The Union-Tribune in San Diego profiles Stone Brewing Co. co-founder Greg Koch.
The lengthy article concludes with the punchline:
“I’m going to let Stone get as big as it’s going to get, as big as it wants to be,†he said. “The only goal is to maintain our original set of standards.â€
Speaking of Stone. A case (12 bottles) of Stone Epic Ale 02/02/02 recently sold for $2,500 on eBay. At that price it shouldn’t be surprising that a second immediately went up on the block.
Valentine’s Day is not one of the big beer selling holidays. Industrial brewers move a ton of beer for Fourth of July, Memorial Day, the Super Bowl, etc. The December holidays are important for specialty beer producers.
Valentine’s Day? Pretty much another Tuesday. Or is it?
Realbeer.com certainly has seen enough promotional material to suggest otherwise. Importers such as Merchant du Vin, extolling the virtues of Lindemans lambics; craft brewers such at Boston Beer, working with a New York chef to create special recipes to go with its Chocolate Bock; and a variety of brewpubs offering special dinners … everybody is getting in the act.
It makes a good story, which is probably why the Liquid Solutions column that Lisa Morrison writes for television station website around the country received unusually prominent play this past week when she turned the spotlight on Valentine’s Day:
When better but the dark nights of February to seduce your sweetie with a sumptuous symphony of the senses? And what better way to woo the object of your affections than with the delectable duo of chocolate — and beer?
That’s right. Chocolate. And beer. This is the Valentine’s Day to get racy. Be daring! Toss aside those erstwhile notions of red wine or champagne and truffles and tempt your honey’s taste buds with a combination that is sure to create fireworks.
(Here’s a link to column as it appeared in Baltimore.)
We think the bottom line should be that beer and chocolate are a treat together, whether in February or October. And romance should be year-round, right?
A couple years back at www.beercook.com, Lucy Saunders quoted Rogue Ales Public House manager Russ Menegat: “Chocolate releases the same dopamine chemicals in the brain as romantic love does, and beer tends to reduce social inhibitions. If that doesn’t sound like the makings of an interesting evening, I don’t know what does…”
Saunders noted you couldn’t grab just any beer, that you should match the flavors of roasted cocoa beans and roasted barley malts. Her story began, “If the Belgian monks who brew beer call it ‘liquid bread,’ then for Valentine’s Day, think of it as ‘liquid cake.'”
Which brings us back to where we started. Are we really talking about Valentine’s Day? Lew Bryson riffs on the subject in his monthly “Buzz”” “… it’s almost amusing to see the array of choices offered for the romantic beer drinker. But the subtext here is plain. This is not about beer for romance. It’s about beer for women.”
It’s been more than a dozen years since Goose Island Brewing founder John Hall said that women were more willing to try – and then enjoy – new beers than men. But marketers still focus on promoting beers that are “easy” (light, fruity, whatever) for women to drink.
That’s silly. Listen to Lew:
I happen to believe that women are just like men when it comes to their tastes. That women, like men, have different tastes as individuals, and that they are not gender-selective for sweets and glop any more than men are. That women deserve to be treated with the same respect when selecting a beer that men do, not a patronizing assumption that they want something light, fruity, candyish, or wine-like. They, like men, may not even know what they like. But I believe that the best way to find that out — for both of us — is to offer them the same kind of choices that I would a man.
For more on this, check out a Roundtable of Women Beer Drinkers from our archives (2002).
Jay Brooks has the results (congratulations to Maring Brewing) and plenty of pictures.
What was it like for the average attendee? Beer Is the Answer reports.
Don Russell, a.k.a. Joe Sixpack, has a scoop this week the Philadelphia Daily News: Scottish & Newcastle, which owns Ireland’s Beamish Stout, has pulled the plug on exports of Beamish to the United States.
Don reports that Scottish & Newcastle “quietly decided earlier this year to pull the plug on Beamish exports to America, to concentrate on sales of Newcastle Brown Ale. It will also ax U.S. exports of John Courage Amber Lager and McEwan’s IPA. (The more popular McEwan’s Scotch Ale is still alive, however.)”
This is a big deal to anybody in the U.S. who loves the uniquely peppery stout, but it is a really big deal in Philadelphia. There several independent taverns have boycotted Guinness for the past six years because of the brewery’s suspected ties to a number of Irish-themed tavern chains.
