In Reply To #1 I'd say it's justified more than 50% of the time. The most popular beer for a brewery, or their flagship, is usually a fairly unchallenging beer. A brewery can't survive selling an extreme beer as their flagship, which tend to be the beers that critics prefer. That said, a lot of breweries have excellent flagships, Troutbrook's APA is awesome, as is Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale.

I think I tend to fall in between the two comments. I do think "beer nerds" as Mr. Brett put it tend to bash beers because they are mainstream. Even if they are rather good. Before I even read Cottrell's post the first beer that came to my mind was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I think certain Sam Adams get bashed because they are too mainstream for some. However, Cottrell makes a great point that brewers tend to make "lesser" beers their flagship brew, then offer more complex, more flavorful selections as seasonal specials, etc. that may be a little pricier. Another point. A brewers flagship beer so to speak tends to be a beer that appeals to a larger population, and lets face it, not everyone is a "beer nerd" are into the details of drinking a beer, ie. write reviews for a beer website ;) SC

I tend to agree that maybe flagship brews get a sometimes unfair bashing. If not for the more "mainstream" brews some brewers market, the less popular (read: better) brews probably wouldn't support the brewers. Here's hoping that there's a noble thougth process behind this, that process being that if there's a brew that appeals and appeases the masses, money is available to do true craft brews to be enjoyed by those who may have more discerning tastes.

In Reply To #4 "Here's hoping that there's a noble thougth process behind this, that process being that if there's a brew that appeals and appeases the masses, money is available to do true craft brews to be enjoyed by those who may have more discerning tastes." Exactly. A good example of this might be the sales of Fat Tire (probably a cash cow at this point) enabling New Belgium to put out La Folie or Transatlantique Kriek. I'm sure it was a big investment to get those projects off the ground.

The flagships have another crucial purpose as well, introducing 'the ignorant masses', 'the unwashed' , 'the BMC worshipers' or whatever everyone is called (hehe)to decent beer. I've gotten quite a number of my friends interesting in craft brews because of Boulevard's Wheat Beer and Bob's 47, also Schlafly's 1904 Lager and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.