Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Latrobe Brewery Workers Approve New Contract

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Union employees of the Latrobe Brewery voted 113-9 yesterday to approve a new -two-year contract with City Brewery of La Crosse, Wisconsin. It was undoubtedly not exactly a level playing field, but the Latrobe brewery workers agreed to pay cuts and reduced vacation time in an effort to save their jobs.

A few months ago when City Brewery was negotiating to purchase the Coors brewing facility in Memphis, Tennessee, Teamsters rejected City’s contract offer expecting them to make a counter-offer. Instead City Brewery walked away from the deal. That fact had to be on the mind of brewery workers when it came time to vote yesterday.

Union officials were quoted as saying that the concessions were relatively minor and not beyond expectations. Of course, City Brewery still has to close the deal with InBev.

Union official George Sharkey indicated that City Brewery is planning a 24-ounce canning line for the Latrobe brewery. Rumors also are floating around about the possibility of Latrobe starting up a new proprietary brand. The plant will close shortly, on July 31, with only a “skeleton crew” remaining to keep the refrigeration units in working order. No word yet on when the brewery might re-open full-time again.

Hopping in Maine

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When Rick Courcy retired, he wanted to get out of the city and so moved his family from Masschusetts to Oxford County, Maine, known as the “Gemstone Capital of Maine.” He settled on a 90-acre farm in Paris, with a view of Mount Washington.

Mount Washington (along with Mount Madison) seen from the Appalachian Trail.

Courcy was whiling away his time watching television while still trying to figure out what unique crop to grow when he saw a beer ad and was hit by inspiration. So he hopped up and planted organic hops, built the requisite trellises and has spoken to area brewers who are interested in using locally grown hops. He’s called his hop farm Paris View Farm. According to John Harker from Maine’s Department of Agriculture, Courcy is now the only commercial hop grower in the state.

Now that’s great news. I don’t think I realized hops would grow in Maine’s climate but according to Harker, “hops used to be grown in nearly every farmer’s backyard.” I always thought the reason spruce and other plants were common as a hop substitute throughout New England was because hops wouldn’t easily grow there. Oh well, maybe it’s global warming.

UPDATE 7/25: Brendan from Beerdata.org did a really nice more in-depth piece on this story last week.

Connecticut Gives 21st Amendment Thumbs Up

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The Day, an independent newspaper headquarted in, of all places, New London, Connecticut, has a review in today’s paper of 21st Amendment’s Watermelon Wheat beer in a can. Author Tim Cotter has a nice little story about fruit and spices used in beer and apparently Pete Slosberg gave him a can of Shaun’s Watermelon Wheat during a recent visit to Connecticut. The paper also ran a one of my photos of Shaun and Nico that I took during our Ball Plant tour, which was nice.

Tim’s Tasting Notes:

After popping open the can I passed it around the house to see if anyone could detect a whiff of watermelon. Everyone recognized something fruity but no one was able to nail it as watermelon. I took one sip from the can and then poured it into a glass. The wheat left the beer cloudy in the glass. The taste grew on me, and about halfway through the watermelon flavor was unmistakable. I like my watermelon straight from the fridge — as cold as possible — and I wish I had chilled this can more. All in all, a refreshing summer brew.

From the Glass-Lined Tanks of Old … St. Louis?

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Now that Anheuser-Busch will be brewing Rolling Rock at their facility in Newark, New Jersey, I expected they’d have to change some of the packaging. But in a press release from last Friday, A-B announced their intention to not change almost anything. I suppose that’s not too much of a surprise since their stated goal is to “produce the same beer and maintain its traditional taste,” according to Doug Muhleman, chief brewmaster of Anheuser-Busch.

Andy Goeler, vice president, Import, Craft and Specialty Group, Anheuser- Busch, Inc. said “[o]ur priority is to honor the Rolling Rock brand and its traditions. One way we’re doing this is through our packaging. The Rolling Rock pledge is an historic part of this brand, along with the mysterious ’33’ and the label’s other features. We wanted to take all steps possible to honor this tradition, so we plan to quote the pledge on the label in a tribute to this rich, proud history.”

Next month, when the beer will begin being brewed in New Jersey, the label will continue to read:

“From the glass-lined tanks of old Latrobe,
we tender this premium beer for your enjoyment,
as a tribute to your good taste.
It comes from the mountain springs to you.”

Other items printed on the bottle, including the steeplechase, horse and mysterious “33” will also remain unchanged.

