Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Free Happy Hour Law Goes Into Effect

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California State Bill 1548 went into effect today, handing — as usual — another advantage to large beer companies and further eroding a level playing field for breweries in California. It was originally an even worse bill, but thankfully the California Small Brewers Association was successful in working with legislators and other interested parties to scale back some of the bill’s provisions. It passed without fanfare at the end of August and was quietly signed into law by the Governator, with our watchdog media all but completely silent, in and of itself a telltale sign of whose interests the bill will serve.

The law was originally pushed by Anheuser-Busch which tells you everything about who will benefit most from it. A-B argued that it leveled the playing field for them to compete with wineries and liquor manufacturers and that they plan to “conduct only small educational tastings about new beers.” Sure, and I’m Napoleon Bonaparte.

According to the article in today’s San Francisco Chronicle:

“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.”

Of course, retailers with the right kind of license can and already have been conducting beer tastings under current law. The new law now allows manufacturers — you know, brewers — to sample the public on their beer directly beyond those few who visit their breweries, such as at bars and restaurants. It further permits “8 ounces per person a day and requires the beer to be served in a glass.” Tasting sessions cannot last more than an hour and there are also other limitations. The full text of the bill is available on one of my previous posts.

In a way, it feels weird to be against this bill because on its face it appears to make exposing people to beer much easier and in literally thousands more locations than under the former system. And I firmly believe that the only way to teach people what beer really is, meaning good beer, involves tasting them on it one on one. So this should be a good thing, at least on paper. The reason it’s not is because of who can afford to really take advantage of the new law. It shouldn’t take a genius to figure out who can best afford to buy eight ounces of beer for a bar full of potential drinkers.

But A-B insists their “purpose” is “education, not intoxication.”

“It would never be an instance where we would be buying the house a round,” said Baldonado. “We would talk to consumers one at a time about whatever product it may be, whether it’s Budweiser or something else.”

Sure, and I’ll never invade Russia or sell Louisiana to the Americans. As the Chronicle article concludes, Glynn Phillips, of Rubicon Brewing, acknowledges the economic difficulty for small brewers to offer free beer. “A small guy like me, I can’t afford to do that,” Phillips said. “But bigger breweries can walk into a restaurant and sample an entire crowd.” Phillips also recently spearheaded the founding of the Northern California Brewers Guild to pool resources between small brewers north of the Bay Area. Such guilds are necessary precisely because the craft brewers don’t have the wherewithal that the large brewers do. And that’s why this law is not all it seems, because it will allow the big guys one more advantage over the small brewers.

One final note that’s almost funny. The Chronicle article contains a quote from Fred Jones, a lawyer with the neo-prohibitionist group, California Council on Alcohol Problems, a coalition of religious groups. Not surprisingly, he doesn’t like the law either, but for different reasons. Here’s what he has to say:

“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 8 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.”

Wow! Talk about wearing your naked ignorance on your sleeve. Every wine is different but all beer is the same? How stupid do you have to be about beer to think that? Or to say it out loud? Sheesh.

Top 10 Beer Stories of 2006

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As the year winds down, everybody and his brother has a top ten list for the year and I’m no different. It helps, I think, to stop and reflect on what happened over the previous year which puts the whole year in perspective and makes it easier to prepare for the coming one. So here are my choices for the top ten beer stories of 2006.
 

The 2006 Hop Fire: A Yakima hop warehouse owned by S.S. Steiner of Germany caught fire, destroying 4% of the U.S. hop production for the year. October 2.

Gambrinus Loses Corona: After years of successfully selling Corona and building the brand throughout the eastern United States, Grupo Modelo pulled the rug out from under Gambrinus and declined to renew their contract. March 10.

The Lost Abbey: Stone Brewing moved their operations to Escondido and Pizza Port Brewing (now Port Brewing) bought their old brewery in San Marcos. After getting the brewery up and running, Port launched the Lost Abbey label, one of the most exciting new breweries in years. January 31.

GABF Turns 25: This year marked the 25th Anniversary of the Great American Beer Festival. That’s an important milestone because it signals that craft beer has now been around — and popular — for a quarter century. For almost all of that time, GABF has been the biggest festival in the U.S. and the best place to try different beers in one location. September 28-October 1.

The Ram Closes: In May of this year, Charles Wells and Young’s announced that on October 2 they would be merging their two companies. But the biggest part of the story was the announcement that as a part of the merger they would be closing the 400-Year Old Ram Brewery, one of the biggest losses of brewing heritage and a telling sign of how business in general feels about its own history, which is to say not at all. As the science of business grows in sophistication, profit has never before in history been so singularly important. And never before has business seemed so devoid of emotion, reason or even a sense that people matter at all. May 23.

