I admittedly stopped trying to keep up with hype brews at this point almost three years ago (for a plethora of reasons, primarily my waistline). I think bottom line, there is just way too much good beer absolutely everywhere you go and no reason at all to buy below average beer…. Anywhere. Whether it’s the local hype train brewery that has gone to shit or a conglomerate that hasn’t put out a good beer in a decade, just too many good choices. I think the “big” breweries will always be around, but I can’t imagine the present day boom breweries (let’s say the last five years) ever getting to a point where they’re buying other nano breweries. I think more and more will just close.
A few random examples… In Vermont with a fellow forum legend a few weeks ago, a deli in Stowe had the following beers terding it up in a cooler: Heady Topper, Sip of Sunshine, multiple beers from Foam, Frost, Titled Barn, and at least another dozen house hold high end breweries. A mere five years ago in the same exact location, I was on a wild goose chase at 6am following a heady topper truck around town.
Additionally, two beer stores within one mile of my house in MoCo have Aslin, Other Half, Commonwealth, and any other brewery within a 40 mile radius that distributes in the area.
I’m not sure what the point of this story is, but long story short, just too much good beer!
