Courtesy of Twitter user, saisonsinthesun
(Grand Rapids, MI) – Founders Brewing has kept the release of Nemesis 2010 one very quiet to the point where the first internet mention came less than a week before the beer hit shelves. Word on the street is that this wasn’t supposed to be stocked until September 1st but as often happens with Founders, the beer leaked out to shelves a bit early.
Paul Hayden from The Wine and Cheese Place broke this on Friday. Here’s the beer description he got: “The 2010 release of Nemesis is best described by our brewing team as “a dark barley wine that pours black with a subtle mahogany hue. Brewed with 5 malts and no shortage of hops for a pleasantly bitter booming flavor. Roasty and toasty with a multitude of tastes that melts on your tongue.'”
This is, of course, different from Nemesis 2009, “a Maple Bourbon barrel aged wheat wine holding 12% ABV and 70 IBUs.” That beer didn’t make it onto shelves until late this past winter so the quick release of Nemesis 2010 is certainly a surprise.
Actually it’s not supposed to be out, some people jumped the gun.
Dave from Founders actually spoke regarding this on BA. Check it out:
http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/2926119
Hey folks. Not real happy with this read. Let me reassure everyone that Founders fully intended to release the 2010 Nemesis throughout distribution on September 1st. In fact, quite a few of our distributors haven’t received their allocations yet.
Unfortunately a few of our wholesalers must have missed a key sentence in their Nemesis letter they received on 7.20.10.
Founders Wholesalers,
We are happy to announce an earlier than expected release of our 2010 small batch anniversary ale, Nemesis. In the past we have set the release for December and if you recall the 2009 release was held back till February of this year for the beer to properly mature. But as an anniversary ale, the style and recipe changes each year and our efforts to schedule this beer provided us an opportunity to ship the 2010 Nemesis early to our wholesaler network. We will start shipping this product to some wholesaler’s this month and to all other’s by the end of August for a September 1st release to your retailer’s. No sooner please!
Some have asked if this was a “marketing strategy” to leak product to certain states to increase the “buzz”. Horseshit! This creates pissed-off retailers and customers who feel that they’ve been slighted for other states. I know these things can happen but it creates a hell of a lot of unnecessary e-mails, headaches and damage control. We would much prefer to spend our time doing what we do best, keep those tanks full.
Sorry for the rambling.
Cheers,
Dave Engbers
Co-Founder
Founders Brewing Company
Yup, I made that clear in the text of the article. It was published prior to Dave’s comment.
Sorry, didn’t mean to imply that you didn’t mention that. I just wanted to add that Founders wasn’t wasn’t happy about it.
My bad.
Haha, I just saw an article how 50% of all internet messages are misconstrued. I was just in a hurry when I left that comment & failed to click to read your full comment. Thanks for posting it here and best of luck to you getting hold of this beer!
I’ve had this beer. It’s really good. Can’t wait for the official release date!