musing

The New York Times and Wired magazine posted stories this past week about how science may, as it has for centuries, change beer. In one case, the goal is not to change the flavor. In the other, the goal is both to eliminate an unwanted flavor and to enhance new exotic ones.

“As water sources, particularly in the western United States, dry up from overuse, drought and climate change, supporters of direct potable reuse — the use of treated wastewater in the drinking water supply — are pitching it as part of the solution,” The Times reports. “Increasingly, they are turning to beer as a way of getting people beyond the ‘ick factor’ that has been a hurdle to its broader acceptance.”

There is a “toilet to tap” perception problem . . . even though in Scottsdale, Arizona, the purifying process “involves ozone infusion, microfiltration and reverse osmosis, in which water is forced across a membrane to remove dissolved minerals and other impurities. The water is then zapped with ultraviolet light.”

The Wired story begins with details about how modified strains from Berkeley Yeast eliminate diacetyl. It barely touches upon other products from Berkeley responsible for freeing compounds that add to tropical aromas and flavors top hop-forward beers, be they hazy or clear. And it doesn’t mention Omega Yeast at all, which any story about modified yeast strains should.

I can’t get behind the headline that asserts “Gene-Edited Yeast Is Taking Over Craft Beer” but they certainly point to an aroma/flavor destination that interests brewers and drinkers. It is one that hop growers are certainly paying attention to. “I believe we could see an even bigger push toward hops that work with these new yeast strains,” says Brian Tennis, the founder of the Hop Alliance. “As hop growers, we need to make sure we are growing what the market demands.”

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Beer lessons learned in Oklahoma. Jeff Alworth admits “parachuting into any region is never going to provide me the nuances of a place,” but nonetheless he shares many thoughts. Also, a) I really want to visit Big Friendly, and b) perhaps this reflects my Midwest heritage, but I do not recall Joe Prichard’s accent being particularly thick.

New Jersey’s Governor Is Screwing Its Breweries. When we were in New Jersey earlier this month, brewery operators I spoke with thought the a bill that would enact changes intended to benefit them would be signed in law by now. It hasn’t been, and the explanation is not simple.

One of Colorado’s ‘brightest risers’ is suddenly closing. How tenuous might things be for some small breweries? Apparently, a rainy June did in Uhl’s Brewing in Boulder. [Additional reading.]

The price of beer. “Super-deals of EUR 9.99 (USD 11) for a crate of beer (10 liters) have become a rare sight” in Germany. And draft half liters cost a heck of a lot more. In the UK, a pint of beer is 127% more expensive than world average of £2.60. The United States is the ninth most expensive country for beer on average, with a pint costing £6.22 ($8) on average. They aren’t that expensive at Arnold’s (pictured at the top) in Cincinnati, even before a $2 discount during happy hour.

The tap handles at Atrevida Beer Company in Colorado Springs, Colorado, remind customers the brewery is veteran friendly.

Cartridge Brewing in Maineville, Ohio, is located in a former cartridge factory. Hence the handles.

Another long holiday weekend (Father’s Day followed by Juneteenth), and another Monday with links and (almost) nothing but.

– De-Platformed: How the Local Brewery Built on Community and Experimentation Lost Its Way in Scaling Up and Selling Out
“It’s always a little bitter to see something that seemed to have such a great concept and so much potential at the beginning fall apart. If it had stayed small and focused on quality and just maintained what made it cool to begin with, then we wouldn’t be here having this conversation.”

– Creating Safer Spaces in Craft Beer, Part One — Why Isn’t Craft Beer More Diverse? Part two posts today.

– Don’t Roll Up – Queue Up. Pub etiquette.

– Britain’s Cask Ale Is Struggling. Is American-Style Craft Beer to Blame?

– From shrinkflation to ‘drinkflation’: Alcohol reduced to ensure prices remain static.

– The grim truths behind Big Beer’s American heartland fetish.

– Beer for elephants: a visit to Okavango Craft Brewery in Botswana.

– Taking mass market lagers seriously.

– Special No More: A Eulogy For Anchor’s Our Special Ale.

– Boundary-breaking craft beer Instagram accounts to follow.

* Almost non-terroir edition, I guess. Because I really did enjoy this cartoon. To understand why, click on the image.

T-Rex hates terroir discourse. #TRexHatesCraftBeer @StanHieronymus @totalcurtis pic.twitter.com/f8iPGFazCF

— Beerbecue (@Beerbecue7) June 14, 2023

Because the first edition of “The Complete Beer Course” was published in 2013 and this is 2023 and the second edition is about to land, it seems natural to look at how the content of the book reflects changes in beer, in brewing and how consumers may view beer.

In reviewing the book and speaking with Bernstein, both David Nilsen and Courtney Iseman both found their way to the subject of brewers as, well to dig back into a popular descriptor in the aughts, rock stars.

“When I think back to 2012, I mean, it was really this era of the brewmaster-end-all-be-all, you know what I mean?” Bernstein told Iseman. “So . . . all the information and all the beer knowledge came forth from them. It was kind of wild. If you think about it back then, the brewmaster as celebrity, that concept was huge. You almost needed these figureheads, I think, to be able to talk about what was happening . . .”

To Nilsen, he said, “The moment in 2013 was really about the brewmaster being exalted. “Back then we all prayed at the altar of Sam Caligione (Dogfish Head) and Garrett Oliver (Brooklyn) and others.”

