We hear it all the time: "You're out of insert craft beer here?" Our reply most often is that the distributor is out of that craft beer. Sometimes the customer will ask how it happens that the distributor does not have that craft beer. Well, this is where I go into my two minute explanation about rice, corn, barley, wheat, and scarcity.
Rice and corn add very little to a beer's flavor or aroma. They are used to drastically reduce the cost of production. Beers made with rice and corn are classified as adjunct lagers (rice and corn being the adjuncts: Bud/Coors/Miller). These beers serve a purpose; they are thirst quenching and light.
Rice and corn are available in enormous quantities; there are literally hills of rice and corn stockpiled. You can not make money as a farmer growing rice and corn without government subsidies to do so because there is a huge oversupply. There is so much unused rice and corn that that the government and large biochemical companies have to find ways to use them. Therefore we get high fructose corn syrup.
So, breweries that make beer with rice and corn have as much rice and corn as they need to make as much beer as they want twenty four hours a day without ever worrying that they will run short on this stuff; their supply is constant and cheap.
Real beer, craft beer, does not use rice or corn. Craft beer uses only barley or wheat, hops, yeast, and water. Barley and wheat are scarce compared to rice and corn. This scarcity makes these commodities more expensive and less available. These commodities also add much more flavor and aroma to a beer.
Then there are issues related to production. Craft breweries like to produce a good assortment of beer styles, and, in order to do so, many of them have to temporarily halt production of one style in order to use the fermentation tanks to produce a different style--or a limited edition or seasonal beer.
In short, then, craft beer production is affected by the scarcity of grains used whereas adjunct lagers are not. And, craft beer production is affected by capacity at the brewery. Craft beer distributors wait on the breweries, we wait on the distributors, and customers wait on us. Every week, our distributors are out of stock on five to ten beers.
Here is an interesting article related to craft beer availability from All About Beer Magazine regarding Trappist ale distribution: The Trials and Tribulations of Trappist Ale Distribution. The outstanding Trappist ales, Rochefort 6, 8, and 10 mentioned in this article are finally available in Dallas--we have them.
Rice and corn add very little to a beer's flavor or aroma. They are used to drastically reduce the cost of production. Beers made with rice and corn are classified as adjunct lagers (rice and corn being the adjuncts: Bud/Coors/Miller). These beers serve a purpose; they are thirst quenching and light.
Rice and corn are available in enormous quantities; there are literally hills of rice and corn stockpiled. You can not make money as a farmer growing rice and corn without government subsidies to do so because there is a huge oversupply. There is so much unused rice and corn that that the government and large biochemical companies have to find ways to use them. Therefore we get high fructose corn syrup.
So, breweries that make beer with rice and corn have as much rice and corn as they need to make as much beer as they want twenty four hours a day without ever worrying that they will run short on this stuff; their supply is constant and cheap.
Real beer, craft beer, does not use rice or corn. Craft beer uses only barley or wheat, hops, yeast, and water. Barley and wheat are scarce compared to rice and corn. This scarcity makes these commodities more expensive and less available. These commodities also add much more flavor and aroma to a beer.
Then there are issues related to production. Craft breweries like to produce a good assortment of beer styles, and, in order to do so, many of them have to temporarily halt production of one style in order to use the fermentation tanks to produce a different style--or a limited edition or seasonal beer.
In short, then, craft beer production is affected by the scarcity of grains used whereas adjunct lagers are not. And, craft beer production is affected by capacity at the brewery. Craft beer distributors wait on the breweries, we wait on the distributors, and customers wait on us. Every week, our distributors are out of stock on five to ten beers.
Here is an interesting article related to craft beer availability from All About Beer Magazine regarding Trappist ale distribution: The Trials and Tribulations of Trappist Ale Distribution. The outstanding Trappist ales, Rochefort 6, 8, and 10 mentioned in this article are finally available in Dallas--we have them.