Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer Brewed With Elephant Dung

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elephant
I’ve had my share of beers made with odd ingredients, from pizza beer to Wynkoop’s bull testicle beer, with all manner of flowers, nuts, fruits, vegetables and tree parts in between. But this one has to take the cake. The Japanese brewery Sankt Gallen created a beer with elephant dung, which reportedly immediately sold out.

Sankt-Gallen-elephant-dung

According to Drinks Business:

The beer, which is called Un, Kono Kuro, is made using coffee beans that have passed through an elephant.

The Sankt Gallen brewery called the beer a “chocolate stout,” despite it not containing any chocolate. The coffee beans used in the beer come from elephants at Thailand’s Golden Triangle Elephant Foundation, which cost over $100 per 35 grams. The beans are so expensive as 33 kgs of beans in the mouth yields 1 kg of useable coffee beans.

According to another source, International Science Times, the beer “utilizes the flavor of Black Ivory Coffee, a variety of your morning brew that retails for about $500 per pound because the beans are harvested from elephant poop. And by “harvested” we mean picked out of a big pile of dung and rinsed off. The elephant poop beer uses the coffee beans to enhance the flavor in its coffee stout.” They continue.

Un, Kono Kuro is a pun on “unko” which is the Japanese word for “crap,” a fitting name indeed for elephant poop coffee. Although the elephant poop beer was a sales success, don’t expect it hit shelves anytime soon. The brewer, Sankt Gallen, isn’t adding it to their regular line-up. It’s not cheap beer, either; the retail value of a keg of Un, Kono Kuro is around $1100.

So apparently it’s pretty popular. At least one reviewer said it wasn’t bad, saying “there was an initial bitterness that got washed over by a wave of sweetness. Following that, a mellow body rolled in and spread out through my mouth.” Still, this may be going too far. What do you think?

Sankt-Gallen

Olympia Beer Offers Million Dollar Prize For Finding Bigfoot

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In what has to be one of the most unusual marketing efforts by a large brewer, Olympia Beer has offered to pay $1 million dollars — in increments of $25,000 a year for the next four decades — to anyone who can find conclusive evidence of a live Bigfoot. The contest is the brainchild of Evan and Daren Metropoulos, who recently bought Pabst Brewing Co., which also owns the Olympia brand.

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Full details and rules can be found at OlympiaBigfoot.com, but here’s their “Mission Statement” for finding Bigfoot:

Olympia Beer and Bigfoot have been leaving footprints together in the Pacific Northwest since 1896.

We have been sharing the same backyard for over a century and we believe it’s time to do what has never been done, and that is to offer a one million dollar reward to anyone who can ensure the safe capture of Bigfoot. When we say safe capture that means Bigfoot has to be alive and breathing folks, with no wounds. That’s right you can’t use any act of violence, no guns/knives/boxing gloves/nets/etc, only sugar or sweets to lure him in.

You must register to participate in the search. To report your discovery of irrefutable evidence of the existence of Bigfoot, click on the “Submit Capture Report” link on the left and follow the instructions to report your evidence. You participation in the search is subject to the complete Official Rules.

To aid us in this adventure, Olympia Beer is partnering with The Falcon Project

The Falcon Project has been identified as “the most penetrative search for Bigfoot ever conducted in the United States.” They will conduct an aerial search for Sasquatch employing an unmanned airship with high definition thermal imaging camera equipment.

Sure, it’s a publicity stunt, but it’s a funny one. And what if someone actually does it? Apparently 14% of all Americans believe Sasquatch to be real, while another 14% say they’re not sure.

