Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Carlsberg to Import Faux Micros

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Denmark’s Carlsberg Brewery was founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen. It’s the largest brewery in Denmark by a wide margin, with something like 75% of the market, and is the fifth largest brewer worldwide. Carlsberg beers are sold in over 50 countries. In addition to the flagship Carlsberg brand, they also make Elephant, Tuborg and many others. That makes them the Budweiser of Denmark, in terms of size, market share and dominating business practices.

But craft breweries are slowly gaining a toehold throughout the Denmark with over 40 of them currently in operaion plus around 17 brewpubs sharing 2% of the total market. So last year in response, Carlsberg set up the Jacobsen Brewhouse as a separate entity within the main brewery in Valby. As reported earlier this year, by 2008 Carlsberg will be moving all of its production to its Frederica facility, which now mainly brews Tuborg and a few others, and will close the Valby plant. But the Jacobsen line along with the administrative offices will remain in Valby. The new venture is “located in a building dating from 1878 in the old part of the Carlsberg brewery” and part of the Carlsberg Visitors Centre. Undoubtedly this was done to create positive PR for the brewing giant.

So like Pacific Ridge, Plank Road and Blue Moon before them, Carlsberg is making “specialty beers” under the brand name Jacobsen Brewhouse. To their credit, they make no secret of this fact and proudly display the Carlsberg logo alongside the newer Jacobsen one. The unique shape of the bottle is based on the old lighthouse building at the entrance to the old brewery and no expense appears to have been spared on packaging and marketing, which is one of the dangers of these type of beers, in my opinion. Currently four styles are being made: Bramley Wit, Brown Ale, Saaz Blonde and Original Dark Lager. And so far three seasonals have been made under the name “Jacobsen Limited Edition” with more to follow. The initial seasonals were Chocolate Mint Stout, Golden Christmas Ale and Imperial Barley Wine. And according to the website, they “will also produce four beers from Carlsberg’s successful Semper Ardens series: Criollo Stout, IPA First Gold, Abbey Ale, Winter Rye and Christmas Ale.”

Carlsberg just announced that two of the Jacobsen Brewhouse beers, Saaz Blonde and Bramley Wit, will be imported to England this year, and no doubt America may follow. I’ve never tried any of these beers, so I can’t knock their taste. They may very well be fine, well-made and tasty beers.

Here’s how Carlsberg describes these two beers on the Jacobsen Brewhouse website:

Jacobsen Bramley Wit

Jacobsen Bramley Wit is inspired by the Belgian wheat beer tradition, but with a North European touch in the form of Bramley apples for a flesh, sour flavour and Belle de Boskoop apples for a rounded finish. The Belgian wheat beers use dried orange peel, but we have preferred fresh orange peel for a less bitter impression. Jacobsen Bramley Wit has a light colour, an attractive creamy head and a muted bouquet of cloves and coriander.

 Jacobsen Saaz Blonde

Jacobsen Saaz Blonde is brewed according to Belgian traditions for light, top-fermented beers. “Blonde” is the traditional French word for light-coloured beers, while the distinguished Czech malt Saaz with its character of pine needles gives a rounded, aristocratic flavour. Extract of angelica adds a juniper flavour to complement the fruity taste of the yeast. The colour derives from the Pilsner malt characteristic of the Belgian “blonde” tradition, and from a touch of caramel malt to add a slight sweetness.

But all of this brings up the larger issue of big breweries competing with smaller ones on an uneven playing field. Because not only do they try to compete by imitation but also with their larger resources, bigger marketing budgets and a host of other advantages that make the fight anything but fair.

I have no problem with the big breweries making flavorful beers instead of the same old insipid industrial light lagers that dominate the market worldwide, especially when they disclose who’s making them. I have equally no doubt that the big breweries are technically capable of making flavorful beers.

But the heart of the problem is often that the big breweries are big businesses, very big businesses. And all big businesses share a similar ethos and culture that chant the same mantras. Keep costs (ingredients, labor, etc.) low, manipulate the public through advertising and marketing, grow the business every quarter, and the main one (especially for corporations), keep the share price up no matter what.

