Craft Beer, I love it! I love IPAs, I love Stouts. I love Barleywines and I love Farmhouse Ales. I love Craft Beer! As smitten as I am by my beverage of choice, I have to remember that Craft Beer is a business, and business isn't always fun.
I may be a little behind that times with this, but I found out today that
Clown Shoes has pulled out of Alabama. The makers of some of my favorite beers, confirmed the rumor when I asked them about it on Twitter. Their reason... they were unhappy with their distributor. From what I gather, that distributor was Birmingham Bud. They didn't tell me exact reasons, but from what I have personally noticed, there wasn't a lot of buzz in our area about their beers. And that's a shame. Clown Shoes, a brewery (contract brewed by Mercury Brewing Co.) out of Ipswich, Massachusetts makes some awesome brews. Their long list of fantastic Imperial Stouts is what stole my beer loving heart.
The first Clown Shoes beer I had was Blaecorn Unidragon, a gnarly Russian Imperial Stout that totally fit what I was looking for in a beer. If you've had the pleasure of drinking this one, then you know how good it is. Porcine Unidragon, a bourbon barrel aged version of the beer, was even better. The hits didn't stop there though. Chocolate Sombrero, a spiced stout with chili peppers, cinnamon, vanilla and chocolate was the next beer I tried. That's was it, I was hooked. Bombay Berserker, Crasher in the Rye, Vampire Slayer, Angry Beast and Luchador en Fuego are just a few more of their delicious stouts. All of these beers are world class, all of them were very reasonably priced. All of their beers, not just their stouts, can easily compete with anything else on the shelf. Maybe that's why Clown Shoes was unhappy with their distributor. They weren't getting the respect from their distributor that they thought they deserved. Again, that is all speculation, I haven't heard any real details from either side. Whatever the case may be, it sucks.
Craft Beer, just a few years ago, wasn't that big. There was plenty of shelf space for everybody. That shelf space is getting more and more crowded everyday. Times have changed, and the business of Craft Beer is getting hard. I'm not an expert in business, or even Craft Beer for that matter. I don't know exactly how distribution works in the beer industry, but our distributors have to push their brand, especially when they have beer this good. I'm not super savvy on all of the beer laws and regulations that are out there, I am however very passionate about not only the beverage, but the entire culture and community that is Craft Beer. So passionate, that news like this genuinely saddens me. A few days ago I read that Clown Shoes was releasing a new beer called Flight of the Angry Beast, and I exclaimed "YES!" out loud while sitting at my desk at work. This shit is a big deal to me, and from what I've seen on social media, it's a big deal to a lot of you guys too.
There's no real reason for this blog, besides to tell you that we can't get Clown Shoes here in Alabama anymore. So when you see one of the last remaining bottles sitting on the shelf, pick it up if you've never had it before. Let me know what you think, maybe we can convince Clown Shoes to come back. I'm not a fan at all of long distance relationships, and this one is going to be hard.
The first Clown Shoes beer I had was Blaecorn Unidragon, a gnarly Russian Imperial Stout that totally fit what I was looking for in a beer. If you've had the pleasure of drinking this one, then you know how good it is. Porcine Unidragon, a bourbon barrel aged version of the beer, was even better. The hits didn't stop there though. Chocolate Sombrero, a spiced stout with chili peppers, cinnamon, vanilla and chocolate was the next beer I tried. That's was it, I was hooked. Bombay Berserker, Crasher in the Rye, Vampire Slayer, Angry Beast and Luchador en Fuego are just a few more of their delicious stouts. All of these beers are world class, all of them were very reasonably priced. All of their beers, not just their stouts, can easily compete with anything else on the shelf. Maybe that's why Clown Shoes was unhappy with their distributor. They weren't getting the respect from their distributor that they thought they deserved. Again, that is all speculation, I haven't heard any real details from either side. Whatever the case may be, it sucks. 
What's sad is when bad beer, so called 'craft' is taking up room for world class products like this. Much like you my first beer from them was Unidragon, amazing (thanks Shawn) was all I could think. People in Alabama need to continue to support local because it opens a lot of doors, BUT it does NOT mean that people should drink something just BECAUSE it is local. What should happen is that bad beer is forced to either improve or get out of the way! We have several local guys making some AMAZING beers, but far too often I find junk on tap and on shelves and it seems like those producers merely attempt to capitalize on the naivety of a young craft market. Shame on them.
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