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Winners must provide “irrefutable evidence” of Bigfoot’s existence and, according to the rules, may include “DNA Evidence.” From the rules:

“Bigfoot” refers to a previously undiscovered species of upright, bipedal hominid, native to North America existing contemporaneously with the Contest Period or the twenty-five (25) year period immediately prior to the Contest Period. There is no set type or amount of evidence required to establish proof for purposes of this Contest other than that all evidence presented must satisfy the Judging Panel. Evidence may include, but is not limited to DNA Evidence. DNA Evidence may include hair, blood, tissue or saliva that proves the DNA sequence of the donor shows that said donor resides in the primate evolutionary family tree, among other apes or hominids, but does not have the same genetic markers and DNA sequence as any known species. Evidence may also include “Visual Proof” of a live physical body. Physical remains may be considered as evidence provided that it can be conclusively demonstrated that the date of death pre-dated the Contest Period. Visual Proof shall not include footprints, bone fragments, inconclusive skeletal remains, or any other non-definitive evidence of the existence of Bigfoot. Any photo or video taken with photographic or video equipment is not sufficient to qualify as evidence in and of itself for consideration in the Contest, but may be considered as supporting evidence.
NO HARM SHOULD BE DONE TO BIGFOOT OR ANY LIVING CREATURE AS A RESULT OF PARTICIPATION IN THIS CONTEST. ANY EVIDENCE OF SUCH ACTIVITY SHALL LEAD TO DISQUALIFICATION FROM THE CONTEST AND NOTIFICATION TO THE PROPER LEGAL AUTHORITIES.

Why Success Is Killing the Craft Brew Industry

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This ran in The Street a couple of weeks ago, and I meant to post it before but it kept getting pushed down in the queue. Portland writer Jason Notte does an interesting job dissecting the industry and the recent kerfuffles over taxes in Why Success Is Killing the Craft Brew Industry. If you follow the business side of the beer industry, it’s worth a read.

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Getting Down To Business For The Next Session

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For our 75th Session, our host is Chuck Lenatti, who writes Allbrews. His topic is about the business of beer, how to get a new brewery up and running or keep one going. It’s the part of the process that many would-be brewers aren’t experts at, and often trip themselves up at various points along the way from concept to being a going concern. So here’s his invitation to The Session for May 2013 and his topic, The Business of Brewing:

Like sandlot baseball players or schoolyard basketball junkies, many amateur brewers, including some beer-brewing bloggers, harbor a secret dream: They aspire to some day “go pro.” They compare their beer with commercial brews poured in their local pubs and convince themselves that they’ve got the brewing chops it takes to play in the Bigs. Some of them even make it, fueling the dream that flutters in the hearts of many other home brewers yearning to see their beer bottles on the shelves at City Beer or their kegs poured from the taps at Toronado.

Creating a commercial brewery consists of much more than making great beer, of course. It requires meticulous planning, careful study and a whole different set of skills from brewing beer. And even then, the best plan can still be torpedoed by unexpected obstacles. Making beer is the easy part, building a successful business is hard.

In this Session, I’d like to invite comments and observations from bloggers and others who have first-hand knowledge of the complexities and pitfalls of starting a commercial brewery. What were the prescient decisions that saved the day or the errors of omission or commission that caused an otherwise promising enterprise to careen tragically off the rails?

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So on Friday, May 3, think about all of the breweries you’ve witnessed open, the ones that have succeeded and the ones that have come and gone. What was the difference? Which ones made it, and why do you think that is? What exactly makes a brewery successful, apart, of course, from making good beer.

Time-July-11-1955
Some beer businesses have worked out better than others.
(Time magazine, July 11, 1955)

British Brewers Inspired By American Craft Beer?

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The BBC’s News Magazine has an interesting article, US Craft Beer: How It Inspired British Brewers, that gives an overview of the rise of craft beer in America. Despite moving New Albion Brewing from Sonoma to San Francisco, the article does get most of the history reasonably right. And it’s also nice seeing my friend Melissa Cole quoted.