So it begs the question why in 2005 did Carlsberg feel the need to create a “specialty line of beer” to compete with a handful of tiny breweries catering to very small segment of the market? Why after almost 150 years of making primarily the same products was this decision made now? According to the propaganda, it was “to give people new taste experiences, and we want to challenge and develop beer culture. It’s about making the most of what nature has to offer.” Uh, huh. Sure it is. But let’s assume brewmaster Jens Eiken, head of the new brewhouse (whose quote that is), really believes that — which indeed he probably does — why now? Why not ten years ago, or 50?

In Carlsberg’s the press release when they initially opened the Jacobsen Brewhouse, Nils S. Andersen, Carlsberg’s President, had the following to say:

“In keeping with Carlsberg’s traditions, this is a full and wholehearted venture. This is not some overgrown microbrewery or an exhibition centre — it’s a state-of-the-art brewery where our brewers’ ideas can be brought to fruition with consistently high standards of quality. After all, this is Carlsberg — which means that we have an obligation to maintain the highest quality even when it comes to specialty products and experiments.

“Naturally the Jacobsen brewhouse can draw on all of our expertise at Carlsberg and on the research results from our laboratories, but Jacobsen is to be its own brewery with both the freedom and a duty to create and produce the best and most exciting specialty products in the world — or at least ‘probably the best’, given that these things are always a matter of taste!”

If you’re a regular reader of the Bulletin, you no doubt already know I view large corporations with a great deal of cynicism. I question their ability to make moral or even fair and honest choices when their legal duty to the shareholders is so strikingly singular. They are bound by legal precedent to do only what is in the best interests of the company, and everything and everyone else be damned. Taken to its logical conclusion, that’s how we ended up with so many Enrons, Adelphias, WorldComs and so on. Institutionalized greed with a legal mandate creates environments that cannot tolerate any competition or any erosion of market share. And last year, many larger breweries began to see their customers abandoning their core brands for craft beer, imports (at least here in the U.S.) and even wine and spirits. So as many countries around the world begin to follow the American model and start their own microbrewery revolutions, the status quo big breweries will react in much the same way as they have here in the U.S.

That’s almost certainly the reason why a multi-national company like Carlsberg, with three-quarters of the market in their home country, would feel threatened by 2% of the beer market shifting to craft brewers. They’re incapable of perspective. It’s not permitted any more than losing even an infinitesimal portion of the market can be tolerated. All of the lofty ideals expressed in their marketing is just propaganda, which is what almost all marketing is in reality. In the early days, pioneers like Edward Bernays called it what it was, propaganda. But Hitler had been very impressed with the U.S. War Department’s Office of Public Information (which was headed by Bernays) and its amazing ability to sway public opinion for war just before and during World War One. In fact, so much so, that he adopted many of the same techniques after seizing power in Germany and as a result the term propaganda took on negative connotations and was superseded by the less tainted “Public Relations,” of which marketing is just one part. But as they say, “a rose by any other name …”

So it’s hard not to view the world’s fifth largest brewer waltzing down the same garden path as A-B, SABMiller and Molson Coors (2nd, 3rd and 6th largest, respectively) with anything but suspicion. The beer may, indeed, be good. It may use no adjuncts and be quite delicious. And, if so, I would not hesitate to drink it or support it as I might any well-made craft beer. By the real underlying reasons for making the beer, propaganda aside, are to maintain control and domination of the market and I believe these Goliaths will try to crush every one of their David-like competitors however they can. They may appear to hold out the olive branch of cooperation, tolerance and even support but look behind their back and in the other hand is very large hammer. The only uncertainty is when the hammer will fall.

The Jacobsen Brewhouse at the Carlsberg Visitors Centre in Valby, Denmark.

Miller Expands Import Selection in U.S.

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SABMiller announced yesterday their intention to bring four of the beer brands they own worldwide into the United States, presumably to bolster sagging sales of their core brands. Beginning next year, “Colombia’s Águila, two Peruvian brands, Cristal and Cusqueña, and Polish brew Tyskie will join SABMiller’s global brand Pilsner Urquell and Peroni on US shelves.”

