r/AlbertaBeer • u/flamingogal99 • 1d ago
The Landscape of Alberta Breweries is Rapidly Changing, and Joining Forces Seems the Only Way to Survive. This is making me reconsider where my dollars are going.
I love supporting local craft beer, and well local in general. But it seems more and more that breweries are being bought by larger entities, or becoming chains, like Sea Change. In Calgary, High Line is now part of Good Life Brands, and Sunny Cider, 948, and Atlas are now part of Twin Sparrows Beverage company. And in the previous years we have seen breweries join forces like Dandy and Blindman, and I think Apex is still brewing out of Born's space (I could be wrong about that one). I don't want to support chains, or corporations, but... it seems like supporting craft means just that these days. I'm just a little sad about the whole thing, and would love to hear what others in Alberta think.
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u/LandonKB 1d ago
Buy your favorite beers and visit your favorite breweries. I think you are overthinking it a bit.
If it is not owned by a global conglomerate giant like Coors or ABinbev I am not going to worry about it.
I don't fault any of these smaller guys for teaming up to stay alive, it is a really tough industry to survive in. I would not consider something like Dandy and Blindman working together as a chain or " mega corporation".
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u/EvacuationRelocation 1d ago
I occasionally visit Banded Peak and Wildrose Brewery because they employ local people at their taprooms and brew their beer in-house. That doesn't make them evil.
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u/LandonKB 1d ago
Oh for sure I still enjoy their beers and they have local staff working there but I do go there less since they were acquired by the giants.
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u/fishymanbits 1d ago
I don’t think it’s really as deep as all that. Drink what you like. Support the ones making quality beer that you enjoy. It’s easy to avoid the macros because they don’t make beer that I like. It’s less easy to avoid Sea Change because their marketing game is so strong, but they don’t make beer that I like so I don’t buy their stuff.
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u/nnksi 1d ago
I wouldn’t conflate a small group of local businesspeople opening several concepts with a multinational juggernaut hellbent on global domination. Most of those businesses are just adapting to the market, which, yes, means multiple locations or concepts or an alternate business model.
It is important to note that you’ve highlighted several vastly different business models, though.
- Sea Change: Single business with multiple locations that seems intent on growth. From the outside, this is how breweries operate when they’re trying to grow enough assets to sell to the multinationals. The beer is inexpensive to produce, they have deep market penetration, if I were a local brewery looking to be purchased by a multinational (which isn’t happening anymore), this is how I would do it.
- High Line: High Line doesn’t exist anymore. The business isn’t being acquired by someone else, Field House bought the physical assets of a failing brewery. For what it’s worth, they aren’t some huge, nefarious brand. Field House and Nice Life Cocktails (the owners of which previously owned a company together) merged in order to adapt to a changing liquor landscape. The growth is actually pretty metered and organic. This is likely the type of business that will or should be a prevailing paradigm looking forward.
- Twin Sparrows: As above. Adapt or die. This allows the businesses to share back-end costs, and offer better services with clients. Now instead of three sales reps, they can see one, as the reps are showing more complete portfolios.
- Apex: This is just contract brewing. It happens everywhere. In this case, Apex fucked their brand really hard and had to change concepts and get out of the physical space, and Born had enough extra tank space to make it happen. Contracting like this is often only gently beneficial for the brand, since they get worse margins and the goal is really to hope you’ll gain enough soft capital to convince other people to give you hard capital (if your goal is to open your own independent space). Otherwise you’re basically paying rent to make a restricted amount of product, and therefore revenue.
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u/EvacuationRelocation 1d ago
Single business with multiple locations that seems intent on growth. From the outside, this is how breweries operate when they’re trying to grow enough assets to sell to the multinational
Would you say the same of Bearhill?
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u/nnksi 1d ago
Not as much. Distribution is more limited, prices are higher, beers are typically more expensive to make… the Bearhill model is more about butts in seats than market penetration, though Crisp Pils and Tokyo Drift are reasonably well distributed. Plus I think the bulk of their volume is contract brewed at Last Spike, though I don’t know what kind of capacity they have at Campio.
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u/striker4567 1d ago
Crisp sells a ton, probably one of the biggest craft beers in AB. And sea change operates very similarly to bearhill, contracting out most of their volume.
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u/10ADPDOTCOM 1d ago
Sea Change’s four restaurant/bars aren’t about butts in seats?
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u/nnksi 1d ago
I perceive Sea Change as being about distribution first, with the taprooms being a secondary mode. The Calgary spot is about production capacity, and cutting an aggressive in-road to the perception of it being a “Calgary brewery.” 33 Acres did the same toward that second point, though 33C produces no volume for distribution. (Feel free to lump Field House in that category.)
Historically, the Bearhill spots exclusively made beer for on premise consumption, though they have shifted to produce more for distribution. I can’t speak as to how much of their business model is restaurant versus distribution anymore, though, so maybe I’m off base.
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u/10ADPDOTCOM 21h ago
Inner City wasn’t exactly a large, esteemed or sophisticated operation. Whether it’s buying someone else’s gear or buying new steel, there are easier ways to boost production capacity. There have been a number of opportunities to buy distressed/shuttered breweries all over the province — including in or closer to Calgary.
A cynic could say they only wanted a cool Calgary location for marketing reasons. While that is a major benefit of the model, you only need to have a PO box to claim “local” status. Butts in seats is why Sea Change has three spots around Edmonton, Half Hitch has six around Calgary. Brewsters has seven around Alberta and Bearhill has five…
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u/EvacuationRelocation 1d ago
I perceive
So it's feelings only. Okay.
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u/nnksi 1d ago
That’s an oddly dismissive reaction. I gave you some of my evidence for forming a certain opinion, and I’m not claiming privileged insider information, but I have been in the industry for a properly long time. My interpretations aren’t baseless. If you disagree with me for saying “it seems like Sea Change cares more about distribution and expansion,” I think there are better ways of combatting my argument than saying “this guy feels stuff.”
Edited a couple words.
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u/EvacuationRelocation 1d ago edited 1d ago
That’s an oddly dismissive reaction.
No - it's the right reaction to someone's "perception" and "opinion". If Sea Change's Calgary spot was just about "production capacity", they would not have done a full rebuild of the interior and invited a kitchen partner in the space. They would not have booked live acts, etc. But I'm sure your "perception" about a successful brewery is spot-on, despite these obvious facts.
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u/Midwinter_Dram 14h ago
The guy you're talking too takes any negative talk about Seachange very personally.
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u/EvacuationRelocation 13h ago
I just don't like knee-jerk negativity for no reason. It's irrational.
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u/canucklurker 17h ago edited 17h ago
The story I got from a former employee was Apex got sued back when they were Bench Creek Brewing (the creek in Edson) by Ontario's "Bench Brewing" that opened and had to rebrand. Sounded like Ontario's Bench had a flimsy case since Apex had first use - but Ontario had a ton of money and just buried them in hundreds of thousands in lawyers fees to the point they never really recovered.
Edit: Reached out to the person. They said Ontario's Bench filed something like 10 different copyright lawsuits in simultaneously against Bench Creek despite Bench Creek being open almost a year before Bench in Ontario
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u/nnksi 15h ago
To be clear, I’m no pro-Bench here. I fully believe your account, though what I understand is that Apex made the first move against Bench, and for reasons I can’t recall, Bench had the stronger legal claim. (Leading to the disproportionate response of Apex being absolutely bullied into oblivion.) I likely spoke too strongly when I said they fucked their brand. What I really see as the mistake they made is what they changed their name to.
They still had the brewery when they changed their name the first time to Apex Predator (which was the name of their most popular beer at the time), but nobody followed the change and sales dropped pretty egregiously. To me, I think the new name was also too clunky and aggressive to use as the brand for the whole brewery. They changed it again in pretty quick succession to Apex, maybe within a few years, and I can’t say if it helped or not.
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u/canucklurker 8h ago edited 8h ago
I reached out to them again. Sounds like it was a messy argument with two breweries that both thought they were going to be going national at the height of the craft beer explosion.
They said that the Apex thought they had the stronger claim on the trademark, and actually had first use. They were about to go to court with it thinking they could win - and then Ontario Bench sued Bench Creek in every provincial court at once. Which Alberta Bench couldn't afford to fight that many battles and had to rebrand on short notice.
I'm sure Ontario Bench sees things differently, but I have more sympathy for a small family business in Alberta than a bunch of investment bankers in Toronto
I also asked why the hell they chose "Apex Predator" and they laughed and said that happened about a month before the #metoo movement and "Predator" suddenly was talking about Weinstein and not Bears. So they rebranded again.
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u/Scatman_Jeff 7h ago edited 7h ago
Im curious who you were talking to...
The lawsuit with bench brewing (twenty bench at the time) was only one of several factors. They also had a legal dispute regarding the Naked Woodsman pale ale (now Dead Woodsman).
