October 28th, 2007 — Beer Industry
The Wall Street Journal on 10/26/07 has an article about how the major brewers generally avoid using the parent company’s name on the labels for their craft beers. Anheuser-Busch, for example, lists Green Valley Brewing Co. as the maker of its Wild Hop Lager, an organic beer. “Any brand put into the marketplace with an intentional lack of affiliation with the brewery brewing it, I consider that a faux craft,” says Tom McCormick, executive director of the California Small Brewers Association. “It’s intentional deception.”
Miller Brewing reportedly has been the most aggressive of the three big domestic brewers in trying to expandi ts craft beers over the past year, introducing its Leinenkugel’s portfolio of brands into 17 new states, giving it a presence in 42. Mr. Leinenkugel says “[c]onsumers are so willing and wanting to try new things, especially in beer styles.” He also credits the mobility of American society and the “power of the Web” for raising awareness of the brand.
Blue Moon apparently began to attract fans in the Midwest because of some hard working Coors distributors who taught bartenders to serve Blue Moon in a glass with a slice of orange, which caught drinker’s attention. This year Blue Moon, led by the Belgian White variety, increased sales by more than 80% at U.S. grocery, drug and convenience stores, according to Nielsen data.
Anheuser-Busch lacks a star craft brew but it owns big stakes in several craft brewers, including approximately 40% in Oregon’s Widmer Bros. Brewing Co.
The article concludes: “Some craft brewers say the giants’ move into the category is a good thing because they’re bringing new legions of craft drinkers into the fold. Even if the independent brewers’ market share falls, they may enjoy higher sales and profits as the category grows. “Go Blue Moon,” says Greg Owsley, chief brand officer at Colorado’s New Belgium Brewing Co., the maker of Fat Tire Amber Ale, a leading craft beer.”
October 19th, 2007 — Beer Industry
In his op-ed article titled Don’t Fear Big Beer, Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver today writes:
JUST 10 years ago, the proposed merger of SABMiller and Molson Coors into MillerCoors would have worried craft brewers. Back then, “American beer” was thought of as a cheap product with very little beer flavor. But today the United States has by far the most exciting beer culture in the world, and America’s 1,500 craft brewers are undaunted by the prospect of a juggernaut that would have 30 percent of the domestic market. The age of American industrial brewing is over.
Craft brewers used to be called “microbreweries,” but many of us are not so micro anymore. And the people who once thought the craft brewing movement was a fad can now see it for what it really is — a welcome return to normality.
In the 19th century, there were more than 4,000 breweries in the United States, brewing almost every sort of beer made in Europe and a few indigenous American varieties besides. By 1870, Brooklyn was one of the great brewing capitals of the world, with 48 breweries. People bought meat from the butcher, bread from the baker, coffee from the roaster and beer from the local brewer.
But by 1970, almost everyone shopped at the supermarket, frozen food and “TV dinners” were godsends, and we had about 40 breweries left in the entire country, all making the same bland beer.
Now Americans are moving away from spongy industrial bread, watery coffee, plasticized “cheese” and other wonders of modern food science. The top maker of white supermarket bread went bankrupt a few years ago.
Industrial beer is still the vast majority of the American market, and it’s not going away tomorrow, but there is no future in it. While industrial beers suffer flat or declining sales, craft brewers are experiencing double-digit growth. The big brewers now try to copy craft beers. European brewers, who once laughed at watery American beer, now look to the United States for inspiration.
MillerCoors is not a threat to craft brewers but a warning: we should not walk the road of overexpansion or be tempted by the lowest common denominator of the mass market. Miller, Coors and Anheuser-Busch were once small breweries making fine local beer, too.
If we truly want to restore the vibrant beer culture that flourished in this country before Prohibition, craft brewers need to retain the values and goals — creating beers that are flavorful, interesting to drink and made from proper beer ingredients — that put us on the map in the first place. Let’s not undo American beer again.
October 12th, 2007 — Beer Events
The Great World Beer Festival: Brewtopia V
Pier 92
Friday October 26th 2007
7:00 PM to 11:00 pm
Saturday October 27th 2007
Session I 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Session II 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
October 11th, 2007 — Beer Events
There will be an event at Blind Tiger Ale House on October 17th at 4PM.
Brooklyn Brewery’s brewmaster Garrett Oliver will be present tapping “17 of Brooklyn’s finest.”
October 8th, 2007 — Beer Events, Tastings
This Thursday at the Heartland Brewery learn about the cultural history of beer and also learn about the new trend of beer pairing.
“Beer 101 Reception at Heartland Brewery (between 6th Ave. & B’way), 127 W. 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Cost $20.00 per person includes food, beer, wine and a lecture on the cultural history of beer, beer making techniques, and the pairing of food and beer, along with a free Heartland Brewery pint glass. ”
Check it out here (it says its too late to sign up but they seem to still be offering spots, reserve a spot now!)
