Supporting craft breweries

TaurenDruid · 22-01-2021 9:03pm

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Hadn’t seen that end of it actually. I take back the above.

Fair play!

the beer revolu · 22-01-2021 9:26pm

TaurenDruid wrote: »

Fair play!

Absolutely fair play for retracting when confronted with the facts, many people don't.

It was a very interesting though and shows how quickly things become polarised when people are so quick to align themselves with "sides" and make assumptions. It's the way argument and debate has become more and more, it seems.

This isn't an attack on anyone in this thread

22-01-2021 9:28pm

the beer revolu wrote: »

Absolutely fair play for retracting when confronted with the facts, many people don't.

It was a very interesting though and shows how quickly things become polarised when people are so quick to align themselves with "sides" and make assumptions. It's the way argument and debate has become more and more, it seems.

This isn't an attack on anyone in this thread

Whatever about liking Trump and all, when you’re voicing support for the likes of those groups then it’s not down to opinion - you’re just wrong.

RasTa · 22-01-2021 9:49pm

I did laugh at the billgatesisnotadoctor nonsense. Weird hole to end up in.

L1011 · 22-01-2021 9:53pm

The problem with WH's downplaying of it yesterday is there are now people who think he was "sacked for posting a pro-Trump image" - the crying Statue of Liberty one. When that on its own isn't even worthy of comment and is nowhere near what else was being posted.

the beer revolu · 22-01-2021 9:57pm

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Whatever about liking Trump and all, when you’re voicing support for the likes of those groups then it’s not down to opinion - you’re just wrong.

To be honest, at the beginning of this I kinda thought that he was being called out just for supporting Trump, too. We shouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions but things get noisy so quickly now, it can be hard.

BaZmO* · 22-01-2021 10:17pm

the beer revolu wrote: »

To be honest, at the beginning of this I kinda thought that he was being called out just for supporting Trump, too. We shouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions but things get noisy so quickly now, it can be hard.

Yep. The amount of people on the likes of Twitter and more so Facebook, that make an opinion based on the headline of an article without even reading it is nuts. People have short attention spans.

DelmarODonnell · 24-01-2021 4:32pm

The post on Joe leaving on Instagram was fairly hijacked by crazy right wingers anyway. A lot of Covid is a hoax, whatabout Antifa, whatabout Biden, Proud Boys ain't bad etc etc etc.

TaurenDruid · 24-01-2021 10:16pm

DelmarODonnell wrote: »

The post on Joe leaving on Instagram was fairly hijacked by crazy right wingers anyway. A lot of Covid is a hoax, whatabout Antifa, whatabout Biden, Proud Boys ain't bad etc etc etc.

Same on FB. They're not the best at the social media. If they were going to post, fair enough, but then close comments.

Pen Rua · 25-01-2021 7:55pm

Larkin's seem to be brewing beers under a new brand name - "Curious Society" starting out with a GF pilsner (https://craftcentral.ie/collections/curious-society/products/larkins-curious-society-gluten-free-pilsner-440ml-can-4-75-abv?variant=32990639947811) and there's a session IPA (which isn't on Craft Central.ie just yet). Interestingly, they've shared a post on Instagram showing the cans in multipacks as opposed to just single units.

25-01-2021 7:56pm

Pen Rua wrote: »

Larkin's seem to be brewing beers under a new brand name - "Curious Society" starting out with a GF pilsner (https://craftcentral.ie/collections/curious-society/products/larkins-curious-society-gluten-free-pilsner-440ml-can-4-75-abv?variant=32990639947811) and there's a session IPA (which isn't on Craft Central.ie just yet). Interestingly, they've shared a post on Instagram showing the cans in multipacks as opposed to just single units.

The way it says ‘Curious Society brewed in Larkins’ could it be someone else just using brewing space there like Whiplash used to?

Pen Rua · 25-01-2021 7:58pm

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

The way it says ‘Curious Society brewed in Larkins’ could it be someone else just using brewing space there like Whiplash used to?

Both beers under the "Curious Society" name are included in the "Beers" page of their website. https://www.larkins.beer/beer. The branding on their website includes references to "Larkin's" but these seem to have been removed in the final can art.

