I was reading an obituary of Portland Brewing on the Beervana Blog when the writer Jeff Alworth made the following (paraphrased by me) point, that Portland Brewing could have brewed the best hazy IPA and the customers would still go to Great Notion for their trend fix.
That made me think what it would take for an “old” brewery to regain hype credibility. Would it require a change in brewer? A new branding initiative? Sole access to a hop that everyone wants?
Being the Bernie like contrarian, I do not know the answer because I don’t buy based solely on hype or perceived market value. That is neither a plus or minus but it does leave me with blind spots when the next cool thing takes off. I am invariably late to the party and slightly jaded about it too.
I do think that there should be some sort of distribution channel for breweries trying to be bold and different from their past. Something that would let a customer know that a beer should be judged anew. Or, for shits and giggles one of these trendy breweries should put out a beer brewed by another brewery and likewise for the other. Let it sit in the market a bit before pulling back the rug on the con.
You might see people running to a heritage brewery right quick.