Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Style Trends Through May 2008

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Here is a chart of the latest style trends broken out by the top six selling styles, based on seventeen-month’s worth of sales as of May 18, 2008, courtesy of DBBB, the Domestic Brewers Bottled Brands. They publish the book, “The Essential Reference of Domestic Brewers and Their Bottled Brands” and have a website, which offers monthly online updates of the book.

The chart is based on IRI Data showing sales of beer from January 2007 through May 18th of this year by beer style. IRI is short for Information Resources, Inc., a company that surveys sales of beer (and everything else) from over 15,000 retailers (mostly groceries) in the U.S. As a result, their data is invariably skewed toward the national and regional brands since it doesn’t take into account direct sales and sales from small mom & pop stores. I used to get IRI data from almost every medium to large brewer who called on me when I was the beer buyer for BevMo. And while it’s not as accurate for craft beer in specific, it does give you a general idea of certain trends, especially when you follow it over a period of time.

 

A Tale of Two Bretts

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My first beer stop after recovering from my trip to New Zealand was to head up to Russian River Brewing. It was not because I was craving hops after two weeks mostly without them — although I was — but for another reason related instead to Brettanomyces. One of the most interesting beers I sampled in New Zealand, at Hallertau Brewbar near Auckland, was called Porter Noir, an English-style porter aged in local pinot noir barrels for four months which then spent six more months bottle conditioning with additional Brettanomyces. I brought back two bottles with me, but unfortunately one of them was damaged during the flight. It didn’t break but developed a small leak. Some of the beer seeped out but happily stayed inside the Ziplock bag I had packed it in. So I knew I had to drink it pretty quickly before it went flat.

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So I stopped by Russian River’s new production brewery to open it for Vinnie Cilurzo, figuring he’d appreciate trying another Brett beer. The place looked quite a bit different then when I was there less than three weeks before. For one thing, all the construction equipment and spare parts were gone, making it look much larger inside and out. Vinnie also showed me the sixty barrels of the Consecration — the first beer brewed at the new brewery — aging in the barrel room. Most already have the Zante Currants added, but a few are still waiting for them. The beer will age for at least nine months before being released.

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The first batch of Pliny the Elder in the fermenter, waiting to be bottled in early July.

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So we opened the Hallertau Porter Noir. Although it had lost a few inches of beer from the neck, it was still quite well-carbonated. All of the bottles at this point are from Batch 001, but this one was from Barrel #99081 and was bottled on November 10, 2007. It was 6.6% abv. Dark in color and a very thick tan head. The nose was marked by characteristic barnyard aromas with just a touch of malty sweetness. The nose was slightly less pungent than the sample I had in New Zealand, but Vinnie and I both declared it to be quite tasty. The Brett character married quite nicely with the nutty, malty porter flavors.

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At the original tasting of this beer at Hallertau Brewbar last week in New Zealand. On the left is my host, Luke Nicholas — who owns Epic Beer and is also VP of the recently formed New Zealand Brewers Guild — and, on the right, Stephen Plowman, owner/brewer of Hallertau Brewbar & Restaurant.

That “Can Do Cans” Spirit

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Like most people, my first truly micro-canned beer was Dale’s Pale Ale from Oskar Blues. Before that I’d had beer in cans from Portland Brewing (MacTarnahan’s Amber Ale) and Big Rock Brewery in Canada, not to mention all those 16-oz. widget cans from Great Britain and Ireland. Those weren’t bad, but Oskar Blues showed (and continues to show) that big, flavorful beer can taste great in a can, too. I was also quite impressed when I visited the Ball canning plant in Fairfield, California to watch the 21st Amendment beer cans being manufactured. Prior to that, I shared the anti-can bias of most of my peers. I probably even helped to spread it because I vividly remember drinking a lot of beers with metal turbidity problems when I was a teenager. But as I learned, the problems with metal leeching in the cans that altered their flavor had largely been solved using newly developed organic polymers that coated the inside of the cans. And the true test — taste — proved it once and for all. I have now done several side by side taste tests with draft beer and the same beer from a can, and you can not tell the difference between the two. Between that and the many advantages to beer in a can, I am firmly in the flavorful-beer-in-cans-are-a-positive-development-for-the-industry camp. With New Belgium Brewing entering the market with canned Fat Tire I’d say the future of canned beer is safe.

Collecting beer cans is probably one of the most popular hobbies within all breweriana. People have been collecting cans since 1935, when the first ones appeared. It probably peaked in the 1970s, when many savvy breweries created not only special commemorative cans but entire series of them to cater to collectors and, not incidentally, increase sales. But by 1980 less than fifty breweries remained to feed collectors. Over the past five or so years, the number of new breweries beginning to can their beer has increased dramatically. A year ago when I wrote a feature story on canned beer for Beer Advocate magazine there were around two dozen micro-canneries using Cask systems or a similar set-up. Today there are over forty, with several more contracting canned beer or hand-canning. The Queen City Chapter, a breweriana club in Cincinnati, Ohio, has set out to document all of the new cans and they have an impressive website that chronicles this second wave of canned beer. For most examples, they have a photo of the can. They have, as far as I know, the most comprehensive online collection of new beer cans and it’s a great place to follow along with who’s started canning now, because it seems to change fairly often as new breweries join the ranks of beer can breweries.

