May 2, 2013
“It’s like ra-a-ain…during the first quarter of your fiscal year…”
There are two things in this world that I truly love: the macro-swill behemoth Anheuser-Busch InBev and dry, dissembling quarterly reports. So obviously I giddily await Bud’s earnings reports every year like an awkward, weird Delta Gamma awaits a Sig Nu mixer. When those reports drop, it’s like Christmas four times a year for me!
*Only instead of presents, I get reams of pages of corporate double-speak.
With the Q1 reports in, AB InBev is continuing their years-long trend of getting their dicks handed to them. As craft beer grows by double-digits year after year, Big Beer’s stranglehold on the industry is dwindling. Fortunately, AB InBev has soothed their investors worries by pointing out the extraordinary circumstances that have occurred over the past few months which have caused the dip in sales. Here are actual quotes* from AB InBev CEO Carlos Brito explaining why consumers are drinking less Bud than ever:
*Note: Not actual quotes.
Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | 
Beer Industry | Tagged: Anheuser-Busch, Earnings Reports, InBev, Market Share, Q1 | 
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Posted by Barley McHops
April 23, 2013
I’m usually not a big “Beer Fest” guy. While the chance to taste rare beers and rub elbows with brewery personnel always sound enticing, in practice the typical Beer Fest experience often doesn’t live up to the hype, for reasons we’ve laid out before. Given the choice, I’ll take a bottle-sharing session and conversation with good friends, or a trip to my favorite pub, over the bustle and stress of the typical festival. However, there was nowhere in the beer-consuming universe I would rather have been on Saturday than Release the Firkins, Pittsburgh’s first cask ale festival that kicked off the city’s second annual beer week.
THE BEER
The beer was uniformly excellent. One strength of the cask festival concept is that even familiar beers become new experiences when served from a firkin in the proper manner. I’ve had Bell’s Two Hearted Ale hundreds of times, perhaps thousands; on Saturday I got to taste as it does essentially straight from the fermenter. Another advantage compared to kegs is that breweries can use the vessels as randalls, dry-hopping or adding other ingredients right in the cask, making each firkin a potential one-off. Sure, you’ve had Founder’s Centennial, but the classic IPA served fresh off a double-dry hop is a different animal altogether. You’ve had Weyerbacher Merry Monks Trippel, but what about “Mojito-style” served on lime and mint? Some of the experimentation worked better than others, but it was all interesting and made every tap worth trying.
For me, unsurprisingly, the hoppy beers were the star of the show. I’ve stated my love for Fat Head’s Head Hunter at length, but as the brewery continues an expansion process, it can be difficult to find at the height of freshness around town. The Simcoe double-dry-hopped version at RtF was a perfect distillation of the complexity of this fruity, piney hop- with just a touch of that distinctive cat pee zest people love or hate. I love it, and along with many others returned multiple times to the busy Fat Head’s tap.
If hops aren’t your thing, there were options to suit every taste. The first cask upon entering the festival hall was New Holland’s Dragon’s Milk, which was extremely popular. I heard multiple festival-goers state they’d “never tried anything like it”. I love to witness craft beer conversions, and the New Holland table was a force for evangelism on Saturday. Other highlights from the darker side of the malty spectrum included Flying Dog’s Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout dry-hopped with CTZ and East End’s Chocolate Covered Cherry Stout. Smoked beer lovers had Fat Head’s Up in Smoke, and Pittsburgh’s own Arsenal brought a Centennial Hopped Cider that was absolutely delicious, and their Picket Bone Dry Cider that served as a nice palate-cleanser to the barrage of flavorful cask ales.
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5 Comments | Beer Culture, Beer Festivals, Beer Industry | Tagged: Cask ale, Firkin, Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week, Release the Firkins | Permalink
Posted by Slouch Sixpack
April 8, 2013
Envision a store that treats beer like what it is- a perishable item that must be consumed at its peak of freshness, no different than produce, meat, or dairy products (minus the food-borne illness risks). Every item for sale in this store requires the producer to display the packaged-on date.
Just like at the grocery store, the most age-sensitive products are kept in coolers around the periphery- in this case the Pales Ales, IPA’s, and other beers that rely on fragile hop oils for flavor and aroma. No more breweries jockeying for sovereign shelf real estate through schwag and more nefarious means- these beers are grouped in coolers by packaged date: <30 days, <60 days, <90 days. Beyond 90 days these beers are relegated to a separate section of the store, where customers pay the discounted rates due of products past their best.
