Everything's Local

One of the foundational appeals of craft beer is supporting a local brewery.  In recent years there’s been a growing appeal all around to support local businesses.  Combining local beer and local food is also a growing trend in restaurants and grocery stores.  I’ll always recall my friend, Evan Benn, using the old adage, “What grows together goes together.”  While this was originally coined for food and wine pairing, it’s not too much of a stretch to apply the same principal to beer.

There’s only one problem with this situation.  What if the local food was actually made somewhere else further away and just had a local company’s label on it?  What if this was the case for the beer?  Due to the increasing demand for craft beer, this is becoming more and more likely of a scenario.  When a brewery has its beer made at a separate location, this is referred to as contract brewing.       

Contract brewing can be a starting point for some companies, while it’s a necessity for others. As breweries reach their maximum capacity, they’re left with a choice.  They need to decide whether to fund an expansion, or contract their beer through another brewery.  While an accountant can tell you which method will be more cost effective, there are other non-financial decisions that need to be made as well.

Other big factors in contract brewing relate to quality assurance, recipe standardization, and logistics.  Maintaining consistency at multiple locations can be a nightmare.  Keeping all the raw materials identical is huge, but how do you maintain consistency with beer’s most prolific ingredient…water?  It’s certainly not impossible to modify another brewery’s water source, but it isn’t always easy or cheap.  Once it’s determined that quality standards can be maintained off site, transportation and storage become a major issue.  Suppose a brewery in California finds a great location in Minnesota to produce their beer.  How does this affect the distribution of the final product?  This is another tough situation that isn’t impossible to handle, but can be significantly more expensive.  These are just a few of the many things to consider when determining whether or not to move production outside of the main brewery.

What if the brewery in question never had a brew house to begin with? 

Due to the huge expense of brewing equipment, some brewers are forgoing these costs by brewing their beer in another brewery.  There are several types of arrangements that can fit into this model.  For some companies, all of their beer is made by another brewery.  Some brewers actually go to another brewery and brew the beer themselves.  Other brewers travel between multiple breweries depending on who has capacity for extra volume.

Should these beers still be considered local?

Maybe, maybe not depending on where they’re being produced.

Is drinking local beer the most important thing to you?

The beauty of beer, especially compared to wine, is that it can be made anywhere in the world and anytime of the year.  Drinking locally produced beer is great, but why would you turn down a great beer made somewhere else.  If a local brewery is having their beer made somewhere else, they’ll most likely share that information with their customers.  Whatever reasons a brewery has for contracting; their beer should still be approached like any other.

Always support local, but never hesitate to enjoy a beer made somewhere else…no matter who brewed it. 

SOURCE:

http://www.craftbeer.com/craft-beer-muses/contract-is-not-a-dirty-word-in-brewing

Who said that was CRAFT beer?

It must not be such a great time for the beer industry.  It seems that sales were down by just about 2 percent in 2013.  It’s hard to imagine why so many breweries are opening new locations and looking to expand when sales are down.

Well, just because sales are down, doesn’t mean that sales aren’t up.

While sales were down for the entire beer industry, sales for craft beer in the U.S. grew over 17 percent in 2013.  This is good news for a segment that is shooting to reach 20 percent market share by 2020.  As the craft beer market grows, the guidelines of what is considered ‘craft’ continue to blur.  Just about every beer enthusiast has their opinion about what is or isn’t craft beer, however; the supreme voice on this issue belongs to the Brewer’s Association.             

The three characteristics that define a craft brewer are small, independent, and traditional.  The Brewer’s Association defines small as having annual production less than 6 million barrels.  While this seems like a LOT of beer, the BA points out that this amount is approximately 3 percent of U.S. annual sales.  Independent is defined as having less than 25 percent ownership by an alcoholic beverage industry member that is not a craft brewer itself.  This allows for brewery mergers and buyouts, just as long as the purchaser isn’t a non-craft brewer.  The defining characteristic of traditional brewers, are those that have a majority of their total volume in beers whose flavors derive from traditional or innovative brewing ingredients.  Up until this year, a number of century old brewers were kept out of the craft category for not being considered traditional. 

