Stan Hieronymus

Continuing from yesterday, you and I will not determine if one or all three of the beers in the Miller Lite Brewers Collection survives testing and ultimately thrives or not. Light beer drinkers, or consumers not currently drinking beer, will.

Presumably it will be on flavor, but certainly marketing will be a factor. The other day I saw an ad for “Craft Beer. Done Lite” pop up on a San Diego website. (Speaking of the marketing, Neal Stewart of Flying Dog has interesting thoughts on this as a line extension.)

And if it’s flavor, I’m the wrong person to ask. So I’m not going to give you drinking notes (but I will provide links at the bottom). Instead, via email and through a public relations representative, I asked some of the questions I would visiting a brewery of whatever size. I didn’t get answers to every one, and some weren’t all that illuminating, so we’ll stick with the highlights. All the information was provided by Miller brewmaster Manny Manuele.

The beers were developed at Miller’s 10-barrel pilot system in Milwaukee. They are intentionally priced between mainstream light beers and the typical craft beer. The suggested retail price for a six-pack is $6.99.

Now, the ingredients (summarized from a couple of exchanges) and other basics.

Blonde Ale
Fermentables: Pale and caramel malt; maize
Hops: Willamette, Galena, Cascade, Chinook
IBU: 14
Ale fermentation

Wheat
Fermentables: Pale, caramel and wheat malt; maize
Hops: Willamette, Galena
IBU: 6
Lager fermentation

Amber
Fermentables: Pale, dark crystal malt; maize
Hops: Willamette, Mt. Hood
IBU: 15
Lager fermentation

How long was spent developing these beers? Where did the idea originate?

Miller Lite Brewers Collection is targeted at mainstream light beer drinkers and capitalizes on two trends driving much of the current growth in the U.S. beer industry.

1. Light beers continue to provide the greatest sheer volume growth as American beer drinkers reaffirm their desire for drinkable, refreshing products.

2. As demonstrated by the continued growth of craft beers, we’re seeing an increasing interest in variety. American beer drinkers are more willing than ever to try different styles and brands.

At the intersection of these trends is Miller Lite Brewers Collection, which provides beer drinkers with the best of both worlds. Only with Miller Lite Brewers Collection can you get real craft-style taste and true light beer refreshment.

Were there different versions? In which case, why were these settled on?

Throughout the year or so we spent developing Miller Lite Brewers Collection, we considered several different styles. By selecting three styles with broad appeal to mainstream beer drinkers interested in trying a craft beer, we’ve significantly increased the likelihood that everyone will find a Miller Lite Brewers Collection variety to enjoy.

Where are they brewed and what is the batch size?

Miller Lite Brewers Collection is brewed in Milwaukee in relatively small batch sizes — less than 500 barrel brews.

Are the Brewers Collection beers all malt beers?

No. We’ve also brewed with wheat and corn for taste, lightness and refreshment.

All-malt is at the core of how “craft” brewers define their products. Would you say you disagree?

First, it’s important to note that these are not intended to be craft beers and are not targeted at craft drinkers. These are craft-style light beers. Additionally, “all malt” is one, but not the only, criteria that defines craft beer. The Brewers Association describes craft as beers brewed with a traditional process using malted and specialty grains, hops, water and yeast to deliver the aroma, taste and appearance characteristics not typically found in mainstream beers. That’s what we’re delivering — a unique consumer taste experience not typically found in light beers and consistent with craft-style beer.

The abv, calories and carbs are the same for all three beers (but different than Miller Lite). Was that intentional?

Yes. Our intention is to deliver more flavor and a more enjoyable taste experience for beer drinkers looking for variety, taste and drinkability in true light beers — in this case, at 4.2 percent ABV, 110 calories and 6.2 grams carbohydrate per 12-ounce serving.

The disclaimer: I received a package with these beers that went out to a variety of media. Here are Lew Bryson’s thoughts, notes from A Roughneck’s Take on Beer (you’ll have to jump between posts), and good marks from a Modern Brewery Age panel.