Don’s got the whole story – why the brewers of Beamish are upset, how the big business of beer works and what it means to Philly tavern owners. Take a few minutes to read the story.
The name of the website may leave you a little disoriented: Eat Beer.
Even when we consider a beer such as Celebrator Doppelbock liquid bread it is still liquid and we pour it in a glass instead of eating it with a fork.
OK, silliness aside, the the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) is holding a contest to promote beer as an ingredient when cooking. Its “Cooking with Beer Challenge†is designed to find the best recipe in the country featuring brew. The winner will receive a seven day trip to Cancun, Mexico. The press release says “to soak up the sun and enjoy America’s beverage” and if you’ve previously been to Cancun you’ll understand the importance of the part in quotes.
Recipes entered by July 31 will be judged by a panel of food experts to determine which top ten recipe creators will receive an expense-paid trip to participate in the final cook-off in New York City this fall.
“This cooking contest reinforces several of our key messages with consumers,†said NBWA’s Vice President of Public Affairs Michelle Semones. “It highlights the immense variety of beer found in stores around the country – something that would not be possible without distributors to help get these smaller products to market. It also reminds consumers that beer has a natural place at the dinner table – whether livening up a recipe or as the perfect accompaniment to one.â€
Beer is the only required ingredient in the recipes, which may be for any type of dish: appetizers, soups, entrees or baked goods. The more creative use of beer as an ingredient the better.
– The Washington Post’s once-a-month beer feature focuses on Jerry Bailey of Old Dominion and Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Brewery.
– Missed this last week, but a great lead in the Wall Street Journal (pay site) on a story examing Anheuser-Busch’s struggles to increase sales: “It’s good to be king — except when your realm is shrinking.”
– John Filson in the Toronto Star: “Keep in mind there are tons of beers that call themselves pilsner, but are lukewarm examples at best. It’s an industry problem: if a beer wants to call itself a pilsner, it just does, even if it’s too bland or bad or out of character to deserve the designation. Just consider the ramifications if Loblaws decided to call any cut of meat sirloin and you’ll see why that’s a problem.”
Stephen Beaumont of World of Beer started with a compliment:
First off, let me say for the record that I like both ratebeer.com and beeradvocate.com and feel that they both fill important needs within the beer world, allowing aficionados casual and obsessive the chance to share and discuss their views about this beer or that.
But he surely knew what would happen when he offered some perspective on a RateBeer’s press release touting “The Best Beers in the World.â€
The discussion has reached 8 pages this morning. Jump in anywhere and you might be moved to offer a variety of comments.
The one that seems most relevent this week: Here’s the passion that’s missing from the first Here’s to Beer commercial (that debuted during the Super Bowl).
Did you wake up this morning feeling better about beer?
Any different at all?
Should you feel different because the “Here’s to Beer” campaign officially kicked off during the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl?
It wasn’t one of the commercials generally talked about this morning as every publication from the Wall Street Journal to USA Today debates who had the best spot, but Seth Stevenson of Slate did offer some thoughts:
An ad from something called the “Beer Institute” shows us people all over the world enjoying their brewskis. “Here’s to Beer,” says the tagline. I’ll drink to that. But what I’m wondering is whether I can snag some sort of fellowship at the Beer Institute. Is it like a think tank? Can I get beer tenure? (By the way, this ad was actually paid for by Anheuser-Busch. Miller is also a sponsor of the Beer Institute but apparently scoffed at the idea of random beer cheerleading. Miller spokesman quote: “We are happy and supportive of Anheuser-Busch spending its own money on an industry campaign. We will be making our own investments in marketing Miller brands.”)
Yes, A-B paid for the spot ($2.5 million for 30 seconds!) and the St. Louis-based brewing giant has been the driving force behind an effort to improve beer’s image. You may have thought we wrote enough about the subject on Friday, so we’ll try to keep the thoughts short:
– Jay Brooks has already unloaded on this campaign a couple of times in his blog. Give that a read and we’ll try to not repeat much here.
– The Here’s to Beer website looks and feels like others promoting drinks companies who command a premium price for their products: Heineken, Grey Goose Vodka, Corona and even Sam Adams.
