Here’s an interesting article that discussed how the impact of the Budweizer - Inbev merger might have an effect on the market.
Sean
2Beerguys.com
Drink Craft Beer, You’ve Earned It!!!
War Is Brewing: Are Budweiser’s Sports Sponsorships in Jeopardy?
by L. J. Burgess
Belgian beer-brewer InBev and Brazilian beverage-subsidiary AmBev are prepping a $46 billion offer for U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch.
The InBev take-over, if successful, would create the world’s largest beverage business by joining the world’s No. 2, InBev, with the world’s No. 4, Anheuser-Busch. The InBev offer spreads out to $65 per share.
If this deal goes down, the two beer brewers, combined with AmBev’s South American soft-drink dominance, might permanently checkmate the coming U.S. partnership of SABMiller and Molson Coors, which will control nearly 30 percent of the $97 billion U.S. market. Anheuser-Busch maintains a 51 percent market share stateside.
To stave off InBev’s bid, Anheuser-Busch is seeking to complete a partnership with Mexican brewing giant Grupo Modelo, in which it already has a 50 percent stake, to strengthen their North American No. 1 ranking.
InBev has warned the American beer giant against such a move citing concerns that any deal would lessen Anheuser-Busch’s appeal and damage share-holder confidence.
With the successful incursion of independent craft-beer brewers in the U.S. marketplace, Anheuser-Busch has attempted to stay relevant. They’ve bought into Red Hook Ale and Widmer breweries in the Northwest and have invested millions in developing and expanding their award-winning Michelob line, adding Amberbock, Honey Lager and Oktoberfest Marzen beers to compete with the Molson Coors in-house developed Blue Moon Belgian White Ale brand, the best-selling beer in U.S. grocery stores.
At the same time Anheuser-Busch’s largest distributor in the U.S. has broken the brewer’s exclusive contract so independent craft-beer brewers can be stocked on its shelves. The high profit margins on niche beers justifies this radical move. Obviously, like dominoes falling, this ballsy move will be duplicated by more of Anheuser-Busch’s exclusive distributors across the U.S. hoping to cash in on the niche-brewer market.
But it’s going take a big deal to keep this merger from happening. After the Yahoo vs. Microsoft fiasco, and with a $65-per-share offer on the table, stockholders worldwide may be trigger happy in this beer-slinging shootout.
Warren Buffett and Busch family members are also stepping into the fray, urging a deal with InBev.
This is going to be huge somewhere down the line, regardless of whether InBev’s offer succeeds or not. How would a merger of this magnitude affect sports worldwide? Anywhere in the world you can turn on a TV and see “Budweiser” plastered on anything that doesn’t move…and yes, some that do, thank you Kasey Kahne. We suck that up here in the states.
How many Miller Lite drinkers choked on their foam when Kurt Busch stepped into the No. 2? Did you switch brands? No, you were loyal in the end, despite all of your griping.
Old-world beers are just as prominent in European motorsports—from the World Rally to Le Mans—and these fans are just as beer loyal as any Natty-Boh drinker in a Dundalk corner bar.
Did you catch sight of any beer cars in the Nationwide race in Mexico City? You better believe Tecate had a hood on the grid.
We’ve already glimpsed some minor beverage skirmishes in NASCAR’s victory lane. Jimmie Johnson blocked the camera’s view of a Coke product so that his Pepsi product could be better seen.
That’s just a soft drink, and it’s already gettin’ ugly.
Will the conglomerates bid so high for event sponsorships that owning a league is cheaper than buying the naming rights? The National Budweiser League? The National Coors Athletic Association? Major Labatt’s Baseball? (Okay, that’s crazy…or is it?) The Kentucky Derby runs Clydesdales? Nah.
With worldwide beer dominance becoming a grudge match, the gloves are off and nothing will be sacred over the next decade, perhaps not even the amateur ranks. Will amateur athletes continue to hide their stipends, or will the cash finally come out of the closet?
When the Olympic Committee meets again it might be to sell out to the Miller Lite Milers, the Heineken Hurdlers, or the Blue Moon Broad Jumpers.
Will resources be so unlimited that, if NASCAR does franchise, Hendrick Motor Sports and Roush-Fenway become the “little guys”? Could they start a flat-out bidding war for NASCAR itself?
Where will it end, or perhaps, more timely, where will it start? Will there be only three beer companies left in the world?
Will we see a Sammy’s Honey Tainted Wheat Harvest Sun Brewed Fall Dry Spell Pale Ale Ford Fusion on the high-banks of Daytona?
