THE BEER EXCHANGE RELEASES THE BEX TRADE REPORT – THREE FLOYDS AND RUSSIAN RIVER TOP THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER BREWERIES LIST
With the most users seeking out one or more beers from these breweries, Three Floyds, Russian River, Goose Island, The Bruery, and Cigar City are the top 5 most sought after breweries in the beer trading game.
The Beer Exchange – an app and social network dedicated to craft beer trading – released the first BEX Trade Report to highlight the top five most sought after breweries. Based on user data from TheBeerExchange.io, the report tallies the total number of unique users “In Search Of” individual beers from each brewery and ranks them accordingly. Three Floyds, Russian River, Goose Island, The Bruery, and Cigar City are the top 5, respectively.
“There is no doubt that some breweries’ beers are more in demand than others when it comes to trading.” said Mark Iafrate, founder of The Beer Exchange. “By no means does this indicate superiority; we just believe there is value in determining which breweries our users were the most interested in trying.”
When asked what affects the trade value of an individual beer, Mark explained that there are three main factors at play . “The first is basic economics. Rare beer trades well because of the limited supply; however, I can’t stress enough that just because a beer is rare, that doesn’t make it good.” Apart from limited release beers, beers from breweries with a high reputation also tend to carry some weight in the world of beer trading. “It makes sense - you tend to trust new products from brands you’re already loyal to.” And last but not least, ratings. “One of the first things people tend to do is look at a rating of a beer. If the be er is ranked highly, or perhaps won a medal or two recently, it will definitely trade at a higher value that those that aren’t.”
Overall, breweries with a longer list of highly acclaimed beers and a more long-standing reputation are more likely to make this list. Beers like Zombie Dust, Gumball Head, and the infamous Dark Lord, are well-known to craft beer drinkers. The reputation of those beers is what put Three Floyds in the top spot. “Given our small area of distribution and barrel-age, its kind of shocking to see we are number one, but also very flattering,” said Nick Floyd, one of the three co-founders of the brewery. “The only bad thing about number one is that you have nowhere else to go but down.” Russian River, which came in just behind Three Floyds, is another big name in the trading world. Beers like Pliny the Elder, Consecration, Supplication, and the more recently famous Blind Pig are all delicious reasons why it’s sitting at number two. Goose Island’s lineup of Bourbon County beers coupled with its long-standing reputation is the main driving force behind its ranking at number three. The Bruery, known for its experimental barrel aged beers, has an impressive list of beers that are regularly traded, such as Grey Monday, Black Tuesday, Mocha Wednesday, and a slew of others. Cigar City, known mostly for Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout and Jai Alai IPA, sits at the number five spot.
Additionally, Mark broke down the interest in Florida brewed beers and as expected, Cigar City came out on top, followed by Funky Buddha and Cycle Brewing.
When asked for comment about getting in the top five for the BEX Trade Report, Cigar City’s Geiger Powell told us that beer trading was one of the driving forces behind Cigar City’s early success. “Beer trading was one of the biggest reasons we grew so quickly in the beginning. We were known more nationally in some respects than our own backyard because of that. We owe a lot of gratitude to traders from those early days.”
Geiger also stressed the importance of proper storage and handling. “We'll always support the beer geeks and trading. However, one thing we'd like to get out there is that we, like almost every other brewery around, want our beer to be handled in the best way possible.”
Nick echoed those sentiments, “I think if people are going to trade beer it should only be done with great care, and with conditioning and freshness as the most important factors... A lot of beer handling education should go along with beer trading.”
“In essence, the traders need to understand that when they send other people beer, they are acting as an unofficial ambassador of that brewery,” explained Mark.“
If I send a trade partner an old can of a local IPA , he or she will assume it’s just a bad beer, not that I didn’t store it properly. It’s on me to make sure the beer they receive is as fresh as possible. At the end of the day, if people take time to properly store, package, and send beer, trading will continue to add value to the craft beer community in a sustainable way.”
If you want to check out the report, along with some more detail and insight, you can visit http://thebeerexchange.io/bex/TradeReportFinal.pdf.
For more information on The Beer Exchange or to sign up for a free account, visit: www.TheBeerExchange.io.