All four will be sold in the New York market, whereas Tyskie will also be sold in the Chicago area and the three Latin American beers will also be in the Florida market.

According to Just Drinks, “SABMiller’s stable of US beers has struggled domestically. For the three months to the end of June, domestic sales to retailers fell 2.4%. Miller Lite brand volumes were level in the period.”

 

Miller’s press release has the following information about the four brands:

Águila is Colombia’s No. 1 brand with a 56 percent market share. It is a cultural icon, dominating the Colombian social and sports landscape. With nearly 2 million expatriate Colombians living in the US, there is a sizable market to pursue

Brewed since 1922, Cristal is Peru’s No. 1 selling beer with 52 percent share, combining a light-bodied profile with strong Andean imagery. It has been the No. 1 US import from South America for the last seven years, primarily appealing to the approximately one million Peruvian consumers in the US

Cusqueña – or “Gold of the Incas” – is the premium beer of Peru, and originates from Cuzco, the seat of the Inca empire

Tyskie, currently celebrating its 377th anniversary, is the No 1. brand in Poland, Central Europe’s leading beer growth market. The brand is rich in heritage from its origins near the beautiful city of Krakow and has since been elevated to national prominence, appealing to discerning consumers as the finest Polish beer with a full, satisfying taste

Anheuser-Busch Investing in india

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Anheuser-Busch is reportedly planning to spend about a billion Rupees ($12.4 million) to buy a 50% ownership interest in Crown Breweries, centrally located near Hyderabad, India. By early 2007, Budweiser and perhaps another local high gravity beer should be flowing from the new venture, which has yet to be finalized. This will be A-B’s first foray directly into the Indian market, which is only beginning to see growth, at a rate of only 7-10% per annum.

United Breweries, which also owns Mendocino Brewing in Ukiah, California, owns about half of the Indian market with its Kingfisher beer. SABMiller controls another third of the market with several brands it controls.

Jesus Was a Homebrewer

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jesus-drinks-beer
Many people think that Jesus may have been a homebrewer. I have heard that when the Greeks first translated the bible from ancient Hebrew, that they lacked a word for beer and thus substituted the Greek word for wine in its place, perhaps thinking what difference would it make, an alcoholic drink is an alcoholic drink. I’m not sure this is directly on point, but the article Beer, Barley and [Hebrew symbols] in the Hebrew Bible certainly shows that this would have been quite possible and that there is some confusion about translations of this type for centuries.

So when Jesus turned the water into wine (in the Gospel of John 2:1-11), perhaps he was simply a homebrewer and making beer for the wedding party. It certainly seems more plausible to take vats of water and make beer out them than magically turn one liquid into a completely different one. It’s my understanding that the priests of the day would have been the ones who possessed the knowledge of how to make ancient beer so it follows that Jesus would have known this ancient art, as well. That’s probably why Jamie Floyd’s new Ninkasi Brewing in Eugene, Oregon has “Jesus Was a Homebrewer” printed on the back of his brewery t-shirts. And no less a beer luminary than Michael Jackson has also ruminated on this subject.

But while I’m very open to this possibility and believe it makes far more sense than the conventional story, I gather that many people of a more religious bearing than myself do not look upon this debate with anything but contempt. My understanding of fundamentalism is that many adherents refuse to entertain the idea that mistranslations may have occurred because they believe the translators themselves were divinely inspired and somehow led by the hand of god in their work. Whatever your own take on this theory, it follows that religion and beer are generally not fast friends, notwithstanding many christians do enjoy a pint from time to time. So I was mildly amused when I saw the new ad campaign for this year’s holiday season by the Churches Advertising Network (or CAN), an English group whose mission, in their own words, is to be “an independent, ecumenical group of Christian communicators which exists to provide high quality national Christian advertising campaigns, especially around major festivals, and to provide the means for local churches to share in and receive the benefit of such national campaigns.”

