The “Brew” Blog, which is sponsored by Miller and reads like it, this week has a series about how the rules of the beer business are changing.

It features old rules and the rules that replaced them. No. 2:
Old Rule: Imports and crafts are exotic
New Rule: Imports and crafts are mainstream

Most of the attention still goes to imports, which had 6% of the market in 1995 and now command 12%, which are much like mainstream beers in taste and marketing.

Indeed, top imports Corona Extra and Heineken are taking on the characteristics of mainstream domestic brews. They spend millions on television. They’re sold in convenience stores. They’re available in large package sizes. And, bowing to U.S. consumer tastes, they’re available in light versions.

“Brew” has made all the rules available, so we don’t have to wait to read No. 4, for which the new rule is “No product, no image.” The idea is that there has to be substance behind advertising.

There’s no one path to differentiation. It can focus on the intrinsic qualities of the beer – its taste or other physical characteristics. Or it can focus on the extrinsic characteristics, such as its place of origin or the package. And of course, differentiation can be based on both.

Like, “We’re your neighborhood brewery and we make beer with more flavor.”

Guinness plans to test market a new beer called Guinness Red.

Stephen Beaumont doesn’t think much of the idea.

Listen, Diageo, I know that sales of Guinness are falling in Ireland and the U.K., at least according to my sources, and that you likely want to find some way to buoy them up. But believe me, this ain’t it!

His explanation at World of Beer.

The romance of hops? That either makes sense to you or it doesn’t. Deschutes Brewery certainly understands because it has posted a wonderful movie about the making of Hop Trip 2006 at its website.

Deschutes used whole leaf Crystal hops for its fresh hop beer, creating a beer of moderate alcohol (5.5% abv), solid bitterness (38 IBU) and excessive hop flavor.

Hop Trip flashes the citrusy/piney aroma you expect of a beer from the Northwest, but follows that with spicy/floral flavors from the wet hops. It tiptoes on the border of being a bit vegetal, but the final impression is soothing in a way that may cause you to consider napping on a hop pillow.

– Great Divide Brewing in Denver has shipped its “wet hop” ale, simply called Fresh Hop Pale Ale. The 2005 batch proved so popular that the brewery doubled the amount it brewed, but higher demand means it again will be sold on an allocated basis and a little harder to find. Fresh Hop Ale is 6.1% abv and measures 55 IBU.

– Monday is the official release date for Stone Double Bastard Ale and Oaked Arrogant Bstard but Double Bastard has been spotted on store shelves already. The news is that that Oaked Arrogant Bastard will be available in 12-ounce bottles (sold in 6-packs) for the first time.

“Each beer possesses very different flavor characteristics and complexity, while retaining the intensity of the original Bastard,” Stone Head Brewer Mitch Steele said for a company press release. “Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale has the strong flavor of American oak, vanilla, and malt, while the Double Bastard Ale is a huge beer, dominated by malt, fruit, fresh hops and alcohol.”

– Extra Special Red (8% abv) is the third release in Odell Brewing’s 2006 Single Batch Series. “There is a lot of history behind this beer style. Red beers can be traced back to ancient Egypt. It is one of the oldest beer recipes” said brewer Greg Wiggall. According to Egyptian mythology, beer colored with red ochre was used to pacify an angry goddess and save the world from destruction.

Signapore’s Tiger beer, which earlier this year struck a deal with Anheuser-Busch that greatly expands its distribution is flying off the shelves in – you guessed it – Detroit.

“Last weekend alone we sold 20 cases, which for an off-brand beer is a ton of beer,” says Harry Kefalonitis, owner of Harry’s Detroit, which is near Comerica Park. “They see the sign I put up about the beer, and people will say, ‘Oh, give me that. Get me a Tiger Beer,’ and then the whole table ends up getting it.”

One owner of a popular bar/club said described it as a basic drinking beer.

“It’s like Labatt, but with more alcohol,” he said. “It’s nothing super special. It’s just a basic, solid tasty beer.”

American brewers showed their skill for brewing big and bold beers in the Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival (that’s Stockholm, Sweden), sweeping the cateogires for strong beers above 6% alcohol.

The U.S. medalists:

Category: Dark Lager max 5.9% ABV
Silver-Boston Beer Company, Black Lager

Category: Porter/Stout max 5.9% ABV
Bronze-Sierra Nevada, Porter

Category: Strong Beer 6.0% to 7.9% ABV
Gold –Stone Brewing Company, Stone IPA
Silver- Oskar Blue Brewery, Dale’s Pale Ale
Bronze-Great Divide, Titan IPA

Category: Strong Beer 8.0% ABV and above
Gold-North Coast Brewing Co, Old Rasputin Imperial Stout
Silver-Flying Dog Ales, Gonzo Imperial Porter
Bronze-Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, 90 Minute IPA

Category: Other Beer Category
Bronze-Rogue Ales, Chipotle Ale

The beers were entered in the festival’s judging thanks to the Export Development Program of the Brewers Association.

Thanks to Oskcar Blues for providing the results.