The Empty Glass-Lined Tanks of Old Latrobe: Anheuser-Busch bought the brand Rolling Rock, previously owned by InBev, in an effort to counteract falling revenues to their core brands and keep up their stock’s share price. They did not, however, buy the Latrobe Brewery where Rolling Rock had been brewed since 1939, placing an entire town’s economy and well-being in jeopardy. Preferring to view their decision as a mere externality, A-B took no steps to back up the company’s rhetoric about being a good corporate citizenship. May 19.

Mainstream Media’s Less-Than-Accurate Beer Coverage: With craft beer on the rise and sales of beer manufactured by the large domestic companies slumping, the media in 2006 began paying a bit more attention to beer in general and craft beer more specifically. At least it certainly seemed that way. Unfortunately, while much of the local coverage was good, a lot of the national coverage from the larger, more mainstream media was not. A common problem was hiring wine and/or food writers wholly unfamiliar with beer while beer writers remained underemployed. Sure there’s some selfishness at work, but those of us in this rarified profession would just be happy if beer was reported with accuracy and even a little passion or feeling for the subject matter. A simple sense of respect afforded beer would go a long way, too. But time and time again various big media outlets did such a poor job and spread such misinformation that many of us could not stay silent and frequently wrote letters to the editors in an effort reverse this trend. Did it have any effect Only time will tell. For example, October 9, October 12, October 13, October 27 and November 3.

A-B Troubles & Solutions: Early in the year, Anheuser-Busch reported a substantial 4th quarter drop in income, a trend which had begun the previous year, but which led to all manner of steps by the company throughout 2006 to keep the share price up and keep their distributors and shareholders happy. Just a few of the things A-B accomplished was starting the questionable Here’s to Beer PR campaign; picked up several import brands for distribution such as Grolsh and Tiger; bought Rolling Rock; tried to add brands to their “Craft Beer Alliance;” test-marketed or debuted new products such as the organic Wild Hop Lager, Redbridge Sorghum Beer, along with many others and even started a spirits division (Long Tail Libations); and finally inked a much-rumored distribution deal with most of InBev’s brands. The sheer number of things A-B flung against the business wall to see what might stick was truly staggering. There was something like fifty new products and line extensions. It seemed every week or so there was a new announcement. And for the most part, it worked, as the share price did indeed continue to improve. A-B had to eat some crow, however, when they finally admitted changing the formula for their most popular beers over the years. But overall, things looked rosy again for the world’s largest malt beverage company.

Craft Beer’s Continued Ascendency: For the second consecutive year craft beer led all adult beverages, and showed growth of 9% over the previous year. And by August it looked like for 2006 craft beer was up 11% for the first half of the year. If that figure holds it will mark three consecutive years of good, solid growth. Ten years ago, in 1996, the industry turned downward in terms of growth and after a few down years growth again began slowly several years ago. But now craft beer is the fastest growing segment of the US beverage alcohol industry and is on track to threepeat. This is obviously great news for lovers of great beer and those who believe smaller and regional breweries can better serve the needs of of consumers. This is also undoubtedly the reason that the media is once more paying beer some attention (See No. 4) albeit not always effectively. It’s also one of the reasons people are drinking less domestic industrial light lagers, the highly engineered chemical food products manufactutred by the ginormous multi-national beer corporations.

The Costco Decision: Few court decisions have as much potential to change the way beer is sold across the country. If Costco gets their way, it will be very bad for small breweries everywhere whose access to market and ability to fairly compete with the larger producers will be severely impaired — possibly fatally in some cases. The Washington State Liquor Control Board has appealed the decision and that appeal will be heard next March. April 22 and April 24.

And what will next year bring? See tomorrow’s post with my predictions for the beer industry in 2007.

 

CBO Job Update

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About six weeks ago, Four Points Sheraton posted a job listing for CBO, Chief Beer Officer. I speculated at the time that it appeared to be more of a promotion than a legitimate job opening, but a fun one all the same. Travel Weekly (free subscription required) is reporting that to date over 5,000 CBO hopefuls from 31 countries on all of the inhabited continents have applied for the position. And people from all 50 states along with D.C. and Puerto Rico have filled out the application.

