Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

Socialize

Gordon Biersch & Rock Bottom Merge

By

gordon-biersch rock-bottom
Wow, this is big news in the world of brewpubs. The headline reads “Rock Bottom Restaurants and Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group Combine to Become CraftWorks Restaurants and Breweries, Inc.” Both Gordon Biersch and Rock Bottom were two of the largest brewpub chains in the country. Their combined size, including the Old Chicago chain, will be nearly 200 locations nationwide.

Here’s the press release:

Centerbridge Capital Partners, L.P. and its related entities (“Centerbridge”), formed CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries, Inc. (“CraftWorks”) by closing on concurrent acquisitions of Rock Bottom Restaurants, Inc. (“Rock Bottom”) and Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group, Inc. (“Gordon Biersch”) today. The companies will operate as subsidiaries of CraftWorks and will retain their brands. The combined business becomes the nation’s leading operator and franchisor of brewery and craft beer-focused casual dining restaurants with nearly 200 owned and franchised locations across the United States. CraftWorks’ primary concepts include Old Chicago, Rock Bottom and Gordon Biersch.

CraftWorks is led by Frank Day and Allen Corey. Frank Day, founder of Rock Bottom, serves as Chairman of the Board and brings over 45 years of restaurant experience to the newly formed company. Allen Corey, an original investor and 13 year CEO of Gordon Biersch, is the President and CEO of CraftWorks and brings over 18 years of restaurant experience to the position.

Regarding the formation of CraftWorks, Frank Day stated, “This merger marks a new era for both Rock Bottom and Gordon Biersch and I am very excited about the growth potential that the future holds for CraftWorks.”

“Gordon Biersch, Old Chicago and Rock Bottom are differentiated casual dining concepts with strong guest loyalty, high energy atmospheres and a high quality offering of craft beer and made-from-scratch food,” stated Jason Mozingo, a Managing Director at Centerbridge. “We are excited by the prospect of partnering with the management teams to strengthen the long-term operating performance of the business and position it for growth.”

Mr. Corey said, “I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the combined company. There is a long-standing relationship between Rock Bottom and Gordon Biersch which will facilitate a smooth and efficient integration of the two businesses. With the help of our new financial sponsor, Centerbridge, we look forward to a successful future as the nation’s leading brewery and craft beer-focused casual dining restaurant operator.”

Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group, Inc was formerly majority owned by Hancock Park Associates. Rock Bottom Restaurants, Inc. was owned by founder Frank Day and his investment group.

Duff & Phelps Securities, LLC, an affiliate of Duff & Phelps LLC (NYSE: DUF), and North Point acted as the exclusive financial advisors to Rock Bottom and Gordon Biersch, respectively, in connection with this transaction. Faegre & Benson and Miller Martin acted as legal advisors to Rock Bottom and Gordon Biersch, respectively.

Centerbridge was advised by Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Duff & Phelps Securities, LLC, also advised CraftWorks on the acquisition of Gordon Biersch. Wells Fargo and GE Capital were joint-lead arrangers for a $150 million credit facility to support the transaction.

There are no plans for re-branding or closing any units at this time.

About CraftWorks

CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries, Inc., through its three principal operating units, Old Chicago, Gordon Biersch and Rock Bottom, is the nation’s leading operator and franchisor of craft beer-focused casual dining and brewery restaurants with nearly 200 owned and franchised locations across the United States. CraftWorks also operates strong regional brands, including ChopHouse and Big River and maintains intellectual property rights to the Boulder Beer, Inc. microbrewery. The company maintains dual headquarters in Chattanooga, TN and Louisville, CO. For additional information, please visit www.craftworksrestaurants.com

The new CraftWorks website gives the following information on their homepage:

CraftWorks Restaurants and Breweries proudly serves the finest in craft beer and made-from-scratch creative cuisine. With nearly 200 restaurants operating under 14 different brands, we employ close to 12,000 people in serving approximately 80,000 guests each day. Our restaurants range from traditional casual dining concepts to fine dining white tablecloth establishments.