My scenarios are far-fetched and certainly not timely as of yet, but one thing is certain: There will be no cutbacks and no quarter given. It’s going to be balls to the walls in a battle for exposure, media bites, and your precious beer dollars…and you get to make the call.
My most urgent concern is, as always…where does Natty-Boh fit in this mess?
What’s your take on this hops-and-barley beat down?
Schools out for summer
The Craft Beer Education Series wrapped up its first six sessions last night with Craft Beer Summer, a blind summer beer tasting in which the Gearys Summer Ale won in the blind voting, followed by the Wachusett Summer in a close second. The series has been wildly popular, luring back many a repeat attendee. Last nights class was about half the size we usually have, given the warm weather and vacation season, but it provided a more intimate environment, and allowed for much more unique dialogue and certainly lent itself to the blind tasting format. We’ll be back in the fall (read: September) to start up the next round of the CBES! Thank you VERY much to all who attended, a special thanks to George for his help last night, and lastly to Sean, I couldn’t have done it without you. See you in September! (for the CBES anyway)
Cheers,
Ian
Kate the Great
Anyone out there feel like getting some of what Beer Advocate’s readers rated the #1 beer in America? If so, then head on over to the Portsmouth Brewery tomorrow, Tuesday June 24th for Kate the Great Day as, at 2:27pm exactly, 22oz bottles of Kate will be available for purchase, and she will be available on draught also. There is a 2 bottle per day limit for purchases until all of the limited batch is sold, so get there early so you don’t miss out! This year, a “deli-counter” system will be employed, where each buyer will receive a ticket and will be called when it’s their turn to purchase. Let us know if you head over and tell us how it was!
Cheers,
Ian
Craft Beer Education Series: Session #5
Good morning friends in beer!
The Craft Beer Education Series rolls on as next Thursday, June 26th, 2beerguys.com, in partnership with Leary’s Fine Wines and Spirits, presents Craft Beer Summer, a class dedicated to some of the finer, off-the-beaten-path summer craft beers. The class will feature our normal blend of tasting and education, but will throw in a new twist as we’ll be doing a blind tasting to determine the best summer beer, and we will go on to notify the winning brewery.
As always, the class is $20 and starts promptly at 6:30pm. Seats can be reserved by calling Leary’s at 978-462-4451. Seating is limited and we’ve historically sold out fast, so call and reserve your spot today!
Cheers!
Ian
Drink craft beer. You’ve earned it!
We are the champions!!!!
Golden City Brewery - Colorado
Go Find Golden City Brewery
by John Morrissey
Everybody knows about the massive Coors Brewery, but the place that made Rocky Mountain Spring Water famous is not why craft beer lovers head to Golden. We are searching for the brews of Golden City Brewery, the second largest brewery in Golden.
The early 90’s were heady times for the growing legion of Colorado’s craft brewers. Out in Golden, Charlie & Janine Sturdavant were a couple geologists who liked to brew beer, too. Neighbors and friends begged them to share their Red Ale and Pale Ale and their beer lives began to outgrow their geology lives. The Sturdavant’s helped start Tommyknocker Brewing in Idaho Springs. They bought the Cheshire Cat and created a great British style brewpub in Arvada. Back at the house, they kept brewing their beer. Demand grew and Charlie was forced to expand. He moved the kettles from the house into an old machine shed. The backyard became a beer garden and the garage became a little tasting room.
Golden City Brewery was born.
That was back in 1993. Today, Charlie is still the brewmaster and Janine is still the alewife. Out in the machine shed/brewery, Jeff Griffith and Ted Palmer handle the brewing at Golden City these days. Josh Thompson mans the taps in the tasting room/garage. Josh is quite an Irish balladeer and he might share a traditional emerald isle ballad with you while you relax with a pint at this colorful little Colorado brewery.
You can find Golden City’s brews at a couple restaurants around town but if you want to taste it at the source, you will discover that Golden’s second biggest brewery is a little hard to find. It is still tucked behind the Sturdavant’s home; one of the many stately, brick mansions in Golden’s 12th Street Historic Neighborhood. There are not any neon “brewery here” signs. The long tables and white tents under the towering maple trees in the backyard behind the house at 920 12th Street mark the spot.
Golden City’s hours are as funky as their location. Last call is at 6:30 each night because Janine and Charlie want to keep peace in the neighborhood. Since they close so early, Saturday is the best day for most of us to grab a pint and a growler to go at Golden City Brewing.