October 8th, 2007 — Pub Crawlin'
This past weekend I decided to meet a friend of mine in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn for some delicious beer and shenanigans. We met at the Lorimer stop on the L train and walked down to Barcade. For those unfamiliar with Barcade, it is a bar with arcade videogames (bar-cade, get it?) all along the outer walls and a beer bar with a row of 25 taps in the middle. Most of the beers are local and they have a great beer menu that includes the ABV. My friend and I decided we were looking for strong beers to start the night off right so we ordered a couple double IPAs that were 8% ABV. After that, we played their game Tapper, which is a game made by Budweiser where you are a bartender and you have to slide mugs of beer along several bars to thirsty customers all while catching their empty glasses that they throw back at you. This all controlled by joysticks that are shaped and move like tap handles. That was fun and then while finishing up our last beer we checked out the flyers and newspapers by the door. Here we found Yankee Brew News and Ale Street Times, which are both fantastic newspapers with listings of local beer events and happenings.
After Barcade, we walked to the popular Union Pool, a place nearby that has a pretty good selection of bottled beers. I started out with a Coopers Sparkling Ale in bottle, which the bartender rolled on the bar to apparently distribute the sediment evenly. Apparently the sediment gives it a characteristic taste. You learn something new every day! Coopers Sparking Ale, from Australia, was a nice lighter beer to drink after all of the strong beers we had earlier on in the night. Union Pool was a fun place to go to enjoy their dual DJs in two separate areas and check out the dance floors as well as to learn about sediment distribution in Coopers beers.
October 6th, 2007 — Home Brewing
Some still haven’t heard of Mahalo–the most exciting new thing in searching on the web. Mahalo is the world’s first human-powered search engine. Mahalo’s goal is to hand write the top 20,000 search terms. While you won’t find everything there, what they do have is SPAM FREE. And, as a sign of the times and a sign of its superior editorial judgment, Mahalo has recently added “How to Brew Your Own Beer in 7 Easy Steps.” If you have never brewed a batch of beer or you are just getting started, the beer making page is outstanding. It is extremely well-organized and comprehensive yet succinct.
Also go to the Mahalo beer making page if you are interested in any of the following related searches: Beer/Open Source Beer/How to Cure a Hangover/How to Make a Jello Shot/Malt Extract/Brewer’s Yeast.
Check it out here
October 5th, 2007 — Beer Industry
So how is this for a job? “Chief Beer Taster.” In an interview appearing in the Wall Street Journal on 10/1/07, Leo Kiely, the 60-year-old, Harley riding, self-described Chief Beer Taster and CEO of Molson Coors Brewing, acknowledges that small batch “craft” beers are snatching U.S. market share from mainstream brewers. Some of what he said:
WSJ: How have American beer tastes been changing?
Mr. Kiely: What’s probably changed the most in a generation is the variety-seeking nature of today’s beer drinker. I sort of grew up as a beer drinker in the late 1960s, early ’70s, and my brand set was an import, Heineken, and a domestic brand, Schlitz. Today I watch a beer drinker in his late 20s, and he’ll have an import brand, maybe two, he enjoys. He’ll have a craft-brew brand. And the bulk of his beer drinking will still be a light lager.
WSJ: Someone mentioned that you felt the craft-beer craze has been good for the beer business overall. Is that right?
Mr. Kiely: It goes back to consumers. If consumers are interested in beer, we’ll find our way to get our fair share. I think the craft brews bring a really important interest among beer drinkers in how beer’s made, why beer’s special. I am astounded with how curious consumers are about beer, the process of beer. And lots of guys like to try to make their own beer.
On whether beer can start to take back market share from wine and spirits in the U.S.:
Mr. Kiely: I think beer is very viable when you head into the future. You look at it as the alcoholic beverage of moderation. Beer is growing like crazy in Russia right now, because they’re looking to be able to be more in control. I think these things go in very long cycles.
On the company forming a new subsidiary, AC Golden Brewing, to develop high-end brews:
Mr. Kiely: We see enormous potential in beer, especially for strong brands . . . AC Golden will focus on patiently introducing a new brand and allowing it to grow over time. Look, we introduced Blue Moon 13 years ago and today it is one of the fastest growing craft-style beers. We like to call it our 13-year overnight success story.
If he said how one gets to be a Chief Beer Taster, the WSJ left it out….
September 29th, 2007 — Beer Events, Tastings
With special guest SAM CALAGIONE, founder and president of Dogfish head brewery.
Details:
Wednesday, October 3rd, 6 PM
@ George Keeley’s
Full description
September 18th, 2007 — Beer Menus
Please pardon my brief hiatus. I have been working on a side project for several weeks where I am creating a database of the beer menus of the best beer bars in NYC so that they are completely searchable by beer name, bar name, neighborhood, etc. It is quite a challenge to both gather beer menus which are often changing daily on chalk boards and it is also a challenge to put them in a format that is easy to view and browse on a website. My project so far is breaking it down into seasonal/rotational, house beers, draft beers, bottled beers, and canned beers (cask coming soon?). We are strong proponents of showcasing the ABV (alcohol-by-volume) to show how although craft beers are often more expensive than your run-of-the-mill macro, they are cheaper in terms of ”price per drink.” In other words, if you buy a beer that is three times as alcoholic and a dollar more than a Bud Light, it is a cheaper inebriation. In other other words, to hammer my point home, you can get pretty primed drinking a few strong beers that taste magical while it will probably take you, depending on your tolerance, 8-12 Bud Lights to get primed and you will end up waiting in long bathroom lines the whole way.
To get back to my main point, there are many ways to organize beers. Many places do it by country primarily, some do it by beer style primarily, some do both. I am curious what viewers think about organizing beer by flavor profile, similar to the way many wine menus categorize their wine list. This article discusses the idea.