When is Fat Tire beer going to be imported into Indiana legally?

Question

Fat Tire beer is from the Belgium Brewing Co. in Colorado

Answer 1

Soon, I hope. The reason is that they can't transport it that far and guarantee its quality. I wish we could get it here in Minnesota too!

Answer 2

Hey Barbara B,

While I'll give Hank a wink for his 35 years in the business, I'm going to use my far less of 20 years of managing bars and restaurants. I have been here in San Diego (6th largest city in U.S. until last week) for 18 years and we just started seeing Fat Tire here within the last year. When I lived in Chicago, we didn't see Coors, East of the Mississippi River, until after 1983. The reasons are threefold:

1). Distribution. It takes a great deal of commitment to bring a substantial amount of ANY product to an unknown territory. You have to get proper storage, adequate shipping amenities and a customer service and sales staff in place.

2). Name recognition/Branding. For a brand to work, you have to commit untold amounts of cash to advertising, promotional materials, sales staff and public relations. I'll give you a for instance; in San Diego, we have a fairly new baseball stadium, it is named PETCO Park. For the rights to name the park, it will cost Petco $68 million over 22 years. They signed this agreement hoping that if you are a baseball fan, you might be watching a game on TV from San Diego and in the back of your mind you'll be thinking, "Hey, next time Felix needs a new collar, I'll stop at Petco!".

3). Feasibility. The East and West coasts of the U.S. are beer whore's! We will drink anything that we think will make our image look cooler! $15.00 glass of wine, sure! $30.00 cocktail made with organic Guar Dung, Pass it down! But in the mainly beer portion of the U.S. (read: the Midwest) they are fierce about their brands! If you take the 20-30 name brand "Macro" brews in the Midwest, add another 200-300 "Micro" brews, it does not make sense to try to enter that market. (B-T-W, in the U.S. there are more than 575 Micro-Brewers , 85 in Wisconsin/Illinois/Michigan ALONE!). That is why Coors waited so long. They wanted to wait and let their name recognition get around to the middle of the country. It's kinda like that designer pair of jeans, shoes, sports apparel or a style that is popular in the coasts, eventually, will be desired in the Midwest. It also works in reverse; We can not get Stroh's or Keystone here on the West Coast.

So just so that you know, if your friend shows up from a stop in Colorado and has two cases of Fat Tire, the cops aren't going to be knocking on your door, well, unless they are hoping you will share some with them. Legality has nothing to do with the fact that it's not available in Indiana!

Good Drinking!

James

Answer 3

I was formerly in the alcoholic beverages business for 35 years.

Each state has requirements and sometimes license and registration fees
for alcoholic beverage brands to be sold within the state. If Fat Tire is not
available in Indiana then presumably the requirements have not [yet] been fulfilled. It is possible that the brewery simply does not want to sell in IN, at least not yet. You should contact the brewery directly and ask the reason(s),
and if there are plans to market in IN in the future.

Answer 4

Someday soon, I hope, for your sake. Its delicious. It would be cool if you get some of the seasonal brews out there. My personal favorite is actually a mix of two beers. Its called Trip to Mars. Trippel ale and Biere de Mars. Yummy! I guess I'm spoiled, I live in CO.