(Halethorpe, MD) – Yesterday’s discussion around Clipper City (Heavy Seas Beer) Founder, Hugh Sisson, and his remarks on new brewers and gypsy brewers drew quite a bit of attention. BeerPulse just received the following statement from Clipper City HQ clarifying those remarks.
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I would like to respond to the discussions regarding my recent interview published in the Beer Advocate. I was asked what I thought about the rapid growth of the industry – and my response reflects my opinion of some potential pitfalls on the horizon.
My comment about “gypsy” brewers was referring to people entering this business who are more opportunists and enthusiasts, rather than serious beer business folks. There were almost 600 new brewers in the last year and a half, and I am told there are another 1200 in the pipe line over the next year. That is simply unsustainable growth (in my opinion), and many of these folks will be unprepared for the rigors of the industry from both a business plan and a capital perspective. I expect that many of them will fail and then move onto something else. It is those folks that I was referring to when I used the term “gypsy”. If it is the wrong term, then I apologize for the confusion.
Companies like Stillwater and Pretty Things (to name a few) don’t fall into that category for me, and I am sorry if that is the way it was interpreted. These are clearly passionate, professional organizations who are invested and developing successful businesses. They are an asset to the category. Whether a company actually makes its own beer, or produces in another’s facility, really isn’t the determining factor – the business approach is.
As someone who lived through the market correction of the late 90s I am just really concerned about this wildly exuberant growth in the number of players. I believe there are a good number of folks who are jumping into this industry with little more than a label and a smile. That concerns me – and should concern all of us for whom brewing is our profession. Craft beer is one of the few business success stories over the last few years, so a potential rash of business failures could potentially tarnish our category. I lived through it in the 90’s – I am really hopeful we don’t have to live through it again.
Hugh Sisson
Heavy Seas Beer
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Normal fire prevention from a chronic offender of putting down people in the brewing community because they were not around when he was coming up. He is still behind the beer market by 3 years and thinks he knows what beer drinkers want and is dead set on getting his sub-standard beers into every state and he can forgets about the girl he brought to the dance.
Prevention or extinguishing?
Are the circumstances surrounding the “market correction” in the 90s the same as today? With the wine-ification of beer and the subsequent anti-wine-fication of beer, this feels different than the 90s. I’m starting to see more average bars starting to serve more than 1 craft beer, as opposed to zero craft beers. I actually think there is more room for growth, despite seeing more craft beer there are many restauranteurs with fine dining establishments that are still serving MGD or Budweiser on the same pages as their excellent wine selection. A restaurant nearby has a Moules Frites happy hour dish but serves no Belgian beer (not even Chimay or Duvel). I also think that beer consumers are getting more demanding. Even though craft is only 5% of the market a much higher percentage of beer consumers are buying the stuff it’s just that they buy an order of magnitude more macro beer than craft.
However, with all of that having been said, it hard to say one way or the other whether or not this is a craft beer bubble or not UNLESS YOU HAVE THE NUMBERS.
Of course, how many articles have you read lately that talk about any other numbers except growth?
^This.
If I may, split one more hair…
Pretty Things brews their own beer from the same brewery, that they don’t own outright but know how to operate, day in day out. Pretty Things is NOT a gypsy brewery. (notice how with all the pingbacks and comments yesterday from the original article, Pretty Things stayed out of conversation…)
Stillwater sometimes brews his beer, sometimes doesn’t, at various breweries around the world. It’s a successful brand, I get it. A mortgage and life savings, I get it. A big risk. I. Get. It. However, the beers are so similar to one another, wherever they’re brewed, that I just don’t bother trying them any more. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me over and over again…same for Mikkeller and Evil Twin. They all “phone in” half or more of their beer, and the only time they show their faces is if it’s for a photo op for a collab brew at another, actual, brewery. What makes this example so annoying to purists is that these guys sell their beers at a higher price than the quality of the liquid dictates (Mikkellers single-hop American IPA series immediately comes to mind).
At least contract beer wears it’s badge on it’s sleeve. These “gypsy” brewers walk around with this extra savwafair, playing at being brewers when all they really are is clever at marketing and good with money, and they homebrewed once. Which, I guess, count’s for something. If only the beers were any good…
I guess that’s my beef. I don’t care what the ratings say, the beers are overhyped and subpar. Brew some truly world class beer that has a price comparable to it’s quality and I’ll give you a hug. Maybe even a kiss. Hell, I might even drink the beer.
Seriously, after giving it all of the thoughts I have to give, my problem isn’t with who they are and how they get their beer to market. My problem is with the overrated liquid and “you should feel privileged” pricing.
Now that he cleared up who he was talking about. I think Hugh Sisson has a valid point. There could be some rough times ahead. I love the exciting and dynamic craft brewing industry. I love how it is growing in producers as well as its fan base. Still, I do think the recent growth numbers are unsustainable and fear that when the market corrects itself (hopefully after craft beer takes a much larger share of the overall market) the results may come with some collateral damage. There is simply a lot of beer being made and it appears a lot more will be made in the near future. While this is great, I worry new and enthusiastic craft beer customers will eventually reach their limit. Luckily, there is a lot that can happen between now and then. I do believe there is a legitimate cause for concern. Would that stop me from opening a brewery tomorrow had I the funds? Not at all!
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So basically Hugh’s connotation of the term gypsy is a negative one.
He knew exactly what he was saying. Now he is just dick-tucking on his stupid statement instead of saying he was wrong, or standing by his words.
Sick of established brewers shi^*ing on the little guy. It’s like they forgot where they came from, or why they are in this game.
I’m with Jordan. This is like Hugh saying “I didn’t mean gypsy brewers like we normally say – I meant gypsy brewers in a more racist/ethnicist way”
I like a lot of Heavy Seas stuff, but he needs to pipe down a little and step away from the BA Bros.
Sorry I couldn’t start my little brewery back when I was in high school in the 90’s, I think that would have been illegal. So congrats on making it through the 90’s, but it isn’t the 90’s anymore, live in the now and don’t bash other people trying to start a small business just because the next tier of breweries might actually see some market share hit by small, even more local brewers. Hopefully this decade will be the decade that many of us can look at 20 years from now and recall “ahh that is the decade that beer truly got local and crafted”, or are we not allowed to step on your dwelling of 20 years ago?