In the center of the store sit the beers that age with a little more dignity- the malty Stouts, Scotch Ales, styles of the Belgian persuasion. These too, on a more case-by-case basis, are sent to the discount shelf when the time is right. This decision is made by the proprietor, who cares about freshness as much as his most ardent consumer, and who instills this belief in his educated staff. Read the rest of this entry »
12 Comments | Beer Culture, Beer Industry | Tagged: Beer Store, Fresh Beer | Permalink
Posted by Slouch Sixpack
March 20, 2013
Late last year, the Brewers Association issued a press release attempting to define what constituted “craft” beer. They juxtaposed “true” craft beers against those they consider “crafty”…a delightfully Colbertian turn-of-phrase that implies a craft beer in macro clothing (see Big Beer, Big Lies).
This press release unleashed a cavalcade of angry responses (some reasonable, some just your typical internet vitriol). And while it’s probably just a tempest in a teapot to most folks, for beer enthusiasts, the question of “What is Craft?” is actually vitally important.*
*While we don’t necessarily agree on the topic, one of my favorite angry responses was from Alehead fave, Beerbecue. If you haven’t checked out his beer blog, do so, he’s got a good one.
John Cochran, brewmaster at the Terrapin Beer Company in Athens, GA had one of the most sober and intelligent responses to the Brewers Association’s missive. It’s important to note that Cochran is a highly respected brewer who sold a minority stake of his company to Tenth and Blake, MillerCoors’ American craft beer wing. So it can’t be said that he’s unbiased, but to his credit, he makes that explicitly clear at the beginning of his response.
I found myself thinking more and more about the BA’s press release and responses like Mr. Cochran’s over the past few months. I’ve had friends and relatives ask me about Budweiser’s Platinum and Black Crown offerings as well as Big Beer’s more duplicitous attempts to make inroads into the craft marketplace with products like Coors’ Third Shift or Anheuser-Busch’s Rascal’s Wild Red. Read the rest of this entry »
13 Comments | Beer Industry, Beer Marketing | Tagged: Brewers Association, Craft Beer, Crafty | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
March 19, 2013
It has become increasingly popular in recent years to predict a slowdown or even a collapse of the American craft beer industry as it continues to swell to unprecedented levels. Every once in a while we hear from armchair economists warning that a “craft beer bubble” is rapidly approaching. This may still be the case, but as the newly released craft beer statistics for 2012 show, it’s certainly not happening just yet.
The numbers released by the Brewers Association on Monday exceeded pretty much all expectations. Craft beer continues to explode in its growth, and is beginning to capture a chunk of the overall market that is impossible for larger brewers to ignore. Most notably, the craft brewing industry cracked the 10 percent barrier in total dollar share of the beer market for the first time, posting numbers that have expanded exponentially each year.
Here’s a breakdown of all the statistics released.
* Craft beer was up 15 percent by volume in 2012, and up 17 percent industry-wide in dollar growth.
* Total barrels of craft beer produced increased from 11.5 million to 13.2 million, a production increase of 13 percent.
* Craft beer market share in terms of volume increased from 5.7 percent in 2011 to 6.5 percent in 2012. Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | Beer Industry | Tagged: Beer Industry, beer statistics, Brewers Association, Craft Beer Industry | Permalink
Posted by Kid Carboy Jr.
March 12, 2013
As Slouch noted a few weeks back, one of the critical issues facing Aleheads today is beer freshness. My local package/grocery stores have Founders Red’s Rye IPA from last May still sitting on shelves. Yesterday I saw a dusty six-pack of an apparently unloved domestic IPA dated March 2011.
Like Slouch, I’ve become obsessive about checking dates. I’ll skip over beers I know I love if the bottling date isn’t clearly marked because it’s become such a crapshoot. More importantly, I’ll intentionally buy a beer I’m not 100% sold on if I can guarantee that it’s fresh. Read the rest of this entry »
7 Comments | Beer Industry, Tasting Notes | Tagged: all day ipa, Founders, Session | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
February 28, 2013
It wouldn’t be a typical week for the Aleheads without another story about Big Beer buffoonery, this time in the form of a lawsuit filed in three states claiming that AB-InBev allegedly overstated the alcohol content in its beer.