But the article doesn’t really deliver on the title, which I don’t mean as a criticism per se. It’s just that it’s more about craft beer becoming “fashionable,” trendy even in Great Britain than about British brewers being inspired by our beer. Certainly some are, and by everything I’ve seen and heard, it’s happening more and more, but I’ve also talked to British brewers who are convinced that UK consumers don’t want our hoppy or extreme beers. Yet when I was at GBBF a few years ago, the American brewers section was crowded all day long for the entirety of the festival. And when I accompanied Matt Brynildson to Marston’s in Burton-on-Trent to brew a collaboration beer for the J.D. Wetherspoon chain, the brewer — a terrifically nice person — refused to put in as many hops as Brynildson’s recipe called for, and he ended up having to adjust it. Even so, it proved to be one of the most popular beers at J.D. Wetherspoon’s festival that year. So I think that British beer drinkers are more interested in American-style beers than their brewers tend to believe is the case. At least that’s my anecdotal take, anyway.

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Matt Brynildson and Melissa Cole at a J.D. Wetherspoon pub in London.

The Top 50 Annotated 2012

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This is my seventh annual annotated list of the Top 50 so you can see who moved up and down, who was new to the list and who dropped off. So here is this year’s list again annotated with how they changed compared to last year.

  1. Anheuser-Busch InBev; #1 last seven years, no surprises
  2. MillerCoors; ditto for #2
  3. Pabst Brewing; ditto for #3
  4. D. G. Yuengling and Son; Same as last year
  5. Boston Beer Co.; Same as last year
  6. North American Breweries; 3rd year on the list, same position as last year
  7. Sierra Nevada Brewing; Same as last year
  8. New Belgium Brewing; Same as last year
  9. Craft Brewers Alliance; Same as last year
  10. Gambrinus Company; Same as last year
  11. Minhas Craft Brewery; Up 3 from #14 last year
  12. Deschutes Brewery; Down one from #11 last year
  13. Lagunitas Brewing; Up 3 from #16 last year after jumping up 10 from #26 the previous year, having been at #36 three years back
  14. Bell’s Brewery; Down 1 from #13 last year
  15. Matt Brewing; Down 3 from #12 last year
  16. Harpoon Brewery; Down 1 from #15 last year
  17. Stone Brewing; Up 1 from #18 last year
  18. Brooklyn Brewery; Up 2 from #20 last year, after jumping up 5 the year before
  19. Boulevard Brewing; Down 2 from #17 last year
  20. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery; Down 1 from last year, after being up 5, 9, 5 and 4 the four previous years
  21. Abita Brewing; Up 4 from #25 last year
  22. World Brew/Winery Exchange; Up 4 from #26 last year, after jumping up 11 the previous year
  23. Shipyard Brewing; Up 1 from last year, having moved up 4 the prior year
  24. Alaskan Brewing; Down 2 from #21 last year, their second drop in as many years
  25. August Schell Brewing; Down 2 from last year, also their second drop in as many years
  26. New Glarus Brewing; Up 2 again this year from #28 last year
  27. Long Trail Brewing; Down 5 from #22 last year
  28. Great Lakes Brewing; Down 1 from last year, after jumping up 4 the previous year
  29. Firestone Walker Brewing; Up 4 from #33 last year, after rising 3 spots the year before
  30. Anchor Brewing; Up 2 from #32 last year
  31. Rogue Ales Brewery; Up 5 from #36 last year
  32. Summit Brewing; Down 1 from #31 last year
  33. Full Sail Brewing; Down 4 from #29 last year
  34. SweetWater Brewing; Up 1 from #35 last year, having rise 3 the year before
  35. Victory Brewing; Up 4 from #39 last year
  36. Oskar Blues Brewing; Up 5 from #36 last year, having jumped up 8 the previous year
  37. Pittsburgh Brewing (fka Iron City); Down 7 from #30 last year
  38. Mendocino Brewing; Down 1 from #37 last year
  39. Cold Spring Brewing; Down 5 from #34 last year, after jumping up 13 the prior year
  40. Flying Dog Brewery; Down 2 from #38 last year
  41. Founders Brewing; Not in Top 50 last year
  42. Ninkasi Brewing; Up 2 from #44 last year
  43. CraftWorks Breweries & Restaurants (Gordon Biersch/Rock Bottom); Down 3 from #40 last year, after the two merged during 2011 and were #42 and #48 in the year before the merger
  44. Odell Brewing; Down 2 from #42 last year
  45. Bear Republic Brewing; Up 2 in their second year on the list
  46. Stevens Point Brewery; Down 3 from #43 last year
  47. Blue Point Brewing; Down 1 from #46 last year
  48. Southern Tier Brewing; Not in Top 50 last year
  49. Lost Coast Brewery; Same as last year in their second year on the list
  50. Karl Strauss Breweries; San Diego CA; Not in Top 50 last year