The definition of craft beer has created an ambitious ‘Us vs. Them’ challenge between the small brewers and the very large brewers.  These guidelines also create debate among beer geeks who either accept or reject the parameters.  The changes made to the Brewer’s Association’s definition of traditional could cause a huge impact to the state of craft beer.  Due to their use of adjunct ingredients, Yuengling has never been considered a craft beer.  While the BA hasn’t announced which specific brewers would be considered craft due to the changes, it is highly likely that Yuengling would now be a craft beer.  The reason that this is so important is because Yuengling produces more beer than Sam Adams, who is currently number 1 on the craft beer list.  The inclusion of Yuengling alone could have a noticeable impact on craft beer’s market share.

As beer lovers around the country get ready to celebrate the annual release of Goose Island’s Sour Sisters (Gillian, Halia, Juliet and Lolita) as well as the Black Friday release of Bourbon County Stout, how many of these people will be concerned with the fact that this is not considered a craft beer.  This is a moment when craft beer drinkers needs to ask themselves, “does it matter?”  For the most part, absolutely not.  There are countless beers out there now that were once considered ‘craft’ that no longer fit into the guidelines.

Does this mean that the beers are no longer as good?  Do these beers lack a certain level of quality?  Should craft beer drinkers avoid them?  

NO, NO, NO

What difference does it make?  Well, by drinking these beers, you are in no way helping increase craft beer’s market share.  With the money you spend on that bottle of Goose Island Gillian, you could have bought a case of Boston Lager and helped fight the good fight.

Is that what it’s all about?

It doesn’t have to be.  Unfortunately, the guidelines handed down to us from the Brewer’s Association equate BCS with Shock Top and Blue Moon.  The difference is that some of these beers that are not considered craft were never considered craft, while others used to be.  The companies that used to be craft are definitely operating at an advantage now.  More money and more connections to ingredients and distributors can go a long way in the beer business.  How do these changes affect the beer?  They most likely are going to improve the overall quality.  So why would anyone boycott a beer that’s higher quality, just because of different ownership?

Whatever the definitions may be, it would be amazing to see craft beer gain 20 percent market share by 2020.  The Brewer’s Association works hard to provide all sorts of help to craft brewers to help level the playing field.  This is of the utmost importance to the craft beer business.  While it’s always great to support the craft brewers out there, it doesn’t need to be mutually exclusive.  Don’t let great beers slip by, just because they’re not called craft.      

SOURCES

http://www.brewersassociation.org/blog/revised-foundational-documents-clarify-craft-brewersmall-brewer-relationship/

http://www.brewersassociation.org/statistics/craft-brewer-defined/

https://www.brewersassociation.org/press-releases/craft-vs-crafty-a-statement-from-the-brewers-association/

http://www.brewersassociation.org/statistics/national-beer-sales-production-data/

Is it all in Good Taste?

What’s my favorite movie?  That’s a tough question, I have so many movies that I love.  A short list of my favorites might include Star Wars, Willy Wonka, Boyz n the Hood, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Planet of the Apes.  Why do I choose these movies?  That’s just my personal taste.  My subjective opinion based off of no set criteria. 

You hate these movies?  You only like one of them? (I’m guessing Boyz n the Hood.)  Why would you ever trust my opinion on movies?  The answer is, you probably shouldn’t.  We must have different taste in movies altogether.

What do my favorite movies have to do with beer?  Just like my taste in movies, my taste in beer is just as subjective.  While there certainly are clear-cut style guidelines in the beer world, these rarely impact my overall impression of a beer.  There are styles of beer I tend to prefer over others and certain times of the year that I enjoy a particular beer more than another.  While I have the ability to determine if a beer meets its style requirements, it’s worth pointing out that I’m not a certified beer judge, and I have no formal sensory training to speak of.   