You’ll also find more opinions at the beer rating sites (but, again, the regulars there are not the target market). Both links are for the Blonde Ale: Rate Beer, and Beer Advocate.

That’s us on the right. The nickel, if for some reason you can’t see the image.

Those are the light beer drinkers on the left. The two quarters.

If you had something to sell which group would you market to?

The context for this question is that tomorrow I’ll have details about the Miller Lite Brewers Collection (being marketed as craft-style beers). The sort of stuff listed in the mission statement, like about the ingredients and the brewer’s intent. (That’s not in this post because in total there are too many words.)

In 1972, the year that Miller bought Meister Brau and the rights to Meister Brau Lite (which would be launched as Miller Lite the next year) American brewers of full-calorie beer pretty much had a big old silver dollar to themselves. Imports accounted for 1% of the market. There were no low-calorie beers. There were no “micros,” just Anchor selling a few thousands barrels.

Today light beer accounts for half of beer sales. Imports claim 15% (and more in terms of dollars spent). Budweiser is the only full-calorie beer in the seven top-selling domestically brewed beers. And that nickel on the right keeps getting bigger.

Although definitions of “craft” beer vary everybody agrees it amounts to about 4% of overall sales. Throw in non-industrial imports and “craft” is more like 5%. Just as important, for people selling beer, is price. “Craft” and “super premium” (Blue Moon White, Leinenkugel, Henry Weinhard, et al.) together account for 15% of dollar volume (that’s why I dropped a dime in the middle).

The point is that most of the beer drinkers who in 1972 were consuming full-calorie pale lagers have gone elsewhere. More to low-calorie beer than any other category.

So if you were fishing for beer drinkers who might “trade up” where would you fish?

Not on the right. Those of us over there have made the trade.

Where the full-calorie drinkers hang out? Importers and and craft breweries have been there for 30 years.

Maybe the best spots are on the left. Those are drinkers who traded over to low-calorie beers, not up. Of course you have to give them a reason to spend more. That would be flavor.

Does the Miller Lite have a plan for that with its Brewers Collection? That’s the question for tomorrow.

I’ve been waiting for “jolly” Lauren Clark’s wonderful column in the current Ale Street News to pop up online, so I could point you to it: The Pink Elephant in the Room.

She begins: “Ever notice that beer writers never talk about getting drunk?”

And concludes (among other things): “And so we’ve been policed, and have policed ourselves, into a sometimes comically polite way of talking about beer.”

For further reading I suggest, Pete Brown’s “Three Sheets to the Wind” (soon to be released in paperback in the U.S., so you don’t have an excuse not to). You’ll find plenty amusing examples of the sort of honest writing Lauren explains most beer writers avoid. And more from Lauren at drinkboston.com.

Finally, to understand the “jolly” reference at the top you have to read her column. That’s the point of the link, dammit.

– Thank goodness we don’t still have a duty on hops. Thanks to Todd Bates, a new Mexico organic farmer exploring hop growing, for this link. The debate from 1890 was over a tariff on imported hops designed to protect domestic hop growers. But the letter provides considerable insight into why New York did not remain a prominent hop producing area.

– A wine industry consortium is developing a protocol to provide a free, easy-to-use, wine industry specific, greenhouse gas (GHG) protocol and calculator that will measure the carbon footprints of winery and vineyard operations of all sizes. Shouldn’t breweries be doing something similar? (And now we take you to Chris O’Brien.)

– NBC 10 has a feature on Beer Babes — women who drink beer, not trinkets who decorate magazine articles. Since Pursuit of Ale (you might want to turn down your speakers, because this link takes you to a MySpace page) started a year and a half ago 300 different women have taken part in the beer club. Just another reason that Philadelphia is “America’s best-beer drinking” city – right all you Philly Beer Week folks? I will admit the calendar just keeps getting more amazing.

– Who has the best beer culture? The headline sure got my attention. Somehow I was expecting more than a discussion about Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.