Portland Brewing (MacTarnahan's ) sold to Pyramid Brewing

Maybe people in Portland have better choices available to them.

Like what? Pabst? "Better choices" wouldn't explain "a downturn in the craft brewing market." What downturn, anyway? I haven't seen ANY downturn, and I've been looking for one. Hasn't happened. I'd guess that Portland suffered from trying to brew and sell lagers in notoriously ale-happy Portland. Figures that beers with subtle beauty and grace would fail in Portland...HA! No, just kidding.

Yeah, I missed that "downturn" comment and figured this was about Portland Brewing in particular. I feel the same about the so-called "downturn." (Do I need the quotes around "downturn" if I used "so-called" or is that redundant?)

LOL! I believe it is redundant, but it is still a nice effect. Here's the rule I learned: "Quotation marks used around words to give special effect or to indicate irony are usually unnecessary. When irony or special effect is intended, skillful preparation can take the place of using these quotes. Resort to apologetic quotation marks or quotation marks used to express irony only after such attempts have failed, keeping in mind that the best writing does not rely on apologetic quotation marks." (source: Some Guide to Writing Research Papers that I found on my desk)

LOL. I think the so-called is sufficient...but that's just my opinion. We might want to have a vote.

Ordinarily, that'd be true...but this is USENET. Here, you gotta be "obvious!" 8^)

Or you can just not give a rat's ass. Besides, I think Joel was actually being ironic in his use of quotes. It's a subtle hyper-irony.

Is "subtle hyper-irony" like a "gentle bludgeoning?"

Nah, it's more like what we're talking about in that other thread: bullshit.

Being USENET shouldn't your comments be "LOL, BTW, IMHO I think the so-called is sufficient...but that's just my opinion. We might want to have a vote." Downturn, must be like the Craftbrew crash of two - three years ago. In Louisville I'm still brewing at near capacity. Louisville is ten years behind the left coast. If Portland is having a downturn now, I guess I get to retire in ten years.

David R. Pierce

Don't bet on it. It's more about the press's perceptions. If the relatively beer-savvy Portland press think there was a downturn...it means they're not as beer-savvy as they think they are. Ignorance and sloth is ignorance and sloth, no matter where it is.

C'mon Lew. There's a touch more readily available in Portland than Pabst. Full Sail, Rogue, Deschutes, Bridgeport, just to name the big ones off the top of my head. Portland couldn't hold any of those breweries' jocks.

Yes, Portland did have better choices available to them. You know that. You've been there.

I'd chalk it up to the fact that their beer just wasn't all that good, period. Including the ales. And I think the lagers were a pretty low proportion of their sales.

-Steve

All I know is that....their Woodstock Ale was really good then...turned mediocre, imho. and... their Bourbon Porter or, whatever, didn't impress me so....seeing a second rate "micro" like Pyramid take over the helm, doesn't distress me all that much. Now, if they (Pyramid) purchased some bod ee like Rogue, Deschutes, or some one of similar ilk, I'd be having a hissy fit right now.

Best regards, Bill

Don't be an ass, Steve. Portland is where the big Pabst resurgence started. Try to keep up, okay? And when it comes to jock-holding, Portland's lager jock stands on its own. The MacTarnahan's porter's no slouch either.

Nay s**te, laddie. "Better" choices don't always win the race. There are any number of "better" breweries that are in the boneyard. Nothing's simple.

So you're snobbing and guessing. Considering that Pabst IS doing relatively well in Portland, maybe their palates aren't ALL that sensitive. Portland still drinks a lot of macrobrew, and I doubt that Portland's beers being "not that good" was the problem. Take off your geek glasses. This is the point I was alluding to by referring to Pabst.

You have this habit of assuming that I'm being an ass whenever I question something you said. If I missed your point completely, say that. Don't ascribe other motives where there are none.

I admit I probably missed your point. Because, after this post, I still don't get it. Mea culpa.

OK, maybe Pabst did get a kick there, but the grandpa-beer fad (for lack of a better term) amongst the 20-something set was hardly limited to Portland. Just had different brands.

No, better choices don't always win the race. But is it so inconceiveable that Portland failed because other people found other more-appealing alternatives? Whether that's marketing or quality or the fact that their labels weren't pretty enough doesn't make much difference in the end.

Yes. And you're not guessing? You have data you're not sharing?

Well, I'm still missing the point, apparently.

-Steve

We're finally starting to see more lagers brewed around here and a greater appreciation of them. Caldera is a small brewery in the southern part of the state making some fantastic lagers. Of course, we're still a long way from having somebody brew something like Prima Pils...

--------->Denny

You're too far south. Get thee up to Seattle and try Alpine Brewing's Pilsner. It's not the northern-German perfumed hop envelope that is Prima, but it is an excellent Pilsner nonetheless, particularly if you like a Bavarian take on Pilsner. The brewery itself is way up by the Canadian border in Okanagan country, but Seattle is their prime market.

I hate to get in the middle of a lovefest, but after watching Portland Brewing for nearly 20 years, I'd say they failed because they (a) regularly produced boring beer; (b) because they failed to aggressively market their beer in a competitive environment; (c) because the failed to create a true identity for themselves (they haven't brewed their flagship beer in years); (d) because they overextended themselves financially, over and over, only being bailed out by private funds; and (d) because they failed to promote the few really distinctive beers they brewed, or dumbed them down so desperately that no one had any particular reason to buy them -- failing, again to distinguish themselves in a competitive market.

For all the X-gens drinking Pabst, it's also true that the Oregon market has the highest percentage of microbrewed sales in the country. There *are* better choices available and always have been, ever since Portland Brewing stopped brewing Grant's ales.

They made virtually *no* effort to sell lagers in this market, Lew. You're confusing them with Saxxer -- which they bought, but which they failed to promote adequately.

--Jeff Frane

Thanks for the tip! My brother just moved to Seattle and a trip is in the offing.

-------->Denny