musing

Andy Crouch offers a excellent warts-included report from SAVOR: An American Craft Beer and Food Experience, expressing concern about “the growing snobbery of beer” and using the occasion to post his “Does Beer Really Want To Become Like Wine?” column from Beer Advocate magazine.

I’m already on record with New Beer Rule #7 — “beer is not the new wine” or “beer is still beer,” take your choice — so obviously I agree we must remain cautious, and I won’t rehash why.

But call me a cockeyed optimist. I’m of the opinion that beer can show up some places that are expensive, that some beers can cost more, and beer can still be an every man’s drink.

Just look at the diversity of posts on the beer blogosphere.

You’ll even see that “Papa Stonch” (David Bell, father of Jeff Bell, known for Stonch’s Beer Blog is blogging. “His perspective – as a 60-something as opposed to a 20-something – is very different to mine, as is his stomping ground: he’ll be writing about the North East of England, where he lives,” son Jeff writes.

Finally, reading Andy’s SAVOR recap had me searching through the archives at Shut up about Barclay Perkins to find this paragraph:

“Honest beer is what I want. Beer that can look me straight in the eye and not flinch. Beer with heart. Beer that’s like an old friend. Beer you can sit and drink by the pint in a pub with your mates.”

Beer can go a lot of places and still remain honest.

The job doesn’t look exactly like blogging, and you can be pretty sure that when Beck’s owner InBev suggests its digital columnist should be offbeat that means topics only broadly related to beer may be prominent, but here’s the press release and you can decide:

Greener pastures await avid writers! Beck’s, one of InBev’s Global brands and the number one German beer in the world, present in over 100 countries, has just launched a global search to find the ultimate, offbeat columnist with an uncompromising point of view who can connect and interact with consumers in the digital world. Potential candidates can find their dream job at www.becks.com.

Fuelled by discovering and adding their personal spin on news, people, and ideas that encompass the Beck’s brand philosophy “Different by Choice,” the ideal candidate will bring their personal charisma, authenticity, and excitement to our consumers online. “Beck’s is a brand that has always refused to compromise and what we’re doing online is no different,” says Jorge Inda Meza, Global Marketing Manager for Beck’s. “Our consumers actively seek out links to new trends and genuine material from around the globe. They have a desire to learn about people who share the same values as they do. The Beck’s new columnist will help uncover and highlight relevant and exciting topics for our consumers, enabling us to better connect with them.”

The ideal candidate must be:
* A Beck’s beer lover (of course)
* Charismatic, spirited and people-loving with a great sense of humour
* Investigative with awe-inspiring writing skills
* A web-savvy individual with work published online e.g. blogs, sites, etc.
* Proficient in English (other languages are a plus)
* Quick-thinking and an independent self-starter
* Able to commit to a 6-month contract
* Authorised to work in the E.U. for any employer
* Willing to relocate to Amsterdam, Netherlands
* Above the Legal Drinking Age in their country

The new recruit will be responsible for finding and communicating their views on examples of people and trends from around the globe that are “Different by Choice” on the Beck’s website. They will talk to and engage consumers in also sharing their point of views. As part of the Beck’s creative team, the new recruit will also help with conducting web research, performing brand-tasks, do a little bit of travelling and most importantly, maintaining an authentic and open dialogue with the Beck’s consumers.

“This is the perfect position for an adventurous writer with an open mind whose column will be seen around the world. Our new online columnist should have a knack for giving their personal flavour on authentic and exciting things that are out there,” explains Frederic Landtmeters, Global Brand Director for Beck’s. “Anyone who is web-savvy and has excellent writing skills can apply at www.becks.com. We’re really looking forward to reviewing the submissions.”

I expect this will get plenty of attention.

No imported beers for us in the next year and change.

Oh, we’ll drink Bavarian beer . . . when we are in Germany. And beers brewed in West Flanders . . . when we are in West Flanders. Beers from upstate New York? You guessed it.

We’ll be drinking local. That means the local water, beer and wine. What’s local coffee? That discussion belongs in another blog.

We don’t have a precise definition for local, but I’m sure that when we’re in New Jersey that we have to consider a Michigan beer an import.

So I can already think of times we’ll feel challenged. Like December, when we won’t be in California. Will a holiday season without Sierra Nevada Celebration feel like the holidays?

– Interesting to see the New York Times explore if the ‘real’ Ireland still exists while the Chicago Tribune has story from the Washington Post I previously overlooked about how Ireland’s growing affluence has led to 1,000 pubs closing.

The “closed” sign abruptly posted on Carney’s door — and on the doors of 1,000 rural Irish pubs in the past three years — was another sign of the profound lifestyle changes that have accompanied the country’s rise to affluence.

“It was like a sudden death in the family,” said Anthony Scanlan, 51, a farmer who lives near Carney’s. “Everything has changed in Ireland. It’s as fast as New York around here.”

A few links to get you to Happy Hour.

– The first is to my own post about Flying Dog Kerberos, because it’s a tripel and those are the sorts of beers Brew Like a Monk is about. Flying Dog recently shipped bloggers a package with the new beer plus others in the Canis Major Series (since they’ll be available in a mixed 4-pack) and World Beer Cup medaling beers so you might want to look for varying opinions at rsbs (just search for Kerberos).

You might call Kerberos a different sort of collaboration. About the time last fall Flying Dog was releasing its Open Source Doppelbock brewers in Denver — this was before operations moved to Maryland — began making test batches of Kerberos. The doppelbock recipe was based on input from Internet visitors and tweaked through the discussion. For the Kerberos, each brewer came up with a recipe that was brewed on the pilot system. The final recipe came from that.

– The Champagne of Blogs has a wonderful recap of FredFest — photos, facts and just plain good reading.

– The Sun, the UK’s largest tabloid, is getting into the beer business, including a cask ale under the Sun brand. Rupert Murdoch and real ale should scare us a little.

Pete Brown has questions.

Will it be shit beer because most things The Sun does tend to be lowest common denominator? Or given that what they do, they do well (Sun journalism is actually very skilful), will they produce something that’s accessible, but decent quality?

He’s even created a poll.

Tired of hearing about trading up? How about a little trading down?

This from the Association Press:

Cash-strapped drinkers are starting to trade down to economy beers, the chief executive of Miller Brewing Co. said Thursday.

The Milwaukee-based brewer saw some shift between higher-priced, premium beers and economy beers such as Miller High Life and Milwaukee’s Best starting in January, Tom Long told reporters on a conference call.

“We think it’s primarily driven by decline of disposable income and pocket money that American consumers are feeling right now,” he said.

Mr. Long said the volume of beers sold remains stable, but the company expects to sell more lower-priced beers this year if gas prices continue to rise.

Look closely. This is a discussion about drinkers already wed to industrial lagers moving from one price level to another. Also, if you read on in the story you’ll see that Milwaukee Best sales were down. Doesn’t that present a contradiction?

Brewers of more expensive beers face plenty of challenges between rising ingredients prices and an economic slowdown, and maybe beer drinkers will opt for less expensive beers, but has anybody seen that yet?