Super Market wanna be's

[hopjack13]

Now is it just me ? i have noticed a lot of super markets trying to get a piece of the craft beer pie??? i have no evidence to back this up. however i know that supermarkets can increase profits by 10 - 20% by selling their own products rather then buy from someone else and sell again. some carrie their own milk brands most carrie their own soda brands ect ect... lately i've been at the grocery stores and i've been seeing brands i never heard of and it's only sold at their supermarket chains. ralphs has some weird beer called??? damn i don't even remember ...something creek or river something, and there were two to choose from , a pale ale and a wheat . clever lable it almost looked legit , but it was priced just a few $$ less then all the other craft brews (seirra navada, widmer, redhook ect.) then i saw that albertsons had something like that going on as well??? anybody know what im talking about here??? has anyone actually tried this stuff?

[wortchillergoal]

I work for a supermarket and that idea had not crossed my mind. Mine did not carry any but macro beers until I said something to the owner. I haven't seen any odd names in our store save for some organic beers. I suppose its possible that a private label could be done. I'll have to look into this a little more. Oh, my store, a family owned chain in 3states, does sell everything esle with its own name.

[steveh]

Hopjack, give us some more to work with here - go back and get the names, maybe even "take one for the team." There are a lot of breweries that "contract brew" for establishments such as restaurants and brew-pubs in order to say they have their "own" beer or that they can offer bottles. Take a close look at the label, you can probably garner some clues by where the beer was brewed. Even though it may say Ralph's Brewing, it may list DuBuque, IA or New Ulm, MN as the brewery location.

One of my local pubs has one of their favorite styles brewed, bottled, and kegged at Steven's Point so that they can sell in the liquor stores. The Point Brewery follows the recipe provided and it's a decent recreation of the pub brew. Point (sorry, no pun intended) being: the "weird" beer may just be pretty good, and that's what counts the most, right?

S.

[Tom C]

Originally posted by hopjack13
lately i've been at the grocery stores and i've been seeing brands i never heard of and it's only sold at their supermarket chains. ralphs has some weird beer called??? damn i don't even remember ...something creek or river something, and there were two to choose from , a pale ale and a wheat . clever lable it almost looked legit. anybody know what im talking about here??? has anyone actually tried this stuff?

Could be Otter Creek Brewing based in Vermont. They have three staples an American Pale Ale, a Copper Ale and their Stovepipe Porter. All are good ales nothing special about them that makes them stand out, but crisp and to style. They also have an array of specials that they brew throughout the year. They do have neat labels.http://www.ottercreekbrewing.com/home/otter_creek.html

I have included their website link. Defintly worth a try.

Tom C

[newportstorm]

I don't think it's Otter Creek you're thinking of. They are pretty well established and aside from their recent buyout by Wolaver's (organic beer), I don't know of any contract brews from them.

There was a discussion a while back on BeerAdvocate.com about this topic. A few name popped up that might be familiar to you:

Hidden River Pale Ale - sold at Albertson's, brewed by Gluek Brewing. Compared to 'wet cardboard' on the forum.

Elk Rock - sold at Safeway, unsure of brewing home

Metolis River - sold at Albertson's, brewed by Portland Brewery who also contract brews for other places. Same recipe, different name.

Hope this helps. Cheers!

[fretlessman71]

In Nashville, there's a beer called Lawson Creek that's out of Minnesota, and they're sold at the grocery stores and nowhere else. I've looked at a few reviews on beeradvocate.com and seen nothing that would make me want to try it. On the other hand, I read similarly bad things about Bohannon Brewing (which is a local beer) and tried their Vanilla Creme Ale just because I felt like being strange, and it wasn't bad! Granted, it wasn't very beer-y, but they intended to make a beer that tasted more like a cream soda without being so sticky-sweet, and I think they did a pretty darn good job of it. A great lawnmower beer if there ever was one! I may just have to buy it again.

Are we all ready to "take one for the team," as steveh so aptly puts it? Maybe we should all go out and buy a "no-name" brand that looks like it could be good and give it a try, and post our thoughts on it here. How nice it would be to have an inexpen$ive beer that someone put a lot of care and thought into making, and have that come through in the quality... let's see if there's some credit to bestow upon a valiant effort out there, huh? Who's with me?

[hopjack13]

yeah that was it! lawson creek.. and it's only sold out here at ralphs i think.... albertsons has the hidden river and you can only find it there. are they contrcting there own beer or buying someone elses and slapping their lable on it?? i look at the beer and ? it's integrity, haven't built up enough courage to buy it but i may have to "take one for the team" here and find out what this beer is all about. of course if i read the lable and there is more then four ingredients i may feel better about just wondering.

[fretlessman71]

It's $4.99 a six pack here.... pretty dang cheap, if you ask me. C'mon.... WHO'S BRAVE OUT THERE? We may never know what we're missing if we don't at least give it a try! At the least, we'll have 6 more homebrew bottles, right? :p

[steveh]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
It's $4.99 a six pack here.... pretty dang cheap, if you ask me. C'mon.... WHO'S BRAVE OUT THERE? We may never know what we're missing if we don't at least give it a try! At the least, we'll have 6 more homebrew bottles, right? :p

I'd take one on the chin if there were any contracts at grocery stores around the Chi area, but I've never seen 'em. Here and there you find a restaurant or bar that has its own "house" label, and around here it's usually brewed by Huber Brewing of Monroe, WI. They're not terribly exciting beers, but not offensive either. I think that the Chili's restaurant chain even has a house beer - possibly brewed by DuBuque brewing in Iowa (I think Leona's Pizza chain in Chi has a DuBuque beer as a house brew).