That makes the target audience pretty obvious. When Anheuser-Busch executive Robert Lachky began promoting the idea for this effort last fall he said, “Remember, the enemy is hard liquor and wine.” He outlined a four-prong consumer campaign that would center on the social value of beer, the “romance” of the product, viewing beer differently and the health benefits of beer.
Jay complains, “If you want to turn someone on to better beer, this is not the place to send them.”
That would be the point. This campaign is not about “better beer” but about convincing consumers to buy the international lagers they are turning away from (for beer made in small-batch breweries and other drink products).
– We’ll follow with interest about how this plays out. The idea sounds good: Improve beer’s image. Then stop to think about it. Does New Belgium need a better image? Sierra Nevada? Saint Arnold Brewing? Victory Brewing? We could list hundreds more that don’t need an image facelift.
But they may well benefit by osmosis, or perhaps as the campaign takes twists and turns along the way.
Lachky promised A-B won’t get discouraged easily. “I think you’re talking about a two-year play at least,” he said.
As a follow up to the “Slainte” commercial that ran during the Super Bowl, director Spike Lee has made two spots where a celebrity is asked who he or she would share a beer with.
The first features actor Michael Imperioli, tough-guy Chris of the Sopranos, toasting another tough-guy: Humphrey Bogart. That ad may run during the Winter Olympic Games. The other commercial, expected to debut at the start of baseball season, features Lee himself toasting baseball great Jackie Robinson.
Lee knows how to tell a story, just as small-batch brewers know how to tell a story. We’re pretty sure that A-B can figure out how to tell a story, but the brewery (and other producers of international lagers) need to come up with one we want to hear . . . make that one we want to drink.
No, the folks at Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon, weren’t stuttering when they named their first barley wine Mirror Mirror.
The press release calls it “a beer so nice we named it twice” but if it isn’t exactly double Deschutes’ Mirror Pond Ale it comes close enough. Barley clearly is the star in this beer, with hops – still distinctively Northwest – and wood adding secondary layers of complexity.
Mirror Mirror is the first selection in Deschutes’ newly created Reserve Series. The brewery plans to offer one or two Reserve beers a year, subject to how inspiration grabs the brewers. This is actually the second version. The first draft-only batch was brewed in 2004, aged in a potpourri of barrels (Pinot Noir, bourbon, port) and then blended. By many accounts, it could have used more focus.
For Mirror Mirror 2.0, started in February 2005, the brewers stuck to only French oak wine barrels. The beer was already 10 months old (four in wood) when they dry hopped it a few days and bottled it early in 2006.
You can’t exactly call a barley wine that’s 9.9% abv restrained, but the bitterness (52 IBUs) is low by Northwest standards. Hop aromas intermingle with higher alcohols to provide a perfume-like floral impression as well as typical American hop citrus character. Dark fruits, particularly raisins, arrive at the start and linger through a long husky finish.
It has the malt depth to signal this is a beer to age, but the balance to drink now – which might make it hard to keep around for long. Nonetheless, the questions are fun to think about: Will the citrusy hops continue to give way to whisky undertones? Will the emerging dessert-apple tone turn toward toffee? What direction will the wood take the beer?
After month’s of discussion about improving beer’s image, brewing giant Anheuser-Busch will put its money where its mouth is. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the brewer will provide one of its coveted Super Bowl spots for an ad promoting the industry.
“It wasn’t too difficult of a decision because everyone in our company realizes the need for Anheuser-Busch to lead an industry platform,” said Bob Lachky, executive vice president of global industry development at A-B’s domestic brewing unit.
The spot, dubbed “Slainte,” in reference to a Gaelic toast, will air during the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl, in which 30 seconds of ad time sells for about $2.5 million.
“It starts to send a different signal about the demographics of beer,” Lachky said. “It starts to paint a slightly different picture than what people might come to expect (from beer), and it totally puts a different face on beer.”
Beer Therapy will comment Monday after seeing the spot, and surely add some comments of our own about beer’s image.
A-B certainly isn’t overlooking any possible new ways to reach potential consumers. The company will make its Super Bowl ads available for postgame downloading at Budweiser.com. The beer giant worked with Maven Networks of Massachusetts to create an application that allows consumers to download their favorite beer commercials and watch them on video iPods, laptops, and computer screens.
