No, I have had their stout several times over the years. Look at the chart in that article, the one that goes over barrels produced in 2020-2021.
Cody Road / West O?
- Thread starter NebrClone
- Start date
Two year old data. OK.
I'm not saying they're the biggest, but to call them "small" is inaccurate, in my assessment.
Like car dealerships, sell one car one month and two the next is 100% and you say you are the fastest growing.
As craft beer scene continues to grow, these are Iowa’s fastest-growing breweries
The COVID-19 pandemic slowed the craft beer industry but couldn't stop it. All but two of Iowa's largest craft brewers increased production last year.www.desmoinesregister.com
West O is in the top ten big decrease after the 1st 4. It'll be fine. West O is getting some good exposure. We will is getting some $$. It'll be a beer they can probably depend on some steady sales for.
Just seem to be a lot questions on where to buy, I am excited about it. Just hope their state wide distribution can handle the demand.
I haven't checked out the local Omaha Hy-Vee's yet but two of the three smaller craft beer stores have had 6-packs of West O stocked. If you're worried about distribution talk to your local store and see if they can stock some West O options, most will listen. Just make sure to actually buy some too so they see that it's worth it to keep stocking them.
I have a feeling the first round of Ames Lager is going to sellout FAST.
Hey all,
West O is pouring a bunch or resources at this. They are planning to potentially purchase a few more large tanks to keep up if necessary. Ames Lager is their main priority and they will do all they can. But you can help by talking to your local store to make sure their distributor is aware of what's coming. It all has to go through the distributor funnel so the more we can get ahead of that, the better for supply. Thanks!
West O is pouring a bunch or resources at this. They are planning to potentially purchase a few more large tanks to keep up if necessary. Ames Lager is their main priority and they will do all they can. But you can help by talking to your local store to make sure their distributor is aware of what's coming. It all has to go through the distributor funnel so the more we can get ahead of that, the better for supply. Thanks!
I think you are right and I think it will be interesting to see how West O reacts to demand. I would guess initial demand (new thing + fall football season) will start really high. But probably naturally level off a bit lower eventually. It will likely be hard to keep up for a while which will also help sustain demand (when you can't get something it always helps). But they also can't over invest in equipment/inventory if things fall off from the initial peak.
Based on West O's output shown in that article I'd guess they are in the neighborhood of a 15BBL system which is roughly 450 gallons or roughly 5000 12 oz cans. Assuming they are brewing 4 times a week total but they are still going to be putting out other beers even if Ames Lager is the priority. So say 10,000 cans a week of Ames Lager. (that's super rough math with little thought so forgive me if I'm off)
I really don't have a feel for how demand will settle out long term, but during this first fall football season I don't know if that will be enough to keep up.
They could double that capacity pretty easily but there is lead time to that as well. Lagers also take longer to finish. We aren't far from the day the beers we drink at the UNI game will need to be in the tank. I'm sure they have been brewing like crazy the past couple months to get ahead of things, but will be interesting to watch.
I don't think any of that is bad, in fact being a bit hard to get might be good. Just a warning though that it's very possible you'll see more Swarm on shelves this first fall than Ames.
West O is a solid brewery as long as Ames Lager is good and they can maintain their quality as they scale up (lots of breweries struggle with that) I really think this will jump them up into that pack of brewers in the 5000 BBL/year range in the article above.
(sorry my beer nerdiness took over there for a bit)
I checked out the closest Hy-Vee over lunch and they had 6 different West O beers on the shelf. Omaha should be fully stocked, I'll just reach out to a few of the places to make sure they plan on getting the Ames Lager also.
I called hyvee and said "Brent Blum said stock the Ames lager from West O or he will bring down a wrath of fire and locust"
Do you know if they are planning on expanding their distribution footprint to the northeastern corner of the state (Waterloo/CF or Decorah, ideally). I've yet to see their beer anywhere up here. Thanks for your work on this, excited to try it!
That’s the goal! A lot of it is distributor dependent. But this will hopefully motivate distributors to carry Ames Lager and other West O products as well because it is great beer!
Are you saying Templeton is small? I've literally found it at a bar on a cruise ship and more recently in a pub in England a couple months ago.
Load up the back of the minivan and tell the kids you are going on a road trip and start delivering it.