Not too much movement this year, except for a few small shufflings. Only three new breweries made the list; Founders, Southern Tier and Karl Strauss.

Off the list was BJs Restaurant & Brewery, Narragansett Brewing and Goose Island Beer, which had plummeted 30 from #18 the year before, after selling their production brewery to Anheuser-Busch InBev.

If you want to see the previous annotated lists for comparison, here is 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006.

Top 50 Breweries For 2012

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ba
The Brewers Association has also just announced the top 50 breweries in the U.S. based on sales, by volume, for 2012. This includes all breweries, regardless of size or other parameters. Here is the new list:

  1. Anheuser-Busch InBev; St Louis MO
  2. MillerCoors; Chicago IL
  3. Pabst Brewing; Woodridge IL
  4. D. G. Yuengling and Son; Pottsville PA
  5. Boston Beer Co.; Boston MA
  6. North American Breweries; Rochester, NY
  7. Sierra Nevada Brewing; Chico CA
  8. New Belgium Brewing; Fort Collins CO
  9. Craft Brewers Alliance, Inc.; Portland, OR
  10. Gambrinus Company; San Antonio TX
  11. Minhas Craft Brewery; Monroe WI
  12. Deschutes Brewery; Bend OR
  13. Lagunitas Brewing; Petaluma CA
  14. Bell’s Brewery; Galesburg MI
  15. Matt Brewing; Utica NY
  16. Harpoon Brewery; Boston, MA
  17. Stone Brewing; Escondido CA
  18. Brooklyn Brewery; Brooklyn NY
  19. Boulevard Brewing; Kansas City MO
  20. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery; Miilton DE
  21. Abita Brewing; New Orleans LA
  22. World Brews/Winery Exchange; Novato CA
  23. Shipyard Brewing; Portland ME
  24. Alaskan Brewing; Juneau AK
  25. August Schell Brewing; New Ulm MN
  26. New Glarus Brewing; New Glarus WI
  27. Long Trail Brewing; Burlington VT
  28. Great Lakes Brewing; Cleveland OH
  29. Firestone Walker Brewing; Paso Robles CA
  30. Anchor Brewing; San Francisco CA
  31. Rogue Ales Brewery; Newport OR
  32. Summit Brewing; Saint Paul MN
  33. Full Sail Brewing; Hood River OR
  34. SweetWater Brewing; Atlanta GA
  35. Victory Brewing; Downington PA
  36. Oskar Blues Brewery; Longmont CO
  37. Pittsburgh Brewing; Pittsburgh PA
  38. Mendocino Brewing; Ukiah CA
  39. Cold Spring Brewing; Cold Spring MN
  40. Flying Dog Brewery; Frederick MD
  41. Founders Brewing; Grand Rapids MI
  42. Ninkasi Brewing; Eugene OR
  43. CraftWorks Breweries & Restaurants (Gordon Biersch/Rock Bottom); Chattanooga TN/Louisville KY
  44. Odell Brewing; Fort Collins CO
  45. Bear Republic Brewing; Cloverdale CA
  46. Stevens Point Brewery; Stevens Point WI
  47. Blue Point Brewing; Patchogue NY
  48. Southern Tier Brewing; Lakewood NY
  49. Lost Coast Brewery; Eureka CA
  50. Karl Strauss Breweries; San Diego CA

Here is this year’s press release.

