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Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Quaffing, Quafftide & Quaffsmanship But Were Afraid To Ask

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A few weeks ago, an old word resurfaced in the Twitterverse — quafftide — which apparently originated in the 16th century and its resurgence has been attributed to English lexicographer, etymologist, and media personality Susie Dent, although it was Stephen Beaumont sharing a tweet about it that brought it to my attention. The first mention of it by Dent I’ve found is a tweet from 2016.

And at the time I wholly endorsed its acceptance in our everyday language, and I was not the only one. Even fellow beer writer Don Tse changed his Twitter handle to Don Quafftide Tse. I still see it being used on social media and I hope to play some small part in its — fingers crossed — resurrection into common parlance. It’s a beautiful word that definitely does not deserve to be considered obsolete. So in an effort to help it along, I did a little digging.

The definition I first saw for quafftide was as follows:

‘quafftide,’ or ‘quaff-tide,’ a wonderful old word (16th century?) meaning: ‘The single word announcement that this is the time, or season, for a drink.’

I grabbed my O.E.D. (the 1971 compact edition) and found quaff-tide listed.

According to the O.E.D., the first use of the word in print was in 1582, by Richard Stanyhurst in his translation of Virgil’s Aeneid. The use of the word came in Book IV:

Fame, the blab vnciuil, fosters her phansye reciting,
That the fleete is strongly furnisht, theire passage apoincted.
Deuoyd of al counsayle scolding through cittye she ploddeth.
Mutch lyke Dame Thyas with great sollemnitye sturred
Of Bacchus third yeers feasting, when quaftyde aproacheth,
And showts in nighttyme doo ringe in loftye Cithoeron.
At last she Aeneas thus, not prouoked, asaulteth.

Curiously, there’s another word with the base ‘quaff’ whose use was also found first in Stanyhurst’s Aeneid. In this case, it was in Book I and the word was “quaffy.”

Theyre panch with venison they franck and quaffye carousing,

The O.E.D. defines it simply as “of the nature of quaffing.” Both words, of course, come from the word “quaff” — ‘to drink deeply; to take a long draught; also, to drink repeatedly in this manner’ — which was first used sometime between 1529 and 1579, not long before quaff-tide appears.

Quaff, of course, is the most common form of the word, which is still in use today, although I would argue it’s not terribly common these days and is likely waning. Other forms of the word include “quaffer” (one that quaffs) and “quaffing.”

But there’s also one more that I recently came across, “quaffsmanship.” I’d actually seen it before, but saw it again fresh from having learned about quafftide. It’s not in the O.E.D., or any other dictionary I’m aware of, for that matter. I’ve only found two instances of it being used online. The first is from Time Magazine, in A Letter From The Publisher, Jul. 4, 1977, in which he describes writer Stefan Kanfer.

Senior Writer Stefan Kanfer, who chronicled the aesthetics of beer, imbibes neither hard liquor nor water — only beer. “If they did an analysis of my blood,” he says, “they’d find 10% red corpuscles, 10% white corpuscles and 80% hops and malt.” Of the 187 varieties of classic beer, Kanfer has sampled about 100. Says he: “That’s not over a weekend or even a year, but over a lifetime of quaffsmanship.”

And the second one I found is from an article by Jeff Simon in the Buffalo Daily News, entitled No Talk Show For You, Bubba, Not At Any Price from May 7, 2002. Simon uses it in describing former U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant in comparing him to another former president, Bill Clinton.

All I can think of is Ulysses S. Grant. Yes, I know he was a war hero and a deeply devoted family man — neither of which would be the way a conservative would describe you, to put it mildly. Grant was also only 5 feet 8 inches tall and smoked 20 cigars a day (we won’t even talk about his legendary quaffsmanship).

But then I figured out why it seemed familiar. I had seen, and even shared an old ad prominently using the word quaffsmanship in the late fifties and early sixties. The Carlsberg Brewery used it in a short series of ads from 1959 until 1962, as far as I can tell. The earliest I could find is from 1959 and ran as a two-page advertainment in Sports Illustrated in their June 22, 1959 issue. Its title? “Quaffsmanship.”

The art for this, and in fact all of the art during Carlsberg’s quaffsmanship ad campaign, was created by famed Danish designer Ib Antoni. All of the illustrations in the Carlsberg ads were done by him.

I also discovered a short New York Times article from just before the above Sports Illustrated double-truck. It appeared in the newspaper on May 29, 1959, and details Carlsberg’s plans with the new ad campaign, focused on promoting the brand under the banner of “Quaffsmanship — the joy of drinking beer.” It actually mentions the Sports Illustrated ad and teases other publications that will carry subsequent ads in the same campaign.

But this is the only ad I could find from 1959, but interestingly it makes reference at the bottom to a “handsome Quaffer’s Plaque” which can be ordered for a mere 75-cents from an address in New York. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to discover what that looked like, but I bet it was spectacular.

It wasn’t until 1960 that a series of “Quaffsmanship” ads started to appear. Each ones tells a part of beer’s history that it was 1960 and not all of the stories are completely accurate, but they are all fairly entertaining. They seem very wordy, not just compared to today’s advertising, but even for the time.

And this ad using elements from the the other ads ran in the New York Times on May 8, 1960. It also includes other material, and even coins a new word, referring to collecting beer items from the campaign. That word is “quaffiana,” an obvious play on breweriana, and is yet another new word based on quaffing. The article includes more information on how to acquire your own quaffiana.

And on the same day, the Times also published this article, “Advertising: Fomenting a Beer Revolution,” which provides another report on Carlsberg’s quaffsmanship ad campaign, how it’s going and their plans for the coming year as it continues.

The following year, 1961, saw less ads, and less history, and instead focused on types of modern day quaffers.

But I guess it wasn’t quite as good an ad campaign as their initial reports about it suggested, because by 1962 they abandoned it for something else. I was only able to find one quaffmanship ad for that year, and it’s similar to the ones from 1961.

From there, the trail goes cold, and there’s no more from Carlsberg on the subject. I did, however, find an earlier ad, from 1917, for Rainier. It includes the headline: “Remember— Rainier at ‘Quafftide.'” Curiously, it’s for “The New Rainier,” which is turns out is a non-alcoholic version of their beer (or as they put it, “a non-intoxicating cereal beverage”), which given the year was probably their answer to prohibition coming. But using it in an ad presumably aimed at the general public suggests that the word would have been understood by most people who read it.

Is that it? Nope, I also found a poem entitled “Quaff-Tide” written by a Mac McGovern in May of 2019

Its QUAFF-TIDE, “The season for drinking,” don’t you know?
A time to celebrate; a few pints go down each round.
Then, stagger, fall down, too drunk, crashed on the ground.

So that must be it, right? Not quite, I found out one more interesting tidbit about quafftide. There’s an English band called “The Zen Hussies.” The band’s Twitter feed describes their music succinctly. “Vintage Rock and Roll, Rhythm and Blues, Ska, Pre-War Jazz and Soulful Latino – all infused with a feisty Post-Punk attitude and a terribly English sensibility.” They’re based out of Bristol, or at least they used to be. I can’t be sure, but their website isn’t working and on social media there’s nothing newer than 2017. But they have around six albums on Bandcamp. Their most recent album (or their last, depending on how you want to spin it) was “The Charm Account.” And the first track on the album is titled … you guessed it … “Quafftide.” I strongly encourage you to give it a listen below. It’s a jaunty little ditty. It’s also completely wonderful and reminds me a lot of the Squirrel Nut Zippers.

Historic Beer Birthday: Walter Jerome Green

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hop-leaf

Today is the birthday of Walter Jerome Green (October 10, 1842-January 27, 1885). He was the son of Charles Green, who founded an upstate New York hop merchant around 1840. After his son joined the business, it became known as Charles Green & Son. According to the Brewers’ Journal, he was “one of the earliest and most widely known hop merchants of Central New York.”

Walter-Jerome-Green-portrait

Here’s a portion of his obituary that mentions the hop business from Oneida County, NY Biographies:

Walter Jerome Green, who passed away in Utica on the 27th of January, 1885, was one of the city’s most prominent business men and respected residents. He was a leading factor in financial circles as a member of the banking house of Charles Green & Son, of Utica, and was also the president and owner of the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railroad of Florida. He is survived by his widow and one son. His birth occurred in Hubbardsville, Madison county, New York, on the 10th of October, 1842, his father being Charles Green, who was born at Sangerfield, Oneida county, on the 28th of May, 1811. The latter was prominently identified with financial interests in Utica for a number of years, being one of the oldest and best known bankers and business men of this part of the state. David Green, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was born at South East, Putnam county, New York, his ancestors, John Alden and Priscilla Nolines, coming to America in the Mayflower. He was related to General Nathaniel Green of Revolutionary fame. His mother, who in her maidenhood bore the name of Deliverance Hatch, was a native of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Her mother was a Sears, to which family David Green was likewise related.

The mother of Walter Jerome Green bore the maiden name of Mary Jane Hubbard and was a resident of Hubbardsville. Madison county, New York. She was a descendant of Lieutenant Joseph Kellogg, of Hadley, Massachusetts. Her parents, Oliver Kellogg and Mary (Meachem) Hubbard, were both natives of Connecticut, the former of Windsor and the latter of Simsbury, that state.

Walter Jerome Green received a liberal education in his youth, attending Cazenovia Seminary and Madison University. Desiring to become a member of the legal fraternity, he qualified for practice by an extensive course of study and was graduated from Albany University in 1864. At the end of two years, however, he abandoned a promising career as an attorney because the increasing importance of his father’s business made it desirable for him to come to his assistance. Soon afterward he was admitted to a partnership in the bank and the name of the firm became Charles Green & Son. Young though he was, his enterprising spirit soon made itself felt in the affairs of his father’s business, which gradually broadened its field, of operations and took a leading place among similar enterprises in the central part of the state. An important department in the business of the house was the trade in hops, which became so extensive as to place the firm among the largest dealers in this country. To meet the demand for reliable intelligence bearing on the hop trade, the firm published a journal known as Charles Green & Son’s Hop Paper, a large, handsomely printed, four page folio of twenty eight columns, of which an edition of about five thousand was issued, gratuitously, each quarter.

Charles-Green-Son-Dealers-In-Hops-Extra

And here’s another account from Michael Brown Rare Books:

Charles Green’s son, Walter Jerome Green became one of Utica, New York
‘s most prominent business men and respected residents. He was a leading factor in financial circles as a member of his family’s banking house of Charles Green & Son, of Utica, and was also the president and owner of the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railroad of Florida. Walter’s birth occurred in Hubbardsville, Madison County, New York, on the 10th of October, 1842. He received a liberal education in his youth, attending Cazenovia Seminary and Madison University. Desiring to become a lawyer, he qualified for practice by an extensive course of study and was graduated from Albany University in 1864. At the end of two years, however, he abandoned a promising career as an attorney because the increasing importance of his father’s business made it desirable for him to come to his assistance. Soon afterward he was admitted to a partnership in the bank and the name of the firm became Charles Green & Son.

Young though he was, his enterprising spirit soon made itself felt in the affairs of his father’s business, which gradually broadened its field, of operations and took a leading place among similar enterprises in the central part of the state. An important department in the business of the house was the trade in hops, which became so extensive as to place the firm among the largest dealers in this country. To meet the demand for reliable intelligence bearing on the hop trade, the firm published a journal known as Charles Green & Son’s Hop Paper, a large, handsomely printed, four page folio of twenty eight columns, of which an edition of about five thousand was issued, gratuitously, each quarter.

On the 26th of June, 1867, Mr. Green was united in marriage to Miss Sarah L. Swartwout, a daughter of Henry Swartwout, of Troy, New York. They had one son Walter Jerome Green, Jr.

Seeking a new field for investment of his capital Green became interested in a railroad project in Florida. His attention was drawn to the lack of modern transportation facilities in the fruit growing section of that state. He put both energy and money into the scheme. The outcome of his effort was the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railroad, of which he was president and the entire owner. This road began at Jacksonville on the St. John’s River, in the northeastern corner of the state, extended southwardly and eastwardly to St. Augustine on the Atlantic coast and was thirty seven miles in length. The road connected with the Atlantic Coast Steamship Company, running outside to New Smyrna on the Halifax coast. Mr. Green’s intentions were to extend the road a distance of one hundred and six miles to New Smyrna. This would have afforded quick and cheap transportation between Jacksonville and the Halifax and Indian River country. The rail through a fertile and rapidly developing region had shortened the time of transport between the orange country of the east coast of Florida and New York by some eight days, a most important consideration under any circumstances, but more especially so in view of the perishable nature of the delicate fruit transported. While the possibilities of this section of Florida as a fruit growing country and health resort had long been known and to some extent developed, progress had been slow and uncertain owing to the lack of railroad facilities. Among the most notable results was the laying out of new towns between St. Augustine and Jacksonville.

Returning from active labors in Florida in the winter of 1884-5, he was passing some time at his home in Utica, when he was stricken with apoplexy and died on the 27th of January, 1885. He was survived by his widow and one son. On the death of Green the property was left to trustees for his son. In 1886 it was sold to H. M. Flagler of New York, who has carried out the plans and ideas of its previous owner.

1870-Charles-Green-Son-Hops-New

The Michael Brown Rare Books site also had for sale a letter to and from Walter Jerome’s father, Charles Green, and his company which details some of the history of the company.

In 1838 Charles Green entered the store of Gideon Manchester, assignee of Hart & Hunt, Hubbardsville. He bought the stock and continued the business three years. Afterwards he got into the hop business eventually bringing into business his sons, Walter J. and Charles Germaine Green. Green first started in the hop business in 1850. In 1865 a partnership was formed with his son Walter Jerome Green, under the firm name of Charles Green & Son, with headquarters at Hubbardsville. The company later appears as Charles Green & Sons when Charles Germaine Green joined the firm.

NY-New-York-HUBBARDSVILLE-1940s
This postcard of Hubbardsville is from the 1940s.

Historic Beer Birthday: Axel Heiberg

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ringnes
Today is the birthday of Axel Heiberg (March 16, 1848-September 4, 1932). He was born in Kristiania, Norway. Throughout his life, he “was a Norwegian diplomat, financier and patron.” And most importantly, he “financed the creation of the Ringnes brewery in 1876 together with the brothers Amund Ringnes (brewer) and Ellef Ringnes (administrator and salesman).” The Ringes remained family owned until 1978, and today is part of the Carlsberg Group, and remains the largest brewery in Norway.

AxelHeiberg
Here’s his biography from Wikipedia:

He was married to Ragnhild Meyer, daughter of Thorvald Meyer. They had one child, Ingeborg, who married N. O. Young Fearnley.

Heiberg studied abroad and, after a period as Norwegian consul in China, returned to Norway, where he financed the creation of the Ringnes brewery in 1876 together with the brothers Amund Ringnes (brewer) and Ellef Ringnes (administrator and salesman).

Together with the shipowner Thomas Fearnley, the brewery sponsored the polar expeditions of Fridtjof Nansen and Otto Sverdrup, and funded the construction of the exploration vessel Fram. This led to Heiberg’s name being given to Axel Heiberg Island in Canada, the Axel Heiberg Glacier in Antarctica, and the Geiberg Islands in Siberia.

In 1878 Heiberg was one of the founders of the rowing club Christiania RK. Later he founded the “Consul Axel Heiberg and Manufacturer Hans B. Fasmer Fund” (in 1915 transferred to the Fridtjof Nansen Fund). In 1898 he was one of the founders of the Norwegian Forestry Society, and was chairman until 1923. He also funded the statues of Henrik Ibsen and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson outside the National Theater in Oslo.

Ringnes-Brewery

This longer biography is from the Norwegian Biographical Encyclopedia, translated into English using Google Translate:

Axel Heiberg was one of the great patrons and supported as well sportsliv as science and art. He is especially known for its support of Nansen, Sverdrup and Amundsen’s polar expeditions. He was also a pioneer in forest management.

Heiberg grew up in Christiania and took school graduation 1867. He immediately started his business career in the US cotton company Wm. M. Tunne & Co. in Savannah, Georgia. Experience The foundation was then extended by two years in the East, as the correspondent of Russell & Co. in Hong Kong and Norwegian-Swedish vice-consul and consular secretary in Shanghai from 1870 to 1872.

Back in Christiania autumn 1872 Heiberg co-owner of several industrial enterprises, including Ringnes brewery, which he founded in 1877 together with his brothers Amund and Ellef Ringnes. He gave Norwegian sports funding, and he himself was active as a rower, sailor, skier and hunter; he was chairman of Christiania Roklub 1882-84 and founded the first Norwegian Kennel Club (Christiania molars). He was also one of the initiators of Huseby gutters, the predecessor to Holmenkollen.

The Fridtjof Nansen’s expedition across Greenland from 1888 to 1889 started Heiberg’s great interest in the polar regions. Along with Thomas Fearnley and Ellef Ringnes he formed the “corresponding line” that enabled Nansen first Fram 1893-96, and he supported the expedition with large amounts. In connection with the Nansen and Fram’s return to Norway in August 1896, he was with the founding of Fridtjof Nansen Foundation for Science Fund Promoting with a contribution of 50,000 crowns. From 1899 he was parliamentary elected member of the board of the Fund. Together with Amund and Ellef Ringnes he bore all the expenses of Otto Sverdrup’s second Fram 1898-1902 to the islands north of Canada, and he also gave financial support to Roald Amundsen’s expeditions with Gjøa in the Northwest from 1903 to 1906 and to the South Pole from 1910 to 1912. Axel Heiberg islands off Siberia, Axel Heiberg Island in Canada and Axel Heiberg Glacier in Antarctica was named after him by the grateful polar farers.

Also Norwegian art and intellectual life benefited consul Heiberg give generous support. He bought many works of art, and in 1899 he poured National statues of Ibsen and Bjornson, which currently stands in front of the entrance. 1906-1910 he was a member of the board of the Museum of Applied Arts.

It can today be discussed on Axel Heiberg is best known for its polar interest or for his great commitment to the Norwegian forests. The latter did enough biggest impression at the time, when he made forest case to a folkesak. He bought the farm Strand in Lyngdal in Numedal to hunting farm and ran it until a model with ia trenching and reforestation from 1888. Norwegian Forestry Society was founded in 1898 on his initiative, and he was the company’s chairman for 25 years. Under mindset “a forest-rich Norway is a mægtig Norway” organized Skogselskapet in his formannstid county forestry companies, courses, nurseries, etc., and put in place measures for children and young people to encourage interest in silviculture. A basic principle was that no generation should reap without also saw and planting. He rendered great financial contribution also to this case. He was a member of Videnskabps-Society in Christiania (now Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters) from 1897 and was an honorary member of both this and the Forestry Company.

Axel Heiberg was appointed a Knight of the Order of St. Olav in 1896, Commander 1900 and was awarded the Grand Cross 1908. 1923 he received Norway’s highest civilian honor, Borgerdådsmedaljen in gold. Christian Gierløff described him as “a Gloger, bold and generous figure, saa Norwegian as some of Snorre”. He was buried in the Grove of Honor at Our Savior’s cemetery in Oslo.

axel-heiberg

And here’s a short history of the brewery, from the tourism site, Go Norway:

Ringnes is Norway´s largest brewery company with approximately 1,200 employees. The company is owned by “Carlsberg Group”, the world´s fourth largest brewery group. We deliver beer, soda and water to the entire Norwegian beverage market and we are proud of our many strong brands!

Ringnes brewery was established in 1876 by brothers Amund Ringnes and Ellef, who came from Ringnes Gard. Amund was brewer, Ellef administrator and salesman, and Axel Heiberg was the financier behind now. 28 November 1877 could Amund Ringnes put the first brewed, thus starting what has now been 130 years of brewing history. Ringnes-brothers stood centrally among those who did Fridtjof Nansen and Otto Sverdrup “Fram” – Finished possible. A lasting memory of this is the three islands in the northernmost Canada (west of Greenland), as Sverdrup named after the brewery´s founders, Axel Heiberg Island, Amund Ringnes Island and Ellef Ringnes Island.

rignes-brewery-photo

Historic Beer Birthday: Samuel Charles Whitbread

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whitbread-oval
Today is the birthday of Samuel Charles Whitbread (February 22, 1937- ), an heir to the Whitbread Brewery, who was president of the brewery and Whitbread’s other businesses from 1972 to 2001, when he retired. There’s some basic biographical information from the Peerage:

Sir Samuel Charles Whitbread was born on 22 February 1937. He is the son of Major Simon Whitbread and Helen Beatrice Margaret Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis.3 He married Jane Mary Hayter, daughter of Charles William John Hugh Hayter, on 31 August 1961.

He was educated at Eton College, Windsor, Berkshire, England. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. He held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for Bedfordshire in 1969. He was a director of Whitbread plc between 1972 and 2001. He held the office of High Sheriff of Bedfordshire between 1973 and 1974. He was invested as a Knight, Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (K.St.J.). He was invested as a Fellow, Linnean Society (F.L.S.). He was invested as a Fellow, Royal Society of Arts (F.R.S.A.). He was chairman of Whitbread & Company between 1984 and 1992. He held the office of Lord-Lieutenant of Bedfordshire in 1991. He lived in 2003 at Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, England. He was invested as a Dame Commander, Royal Victorian Order (D.C.V.O.) in 2010.

b12-246 Lord Samuel Whitbread, outgoing Lord Lieutenant in the comfort of his own home at Southill estate.

This is his entry from the International Who’s Who for 2004.

SCWhitbread-whos-who-2004

b12-246 Lord Samuel Whitbread, outgoing Lord Lieutenant in the comfort of his own home at Southill estate.

Top 50 Breweries For 2017

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ba
The Brewers Association just announced the top 50 breweries and craft breweries in the U.S. based on sales, by volume, for 2017, which is listed below here. I should also mention that this represents “craft breweries” according to the BA’s membership definition, and not necessarily how most of us would define them, as there’s no universally agreed upon way to differentiate the two. For the tenth year, they’ve also released a list of the top 50 breweries, which includes all breweries. In the past I’ve posted the two lists separately, but have decided going forward to present them together since the two are getting increasingly intermingled. Here is this year’s craft brewery list:

Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies

Rank Brewery Name City State
1 D. G. Yuengling & Son, Inc Pottsville PA
2 Boston Beer Co Boston MA
3 Sierra Nevada Brewing Chico CA
4 New Belgium Brewing Fort Collins CO
5 Duvel Moortgat Paso Robles/Kansas City/Cooperstown CA/MO/NY
6 Gambrinus San Antonio/Berkeley/Portland TX/CA/OR
7 Bell’s Brewery, Inc Comstock MI
8 Stone Brewing Escondido CA
9 CANarchy Longmont/Tampa/Salt Lake City/
Comstock Park		 CO/FL/UT/MI
10 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR
11 Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY
12 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE
13 Minhas Craft Brewery Monroe WI
14 Artisanal Brewing Ventures Downingtown/Lakewood PA/NY
15 SweetWater Brewing Atlanta GA
16 New Glarus Brewing New Glarus WI
17 Matt Brewing Utica NY
18 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA
19 Alaskan Brewing Juneau AK
20 Great Lakes Brewing Cleveland OH
21 Abita Brewing Abita Springs LA
22 Odell Brewing Fort Collins CO
23 Stevens Point Brewery Stevens Point WI
24 August Schell Brewing New Ulm MN
25 Summit Brewing Saint Paul MN
26 21st Amendment Brewery Bay Area CA
27 Shipyard Brewing Portland ME
28 Flying Dog Brewery Frederick MD
29 Full Sail Brewing Hood River OR
30 Troëgs Brewing Hershey PA
31 Long Trail Brewing Bridgewater Corners VT
32 Rogue Ales Newport OR
33 Rhinegeist Brewery Cincinnati OH
34 Narragansett Brewing Providence RI
35 Gordon Biersch Brewing San Jose CA
36 Allagash Brewing Portland ME
37 Uinta Brewing Salt Lake City UT
38 Ninkasi Brewing Eugene OR
39 Surly Brewing Minneapolis MN
40 Revolution Brewing Chicago IL
41 Karl Strauss Brewing San Diego CA
42 Bear Republic Brewing Cloverdale CA
43 Green Flash Brewing San Diego CA
44 Left Hand Brewing Longmont CO
45 Three Floyds Brewing Munster IN
46 Saint Arnold Brewing Houston TX
47 Lost Coast Brewery Eureka CA
48 North Coast Brewing Fort Bragg CA
49 Wachusett Brewing Westminster MA
50 Avery Brewing Boulder CO

six-glasses

This list, by contrast, is the Top 50 Overall Brewing Companies in the U.S. based on sales, by volume, for 2017. This includes all breweries, regardless of size or any other definitions or parameters.

Breweries in bold are considered to be “small and independent craft brewers” under the BA’s current definition. That there are so many footnotes (23 in total, or almost half of the list) explaining exceptions or reasons for the specific entry, seems illustrative of a growing problem with the definition of what is a craft brewery. I certainly understand the need for a trade group to have a clearly defined set of criteria for membership, but I think the current one is getting increasingly outdated again, and it’s only been a few years since the contentious debate that resulted in the current BA one. But it may be time to revisit that again. This is the same number of footnotes as last year, so this is a problem that is not resolving itself.

Top 50 Overall Brewing Companies

Rank Brewery Name City State
Bold = small and independent craft brewery
1 Anheuser-Busch, Inc (a) Saint Louis MO
2 MillerCoors (b) Chicago IL
3 Constellation (c) Chicago IL
4 Heineken (d) White Plains NY
5 Pabst Brewing (e) Los Angeles CA
6 D. G. Yuengling & Son Pottsville PA
7 North Amer. Breweries (f) Rochester NY
8 Diageo (g) Norwalk CT
9 Boston Beer Co (h) Boston MA
10 Sierra Nevada Brewing Chico CA
11 New Belgium Brewing (i) Fort Collins CO
12 Craft Brew Alliance (j) Portland OR
13 Duvel Moortgat (k) Paso Robles/Kansas City/Cooperstown CA/MO/NY
14 Gambrinus (l) San Antonio/Berkeley/Portland TX/CA/OR
15 Founders Brewing (m) Grand Rapids MI
16 Bell’s Brewery, Inc (n) Comstock MI
17 Sapporo USA (o) La Crosse WI
18 Stone Brewing Escondido CA
19 CANarchy (p) Longmont/Tampa/Salt Lake City/Comstock Park CO/FL/UT/MI
20 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR
21 Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY
22 Dogfish Head Milton DE
23 Minhas Craft Brewery (q) Monroe WI
24 Artisanal Brewing Ventures (r) Downingtown/Lakewood PA/NY
25 SweetWater Brewing Atlanta GA
26 New Glarus Brewing New Glarus WI
27 Matt Brewing (s) Utica NY
28 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA
29 Alaskan Brewing Juneau AK
30 Great Lakes Brewing Cleveland OH
31 Abita Brewing Abita Springs LA
32 Odell Brewing Fort Collins CO
33 Stevens Point (t) Stevens Point WI
34 August Schell (u) New Ulm MN
35 Summit Brewing Saint Paul MN
36 21st Amendment Bay Area CA
37 Shipyard Brewing (v) Portland ME
38 Flying Dog Brewery Frederick MD
39 Full Sail Brewing Hood River OR
40 Troëgs Brewing Hershey PA
41 Long Trail Brewing (w) Bridgewater Corners VT
42 Rogue Ales Newport OR
43 Rhinegeist Brewery Cincinnati OH
44 Narragansett Brewing Providence RI
45 Gordon Biersch Brewing San Jose CA
46 Allagash Brewing Co Portland ME
47 Uinta Brewing Salt Lake City UT
48 Ninkasi Brewing Eugene OR
49 Surly Brewing Minneapolis MN
50 Revolution Brewing Chicago IL

six-glasses

2017 Top 50 Overall U.S.
Brewing Companies Notes

Footnotes from brand lists are illustrative, and may not be exhaustive – ownership stakes
reflect greater than 25% ownership:

(a) Anheuser-Busch, Inc includes 10 Barrel, Bass, Beck’s, Blue Point, Bud Light,
Budweiser, Breckenridge, Busch, Devils Backbone, Elysian, Four Peaks, Golden
Road, Goose Island, Karbach, King Cobra, Landshark, Michelob, Natural Rolling
Rock, Shock Top, Wicked Weed, Wild Series brands and Ziegenbock brands.
Does not include partially owned Coastal, Craft Brew Alliance, Fordham, Kona,
Old Dominion, Omission, Red Hook, and Widmer Brothers brands;
(b) MillerCoors includes A.C. Golden, Batch 19, Blue Moon, Colorado Native,
Coors, Hamms, Hop Valley, Icehouse, Keystone, Killian’s, Leinenkugel’s,
Mickey’s, Milwaukee’s Best, Miller, Olde English, Revolver, Saint Archer, Steel
Reserve, Tenth & Blake, and Terrapin brands;
(c) Constellation Brewing Co includes domestic brands Ballast Point, Funky Buddha,
and Tocayo Brands; it also includes imported brands Corona, Modelo, Pacifico,
and Victoria;
(d) Heineken Brewing Co includes domestic brand Lagunitas Brewing Co as well as
imported brands Dos Equis and Tecate;
(e) Pabst Brewing Co includes Ballantine, Lone Star, Pabst, Pearl, Primo, Rainier,
Schlitz and Small Town brands;
(f) North American Breweries includes Dundee, Genesee, Labatt Lime,
Mactarnahan’s, Magic Hat, Portland and Pyramid brands as well as import
volume;
(g) Diageo Brewing Co includes both domestically produced and imported Guinness
brands;
(h) Boston Beer Co includes Alchemy & Science and Sam Adams brands. Does not
include Twisted Tea or Angry Orchard brands;
(i) New Belgium Brewing Co includes Magnolia Brewing Brands (partial year);
(j) Craft Brew Alliance includes Kona, Omission, Red Hook and Widmer Brothers
brands;
(k) Duvel Moortgat includes Boulevard, Firestone Walker, and Ommegang brands;
(l) Gambrinus includes BridgePort, Shiner and Trumer brands;
(m)Founders ownership stake by Mahou San Miguel;
(n) Bell’s Brewery, Inc includes Bell’s and Upper Hand brands;
(o) Sapporo USA includes Anchor Brewing Co (partial year), Sapporo and Sleeman
brands as well as export volume;
(p) CANarchy includes Cigar City, Oskar Blues Brewing Co, Perrin and Utah
Brewers Cooperative brands;
(q) Minhas Craft Brewery includes Huber, Mountain Crest and Rhinelander brands as
well as export volume;
(r) Artisanal Brewing Ventures includes Victory and Southern Tier brands;
(s) Matt Brewing Co includes Flying Bison, Saranac and Utica Club brands;
(t) Stevens Point Brewery includes James Page and Point brands;
(u) August Schell Brewing Co includes Grain Belt and Schell’s brands;
(v) Shipyard Brewing Co includes Casco Bay, Sea Dog and Shipyard brands;
(w)Long Trail Brewing Co includes Long Trail, Otter Creek and The Shed brands;

