Hello and happy almost Spring fellow off-centered beer enthusiasts. As we look back on last year from atop our uni-tanks here in Milton, Delaware we have much to be proud of and much to be thankful for.
We recently learned that, over the last five years, demand for Dogfish Head brands has made us the fastest growing brewery in America. We are proud of this growth and the opportunity weve had to turn so many more people on to our off-centered ales. The most important thing for us (and we hope for you as well) is that we produced and sold a greater variety of super-high-quality, super-unique off-centered ales than any other year in our 16 year existence. In 2010, we did more R&D batches and more one-off-freak-flag-waving brews than ever on our 5-barrel system from our Rehoboth pub. On the production side, we brewed several new and different bottled and draft beers. Our success has also pushed our production capacity to the absolute limit.
We are sorry that some of you have experienced frustrations when youve recently asked for your favorite Dogfish beer at your favorite craft beer joint. While Ive described our philosophy on balancing growth vs. the health of our company in a previous blog post, please know that I do recognize our choice to grow strong and smart instead of just growing fast, our choice to keep experimenting and pushing the envelope instead of allowing ourselves to be mutated into the 60 Minute brewing company, comes with its own challenges. We are up to the challenge and hope that you are too.
Recently, the most taxing component of this challenge is that having demand so far in front of our supply has gotten a point where we need to makes some changes, as we are not even close to meet the requests from our fantastic distributors. This is frustrating to them... and to our retailers and to you, the Dogfish drinker.
We know the message you want more Dogfish! Our InBox, our Facebook page, our Twitter feed and our website Forum posts are all littered with Please send more Dogfish to whatever-town or Please start selling Dogfish in my state. In order to get our supply closer to your demand, wed need to get a big, big pile of money and grow, grow, grow. We are not excited by that. We get excited by having fun, brewing a bunch of great beers and growing at a slower, steadier pace.
In the past few months, weve alerted our wholesale partners in both the U.K. and Canada that we do not expect to be able to support any export in 2011. We need all the beer were brewing right now for the U.S. market. But realistically, we werent sending much there anyway, so we need to make even more changes. It is tough to hear from retailers across the country that they arent getting all the Dogfish they think they could sell, but without drastically changing our company and the way we operate, we cannot satisfy that demand.
So it is bittersweet for us to announce that we are pulling out of, or limiting some of our core beers from, a number of states. Yes this sucks. The glass-half-full view is that we (and a handful of other U.S. craft breweries making similar moves) have to do this because your numbers the number of U.S. drinkers buying and enjoying craft beer - are growing so quickly! We sincerely apologize for any frustrations this may cause distributors, retailers, and beer lovers who are affected by our decision. This decision will allow us to still get many different, exotic, Dogfish specialty and seasonal beers into our slightly smaller footprint. It will also ensure that more cases and kegs of our core, year-round beers will be available closer to home. The distributors in the states we are pulling distribution from (Tennessee, Indiana, Wisconsin and Rhode Island) have already been notified of our decision. If your favorite pubs and beer outlets are no longer able to obtain Dogfish products, we are sorry that we are no longer able to supply them. Thanks for understanding and we are hopeful for your ongoing support.
Cheers.
(our fearless leader) writes about his latest travels and off-centered plans for all of us.
I can totally understand how people are upset by this move however I commend you for making this decision. I would be devistated, pissed to say the least, if I heard the news that I would not be able to get DFH in the state I lived. Dogfish is the one brewer I get everytime I go to the beer store. Everytime. But at the same time, the day dogfish expands to meet demand and looses their edge, their "off-centered-ness", their delicious hard work, that will be the day I stop buying dogfish head brew and the day I start to dislike them (which would be the saddest day of my life). Please do not turn into Sam Adams, we love you for who you are DFH so while some fans may be unhappy they should realize your doing it for the beer, which is what drew us all to you in the first place.
Just to make a point, look at Pliney The Eldar. Its made by Russian River Brewing Company in California. From the reviews I've read about it, its one of the best beers. But if they started to meet the demand for it I know with out a doubt the quality would decline.
Fans you should be more accepting of this decision and understand their reasons. This is probly the toughest decisions they've had to make but it had to happen to keep the company and their beer's integrity. So please have a bit more sincereity and thank them for the product they have supplied you with in the past and who knows what might come along in the future.
I live in Wisconsin. I stopped into my local store yesterday to pickup a 6 pack of 60 Minute IPA. This has been a weekly tradition for over a year. Dan, the guy behind the counter, told me Dogfish Head was pulling out of the state. I couldn't believe it, so I came here to confirm.
I'm hugely disappointed with this decision. After years of being a loyal customer, this decision makes no sense to me at all. I understand the rationale of putting quality over quantity, but to pull out of WI so you can deliver more to customers in other states?
I won't be driving 2+ hours to a neighboring state to buy DFH. Thankfully there are loads of other great craft brews here in Wisconsin. I'll be supporting them more now, but I won't bother with DFH any longer when I'm out of state. That includes when visiting family in Lewes, DE.
Thanks for understanding... really? Oh, well.
Well, Indiana is ruined. thanks.
I do understand what you are doing and why, but since I live in Tennessee, it still SUCKS :( the only good thing for me is that I'm only about an hour from Kentucky and I can stock up there! Thanks so much for the work you put into the beer you make. You make the only IPA I like :) (90 min IPA)
Hello. Keep your chin up over there in Delaware. I understand the anger and disappointment from the people who got shut out, but I applaud your overall idea behind these actions. I am in Texas so other people may say that I would be singing a different tune if I was in one of the other states. Let me just tell you that my favorite beer in the world is from Scotland, and it's very hard to get all of BrewDog's stuff here in the US. There is some stuff from them I haven't tried because of that reason, but I still support the right they have to make the best decisions that they think will make the most sense for them as a company.
