Shiny Objects

Two points from Benchmark Brewing's social media post last week (that I read in summarized form here) describing the brewery's financial issues have stuck with me.  Benchmark's Rachael Akin pointed to beer drinkers' chase and enthusiasm for new beers and the hype these beers generate on social media, as contributing factors in Benchmark's current financial troubles.  Akin states that "the internet is ruining beer" as people add their latest beer conquests to Instagram and apps like Untapped.  Beer drinkers are seeking the new and exciting beers at the expense of good, familiar beers, and then rush to share their findings on social media.  Breweries are using social media to market their limited, one-off beers and create and awareness and sense of urgency.  This strategy is ratcheting up competition, driving traffic to tasting rooms, and is helping to sell beer.  Breweries that don't have special releases and a robust social media strategy in their business plan need to rethink that decision.

I like the special releases, which have brought an excitement to craft beer.  Special releases, some of which are produced monthly or on an even more frequent basis, are separate from breweries regular seasonal releases.  The most common special releases seem to be short-lived hazy IPAs and special stouts.  New breweries, like Pure Project and Burgeon, as well as established breweries like Modern Times and Mikkeller, have perfected the special release.  Modern Times has a monthly release schedule where about four beers are released to on-line sales, and Mikkeller has so many special releases I don't know how it schedules time to brew Windy Hill. 

It is not just the new breweries that are using special releases to their advantage.  Pizza Port is canning some fantastic beers on a monthly basis, and I'll discuss two of its most recent beers, Over the Falls and Liquid Mistletoe, in another post.  Stone Brewing changes its Enjoy By for each release, with the current incarnation a brut IPA, and Stone just released an unfiltered version of its Ruination 2.0 double IPA. 

Complaining about the internet ruining beer is misguided.  The internet should be every brewery's friend.  Any business, including a small brewery, needs a social media strategy that advances the business.  And a strategy is not the owner or brewer tweeting random thoughts and pictures.  When done right, a social media campaign is a cost-effective way to promote a brewery, but when done wrong it is a detriment to the brewery.  The breweries with an impressive and active social media presence, like Stone Brewing, Mikkeller, Modern Times, and Societe Brewing have posts that support and market the brewery, its beers, and its promotions.  All are successful and Societe does not have special releases.  

There are 156 active breweries in San Diego County, according to the San Diego Reader article linked to in this this post's first sentence.  That is some intense competition.  Breweries, if they can, need to explore all possibilities to generate sales, traffic to tasting rooms, and enthusiasm.  If that means brewing special releases or staking an aggressive, focused social media presence to complement a stable of good beers, breweries must do it to stay competitive.  With life dictated by cell phones, the internet is unrelenting, and with special releases proving so popular, it is time for breweries to embrace the trend, can some haze, and blast out the news on Instagram.