BEER-generic

Here is this year’s press release. For a few years, the BA had helpfully annotated the list, saving me lots of time, since I’d been annotating the list for nearly a decade, but they abandoned that practice three years ago. And I’ve also given up on annotating, too. It used to be fun to see who was doing well and rising and who was slipping, but it’s as much about business dealings as hard work and brewing, so I give up.

And similar to the last couple of years, the BA created a map showing the relative location of each of the breweries that made the list.

Top50_2017

Session #131 Round-Up

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This month’s Session was last minute to say the least. I woke up the first Friday of the month, January 5, to people on Twitter asking who was hosting and what the topic of the January Session was. Which for me was a facepalm moment because in the business of the holidays I hadn’t even noticed that no one had signed up to host the Session. So I scrambled to put one together, and tried to come up with something quick and easy.

So in my announcement, I asked three simple questions that could have very short answers, or with explanations a bit longer, that I thought could be fun to ponder. Since time was short, I wanted something that people could answer without thinking too much about it, out of necessity, and just go with their gut. Many people referred to this as an “Emergency Session,” which I guess is true. Anyway, here’s what everybody had to say:

emergency-session

Normally, the round-up gives a short description of each person’s take on the topic, but since I posed three questions, I thought it made more sense to break the round-up into separate round-ups, so to speak.

If you want to read their full answers, and the rationale behind them, here’s who participated in the January Session:

So that’s fourteeen participants, not to shabby considering it was posted last minute, on the day it was due.

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Question No. 1

For our first question of the new year, what one word, or phrase, do you think should be used to describe beer that you’d like to drink. Craft beer seems to be the most agreed upon currently used term, but many people think it’s losing its usefulness or accuracy in describing it. What should we call it, do you think?

And the answers are:

  1. Beer, just beer:
    • Appellation Beer
    • Brookston Beer Bulletin
    • Ramblings of a Beer Runner
    • The Would-be Brewmaster
  2. Classic beer:
    • Fuggled
  3. Clear:
    • A Good Beer Blog
  4. Craft beer:
    • Boak & Bailey
  5. Excellent Beer… Whatever the source:
    • Deep Beer
  6. Good beer:
    • The A Position
    • The Brew Site
    • By the Barrel
  7. The Good Stuff:
    • Oh Good Ale
  8. No Answer:
    • Brewing in a Bedsetter
  9. Worthwhile beer:
    • Brussels City Beer

By and large, a majority felt a return to simply calling all beer just “beer” is the way to go, and I’m in that camp, as well. A close second, others felt “good beer” was a good (pun intended) way of marking the divide, and I have certainly used the term on numerous occasions. It avoids the politics but also conveys a certain fluid meaning that we all sort of understand.

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Question No. 2

For our second question of the new year, what two breweries do you think are very underrated? Name any two places that don’t get much attention but are quietly brewing great beer day in and day out. And not just one shining example, but everything they brew should be spot on. And ideally, they have a great tap room, good food, or other stellar amenities of some kind. But for whatever reason, they’ve been mostly overlooked. Maybe 2018 should be the year they hit it big. Who are they?

And the answers are:

  1. Back Forty Beer Co.: The A Position
  2. Brewery Ommegang: Deep Beer
  3. Bristol Beer Factory: Boak & Bailey
  4. Brouwerij Brasserie De Ranke: Brewing in a Bedsetter
  5. Burley Oak Brewing: Deep Beer
  6. Buxton Brewery: Brewing in a Bedsetter
  7. Caldera Brewing: The Brew Site
  8. Chuckanut Brewing: Appellation Beer, Brookston Beer Bulletin
  9. Corn based craft beer: A Good Beer Blog
  10. Dust Bowl Brewing: Ramblings of a Beer Runner
  11. En Stoemelings: Brussels City Beer
  12. Galway Bay Brewery: Brussels City Beer
  13. Hunter-Gatherer Brewery & Alehouse: Fuggled
  14. Kettlesmith, or Stroud, or Cheddar Ales: Boak & Bailey
  15. Kobold Brewing: Ramblings of a Beer Runner
  16. Marble Brewery (UK): Oh Good Ale
  17. Moonlight Brewing (UK): Brookston Beer Bulletin
  18. None, most breweries are over-rated: By the Barrel
  19. Olde Mecklenburg Brewery: Fuggled
  20. Quebec breweries: A Good Beer Blog
  21. Rock Art Brewery: The A Position
  22. Smuttynose Brewing: The Would-be Brewmaster
  23. Summit Brewing: Appellation Beer
  24. Ticketybrew: Oh Good Ale
  25. Von Trapp Brewing: The Would-be Brewmaster

Not surprisingly, given that we’re all over the map geographically, so were the answers to this one. An interesting mix of breweries to explore.

three-beers-3

Question No. 3

For our third question of the new year, name three kinds of beer you’d like to see more of. It’s clear hoppy beers, IPAs and all of the other hop-forward beers they’ve spawned, are here to say. There seems to be a few other styles that are popular, too, like saisons, barrel-aged beers, anything imperial and also sour beers of all kinds. But lots of other previously popular beers seem sidelined these days. What three types of beer do you think deserve more attention or at least should be more available for you to enjoy? They can be anything except IPAs, or the other extreme beers. I mean, they could be, I suppose, but I’m hoping for beers that we don’t hear much about or that fewer and fewer breweries are making. What styles should return, re-emerge or be resurrected in 2018?

