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.
To Dogfish with Love
...From a friend in Bloomington, Indiana
In the brewing industry, a commitment to quality doesn't stop once science and art coexist to create tank-to-tap beauty. Quality also encompasses the economics - and art and science - of distribution, not to mention managing a small scale battle between supply and demand. It's rare-if ever-that you'll ever balance your scale; one opponent always tugs more than the other.
When demand pulls the scale, and people want more, more, more, it's not easy to "Just say no!" You see beautiful stainless tanks towering over square foot upon square foot on which your off-centered staff watch boil kettles and packaging lines.... These items don't come free; hell they don't come cheap! Not even close.
It's so hard to say no to more business... so very hard - especially when you have not only your livelihood but that of your staff dependent on one person: YOU.
Temptations and promises of green seem so pretty--but so is your soul. To say yes to the devil disguised in dollar signs frequently means that you're compromising integrity of your business and pulling a 180 from your original mission to create a quality product.
If you consider yourself a fan of great beer or good people, pat Dogfish on the head. Saying no is not a fun thing to do - especially when it comes with the weight of disappointing the fans you've touched with every pint poured and every six-pack sipped.
Dogfish,way to stay true to yourselves - and, in doing so, remaining true to your hophead pals as well. You're an inspiration!
- Bottoms Up! -
Sara Sheikh
Director of Marketing
Bloomington Brewing Company
Bloomington, Indiana
I do feel for the states/loyal customers that DFH pulled out of. However, I really like that Sam and his company wants to provide quality beers to their customers instead of starting to slack and let their beers go a stray. I am a lucky fan that lives in Maryland and still is able to purchase DFH beers. With that said I hope that all the states that just got pulled start to get more DFH in the future and hope that someone that is a fan sticks with them. I now it seems like they may not care right now, but I don't think that is the case. I appreciate what DFH stands for and love there beers and I hope that they continue to stand be their product and that they do not become a 60 minute brewing company. Thanks to Sam and the crew that continue to work hard to make quality beers.
Well, I guess all good things must come to an end, or so they say. I used to drive and hour round trip to Wisconsin to spend my hard in money on a 6 pack of beer, instead of going up the street to the local store and getting 4 times as much beer for almost the same price. You talk about crazy.... Maybe I was crazy for thinking that the gas money I spent was worth it the beer. I am very dissapointed to hear that you are removing yourself from Wisconsin, I was trying to spread your name around to all my friends talking up your brand, etc... but I guess I will have to savor my last bottle ever of DogFish head, because I don't ever see it coming back to Wisconsin or even Minnesota anytime soon. I was so looking forward to the 120 Minute IPA too..... Bummer :-( I guess Bells here I come..... At least they haven't left me hanging.....
So instead of having everyone be a little thin on the shelves and share the burden, you've decided to cut off a bunch of us so that others can have as much as they want.
I understand that it's difficult to meet the overwhelming demand without possibly overextending your business, I'm not saying Dogfish should try.
You say this company is about the beer and the people, not about money and business, but this move says otherwise in a big big way.
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Don’t worry… There are plenty of great micro breweries out there. However, when Dogfish does decide to return to Tennessee I will stick with the breweries that stuck with Tennessee.
This is extremely dissappointing for us RI'ers who love Dogfish and all of your glorious beers...so much so that I actually took the time to register on the site to write a post about said dissappointment.
You guys make great beer...I mean, really GREAT beer. That said, you and the other craft brewers referenced above that are shrinking their operations are making not so great business decisions. What business owner actually shrinks their footprint?
With that said, and not fully understanding why a business would retract from markets completely where they have loyal customers, I do wish you all the best.
Thank god Butternuts Brewery in New York will still service my market! Good bye 60 minute, Hello Porkslap Farmhouse Ale.
One Love,
Lavin
No longer selling in Indiana? Thanks for understanding and we are hopeful for your ongoing support.
How exactly? By buying other great brews, drinking those as I watch your goofy mug on your tv show. Remember when I could drink Dogfish.
what a f'in joke
WOW ... I am very saddened to hear that DFH is abandoning it's customers in Rhode Island.
In addition to 60 & 90 minute, Raison & Aprihop are (or were) staples in the fridge. During my last visit to Milton, I picked up several bottles of Squall and found a new favorite. I had hoped to see Squall available in the local stores this year, but I guess it's time to find another brew.
DFH has a great following here, perhaps such a small state just can't generate the market that is needed. Very sad to see you go ... time to find a new favorite
Mike
This really does suck. I live in Memphis and love trying the new DogFish brews. DogFishHead has slowly become my favorite brewery. Unfortunatly I never got to try the famous Punkin' Ale. I guess I'll have to take a roadtrip to Delaware to get my fix. I hope that once your business grows or when it's feasable again you'll send some more beer this way.
At least DogFish will be at BrewFest on April 16th!
Please don't leave Indiana!!! The only beers my wife drinks are your Raison D'etre and Midas Touch. You are taking beer away from her!! Don't do this to our family. She hates every other beer. I can always find another IPA that I'll drink, but she won't drink other beers. DO NOT LEAVE INDIANA!!!!!!!!!
I really don't understand this decision. Limit distribution, don't obliterate it. Taking beers away from one state so that more is available in another is a horrible business decision. If the demand for your beer is that overwhelming, enlarge your brewing facilities. This is only going to make people hate your brewery. I'm sure I'll be hearing people say things like "Oh, Dogfish Head, yeah they used to be a great brewery with good beers, but those d-bags took their beer away from us because we were deemed less worthy of it that people in 'x' state." Do you really want to be the brewery full of d-bags who told an entire state that they weren't good enough to have your beers?
Signed,
Saddened and enraged in Indiana
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