Our largest brands include Old Chicago, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants and Rock Bottom Restaurant Breweries. With over 70 of our locations featuring fresh brewed beer on-site, we are the world’s leading operator of brewery restaurants.

Our breadth across the nation ranges from the most densely populated urban centers such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington D.C. to more rural locations such as Killeen, Texas and Fargo, North Dakota. Regardless of concept or location, our guests have come to know us for unique, made-from-scratch food, craft beer and unbeatable service. Our Loyalty Programs are amongst the largest and most popular in the restaurant industry with over half a million active members enjoying such rewards as personalized Brewer Dinners, specialty merchandise and fantasy vacation trips.

ABI Suing Baseball Over Exclusive Beer Rights

By

baseball
Today in U.S. District Court, for the Southern District of New York, Anheuser-Busch InBev filed a lawsuit asking for a declaratory judgment against Major League Baseball. In “Anheuser-Busch, Inc. v. Major League Baseball Properties, Inc.,” ABI alleges that MLB “reneged on a renewal of its beer sponsorship rights this year and demanded ‘exponentially higher’ fees.” Back in April of this year, ABI believed it had reached a deal to renew its long-standing status (over 30 years) as the “official beer of baseball,” but apparently the baseball league tried to renegotiate the deal “due to ‘a change in marketplace dynamics,’ according to the lawsuit.” Naturally, MLB was seeking to increase the amount of money they would receive from ABI and also wanted to negotiate with rival beer companies for the same rights. The lawsuit asks the court to enforce the April deal and further prevent “MLBP from negotiating with any other brewers for sponsorship rights. The lawsuit doesn’t request money damages.” Baseball’s position is that the April deal was not binding and that they could “offer sponsorship rights to Anheuser[-Busch]’s competitors.” In addition to sponsoring the league as a whole, Anheuser-Busch also sponsors 26 of the total of thirty individual baseball teams in MLB.

The story has already been picked up by Bloomberg, Reuters, the St. Louis Business Journal and the Wall Street Journal.

Wild Goose To Close

By

wild-goose
Wild Goose Brewing, which was purchased a few years ago, in 2006, by Flying Dog Brewery, will be closing down and no longer will be produced as a beer brand. In the same purchase, Flying Dog also acquired the Frederick Brewery, where they moved their headquarters to, which had purchased Wild Goose in the mid-1990s. A few more batches of Wild Goose IPA and that will be it for the 21-year old brand. Beer in Baltimore has the full story.

wild-goose-brewery

New Evidence Supports Theory That Beer Sparked Civilization

By

ninkasi-tablet
The theory that it was beer that caused early man to make the transition from hunter/gatherers to farmers instead of bread, thus starting civilization itself, has been gathering steam since it was first proposed by anthropologists in the 1950s. The latest support comes from archaeologist Brian Hayden at Simon Fraser University in Canada, who will be submitting his recent research to the journal Current Archeology. His theories suggest that it wasn’t just the beer that was important, but its use in rituals like feasts that help bring people together.

From the article in Live Science:

The advent of agriculture began in the Neolithic Period of the Stone Age about 11,500 years ago. Once-nomadic groups of people had settled down and were coming into contact with each other more often, spurring the establishment of more complex social customs that set the foundation of more-intricate communities.

The Neolithic peoples living in the large area of Southwest Asia called the Levant developed from the Natufian culture, pioneers in the use of wild cereals, which would evolve into true farming and more settled behavior. The most obvious explanation for such cultivation is that it was done in order to eat.

Archaeological evidence suggests that until the Neolithic, cereals such as barley and rice constituted only a minor element of diets, most likely because they require so much labor to get anything edible from them — one typically has to gather, winnow, husk and grind them, all very time-consuming tasks.

