When Will It End?

Okay, this has got to stop. These mindless articles that meander through topic after topic and attempt to sum up the “craft beer movement” in 500 words or less must cease and desist.

Take this one, for example. The title conveys the message that a beer expert has some thought-provoking insight on two particular topics: the InBev takeover of Anheuser-Busch and “extreme” beer. The first half of this article is all about what author Ken Wells did to write his book Travels with Barley: The Quest for the Perfect Beer Joint, then it jumps to the reaction to the A-B buyout, mentions one brief snippet on extreme beer being “high-alcohol content concoctions,” the changing American palate, then back to the book. Mr. Wells may have had something new to add to the conversation, but if he did, the author sure didn’t include it when he quoted him.

What is this article supposed to be about? Why is this trend of glossing over the beer world becoming the norm? It’s those passive connections (extreme beer=high alcohol) that give the wrong impression, and it’s damaging to beer’s image as a whole. I’d almost rather them not say anything at all about it and keep us up to date on the latest happenings with Mike’s Hard Lemonade instead.

Some of these articles just seem really poorly written (that’s rich, coming from me), and with the subject matter all over the place, look like they’ve been penned by a kid who hasn’t taken his Ritalin in a week. Can’t we raise the bar just a little here?

And The Numbers Are In…

Since I’ve already brought it up, I might as well pass along some more information regarding the Mexican beer market. There’s something fascinating about watching what will play out in one of the largest beer markets around the globe, one that ties directly into the US beverages industry.

The two giant brewing firms in Mexico, Femsa and Grupo Modelo, have reported two very different economic outlooks from their respective camps. Femsa has increased sales by over 7% in part due to raising the price of their beer. They’re also the leading bottler of Coca-Cola in Mexico, but I’m referring to their Femsa Cerveza branch here. Apparently, they were able to protect themselves from steadily rising grain prices by doing some cost-cutting in administration and using some “positive pricing” in their favor. If they keep this up, they may retain their independence yet. At least for a while longer.

Grupo Modelo, on the other hand, has not fared so well. With flagging sales and their profit-margin taking a downturn, their ability to buy their other 50% share back from Anheuser-Busch/InBev doesn’t look promising. The firm pointed to its Corona brand as slumping in exports to the United States, blaming the appreciation of the peso to the American dollar. Despite their domestic market sales increasing by almost 4%, that vital export lifeline to the US has not been producing the profits like it has in the past.

One also has to wonder if brands like Land Shark Lager are cutting into Corona’s sales. The Anheuser-Busch product, brewed with Jimmy Buffett’s blessing, created a major rift between the mayor of Margaritaville and Crown Imports a couple years ago when they announced Land Shark’s release. Crown pulled out of sponsoring his tour and that was that. But could Parrotheads be responsible for Corona’s declining export sales in the US? Hey, when Jimmy Buffett jumps ship, you jump with him.

I’m sure by now you’ve noticed two things:  number one, that’s the second Jimmy Buffett reference this month; and two, I don’t really care for Jimmy Buffett all that much. There, I said it. Don’t really care much for Corona or Land Shark either. So, I guess it was fitting that last night I sat back with, and rather enjoyed, a Bohemia instead.

Beer Misconceptions

I’ve got problems with this article. I’m giving you a disclaimer right now: don’t bother reading the rest of this post if you haven’t checked out the link first. Otherwise, it’s going to look like a misguided rant being shouted at no one in particular. Therefore, I implore you to read said article, see what I’m responding to, and if you have any thoughts of your own, feel free to add them in the comments section. In the words of LeVar Burton, “but don’t take my word for it…”

Alright, here we go:

1. General Misconception. The title alone completely misses the point. Something entitled “Beers with more alcohol gain market share” seems to cut out a large part of what beer lovers really care about. Following this logic, 40-ounces of Hurricane should be flying off the shelves, showing the effects of this growing trend. And there would be the need for reasoned rebuttals like this to anti-alcohol groups here in the US.

Granted, the article itself goes on to express the viewpoint of those of us who are way too into beer for our own good, but it’s the assumption that these beers are being purchased because of their alcohol content that is troubling. Rather than illustrating that people’s palates are simply craving something new, as recent trends in advertising and product development amongst the big boys has indicated, there is a schizophrenic attitude from the author, or maybe just an uncertain one, as to why these kinds of beers are experiencing growth.

