Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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New Leader Emerges In Battle of Strongest Beer?

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For the past couple of years, the battle for the world’s strongest beers has been between the Scottish BrewDog and the German brewery Schorschbräu, with the last volley mere days ago with BrewDog’s controversial 55% The End of History. Seemingly out of nowhere a new contender for the title emerged. The Dutch brewer Brouwerij Het ‘t Koelship announced today they’re releasing a new beer, Start the Future, no doubt a response to BrewDog’s name for their 55% beer. Start the Future is 60% a.b.v.

Here’s ‘t Koelship’s description, as auto-translated by Google:

It presents Reefer Biggest beer in the world now the Scots a 55% beer on the market was the question: what do we do now? He is START THE FUTURE 60% alc. In response to the Scottish reaction; Obilix 45% was a success, but this is even better!

START THE FUTURE is like a beer OBILX product, a heavy alcoholic drink with the ingredients Water, malt, hops and yeast. The beer is then processed into a product, a beer-based beer product. START THE FUTURE is like OBILIX is a product made of 100% beer beer. How? Ask the brewer. You drink our START THE FUTURE and Obilix from a small glass and not from a beer glass.

According to Reuters:

Nijboer’s Almere-based brewery, ‘t Koelschip (The Refrigerated Ship), sells the new beer, which is 120 proof and dubbed “Start the Future,” in a one-third litre bottle for 35 euros ($45) each.

Nijboer told ANP he developed the new brew to keep up with Scottish outfits that were also pushing the boundaries of beer’s alcohol content. His previous record-holder, a beer called Oblix that was 90 proof (45 per cent alcohol by volume), was eclipsed by a Scottish beer that reached 55 per cent.

“It has become a little competition,” Nijboer said. “You should see it as a joke.”

It’s probably not a coincidence that the brewery also operates a distillery, too.

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Below is a bad photo of the bottle, from ‘t Koelship’s website.

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UPDATE: It looks like the Start the Future may have whisky added to it, making it doubtful most people will consider it a beer. (Thanks to Ken W. for the info.) The controversy is unfolding on Rate Beer — and probably elsewhere — where many people are questioning that this is truly a beer.

Even Schorsch from Schorschbräu weighed in:

What Mr. Nijboer is doing is not only trying to fool all others who do a fair contest (at the moment I got 43% Vol) and I will try more, but not for the price of leaving the way of Reinheitsgebot (German purity law). It’s a regional special German law and I do not expect that beer must be produced in that way worldwide…but what Koelschip does is pure customer deception. This is also illegal by national Dutch law.

Beer In Ads #160: Schlitz Fishing

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Wednesday’s ad is for Schlitz, most likely from the 1950s. I assume there was likely text with this ad, but I have only the art. But I like it this way, nice and simple. Cool art featuring three people enjoying the outdoors, with two cans of Schlitz in view and the logo hanging in the sky.

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North American Breweries Close To Deal To Buy Magic Hat & Pyramid

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Beer News is reporting, via Harry Schuhmacher, that the Magic Hat/Pyramid Breweries is very close, possibly days away, from announcing that they’re being acquired by North American Breweries, the entity created to take over Labatt’s distribution in the wake of the Anheuser-Busch / InBev merger. NAB also owns the Genesee and Dundee beer brands. Check out the full story at BeerNews.org.
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Action Alert: SF Alcohol Fee Vote Fast Tracked

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Well we thought the vote was going to be delayed on the proposed ordinance in San Francisco to impose a fee on all alcohol sold in the city, but it turns out that’s no longer the case, which is a blow to fair play and common sense. Apparently the ordinance’s sponsor, supervisor John Avalos, recently realized that if Prop. 26 passes this November then a vote on the fee will be moot, because that proposition ends the practice of taxes masquerading as fees and all taxes, whether they pretend they’re fees or not, will be subject to a 2/3 margin instead of a simple majority. The proposition is sponsored by the group Stop Hidden Taxes.

To avoid that possibility, supervisor Avalos is instead fast tracking the ordinance and, according to the Small Business Commission, will present it “at the Budget and Finance committee meeting of the Board of Supervisors on August 4 — this is BEFORE the Small Business Commission will be able to make its recommendation (due to happen on August 9) and before he said he would be presenting the ordinance during the last Small Business Commission meeting. He is not sticking to his promises. He is changing the game.”

What Can You Do?