Apparently each year, CAN creates an ad campaign around Christmas to try to bring people back into the fold. “Previous CAN campaigns include a poster depicting Jesus as the revolutionary leader Che Guevara and one suggesting Mary was having a “bad hair day” when she discovered she was pregnant.”

This year’s campaign features a pint glass with the image of Jesus in the Brussels lace stuck to the side of the empty glass and a MySpace.com website for Jesus. CAN chairman Francis Goodwin said he hoped the poster and accompanying radio adverts would spark a debate about religion.

“The message is subtle but simple – where is God in all the boozing at Christmas?” said Goodwin.

“For many, Christmas is just drinking and partying and God is excluded, yet many young people are interested in finding deeper meaning and exploring faith.”

The poster is a nod to the occasional discoveries of holy images in everyday objects, from the face of Jesus in a frying pan, toast or fish finger, his mother Mary on a toasted cheese sandwich and even Mother Teresa in a sticky bun.

jesus-beer-poster

According to the group’s literature, here is their take on this image:

This year’s poster picks up on the current media preoccupation with finding images of Jesus in everything from egg yolks to currant buns. Next to an empty beer glass in which a face can be seen are the words “Where will you find him?” and pointing to the web address myspace.com/isthisjesus.

The poster aims to provoke thought and debate about where and how people find God. The myspace.com webspace will include a link to the rejesus website, which has creative features and reliable information on the Christian faith. Rejesus is supported by all the mainstream UK churches.

So why the image of an empty beer glass? Francis Goodwin, Chair of the Churches Advertising Network (CAN) says: “The message is subtle, but simple: where is God in all the boozing at Christmas? For many, Christmas is about drinking and partying, and God is excluded. Yet many young people are interested in finding deeper meaning and exploring faith. We hope the link to myspace.com will offer a fresh venue for them to discuss their feelings and debate the issues.”

Richard Johnston and Mark Gilmore, who produced the poster at Radioville, the ad agency for the campaign, say…

“We took the traditional silly-season news story in which people find images of Jesus in the side of trees, in a slice of toast or even within the bubbles of cheese on a pizza, and developed a number of new images showing Jesus’ face in unexpected places. Because of the season, CAN chose the beerglass route, where Jesus’ face is captured in the froth running down the side of an empty pint glass. The responses expected on myspace.com when the campaign launches should be quite illuminating.”

Yes, they should be quite “illuminating.” It will quite interesting to see what people say about this. I can’t imagine many American fanatics being very happy about this since so many neo-prohibitionists are also highly religious. One bit of unintentional humor is that when you visit the MySpace page, Jesus has “0” friends. Jesus has no friends? I’m sure that will change shortly, but for now I feel kinda bad for him. Perhaps I should buy him a beer.

Tastes Great, Less Gesundheit

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Add hay fever to the growing list of maladies that can be helped by the moderate drinking of beer. A new preliminary study released today by Tadao Enomoto at the Japanese Red Cross Society’s medical center in Japan’s Wakayama Prefecture appears to show marked relief in alleviating sneezing and running noses for hay fever sufferers from a flavonol compound in hops. They study’s full findings will be presented next month to the Palynological Society of Japan.

Japanese brewer Sapporo, who co-sponsored the research, has filed for a patent on the process of extracting the hay fever-fighting flavonol, which involves pulverizing the hops and then soaking them in water. By next spring — before the next hay fever season — Sapporo plans to release a new beer containing the isolated hop flavonol that combats hay fever.

EU to Increase Beer Tax

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Beer taxes have rarely been doled out fairly. They’ve been used to support war efforts such as the very first beer tax in America, which was leveled to help pay for our Civil War in the 1860s. And while most brewers didn’t mind supporting their country, the fact that other industries were not asked to similarly help out was what led to the first U.S. trade association among brewers. Then there’s the so-called “sin tax” on many luxury goods deemed to be either bad for you or having some moral questionability — at least to the more pious elements of society.