In a nutshell, the lawsuit claims that AB-Inbev’s various labels add extra water and CO2 to their finished product, thereby diluting the labeled alcohol content of their products and in effect, misleading and overcharging consumers.
Of course, AB InBev’s VP of brewing and supply dismissed these claims as “completely false,” adding that “We proudly adhere to the highest standards in brewing our beers, which have made them the best-selling in the U.S. and the world.” Apparently, in a corporate concept called “cost connecting,” using rice in lieu of grain (and low quality rice at that) as well as bargain bin hops constitute “The highest standards in brewing” so someone should tell the folks at Russian River to stop trying so hard.
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2 Comments | Beer Industry, Beer Marketing, WTF | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Hoppa
February 21, 2013
Click the image above for the full-sized infographic.
In 2009, when Free the Hops miraculously managed to get the Gourmet Beer Bill (increasing the allowable ABV of beer in Alabama from 6% to 13.9%) passed, some speculated that the wasteland that was the Alabama brewing industry would finally start catching up to the rest of the civilized world. With numbers just in from the Alabama Brewer’s Guild*, I think we can safely say that those dreams have indeed come true.
*Let’s be honest…just the fact that we even HAVE an Alabama Brewer’s Guild shows how far we’ve come. Read the rest of this entry »
8 Comments | Beer Industry, Beer Legislation | Tagged: Alabama, Alabama Brewer's Guild | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
February 20, 2013
A few months back, Bloomberg Businessweek published an article entitled “The Plot to Destroy America’s Beer” which outlined the drastic cost (and as a result, quality) cutting measures enacted by CEO Carlos Brito for many products under the AB InBev banner. It isn’t any news to craft beer lovers that their beer is sub par, but according to this article, one time fans of their product are starting to notice it too and it isn’t sitting well with them. In addition to cutting costs by using cheaper materials on things like cardboard and glass, AB InBev’s cost cutting measures have also extended to raw ingredients, the quality of rice for example, as well as leaving long time providers of hops and beechwood, opting for a cheaper and seemingly inferior providers. I won’t harp on about the article, but it is a great read for anyone interested in how the beer business works and how the quality of ingredients and profit are sometimes inversely related.
A Rogues gallery of pseudo-craft offerings.
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8 Comments | Beer Industry, Beer Marketing, Brews in the News, WTF | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Hoppa
October 30, 2012
This missive comes to us from Colonel Wort Spargearm, chief defender of the crown over at The BeerCast.
Sir,
Communication between our great nations appears to have dried up recently, becoming as rare as a spare Shilling in an Irishman’s pocket. Allow me to remedy the situation with a report from the Queen’s Country, as to the current state of the proud industry of beer. As you may be aware, things are afoot here, as ever, that serve to demonstrate to any Gentleman the increased attention granted to our beloved beverage. I shall attempt to purvey this information over the subsequent paragraphs. Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | Beer Industry, Beer Legislation | Tagged: BeerCast, Colonel Wort Spargearm, Great Britain, Taxation, UK | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
August 23, 2012
Kid Carboy recently emailed the Aleheads group with a Reddit discussion in which a user received an invitation to the “ultra exclusive” Bruery Hoarders Society and felt that they had jumped the shark. The Kid felt that the Bruery was unnecessarily creating an even more exclusive circle within their already limited Bruery Reseve Society and in effect, further stratifying the value of their own releases. The Bruery Reserve Society is at it’s core, a subscription model that, in exchange for a $295 fee per year, provides not only privileges and swag exclusive to the brewery, but also specified allocations of certain releases from Bruery, including the hard to come by releases of Black Tuesday and Chocolate Rain. Membership also provides what is essentially an IPO for the Bruery releases for the year, a chance to buy first rights to the releases before they are available to the public. In a nutshell, you are paying a premium membership fee to get a few bottles of the really good stuff, plus the option to buy further limited quantities of said good stuff, stuff that that Joe Public will most likely never have the chance to purchase outside of a secondary market such as ebay or via a trade. You also get first right to refusal to renew your membership, as they are in limited quantity, but I believe they have increased the number of available slots each year.