Hayden told LiveScience he has seen that hard work for himself. “In traditional Mayan villages where I’ve worked, maize is used for tortillas and for chicha, the beer made there. Women spend five hours a day just grinding up the kernels.”

However, sites in Syria suggest that people nevertheless went to unusual lengths at times just to procure cereal grains — up to 40 to 60 miles (60 to 100 km). One might speculate, Hayden said, that the labor associated with grains could have made them attractive in feasts in which guests would be offered foods that were difficult or expensive to prepare, and beer could have been a key reason to procure the grains used to make them.

“It’s not that drinking and brewing by itself helped start cultivation, it’s this context of feasts that links beer and the emergence of complex societies,” Hayden said.

Feasts would have been more than simple get-togethers — such ceremonies have held vital social significance for millennia, from the Last Supper to the first Thanksgiving.

“Feasts are essential in traditional societies for creating debts, for creating factions, for creating bonds between people, for creating political power, for creating support networks, and all of this is essential for developing more complex kinds of societies,” Hayden explained. “Feasts are reciprocal — if I invite you to my feast, you have the obligation to invite me to yours. If I give you something like a pig or a pot of beer, you’re obligated to do the same for me or even more.”

“In traditional feasts throughout the world, there are three ingredients that are almost universally present,” he said. “One is meat. The second is some kind of cereal grain, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, in the form of breads or porridge or the like. The third is alcohol, and because you need surplus grain to put into it, as well as time and effort, it’s produced almost only in traditional societies for special occasions to impress guests, make them happy, and alter their attitudes favorably toward hosts.”

Food and beer together at the heart of the birth of civilization. Now that’s pairing idea I can get behind.

Full Fact Disputes UK Alcohol Statistics

By

beer-syringe
In response to the highly unscientific study published in The Lancet last week suggesting alcohol is more dangerous than heroin, FullFact.org — “A [British] independent fact-checking organisation” — asked the question “Are alcohol-related problems on the rise?” Their conclusion? “Full Fact finds little support in the evidence.”

Anchor To Receive Ralston Award From SF Museum & Historical Society

By

anchor-steam
Fritz Maytag may have stepped back from his daily duties at Anchor Brewing, the brewery he owned and ran since 1965, but that doesn’t mean he’s slowing down. He’s still running his winery, York Creek Vineyards, and consulting with the new owners of Anchor Brewing & Distilling.

And later this month, on November 18, the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society will present their William C. Ralston Corporate Award to Fritz Maytag and Dave Burkhart on behalf of Anchor Brewing.

From the press release:

Receiving the Ralston Award on behalf of Anchor Brewing will be Fritz Maytag and David Burkhart. Maytag, considered the father of modern microbreweries, had been at the helm of Anchor Brewing for 45 years. Maytag helped spark a revival in the craft of making beer by hand and inspired thousands of entrepreneurs to follow him in creating small, artisan breweries. He won the 2008 James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award. The company was sold this spring but he serves as Chairman Emeritus, Anchor Brewing Company.

Burkhart, a staff member of Anchor Brewing and a California-born historian and honors graduate of Yale, is the author of Earthquake Days: The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake & Fire in 3D and the editor of Cocktail Boothby’s American Bartender. He is also a professional trumpeter who teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and performs with the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Symphony. His latest book project is called Cocktails & Punches in Mark Twain’s San Francisco.

Congratulations to both, and to Anchor. Tickets to the Awards Luncheon may be purchased online.

Homebrew Star Jamil Zainasheff To Open Commercial Brewery

By

heretic
Jamil Zainasheff over the last ten years has become something of a rock star in the homebrewing community, and especially the Bay Area, co-authoring two books on beer and homebrewing: “Brewing Classic Styles: 80 Winning Recipes Anyone Can Brew” (with John Palmer) and “Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation” (with Chris White). He also hosts the Jamil Show on The Brewing Network and has a website online entitled Mr. Malty. I had always heard that Jamil had no plans to turn pro, but that appears to be not the case, after all. [And a tip of the hat back to BeerNews.org].