If you love Colorado’s craft brews, you must go find Golden City Brewery. Take a Saturday afternoon and go find it. Discover their wonderful craft brews in their quirky location in the backyard of one of the oldest historic houses in Golden.
Golden City Brewery. It is another reason Colorado is Beer State, USA
Call for directions, (303) 279-8092, or catch them on the web. www.gcbrewery.com
Expansion - Steam Works Brewery
Steamworks expands into Midwest
By Chuck Slothower
Steamworks Brewing Co. is moving into three new markets as it seeks more customers for its craft beer.
Customers in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., were added to the brewery’s territory March 31; Long Island, N.Y., opened to Steamworks beer May 1, and Wisconsin is next in line for the brewery.
“The market for craft beer is continually expanding throughout the United States and has now reached 5 percent of the total beer market in terms of dollars,” said Brian McEachron, director of marketing and sales. “Tastes are evolving, and beer drinkers now appreciate the nuances and flavor of a variety of craft beers.”
Steamworks already distributes beer in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. The brewery started distributing in New Mexico in January 2005, in Arizona in summer 2006 and in Texas in fall 2007.
Steamworks was founded in Durango in 1996, and opened its Bayfield site in 2004.
The brewery is rolling into the new markets with six-packs of Steam Engine Lager and Third Eye Pale Ale, plus 22-oz. bottles of Colorado Kasch, The Conductor and Lizard Head Red. Keg sales will be limited initially. Steamworks is also gearing up to market a 12-pack sampler in the new markets, McEachron said.
The brewery will later offer draft beer, said Kris Oyler, co-founder and CEO.
But how will Midwesterners, accustomed to Schlitz and Miller Lite, take to Steamworks beer?
Oyler said the Midwest is “an underserved market.”
“I’m excited about those two Midwestern markets, because they’ve been a little bit behind the curve in getting into the craft beer market,” Oyler said. “And they’re waking up to it, and they’re hungry for it.”
Freshness can become an issue when shipping beer across the country, so Steamworks is taking steps to ensure it arrives fresh in the farther-flung markets, Oyler said. The brewery tries to ship beer in refrigerated trucks whenever possible, and also tries not to keep beer in its own coolers too long.
Steamworks beer has no preservatives and is not pasteurized.
Oyler said freshness was a matter of “just trying to find good distribution partners who are going to take care of the beer.”
Ska Brewing, Durango’s other large craft brewery, distributes beer in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Illinois and North Carolina.
The brewery is growing fast in its markets, including triple-digit growth in Arizona, said co-founder David Thibodeau.
Ska is constructing a new headquarters in Bodo Industrial Park. Thibodeau said he hopes the building will open in September. Texas may be the next territory for Ska to enter, he said.
Link to Website: click here
New Bewery - Bold City Brewing
Microbrewery scheduled for September opening
Get your pint glasses ready for September when a new microbrewery opens in Riverside.
Bold City Brewery will have its own tap room, where the thirsty can down a pint of ale on-site and take home more using a half-gallon transporter.
The 7,200-square-foot brewery at 2670 Rosselle St. will roll out about 1,000 barrels per year for the first three years, and then jump up production to 2,500 barrels per year, said co-owner Brian Miller (no connection to the well-known brewing giant).
“It is something that we always felt Jacksonville needed,” said Miller, who has been homebrewing for about seven years. “We like the artistic side of craft beer.”
Miller, who works in information technology at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Inc., said the brewery will sell four staple and four seasonal beers by the keg, and the tap room will feature those, along with a few specialty beers not sold by keg. Prices haven’t been set.
Keep up to date on the transformation of a former iron works shop to a brewery with Miller’s blog, www.boldcitybrewery.com
Check out pictures of the construction: spaces
Main website link.
Silver Moon Brewery - Expanding
Phases of the Silver Moon
Microbrewery has grown from a one-beer operation to one with 7 varieties and a pub
By Kimberly Bowker / The Bulletin
It was a snowy night in February 2000 and Tyler Reichert and a friend were driving from Bandon to Bend, hauling an overpacked trailer of brewing system components for Reichert’s new brewery.
As they turned a corner to head toward Chemult, a bright moon appeared and lit the road for the final stretch of Reichert’s arduous 10-hour journey.
“There was a huge, beautiful moon rising up and over the road, and I was like, ‘Wow, we made it,’” he said.
That was the inspiration for the Silver Moon Brewing name and the crescent moon label.
