BeerAdvocate Server Upgrade!

I might suppose that many visitors to this site are also fans of BeerAdvocate. Great news from Friday that they got their server upgraded! To the layperson, this means that the computer that controls their web site has been changed to a more powerful machine. In practical terms, last week it was hit-or-miss most of the time when you would try to visit any page. Often googling was a more direct and efficient link into the site. But now, it practically brings up the page before you click "Search". Just awesome how a hardware upgrade can make the experience so much more fluid.

BrainardBrewing.com

If you like this blog, you might also like my main blog at BrainardBrewing.com. It is updated a lot more often - every week day, and some weekend days - and it has really useful content. If you are reading this, then it is very likely that you'll find something interesting over there.

Top Beers For The Past Twelve Weeks

I get emails periodically from "Brew Blog", which is this thing put out by Miller, and which I've made fun of in the past. But it seems with today's entry, that they're starting to get it a little bit. OK, well they're still trying to downplay the importance and significance of craft beer in the marketplace, with their focus on fragmentation in that segment of the industry. But they are noticing the great performance of that segment at the same time.

The thing that I wanted to comment on is their top ten list at the end of the article. These are the "top ten craft beers by velocity for the twelve weeks ending November tenth", which I take to mean that they have either sold the most or grown the most. But the thing is I don't really know what most of them are. In fact, I did some cursory research on the "Punk’n Harvest Pumpkin Ale" and I guess they mean Punk'n Ale from Four +, but it's hard to say. Hmmm...now I wonder how many in this list are of the "macro in craft's clothing" category, a la Blue Moon...

I have heard of New Glarus, and I know they're resepcted. Great Lakes Christmas Ale looks like it checks out. Capital Garten Brau is a little suspect - maybe it is from Capital Brewery in Middleton, WI? I can find info on a Tuckerman Headwall Alt... and it doesn't look that amazing... Anderson Valley makes a Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema (Cream Ale), which I guess is what they mean... Abita is well known. I guess they mean Squatters Captain Bastard's Oatmeal Stout - maybe they just didn't want to include the word Bastard in their blog? Wow, Great Lakes again - they must be growing their distribution network! Maybe I can get them here in CT!! And Acme I can get here, and I like a lot of their stuff (but I never had the Pale Ale, and it doesn't sound tempting).

So most of the list checks out, but some of the entries are hard to identify, and some are not really that highly regarded in the beer review community of BeerAdvocate (which is normally a pretty good barometer for quality).

Widmer and Redhook Unite...yawn

Unless you don't read any other beer news outlets, you already know that Widmer and Redhook are teaming up to become the third largest craft brewer, and break into the top ten overall, with about 600,000 bbl annual production. All I have to say is "yawn".

The only Widmer I've had is the hefeweizen, which was fine, but not really spectacularly memorable. Based on their ads, I thought they were less micro and more macro, sort of like a Blue Moon, or even whatever Micheolb calls their beers in different styles. And while Widmer is owned by Anheuser-Busch, they apparently maintain some craft cred overall.

Back in the day, like mid-90's, Red Hook was cool. They were one of a few, and I got a lot out of them in those days. To me, they sort of remained in my past, and perhaps I now take them for granted. To me they are just unexciting and verging on mild. I group them with Harpoon, Sam Adams, Otter Creek, etc. I would drink them if offered them, but for the most part, I am not likely to buy them. Although at least Otter Creek has their big beer series, which is commendable.

In fact, today at the local liquor store (not any sort of special beer store, but above average), I was going to buy a Sam Adams Winter Ale just to try it again. I found Sam Adams to be $8.29 for any style. Then I noticed Dogfish Head was $7.99. I just could not resist my first six pack of Indian Brown Ale at 7.2% ABV for less than a plain ol' Sam Adams Winter. What ever happened to economy of scale? Shouldn't Sam Adams' beer, which is made probably at tenfold the volumes of DFH, be at least the same price? And I always felt DFH had a reputation as being overpriced.