25-01-2021 8:00pm

Pen Rua wrote: »

Both beers under the "Curious Society" name are included in the "Beers" page of their website. https://www.larkins.beer/beer. The branding on their website includes references to "Larkin's" but these seem to have been removed in the final can art.

Sorry yeah I had missed the bit you original said about the Instagram post too.

25-01-2021 8:18pm

Though it’s odd that the cans are different on the craft central and larkins sites. On the latter it has Lakins on the can.

BeerNut · 25-01-2021 8:28pm

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Though it’s odd that the cans are different on the craft central and larkins sites. On the latter it has Lakins on the can.

In 2019, Larkin's released a pilsner called Curious Society, and that's the can depicted on their website. Now they seem to have made Curious Society into a sub-brand. I've no idea why. The session IPA is excellent, though.

Pen Rua · 25-01-2021 8:49pm

Poking around their Instagram, and found this post where they launched the brand. Looks like they're trying to pitch it as an in-between of craft & macro beer. Trying to appeal to the macro-beer consumer with a larger/pilsner as opposed to a DIPA etc.

As a whole in Ireland we've made small inroads into the macro share but they more than take it back through "craft offerings" &#55358;&#56616;
No point moaning about it, this is how they do - cut production costs, increase marketing spend, spread false narratives etc

Well we're also looking at adapting and evolving but in a radically different way: we're not cutting any ingredients costs and there's no made up stories.

We want to talk to more of the Irish beer market to get the message or out there that the best beers available in this country are made by independent local breweries ✊&#55356;&#57339;✊&#55356;&#57339;

We can't treat the macros as holy cows whose acres of shelf space in retail are preordained as belonging to them but, as amazing as they are, we also aren't going to get the message out there with big dipas and barrel aged impy stouts either..

With that in mind we are launching @acurioussociety

The first beer in this range is a pilsner is a beautifully designed fridge pack of 8 x 440ml cans that will retail for around €15
It's brewed with premium malts from Irish suppliers, purified water, lager yeast from the Wicklow hops company and noble hops. It's gluten free and the abv is 4.75%.

There's no corners cut at all in production process.

We'd love your help though.. we're going to be hitting the road selling in the next couple of weeks trying to get onto as many shelves as we can so any support you can give by mentioning it to your local offies would be amazing

€15 for 8 cans = €1.875 per can. Seems like incredible value from a small brewery?

TaurenDruid · 25-01-2021 10:31pm

Pen Rua wrote: »

€15 for 8 cans = €1.875 per can. Seems like incredible value from a small brewery?

It's great value! Finally a decent beer (hopefully!) I can get for the other people in the house ("We don't like ales!") - and a couple more people who would drink more beer but are gluten intolerant.

Pen Rua · 25-01-2021 10:43pm

From their Instagram (again), their new session IPA is going to be a fridge pack of 8 cans (330ml) for €12 which is €1.50 a can. It seems like it won’t be under the Curious Society brand but then other posts suggest it will. A little confusing branding / marketing decisions going on here.

BeerNut · 25-01-2021 11:23pm

The problem is, in my purely amateur analysis, Johnny Heinodrinker doesn't buy it because it's accessible/bland, he buys it because the brewery spends literal millions convincing him to do so. Somebody once quoted me the per-drinker figure that the likes of Diageo have to convert Heineken-brand drinkers, and vice versa, and it was several thousand. Good luck to Larkin's, but taking on the macros with a micro-sized marketing budget has been the graveyard of a number of Irish breweries and would-be breweries already.

At least they don't seem to be aiming for the supermarkets. Supermarket deals, again in my ill-informed opinion, is why Arthurstown, Kelly's Mountain and Boyne Brewhouse didn't survive.

BaZmO* · 26-01-2021 2:04am

BeerNut wrote: »

The problem is, in my purely amateur analysis, Johnny Heinodrinker doesn't buy it because it's accessible/bland, he buys it because the brewery spends literal millions convincing him to do so.

Agree with this 100%

A lot of friends that would’ve scoffed at my craft choices down through the years only really started dipping their toes after the macros started to dip their own toes into the “craft” market and started to promote “choice” to their loyal customers. “C’mon guys, it’s ok to try new beers........as long as it’s one of ours!!”