Top 50 Craft Breweries For 2012

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ba
The Brewers Association just announced the top 50 craft breweries in the U.S. based on sales, by volume, for 2012, which is listed below here. For the sixth year, they’ve also released a list of the top 50 breweries, which includes all breweries. Here is the new craft brewery list:

  1. Boston Beer Co.; Boston MA
  2. Sierra Nevada Brewing; Chico CA
  3. New Belgium Brewing; Fort Collins CO
  4. Gambrinus Company; San Antonio TX
  5. Deschutes Brewery; Bend OR
  6. Lagunitas Brewing; Petaluma CA
  7. Bell’s Brewery; Galesburg MI
  8. Matt Brewing; Utica NY
  9. Harpoon Brewery; Boston, MA
  10. Stone Brewing; Escondido CA
  11. Brooklyn Brewery; Brooklyn NY
  12. Boulevard Brewing; Kansas City MO
  13. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery; Milton DE
  14. Abita Brewing; New Orleans LA
  15. Shipyard Brewing; Portland ME
  16. Alaskan Brewing; Juneau AK
  17. New Glarus Brewing; New Glarus WI
  18. Long Trail Brewing; Bridgewater Corners VT
  19. Great Lakes Brewing; Cleveland OH
  20. Firestone Walker Brewing; Paso Robles CA
  21. Anchor Brewing; San Francisco CA
  22. Rogue Ales/Oregon Brewing; Newport OR
  23. Summit Brewing; Saint Paul MN
  24. Full Sail Brewing; Hood River OR
  25. Sweetwater Brewing; Atlanta GA
  26. Victory Brewing; Downingtown PA
  27. Oskar Blues Brewery; Longmont CO
  28. Cold Spring Brewing/Third Street Brewhouse; Cold Spring MN
  29. Flying Dog Brewery; Frederick MD
  30. Founders Brewing; Grand Rapids MI
  31. Ninkasi Brewing; Eugene, OR
  32. CraftWorks Breweries & Restaurants (Gordon Biersch/Rock Bottom); Chattanooga TN/Louisville KY
  33. Odell Brewing; Fort Collins CO
  34. Bear Republic Brewing; Cloverdale CA
  35. Stevens Point Brewing; Stevens Point WI
  36. Blue Point Brewing; Patchogue NY
  37. Southern Tier Brewing; Lakewood NY
  38. Lost Coast Brewery; Eureka CA
  39. Karl Strauss Breweries; San Diego CA
  40. BJs Chicago Pizza & Brewery; Huntington Beach CA
  41. Breckenridge Brewery; Denver CO
  42. North Coast Brewing; Fort Bragg CA
  43. Left Hand Brewing; Longmont CO
  44. St. Louis Brewery, Inc./Schlafly Beers; St Louis MO
  45. Saint Arnold Brewing; Houston TX
  46. Ballast Point Brewing; San Diego CA
  47. Big Sky Brewing; Missoula MT
  48. Allagash Brewing; Portland ME
  49. Uinta; Salt Lake City UT
  50. Tröegs Brewing; Hershey PA

Five breweries are new to this year’s Top 50 Craft Breweries list; Cold Spring Brewing/Third Street Brewhouse, Southern Tier Brewing, Ballast Point Brewing, Allagash and Tröegs Brewing. Here is this year’s press release.

I’ll have my annual annotated list shortly.

Seven Dead In Grupo Modelo Accident

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In what is the worst brewery accident I can recall hearing about, seven men died while cleaning out a tank in “a confined area” at the Grupo Modelo brewery in Mexico City. Bloomberg is reporting that the seven men died “due to unspecified toxins.”

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