Campaign against cheaper beer

Posted In Beer culture, Trends at   

England Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) – a consumer advocacy group – has mounted a campaign against cheap beer prices, pointing out some supermarkets are selling beer for little more than water.

CAMRA, members of parliament, trade press and pub industry chiefs are calling for urgent action to prevent promotions that serve to exacerbate the problem of binge drinking.

Legistlations would “call on supermarkets and off licences to curb irresponsible alcohol price promotions and stop using alcohol as a loss leader.”

Higher beer prices ahead

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Beer prices may soon rise for consumers because of the increasing costs of barley and other raw materials.

The Associated Press story focuses on larger breweries, since they sell most of the beer.

“Raw material costs have gone up so much in such a short period of time, it’s unavoidable that you will see some price increases eventually,” said Morningstar analyst Matthew Reilly.

One of the culprits is barley. The story reports on North American production, but barley/malt prices have also been ramping up in Europe after a tough growing year. That means that even craft breweries that use continental malts also face higher prices.

Meanwhile, input from one craft brewery owner:

The situation may improve later in the year – a prospect smaller breweries are counting on to help with costs. Mark Stutrud, president and founder of Summit Brewery in St. Paul, Minn., said he’s hoping prices fall somewhat in July and August.
“If there’s an increase in the amount that cultivated, that would be good news,” Stutrud said.

Summit Brewery is the third largest brewery in Minnesota and makes more than 60,000 barrels of beer a year, including an extra pale ale popular in the Twin Cities area. Its beers are available from distributors in 13 states in the Midwest and Great Plains.

Stutrud has had to increase costs modestly each year since early 2000 to keep up with price increases and inflation.

Victory reprises Couples Beerathlon

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Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Victory Brewing in southeast Pennsylvania is bringing back its Couples Beerathlon at Victory Love Fest. Held Feb. 9, it is comprised of three events.

The three tasks to be jointly competed in by the ten couples include the Victory Beer Brains, The Running of the Mugs, and Malt-Sack Madness. Victory Beer Brains will be a game show style beer trivia competition while The Running of the Mugs will be a test of service, spillage, and speed. Malt-Sack Madness will have five competitors, their legs confined to sacks that once contained barley malt, racing against one another for speed and lack of spillage. The combined points from each event placing will determine the overall Couples Victory Champion.

Winners will take home the Golden Pitcher of Victory, branded Victory attire and six cases of their favorite Victory beer.

Applicants are now being accepted for the competition. Individuals who believe they have what it takes should forward their information including name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and why they should be chosen as a contestant to Jake Burns (or attn: Jake Burns, Victory Brewing Co., 420 Acorn Lane, Downingtown, PA 19335).

Old Dominion announcement near

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The Washington Post reports the long-expected sale of Old Dominion Brewing could be announced any time.

Sale would involve Ram’s Head Tavern, a Maryland brewery chain, and beer giant Anheuser-Busch.

“We have signed a letter of intent with someone, but we are not confirming or denying any of the other stuff,” said founder Jerry Bailey, adding that he was selling the company in order to liquidate his equity.

Santa’s Butt beer un-banned

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And the award for best headline on the last story we have to send you about the banning of Santa’s Butt goes to the International Herald Tribune: Santa’s Butt, women’s breasts OK on beer labels after all, U.S. state says.

Maine’s beer sellers are now free to put Santa’s Butt beer on their shelves. The essentials:

The brew, along with two beers with labels depicting bare-breasted women, had been off shelves after the Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement blocked a beer importer from selling them.

State officials worried the Santa’s Butt label might appeal to children. It has a rear view of a beer-drinking Santa sitting on a “butt,” a large barrel brewers once used to store beer.

But the state’s actions were reversed after the state attorney general’s office determined beer importer probably would win the lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union filed on its behalf last month.

Don’t you feel better?

A-B sales up in 2006

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From the press release:

“Anheuser-Busch, Inc., the U.S. beer subsidiary of Anheuser‑Busch Cos., Inc., increased U.S. shipments to wholesalers to 102.3 million barrels in 2006 – up 1.2 million barrels or 1.2 percent over 2005, it was announced today by Anheuser-Busch Cos., Inc. president and chief executive officer, August A. Busch IV.”

Why?

Because of “success of its initiatives to grow core brands, led by Bud Light, and by expanding its portfolio of products including the addition of the Rolling Rock brands, and imports Grolsch and Tiger.”

World’s largest pint

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PintThe world’s largest pint will be “poured” in:

a) Disney World
b) Dublin
c) Portland, Oregon
d) Las Vegas

Where else other than Las Vegas?

From the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Standing 85 feet tall from the bottom of the pint to the top, the glass and steel structure is meant to be an attraction for a lounge that is to open soon “inside the pint,” said Paul Hennessey, owner of both Hennessey’s Tavern below and the lounge.

“We want this to be iconic. If you’re in Las Vegas, you’ll need to get a picture taken with it,” he said.

To make the structure look like a giant glass of Bass ale, complete with bubbles and a moderately foamy head, it will be wrapped in vinyl, similar to the technique used to wrap buses in multicolored graphics. It is to be completed within two weeks, Hennessey said.

And sorry, St. Patrick Day revelers, there won’t be any alcohol or other liquid inside of it. Instead, the innards will be the Brass Lounge.

Cynics could point out that a pint is, by definition, only 16 ounces. But Hennessey has a comeback for that.

“There’s the regular pint, which is 16 ounces. There’s the British imperial pint, which is 22 ounces. And then there’s the Las Vegas pint, which is much, much bigger. How big, I have no idea.”

This would seem to rank up there with the world’s largest six pack and the world’s largest hop cone.

Redhook, Widmer discuss merger

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The Seattle Times reports that Redhook Ale Brewery and Widmer Brother Brewing plan to start merger talks.

The Times’ story points out why this makes sense: “Redhook brews Widmer beer on the East Coast, and they share a sales and marketing operation in the West. More than a third of each company is owned by megabrewer Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis.”

Interestingly, the possible merger was revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Anheuser-Busch on Wednesday. The Anheuser-Busch filing says it anticipates Redhook would be “the surviving company in any transaction” with Widmer.

Redhook and Widmer considered a merger in 1996, Redhook founder Paul Shipman says in the story, but it “didn’t come together.”

“If you name breweries around the Pacific Northwest,” he says, “it wouldn’t take long before you named one that we had discussions with along the way.”

When Sideways meets Arrogant Bastard

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A rather unusual blog post built around a tour of Stone Brewing.

Hot Knives is basically a food blog hosted by Los Angeles Alternative. The authors present themselves this way: “Alex Brown and Evan George are former line-cooks who used to use hot knives for more illict purposes, but decided to turn their lives around so that others may start eating properly and drinking better beer.”

None of this background may prepare you for their trip, so sit back and relax.

PS – And from another post: “On another note, look for some 7-Eleven’s to start carrying entire catalogues of excellent craft breweries. Our local store now boasts two entire fridges of microbrews.”

How about that?

[Found via Hedonist Beer Jive]

Voters bring back Sam Adams Honey Porter

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Samuel Adams Honey Porter is back, this time based on voting in the Beer Lover’s Choice contest conducted by Boston Beer Co.

Beer drinkers tasted both the Honey Porter and Samuel Adams Smoked Lager in nearly 800 tasting events across the country late last summer, then voted for the beer they preferred. Honey Porter won, 8,206-5,984.

Honey Porter is brewed in the style of an English porter, with Scottish heather honey included. Boston Beer The beer was previously brewed by Boston Beer and captured awards at several larger beer competitions before

It will be featured in Samuel Adams Brewmaster’s Collection, a 12-pack available nationwide, and also offered by itself in six-packs starting in January.

Ben Franklin: Wine snob

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Must we throw away our T-shirts with “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy” and an attribution to Benjamin Franklin plastered across the back?

Mid-Atlantic News documented that Franklin was talking about wine in a story more than a year ago. But that’s not online, but details from author Bob Skilnik are at Beer & Food: An American History, a site he has created to promote his upcoming book of the same name. The book is already available for order and should be in stores next month.

Skilnik quotes from a letter in which Franklin wrote: “Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.”

That was in 1779. Who knows what he might have written about some of today’s craft beer? Probqably something worth putting on a T-shirt.

Wine grabbing Gen Xers, Millennials

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The following information was posted at WineBusiness.com:

New findings presented by the Wine Market Council during a trade event in New York City last week indicate that a whopping 14 percent of all wine consumers are drinking either less beer and less spirits (or both) but at the same time are drinking more wine.

Curiously, the research indicates that these are largely younger consumers. The conventional wisdom has been that older consumers eventually cut down on beer and spirits consumption while drinking more wine. Fifty-two percent of the “trade-off” consumers making the switch are under 42 years old, as they are either part of the Gen X or Millennial generations, according to the data.

The information was obtained by surveying wine consumers, and WineBusiness.com bills itself as “The Home Page for the Winde Industry” so keeps those things in mind. And remember that when they write beer they mean all beer, not craft beer.

Large brewers hope to mimic Stella success

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Brandweek reports that mass-market brewers aiming for the high-end beer market are basing their strategy on the success of Stella Artois.

Some of the things Stella has done:

– Instead of using babes and sports in advertising, owner Inbev has promoted signature beer glasses and proper beer care.

– Appealed to foodies by hosting Belgian dinners and landing editorial mentions in Bon Appetit and Gourmet.

– It became the badge beer for the independent film community through release-party sponsorships at Sundance and other film fests.

“Discovery” has been a key element of Stella’s plan, one that Anheuser-Busch will likely continue as it takes over distribution of Stella this year, and one that Miller and Coors are emulating with brands of their own.

California legalizes ‘free beer’

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Beginning Monday, a new California law will allow manufacturers and distributors to give free beer samples to patrons at restaurants and bars, a marketing practice previously banned in the state.

Anheuser-Busch lobbied hard for the new law, but insists that it only plans to conduct small educational tastings about new beers, such as its latest winter sampling.

”It’s an opportunity for us to get consumers to sample some of our new products,” said Andrew Baldonado, Western region vice president of government affairs for Anheuser-Busch. ”The Winter’s Bourbon Cask Ale is a seasonal beer that we’re doing. The best way to introduce those new products to consumers is to be able to have them sample them.”

Brewers, particularly small ones, already offer tastings at their own facilities in much the same way wineries do. Even Anheuser-Busch offers free tastings at its plant in Fairfield. But state law did not allow for beer samples beyond a brewer’s own tasting room.

The new law specifies that a beer tasting at a bar or restaurant cannot exceed eight ounces per person per day and that it must be served in a glass.

Fred Jones of the California Council on Alcohol Problems certainly doesn’t give beer much respect in knocking the law.

”It was jokingly referred to as the ‘free Happy Hour’ bill (in the Capitol), so I think that gives you an image of what could happen,” Jones said. ”What is the reason behind giving someone eight ounces of beer free? One could argue that with wineries, each winery is different and every bottle is different depending on age or season. But we’re talking about beer here.”

And this guy lives in California? Apparently with blinders on.