So in a way it comes as no suprise that the European Union announced a 31% increase on the duty for beer and spirits. Proponents say it will add only about one Euro cent to the price of a beer (half-litre size). Critics say it will hurt small breweries. If passed by the 25 member states (it needs to be unanimous) it likely wouldn’t go into effect until 2008 or even 2010, with grace periods.

Some interesting facts about Europe’s beer industry from a Reuter’s report:

Europe’s brewing industry employs 2.6 million people directly or indirectly in 3,000 breweries. Over a third of the breweries are in Germany, where they already face a 3 percent rise in value-added sales tax (VAT) from next year.

But here’s the kicker. There’s no duty whatsoever on wine, because the industry has such enormous political influence. Yeah, that seems fair, doesn’t it?

Grupo Modelo to Distribute Tsingtao in Mexico

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Grupo Modelo, the Mexican brewer who is most famous for making Corona, announced late last week that by the end of the year they will distribute the Chinese beer Tsingtao exclusively throughout Mexico.

Curiously, Anheuser-Busch, who owns half of Modelo (though I understand it’s non-voting stock) also has a 27% stake in the Tsingtao Brewery. With a 13% share of the Chinese beer market, they are the largest brewery there among something like 400 breweries. Yanjing Beer is second and CRE Beer is number three. Less than a decade ago there were over 800 Chinese companies brewing beer, but increasing consolidation has led to the top ten breweries now accounting for 53% of the market vs. 22% in 1996.

The modern beer industry in China began in the 1950s when new facilities were built in most major cities throughout the country. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that true growth started and — due at least in part to its vast population — by 2002 China became the world’s largest beer producer, displacing us at the top spot. The beer industry itself is similar to our own 50-to-100 years ago, with most being regional or local, with few national brands. Partly that’s due to China’s size and partly to its economic system at the time. With changes to the Chinese economy, more nationally recognizable brands are having a greater impact today much in the same way things progressed in the U.S. after World War II, though things are definitely moving more quickly.

Part of that growth is fueled by the the influx of large western beer companies, who began investing in China’s beer market beginning in the 1980s. After several missteps, a second wave of investors started in the early part of this decade and so far has been more successful. Instead of importing unfamiliar brands into China, western breweries are instead buying minority shares in existing local and regional breweries already established there. In the last few years breweries such as Anheuser-Busch, Carlsberg, Heineken, InBev and SABMiller have all made investments in Chinese beer.

Previously the market had been price-driven but a growing economy is leading to greater demand for premium brands, much like what the U.S. is experiencing right now, as well.

Tsingtao was founded in 1903 by German settlers in Qingdao and first began importing its beer to the United States in 1972. In 1996 there were four Tsingtao breweries, but today they operate 48 in China. Tsingtao beer is now sold in more than 50 countries worldwide.

Grupo Modelo, whose headquarters are in Mexico City, exports brands including Corona products, Estrella, Leon Negra, Modelo Especial, Pacifico, Negra Modelo and other beer brands to 150 countries. It is also the exclusive importer and distributor of Anheuser-Busch’s products in Mexico.

Melting Ice Cap Beer

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I’m not sure if I should celebrate this or run screaming through the night as yet another unmistakable sign of global warming, but Greenland Brewhouse is making two beers using ice water from melting ice caps in Greenland. The water is at least 2,000 years old. I think when they claim it’s in the water, we can probably believe them. There is more interesting information in an AP article on the story.

Currently the brewery makes only a pale ale and brown ale, with plans for a Christmas beer later this year. The beer is sold now only in Denmark but the brewery says importers in Germany and America have shown interest in carrying the beer.

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.

Miller Strike Looming

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According to UPI, the Teamsters are warning distributors of Miller beer throughout Milwaukee, Chicago, New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Minneapolis that a strike is imminent. Apparently healthcare benefits are the sticking point in negotiations between the union — who represents more than 1,400 employees of the brewery — and SABMiller, Miller’s parent company.

Miller’s union workers voted to authorize a strike back in the third week of June. The Teamsters press release today discusses possible strategies for this potential strike and yesterday they warned that SBMiller was risking US Market share by ignoring healthcare concerns of union workers.