This Thursday on an episode of Brewing TV, Zainasheff announced that he was starting a 30-bbl brewery in the East Bay. The brewery will be called Heretic Brewing, but the website is just a place holder for now.

Jamil says he’s hoping that his first beers will be available beginning in February or March of next year. Initially, the beer will be available in kegs only, and will then make either 750 ml or 22 oz. bottles once they’re up and running.

heretic-brewing

Brewery Unharmed In Dark Horse Fire

By

dark-horse
A fire broke out yesterday at the complex housing Michigan’s Dark Horse Brewing. The brewery and brewpub appear to be unharmed and are open for business. According to the Battle Creek Enquirer, the building that burned “housed a general store that sold Dark Horse merchandise and was rented by Dark Starz Tattoos. A corner of the building was collapsed and the interior was gutted.” On Dark Horse’s website they have the following. “The fire was in our General Store and Skate Shop across the parking lot from the Taproom.”

The Fire Marshall is saying that there are suspicious elements to the fire. “Firefighters recognized abnormal fire behavior as they fought the blaze in the 500 block of South Kalamazoo Avenue, according to Marshall Assistant Fire Chief Bill Hankinson. ‘The way the fire burned’ was what raised suspicions, Hankinson said. ‘It was way too fast, and incorrectly for an accidental fire. But we are not ruling out the possibility that it was accidental.’

WWMT Channel 3 Also has a video report on the fire.

dark-horse-fire
The scene at Dark Horse after the fire was put out.

MolsonCoors To Launch “Girlie Beers” In UK

By

woman
According to the Publican, next year MolsonCoors will launch a line of beer aimed specifically at the female market.

From the Publican:

Molson Coors is to have another crack at the female beer drinking market next year with the UK roll-out of a range of products that it hopes will appeal to women.

Mark Hunter, chief executive of the UK arm of the global brewing behemoth, said today that the range had undergone more than a year’s worth of research, including a series of trials with numerous focus groups, and was ready for sign off before Christmas.

“This won’t be just about launching a beer aimed exclusively at the female drinker,” he said, although with 60 per cent of women admitting to not drinking beer he added he was encouraged to go after some of that potential customer base.

The soon-to-be launched beers, details of which have yet to be revealed, will be partnered with special glassware designed by fashion guru Amy Molyneaux, with goblets made of black glass, embossed with gold lettering.

Hunter said the range evolved from the Bittersweet Partnership, a strategy created by the brewer to help broaden beer’s appeal.

I don’t know why big companies keep doing this, as they seem to miss the point entirely. First, they emphasize the packaging — it’s always about the packaging and rarely about what’s inside of it — and that just feels foolish.

They also seem to always make beer aimed at women lower in alcohol. But isn’t the stereotype that women prefer wine to beer? And wine is three times stronger than the average English beer, so what am I missing? My wife loves barley wine, and many other stronger styles. She hates low-calorie beer because it tastes of nothing. She wants, like all of us really, flavor. And I can’t see how that’s a gender issue.

My son Porter has been train obsessed since he could express a preference, so I’ve watched a lot — I mean a lot — of train videos. I remember in one the story about how Lionel, the toy train company, a number of years ago came out with a pink train engine, with all pastel cars, to appeal to girls, hoping to pull more of them into the hobby. It was, of course, a miserable failure because the girls who liked toy trains wanted authentic-looking ones, not pink trains that some marketing “expert” thought she would like. And that’s how I see beer. Pandering to women with something you think they’ll like, no matter how many focus groups you conduct, seems like the wrong approach on so many levels.

To me, the fact that women don’t drink beer has more to do with the male-leaning marketing that the big companies have been doing their entire lives. That pandering I have to believe has left them feeling like beer is not aimed at them and is not for them. Pandering to them now with a pink beer in the hopes of undoing decades of stereotyping seems doomed to fail.