August 2:

If you own a small business in San Francisco, please consider attending the Small Business Commission meeting on Monday August 2 and most important at the Supervisor’s Budget and Finance Committee meeting at 1:00 pm on August 4 (though some earlier sources say the meeting is at 11:00 a.m., so check to be sure). There is expected to be a major rally at 11:00 in front of City Hall by proponents of the tax (firefighters union, healthcare union, etc.). At this hearing, the committee will take public comment.

August 10:

The ordinance will then go to the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, August 10th at 2:00 pm. If you’re a San Francisco consumer of alcoholic beverages, please consider attending this meeting and telling the board of supervisors that you drink responsibly and do not burden the city’s services and should therefore not be punished by having this tax imposed.

September 7:

On this day, the ordinance will go to the Board of Supervisors again for a second vote. There is no public comment or discussion — this is a formality vote.

September 8:

It then goes to the Mayor, who has 10 days to veto or sign. If he vetoes it, there will be a major effort by the Marin Institute to get the Supervisors to override the veto with a 2/3 vote.

The Two Most Important Things You Can Do

  1. Write or e-mail your supervisor and urge him or her to vote no against the Alcohol Mitigation Fee Ordinance. There is information to assist you in letter-writing or e-mailing at the California Alliance for Hospitality Jobs website.
  2. Attend the August 10th, 2:00 pm, Board of Supervisors meeting.

MADD Charity Rating Downgraded To “D”

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The American Beverage Institute (ABI), a trade organization representing restaurants and specifically on-premise alcohol issues, is one of the few groups to confront MADD’s deceptive practices and neo-prohibitionist tendencies head on. Yesterday they released the following press release:

The American Institute of Philanthropy’s (AIP) Charity Rating Guide & Watchdog Report has downgraded Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to a “D” rating on a A-F scale in its August 2010 report.

“Under the leadership of CEO Chuck Hurley, MADD further diminished its focus on victim services and educating Americans about the dangers of drunk driving, instead pushing anti-drinking, anti-alcohol public policies,” said American Beverage Institute (ABI) Managing Director Sarah Longwell. “The public needs to realize that MADD isn’t the same group it was 20 years ago.”

MADD has consistently received low ratings from the Charity Rating Guide due to its poor fundraising and spending practices.

According to the AIP, it should cost most charities $35 or less to raise $100. In some years, MADD has spent nearly double that amount. The AIP also says most highly efficient charities are able to spend 75 percent or more of total expenses on charitable programs. In some years, MADD has spent as little as 57 percent on programs. In 2008, MADD spent almost $30 million on salaries and fundraising, leaving just 1/3 of its budget available for charitable work and victim services.

Another charitable giving guide, Charity Navigator, gives MADD an overall rating of 1 out of 4 stars. Charity Navigator reserves this embarrassing basement-level for a charity that “fails to meet industry standards.”

During Hurley’s tenure at MADD, the organization’s revenue declined while Hurley and other officers and directors saw their salaries increase — a whopping 56 percent. In contrast, MADD’s revenue declined nearly one-quarter over the same period. And MADD’s spending on community programs—what a charity should be about—dropped by 17 percent. In 2009, MADD had to lay off 50 employees nationwide—15 percent of its workforce—a move that cut much of the organization’s victim advocacy work.

These financial changes reveal a shift in MADD’s mission. In the words of its own founder Candy Lightner: MADD “has become far more neo-prohibitionist than I had ever wanted or envisioned … I didn’t start MADD to deal with alcohol. I started MADD to deal with the issue of drunk driving.”

Longwell continued: “MADD’s anti-alcohol agenda includes advocating for alcohol detectors in all cars, sobriety checkpoints and sky-high alcohol taxes. By spending on these new priorities, MADD has diverted money from programs created to help the victims of drunk driving and get dangerous drunk drivers off the roads.”

Hilarious, it’s great to see someone else holding their feet to the fire. You may recall back in August of last year, after the ABI had the temerity to criticize MADD, that MADD called the ABI “The Angry Arm of Alcohol.” At that time, I observed that we should be angry, and suggested someone make up “Angry Arm of Alcohol” T-shirts. So far, no one’s taken me up on it.

Vinnie’s 40th Birthday Party

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This Sunday, Vinnie Cilurzo, founder and brewmaster at Russian River Brewing, turned forty. His wife Natalie pulled out all the stops and made it a two-day celebration, beginning with a barbecue at the production brewery.

Vinnie & Terrence Sullivan, from Sierra Nevada, filling barrels
We arrived a little early, and Vinnie and Terrence Sullivan, assistant brewer at Sierra Nevada Brewing was there with kegs of a beer that Vinnie brewed in Chico, and they were now filling into wine barrels to store in the barrel room for aging. The beer is for a special project for next year, and I can’t say more than that at this point.