One curious statistic is that although only about 10% of the applicants have been female, a higher percentage of women got a perfect score on the beer knowledge quiz. What’s odd to me about that is that the quiz was so easy you’d have to be a block of wood not to ace it. I don’t mean to suggest only beer geeks would know the answers, I mean that absolutely anyone with a pulse and just a few synapses of thought should have no trouble getting every one right. The quiz answers are so telescoped that I’m mouth-droppingly amazed to learn that some people actually didn’t get a perfect score on it. But that aside, it still seems like a fun promotion. Who wouldn’t want that for a job title?

If you want to apply and see how easy the quiz is for yourself, there’s still time to apply online before the deadline ends on January 12, 2007.

Creative Solutions

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In an effort to discourage driving after a bit too much holiday celebrating, the Police Department of Burlington, Vermont came up with a creative solution. They printed up logo pint glasses with one of four designs — “a police patch, a special response team patch, a K-9 logo or a Bennington Police Department 150th anniversary badge logo” — and then distributed them to area bars and restaurants. The idea, according to an AP Wire story, was that if patrons see one of the police logos on the beer they’re drinking then they might think twice about trying to drive drunk. Of course, I can’t resist asking why they didn’t also put logos on cocktail and wine glasses, too, especially since spirits and wine contain higher concentrations of alcohol and thus would represent a greater danger, at least from the police department’s point of view. But it’s still a pretty clever idea and far better than random checkpoints or other draconican measures. If more police departments took up this idea think of the extra money they could make to support education programs — because you just know they’d be people who would collect the pint glasses.

Picture me on a pint glass.

Beer & Christianity

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It’s Christmas Eve and I’m sitting at my in-laws drinking a Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. The kids are asleep, the presents are wrapped and we’ve finished the traditional meal of Chinese take-out (don’t ask). The rest of my wife’s family (she has four siblings) is watching television and finishing their own wrapping, kibitzing in the way brothers and sisters do. I can hear their conversations waft into the front room with all the presents snuggled under the tree — which is where I’m sitting alone — along with the Christmas music on my iPod playing in the kitchen. Christmas is always a time of reflection for me. While I’m grateful that my in-laws have welcomed me so openly into their family, I still can’t help but feel a little sad at this time of the year. My own parents and grandparents are long gone as are all but a handful of uncles, aunts and cousins who remain far away in Pennsylvania.

A couple of days ago, a press release caught my attention from ChristiaNet, which purports to be the “world’s largest Christian portal.” They released a poll taken on the website in which an almost two-thirds majority declared that beer is bad and that overall “drinking beer, wine, liquor, or alcoholic beverages of any kind is wrong.” Naturally the headline only mentioned beer, stating that “Drinking Beer Is Wrong According To ChristiaNet Poll.” This has been rolling around in my head for the last two days and since ChristaNet [Link now dead] has seen fit to throw beer drinkers under the bus at Christmastime, I felt it appropriate to stand up for beer during the same time. So lest you think I’m being sacrilegious, remember that the press release was published three days before Christmas.

So let’s take a look at this issue. ChristiaNet, who I was previously unfamiliar with, in the press release claims they get “twelve million monthly page loads, receive around one million visitors per month and have 400,000 email subscribers who have access to an online shopping mall, job bank, Biblical and life application resources, free ecards, Christian blogs and friendship communities.” Out of those million monthly only 339 responded to the poll that is the subject of their press release. Of those few motivated to take the poll, 192 apparently believe “it isn’t appropriate behavior” for Christians to drink beer, when they answered the question “should Christians drink beer?” So of the approximately 2.1 billion Christians worldwide, less than 200 have a problem with people drinking beer. Eighty were okay with it and another 62 were undecided. And those staggeringly ridiculous statistics warranted a press release that was picked up by news organizations? What exactly was the point of the press release? If you can figure it out, please let me know because I’m stumped. Jesus obviously drank something alcoholic at the last supper, so if He could have a glass, why not the rest of the faithful?

I guess wine during communion is apparently different. I realize Catholics who believe in transubstantiation think the wine is actually the blood of Christ so perhaps that doesn’t count. But Protestants don’t accept transubstantiation so the wine is merely symbolic and therefore just wine. What makes that acceptable but beer is inappropriate? Especially when you consider that it may well have been a mis-translation that Jesus turned water into beer instead of wine. If the same mis-translation continued through the last supper, perhaps Christians today would wash down the body of Christ with beer instead of red wine.

