TOPIC:

I would suggest the challenge is two=fold:

1. Improve on mass market flavour stero types by providing better quality, better price, supporting craft brewers and .ie in general

If smaller breweries can achieve this then they will win market share from the big boys. This means good quality stout and lager and some ales ( Red )


2. Inovate new styles of beer that are radically different to what is being consumed now. By radical I don't mean weird flavours such as carraway, cloves, ginger etc but to the mass market of drinkers IPA/APA hoppy beers ARE radical.

This needs to be trialled as suggested on this thread. And so if option 1. starts to open G/H/Bw drinkers pallates then option 2. will stand a chance

The secret really is Great Product/Great Quality/Great Price

Get all 3 right and Bingo

Will

A micro would be very foolish to begin a price war with the macros, they would loose. There simply is not the same margins on anything craft made.
Some of the other points above are good though, think of the span of all the beer styles in the world, now think of all the beer styles made here. I can only see limited scope for kegged or cask beer of "outside the box", now there would be exceptions where the volume of turnover would justify it but those pubs would not be enough to support a micro. So bottled would make the most sence. Would there be enough demand for 2,3 or 4000 bottles of this style every month. Brewing to half your systems capacity is not an option. The longer a beer is in packaging the more it looses it's hop profile, aroma is the first to go then the flavour starts deminishing. After 2 months it's no longer the same beer, it may still taste good but it's not the same. On things like RIS or other high ABV beers this is not a problem because of the style profiles of them but something light with big hops it would.

"JamesM":yxtkn8ks wrote:

"Taf":yxtkn8ks wrote: I think Adam makes good points [/quote:yxtkn8ks]
Any one who writes posts that long is bound to somewhere!! <!-- s:o --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_surprised.gif" alt="" title="Surprised" /><!-- s:o --> <!-- s:shock: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_eek.gif" alt=":shock:" title="Shocked" /><!-- s:shock: -->[/quote:yxtkn8ks]

Adam, the man of golden words[/url:yxtkn8ks]. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

&amp;quot;Ale Man&amp;quot;:hloiu9fg wrote: A micro would be very foolish to begin a price war with the macros, they would loose. There simply is not the same margins on anything craft made.[/quote:hloiu9fg]

I would like to see some breakdown figures:

Craft brewers benefit from the 50% discount on alcohol revenues so they can brew stronger and not pay excessive revenue duty.

Craft breweries do NOT support the Heineken Cup or Guinness Leagues: Therefore: No excess advertising budgets

Macros pay out for HUGE shipping costs, Micros tend to be either local distribution or done on a less than cost efficient service

So who can break down the price of a macro pint as opposed to a craft pint.

Cheers

Will

So when are we going to see an Irish micro producing a sour beer? <!-- s:lol: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt="" title="Laughing" /><!-- s:lol: -->

Scale is a real problem in this country as our population is so small. As an exercise, try and do a small business plan for a brewery, it quickly becomes apparent that ,unless you're a brewpub, you need relatively large volumes to make the margins work. (I did one and it was a real eye opener) As such in this country, with a population smaller than Manchester, you need to start looking at export which is an issue for hoppy beers. Not so much for strong stouts and ales.

Perhaps seasonals are a way to go though, one off beers that test the market without ordering in massive amounts of hops, I don't know.