My son Porter & Terrence's son Riley in Russian River's barrel room
We brought our kids along and happily so did Terrence and his wife. Their son Riley and Porter got along immediately and were thick as thieves playing in the barrel room and the rest of the brewery.

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We dropped the kids off at Grandma’s, put them to bed, and rejoined the party, which had moved to the brewpub, where we caught up again with Natalie and Vinnie.

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Natalie had a bunch of great cupcakes made, including several custom ones with a few logos you may recognize.

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The band playing was one of Vinnie’s favorites, The Famous, a San Francisco band. They even did a special song for the occasion, Pliny the Elder.

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Vinnie and me toward the end of the evening. The next day, we had brunch at Willie BIrds, near the brewery. After that, the party resumed back at the brewpub, but sadly without us. It was time to get the kids home.

Below is a slideshow of Vinnie’s 40t birthday party. This Flickr gallery is best viewed in full screen. To view it that way, after clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen. Once in full screen slideshow mode, click on “Show Info” to identify each photo.

Death By Rattlesnake Beer

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rattlesnake
Continuing my unintentional theme of dead animals and beer, here’s an odd one from the archives of Minnesota news, as highlighted in Yesterday’s News, 140 Years of Minnesota News by Ben Welter. Although reported in the Minneapolis Tribune in 1900, July 19 to be exact, the incident actually occurred in Iowa. The report assures us, however, that it was near the Minnesota border. Since it’s archival, here’s the original news report in its entirety:

DEATH LURKS IN THE BEER

Three Men Die in Agony After Drinking Lager.

By Wire From Fort Dodge, Ia., July 19.

Four young men living in Cerro Gordo county, near the Minnesota line, purchased and drank a keg of Eastern-brewed beer some days ago, and as a result three of them have died and the fourth is now in terrible agony, and is reported to be on the point of death.

The day was warm and the beer was consumed hurriedly by the friends, who little realized that they were sipping a death-dealing draught. They were all taken sick immediately, and although a physician was soon summoned, the taking off of three of the young bibbers could not be prevented.

To ascertain, if possible, the strange cause of the sickness, the keg was broken into and the decomposed remains of a genuine rattlesnake was found. Improbable as the story sounds, it is true; and is rendered plausible by the fact that empty kegs are often left lying around for weeks before being shipped back to the breweries. It is thus easy for reptiles and insects to crawl into the kegs as cool resorts.

The scalding out of the kegs upon their return to the brewery would naturally kill any living organism, which would remain right in the keg. It was only a few years ago that a man here became sick from drinking keg beer and an investigation showed that a dead toad occupied the keg with the beer.

I’m certainly glad sanitation standards in breweries have improved markedly over the last 110 years.

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This mug, believe it or not, is available for purchase at What on Earth.

Some Beery Trends

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trends
Over the weekend, I got the latest newsletter from Michael Kuderka of the DBBB, the book of Domestic Brewers and their Bottled Brands, published by MC Bassett. One highlight was some interesting trends from recent IRI data.

If you’re not familiar with IRI data, it’s one of the two major data reporters, along with Nielsen, of sales trends along a variety of products. IRI is short for Information Resources, Inc., though the company is now known as the Symphony IRI Group. IRI data only covers certain kinds of retailers that sell beer, primarily grocery stores and convenience stores, and usually only chains at that. So it’s of limited use, but because the sales data is collected from consistent sources, it is fairly reliable and can show trends. I used to see it all the time, when I was a beer buyer, because most package brewers subscribe to one or the other service and usually bring carefully mined data to show their own positive trends. Anyway, here’s the interesting bits.

Fat Tire, from New Belgium, apparently “made more gains than any other brand when considering both year-over-year case sales and total dollars,” with case sales up 26% and total dollars just under $50 million. What that doesn’t take into account, of course, is that New Belgium opened several new states and a good portion of that bump may have been from being in new markets that weren’t in the data last year. But that does catapult them into the number 3 spot, making the top three best-selling craft beers as follows:

  1. Samuel Adams Boston Lager
  2. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
  3. New Belgium Fat Tire

And here’s some additional trends and brands to watch, at least according to IRI:

  • IPAs: Trending up 29%!
  • Sierra Nevada seasonals: Up 23%
  • Magic Hat #9: Up 22%
  • Alaskan Brewing seasonals: Up 21%
  • Amber Ale & Pale Ale also trending up