Month: April 2015

The importance of being the local beer

MONDAY BEER LINKS, LIMITIED MUSING 04.06.15

Loving Local Beer.
Brewers Association economist Bart Watson writes: “Typically, I cite studies that suggest the flavor/variety dimension as the primary driver, with local taking an important, albeit secondary role. But there is increasing evidence that local may be rivaling flavor as a motivating factor for craft beer buyers.” And he cites figures from a Nielsen survey that indicate that local is more important for beer drinkers than wine drinkers, and that this is more pronounced for younger drinkers (that makes it an important Trend with a capital T).

Before reflecting on the sea change this represents, Watson suggests the beer/wine part shouldn’t be surprising, given that two thirds of the wineries in the United States are located in three West Coast states. But that’s two thirds of more than 8,000 wineries; there are more than 100 wineries in each of ten states beyond California, Washington and Oregon. There might be another reason that beer does better on the “buy local” front. Either there some stronger connections local brewers are making with consumers or they have done a better job convincing drinkers what they are serving is as good as the drink from elsewhere (the cachet of French and California grapes cannot be discounted). Or both. Probably both. [Via Brewers Association}

Local and variety work well together. [Via Twitter]

Why People are Still Mad at 10 Barrel, Why That’s OK, and Why It’s Also OK to Still Drink Their Beer.
The headline pretty much summarizes what the post is about. But consider this thought that I’ve seen written many times before: “Craft beer culture is not like tech start-up culture or fashion culture, or any of the other businesses where start-ups are expected to work to build something worth being acquired by a larger corporate entity. There are a lot of reasons for that—enough to fill a book—but I think the biggest ones are that American craft beer culture has always defined itself as a group of outsiders.” I’m not sure how that works when these beers constitute 20 percent of the market. [Via Willamette Weekly]

Good things in small packages?
Back in 2007 when The Session began part of the idea was that posts would include, but not be limited to, conversation about specific beers, what some would calling drinking notes or tasting notes. Friday was the 98th gathering of The Session — pretty amazing, but you’ll also notice a host is needed for May — and you’ll not find many drinking notes these days. But you can always count on The Beer Nut for notes done well. [Via The Beer Nut]

The Impending Death of the Beer Festival (as we know it).
Ryan Hannigan worries about the “massive influx of corporate-style beer fests” in Colorado. And that, “Essentially, it’s the suburbanization of beer festivals. Every one looks and feels the same.” [Via Focus on the Beer]

The Wit and Wisdom of Shaun Hill.
Shaun Hill is not simply a brewing savant; lots of interesting stuff in these outtakes gathered reporting another story. But this bothers me:

“The thing is now—with this modern light-speed dissemination of information with the Internet—is that nobody wants to just learn something for themselves. They want you to tell them. ‘What’s going to happen if I do this, this, and this?’ My response is always, ‘I don’t know. Let me know.’ The only time I really discuss that stuff is with friends like Chad Yakobson from Crooked Stave, Gabe Fletcher at Anchorage, or John Kimmich. Friends. We’re working off each other. It’s a give and take. It’s not just a take. If you have something to give me, yeah, I’ll share with you.”

There’s much truth there. The best way to find out what might result when you add x ingredient or try y process is to actually do it. That’s called learning. And part of being smart about brewing is understanding that not everything happens exactly the same way in every brewery. But whatever it is you are particularly liking in the beers you are drinking today — aromas that result from dry hopping, flavors the result from understanding the critters inside barrels, even the subtle cracker-like texture of a spot-on pale lager — there’s every chance that the brewer who made that beer learned a few things directly from another brewer. Or to put it another way, the second brewed shared something with the first without considering the quid pro quo. [Via Boston Magazine]

CAMRA – Heading for a High Wall?
A view from the inside. ([Via Tandleman’s Beer Blog]

Session #98: Cans, bottles or aroma?

The SessionHost Nathan Pierce has asked contributors to write about Cans or Bottles for The Session #98?

