The Buffalo News Did a piece on the tribluations of Flying Bison Brewing. I really hope I’m not seeing the end times for one of my favorite New York State breweries. Since my first taste of their Oktoberfest in 1994, Flying Bison has had me hooked. Their take on traditional style has always been rock solid.

Some would say too traditional and too solid. I’ve read plenty of comments from beer afficianados that a lack of extreme beer, or beer made with exotic ingredients, or high-end beer marketing diminished FB’s ability to stand out, especially with Southern Tier, a brewery that’s all about adventurous beer, is right next door.

I’m not buying that. Buffalo has always been a blue-collar town, and its enclaves of craft beer are few and far between compared to my neighboring city. It seems like a straight financial matter, and it sucks that, although revenues were on the increase, FB wasn’t able to grow its sales quickly enough to outpace rising ingredient prices.

Many small brewers ride that line. People just assume you’re making liquid gold because of the craft beer category’s explosive growth. But the competition that growth brings, coupled with supply prices that rise with demand, means some guys ride razor-thin margins.

I wish Flying Bison the best, and hope F.X. Matt, or any other purchaser, does the right thing for their community, restructuring the brewery to stay and brew beer in Buffalo New York. I think there’s viable business there.

Buffalo’s a blue collar town. Tim Herzog understands that, and he’s one of the few brewers that’s not afraid to make craft beer as a blue collar beverage, geared more to sipping after a hard day’s work than pairing with your Chilean sea bass. That mentality reminds us all of what beer used to be, and what it still fundamentally is.

Thank you Tim Herzog.

-Mark