It wasn’t our intention, but by making an innocent enquiry of Sierra Nevada to confirm some details for an article about their anniversary, Australian Brews News seems to have kicked over the grey market hornets nest.
Passions are very strong about the issue, particularly when the suggestion that retailers that continue to stock grey market imports should be boycotted.
In researching the story, very few of the distributors or retailers that Australian Brews News has approached for comment and feedback about the issue have even replied to our approaches. The very few who have replied are not willing to put their case for importing them and stocking them on the record. Australian Brews News official stance is obviously unpopular which makes it even odder that with the apparent support for grey imports, none of the people who import or sell that grey market imports is willing to go on the record in support of them.
It is our view that the continued sale of grey and parallel imports hurts the market for the legitimately imported beers we want to drink, reduces the incentive for brewers to send other highly desirable beers to Australia and makes it almost impossible for principled retailers to do the right thing.
I contacted the Local Taphouse’s* owner, Steve Jeffares about the issue and asked whether their soon-to-open bottleshop will have a policy about grey imports. He replied:
Grey imports is always an interesting topic and we have debated it ad infinitum in-house leading up to the opening of our first bottle store.
To be honest, we flip and flop about what position to take. Fundamentally, I don’t want to sell beer that the breweries don’t want us to sell and that’s our current position.
As you well know, many craft beer consumers don’t mind how an overseas beer gets to their bottle shop, they simply want it. Other retailers have tried to adopt a similar stance to what we propose, yet they now feel compelled to sell grey imports to keep up with their competitors who sell them already. With more and more imported craft beers coming in grey, they felt they had no choice as having a “no grey import” policy severely limited their range when compared to the less ethical retailers. Obviously I am wanting to create a world class retail beer shop and this is usually judged by the range stocked so I cannot guarantee that we won’t be forced down that route at some stage to maintain a viable and competitive business.
I would like to see these overseas breweries and local importers somehow find a way to bring these products in legitimately (intermittently or regularly) and then ONLY sell to places who maintain and promote a “no grey import” policy. The prices also need to be competitive compared with the grey imports.
It is this last point that is critical.
The less ethical retailers say (off the record, of course) things like, “If brewers are not willing to ship their beers to Australia, we will do whatever it takes to get those beers to the people that want them.”
Sounds all very positive and fuzzy. Yet some of those same retailers still stock parallel market versions of beers that are legitimately available in Australia because they are cheaper. Strangely enough, they still sell these beers at similar prices to the legitimate ones.
The US brewers who are so highly sought after demand that care of their beer when driven across their city, and expect it when it is sent here too. It costs money to get beer half way across the world in good condition. Yet the same retailers who say they will get the beer here “at any cost” refuse to pay that cost. This only acts as a disincentive for quality brewers to send their beers here legitimately, fuelling the market for grey imports.
There are retailers who want to do the right thing and try to do it. I encourage you to choose not to buy from retailers who continue to support grey market beers to all of our detriment, and instead support those who are trying to do the right thing by craft brewers by supporting good beer in good condition.
*The Local Taphouse is a financial supporter of Australian Brews News. Steve Jeffares was the only retailer that we approached willing to go on record to discuss the issue.
**Australian Brews News stance on the issue does not reflect the views of its contributors or supporters.
Matt, a very controversial topic on which I don’t have a definitive position myself.
As a consumer, I adopt the position of “whatever it takes” to try these beers. These beers are available in the US, so why should I be discriminated against by virtue of geography ? This is my antagonistic response to the bleating of the brewers. If they’re not preapred to ship their beer to me, then let someone else.
If I see SNPA in a bottle shop, I will buy it, and take the risk that it may not be completely 100%. But I’m at least informed of the risk, and won’t hold it against the brewer if the beer is compromised.
But for the cashed-up, yet uninformed ? They are neither aware of the risk, nor of the drive to boycott parallel imports. So in a way it’s academic: they won’t boycott something they know nothing about. It’s left to the informed to perform the boycott, but since they are more forgiving of quality issues, this seems self-defeating, in my opinion, and noone (in Australia) wins.