Beer rating websites have become increasingly popular over the years, coinciding with the major boom in the craft beer industry. Looking up a beer’s rating online can be pretty helpful in deciding what beer to buy, but it can also be somewhat skewed.  You have to consider the collective tastes and opinions of all the people who have rated the beer.  Did the person drink a glass of the beer?  A bottle?  A sip at a beer festival?  Does the reviewer typically enjoy the style of beer that they’re reviewing?  It would be nice to assume that every beer rating online was done objectively with an open mind, but that just isn’t the case. 

While certain sites such as BeerAdvocate.com try to level the playing field for beer reviews, there is still room for some irregularity.  Some people rate beers knowing that the beer is not fresh and falls outside of a brewery’s recommended date coding. Other reviews come from bottle share events or beer festivals.  These are often based on very small tastes amidst a large volume of samples.  Beer temperature, glass selection, and glass cleanliness are other variables that could make a huge difference in someone’s perception of a beer.

Rarity also seems to play a part in the overall ratings of beers.  Many of the beers on Beer Advocate’s ‘Top 250 Beers’ list are limited release beers or beers that only get distributed in small geographic areas.  Number 46 on the list, Trappistes Rochefort 10, is the first beer on the list that is readily available throughout the year (in most of the US).  I’d find it difficult to argue with any of the beers being on the aforementioned list, but that’s not to say that other more common beers aren’t equally as good.  It’s interesting to note beers that have had declined in rating since getting even the slightest increase in distribution.  When Russian River’s Pliny the Elder was only available on draft in California, it was always in the top 5 beers on BeerAdvocate.  Now that this beer is bottled and distributed to other parts of the country, its rating has dropped to number 10 overall.  Westvleteren 12 is another beer that declined in ratings since it received increased distribution.  In 2012 the monks of the St. Sixtus Abbey wanted to raise funds to pay for renovations, so a limited amount of their beer was sold outside of the monastery for the first time in history on 12/12/12.  This is another beer that was consistently ranked top 5 overall and is now down to number 16.  Have these beers gotten worse?  Are the other beers really better than they are?  I’m not sure I could say that either scenario is accurate.  The reality is, just about 9,000 people think The Alchemist’s Heady Topper is the best beer in the world, so who am I to disagree?  I’ve only ever had a small sip of this beer…not enough to give it an accurate rating.

Why not familiarize yourself with a variety of beer?  Try a beer you’ve never had before that’s in a style category you don’t typically love.  All beers aren’t created equal.  Just because you usually don’t like IPAs, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t venture out a little bit.  Always strive to be open-minded when it comes to beer.  One of the most frustrating comments I’ve heard is, “Wow, this is actually really good…and I don’t even like lagers.”  By not drinking lagers, you’ve shut out dozens of individual styles, and thousands of unique beers.  You don’t need to love them all, but you shouldn’t be so black and white about it.    

All of this isn’t to say that beer ratings are completely useless by any means.  It’s just very important to determine how much weight you give to the individuals responsible for the overall ratings.  Be aware that there isn’t a standardized method in which people review beers.  There’s actually quite a wide range of review styles.  The bottom line is an awful beer is most likely never going to score very highly and a great beer will never get a bad rating overall.  Just remember, the most important rating to consider when drinking beer is the rating that you have given.

Sources:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/12/12/167084488/from-belgium-to-piggly-wiggly-u-s-beer-fans-snatch-up-elusive-ale

http://www.beeradvocate.com/lists/top/

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/drink/2012/05/pliny_the_younger_can_there_really_be_a_best_beer_.html

What's There to Say About Quality?

Does American craft brewing have a quality problem?  This is not just a rhetorical question, or just the title of Eric Gorski’s blog from this past April in the Denver post.  This is an honest question with one easy answer, (YES), which leads to more related questions, and imminent debate.  If you’re thinking to yourself, “Well XYZ Brewing Company doesn't have a quality problem,” then you’re wrong.  That’s the catch with the beautiful tight-knit craft beer community.  If one brewery is having quality issues, then it potentially affects every other craft brewery in existence.  Even with over 2,000 craft breweries in the United States, their sales only represent a 7.8% market share.  So even though craft beer awareness is growing, those thousands of breweries all still get lumped into one big family.  The worry for the breweries lacking quality issues is that someone would drink another problematic craft beer and associate that negative experience with the whole craft market. 

