Yankee Brew News Archive

Letters

Originally Published: 10/97

Dear YBN:

Congratulations to the entire crew on another excellent edition of Yankee Brew News. I always look forward to new issues to help me keep abreast of what is going on in the industry.

There is one small issue that I would take exception to, however. In Mark Hall's What's Brewing column he did a nice synopsis of what is going on in Maine and New Hampshire. While discussing the breweries that are on board in support of the New Hampshire Craft Brewer's Association (NHCBA), he lists all the member breweries and completes the list with "that other brewery from Portsmouth".

For the record (and assuming that it is Redhook you are referring to), Redhook Ale Brewery is a craft brewery and is a member of the NHCBA. I would think that a magazine whose mission is to promote local breweries and local brewery organizations would not want to disguise the identities of breweries that are as supportive to their respective regions as Redhook.

Thank you very much for your time and your fine publication. Please also accept this correspondence as an invitation for you to come up and visit our facility. All of us at Redhook are immensely proud of what we have accomplished over the last 15 years and would love the opportunity to show off our Portsmouth facility.

Sincerely,

Steven V. Smith

Redhook Ale Brewery

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Dear YBN:

I was incredibly dismayed to see that in Mark Hall's What's Brewing: Maine/New Hampshire, he refers to Redhook as "that other brewery from Portsmouth" while discussing the formation of the New Hampshire Craft Brewers Association. Too often lately Redhook is trivialized and vilified by the brew newspapers, the majority of which have never really come to see what we are all about.

I have been in the beer business for six years now, having worked for Harpoon for three years and Redhook for three. I went to Redhook because I had been in love with Redhook ever since I had it on the west coast, about two years before I ever thought about a career in beer. When I heard they were building a brewery on the east coast, I jumped at a chance to work for such a legendary brewing company.

It still amazes me that people make disparaging comments about Redhook. We were at the very start of the micro revolution, and helped pave the way for others on the west coast, much the way Sam Adams and Geary's did on the east coast.

Redhook is getting slammed a lot lately, and I'm sure that part of it stems from jealousy by other brewers; we have created a state of the art brewing facility in Portsmouth that is arguably the most technologically advanced brewery in the U.S. right now. Jim Koch has maligned us from the start, calling one of the most beautiful breweries I have ever seen the Death Star (actually, we have come to like the name in a sort of warped way). We expected to be controversial, but we didn't expect so much negative feeling from the brewing community. The exception has been the New Hampshire craft brewers, who have been very cordial and helpful while we settled in our new home in Portsmouth.

Our distribution agreement with Anheuser Busch has raised quite a bit of controversy, where in exchange for 25% of the stock of the company we were able to gain national distribution throughout their wholesaler network, the finest in the nation. Anyone with any business acumen at all will realize this was a brilliant move on Redhook's part. AB does not tell us what to do, nor do they brew our beer. They simply distribute us. Distribution is a critical part of the success of any product, and we chose the best. Shipyard sold 50% of their company to Miller, and have a representative from Miller overseeing the day to day operations there. Why have they escaped criticism, while we take the brunt of it?

There is no doubt Redhook has brought the stakes up a notch in New England, but those who brew great beer have nothing to worry about. They will endure. Redhook has been in Washington state for 16 years now and we haven't put anyone out of business yet. But I feel Mark should give us a little more credit than calling us "that other brewery from Portsmouth." We have earned it.

Sincerely,

John A. Considine II

Northern New England Sales Manager

Redhook Ale Brewery

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Dear Steven and John:

I understand and appreciate your feelings and concerns about the way your brewery was referenced in Mark's column. I did indeed pause over that description during the editing process, but decided to let it stand. While Mark's humor may have offended you, I think it can also be viewed in a flattering way. For many lovers of New England craft beer, and regular YBN readers in particular, there was little doubt who Mark was referring to, much the same way we have done in the past when referring to the brewery in Merrimack, which the cognoscenti immediately recognized as Anheuser-Busch. That Redhook can be referred to in a joking manner, and have many of those in the audience get the joke, is testimony to the impact your brewery has made in such a relatively short time in our region.

I don't think YBN overall has trivialized Redhook. Your brewery has been the subject of two past YBN cover stories. This is a feat very few New England brewers have achieved, particularly in such a short period of time. We have written news stories, beer reviews, and editorial commentary about Redhook.

In our What's Brewing columns that chronicle craft brew developments in the individual New England states, we give our columnists considerable latitude to write columns that are both informative and entertaining. And one of the ways we entertain our readers is through humor, sometimes broad and explicit, other times subtle and biting. But with any attempt at humor, there is always the risk that some people will be offended while others are amused. Over the years YBN writers have thrown occasional darts at more than a few of the region's brewers. Our sense of humor and Yankee persona is an integral part of YBN's identity, and something I'm loathe to sanitize to avoid potentially offending people.

Cheers,

Brett Peruzzi, Editor-in-Chief, Yankee Brew News