that I think are doing things the right
way- saint arnold and 8th wonder. Both are in my fridge most of the time.

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lovich
A bit of an opinion there. I find IPA's completely unpalatable but could
probably drink a sour beer every day

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S_A_P
As I prefaced, it was my opinion. I’m not a huge IPA fan either.

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lovich
I did miss that, my bad.

I do think that means theres still a lot of growth in the market. The IPA
market seems fairly tapped out, along with porters, stouts, and lagers.
There's still other people that aren't really into craft beer because their
tastes haven't been served, like myself with craft beer.

It's not like the current craft beer market is serving the population of the
earth - the percentage that are teetotalers

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baus
I enjoy beer, but have to admit I’m burning out on the hopped up IPAs.
Lagunitas produces a bunch of different beers, but they are all just
variations of the same theme (ok I like their Pils)

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addicted
I backed away from craft beers once it seemed to me that the craft beer market
had become about making as unlikeable a beer as possible so that people would
then claim that they were true beer lovers since they enjoyed that pretty
unlikeable beer (unlikeable here largely refers to hoppiness but there are
other forms as well such as extremely high alcohol levels or excessively
flavored beers).

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Latteland
So it's all about your own tastes? It's all a conspiracy or something? I like
a variety of beers, sometimes a lighter pilsner, but I do at times crave a
hoppy citrus ipa. It's possible people can have different tastes than yours
without it being a lie.

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sosense
I love Lagunitas. I just don't buy it anymore. There are breweries very local
to me that produce a product--never bottled, never stored for very long, never
shipped--that is so much better than anything I can buy in a store, I spend
100% of my beer money on those local breweries.

This is the way things should be, and the way things used to be. It's about
time we return to sanity. I hope more and more things head toward the care of
the past.

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2sk21
The craft beer market is simply oversupplied. In any of the larger liquor
stores in the US, there is a bewildering choice of beers, most of which are
simply undistinguishable.

~~~
JamesChevalier
Do you feel the same way about the wine market? Or do you feel like that
market is different somehow?

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kurtisc
If it's anything like the UK, the wine selection will have variation. The
craft beers will be 300 hoppy IPAs.

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Rapzid
It broke my heart when Lagunitas sold to Heineken. Since then any purchase
that would have been Lagunitas has gone to more Stone or Alpine.

The choice out there is amazing; easy to say goodbye to breweries like
Lagunitas and Anchor for selling out to overseas companies.

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wskinner
Can you elaborate on why the sale broke your heart? Was it because the beer
itself changed? Or you were concerned that future development of new,
different, beer would cease or move in a direction you didn't like? Or was it
a political/philosophical issue of not wanting to support foreign
corporations?

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SECProto
The macro Brewing company holders (AB-InBev, et al) have used a similar
embrace, extend, extinguish method to Microsoft in the 90s. Eg - buy out South
African hop market, then only allow those unique hops to be used by AB-InBev
owned breweries. Unlike with operating systems, the independent options are
actually better. I can't speak to lagunitas as it isn't available in my
market, but Goose Island beer has declined significantly since being bought
out (their barrel aged ones are probably still fine, but Goose IPA is now
available in many more bars, and is a much less-good beer.

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OldHand2018
> Goose Island beer has declined significantly since being bought out

The brewmaster quit when they sold. He moved to a tiny city in western
Michigan (Fennville) and started a hard cider company. It's really interesting
stuff - kind of like exploring what wine would be like if made with apples. No
idea how widely it's distributed (if at all), but worth trying - Virtue Cider.

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SECProto
Interesting - I've added it to my list, in case I make it out that way.
Thanks!

Cider has definitely been increasing the last few years, but even the funkiest
wild-fermented ciders don't come close to what you can find in beer. In my
experience!