TXPTGR1 · 26-01-2021 9:05am

BaZmO* wrote: »

Agree with this 100%

A lot of friends that would’ve scoffed at my craft choices down through the years only really started dipping their toes after the macros started to dip their own toes into the “craft” market and started to promote “choice” to their loyal customers. “C’mon guys, it’s ok to try new beers........as long as it’s one of ours!!”

Do Diageo still make that soapy dishwater stuff “hop house 13”

BeerNut · 26-01-2021 10:04am

TXPTGR1 wrote: »

Do Diageo still make that soapy dishwater stuff “hop house 13”

Several versions of it, in humongous quantities. The
HH13 and Rockshore campaigns are good examples of the level of saturation marketing required in order to introduce a new mainstream product. Having direct control over hundreds of tap lines is probably necessary too.

Ivefoundgod · 26-01-2021 11:37am

Its mental how successful Rockshore looks to have been. Almost overnight there was people I know who were devotees of rockshore all of a sudden, usually switching from Coors Light but even some lads I know who would drink Heineken normally switched to Rockshore.

Hop House seemed to have a lot of initial success but I get the impression (anecdotally anyway) that its declined in popularity recently.

BeerNut · 26-01-2021 11:49am

Ivefoundgod wrote: »

Its mental how successful Rockshore looks to have been. Almost overnight there was people I know who were devotees of rockshore all of a sudden, usually switching from Coors Light but even some lads I know who would drink Heineken normally switched to Rockshore.

Funny, because it was created as a Budweiser substitute. Maybe you don't know any Bud drinkers

Ivefoundgod · 26-01-2021 11:52am

BeerNut wrote: »

Funny, because it was created as a Budweiser substitute. Maybe you don't know any Bud drinkers

I don't actually now that you mention it. I bought a 6 pack of it when it came out and ended up throwing them out, undrinkable stuff IMO but I can't stand any of those American style "light" beers. I dread to imagine what Rockshore Light tastes like.

Macy0161 · 26-01-2021 12:10pm

Rockshore was to get people onto their own brand, so they wouldn't have to pay licencing to bud/ heino. They're obviously marketing HH13 as craft to pubs, given the number of times I've asked what craft beers do you have, and been given it as an option.

Regarding Revolver - I haven't managed to get hold of it (ironically, multipack would put me off if we didn't like it!), but it was definitely being offered to Musgraves places before Christmas (as I got asked by a centra owner what the story with it was).

andekwarhola · 26-01-2021 12:16pm

BeerNut wrote: »

Most of their customers will never find out about it. People on the internet still ask "what's up with Founders?" when that situation has been going on years, the details are well publicised, and seems to be much worse than one team member with unpalatable views.

To be fair, I'd probably still buy KBS if Donald Trump was brewing it.

L1011 · 26-01-2021 12:39pm

I don't think licencing fees were really part of the reason for bringing in Rockshore; it was that it was all but inevitable Diageo would lose Budweiser to C&C who were already involved with ABInbev. Which has since happened.

Back to the Larkins stuff - I wonder which other Irish brewers will start doing multipacks due to the legislation changes? Rye River have done four boxes of the canned non-core range McGargles for a while now - I've never seen said cans sold single.

Macy0161 · 26-01-2021 12:51pm

L1011 wrote: »

Back to the Larkins stuff - I wonder which other Irish brewers will start doing multipacks due to the legislation changes? Rye River have done four boxes of the canned non-core range McGargles for a while now - I've never seen said cans sold single.

Beercloud is the only place I've seen individual cans of Sammy's Citra and whatever the Grapefruit one is. But you could certainly see O'Hara's and Rye River going that route - the multiples must be their biggest outlet?

Pen Rua · 26-01-2021 12:56pm

When I've been over in the States in the past, it was 90% multipacks at 10% single units broadly speaking. The laws could have been different in the state I was in (Nebraska). I was totally put off by the multipack offerings because I don't want to commit to 4/6 units of a beer (even if I love it). Much bigger fan of one unit at a time.

Do you mean the leg changes banning €X for Y type deals, or are there more changes on the way?

Supporting craft breweries

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