Dogfish could have 'cashed in' with this overwhelming demand and concentrated on maximizing production, etc. But then a beer like Bitches Brew may never have been made under that scenario. And I am telling you that Bitches Brew is a masterpiece. It may be the best beer they have made up until now, and that's saying quite something. In any case, if they got so big and became so busy filling 60 Minute and 90 Minute demand, they may never have the time, staff or money to try crazy stuff like that. And we would all lose out.
I know it's hard to accept right now, but they truly are doing this with the intention of staying true to who they are, for the benefit of all involved. You have to applaud them for that.
Keep up the good work.
I find myself extremely disappointed in the folks at Dogfish Head. What a terrible decision... yes, you're growing fast. I thought that's what the greatly increased capacity brought about for your expansion was intended to help. Instead here in Indiana, with DFH being one of my favorite breweries, I find that I won't be able to get it anymore. How sad. If there is a shortage because of high demand, just distribute what you can and the people that buy it first get it. They may have to wait for their local store shelf or pub to be restocked, but with some effort they can still get the beer. Instead you come out and decide to simply remove states from distribution.
This is one of the most ridiculous business decisions I've ever heard. Product quality doesn't have to suffer when you expand. Look at another rapidly growing brewery, Stone Brewing. They continue to grow fast, expand their distribution, and still make beers of fantastic quality.
I'd say that you've lost another customer long term over this decision, but what's the point? Losing customers is your goal now.
I dont understand why you think pulling supply from willing and loyal customers in order to market towards new ones is a good idea??? Yes, trying to get new customers is great, but how many of these new customers are going to regularly buy DFH? It makes no sense at all to take supply away from someone who has been buying your products every week for the last 4-5 years and hope that you can find someone new to replace them.
Living about 25 mins from the Illinois border in Indiana, I still have options. But frankly, if they stop being loyal to me, I have a hard time being loyal to them. Theres plenty of alternatives, some are even better. I wont have any problem finding a new brew to regularly fill my DFH signature glasses, which are now simply a token of relationship I was once deeply loyal to.
I think after you realize your mistake, a lot of these loyal customers you had before will no longer be there when you get back. I have turned serveral of my friends into loyal DFH drinkers, and now I feel bad for doing so based on this news.
Also, its such a shame that I've been waiting over a year now to get my hands on some more 120 minute, and now its just moot. I even told my local store last fall after the dumped batch that I would pay retail for a full case if they can get me one from the spring batch. Guess I dont have to worry about shelling out a couple hundred bucks for that now.
Best of luck DFH, the beer was great while it lasted, but I dont think we will be seeing one another again. My signature glasses, and my slowly depleteing case of Raison D'Extra from the last batch in 07 will be the only tokens of my intense loyalty that once was.
To pull business from WI is to shy away from your primary market: connoisseurs who like a good buzz from a quality power-brew. Wisconsinites should take solace in the fact that mant great local breweries produce such beers -- Ale Asylum, Capital Brewery, New Glarus, and The Great Dane come to mind. I live in LA and lack the selection of IPAs and barleywines folks in Madison and the rest of Wisco are blessed with. Dogfishhead will always hold a place in my heart for the 120 IPA, (six-pack in a bottle) but many of their other brews I feel have an equitable local doppleganger, (not dopplebock, lol). Not local to me of course because the beer in bar culture is not the best in Socal, but the weather makes up for it. Cheers fellow hop-heads, I hope DFH returns to WI soon!
Yeah this is sad news. I like many of you have been drinking DFH for years. I remember pushing DFH on people when I lived in Portland, OR (which is no easy feet in a town so full of great local beer). I've also spent alot of time pushing it since moving to TN.
True, more people are drinking good beer. I also understand the supply/ demand thing. But let's be honest, the lack of supply, drives the demand and has always brought me into the store looking to see if there was something new from you guys available that I just couldn't pass up. It's part of DFH allure...similar to a when a new Apple product comes out. But when the ipad 2 came out earlier this month, it sold out immediately and kept people yearning for more. Yet I don't see Apple pulling out of smaller markets so that more people in larger markets can get the new ipad sooner.
I get haulting expansion and sticking with the markets you currently have, but pulling out of existing markets because you're too successful? It's kinda what you signed up for. When the hype slows down a bit, you'll have lost some loyal old skoolers that would have otherwise never left. I'm upset about your decision but I hear Langunitas is willing to fill the void (they're coming to TN in July). It's just unfortunate, it really felt good turning people onto your product and what I thought it was about. I guess the reality is DFH is no longer what I thought it was.
Let me get this straight:
Some folks are complaining because Dogfish 1) cares about quality; 2) doesn't want to over-expand; and 3) didn't ride a reality show into going public?
The alternative would be an inferior, over-exposed product sold en masse. And that's called InBev.
I have to drive distances to get many of my fave beers, yet consider that part of the adventure! I know that most people are probably within a 1/2 day's drive of a border, and hope they can get their Dogfish-on that way. I know TN is surrounded by, like, 8 states; while Rhode Islanders could probably follow the frisbee they threw to their dog, and end up in Connecticut or Massachusetts.
If not, try some more local craft beers: it's a wonderful world!
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