Month: September 2013

A field report from the beer aisle at Walmart

Beer aisle at Walmart

Standing in the beer aisle at Walmart last week I tried to imagine a time when I might see a bottle of Orval or even Goose Island Matilda sitting in the cooler. Not there yet.

I went to Walmart out of curiosity. First, there were a series of stories last month about Walmart getting serious about selling more alcoholic beverages, obviously including beer.

… we do learn that Walmart hosted 500 representatives from the alcohol industry at its Sam’s Club auditorium in Arkansas for a little adult beverage get-together last September. At the Summit, the company’s executives proved to alcohol buyers how serious they were about increasing Walmart’s share in the beer market — and that means doubling its adult beverage sales by 2016.

Then the story resurfaced last week with with a Bloomberg report that Walmart “is so committed to becoming America’s biggest beer retailer that it has been selling Budweiser, Coors and other brews almost at cost in at least some stores.” Alan McLeod had a bit to say, and then even more. He also pointed to a related Beer Advocate discussion.

I found myself wondering if where a beer is sold matters a hill of beans. Despite generally overthinking “beer from a place” this is something I had not really considered. Where’s it is consumed, in situ, sure. But not where it is bought. That’s how I ended up at Walmart. I didn’t come to any conclusions, but now I feel up to date. I already stuck a note on the corkboard I’m looking at as I type, reminding myself to revisit by the first week of December to see if anything has changed.

It was more interesting because I also stopped at my local grocery store, Schnucks, on the way home and took more notes. Schnucks has an excellent beer selection, most of it kept in coolers. While the Walmart selection isn’t as broad as at a gas station in Fulton, Missouri, I ducked into recently, Schnucks has plenty of Firestone Walker beers, Left Hand, Ommegang, Green Flash, and so on. Plus a fine selection from more than a half dozen local breweries.

Boulevard Smokestack beers at Walmart

Boulevard Tank 7The price at Walmart includes the cost per ounce, making comparisons easy. At Walmart, at least now, this is mostly a matter of comparing packs of 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30. But — for those who don’t have the Beer Cost Calculator app on their phone that a 750ml bottle of Tank 7 from Boulevard costs 33.9 cents per ounce while a 4-pack of Tank 7 costs just 18.7 cents per ounce could be a revelation. The 750 of Tank 7 costs $8.47 at Walmart and $8.99 at Schnucks (the 4-packs $8.97 and $10.99, with a note at Schnucks that was .70 off the regular price — I usually pay $10.99 at my local beer store).

Will Walmart soon sell more 4-packs, 750ml bottles, maybe 500ml (Urban Chestnut Brewing packages its beer in 500s, in 4-packs and 8-packs)? That’s the implication of these various stories.

Some other observations: a 12-pack of Kräftig Light cans was on sale for $8.97 at Walmart and $9.99 at Schnucks, compared to $10.97 for Bud Light Lime-A-Rita. Kräftig was founded by Billy Busch — yes, one of those heirs — who is promising he will eventually build a very larger brewery in St. Louis. Meanwhile the beer is brewed under contract in Wisconsin. It’s an all-malt beer that does very well is various tastings.

Both Coors Light and Miller Lite 30-packs sell for $17.35 at Walmart at $17.97 at Schnucks. Bud Light Select and Budweiser are both $18.37/$18.35 (Walmart is always listed first).

Samuel Adams Boston Lager (12-pack) is $12.88 at Walmart, $13.99 at Schnucks, while the New Belgium Folly Pack is $12.47/$14.99. Stella Artois is $12.47/$15.99, and Heineken $12.47/$11.99. Schlafly Pale Ale 12-packs are $11.47/$11.99, and the Sample Packs $13.47/$11.99.

Hops, hops, hops

55,000 pounds of hops at Loftus Ranches

You are looking at more than 25 tons of hops on the cooling floor at Loftus Ranches in Washington’s Yakima Valley last Friday. This is what they mean when they say “green gold.”

I was in the Northwest last week first of all to speak at Hop Union’s Hop & Brew School (“Hop Aroma & Flavor: BC [Before Cascade] and AD [After Dank]). Since Hop Union paid my way to get there I added a few days to visit hop farmers in both Washington and Oregon and get an update on the brewery at Mount Angel Abbey. A five-barrel brewhouse is due to arrive before the end of the year, which might be before the brewing space it ready. The monks should be pleased if they have beer to sell when Mount Angel hosts is massive Oktoberfest next September.

But back to hops, and a few links.

– Sixpoint Brewery in Brooklyn used Mosaic (readers’ choice) for a “wet hop” beer called Autumnation, and a wrote a bit for their blog. I’ll let you know what I think of the beer after I taste it.

– It seems there are stories about “wet hopped beers” at every turn these days. I like this one from Long Island, even thought it is not at all clear we can call “small-scale hop farming economically viable.”

– Shepherd Neame will host the first UK Hop Symposium on Oct. 3. Tony Redsell, Peter Darby and a day in and around Faversham, Kent — wish it weren’t 4,000 miles away. In addition, Eddie Gadd of the Ramsgate Brewery will talk about the Kent Green Hop Beer Fortnight.