And the answers are:

  1. Altbier: Fuggled
  2. Barley wine: Oh Good Ale
  3. Barrel-Aged: Deep Beer
  4. Belgian session beers: Brewing in a Bedsetter
  5. Belgian witbiers: The Brew Site
  6. Best Bitter (or English Pale Ale): Boak & Bailey (specifically Pale-n-hoppy), Fuggled, The Would-be Brewmaster
  7. Bocks: By the Barrel
  8. Dubbels (and other strong dark ale): A Good Beer Blog, Brussels City Beer
  9. Dunkelweizens: Brookston Beer Bulletin
  10. German weissbeers or hefeweizens: Appellation Beer
  11. Gose (authentic): Ramblings of a Beer Runner
  12. Imperial Stout: Boak & Bailey, Brewing in a Bedsetter
  13. IPAs, Classic US: Brewing in a Bedsetter
  14. Lagers (that taste like lagers): Appellation Beer, The Brew Site, Brussels Beer City
  15. Malt-forward beers, like Scottish ales, brown ales, bocks: The Brew Site, By the Barrel (bocks, at least)
  16. Milds: A good Beer Blog, Boak & Bailey, Brookston Beer Bulletin, By the Barrel, Fuggled, Oh Good Ale, Ramblings of a Beer Runner
  17. Old Ale: Oh Good Ale
  18. Oud Bruin: Deep Beer
  19. Porters: A Good Beer Blog (especially 1700s porters made with diastatic malted Battledore barley), Appellation Beer
  20. Quadruppels: Deep Beer
  21. Rye beers: Brookston Beer Bulletin
  22. Scotch Ales: Ramblings of a Beer Runner
  23. Stouts (non-imperial): The Would-be Brewmaster
  24. Styles not inspired by British, German, and Belgian brewing traditions: The Would-be Brewmaster
  25. Surprise Me: Brussels City Beer
  26. Vienna Lager: By the Barrel

Happy to see so many people lamenting the scarcity of Milds, but there were plenty of other kinds of beer represented, and only a single mention of anything super hoppy (which, to be fair, was from outside hoppyland USA) although the more restrained and balanced Best Bitter (or English Pale Ale) did get a few mentions.

If you know of any Session posts I missed, or if I missed yours, please drop me a note at “Jay (.) Brooks (@) gmail (.) com.” Thanks.

According to the Session calendar, the next Session still has no host. If you’d like to host February’s Session, please let me know as soon as you can. Thanks. The date for the next Session will be Groundhog Day, February 2, 2018.

Oakland’s Pacific Coast Brewing To Close Its Doors After 29 Years

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Just heard the sad news that Pacific Coast Brewing, the 29-year old brewpub in downtown Oakland, will be closing its doors for good sometime in November of this year, around two months from now. I know we’re beginning to see more and more breweries closing, and if anything the pace is likley to increase, but it’s still a sad day wherever it happens. Stop by while you can to the Oakland icon and have a final beer.

pacific-coast

Here’s the press release on the closure, which has also been posted to their Facebook page:

After 29 years of serving fine craft beers and classic pub food to the Oakland community, Pacific Coast Brewing is closing its doors. Opened in October 1988, Pacific Coast was one of the pioneers of the Bay Area craft beer community. After an extensive search of the East Bay, founders Steve Wolff, Don Gortemiller and Barry Lazarus fell in love with the Old Oakland Project. They felt that the charm of the neighborhood, and the beautifully restored 1886 Arlington building in particular, was a perfect complement to the classic pub atmosphere that they envisioned for Pacific Coast. They have garnered attention through the years by their commitment to the community as well as by winning numerous awards, including a dozen medals at the Great American Beer Festival. Steve Wolff and his wife Laura, would like to thank all the loyal guests and dedicated employees who have made being the owners of “The Coast” such a joy.

“Unfortunately, due to the uncertainty of our current lease, and the rapid changes coursing through the Bay Area’s restaurant industry, we have made the difficult decision to shut our doors in early November 2017. We are making this announcement well in advance of our closing to ensure that our wonderful staff has the necessary time to find and transition into new employment.”

For their final two months, Pacific Coast, while continuing their regular menu, will also bring back some of the most popular dishes from the past three decades. They will be hosting many of their popular events, highlighted by a four-day Last Anniversary Celebration, October 19th through 22nd. More announcements regarding Pacific Coast’s farewell menu and events will be posted shortly on its social media pages and website.

“We have been fortunate to have been a part of Oakland for 29 years, and to have served the Oakland community and its guests from around the Bay Area, the country, and the world. After watching Oakland’s economy take two steps forward and one (or two) steps back, more times than we can remember, it’s gratifying to see our little Old Oakland neighborhood blooming, as well as Uptown prospering, and now the mushrooming of building cranes throughout the Broadway corridor and beyond. We will miss being a part of Oakland’s exciting future. But we are Oaklanders and are excited for it. Thank you for 29 wonderful years. Cheers!”

Steve, Laura, and all the staff would like to invite all of their friends from the last three decades to come by the Pub one (or more) last time to say good-bye, see old friends, and share their favorite memories.

pac-coast-logo

Next Session Pops Open The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Bottle Shops

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For our 128th Session, our host will be Jack Perdue, who writes Deep Beer. For his topic, he’s chosen one that’s been bottled up for some time now, Bottle Shops: Good, Bad & The Ugly. So what does he mean? Well, he introduces his topic with this:

I find bottle shops interesting and would like to learn other perspectives on these places many of us purchase our favorite quaffs. We love our beer and have a variety of options in acquiring it. Some home brew, others like to visit their local pubs, beer tourism and beer destinations have become a trend, but the ever popular bottle shop is often the best and most reliable means for finding our next beer.

bottle-shop

Of course, not all bottle shops are the same.

the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly

Jack then follows up with some ideas to consider, but reminding us these are just some suggestions, and, of course, you should feel free to choose your own, and let your imagination run wild:

  • What defines a great bottle shop —selection, knowledgeable staff, location, prices, other factors
  • Iconic bottle shops — Like to share your favorite shops, surprising stories of discovery
  • Discovering great bottle shops — have successful methods for finding great bottle shops
  • Being a great bottle shop — If you own or work in a shop, do you have tips for success or precautions against failure
  • Hacking the bottle shop — secrets to getting what you want or How to Win Friends and Influence People
  • Bottle shop travel preparation — do you have a reconnaissance plan when you travel for finding good beer away from home or other beer travel tips
  • Other topics of bottle shop curiosity — you choose

beer-store

So visit your neighborhood beer stores between now and Friday, October 7, 2017, and then report back about the good ones, the bad ones, and yes, even the ugly ones. Simply leave a comment to the original announcement and post the URL to your post there.