The article mentions that “[h]igh-alcohol brews like Black Butte XX and The Abyss, known in the trade as big or extreme beers, are among many craft beers that are grabbing a growing market share in the United States…” Why not “high-flavored” or “extreme-ly tasty”? Beer may need a PR overhaul.

2. Categorization. Why are Budweiser, Coors Light, and Miller High Life considered “premium” beers? Where the hell does this terminology come from? If someone can point to a source other than their own advertising, I’d like to know. And I’m not being facetious, I’d be interested to see how this category came about.

3. Stereotypes. Sam Calagione’s assertion that “[a]nybody can afford to buy the world’s best beers. But if you wanted to buy a bottle of the world’s best wine, you’d have to spend thousands of dollars.” The qualifier “best” is of concern here. Given, I will say that most beer has quite the egalitarian approach when it comes to pricing (and that’s a good thing!), but that’s to take the old tack that good wine must be expensive. I’ll also be the first to say that I’m not a fan of wine at all. I’ve tried several quality wines that I could enjoy, but I can’t enjoy them quite as much as I can beer. Plain and simple.

However, you’d be a fool to suggest that some of the best and reasonably available wines are out of a person’s price range. At $100 or more for a bottle of Sam Adams Utopias, and still $1000 or more for a bottle of La Vieille Bon Secours, these are rare finds that have something to offer. But they still may not be considered the “best.” If a ‘75 Bordeaux, due to its rarity, demands an astronomical price, does that mean that your local wine shop is stocked with bottles of wine that costs hundreds or thousands of dollars? Does it automatically qualify that particular wine as the “best”? No.

I see the argument that Sam makes, but it only goes so far. I try not to operate on stereotypes and live in the real world. Some of my wine-drinking friends have shown me this, and have helped me to clear the notion from my head that any good wine must be expensive.
 
4. Nomenclature. The craft/extreme confusion. With all these terms being bandied about, much like the word “premium”, there is actual little solidified definition. Sure, some have tried, and made worthy attempts. I’m not knocking them, I’m just saying that as it stands, there are amorphous labels and categories we shoot for to describe things more easily in the beer world. If I write the phrase “craft beer”, many people reading it will more or less see what I’m driving at. But when articles like this are published, they often muddle the language, relying on a piecemeal lexicon, and this creates confusion. In my mind, craft beer is not dependent upon higher alcohol content. As it happens, many craft brewers (see, it depends on your definition of “craft”) do produce more beers of higher alcohol content than brewers of “premium” beers. But if one of the same smaller brewers comes out with a 3.5% abv Mild, is it not craft?

The focus of this article seems to shift from high-alcohol “extreme” beer, to consumers looking for more flavorful options in their beer selection, to the state of craft beer in the marketplace and in general, to comparisons with wine, to food pairings, to the price of beer. Look, I’m all for giving exposure to the breweries that issue these fantastic products and the people toiling day after day to make them special. But an article like this seems to be so off the mark in certain spots that it promotes some good qualities while spreading misconceptions at the same time. It giveth and it taketh away.

Well, enough of this. I’m off to one of my new old locals. I’ve been going there for quite some time, but now I live only a block away. And the rain has subsided for now.

Cheers!

Preparing for Battle

SABMiller, in what seems to be a reaction to the recent InBev acquisition of Anheuser-Busch, is expanding in Europe. Having focused on growth markets for beer in China and other parts of Asia, in addition to Africa and Latin America, as well as having subsumed the Peroni label years ago, the multinational brewing giant is doubling its efforts in select European countries.

It has been reported that Sweden and Austria will be the locations of two new outposts, while their brewing operations in Spain and France will be reinforced with added capacity to meet export needs. The goal is to reach every country in Europe with their brands.

Five years ago, the goal was to best Anheuser-Busch in Europe by pushing Miller Genuine Draft in addition to Pilsner Urquell and other subsidiaries the company had been buying up. This positioning seemed like the beginning of something big. They already had their sights set on expanding on the Continent, but now it appears that they’re making a more concerted push this time around, and have even more muscle to do so.

You have to wonder about these CEOs. The whole thing reminds me of a game of RISK (excellent board game by the way), only on a full-scale representation of Earth. Can’t wait to see what happens with the next roll of the dice.