– Roger Protz profiles Ali Capper, who is determined to keep British hops relevant to brewers in the UK and elsewhere (particularly the US).

– You may have already read about it, but Sierra Nevada’s first Single Fresh, Wet & Wild Harvest Festival (sorry, you’ll have to fill in your birth date) next month will bring even more attention to the to unkilned hops.

– Although breweries from all over the country are shipping beer to the Sierra Nevada party if Scotty were to beam me to one festival it would be the Hood River Hops Festival. Beers from breweries almost all right the middle of Hop Country next Saturday (Sept. 28). For an idea of what might be served, Jeff Alworth is keeping a running list of what’s being served in Beervana.

Session #80 announced: Is Craft Beer a Bubble?

The SessionHost Derek Harrison at It’s Not Just The Alcohol Talking has announced the topic for The Session #80: “Is Craft Beer a Bubble?”

It’s a good time to be in the craft beer industry. The big brewers are watching their market share get chipped away by the purveyors of well-made lagers and ales. Craft breweries are popping up like weeds.

This growth begs the question: is craft beer a bubble? Many in the industry are starting to wonder when, and more importantly how, the growth is going to stop. Is craft beer going to reach equilibrium and stabilize, or is the bubble just going to keep growing until it bursts?

This discussion will most definitely overlap with the chatter that broke out following Joe Stange’s “Will it fall? A look at America’s brewery boom” article in DRAFT magazine. Given that The Session mostly attracts contributions from the UK and US it’s not realistic to suddenly expect reports from Italy, Argentina, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Scandinavia, and all the other places (apologies in advance) that small breweries and selling beer beyond the mainstream . . . but that would make good reading.

What is clear is that you don’t want to take anything I write too seriously. Just a year ago Derrick Peterman asked us to predict how many US breweries would be in operation in 2017. I settled on 2,620. Given that by June of this year the number had already grown from 2,126 to 2,620 it appears I might have underestimated the total.

The October Session will convene on the Fourth. Join in and send Derek the information for his recap.

The Session #79 roundup posted; standoff continues

The SessionAdrian Dingle has posted the roundup for The Session #79, titled “What the hell has America done to beer?” or “USA versus Old World Beer Culture.” Not surprisingly he has include a few rebuttals.

I wonder if any minds were changed in the course of posts, reading of posts, and comments.

Anyway, the next Session is Oct. 4. We’ll await the official announcement from host Derek Harrison, but he’s already told us it will be “Is Craft Beer a Bubble?”

Session #79: In which I struggle with the meaning of ‘beer culture’

The SessionSo much for planning ahead. The topic for The Session this month is “What the hell has America done to beer?” or “USA versus Old World Beer Culture.”

I’m not sure if that is one discussion or two, but without any thought toward today just Monday, responding to Boak and Bailey’s request to go long, I posted enough about “what the hell America is doing to beer?” to tide us over for a while.

But I struggle mightily with the notion there are only two beer culture tents: “USA” and “Old World.”

Is there a single American beer culture? So that we put the people drinking retro tall boys at a Chris Knight concert here, people paying $9 a pint in a Manhattan bar here, everybody in Portland (Maine or Oregon, take your pick) over there, tourists at the new Anheuser-Busch biergarten in St. Louis together with regulars at the Urban Chesnut Brewing beer garden four miles away . . . no, wait, those last two don’t belong together.

Pub contemplationAre beer drinkers in Berlin (HT to Evan Rail) and Bamberg part of the same beer culture? At a London “craft beer” bar and in a country pub? How about La Cave à Bulles in Paris and Omerta in Krakow (HT to “The Pocket Beer Guide: The Essential Handbook to the Very Best Beers in the World”)?

Are we talking beer cultures and beer subcultures? Should we be talking about beer culture as a subculture of a nation’s culture (or perhaps a region’s)?1 These strike me as more interesting questions. Ones that should be asked over beer — OK, over beer in a romantic Old World setting — rather than at 10:30 in the morning. That way you don’t feel as bad when you fail to come up with an answer.

Adrian Dingle volunteered to host The Session because he has an agenda, which he lays out in 2,000-plus words. There are things there to agree with. I’m no more thrilled about “best of” lists in wich 28 of the 25 beers contain 12% alcohol or more than when I railed against them in the past, but I’d be repeating myself. As well as reading Ding’s full post be sure to use the links in the comments following his original post. Unlike here, you’ll find actual answers to the question he posed.

When The Session began six-and-a-half years ago the idea was contributors would write to the same topic, maybe even a style, and also about a specific beer they were tasting. I’m not sure what this says about American beer culture, but last Sunday at Second City in Chicago I had a glass of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale that was as good as a glass of beer can be. Full of flavor, crisp, refreshing, and — yes — bitter. So I had another. Just as good. Full of flavor, crisp, refreshing, and — yes — bitter. End of tasting notes.

***

1 My answer would be whatever a beer culture is it is a subculture of a region’s culture. Try drinking two Double IPAs and saying that fast.