Devil Anse IPA back in the market

If there could be such a thing in brewery operations as a tornado on top of a hurricane, that would pretty much describe the horrible headwind Greenbrier Valley Brewing (GVBC) has faced over the past year.

It began a year ago with the COVID-related shutdown of on-premise retail, which completely dried up the draft beer market — a market that is only now beginning to recover. Then came the national 12-oz. aluminum can shortage that put a major crimp in the brewery’s ability to package beer. So at a time when canned beer sales is hot, GVBC cannot get the cans it needs (and the ones they can et are being severely delayed).

Then GVBC ran out of the aluminum lids for the cans due to shortages and back ordering. They also had a steam boiler go down that took them out of commission for couple of weeks. On top of that, a majorly delayed grain shipment caused three brew day cancellations and, lastly, an unexpected, lengthy power outage resulted in the spoilage and dumping of thousands of dollars worth of beer. You can see why some might term this craziness tantamount to disaster. [Yikes.]

Luckily, some of these troubles are now behind the brewery, and they have plans to work around the unresolved can shortages as best they can. The good news for GVBC and craft beer fans is that after a couple month hiatus, six packs of the popular Devil Anse IPA are now back in the market.

We just had a thousand cases of Devil Anse hit the Charleston market the other day,” says GVBC president Bill Heckel. Hundreds more are going out to other parts of the state. Now that’s a cause for celebration.

You see, Devil Anse accounts for over half of the brewery’s sales, and most of that is from sales of six packs of cans. When the six packs are not out there, the brewery has little sales to speak of.

Dark clouds remain

Dark clouds remain in the national beer can supply situation, which does not seem like it will clear up anytime soon. In national news reports, Ball Corp., the world’s largest aluminum can manufacturer and the supplier for GVBC preprinted cans, reports it does not see the shortage ending soon, at least not until it ramps up production at two new manufacturing plants later this year. The rapid acceleration of the beverage consumers’ preference for canned product, which was spurred on by the pandemic, caught can suppliers off guard. They have yet to catch up with the demand for printed cans.

It’s been a real nightmare for Heckel and his crew. GVBC uses printed cans for its major brands like Devil Anse, Mothman, Ole Ran’l, and Wild Trail. Their can supplier cut them back to only two truckloads of cans for this entire year. That is way short of what they need. When it’s fully in the market, Devil Anse alone sells up to 1,000 cases per week. (1,000 cases equals 24,000 cans.) Two truckloads of cans is about 500,000 cans, and under normal circumstances, the brewery could blow through those in several months.

“We probably sell more Devil Anse than anybody sells any other beer in the state,” Heckel says. And when you can’t get your Devil Anse can order. “it makes a big-assed difference.”

It’s a scary.situation for small brewers across the country, especially those who package in 12-oz. cans, because for that can size they must compete with all the big boys (Inbev, Miller, Coke, Pepsi, etc.). The big guys are in line first, and the small brewers have to take what they can get. Smaller brewers adjust, purchase blank cans on the spot market, change their can size to one that is more available, or even revert to bottling. The shift in small brewers to the 16-oz. can size may now be extending the can shortage  to that size as well.

From GVBC’s experience, there are drawbacks shifting from printed cans to blank cans that are then shrink-wrapped with a plastic sleeve label. Much higher cost is the biggest problem. That might be okay for small batch beers, but not for their core brands. When purchased by the tractor-trailer load, preprinted cans cost the brewery about 10 cents each. Shrink wrapped cans cost three times as much. There is not a lot of margin in canned beer sales for the brewery to start with. When you have your market pricing set based on using preprinted cans, changing to shrink-wrapped cans can wipe out your profit margin. 

GVBC’s Heckel says that even with shrink-wrapped cans now, “you’re talking about a three-month lead time” on orders.

GVBC will continue to make some adjustments to its product line until the shortages are resolved. Heckel says they will emphasize production of 1. Devil Anse IPA, 2, Ole Ran’l Pilsner, 3. Mothman Black IPA, and 4. Zona’s Wit. Wild Traill Pale Ale looks like it may be the next one to run thin in the market. It appears that GVBC cannot get more printed cans for it the rest of this year.

A definite casualty of the shortage is canned 35 Parks Pale Ale. The brewery had hoped to introduce it widely in cans this spring, but now that introduction is postponed, though the beer will remain available in draft.. 

Heckel seems especially disappointed by not getting to introduce 35 Parks in cans. Earlier, the beer had been canned as a 500-case test batch and sold out quickly—in a matter of weeks. “People seem to like it,” he said. “It’s actually the best selling beer at our brewery taproom. It does surprisingly well.” You can count on this being put into cans as soon as supplies allow.

So when cans are in short supply, the brewery has to put a greater emphasis on draft beer sales. “We’re ramping up keg production as well,” says Heckel. “We feel pretty confident that Devil Anse will go back onto a lot of the taps that it used to be on.” 

While increased draft sales will help, Heckel says that’s not all they need. “To compete nowadays at our level, if we’re not in cans, it’s going to sink us pretty quick.” 

For the sake of small brewers across America, let’s hope this can shortage gets straightened out sooner rather than later. 

Bill Heckel described some of the can shortage situation as he talked with West Virginia Beer Roads back in February.

WEBSITE LINK: Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company