Morton’s Goes Belgian

This website probably doesn’t warrant enough traffic for me to be a shill for any kind of product, let alone beer. But, I figured I’d pass this along in the spirit of promoting a local event and a good cause.

Morton’s Steakhouse restaurants are having a Chimay beer tasting. Several, actually. The featured beers will be the Premiere, Grande Reserve, and Cinq Cents. Now, I’m sure most anybody reading this has tried at least two out of the three, but if you’re a fan of steak and Chimay, this is the event for you. Also, 5 bucks of each ticket will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, so you won’t feel so guilty about drinking and eating so much. Just think of the children.

Here are the dates and locations:

Monday, August 11th  Arlington, Virginia

Thursday, August 14th  Washington, DC

Friday, September 19th  Richmond, Virginia

Thursday, October 2nd  Tysons Corner, Virginia

Tickets are $45, all above events start at 6pm.

Am I going? Well, I’d love to, but there’s one problem that creeps up on me whenever these kinds of events occur:  I’m a vegetarian. Enjoy.

Cold Enough For Ya?

With the hot, humid days of summer upon us, the time has never been more right to grab a bottle or can of lawnmower light and guzzle up. But in these trying times, what’s a poor beer drinker to do if he doesn’t have mountains on the label that turn blue when the container reaches just above the freezing mark?

(Well, okay, 43 degrees Fahrenheit, but still..)

Coors has already solved that problem with their specially-labeled Coors Light bottles that contain the copyrighted, temperature-sensitive Chromazone ink. Now they’re expanding this luxury to their Caffrey’s brand overseas.

When Coors acquired Carling toward the end of 2001, with it came the Caffrey’s line. In 2002, Caffrey’s Irish Ale was pulled from US shelves after sluggish sales, with some further speculation that brand confusion with their Killian’s Irish Red was an unintentional byproduct. Either way, their labels are now undergoing the same transformation.

Soon, consumers in the UK and Ireland will be able to have the first ale served at the optimal temperature according to its packaging. The optimal temperature is between 4 and 6 degrees Centigrade, or roughly 39 to 43 degrees Fahrenheit. David Wigham, the Portfolio Activation Director for Coors, stated that Caffrey’s was originally “developed to be served at the same temperature as lager.”

If that’s the case, then why should lager drinkers have all the fun? Now, with a Celtic knot turning blue, you can get all the alcohol and half the taste. Just one more stride in innovation for our Atlantic cousins.

¿Cómo se dice “buying time”?

Just as with the fallout from the Scottish & Newcastle affair, the InBev acquisition of Anheuser-Busch is not without its ripple effect. Talks of purchases are now spilling across our southern border.

In Mexico, the “third most profitable beer market” in the world according to the Wall Street Journal, two giant brewing firms dominate 98% of the market. They are Grupo Modelo SAB and Fomento Economico Mexicano (Femsa) SAB. The former is famous for producing brands such as Corona Extra, Negra Modelo, and Pacifico, while the latter is known for its Dos Equis, Bohemia, and Tecate labels.

Through the A-B acquisition, InBev now has that 50% non-controlling stake in Grupo Modelo that once belonged to the boys at Bud. With lots of growth potential at hand in such a huge market, you can be sure InBev is intently eyeing that other 50% as well.

The WSJ indicates that analysts are expecting a total buyout of Grupo Modelo to take place within the next year or so, casting an anxiety-filled spotlight onto Femsa. It’s further expected that SABMiller will be making overtures to Femsa in an effort to stay competitive in North America and offer their protection as a rival multinational brewing powerhouse.

Both firms are family-controlled, so it seems that no board of directors or shareholders can oust the familial hands that pull the levers. Although Grupo Modelo has already done some chest-pounding about remaining independent, they suffer the problem of incurring debt to buy back half their freedom. Ergo, they could be drumming up prices for a potential sale in the future.

Femsa seems to stand a better chance, but could succumb to the same economic rationale that many brewers, even Anheuser-Busch, have faced. The opportunity for them to become more powerful in Mexico, if InBev acquires Grupo Modelo, exists. But the question is: how far does economic nationalism go?

If globalization has taught us anything, it goes as far as the nearest bank.