Now is it just me or won’t it be pretty hard to claim that the beer is “from the glass-lined tanks of old Latrobe” when it’s brewed in Newark? Does that kind of announced deception spun as “honoring tradition” bother anyone else? It’s one thing to quietly keep the label intact, but to shout that you’re paying “tribute to this rich, proud history” while not, in fact, doing so seems arrogant in the extreme to me. If A-B had really cared about the tradition of this beer, they would have bought the brewery and continued making it in Latrobe. That would have honored the tradition and paid tribute to its history. This is spin and propaganda at its most openly brash. Curiously, this press release does not appear, at least as far as I can tell, on their corporate website where their other press releases reside. Instead, it came through PR Newswire, an online service that disseminates press releases to journalists and other industry watchers. Draw your own conclusions for that, but it seems at least a little odd.

Also from the press release:

Rolling Rock bottles will continue to have a two-color painted label on green glass from the same supplier in Pennsylvania. The front label will continue to recognize Latrobe Brewing Co., along with a required geographic designation. Anheuser-Busch will first brew Rolling Rock in the northeast, but expansion to other locations is expected. Therefore, the company is opting to place its St. Louis headquarters on the bottle.

Well that seems reasonable. A-B will be making Rolling Rock in Newark, New Jersey, stating on the bottle that it’s “from the glass-lined tanks of old Latrobe” (Pennsylvania) and listing its origin as St. Louis, Missouri. Let’s review once more the letter A-B sent to All About Beer magazine in response to some labeling criticisms beer writer Fred Eckhardt had made in a 1997 article.

We don’t take issue with contract brewing — we just think beer drinkers have the right to know who really brews their beer. We, along with many other traditional brewers and beer enthusiasts, object to those who mislead consumers by marketing their beers as “craft brewed,” when in fact their beers are made in large breweries.

It may not be a perfect fit, but it still shows the King has an arbitrary sense of moral righteousness and some curious notions of right and wrong, very much in the mold of Louis XIV and other Old World royalty. It’s wrong if they do it but when we do it we’re just “honoring tradition.” Uh-huh. We are not amused.

Barton Beers to Import Corona Nationwide

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When it was announced back in early March that Gambrinus had lost an arbitration and more significantly the contract to import Corona — and other Grupo Modelo brands — throughout the Eastern half of the U.S., speculations ran high as to who would be awarded that lucrative contract. Well, the wait is over and as many predicted, it will go to Barton Beers of Chicago. Barton Beers currently imports Corona in the western half of the U.S. so with this move, Grupo Modelo will have one importer for the entire country. In addition to Corona and the other Modelo brands — Modelo Especial, Negra Modelo and Pacifico — Barton also imports St. Pauli Girl and Tsingtao. Barton in turn is owned by Constellation Brands, a giant in the world of liquor and wine.

The Gambrinus contract ends next year, when Barton will take over Corona nationwide on January 2. The new contract with Barton will last for ten years. According to a press release put out by Constellation Brands, the new relationship between the two companies is actually a joint venture.

Corona is, despite its weak flavor and lack of character, the number one selling import beer in America, having eclipsed Heineken for that dubious honor in 1997.

Beer, America & the U.S. Constitution

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Today two things conspired to make me think about the upcoming Independence Day holiday. First, today is the anniversary of an interesting event that took place in a Philadelphia bar that perhaps made America in its present form possible. If had not been for the the social lubricant of ale and the camaraderie that can only be formed over a pint, compromise might not have been possible and things today might be very different. Who can say for sure? Beer historian Gregg Smith tells it best:

The great diarist of the Constitutional Convention was James Madison of Virginia. His choice of quarters was the India Queen Tavern where there was always a beer at the ready, and it was in the tap room of the India Queen that a new form of government would be created on the evening of June 30, 1787. Up till then smaller states worried they’d be at the mercy of their more populous neighbors, and of course larger states were intent on maintaining their influence. But on that night Madison orchestrated a meeting between Roger Sherman of Connecticut and John Rutledge of Virginia. It was there, in the tap room, that the concept of the legislative branch of the United States was conceived. So it’s not incorrect to say that the Senate and House of Representatives were born in an ale-house.

Note to neo-prohibtionists: See, not all drinking is bad. You might not have a country in which to peddle your fractious agenda were it not for beer.

