OT: 2 fairly well known NJ Breweries closing down
- Thread starter Doteman
- Start date
Craft beer hit a lot of peoples exit price point, and these closures are partially a result of this.
That, and the trend ran super hot and was destined to cool.
A local brewery was once a novelty, now almost every town has at least one, and beer store fridges are a rainbow of options.
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Here in Suffolk VA and close by they are new ones opening. These people are spending 10 million to build one from scratch.
There is Momac and Harbor Trail that are pretty new and doing well. What costs them less than a dollar to make they sell for $5 to $7 dollars.
And this is opening too.
There is Momac and Harbor Trail that are pretty new and doing well. What costs them less than a dollar to make they sell for $5 to $7 dollars.
And this is opening too.
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Hands down. Went through this in mid late 90s when brew pubs were popping up everywhere. Consolidation and the strong survived. I can think of 3-4 in Monmouth/Ocean county that have little to no chance of making it.
Gotta have good product, an attractive and/or welcoming venue, and oh yeah, good product. The strong will survive and the weak will fade away.
Well they all charge that and some even more and they don't all go out of business.
As for these 2 they didn't make anything that good. If you don't have great beer you better ingratiate yourself in your region with a great taproom that people like to visit and visit a lot. I'm not sure if these 2 did that and my guess is they didn't and looked to build their company by distribution and probably over extended themselves.
That depends on the quality of the brew. Craft beer drinkers will gladly pay $20 a four pack for good beer. If it's not good, they won't visit the venue and won't buy it in the stores though.
2 of those beers = bottle of wine by my conversation chart. Don’t mind paying it at all, but agreed they better be good.
Your $10 wines do you well then. I'm not much of a wine drinker but I do enjoy it from time to time. If you go to a local winery though, I'm guessing you wont typically find most wines in that price range. People will pay more for the neighborhood places to help support the local economy, just like the local craft places.
Good point. You better have a REALLY strong lineup of beers if you are gonna put some gear in a warehouse/flex space and think you will thrive. People go to bars for the setting as much as the product.
This. Why would I pay for 4 beets when I can get 12? This is not a question I am asking, but a question a layman would. Just like cupcakes and burger joints before it, the market got saturated and people stop caring. The Acai bowl should be next. The places that did not overburden themselves with debt will survive.
It's a tough business when you're creating a business model based on a trend that has a missive startup cost to open the doors.
I really look forward to hearing about the first celebrity to lose their shirt on their "hot" tequila brand. It's coming and probably soon. Lookin at you MJ.
People keep chasing business trends and the same outcome just keeps continuing.
no doubt but you are not suriving on that small market when it's saturated, inflation eating into everyone's pocket and a brand no one has ever heard of
MJ isn't losing his shirt if his tequila brand goes under. It's pennies in the couch. He's probably lost more on a weekend in Vegas.
Lol ain't that the truth on both. Reason he un-retired the first time was due to his gambling losses.
Gotta have good beer and a good business plan to properly distribute it. It's pretty simple. Kane has good beer, but had a bad tasting room for many years. Last year, they seemed to cut back on BA beer production/releases by about half over the prior 2-3 years and instead built out a nice tap room. What 3-4 in Monmouth/Ocean do you expect to close? I'm sure there will be others all over the state, and some already did last year... Highrail Brewing in High Bridge closed in May and Esker Hart will open its brewery there this year. Not a brewery but Melovino Meadery in Vauxhall also closed late last year. On the flip side, Icarus is finishing up its new massive brewery and tasting room in Brick and will likely close or sell its Lakewood spot.
I thought it was the other way around. The retirement was an unofficial suspension due to gambling lol.
Either way, it worked itself out. Well, as far as we can tell.
Yes fairly well known if you drink craft beer. I do agree the price points are getting way out of control though
You also can’t discount the drinking trend of younger generation. They are drinking far less that previous generation in addition they are liquor more than beer. One of the reason the canned cocktail/seltzer craze is huge is that they simply don’t drink beer.
Yea agreed. Kane does it right. They have very good distribution. But built their business around being a local source of great beer. Built from the inside out and down up.when they first opened they had a decent tasting room but due to their success immediately outgrew it and needed that space for operational purpose.
I can see the below not making it long term:
1)Jughandle
2)Little dog
Beach haus (although they have deep pockets but horrible product)
3)Bakes (new to the game in Wall 3 year delay in opening but no distribution and tough environment) location is on their side and also deep pocket backers I hear.
4)Last Wave. I like it hope it survives but no distribution
Throw in a couple more of the northern Monmouth and lower ocean.
Pretty sure Jughandle has departed us already a few months ago.
The price points have basically remained the same relative to inflation over the past couple of years. Most good beers have remained in the $20 range.
Jughandle caput. Beachaus change owners I think a little while back.
Oh NO!! That is the only NJ brewery t-shirt I own. I guess I need to plan another NJ trip soon so I can restock my wardrobe.
Yeah, Jughandle is done.
I went to Bakes recently and it was a mob scene in a good way. They've done a great job in the space they have. I have no intel on their distro, but the beer on tap was quite good and there's been a tremendous response from the community.
Beach Haus reminds me of Laurita Winery. Love the venue, hate the output.
I think Red Tank was listed for sale last year. Not sure what happened there.
Reality is any of these guys who opened in the last 5-7 years are going to have a hard time sustaining unless they have deep pockets good branding and decent distro. Too much of a shift in drinking habits and the intro of legal pot has capped the industry.