TOPIC:

A few distributers who mainly do craft beer

[url:1ptbe3hm]http://premierinternational.ie/[/url:1ptbe3hm]

[url:1ptbe3hm]http://www.fourcorners.ie/[/url:1ptbe3hm]

Hope thats of some help

Do Bars need to do More perhaps ?


To be fair , setting up a new bar for a Micro is costly .

You have to pay for the gas account , tap , keg and any promo stuff to get in the door . Gas is paid for by the Brewery , on account monthly , whether it's used or not , and whether the product it's supposed to be hooked up to is actually on or not .

There's a big outlay , and if some pub owner phones up and says

" Gimme a few kegs of that craft stuff you're doing and I'll give them a twist "

and expects that like Guinness he'll have some rep fawning over him , he might be a bit mistaken . He'll likely be talking to the man or woman that brews the beer . Someone who's to the pin of their collar trying to balance everything . Someone who thinks , " shit , if I spend 800 on an install and a few free kegs for this guy , and he doesn't start selling one keg a week straight away , I mightn't make the mortgage this month "


And if the bar owner gave the impression he was only doing it because Guinness have been taking advantage of him lately , well he might put the tap in and cave when Guinness come back and offer him a big discount .


Well , you see ? Micro's are looking for Partners in bars , not customers .
Probably because they see you , the craft drinker as their customer , and not the Bar owner .


It's not that black and white an issue . Bit of food for thought .

Sometimes I wish this forum had a "thanks" button.

You make some valid points but I think you look on the micro sector in soft focus. Everyone who goes into business does so to make money. And while there is a definite romance to making and selling your own beer it is most definitely a business. If the set up costs are €800 then you either accept that as a fact of business life or you decide who you are prepared to de business with. I would imagine that the micros are concentrating on the Dublin market because of numbers and aren't too bothered about the rest of the country. Dublin has an selection of craft beer pubs and another healthy list of craft stockists all selling an array of craft beer. Limerick where I live has one GH tap and two PBC Plain taps and a few places that do bottles. There are either no suitable partners or no parners have asked for business in Limerick. The micros are free to deal with whom ever they choose but they seem to have shot themselves in the foot in the two incidences listed.

Is there anything to be said for the craft brewers hiring a sales/promo team between them? Economies of scale and all that.

Maybe they could set up some sort of trade organisation that looks after their interests, is a point of contact, lobbies on their behalf, attends tradeshows (esp bord bia ones abroad), etc. A small office and probably 2 staff would suffice at a price of say €10k per annum on average per brewer - is this too cost prohibitive?

At the very least they need to come together and form some sort of trade group between them IMO

Edit: Maybe they could organise their own 'group buys' of malt and hops too <!-- s:mrgreen: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt="" title="Mr. Green" /><!-- s:mrgreen: -->

&amp;quot;noby&amp;quot;:1t16bkew wrote: Sometimes I wish this forum had a "thanks" button.[/quote:1t16bkew]
+1