The second thing was the new advert from Anhesuer-Busch’s Here’s to Beer cmpaign, which is slated to run as a full-page ad in USA Today on July 4th. I have, of course, said a few less-than-flattering things about this campaign but I do like this ad. It’s very well done and works on several levels. It conveys the very important message that beer is, in fact, an integral part of history and our own heritage. This is a lesson we all need to remember and those who seek to remove alcohol from society most of all. Remember that as you toast America’s birthday on the Fourth with a glass of your favorite beer. Here’s to beer!

Pabst Tower in New Jersey Being Torn Down

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I was just talking to a fellow beer writer, Stan — who writes several beer blogs for Real Beer and himself, among much else — and he told me he’d gotten a call or e-mail from someone telling him the Pabst Tower in Newark, New Jersey is being torn down right now. Demolition of the brewery itself began in August of 2004 but the famous landmark water tower so far had escaped the wrecking ball. It came to prominence again recently when it was featured in the HBO series The Sopranos.

Roadside America has some more info on the water tower:

What is perhaps the World’s Largest Bottle — 60 feet tall, with a capacity of 55,000 gallons — is gradually being pried loose from its 100+-foot-tall tower in Newark, New Jersey. The bottle, a water tank originally built in 1930 to promote Hoffman Pale Dry Ginger Ale, was slated to be torn down in 2004, and again in 2005, but each time it proved more sturdy than the machinery sent to destroy it.

Now a third attempt has begun to remove the bottle — this time with the goal of preserving it. But the bottle is still putting up a fight.

The bottle achieved fame when the Hoffman plant was taken over by Pabst, which turned the tank into a glossy blue Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer bottle. Six men could stand on its glittering gold stopper, and the bottle was even featured in episodes of The Sopranos. But the plant closed in 1986, and in recent years the bottle, untended, has rusted to a uniform red. Now the old facility is being demolished, and the bottle is in the crosshairs.

The most appropriate photo I could find of the tower, this one is by Justin Makler.

A close-up of the tower.

UPDATE 6.27: Stan from Real Beer Therapy, who told me about this story in the first place, has a link to the New York Times story about the demolition as well as the real beer history of the tower.

City Brewery of Wisconsin to Buy Latrobe Brewery

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It was announced today that InBev has signed an exclusive letter of intent with City Brewery of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Three weeks ago it was reported that negotiations had broken down in City Brewing’s efforts to buy the Coors brewery in Memphis, Tennessee. So this makes a lot of sense, though I’m surprised they didn’t use this as a bargaining chip — bludgeon, really — to get the concessions they wanted from the brewery workers’ union in Memphis. Who knows, perhaps they still will. After all the letter of intent doesn’t guarantee that they two parties will be able to agree on a price and terms acceptable to both. But it’s certainly a good first step. I can only imagine the 200 plus workers at the Latrobe Brewery are breathing a collective sigh of relief. Let’s hope it all works out to everybody’s satisfaction.

From the Pittsburgh Times-Review story:

Latrobe Brewing Co. may soon have a new owner, as InBev USA said Wednesday it has signed an exclusive letter of intent with City Brewing Co. of La Crosse, Wisc., to purchase the brewery.

InBev and City Brewing Co. will now begin negotiations in an effort to reach agreement on a final deal, according to a statement issued by InBev Wednesday.

InBev said no timeframe has been set for completion of the talks, which will remain confidential between both parties. InBev said no information would be forthcoming until the talks are concluded.

City Brewing brews its La Crosse and La Crosse Light beers. The company also has a significant contract brewing business, which means it brews beer for other brewing companies.

Two weeks ago InBev said a letter of intent was being negotiated with an undisclosed potential buyer.

InBev said members of the International Union of Electronics Workers/Communications Workers of America, which represents about 154 workers at Latrobe Brewing, will be included in the talks. Union officials could not be reached for comment.

InBev also said local, state, and federal government leaders will also be consulted. State officials could not be reached for comment.

According to a statement released by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, he would be willing to discuss offering incentives to City Brewery in an effort to save the jobs.

From his statement:

“I am very encouraged and hope that our work to save the more than 200 jobs at Latrobe Brewing Company will be successful. I intend to speak with officials from City Brewery tomorrow to discuss our aggressive and innovative Pennsylvania Economic Stimulus program, which, I hope, will help them decide, like many other companies, that Pennsylvania is the right place to locate and expand their business.

“The hardworking, highly skilled men and women at the Latrobe Brewing Company are the best reason for any brewing company to bring their product to Pennsylvania, and I am hopeful that this letter of intent will translate into a contract to purchase the company. I intend to work personally, along with my Governor’s Action Team to ensure that this happens. This is not the final step, but it is a very good step in the right direction.”