Stan Hieronymus

MONDAY BEER LINKS, MUSING 02.23.15

Local Lagers Looming.
Brewers Association economist Bart Watson provides some very real numbers: “Although amber and pale lagers didn’t stand out in scans, pilsners announced themselves in the first month of 2015 with 56% growth versus a year ago.” And he has more reasons to predict a “new era of local lager.” But we need lagers beyond those brewed with pale malt and hopped to appeal to IPA drinkers. [Via Brewers Association]

How to make an ad as effective as Budweiser’s.
I continue to update the links (pro and con) related to Budweiser’s Super Bowl commercial (now in regular rotation elsewhere), but it seems more appropriate to post this one here. Dan Fox writes that the commercial “nails four keys to creating solid, effective beer-selling messages.” Number 4 is that it communicates Bud’s uniqueness. That got me thinking about the chart Watson showed at the American Hop convention. In 1970, Bud and beers like it accounted for 99% of sales in the U.S. Today, “various domestic” beers have a 24% share and it is still shrinking. Beers brewed by members of the Brewers Association members have stolen 11% of share, but light beers have taken 52%. Of course AB InBev has benefited, because it has the No. 1 selling light beer. Nonetheless, this makes the advertising conversations tricky, doesn’t it? [Via Hey Beer Dan]

$547,035,645.
That’s the dollar value of total sales of IPA in the United States in 2014. [Via CNBC]

18 Things I Learned at New Belgium’s “Sour Symposium.” Excellent and interesting. Just one of the many I like: “The first batch of La Folie, Lauren [Salazar] says, was so sour it could rip the enamel from your teeth. Now, she says, she’s more mature and attempts to formulate the brewery’s sours with more balance. ‘I try other breweries’ sours and I go, ‘Oh, I remember when I was like that!'” [Via Phoenix New Times]

Could a Colorado craft brewery sell out to big beer? The headline takes a point of view, don’t you think? Because there is a difference between selling and selling out. [Via The Denver Post]

Trip to Tumalo ~ hop growers in Central Oregon.
Another example of farmers figuring out a way to grow and process hops on a small scale. [Via The Brewstorian]

FOMO Infiltrates Beer Culture.
I would suggest pairing Heather Vandenengel’s post this past week with this post from Jeff Rice I linked to a couple of weeks ago. Followed by these tips for “crushing the fear of missing out” and perhaps Tyler Cowen’s thoughts about “The Upside of Waiting in Line.” [Via All About Beer]

Detroit Metro Times goes full tabloid with smear piece on Arbor Brewing Co. owners Matt & Rene Greff.
Arbor Brewing Co. presents a case study in local business ethics and crowdfunding.
The defense is presented first simply because that was the story I found first. Read ’em both and read the comments. I’m not sure where the truth lies, but plenty of reality on display. [Via Eclectablog & Metro Times]

How Dogfish Head strives for quality through science. Sam Calagione’s interview with Men’s Journal about the commercial got lots of attention last week, but this story tells you, and shows you, something new. [Via delmarvanow]

MONDAY BEER LINKS, MUSING 02.16.15

Announcing my next beer book: “What are you drinking?” No really, do you know?
Writer Pete Brown announced his next book — called “What Are You Drinking” — will be published by Unbound, which combines crowdfunding and traditional publishing. That’s if enough people step up with pledges, which should be a slam dunk. I already have, even though reading his book might leave readers with the silly idea they know all they need to about hops. He’s a known quantity. Maybe that sounds simple, but that’s the same reason I’ll download Steve Earle’s latest when it is released tomorrow and James McMurtry’s a week from tomorrow. If you need convincing, there’s an excerpt here — or you can just pledge here (they take PayPal). [Via Pete Brown]

December, 1919 – Chapter 3.
I have already mentioned Oliver Gray’s serialized novel once and promise not to do this every week or even every month. However, a year ago he and his wife braved a long, snowy drive to attend the Craft Writing conference in Lexington, Ky. During preparations for my presentation I exchanged emails with several writers about the future of beer writing, specifically narrative in nature. Pete was one of them, in fact. Interesting to have “What Are You Drinking” and “December, 1919” arrive this quickly. [Via Literature & Libation]

Why We Need More Professional Beer Criticism.
Brewery owner Jesse Friedman, who for obvious reasons would like for beer to get all the attention it can, asks the question “Why don’t major food publications have full time beer critics?” I’m pretty sure “critic” is not actually what he means. [Via Eater]

Advice for young winewriters.
Jamie Goode follows up his amusing takedown on wine writing — which rather easily extrapolates into other drink writing — with some serious advice, which also is relative to all drink writing. [Via jamie goode’s wine blog]

In Which I Apply to be a Beer Writer at Thrillist.
AB InBev didn’t buy another smaller American brewery last week or roll out a new commercial about brewing beer the hard way, so Thrillist filled the void, generating plenty of fussing. To the writer’s credit, he went out of his way to point out how to pronounce gose. [Via This Is Why I Am Drunk]