The “Slainte” spot will also promote a new website, www.herestobeer.com, that goes live on Sunday. It features sections that educate consumers about the brewing process and offers food-pairing suggestions, historical facts, recipes using beer and “beertails,” suggested ways to mix beers.
The importance of the campaign became more apparent on Wednesday when A-B announced the impact of flat sales and higher costs in the fourth quarter, with profits plunging almost 40% from a year ago.
A-B’s problems reflect those of all the largest brewers. Overall beer sales were flat in 2005, although early reports indicate the craft segment grew at about a 7% pace.
Miller Brewing has already told distributors about its plans revive the flagging Miller Genuine Draft brand by targeting young adults in their 20s and 30s. The campaign goes national March 1, with a “bridge” advertisements already launched. Miller’s advertisements – featuring the catch phrase, “Beer. Grown Up.†– are aimed at those in their late 20s to 30s who have drifted away from mainstream beers and switched to other alcohol-based drinks, or even craft beers or imports.
“We’ve found our target consumer, 26- to 40-year-old strivers that are being neglected by the beer category,” brand director Terry Haley said in introducing the campaign. “It is perfect for Miller Genuine Draft.”
Good news for those who have celiac disease – two American brewers now offer gluten-free beer.
– Passover Honey Beer is made by the Ramapo Valley Brewery of Hillburn, N.Y. It contains no barley nor any grain. It’s brewed with just honey, a “hint” of molasses, hops, kosher-certified yeast and water.
That may sound more like mead than beer, but Ramapo’s co-founder, Egon Lizenberg, insists that Passover Honey is a beer. “I haven’t seen any wine with hops yet,” he said. The federal labeling authorities apparently have agreed.
– Milwaukee’s Lakefront Brewery last fall began selling New Grist, an all-sorghum beer. In releasing the beer, the brewery noted: “New Grist is the first ‘official’ gluten free beer in the U.S., although it cannot technically be called ‘gluten-free’ until established governmental guidelines are determined for all products claiming ‘gluten-free’ status. In the interim, this Celiac-safe beer can be called ‘barley-free.’ ”
Waiter Rant “reveals” what your drink says about you and takes no prisoners.
Of course we have to point to the beer entry: “Blue collar, simple, and an old standby. (I think a girl wearing a t-shirt and jeans while drinking a good ‘ol Bud is very sexy.)”
A few more:
Chardonnay – You know what you like. Boring. Predictable. The Missionary Position of White Wine.
Sour Apple Martini – You have a sense of fun but overindulgence might cause dancing on tables and bad karaoke singing. (Beth?)
Campari and Soda – You’re a gourmand. A good aperitif. A bitter drink for bitter people.
Champagne – You’re reserved, classy, or a stripper.
And then there is one of the comments: “Not subidviding “Beer†is somewhat like not distinguishing between wines. Someone drinking Budlight isn’t THAT similar to someone drinking microbrews.”
Amen.
You probably already knew this but we like to repeat it a few times a day: the health benefits of beer are not all that different from the benefits of wine.
Here’s a nice report about how “Beer Isn’t All It’s ‘Cracked Down’ to Be.” On the list:
– Bone protection.
– Lower risk for cardiovascular disease.
– Better heart attack survival.
– Improved cholesterol levels.
– Sharper brains.
– Healthier kidneys.
– Antioxidant effect.
We learned long ago that the best time to buy beer at our local Oktoberfest is when the St. Pauli Girl shows up to sign posters – because that’s where the line will be.
So as a public service announcement we offer this: To mark the annual selection of a new St. Pauli Girl the brewing company will give away 400 free posters each day on the brand’s website. Additionally, from March through May, another 40 free posters will be given away each day to consumers on a first-come, first-served basis. And, a downloadable version will be available on the St. Pauli Girl Beer website as a screensaver.
By the way, Brittany Evans is model chosen to adorn the 2006 poster and represent the brand throught the year.
Hard to believe that Victory Brewing in Downingtown, Pa., is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
How fast things change is driven home by the fact that last week, Friday in fact, Victory’s 2006 production exceeded their total first year production of 2,550 barrels (a barrel contains 31 gallons).
They should have plenty of beer for the 10 Years New Party Feb. 17-18.