The other common stereotype is that beer is too bitter for many women. Again, I think that’s due to stereotypes, too, but this time of the beer itself. I hate to keep going back to Mrs. Brookston Beer Bulletin, but hers is a story I know only too well. When we first met, she drank Natural Light and knew precious little — nothing, really — about beer. The first thing we did together, before I even asked her out on our first date, was go to a brewpub where I ordered her a sampler of the beers they offered. I tasted her through the range of beers, talking about each one, and explaining the differences, the history, how they were made, etc. Not only was she very open and responsive, but she loved them. In fact, she’s never looked back and has been a lifelong lover of good beer from that point to today, some 16 or so years later. And I’ve heard similar stories from people over the years, too. That leads me to believe that the stereotypes heaped on women about why they don’t like beer are, for the most part, pure horseshit. But alcohol companies continue to treat them as gospel and make business decisions as if they really were true.

Carlsberg is also currently testing their own female-friendly beer, Cardinal Eve, or just Eve, from their Swiss brewery, Feldschlösschen Beverages. According to the press kit, there are four flavored beers — lychee, passion fruit, peach and grapefruit — at 3.1% a.b.v. Frankly, those sound like they’re treading dangerously into wine cooler or alcopop territory.

Since I know dozens, perhaps hundreds, of women who love beer — and I see thousands more all the time — it’s hard to take seriously this notion that women don’t like beer. I continue to think the reason that more women (that is more, from a purely business point of view) don’t drink beer is a self-inflicted wound by the big beer companies that they’re now trying to figure out how to undo without losing their core marketing techniques involving sports and images of women that appeal to men but often demean women. They could also make beers that taste of something, too. I’ll be interested to hear what the more vocal female beer writers think about this.

Bloomberg TV To Feature Jim Koch & Oceanside Ale Works

By

bloomberg-tv
Bloomberg Television is debuting new show tomorrow entitled The Mentor, in which experienced, successful businesspeople visit ones in the same field just starting out in order to help them along. In the first show, which airs tomorrow, Boston Beer Co. founder Jim Koch travels to Oceanside, California to help out the guys at Oceanside Ale Works.

From the press release:

This Thursday, November 4th, 2010 at 9:00 PM/ET, Bloomberg Television will debut “Bloomberg The Mentor,” an original new series that features top CEOs mentoring small business owners across America.

Every entrepreneur hopes to strike it big, but the reality is that 80% of small businesses fail within the first 18 months. What if entrepreneurs from around the U.S. had the chance to get real-life advice from some of America’s best-known CEOs? This season, “Bloomberg The Mentor” tests that concept with four small businesses.

In the series premiere, Jim Koch, founder and chairman of The Boston Beer Company, the largest independently owned American craft brewery and brewer of award-winning Samuel Adams beers, brings his national business expertise to a pair of budding brewers at Oceanside Ale Works in California.

Mark Purciel, a former teacher, and Scott Thomas, a firefighter, initially started brewing hand-crafted ales as a hobby. In 2005, the duo co-founded Oceanside Ale Works, one of the only manual brew houses in the nation. Now, Purciel and Thomas dream of transforming their passion for beer into a nation-wide business. But without significant management experience, how can Purciel and Thomas make the right decisions about scaling their business and finding a way to increase sales and distribution?

During the episode, the unconventional entrepreneurs wing it through a sales meeting with LA nightclub impresario Sam Nazarian before finally meeting their ultimate mentor, Jim Koch, who offers the brewers some tough advice on next steps for their business.

TheMentor

I confess I didn’t realize that our cable company carried the Bloomberg channel, but it does. To check if it’s available where you live, they have a handy page where you plug in your zip code to see if you get the station.

Here’s a trailer for the Oceanside Ale Works show:

And this is a trailer for the show, The Mentor, itself: