Wednesday’s ad is for Miller High Life, from 1960. Ah, the end of the 1950s. The two men have a beer and a smoke while the little woman shells peas and prepares the meal for them. There are only two bottles on that table. If she has to do all the work, the least they could do is offer her a beer.
Archives for July 15, 2015
Patent No. 5648246A: Process For The Continuous Preparation Of Wort
Today in 1997, US Patent 5648246 A was issued, an invention of Christiaan Willem Versteegh, assigned to Heineken Technical Services B.V., for his “Process For The Continuous Preparation Of Wort.” Here’s the Abstract:
This invention relates to a process for the continuous preparation of wort, including the continuous enzymatic conversion of malt in one rotating disc contactor and separation of spent grain from mash in a separation unit. Further, a process for the continuous preparation of wort, including the continuous gelatinization and enzymatic liquefaction of a mixture based on unmalted grain, malt and/or an enzyme source and water in a rotating disc contactor, addition of malt and/or enzyme source to the product obtained, enzymatic conversion of the product obtained and separation of the spent grain from the mash in a separation unit.
Nielsen Beer Numbers Show Where Growth Is Happening
Earlier today, Bart Watson, the BA’s economist, tweeted a chart from Nielsen entitled “Craft Beer is a Staple Out West and Growing Across the Country.” The chart is from a new report released yesterday, called Tapped In: Craft and Local Are Powerful Trends in the Beer Aisle. It shows three columns of data, including dollar share, percentage change of dollar volume versus last year and changes in dollar share versus last year. This is for “craft beer,” which Nieslen defines slightly differently than the BA, if memory serves.
The top five markets for share of craft beer are on the west coast, three of them in California: San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento. The bottom five are all midwest and east coast, though only Washington DC is a particularly large market, with the other four being somewhat smaller. The top five each represents market in which craft enjoys roughly one-third of all beer sales, which is amazing to me given where we were just ten or twenty years ago.
In terms of change, Birmingham, Alabama is the surprise winner with an astonishing 63.1% growth in volume over last year. Although equally surprising is San Diego who despite being the third largest market for craft, also grew 22.5% more on a large base, and was the fourth highest in volume growth.
Of the categories Nielsen tracks, cider is the one most on fire, with volume up 43.2%. Next is craft beer with 10.2%, tied with Mexican beer, although craft has the edge in percentage change in value, though I’m not entirely sure how that’s calculated. Super Premium, Premium, and Sub Premium are all trending down, with negative numbers, though not by much. Sub Premium is losing the most ground, down 3.5% by volume.
In addition, Nieksen surveyed beer drinkers about how much they care about their beer being local.
If you’re unfamiliar with Nielsen, they track sales data in primarily larger, chain outlets like groceries, convenience stores, liquor and drug chains, etc. as opposed to beer stores and more independent or unique sales avenues. But because they’ve been collecting consistent data for a number of years, their information is usually pretty reliable and a decent snapshot of what’s going on across the country. Here’s some more of their analysis regarding where people are buying beer.
At the end of June 2015, craft beer accounted for 11.9% of the total dollar volume of the beer category in the U.S. It’s worth noting, however, that craft’s market share varies significantly by channel. For example, it has a much larger share in the grocery channel (20.1%) than the convenience (4.6%) and drug (8.7%) store channels, largely because grocery stores have significantly more floor space available, which allows for greater assortment and options for consumers. That said, however, the convenience channel holds the title for being the leader for overall beer sales, and craft is making a strong run there, growing at a faster pace in the convenience channel (+21.4%) than in grocery stores (+13.7%) for the 52 weeks ending June 20, 2015.
Patent No. 4212950A: Fermenting Apparatus
Today in 1980, US Patent 4212950 A was issued, an invention of Robert P. Adams, assigned to The Virtis Company, Inc., for his “Fermenting Apparatus.” Here’s the Abstract:
Apparatus providing for the growth of cells in a nutrient bath under controlled conditions includes a pressure vessel with a surrounding dimpled jacket. The pressure vessel is adjustably mounted on three vertical mounting columns, from which it is thermally isolated. Temperature control for the pressure vessel is achieved by a closed heat transfer system which includes a pair of heat exchanger sections in series, one for heating and one for cooling the heat transfer fluid. A removable head or lid for the pressure vessel is lifted by three cables running through a common pulley mounted above the pressure vessel. Impeller blades for agitating the contents of the fermenting apparatus have a drive shaft that extends through the head and is connected to a gear box by a removable driving link. The gear box, and an associated drive motor, are affixed to a common mounting bracket that is pivotable to permit maximum displacement of the head.