This is my fifth pick for “Website of the Month,” which I started featuring on the right sidebar four months ago, because I get so many link requests, and because I have so many in my blogroll, I wanted to highlight the best ones I come across.

 

 

Next Three Cathedral Hill Beer Dinners

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Bruce Paton, the Beer Chef, has announced the next three beer dinners to be held at the Cathedral Hill Hotel.

  1. Friday July 18: Bear Republic
  2. Friday September 19: Moylan’s
  3. Monday October 20: An educational evening of Beer and Cheese

Well, those all sound tasty. Menus should be coming shortly, at least for the next one, and I’ll post them as soon as they become available. See you there. Bring your appetite.

 

Sapporo Space Barley

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Sapporo Breweries is planning to brew a beer made from barley descended from seeds grown in space, specifically in the Russian section of the International Space Station two years ago. Sapporo claims the results will be the “world’s first ‘space beer,'” putting them at odds with an earlier claim that I wrote about last year by Microgravity Enterprises, albeit somewhat derisively. The Japanese company’s efforts do seem a bit closer to the mark than the other, at least in my opinion.

According to Reuters, Sapporo said in a statement. “By pursuing the infinite possibility that space has, we wish to present our customers with rich and enjoyable proposals to enjoy a new beer culture.” Sapporo will not sell the initial results, but instead will sample select consumers on the new space beer, which should be — ahem — launched this November. Working with Okayama University scientists, they will produce just over 166 gallons of beer (630 liters). I doubt anyone will be able to taste any difference, but I’d still like to be one of the lucky ones chosen to try it.

 

This Reuters video has a terrible sound problem so be prepared to mute it or lower the volume on your computer.

 

Fire At Saranac Brewery

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The F.X. Matt Brewery, makers of Saranac Brewing, caught on fire earlier today as “flames erupted” shortly after a music event at the brewery began. The area was evacuated because the fire appeared to be ammonia based, according to the AP story. According to later updates at Syracuse.com, it appears the blaze began in the building where packaging is done and most likely was the result of a problem with the machine that makes six-pack can plastic rings. That building is adjacent to the 100-year old brewhouse and the fire department is working to keep the fire from spreading to the historic building. Fred Matt, co-owner of the brewery, reportedly remarked that he’s uncertain whether or not the brewery will be capable of continuing bottling operations. At least two brewery employees were hospitalized for smoke inhalation.

Photo by William Cannon of the Associated Press, and there are many more photos of the fire at the Utica Observer-Dispatch website.

 

Back In The U.S., Back In The U.S.

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Home again, home again, jiggity-jig. As a result of seeming anomalies based on crossing the International Date Line, I’ve arrived back home today around seven hours before I left New Zealand last night, which was (or rather will be) really later today, at least for me. Anyway, regular posting will resume tomorrow and there will be more news on International Brewers Day shortly. Below is a shot from our beach house in New Zealand a few days before we left, right after a short rain.

 

Wireless-less in New Zealand

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I’ve been vacationing in New Zealand since May 14, which is why there’s been nothing here for quite some time. I had been told there would be an internet cafe a few kilometers from the beach house where we were staying, but alas I was misinformed. As a result, I’ve been unable to post as I’d intended, which was at least every few days. Thanks for the e-mails I received inquiring as to my health or other problems I might be experiencing. I’m in Auckland right now, where I’ll be for the last few days before returning home on Thursday. Even now, what internet access I have is spotty at best. Today I’ll be joining Luke Nicholas of Epic Beer for a visit to some Auckland breweries. Look for an article in All About Beer magazine sometime in the next few months. Regular Bulletin posting should begin again on the 30th.

 

June “Session” Announced

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Thomas Vincent, from Geistbear Brewing Blog, has announced the topic for the June Session, to take place on Friday, June 6. The theme will be “Beer Festivals,” and he elaborates as follows:

Do you have a favorite beer festival you like to attend or a particular memory of inspirational moment at a festival? Or perhaps talk about what you would like to see out of festivals or perhaps the future of them. All is fair game, I look forward to seeing where people take this topic.

So put on your thinking caps, and get ready to write about beer festivals this coming D-Day, June 6.

 

Bahl Hornin’ in Boonville

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Saturday was the 12th annual Boonville Beer Festival, one of the Bay Area’s best. This year was no exception and was even bigger than last year. A third area with large tents in a grassy meadow was added to accommodate all 68 breweries who were pouring their beer at the festival. There were old favorites and new breweries and a whole lot of fun in the Mendocino sun, proving once more that “it’s not just shy sluggin’ gorms neemer.”

Barkley, the Boonville Bear, greets visitors to the Anderson Valley Brewery.

Brian Hunt (from Moonlight Brewing), Melissa Myers, Dave Buehler (from Elysian Brewing) and Arne Johnson (from Marin Brewing).

Bay Area Beer Bloggers at Boonville. From left: Peter Estaniel, from the BetterBeerBlog, JJ (a.k.a. Jessica), from The Thirsty Hopster, me, and Jay Hinman from the Hedonist Beer Jive.
 

For many more photos from this year’s Boonville Beer Festival, visit the photo gallery to see Part 1 and Part 2 of the festival.