Beer Scene

The word “scene” automatically conjures up images of spiky hair, tattoos, piercings, and live music blaring at decibels that should be reserved for supersonic testing at an Air Force base. Maybe this is due to being surrounded by the aforementioned in my adolescent years that causes this instant association for me. Even though I only carried out the music bit myself (I stuck out, and still would, in a crowd full of punk rockers), I realize there’s also an overarching social theme that pervades, and defines, any scene. Even the beer scene.

When I first joined the BeerAdvocate website, I couldn’t wait to post reviews, see what other people had to say about certain beers or better beer establishments, and keep tabs on what wild release was coming out next. Since then, my interest in these things has waned a bit, and even though I still love writing about beer and “reviewing” per se, I don’t have the urge to assign numbers. Not that I ever felt compelled to, but it aided categorization. After the arithmetic was done, some beers that I thought were above average seemed higher in rank, while others that were great seemed to fall down a step. I may go back to this, but I now much prefer rambling on this here soapbox, even if no one’s reading it.

Let me tell you where I’m going with this: a recent post in a BA forum by my buddy Ed sparked a train of thought about beer and socializing. The Alström brothers have even made mention of the social side of beer in their magazine in past issues. Nevertheless, the discussion all began at a tasting that I was too broke to attend, and was on the topic of the beer scene in central Virginia.

Some have mentioned that Virginia has a plethora of options for beer, whether it’s quality beer bars, bottle and keg shops, or access to a variety of imports and domestics that some states downright envy; we’ve got it made. But what about the people drinking the stuff? Obviously there’s demand for these products in our area, but how do these folks feel about what they’re drinking and the people around them who are doing the same?

Is there a “beer scene”?

I’m not so sure, at least about Richmond. Cultural elements play a part in defining this term, such as the social nature of pub culture in the UK. But how many people in the States have local boozers? And by local I mean in-your-neighborhood ones within walking distance, where people in your immediate area can likely be found more often than not.

But does this, in and of itself, even constitute a “beer scene”? You could argue it either way, what with cask beer being a source of pride for many a Briton, despite being surrounded by Euro lager establishments that seem to be much more popular with the younger crowd.

Since beer culture here in the United States doesn’t seem to have that initial cultural cohesion, is this what we’re striving for?

How about beer education; tastings, pairings, gatherings, traveling for events? Well, I must certainly say that our area is bereft of this kind of inquisitive nature, and I’ve resigned myself to the same attitude. Sure, there are events put on by a local bar here or there, or a beer festival Downtown for regional brewers, but not that grassroots kind of involvement where a dozen beer lovers gather for a round or two and shoot the shit. Steve and Ed are two guys from BeerAdvocate that I’ve grown fond of, and have shared more than a beer or two with these fellas. That’s exactly the kind of thing we do, but the ranks don’t seem to have grown.

I’ve mentioned some of the beer and cheese pairings Steve and I have set up in the past, and the last one was a big success. But, the catch is, it was mostly some of our friends who aren’t that into beer, and were there to hang out on a Sunday afternoon. No problem, they enjoyed the event and had a good time, but I doubt they were reaching for a Saison Dupont the next time they were out shopping for groceries. These weren’t the vocal beer lovers in the area. It was nice to give them an introduction to beer and cheese, but only a sliver of the people there were already into it and would show genuine interest in another one (or throwing their own).

The area homebrewers may be onto something. I’ve tasted their wares before and have been mighty impressed, but it’s an actual club with bylaws, dues, and everything. I’m thinking of something more like Cheers with good beer, you feel me? I just don’t know if making people feel obligated to do something is worth it; you should want to go to some fun event with quality brew, especially when it’s provided for free, right?

The irony is, with so many options for better beer, the people who are actually into it don’t appear to be coming together and celebrating it. But I gave up on my own brand of “beervangelism.” So if I call up Steve or Ed to go grab a beer, or have an impromptu tasting, I do so at my own discretion. I just don’t see people coming out to the advertised events, even if it means just a meet-up over a pint at one of Richmond’s fabulous locations.

Maybe this is just an issue locally/regionally/nationally. I’d be interested to hear anyone else’s take on the matter.

I’m only in my twenties and I feel like a crotchety old man already. Time for a beer.

Get the hell off my lawn.