A bit of a self-indulgent diatribe ? Perhaps, so how to resolve this problem, assuming boycotts won’t work ? Yes, encourage the brewers to collectively ship their beers in refrigerated containers. Economies of scale and all that. Get the products known to all quality beer-loving Australians, informed and uninformed. Then the quality issues of parallel imports will become evident, and the practice will (may ?) subside.
Incidentally, is Samuel Adams Boston Lager on the grey list ? I see it everywhere, including big chains. For a brewer that submitted over 30 beers to the recent AIBA, it seems weird that they are only prepared to ship one line to Australia. The quality issue must not be the reason here…..
Cheers all,
Mike (vancurly)
Hi Michael –
Thanks for your considered reply, alwasy good to have your input.
To be honest, I didn’t set up the “boycott’ call to bring about an end to grey market beers – more to get people thinking about it. There are a cascading set of issues that all inter-relate on the topic and it is hard to isolate them. The biggest problem, as with every issue, is at the margins where the worst offenders do most damage. The majority of the guys selling imported beer – such as IBD and Slowbeer – are passionate about beer and sell it in the best condition that they can. It is just very hard for the average consumer to spot the difference.
Stll, call me old-fashioned if you want, but I think if a brewer cares enough about his product to make a sensational beer and also doesn’t want that beer trashed by shipping it halfway across the world, I can respect that. Many of the brewers don’t care about it – and that leaves plenty of beer available. There seems to be a very unwarranted sense of entitlement amongst many who seem to think just because it is made they should have it as their human right. I don’t get that.
The second and related thing is the people who care about this issue are – like us – self-styled beer geeks. Just have a look through the comments made in this debate in many of the forums and you’ll keep seeing, “I know that the beer isn’t as good as if I got it fresh – hey, I know beer and I take that into account.” Yet have a look at the reviews and comments of many of the same afficianados and see how many of them slam imported beers on the rating sites. If I was a brewer trying to make great beers that would be heart-breaking to see my painsteaking work trashed when I have done everything I can to make great beer and get it into consumers hands in that condition.
It’s hard to avoid generalities in this discussion, I know, but there are some recurring themes and that is one of them.
Michael,
“These beers are available in the US, so why should I be discriminated against by virtue of geography ? ”
Perhaps, just perhaps, because it’s the nature of beer. Or craft beer at any rate. Multinationals will have distributions chains to deliver their beer in the condition they want it (or maybe even brew it locally). This is not within the grasp of the typical micro-brewery. We all want to try an amazing beer that has world class reputation: but, perhaps, craft beer is best enjoyed as a local experience?
“So, artisanal brewers, surrender that bottling line. But if you can’t give it up, then don’t be surprised to see your beer pop up in unintended places in not-so-perfect conditions. And don’t complain about it. ”
It’s tough for those micros. They simply want to stay in business and perhaps make some money along the way, and after all if they don’t make money their brand will vanish in a short space of time. It’s a tough call to remove a brewer’s right to voice disapproval if someone acting as an agent doesn’t take care of their product as they should, very tough.
fwiw K.
Coincidentally, I was recently asking around the beer distributors/importers about my chances of getting them to ship a specific German beer which is not available in Australia, Haake-Beck Kräusen. (I also approcached the brewery directly).
One company, which I would normally have supposed participates in “grey imports”, said they couldn’t get it in; German producers generally won’t export that style of beer (unfiltered lager/kellerbier) because they don’t hold up well over a prolonged period of time.
Surely there’s a compromise where these beers can be imported but with a warning label about the potential risks of lengthy/hot shipping methods.
PS
If anyone knows where I can get my hands on some Haake-Beck Kräusen here in Sydney please let me know! Grey market, black market, I don’t care.
I’ll switch my argument from consumer towards the brewer.
If it’s so heartbreaking for the brewer to see their painstaking work trashed then they must reconsider their priorities.
Are they brewing as artisans, or as businessmen ? These are not mutually exclusive on the face of it, however if the brewer is so worried about the quality of their beer once in the consumers’ hands, then they need greater control over the distribution process (or, question the need for one at all).