The rebrand to Apex Predator was because that was the name of their double IPA, and they actually owned the trademark on it. I believe this happened in 2019, it maybe late 2018, so a bit after the #metoo movement, as that was in 2017. But, yes, some bars didn't want didn't want to carry their brand because of the predator association to Weinstein.
The rebrand to Apex happened shortly before Covid, and Apex laid off all their sales staff at the start of the pandemic, which ment that tge rebrand was never properly communicated to a lot of bars restaurants. At the same time, they dropped the brand names for their beers, with the exception of White Raven and Dead Woodsman, out of fear of further trademark disputes (although they have since brought them back). This ment that beers like Bench Creeks Flint and Steel became Apex Predator Session IPA, then Apex Session IPA - since their was no sales team communicating with vendors, they all assumed the beer just went out of production. As a distribution focused brewery, they should have been in a better position to get through covid than many of the taproom focused breweries in the cities.
Fast forward a couple years, and their production staff have been told there is no money for raises, not even a basic cost of living adjustment, while the company is spending $$$ on consultants to give the owner the same advice their staff had already been giving for free. This ultimately lead to the OG head brewer being laid off, and the other brewer quiting. So at this point, they have no production staff, and no sales staff. And of course, they are in Edson, so its not like there was an abundance of qualified local brewers that they could hire to fill those roles.
So, yeah the lawsuit with Bench certainly hurt them, but ultimately their current situation is the result of a series of poor decisions from the owner.
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u/canucklurker 4h ago
The person I talked to asked for anonymity, sorry but I'm not going to say or provide details on them.
That fills in a lot of holes on what happened and makes sense from what I saw (and tasted)
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u/flamingogal99 1d ago
I absolutely shared vastly different models as part of the conversation for a changing landscape. Thank you for clarifying them all in much better detail.
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u/EvacuationRelocation 1d ago
What's wrong with Sea Change having multiple locations, or Apex brewing out of Born (which yes, they are)?
What is the issue with breweries being successful?
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u/Letterkenny_Irish 1d ago
And how is only having a single location somehow equating to more quality? It's still a corporation with one location. And they're all operating for profit. If they make good stuff and become successful enough to branch out what's the issue?
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u/Novel_Ad_5502 1d ago
I don’t think I said that the quality comes from only one place. If you have seven letterkenny_irish breweries all putting out a decent product, good on you. It’s when you have those locations and your equipment is decorative and you’re paying field and forge, blindman, or last spike to make all your beer, you don’t own a brewery, you own a bar with private labels. What’s the problem with disclosing where your products are made?
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u/hvntrhvntr 1d ago
Maybe it's that branching out often involves compromises, and the quality of the product isn't always the top priority at that point. Not that I blame producers, plenty of customers are not particularly discerning, hence the success of the macros.
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u/Novel_Ad_5502 1d ago
Success is never the issue, it’s the honesty behind that success. There are several breweries that make sea changes beer for them, but they would never say that. Vs apex or ale architect (pre location) having on their cans where that beer was made. There are breweries that get away with incentivizing, which is illegal, and both AGLC and asba turn a blind eye to that for whatever reason. It’s the mentality of ‘we can all succeed together’ being what the case should be instead of trying to push other small breweries down so you can be the biggest small.
In regards to ops concerns, if you cannot name most of the owners of a brewery, or see them there, chances are they’re bigger than you think. Not that they’re worth much, but big rock trades shares in both CAD and usd.
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u/Ecstatic-Crow-2502 21h ago
It’s called contract brewing, a lot of breweries do it for larger volumes. It’s not illegal via AGLC lol.
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u/Novel_Ad_5502 16h ago
I don’t believe I said contract brewing was illegal, I said incentivizing was. So if you and I had beer we were trying to sell, and you did something along the lines of giving every tenth keg free and I couldn’t afford to match that (illegal) offer, it takes away the level playing field for all producers. It’s no different than selling to different people at different prices based on how much they buy; if I bought a keg of death wave this year and you buy 15 per week, you cannot purchase it for a different wholesale price than I can
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u/EvacuationRelocation 1d ago
There are several breweries that make sea changes beer for them, but they would never say that.
Do they need to?
There are breweries that get away with incentivizing, which is illegal
You should report them.
if you cannot name most of the owners of a brewery, or see them there, chances are they’re bigger than you think.
I don't think I've ever met or seen the owner of most breweries when I've stopped by. I guess they are all corporate now.