So what are we to do when two "boring" micros merge? Nothing. This is really about the same as Miller and Coors joining forces. It just seems somehow pointless. Consolidation helps them run their businesses at a better profit margin perhaps, and could widen their customer bases. But it is a fact in this country today that people like new beers that taste exceptional. Until Widmer-Redhook do something new and interesting in the product department, it won't make a difference.

Miller Brews Sam Adams?!

Well that explains a few things!!

I just learned that Miller has been contract brewing Sam Adams for Boston Beer Co. for a while I guess, and it is apparently going to keep on going.

I distinctly remember drinking a Sam Adams earlier this year for the first time in a while, and feeling like it somehow lacked a bit of what I remember in Sam Adams. Notably, it was somehow more harsh in the hops department then what I had remembered. I figured it was just because I was now used to American IPAs, made with citrusy American hops, and Sam Adams is famously brewed with European Noble Hops.

But maybe, just maybe, it is something about the process at Miller that makes beer worse, no matter what the recipe. OK that was mean. But still they could ferment the stuff differently or something such that the beer is a little less smooth and rounded than it used to be. Especially since all the other Miller brands don't really need to be fermented in such a way as to mellow a hops edge.

But of course, above all, I still love the way that Sam Adams has introduced millions of consumers to higher quality beer. In fact, I am one of those whose first good beer was a Sam Adams. So as long as they continue to convert Bud Miller Coors drinkers into craft beer drinkers, let them brew wherever they want.

Increasing Cost of Goods

It is no secret in the brewing world that the cost of malted barley and hops are going up. Some brewers can't even get enough hops to make their beers. Other brewers are OK for now, but can feel the impending pressure for their raw materials.

Barley is going up because of many global market conditions. Partly, it is corn being used for ethanol that is increasing the need for feed grains, which barley can be used for. Partly, it is the weak US dollar making it attractive for foreign brewers to buy American grains. And partly, it is a low crop yield for barley caused by weather problems (perhaps from global climate change).

Hops are having similar weather problems, but more to the point is the upsurge in hops demand these days. For a while there were a lot of extra hops at the end of each season, so the hop growers grew less to maximize their efficiency of operations. But now everyone is really into hops, and the hop growers need to rebuild their crop sizes. This could take a while.

Now more than ever, your local brewery needs your support. All craft beer in general needs your support (everyone knows that Bud Miller Coors use less barley and hops than craft brewers). So if you notice the price of your favorite craft beer going up a bit, it is because the beer is more expensive to make.

Sam Adams, You're OK

So Sam Adams wants to make good with the folks in Oregon.

They made half an apology. They're sorry they didn't research more to make sure the Sam Adams registering a web site was valid. OK. But they aren't sorry they'll let the guy use it for only the election season. Sure, after that time, the subject will have died down, but at least act like you'll let the dude use it forever. After all, it is his name.

Anyway...all's well that ends well. Let www.samadamsgov.com or whatever live on. Boston Beer Co. stop being so paranoid. Everyone already knows who you are. Any other sucker trying to pretend they're you will lose. You don't need to defend your turf like you're a crack dealer.

Beer Track Voters?

I just learned of such a thing as "beer track" and "wine track" voters. Apparently politicians view "wine track" voters as rich educated people who think about larger things like global policies, while "beer track" voters are poor people who only care about how they can pay their bills.

I bristle heavily regarding this differentiation. This over-simplification is just another part of the seeming mass conspiracy to keep beer a Budweiser thing. I know I should just let it go, but I have to let it out first. There's plenty of crappy wine that comes in boxes, and is really on par with Bud Miller Coors. There's plenty of great beer that comes in elegant bottles, and is really on par with fine wines. There are plenty of wine drinkers who booze away each day from their low rent living that don't care about global politics. There are plenty of beer drinkers who thoughtfully follow the news and are committed to making a real difference in this world.

This reminds me of the whole "NASCAR Dads" thing from last time around. I am a NASCAR fan, but a Democrat. Their whole "NASCAR Dads" thing just didn't fit me at all. But this is more of a topic for one of my other blogs: A Liberal Perspective.

