Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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New Zealand Developing Hybrid Hops

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HortResearch of New Zealand is working to develop a hybrid hop that, according to hop breeder Ron Beatson, is not just another ‘High Alpha’ hop, which is where most global hop development has previously been focused. Instead Dr. Beatson is “taking the established New Zealand hybrids and crossing them with the traditional European aroma varieties, the latter of which have been used in brewing for well over 100 years. The result is a hybrid plant well adapted to New Zealand growing conditions that produces hops with unique flavour profiles perfectly suited to brewing ‘craft’ beers.” Many such aroma hybrids have now been produced.

“The idea was that fewer hops could be used to achieve the same bitter taste, making brewing more cost efficient. But consumers are now demanding more flavour in their beer and are prepared to pay a premium for that, so high aroma hops are back in vogue.”

Armed with funding from the grower-based industry body New Zealand Hops Ltd and the Foundation for Research Science and Technology, as well as support from New Zealand’s major brewing companies Lion Breweries Ltd and DB Breweries Ltd, HortResearch is now further developing its plant-breeding strategies.

An example of the novel flavours possible from such breeding is the HortResearch-bred Nelson Sauvin variety, which imparts distinct grape flavours to beer.

Most organic hops used today come from New Zealand because the country “is free from many of the pests and diseases which plague hop crops around the world, and this, combined with [their] clean, green image and innovative hop varieties make us an attractive option for brewing companies looking to source high-quality raw materials for brewing.”

Brewers are also seeking to explore further potential health benefits beer may offer consumers. Hops contain a number of unique polyphenols which have been associated with potential antioxidant benefits for humans. Clinical trials in the US and Europe are currently examining their effect on mitigating challenges to human health such as cancer, arteriosclerosis, bone deterioration, obesity, and diabetes to name a few.

At present many of these beneficial compounds are not harnessed in sufficient quantities by traditional brewing methods. Dr Beatson says the industry is now seeking ways to include greater levels of polyphenols in beer, and HortResearch is seeking to breed hops with increased polyphenol content.

Bitburger M.I.A.

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After the public backlash in Germany over Anhesuer-Busch’s being named the beer sponsor for the World Cup games, A-B eventually bowed to public pressure and worked out a compromise that was supposed to insure that a German beer would also be available at all games. The brand chosen was Bitburger, whose Bit brandname had been deemed too close to Bud so that A-B was told they couldn’t use that name in their advertising. Instead they would have to use Anheuser-Busch Bud, which doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. So a compromise was worked out. Bitburger could be sold at all World Cup games and A-B could advertise their product as simply “Bud.”

One little hitch, though, is that A-B appears to have reneged on its part of the deal. According to George Parker on AdHurl:

Interesting bit in this weeks Der Spiegel exposing the great Anheuser-Busch beer sham. Apparently in an attempt to placate the Germans, the company agreed to allow German beer to be sold alongside its Bud. But once the fans were inside the stadium… No Bitburger – The reporter was forced to drink Bud… With dreadful consequences. Seems like an incredibly bad piece of PR on the part of Anheuser-Busch. Unless some genius there thought “Oh, once they taste it, they’ll love it.” Listen Busch VI or VIII or whatever, I wouldn’t drink Bud in the US, and I certainly wouldn’t go to Germany to drink it. Dumb arrogant move!

He’s referring to a report in Der Spiegel by Marc Young:

I can now expose the great Anheuser-Busch beer sham. The US brewer bought the sole rights to sell beer in World Cup stadiums before Germany even knew it would host this summer’s tournament. But in an attempt to head off a nasty public backlash, the company cleverly agreed to allow German beer to be sold alongside its Budweiser. This was good PR, but I can report that there appeared to be no Bitburger — the German brewer Anheuser-Busch cut a deal with — to be had anywhere in the stadium. Maybe Bitburger got one stand outside near the security checks or something. But all I could find was Bud on tap.

That’s what you call a perfect strategic move to get what you want and screw everybody else. You placate everybody and difuse a potentially disasterous PR situation. Then you don’t deliver on your part of the bargain and by the time anyone figures out they’ve been had it’s too late to do anything about it. So the ads and signs all read “Bud” instead of “Anheuser-Busch Bud” but there’s still no German beer you can buy. Even if Marc Young missed it somehow, it still shows how difficult they made it even for someone making a particular point of trying to find Bitburger. And once you’re in the stadium there’s not really anything you can do except be pissed off. You can either drink Bud or nothing. A-B sure is showing the Germans — and every other nation represented at the World Cup — where the “ugly” in “ugly American” comes from. Nice job spreading goodwill. Because this isn’t just a black eye for an American corporation, it’s a black eye for America as a whole. Like it or not, America’s corporate image abroad is all most people see of us and so this skewed image of America as a whole is formed at least in part by those interactions with our corporations. When they act like … well, like corporations, they color people’s impressions of you and me, too.

SABMiller Reports Drop in Profits, Rise in Earnings

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The Associated Press (AP) indicated today that “SABMiller reported a 5.3 percent drop in full-year profits.” Though confusingly, only a 4% drop in pre-tax profits is listed in the press release from SABMiller. The decline is blamed primarily on Miller’s price wars with A-B and Coors.

Reuters take on this story, in contrast, was that “SABMiller posted an 8 percent rise in annual earnings.” It’s interesting to see how the same story is framed by two different mainstream news services.

Spülwasser

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According to an article on today’s online version of the Nation, Germans call Budweiser “Spülwasser,” which translates roughly as dishwater and that seems a fair approximation of the flavor. The article concerns Anheuser-Busch’s being the exclusive beer sponsor for the upcoming World Cup in Germany.

The 2006 World Cup will have eighteen premium sponsors who each paid around $40 million for that designation. A German television station nicely summed up the German reaction at the time of the announcement last year when they said. “A cry went out across the nation.” A-B apparently relented and allowed 30% of beer sales to come from German brewer Bitburger. But then Bitburger protested that the name “Bud” was too close to their “Bit” beer and as a result (along with issues regarding Czech brewer Budvar) Anheuser-Busch will only be able to call their beer “Anheuser-Busch Bud” throughout the tournament, which means for all that money they won’t even be able to use their most popular brandname.

I thought the Nation author’s conclusion hilarious. Here it is:

So Anheuser-Busch has paid all that money for a monopoly that has taken away its name and could trigger a demonstration or even rioting by furious spectators faced with no choice but to go dry or drink dishwater.

On top of that, with the start of the quadrennial soccer tourament only weeks away, the protest is not going away. A new group has just put up an amusing website called Bud Out. The group’s apparent mission appears to be simply to get Budweiser out of the tournamanet completely. I know they can’t possibly win, but I love the idea of them trying. They are asking for people to post their own anti-Bud pictures. So far, there aren’t too many up yet but what is there so far is pretty funny.

Let the games begin.