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11 Comments | Ale Factories, Beer Culture, Beer Industry | Tagged: Beer Business | Permalink
Posted by Jimmy Hoppa
July 31, 2012
There are a few big, hot-button issues in the world of craft beer these days. There’s the “Can you still drink beer from former craft breweries owned by macro-brewers?” debate for instance, or the “What really qualifies as ‘session’ beer?” debate.* But the issue of craft beer reselling by non-brewers in the secondary market is the one that generates the most visceral reaction in me personally.
*Also known as “The Lew Bryson Debate.”
Yesterday, Beerpulse ran a story about beers from certain breweries like Cantillon and Hill Farmstead disappearing from eBay, signifying what may well be the first wave in craft beers being removed from the site entirely, with eBay finally recognizing and admitting to the world at large how ridiculous it was that folks claimed to be spending $100 or more to buy the “collectible bottle” of beer with no intent to consume its contents. It should go without saying that these kinds of sales will just move to other sites such as www.beerauctions.com, but in terms of overall volume, the loss of eBay as a place to unload the goods certainly seems as if it would put a dent in just how much beer is sold on the secondary market. It also means the loss of arguably the most secure and safe means of transaction.
Personally, I say “good on them” to the people making this decision. It was absurd to ever allow such resales with the reasoning of “Urrr, I’m only selling the collector’s bottle and the contents are incidental.” Looking completely past whether or not beer resale is “the right thing to do,” if you’re reading this I feel like you should at least concede the point that the eBay model was always stupid. Is there even one person out there who is buying up bottles of Dark Lord and Kate the Great just to stick them around the house like decorative urns? Find me this person. The only reason such a rationale was ever accepted by the website in the first place was that the folks at eBay clearly had a meeting where the company policy was determined to be ”Look, let’s just look past the illegality of licenseless people selling each other alcohol for as long as we can, k?” Read the rest of this entry »
26 Comments | Ale Factories, Beer Culture, Beer Industry | Tagged: beer on ebay, Cantillon, Hill Farmstead, reselling beer, secondary beer market | Permalink
Posted by Kid Carboy Jr.
July 23, 2012
Wheaton Ale Fest logo
Yes, you read that right. Well-known for its conservative, Christian population, the Chicago suburb boasts the title of having the most churches per capita in the nation and is home to a top Christian Liberal Arts College. Quaint little Wheaton, Illinois, will host its second annual Ale Fest, August 4.
Now you’re thinking, “What’s the big deal? I know a ton of Christians who like beer.” But the most interesting part of this story is the fact that (mainly because of its religious history) only 27 years ago the town was dry. That means a significant portion of the population has known Wheaton as a dry town longer than they are used to alcohol being sold and served there.
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5 Comments | Beer Festivals, Beer Industry | Tagged: Ale Fest, Brewfest, Chicago, Illinois, WAF2012, Wheaton, Wheaton Ale Fest, Wheaton Ale Fest 2012 | Permalink
Posted by mothergueuze
June 12, 2012
For craft beer enthusiasts and brewing industry insiders, the past few years have been a chaotic whirlwind. At some point, craft finally reached its tipping point and spilled completely over into the mainstream. It’s now written about at length in prestigious newspapers and magazines and discussed on the evening news. High-end restaurants offer dozens of craft beers, beer bars are sprouting up everywhere, and breweries are proliferating at an insane pace.
No one wishes to return to the drab, desolate beer landscape of the 80′s (except for AB InBev and MillerCoors), but there’s also a distinct sense of anxiety today. It’s almost as if the wildest dreams of Alehead Nation have been realized…but perhaps we should have been a bit more careful about what we wished for. I wouldn’t say we’re living on Shakedown Street, but I can’t help but wonder if maybe we had too much too fast. Read the rest of this entry »
18 Comments | Beer Industry | Tagged: Craft Beer, Distribution, Investment, Retailers | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
June 5, 2012
When people ask me what my favorite Chicago brewery is, I’m often perplexed, because my favorite isn’t actually in Chicago. Two Brothers Brewing Company’s main brewery is about 30 miles west of the city in Warrenville, Il., very close to the town where I grew up.
The brewing company was started and is still run by brothers Jim and Jason Ebel. They are very proud of the whole family-run thing. They brew a whole family (ha, get it?) of beers and have become a local favorite.
Kid Carboy has mentioned Two Brothers a few times, but I thought I’d put in my two cents… one cent really. Maybe half of one cent. A hay-penny. Here’s my hay-penny.