“Bend always has beautiful moons,” said Reichert, owner and founder of the brewery. “Every three weeks there is my crescent, and I look up in the sky and it’s my billboard.”
Reichert established Silver Moon Brewing in 2000 on Division Street in Bend. In 2005, the business moved to its current location on Greenwood Avenue.
Reichert received his bachelor’s degree in forestry at the University of Vermont. He served as a forester in Merck Forest, Vt., and lived in a location inaccessible by vehicle. Reichert and those he lived with got tired of hauling beer bottles in and out, so he began brewing beer.
Eight years ago, Silver Moon was brewing one beer. Today, it offers seven kinds of beer on tap at the brewery. A homemade soda, made with cane sugar, is also offered.
Five staple beers that are always available are the Hounds Tooth Amber, Snake Bite Porter, Bridge Creek Pilsner, Badlands Bitter and the Hob Knob IPA. Two seasonal beers are rotated in and out each quarter to complement the five. The seasonal offerings currently on tap are the High Plains Heffe, also available in bottles, and O’Seanigan’s Irish Red.
Even though Reichert considers himself a purist when it comes to beer, “I drink it all,” he said. “I think they are all very good.”
The brewery produced 1,000 barrels in 2007 and is expected to produce 1,600 barrels this year. The largest sellers are the amber, pilsner and IPA.
One reason for the growth is the brewery’s expansion of bottling its Hefeweizen and amber in 22-ounce bottles. Both beers were previously sold on tap and currently are the only two being bottled.
Bottling began two months ago and bottles are now for sale in approximately 20 locations throughout Deschutes and Crook counties, and one location in Malheur County. A third beer, the porter, is expected to be available in bottles around mid-June.
In part, bottles have been successful because retail outlets pride themselves on offering an extensive range and choice of products, Reichert said. Also, consumers like to eat out, but if it’s too expensive, one alternative is picking up food and beer at a local market, he said.
Growlers, a glass container that holds 64 ounces of draft beer, were previously sold in grocery stores. They are now only available through the brewery.
Silver Moon beer on tap is offered in 55 to 60 locations throughout Central Oregon.
“We are an independent company and distribute our own products. We deal directly with the restaurants,” Reichert said.
With costs of beer ingredients rising, Reichert has had to make some adjustments to the brewery’s operation.
“Before I raise my prices, I say, ‘Wait, how can I make this more efficient?’” he said.
Reichert cut costs by using compact and low-watt florescent bulbs, motion-censored lighting, programmable thermostats and forgoing air conditioning in his upstairs office.
He also recently remodeled the front wall of the brewery to include double-pane and energy-efficient windows to better control temperature and reduce natural gas costs.
Future plans include possible expansion, but probably not until 2010, Reichert said.
“You don’t start a business and grow it as a hobby,” Reichert said. “You do it as a total life commitment. And this is a really fun business.”
Q: How was the company received within the local brewing community when it was first established? And has that changed?
A: The two existing companies (Deschutes Brewery and Bend Brewing Company) didn’t seem to mind. In fact some of the other brewers would visit for a pint to see how things were going. They still do, actually. They were and are glad to have company. Variety is the spice of life and that certainly applies for craft beer. It’s good for Bend’s appeal and for Bend’s proud craft beer community.
Q: Where do you sell Silver Moon beer and what is the target market?
A: Our beer is sold from our taproom on Greenwood Avenue and through many local bars, restaurants and grocery outlets. You can pick up kegs right here at the brewery and have pints at most local restaurants and bars in Bend, Sisters, Redmond, Sunriver, Terrebonne, Fields Station (south of Burns) and Prineville. Our target market is everyone who’s 21 and older who loves variety and great-tasting beer. We don’t discriminate.
Q: How have you altered operations to account for the rising costs of materials, such as hops and fuel?
A: When our suppliers’ price-increase announcements first came to my desk, I had my bartender bring me a pint of our Bridge Creek Pilsner. I leaned back in my chair, read one of the announcements, drank from the frosty glass, licked the foam from my top lip and thought, “Darn, we make a fine pilsner.” Then I dragged my calculator out, a notepad and pencil and figured what the new pricing would do to us. I considered how we could still keep our costs and prices down. The microbrew industry announced significant price increases late fall of 2007 — 6 to 7 percent across the board for kegs and bottled beer. We had to face that music, too. This spring we did raise our keg pricing 5 percent and our taproom prices as well. It’s life in the new world and great beer is worth it.
Q: Silver Moon has created a niche for itself with the Central Oregon music and performance community. Why did you decide to pursue that avenue and how did it evolve?