Will The Real Sam Adams Please Stand Up?

Apparently there's a politician named Sam Adams running for Mayor in Portland Oregon (or some office in some town of some state - the specifics aren't that important.)

So these radio guys register a couple of domains, samadamsformayor.com and mayorsamadams.com (or something like that, point is they contain "samadams".) Then the Boston Beer Company (that's really the name of Sam Adams' company) lawyers send an angry letter to the radio guys saying "you can't use that name, it's our name."

Wah. Sorry, Boston Beer Co., it is actually that guy's name. You can't stop him from using his name. In fact, he could probably stop you from using his name if you want to play like that. Once Boston Beer's lawyers found out that Sam Adams is a real guy actually running for Mayor, they will now consider if it is okay with them for him to use those web sites for the duration of the election season. That's bull. There's no way you can reasonably prevent a person from using a web site that has their name in it.

If my name was Michael Jordan, even if I wasn't a basketball player, if the site wasn't already registered, I should be allowed to take something like www.michaeljordanbasketball.com, or anything else I felt like. Then I could sell it to the real MJ if it was such a problem.

Now Sam Adams is not my favorite beer - not by a long shot - but it is still better than whatever else gets 95% of the sales in this country. But this kind of thing makes them seem a lot more like a Bud Miller Coors than what we like to think of as a craft brewer. On the other hand it is publicity. But then again it is highly negative publicity from a place that is really hip to great beer.

Boston Beer Company, please just back off and be reasonable about this. Some real guy named Sam Adams running for mayor is not competing with you.

Craft Beer Segment is ON FIRE!

Craft Beer Segment Continues to Set the Pace for the Beer Category with Double-Digit Growth

The Brewers Association recently announced the mid-year stats for craft beer (that's industry jargon for good stuff). Craft beer is on a rampage of growth that is way outpacing the rest of the industry. This was the first quarter where we had over 5% volume of the massive beer market by dollars.

These types of figures astound me. I mean by these numbers, there must be at least 20 guys that always buy Bud-Miller-Coors (or is it now Bud-MillerCoors?) for every one of me who never buys it. But the thing is that I hardly know anyone who buys that stuff. So that means for me and my five friends who never by the stuff, there's 100 BMC chuggers. Wow - that is scary to me.

Miller and Coors Hookup

I have just realized that I should be talking about beer news here on my beer blog, too.

The biggest news that I can think of right now is the Miller-Coors joint venture in the US. Now it isn't clear to me exactly in what ways they'll be pairing up, but they're supposed to save $500M per year by combining. I expect they'll still keep their flagship brands of each company. Maybe they will join forces to try to make higher-flavor beer. But they have been calling it a move against A-B. But yet combined, they're still maybe half the market share of our old Buddy Weiser, and their partners Busch et. al.

It seems to me that unless they are changing something about the products they make, this joint venture will just have a temporary cost savings that will probably be used up wastefully in some other area. This waste theory is just based on work I've done in the software inudstry for large companies. Let's just say that they're not normally the most efficient places to get something done.

I, for one, am happy about a joint venture between these guys. I think it weakens the mass-market beer segment, which leaves additional room for craft beer. I wonder what Coors fans who are Miller haters (and vice versa) will do now? Maybe try a nice locally produced Kölsch or Pilsner style beer?

BrainardBrewing.com Almost Ready!

I have been working on www.BrainardBrewing.com and it is almost ready!!!!

Soon this blog will be moved mostly to that site. I may still continue some aspects of it here, but I think that for the most part, I will write about my beery adventures on the main site!

Check it out! It is awesome!

Keith

Beer Activist

I am so happy right now. I just read on Beer Activist that I provided him with the info he was looking for! I read his blog on a RSS feed I get through Google, and I saw him asking about info related to the drinking age law debate that is in the news lately. I was lucky enough to have the info, and I sent it to him, and he linked to me!!! That is officially the first link to my blog that I know of!!! I could hardly be happier!!! Thanks Chris!!!