Is it the amount? According to the press release, many respondents made “the distinction that it should be done in moderation and not to get drunk” and also found it “acceptable unless abused or causes someone else to sin.” The release also mused that “[w]hile an occasional drink might have some health benefits, too much can cause health problems. The risk of becoming addicted to it should be considered by those who are tempted.” But that’s true of anything. Too much of almost anything can be bad for you. Certainly extremism of any stripe leads to much unpleasantness. But the stereotypical frat boy mentality of drink ’till you puke is not seriously advocated by any organization that I know of, so who are they targeting. Is there any group — pro or con — that doesn’t think drinking in moderation is the way to go? So again I have to ask — rhetorically at least — why ChristiaNet is going out of their way to paint a picture in which a majority of Christians are against drinking beer? Virtually all of the Christians I know love the stuff and have no problem whatsoever with it.

Many neo-prohibitionist groups seem to have strong ties to extremist religious groups, so is ChristiaNet among them and that what’s going on here? Sadly, I have only questions and no answers. But it creeps me out more than a little to see the holiday of Christmas being used as a time to call into question whether a third of the world’s population has a problem with my beverage of choice. And worse still, using such flimsy statistics as support for their agenda, whatever it truly turns out to be.

But tomorrow (later today, really) my kids — Porter and Alice — will wake me way too early, excited to see what Santa brought them. I’ll have on my traditional Celebration Ale t-shirt I’ve worn every Christmas morning for over ten years. This is Porter’s fifth Christmas and the first one where he’s truly excited about it and is learning the traditions that define us as a nation. He delighted in picking out the perfect tree, stringing the lights, and hanging the ornaments. He insisted we hang a wreath on the front door of our new house. For the last month, one of the books we’ve been reading at bedtime is Are You Grumpy, Santa? and as a result we had to bake chocolate chip cookies to leave out for Santa. When his grandmother said we only had sugar cookies he informed her that they would make Santa grumpy. Needless to say, there were freshly baked chocolate chip cookies left out for Santa’s butt next to the tree. I say “were” because my sister-in-law and I just ate them — leaving a few crumbs behind on the plate — to keep the illusion alive. After we open the presents there will be a feast and I’ll have a few different holiday beers. And I’ll try to figure out why on one of my favorite days of the year, drinking a beer is so wrong. Why do I feel like my ability to enjoy a good beer is constantly under attack? Why can’t we all just say Merry Christmas, share a yuletide brew and get along? I’ll even start the ball rolling.

Happy Holidays, Peace on Earth and Goodwill Toward Men (and Women). Beery Christmas everyone.

Redbridge Gluten-Free Released Nationally

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As expected, Anheuser-Busch released Redbridge, a gluten-free beer made with sorghum nationally last week. As with their organic beers, A-B claims they will be making regular donations to a relevant charity, in this case to National Foundation for Celia Awareness, undoubtedly a worthy organization. The Redbridge website is also up and running now, too.

Here’s a portion of the press release:

Sorghum, the primary ingredient in Redbridge, is a safe grain for those allergic to wheat or gluten. It is grown in the United States, Africa, Southern Europe, Central America and Southern Asia. Sorghum beers have been available internationally for years and are popular in many African countries.

Redbridge is a hearty, full-bodied lager brewed using imported Hallertau and domestic Cascade hops. It is brewed with sorghum and has a well-balanced, moderately hopped taste. “We set out to create a fine, hand-crafted specialty beer made without wheat or barley,” said Angie Minges, product manager, Anheuser-Busch. “We’ve made Redbridge nationally available to make sure adults who experience wheat allergies or who choose a gluten-free or wheat-free diet can enjoy the kind of beer that fits their lifestyle.”

Redbridge contains 4.8% alcohol per 12-ounce serving. It will be available in 12-ounce, six-pack bottles. Redbridge is brewed at the Anheuser-Busch Merrimack, N.H., brewery.

The new six-packs for Redbridge, now available nationally.

Karl Strauss Dies at 94

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karl-strauss
I got an e-mail today with the sad news from an old friend, Matt Jamieson, who called on me when I worked as the beer buyer for BevMo. He used to work for Karl Strauss Brewing in San Diego.

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Yesterday, Karl Strauss passed away in Milwaukee at age 94. Born in Germany, and a graduate of Weihenstephan, Strauss worked for Pabst for decades before retiring as a vice-president. In 1989, along with cousin Chris Cramer and Matt Rattner, Strauss founded the San Diego microbrewery that bears his name. It was San Diego’s first one and today the company operates a brewery and six brewpubs. The brewery website has a nice tribute up and the San Diego Union-Tribune also has an article about Karl Strauss.

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Karl Strauss as a young man.