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The Nickel (Beer) In New York

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This is an interesting article I stumbled upon, from a Time magazine article about Sam’s Bar & Grill in St. Mark’s Place in the East Village of New York City. It was from April 4, 1949

sams-place-1

The Nickel In St. Mark’s Place


Monday, April 4, 1949

Pale and shaken, 51-year-old Sam Atkins backed away from himself with a feeling somewhere between disbelief and awe. By a single, splendid cerebration he had been lifted out of the ruck into the status of a television curiosity. In his humble Manhattan saloon, Sam had decided to cut the price of beer (the 7-oz. glass) from a dime to a nickel.

Up to that moment Sam was just a pensioned pumper driver from the Bayonne (N.J.) fire department, and Sam’s bar & grill was like any neighborhood joint around St. Mark’s Place on the Lower East Side. Its only distinctive touch was Sam’s cousin, “Bottle Sam” Hock, who amused the trade by whacking tunes out of whisky bottles with a suds-scraper. But the customers got a joyful jolt when Sam opened up one morning last week.

All around the walls, even over the bar mirror, tasteful, powder-blue signs proclaimed in red letters: “Spring is here and so is the 5¢ beer.” The early birds drank and took their change in mild disbelief. The nickel wasn’t obsolescent after all. The word spread. Sam’s bar & grill started to bulge like Madison Square Garden on fight night. People drank, shook hands with strangers and sang.

sams-place

Then something went sour. The two breweries that supplied Sam cut him off, and an electrician came around and took the neon beer sign out of the flyspecked windows. Somehow, it seemed, Sam had betrayed free enterprise. An organization of restaurant owners muttered that Sam might not be cutting his beer, but he was cutting his throat. The Bartenders Union threw a picket line in front of the place because it was nonunion.

But Sam hung on. He signed up with the union, managed to get his beer through a couple of distributors and a Brooklyn brewery, announced that he was going to have the windows washed, and keep at it. Said he solemnly: “The people want it.” By this week Sam’s idea had spread to other saloons in Washington, D.C. and New Jersey, and Sam was getting more trade in a day than he had drawn before in a week. The nickel beer was here to stay, Sam announced.

nickel-beer

Top 50 Craft Breweries For 2016

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The Brewers Association just announced the top 50 craft breweries in the U.S. based on sales, by volume, for 2016, which is listed below here. I should also mention that this represents “craft breweries” according to the BA’s membership definition, and not necessarily how most of us would define them, as there’s no universally agreed upon way to differentiate the two. For the ninth year, they’ve also released a list of the top 50 breweries, which includes all breweries. Here is this year’s craft brewery list:

Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies

Rank Brewing Company City State
1 D. G. Yuengling & Son, Inc Pottsville PA
2 Boston Beer Co Boston MA
3 Sierra Nevada Brewing Chico CA
4 New Belgium Brewing Fort Collins CO
5 Gambrinus San Antonio TX
6 Duvel Moortgat Paso Robles/Kansas City/Cooperstown CA/MO/NY
7 Bell’s Brewery, Inc Comstock MI
8 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR
9 Stone Brewing Escondido CA
10 Oskar Blues Brewing Holding Longmont CO
11 Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY
12 Minhas Craft Brewery Monroe WI
13 Artisanal Brewing Ventures Downington/Lakewood PA/NY
14 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE
15 SweetWater Brewing Atlanta GA
16 New Glarus Brewing New Glarus WI
17 Matt Brewing Utica NY
18 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA
19 Alaskan Brewing Juneau AK
20 Abita Brewing Abita Springs LA
21 Great Lakes Brewing Cleveland OH
22 Anchor Brewing San Francisco CA
23 Stevens Point Brewery Stevens Point WI
24 August Schell Brewing New Ulm MN
24 Long Trail Brewing Bridgewater Corners VT
26 Summit Brewing Saint Paul MN
27 Odell Brewing Fort Collins CO
28 Shipyard Brewing Portland ME
29 Full Sail Brewing Hood River OR
30 Rogue Ales Newport OR
31 21st Amendment Brewery Bay Area CA
32 Flying Dog Brewery Frederick MD
33 Ninkasi Brewing Eugene OR
34 Gordon Biersch Brewing San Jose CA
35 Allagash Brewing Portland ME
36 Narragansett Brewing Providence RI
37 Green Flash Brewing Co San Diego CA
38 Tröegs Brewing Hershey PA
39 Uinta Brewing Salt Lake City UT
40 Bear Republic Brewing Cloverdale CA
41 Karl Strauss Brewing San Diego CA
42 Surly Brewing Minneapolis MN
43 Sixpoint Brewery Brooklyn NY
44 Left Hand Brewing Longmont CO
45 Lost Coast Brewery Eureka CA
46 Revolution Brewing Chicago IL
47 North Coast Brewing Fort Bragg CA
48 Avery Brewing Boulder CO
49 Real Ale Brewing Blanco TX
50 BJ’s Brewery Huntington Beach CA

Here is this year’s press release. The last couple of years, the BA has helpfully annotated the list, saving me lots of time, since I’ve been annotating the list for the last nine years, but they’ve abandoned that practice for a second year. So for the ninth consecutive year, I’ll also posted an annotated list, showing the changes in each brewery’s rank from year to year, but it will take me some time to put together so I’ll have that again later tonight or tomorrow.

And similar to last year, the BA created a map showing the relative location of each of the breweries that made the list.

Top_50_Craft_Breweries_2016