If they are more artisan than businessman, then don’t package the stuff. Sell draft only, onsite or at nearby pubs, thereby keep maximum control of the product as consumed.
But the moment they take the leap into packaging (for whatever reason, but arguably commercial), they are already making a compromise (or an increased risk thereof) to the drinker’s experience. How do they know that the slab of SNPA they sold in California didn’t sit in the back of an old pickup truck on a road-trip to Florida ? The moment they package the beer and sell it, they lose control.
I truly can’t see how they can have it both ways. Either they exert ultimate control, or none at all. If they want maximum quality, they will need to make commercial sacrifices. If they want the commercial opportunities, then maximum quality standards will need to be sacrificed. It’s the old quality vs quantity maxim.
So, artisanal brewers, surrender that bottling line. But if you can’t give it up, then don’t be surprised to see your beer pop up in unintended places in not-so-perfect conditions. And don’t complain about it. That’s the risk you took in packaging it.
Good debate, by the way.
Mike
As someone who loves beer, I’m really surprised that you would trash a brewer who makes great beer and wants it to get to the consumer in the same condition.
They’re not worried about “the quality of their beer once in the consumers’ hands” they’re worried about getting it that far. They cannot control what the ultimate consumer does, but in the States they can exert far greater control over almost every other step in the process. Apart from the distance to get it here, Australia has one of the oldest trucking fleets in the world (I looked for a source for that – I remember a Radio National doco on it a few years ago – but can’t find it). In the States they can exert their influence so it goes from brewery cold room to refrigerated transport to refrigerated retailer. Here it spends up to and over a month on a dock and ship and dock, before sitting in unrefrigerated warehouse and sent on the back of unrefrigerated truck to unrefrigerated (often) retailers.
I think it is fair enough that he exerts as much control as he can, and if he can’t he doesn’t send it. Many are willing to, he’s not.
Yes, it is a business too but be careful of taking that argument too far – you end up with Lion Nathan National Foods. I am quite happy for him to fall well into the side of artisan, it’s what makes his beer so desirable afterall.
It really does seem funny to me that the people who are so passionate about great beer are willing to drink it in a compromised form.
There’s no trashing about it. It’s simply a point about risk management for quality. If one wants to manage this risk better, then there needs to be some commercial considerations.
And it’s a broad statement to make that those of us who may propose an alternative argument are willing to drink compromised beer. This is an erroneous assumption.
Again, it’s about risk, but this time it’s mine. Are 100% of all grey market beers compromised ? 75% ? 50% ? I don’t know, does anyone ? I’ve tasted some pretty awful local beers that have been compromised.
I don’t willingly drink compromised beer, other than my homebrew :-). But I may take a chance on a grey market beer. It may be compromised, it may not be.
Incidentally, for SNPA, this chance paid off – in 2006 I rated SNPA an A+ (4.7 out of 5.0), from a bottle obtained in the greater Sydney region.
Yep, I know that you’re not trashing should have self edited.
Re compromised – about to post this morning’s interview with Stone’s Greg Koch – see what you think from the horses mouth.
Re SNPA – I’ve read even more reviews saying something else. Interesting post on AHB from Kieran who said: “I had a Sierra Nevada Pale along time ago and thought it was ok (iirc) but not outstanding as I had expected.” I have heard this a lot. SNPA is a world famous beer. If people that aren’t homebrewers or afficiandos see it and say “wow, I’ve heard about that” and try it and are disappointed because it’s stale they say, “What’s all the fuss about with craft beer?” That hurts beer, it hurts local brewers ane all beer lovers suffer for that.
Very interesting discussion! Firstly, it’s good to see people are very passionate about SNPA. And yes, it does taste different here than in the US. But then I’m willing to bet that most beers brewed OS don’t taste as good when they get here. The tyranny of distance…
When it comes down to it, as one above said, we can take this into account (up to a point). As long as is less tha 6 months old it’s usually still OK in my experience.
Let me tell you, all those semis hurtling around Australia full of unrefrigersted industrial beer, well…say no more.
And don’t forget, IPA had a worse vogage to India!