Michael Jackson Reveals His Battle with Parkinson’s

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To those of us who have been around Michael Jackson any length of time lately, we’ve know something was affecting his health, but beyond speculation, no one knew for sure what. Michael has been understandably protective of his privacy and naturally everyone around him has respected that desire to keep his private life just that. I have just learned that Michael Jackson will be announcing through his Real Beer Club that he is and has been suffering for at least a decade from Parkinson’s Disease. An old girlfriend of mine’s mother has it, as more famously does another Michael, in this case Michael J. Fox, who has helped bring awareness of it to the forefront. At present there is no cure but much has been learned about managing the disease through the use of specialized drugs, such as L-dopa. Many are also hopeful that stem cell research may offer an opportunity to learn more about Parkinson’s that could ultimately lead to a cure.

Michael will likely make a full press release available after the holidays with additional details. For now, let’s send positive thoughts Michael’s way and give him the love and support he so richly deserves. Michael Jackson has done more to support and nourish the craft beer industry, especially in its early days, than any other single person. I, for one, first learned about better beer from the first edition of his World Guide to Beer while living in New York City in 1978. Having first met him almost fifteen years ago, I feel very fortunate to know him. Though it may sound cliched, he is one of the most generous, gifted people I have ever known. The fact that he has written so much so wonderfully while at the same time he’s been battling the effects of Parkinson’s disease quite frankly makes his accomplishments all the more remarkable and laudable. Please join me in wishing Michael Jackson all the best this holiday and throughout the coming year as his private battle becomes a public one, with all the difficulties that will add to his daily life.

The following letter is being sent to Michael Jackson’s Rare Beer Club members today:

I have been asked to write to you by Michael Jackson — who is currently traveling and researching on behalf of the Rare Beer Club.

Michael is notorious among his friends for his passionate commitment to his work, and for the fearsome schedule he sets himself. What he has kept from us is the fact that he has been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for at least a decade and perhaps twice as long.

During that time he has written several thousand tasting notes and several hundred articles and has also presented scores of tutored tastings, speeches and book-signings around the world. Further, Michael has produced new books such as Ultimate Beer, The Great Beer Guide, Scotland and its Whiskies, and Whisky — The Definitive World Guide which, incidentally, was named best drinks book of 2006 in the James Beard Award and also the recipient of three other international honors. He has this fall compiled an anthology of his writing for Slow Food and completed a further revision of the fifth edition of The Great Beers of Belgium; his Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch is also in its fifth edition.

Michael has great praise for the work of the medical profession in the development of treatments to combat Parkinson’s. He has recently been prescribed some new medication, and the calibration of doses has caused some problems, which are gradually being ironed out.

He tells us: “When everything is in place, I can run almost as well as I did when I played Rugby League. The problems arise when I become absorbed in writing, or in a conversation, and forget my medication. Even the slightest delay can make me very unsteady on my feet — unable to walk at times — and slurred in my speech. Understandably, people think I am drunk, especially given my profession. I am not. My wild days were long ago. My writing has always fostered the notion of tasting more and drinking less, and I am true to that philosophy. The Gods have a sense of irony in making me look drunk when at my intake of alcohol is at its most modest.”

As you can tell, Michael is in excellent spirits and very much looks forward to the next chapter of his life which he obviously expects to be productive. In addition to being a great example by the way he has lived with this disease, Michael is already talking about projects that will benefit others with Parkinson’s disease and you can be assured that we will be hearing a lot more from him in that regard in the future.

I know that you will all join us in wishing Michael the best during this holiday season and into 2007 and beyond as he continues to lead the discovery of exciting new beers!

Best regards,

Robert Imeson, President
The Michael Jackson Rare Beer Club

To learn more about donating to the National Parkinson Foundation, visit their website.

Beer Gift Packs

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The Dayton Daily News has an interesting gallery of beer gift packs available this year. They may not all be available where you live, but it might give you some ideas if you’re looking for a gift for the beer lover on your secret Santa list.

Freetown Not So Free

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According to the Herald News (in Fall River, Massachusetts) late Saturday, the Boston Beer Co. is rethinking their plans to build a new brewery in Freetown, Massachusetts. The cost now appears to be approximately 60-80% more than originally anticipated. As a result, the company is “mulling over” alternatives such as acquiring an existing brewery or expanding one of the two they currently own. Company spokesperson Michelle Sullivan carefully and diplomatically adds they have “not ruled out the option of building a brewery in Freetown, asserting that the company is still in the evaluation stage.”