A dozen years ago Oscar Blues founder Dale Katechis was pretty much out their on his own, advocating that small breweries could package their beers in cans. His was Dale’s Pale Ale. He turned out to be right and his empire just keeps growing.

At the time, I had this question for him: “What about the aroma (hops and malt) you that we expect and enjoy from a beer like this?”

And he had this answer: “Well, no, not directly from the can. I tell people, when I drink a LaChouffe, I don’t drink it right from a bottle. I pour it into a glass. People see the can and think they need to drink right from it. You’d never drink a full-flavored beer from a bottle. This is a better, safer package than a bottle. It’s draft beer in a mini-keg, and you don’t drink draft beer right from a full-size keg.”

It hasn’t exactly worked out like that. People drink Heady Topper and La Cumbre Elevated IPA directly from cans. I’m a fan of beer in cans done right (they still don’t make bad beer or badly packaged beer better) for all the reasons you are bound to see elsewhere today. But I’m also a fan of beer aroma, and I’m not inclined to want to stick my nose up to that half-inch wide opening in the can and inhale deeply. That would definitely be fussing.

Granted, hop aromas (citrus, resiny, fresh berries) burst out of that opening when you pop open 21st Amendment’s Down to Earth Session IPA. It tastes fine right out of the can. But it has more aroma and flavor poured into a glass. It is more complex, yet at the same time seems less demanding. That makes for a good session beer, with aroma and flavor when you want to pay attention, but not so needy that you can’t keep paying attention and instead can do something else, like engage in conversation.

Acres and acres of hops, oh my!

THURSDAY HOPS LINKS 04.02.15

Processing hops, Yakima Valley

I don’t expect to make “all hops all the time” a weekly feature, but perhaps a regular one.

Yakima Valley hops acreage grows with demand.
The question recently has not been whether more acres are needed, but where they might be planted. Despite interest across the country (see below) in growing hops, the Northwest is where it is happening right now. This project — a collaboration between Congdon Orchards and Virgil Gamache Farms of Toppenish, one of the Valley’s longtime hop growing businesses — returns hops to an area where they were produced a century ago but not recently. One point of order: the story reports “growers expect to plant a record 41,000 acres, up from 38,011 acres last year and surpassing the previous record of 2008.” In fact, some estimates are acreage in the Northwest could reach 43,000, but that still wouldn’t be a record. Modern day acres peaked at 44,161 in 1996. According to the 1913 Joh. Barth and Sohn Hop Report farmers in the United States and Canada grew hops on almost 54,000 acres in 1913.

Idaho hop acres expected to increase by almost 1,100.
That would be a 29 percent increase. Oregon growers are expected to add a more modest 500 to 600 acres.

In Michigan. The Great Lakes Hop and Barley Conference is next week. Michigan currently has the most acres under wire outside of the Northwest, and that’s about to double.

In Ohio. Last year was the first time since Prohibition the state reported hop production: 100 acres planted and 30 acres harvested. In February, about 500 people attended the second Hops Growers Conference in Wooster.

In Virginia. Over the past two years, the Old Dominion Hops Co-operative has grown from about two dozen members to more than 80. And in November, the governor’s office approved a $40,000 grant to help Black Hops Farm in Loudoun County open a processing facility that promises to buy up to 60 percent of its product from Virginia growers.

In Minnesota. In case you were wondering about the challenges of growing “an unfamiliar crop.”

In New York. Brewery Ommegang will release a pale ale this summer made using all New York state hops. Hop State New York will be available only in New York. Ommegang, known for its Belgian-inspired beers, purchased hops from eight different New York farms to use for the pale ale, according to Mike McManus, innovation manager at Ommegang. Some of those hops will also be used in another beer. “It’s something we want to support,” McManus said. “It is going to be one part, a small part, of our hop usage. We’re going to do whatever we can to support the industry.” That’s the sort of backing new hop growers are going to need. Maybe breweries, or groups of them, need to establish regional “adopt a hop farm” programs.