A: I always saw the Moon Room hosting fun and diverse live shows. I love live music, especially in small venues. It’s more intimate and meaningful. We’ve assembled a great little place for acts to strut and the sound quality in our taproom is surprisingly good. About a year ago, I hired David Bowers to book all of our shows. The Moon Room is still evolving and getting better and that’s exciting. We’ve recently added a 20-inch disco ball for show nights. The patrons love it and I think we’re the only venue in town with one. It’s all about fun, entertainment and great beer.
Beer aged in Wooden Barrels - What do you prefer?
Flavor That Grows on Trees
By Greg Kitsock
Beer and wood have had a falling out since the industrial age began. Even when breweries didn’t switch to stainless steel, they tended to line wooden barrels and fermenters with pitch or a similar substance to prevent off-flavors.
What about that vaunted Budweiser beechwood-aging process? Anheuser-Busch places beechwood chips in its lagering tanks to provoke a livelier fermentation. But the chips have been thoroughly washed in water and baking soda to keep them from imparting even a hint of wood to the beer.
Some American craft breweries, however, are using wood aging as an additional source of flavor.
Two Chicago area breweries, Goose Island Beer and Flossmoor Station Restaurant Brewery, began storing beer in used bourbon barrels in the mid-1990s; closer to home, the District ChopHouse & Brewery became one of the first East Coast breweries to pick up on the idea, offering Bourbon Stout since shortly after its founding in 1997.
Though previous ChopHouse brewers obtained barrels from several distilleries, current brewer Barrett Lauer has standardized the process, using only Woodford Reserve barrels. Lauer also instituted a “one and done” policy: After a single use, the whiskey cask is converted into planters or tables. “I’ve even chopped some up to use for smoking meats at home,” he says.
Before the new policy, the beer might reek of bourbon or exhibit little whiskey flavor at all, depending on whether the cask was on its first or third run-through. Now the Bourbon Stout has a more consistent flavor, with a strong bourbon presence upfront followed by nuances of roast, black cherry, vanilla and toasted coconut as the pint warms up. The dregs of bourbon inside the wood bump up the alcohol from 6.2 percent by volume to about 7 percent, Lauer estimates. The ChopHouse doesn’t sell its brews off-premises, so to try this boilermaker of a beer, you’ll have to visit the restaurant.
But Old Dominion Brewing in Ashburn offers its Dominion Oak Barrel Stout in 12-ounce bottles; it is one of the first wood-aged beers to be packaged on a regular basis. According to Scott Zetterstrom, vice president of brewing operations, the beer is aged for a week on oak planks and vanilla beans. The brewery adds a pinch of peat-smoked malt, which shows up as a spicy, almost baconlike note in the aroma.
Oak Barrel Stout is a softer and mellower example of the style, with vanilla and butterscotch smoothing over the smoke and bittersweet chocolate flavors.
Also bottled year-round is Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale from Stone Brewing in Escondido, Calif. The brewery delights in taunting its customers. “It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to appreciate an ale of this quality or depth,” reads the screed on the back of the bottle.
But Stone backs up its boast. This American strong ale, aged over oak chips, has a powerful grapefruit and pineapple aroma, a caramel malt sweetness and a lingering dry finish: part hop and part tannin.
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Del., houses a forest of wooden vessels, including several 10,000-gallon aging tanks crafted with palo santo wood from Paraguay. Owner Sam Calagione says they are the largest wooden brewing vessels built in America in the post-Prohibition era.
The exotic hardwood is so dense that it sinks in water and can rebuff machetes and even bullets. Dogfish Head’s Palo Santo Marron is a strong brown ale (a formidable 12 percent alcohol by volume) with a wealth of dark-chocolate and roasty flavors; notes of vanilla, raisins and plums; and a sweet, sappy flavor reminiscent of spruce. Calagione plans to offer the beer year-round in four-packs of 12-ounce bottles.
Allagash Brewing in Portland, Maine, specializes in Belgian-style beers, several of which are aged in oak barrels. Among them is Allagash Odyssey, a strong (10.4 percent alcohol by volume), ebony-colored, wheat-based ale available in 750-milliliter corked bottles.
This wonderfully complex brew combines the dryness of toasted oak with the sweet, rich flavor of a fruitcake soaked in spirits. The brewery advises pairing it with almond-crusted chicken, filet mignon or creme brulee. My advice: Save it for after dinner, when you retire to the drawing room for brandy and cigars. But forget the brandy; you won’t need it.