Now that we've established that American craft brewing does in fact have a quality problem, let’s get on to the follow up questions before we get into the debating.

How big is the problem?

Who is responsible for these problems?

Most importantly… can the problems be fixed?

Unfortunately, these questions don’t have the same simple answer as the initial question.

There isn't a metric to say how big the problem really is.  You might say that the size of the problem grows with the size of the industry.  More brewery openings mean a greater likelihood of quality issues and more reputations collectively at stake.  There could be an argument saying that quality concerns aren't a big problem because the majority of the actual beer being produced most likely comes from a top 50 brewery which would significantly increase the chances that poor quality is not an issue.

By no means does this argument exempt any and all top 50 breweries from contributing to the overall problem of beer quality.  I can’t say that a large brewery is just as likely as a small brewery to produce beer of inferior quality, but they are certainly not perfect.  A bad batch from a top 50 brewery is in a lot of ways more detrimental to the overall perception of the craft beer market as a whole.  The sad reality of this situation is that regardless of size, breweries are far from being the only culprits in the overall quality of beer.

Thanks to Prohibition, beer isn't always able to come straight from the brewery to the customer.  Unless you’re drinking a beer at the brewery, you can’t be certain that someone else hasn't handled that beer in a way that negatively affected the quality.  Distributors are usually the next group involved in handling the beer.  Does the distributor ship the beer in cold trucks or unrefrigerated?  Are inventories being rotated properly?  Is the beer that’s being sold staying within the brewery’s recommended shelf life?  Just like how breweries have a wide range of size and experience, distributors are the same way.  This can create scenarios where a brewery sends lower quality beer through a distributorship that is meticulous in its standards or a great beer gets shipped across the country on a hot truck and sits in a warehouse for months on end.

The final stop the beer takes before reaching the customer is either a retailer or a bar.  At this stage, not a lot can be done to bottled or canned beer to seriously affect its quality.  Exposure to excessive temperatures, light, or dampness should certainly be avoided as well as continued consideration for freshness.  Draft beer is considerably more challenging to serve.  The overall amount of equipment and space required for serving beer on tap can increase the chances that something can go wrong.  Without oversimplifying it too much, a bar needs to be consistently monitoring gas levels, gas pressures, equipment condition, draft line cleanliness, tap faucet cleanliness all while ensuring that the beer they’re serving is kept cold and fresh.  Great beer can be destroyed by dirty draft lines while bad beer can be served through an immaculate draft set up and still come out just as bad on the other side.

After considering all of these variables and the sheer size of this industry, it’s hard not to agree that craft beer has a quality problem.  Thankfully, the problem (or more appropriately, problems) can be solved!  Breweries, distributors, bars and retailers can all take strides to improve their operations to achieve higher quality beer.  This involves an investment of time, money and education.  Ray Daniels’ Cicerone certification is a relatively new program for all facets of the beer industry.  The Brewer’s Association also provides a plethora of resources to its members to help stay on top of all things quality related.

Since there’s no way to accurately measure this problem, it will be impossible to say that the problem has been completely eliminated.  Like anything, when people stop talking about it so much, it won’t be such a big deal.

Sources:     

http://blogs.denverpost.com/beer/2014/04/10/americas-fast-growing-craft-beer-industry-quality-problem/13432/

http://www.brewersassociation.org/statistics/national-beer-sales-production-data/

http://www.brewersassociation.org/press-releases/brewers-association-lists-top-50-breweries-of-2013/

http://www.draughtquality.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/DQM_Full_Final.pdf

http://www.fastcasual.com/news/cicerone-program-aims-to-burnish-chain-beer-service-2/

http://cicerone.org/