AFA homebrew bottles - make sure they're not twist-offs, oh yeah - that's a different thread!

S.

[sierraman]

I tried the Hidden River Pale a couple of months ago. Bought a sixer at Albertson's for 4.99 I think. Still have three of the six in my fridge and am waiting for unwelcomed visitors to pawn them off on. I drank one and had to choke it down. I gave one to a friend and one to my Dad 'cause I thought maybe it was just me. Nobody asked for another. I wasn't expecting a Sierra Nevada clone but I was hoping it would be drinkable. It's not.

I have no idea if this is brewed by a supermarket chain or is a "house brew," in fact I think the label said it came from Minnesota. Oh well. At least I tried.

[hopjack13]

well i guess that says it for the hidden river...maybe they should've hidden the beer as well...he he he

as for the lawson creek i check them out on rate beer.. none of their beers even made 3 stars..... guess someone else will have to "take one on the chin", but it won't be me..
:D i've got to maintain my useless reputation here folks.

[steveh]

Originally posted by sierraman
I have no idea if this is brewed by a supermarket chain or is a "house brew," in fact I think the label said it came from Minnesota. Oh well. At least I tried.

Yeah, Beeradvocate confirms my suspicions - when I heard Minnesota and mediocre Cold Springs Brewing immediately came to mind:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/review/892/

This brewery has been around for a while and Cold Springs beer was even distributed nationwide by Merchant DuVin as a unique regional beer, I always found it pretty boring. It looks like they have a new owner too: http://www.gluek.com/

Now, if it had been brewed by August Schell...http://www.schellsbrewery.com/home.php

S.

[hopjack13]

hey i remember back in the 80's stater brothers (a grocery store only found in socal)had their own beer...it was a plain brown can the color of a brown paper bag and in bold black writing all it said on it was BEER ...
ha ... never tried it and i don't think i would've liked it any way but i admired their bluntness...straight...simple and right to the point. no gimmiks no fancy writing, just plain jane and generic as hell!

[mwesth]

In France it is very common for the big Supermarket chains to have their own labels. Some are bad discount swill, some are very good, brewed by good breweries, i.e. Brasserie Meteor and Terken.
On my summervacation this year I found a beer named "Kochersbier", very cheap at the camping site. It is actually "Meteor Export" relabelled at half the price :D
You can also find beer from Brasserie Duyck (Jenlain) relabelled.

Morten

[Richard English]

I have a simple rule about bottled beer. These days, if it's not bottle-conditioned I won't buy it. Maybe I am missing out on some good brewery-conditioned beers, but at least I know I'll get a good beer if it's a BCA. I have, I will point out, bought many bottled beers that are brewery-conditioned over the years; indeed, just a few years ago it was almost impossible to get BCAs. However, none that I have tried exhibits that roundness of flavour that comes from a gentle secondary fermentation in the bottle.

In the UK most (maybe all?) bottle-conditioned beers have the expression "Bottle-conditioned"on their labels. However, if you're not sure, just hold the bottle up to the light and look at its bottom. No sediment? Put it back on the shelf!

[steveh]

Originally posted by hopjack13
BEER ...
ha ... never tried it and i don't think i would've liked it any way but i admired their bluntness...straight...simple and right to the point. no gimmiks no fancy writing, just plain jane and generic as hell!

Yeah, a few of the stores around here had "generic" beer too - that's one hit-for-the-team I'd have probably passed on! Don't judge a book by its cover? Even when it's an olive-drab and black labeled can that merely states BEER in a stenciled font?

S.

[Richard English]

And at the risk of being accused of judging a book by its cover let me say also that I do not buy canned beer either.

Although I accept that there are some reasonable canned beers (Guinness is a case in point)I have never yet found one that is better than "so-so".

As I understand the mechanics of canning, I believe it's impossible to can anything that has not been "cooked" and thus it would be impossible to have a secondary fermentation in a can - even if the can would withstand the pressure involved - as the beer would inevitably be killed through the heating.

[skahtboi]

For the price, I found the Hidden River Black and Tan to be a drinkable beer. Not real great...but drinkable. Have I bought it again? No. Would I? Who knows? Maybe at the end of a month if my budget is real tight. The Pale Ale was about the same...nothing to write home about. The Amber Ale, though, was absolutely terrible. Too sugary with no discernable flavor.

[hopjack13]

welcome back richard ...haven't heard from you in a while. you travel alot huh? when are you gonna make a trip out this way?
and im withh you on the can beer , i never buy it either. i see some abby ales in a can but never had the courage to buy any.
the last time i had guinness in a can was 98' i was drinking black and tans at the boat house (a restaurant ) on the santa monica pier. and on the way home back to l.a. i picked up a four pack.

and i fully agree with you steveh thats one hit for the team i wouldn't be willing to take either!