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u/Novel_Ad_5502 1d ago
The great beer from here and here and here and here doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. Why not be transparent about things is my issue with it; if it’s not worth hiding, why hide it?
Because the reports go nowhere. Weird how in a province with our political climate, that companies with money seem to have their investigations dead end. And I’m not talking the labatts brewery or anyone of comparable size to them. And as someone who has built a career in this industry, I’m not about to let myself get blacklisted over what should be black and white enforcement of regulations. But some people are just more equal than others.
It’s how they look at their customers too. Are you just revenue, or do they actual create a sense of community at their location? All of the breweries in red deer, save commonwealth, have very visible ownership, if not at their breweries, certainly in the community. Both of the spruce grove breweries are the same. Compared to the ‘big for their britches’ attitudes some of the other places have, I’ll keep taking the little guy thanks
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u/EvacuationRelocation 1d ago
It’s how they look at their customers too. Are you just revenue, or do they actual create a sense of community at their location?
So having taproom events, sponsoring community events, that sort of thing? Huh.
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u/Scatman_Jeff 1d ago edited 1d ago
As a brewer who has worked for at least one of the breweries mentioned in this thread, I care far more about how the owners treat their employees, than I care about the size or structure of the business.
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u/Aran33 1d ago
Any breweries that do a particularly good job in terms of how they treat their employee base?
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u/Scatman_Jeff 1d ago
The main breweries I support are Folding Mountain, Cabin, Blindman, Polyrhythm, Bent Stick, Sawback, Red Hart, and Darkwoods. Any brewery where the owner is the brewer is likely a safe bet too, so Irrational, High River, Belly Hop, etc
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u/Disastrous-Owl-3866 1d ago
I support any local breweries, as long as the beer meets my needs. I also love home brewing. No better way to support local than keeping all that tax money in your own pocket.
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u/FuckRulez 1d ago
I support local %100, I’m very happy to see battle river brewery back in action.
Their cream ale is the best I have ever had.
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u/Beastender_Tartine 1d ago
Sea Change is my local brewery and I think theyre great. The staff is great, they seem to be good to work for, and I like the beer. They are pushing hard to expand, but I dont see that as a reason to specifically dislike them.
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u/hvntrhvntr 1d ago
What do you mean Sea change is your local brewery? Local as in Alberta or local as in your city or localize in your neighborhood? For what it's worth sometimes I crave The Wolf. Preferably with a double flatty in my other hand. If it weren't for flat boy..
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u/Beastender_Tartine 1d ago
Local as in i can walk to the sea change taproom in beaumont. The flat boy burgers are good, but i miss the mexican food. They still have great nachos though.
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u/fishymanbits 14h ago
If it weren’t for Flat Boy I would never set foot inside Shiddy’s. Luckily it’s right next to three breweries making good beer so I can grab a burger and go eat it with something nice to drink.
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u/smorethanmeetstheeye 17h ago
Being bought out is likely the end game for most, but the mass production of the beer does seem to change the quality of the product. I've seen it with Banded Peak, after they were bought out by Labatt. I used to like the Microburst, when it first came out. Now I won't touch it, it's not the same beer.
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u/beerguychris Hoptimus Prime 12h ago
Almost every brewery running in Alberta is incorporated, so if it's an anti-corporate thing, hope you like cider or mead made by a collective or a co-operative.
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u/flamingogal99 10h ago
It's definitely not an anti- corporation thing. Not sure where you made that leap by me mentioning I'm sad breweries have team up, and change in order to survive.
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u/wudrich 1d ago
Twin Sparrows Beverage company is our new outside sales team at 948. They were brought in to help us expand our growing market demands. We were unable to continue the growth we needed without outside sales help. Twin Sparrows is in no way owners or involved with the business of brewing or running 948, they are simply amazing people that want to help us and see us grow.
We work with our friends at Atlas to create collaboration beers and help each other grow.
We work with our friends at SunnyCider to provide 948 customers with DELICIOUS cider since the AGLC now allows us to sell Alberta produced products in our taproom.
We use Origin malts for ALL our base malt in every beer we produce on the OG Dandy brewhouse.
Also, we work with Village Brewing and Templ to provide Non Alcoholic beer products in our taproom.
We believe the amazing craft brewing industry succeeds from working together. We've seen far too many other friends closing their doors.. So we choose to help where we can. We hope you feel the same and support ALL our friends and neighbours in the industry and those who run small businesses in your community.