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8 Comments | Alehouses, Beer Industry | Tagged: Beer Review, Craft Beer, illinois beer, two brothers, two brothers brewery | Permalink
Posted by mothergueuze
May 21, 2012
… in a non-threatening way.
What I’ve noticed in the last year and a half (at least) is that Chicago breweries cannot seemingly create enough beer in their current facilities to meet demand. So they’re buying up property all over the city’s industrial areas. I predict the “Brewing District” becoming a reality in the future.
Revolution Brewing, as Kid Carboy Jr. pointed out, is opening a brand new location on Chicago’s northwest-ish side at 3340 N. Kedzie Avenue. Tickets to the grand opening event, May 25, are sold out. If you were lucky enough to snag one, you only paid $15 for admission, but you will also need cash for beer tickets ($4 each). Basically, you’ll spend a lot, but you’ll have a good time.
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6 Comments | Beer Festivals, Beer Industry, Brews in the News | Tagged: CCBW, Chicago, Grand Opening, Revolution, revolution brewing, Revolution Brewing Chicago | Permalink
Posted by mothergueuze
May 18, 2012
“The chalice from the palace has the brew that is true”
It has been trending for at least two years — craft breweries are not just bottling, but canning their most popular brews. There are can-fans (even canned craft beer festivals) and of course, opposers. Beer’s fruity cousin, cider, is no exception.
Though Woodchuck Cider doesn’t quite fit into the “craft” category, it does have a nearly cult-following. Woodchuck President and CEO, Bret Williams, announced May 1 that their amber hard cider would now be available in cans.
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20 Comments | Beer Industry, Beer Marketing, Brews in the News | Tagged: Bottles, Cans, cans vs. bottles, CCBW, cider, woodchuck cans, Woodchuck Cider | Permalink
Posted by mothergueuze
May 2, 2012
If you’ve read these pages often, you’ll have heard the constant drum-beat of our contributors telling our local legislators to support pro-craft beer laws. I’ve prattled on incessantly about the need for Alabama to keep breaking down the obstacles to craft beer growth in the state (not to beat a dead horse, but if you haven’t written to your local rep about the Gourmet Bottle Bill, it will be on the House calendar tomorrow! Get on it!).
One of the key points in these screeds has always been the idea that freeing up the market for craft beer will create economic growth. Naysayers could argue that even the “freest” beer market simply wouldn’t have much of an impact on a local economy. Well, to those who say “nay”, I simply say this: Asheville, North Carolina. Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | Beer Industry, Beer Legislation | Tagged: Asheville, New Belgium, North Carolina, Oskar Blues, Sierra Nevada | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
April 20, 2012
One of the most ubiquitous trends in the craft beer world over the past few years has been barrel-aging. While some time spent mellowing in a nice, toasted oak cask can add wonderful complexity and character to a brew, there are some major hurdles to overcome if your brewery wants to start a barrel program.
First, and most obvious, is the cost. If you want to age your beer on any sort of mass-production scale, you’ll need a LOT of barrels. And a good oak barrel doesn’t come cheap. Most breweries purchase used barrels from the wine or spirits industry (which is why you see so many bourbon and scotch-aged beers). But even used barrels, when purchased in bulk, add up. And don’t forget that the styles of beer that age the best are expensive-to-produce, high-gravity numbers like Imperial Stouts and Barleywines. You’re already plunking down a lot of cash just to purchase the ingredients to make those big beers. Add the cost of brewing the beer to the cost of your aging program and you’re shelling out big bucks for the privilege of brewing that prestige beer you’ve been dreaming of. Read the rest of this entry »
9 Comments | Beer Industry | Tagged: Barrel Aging, Beechwood Aging, Wood Chips | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
April 19, 2012
A few weeks back, Maxwell Arndt, co-founder of Swag Brewery asked if the Aleheads would mind helping him get the word out about his new venture. We get a lot of requests like this which is mildly amusing to those of us who remember when 10 hits a day on our site was a big deal.*
*Now we get more like 12 hits a day. Suck it, Google!
Anyways, I usually turn such requests down. We’re a little too self-righteous to serve as a PR machine for other companies and to be honest, why would any business really want to align themselves with us? Read the rest of this entry »
6 Comments | Beer Industry | Tagged: Beer Outfitter, Swag Brewery | Permalink
Posted by Barley McHops