As this not totally random post from 2008 illustrates, not everybody bought into this.

But it was a real thing, as an article in 2013 by Alan Moen titled “Craft Beer Rock Stars” for American Brewer magazine illustrates. Featured were Vinnie Cilurzo, Russian River Brewing; John Maier, Rogue Ales; Rob Tod, Allagash Brewing; and Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery.

In 2023, Bernstein chose to include brewery workers like sensory scientist Rachel McKinney at Fremont Brewing and packaging manager Marcus Crabtree at Kings County Brewing Collective. “I really want to give a voice to these people that are in the industry and show people that beer is more than just one single person, that breweries are miniature factories and everybody has different roles, and getting that beer into your hand requires a lot of hard effort and a lot of [teamwork],” he said to Iseman.

What does that mean for the exalted few?

Tod and Cilurzo are in the index of the latest edition; Maier and Calagione are not (although Dogfish Head makes multiple appearances).

Call it coincidence. Photos posted on Instagram from The Brewers Retreat this week prove plenty of fans are still willing to pay to hang out with their brewing heroes.

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A post shared by Craft Beer & Brewing (@craftbeerbrew)

In the wine world, when talking about grapes, it is only a “matter of time until the notion of typicity comes up.”

Of course, wine is more dependent on a singular ingredient than beer. D’oh. But there is more to wine than grapes, and talking about typicity gets quickly complicated. Immerse yourself, if you will, or simply consider this, with two suggested changes in brackets.

“There are trends that influence and change wine [beer] styles in every region and with almost every grape [ingredient]; I think the older we get the more natural it is for us to shun new trends when the reality is we have been a part of all sorts of trends, and many have come before us.”

In the revised edition of “The Complete Beer Course” (ships in June), Josh Bernstein writes, “In the beer world, there’s an ongoing hullabaloo about the utility of style. Why do beers have to fit within neatly defined parameters? Short answer: they don’t. To me, styles prove their worth as a general framework, a reference point for discussion and a launch bad for endless future innovation.”

So it seems timely that Jeff Alworth posted this Thursday: “I’ve gone on and on [my note: indeed], so I’ll summarize and end this. Styles are not something actual, they’re a linguistic convenience. Beers are constantly changing, so any term will be a snapshot in time, and the more specific that term is (robust porter versus brown porter), the quicker it will stop describing what we find in the marketplace. And finally, there are far, far better ways to understand beers than as a catalogue of names with their associated stats.”

We spent 30 or so hours during the last four days at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, surrounded by our favorite music genres. Not once in the Blues Tent did I stop to think about the 44 blues sub-genres listed here, certainly not while listening to a zydeco version of “Rockin’ Robin.” Or if the music qualified as traditional or authentic. Or if it had to adhere to tradition to be authentic.

This is a place where “trad jazz” has its own tent. In a city where jazz funerals are an integral part of its culture. (The photo at the top is from the parade at Jazz Fest celebrating the life of Walter “Wolfman” Washington.) And one where there is always something new (that includes food as well as music).

We’ve been coming to Jazz Fest since 1990, although not every year, and change is constant. We’ve never seen anything as spectacular as what Jon Baptiste put together Saturday. He was joined on stage by “30-odd members of his St. Augustine High School alma mater’s Marching 100, the Gospel Soul Children choir, the four members of The Boyz pow-wow band, his own band, four dancers and a couple of dudes painted gold.”

To return to typicity and beer styles, I spend little time thinking about competition categories. I look at them when I judge, and for the record, the BJCP guidelines are much broader, inclusive if you will, than they once were. I’m more interested in the process that results in excellent beer, past and future tense.

Sentences that include “I think the older we get the more natural it is for us to shun new trends when the reality is we have been a part of all sorts of trends” make me stop and think. Saturday, when Jon Baptiste yelled “jump,” I saw plenty of people almost as old as I am leap into the air, raise their hands and sing “freedom” along with him.

Let’s be honest, music has magic powers that beer does not. Still, talking about music, beer, or even Texas barbecue, tradition and categories aren’t what muzzle creativity.

What sets it free? Place seems to play a role.

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– Nobody Cares About Sustainable Beer. And, just like that, I feel like a nobody. Seriously, I know many brewers who do care. They are waiting for consumers to catch up.

– Craft, or artisanal? “I am perfectly happy to own the possibility that this mindset is purely a VelkyAl thing.”

– Beer’s Most Despised Glasses: Are the Shaker and Teku Really That Bad? Exactly my thought before I even started reading the story: “Neither are worthy of much loathing (I mean, they’re just glasses, people).”

– Cask culture for the future. “Accessible, consistent beers. We’ve never chased the latest faddish trends, with no disrespect to those breweries that do… but that’s just not our style.” Citra and Galaxy hops once screamed innovative, and they still can be used that way. But it seems Fuggle may serve a similar purpose.

– Pub etiquette. The story begins, “Two men get up, put on their coats, and slip out of the door. They leave two pint glasses on the table, each with less than an inch of beer.” Read on.

– Craft Beer Investor Psychology. “It sounds unfathomable to be investing in craft beer right now with the economy such a question mark and breweries having surpassed their saturation point, but that’s exactly how market psychology works.”

– Strange brew: Why negative branding is fueling the craft beer industry. Finally, I missed this last month while traveling. There are some fact issues – “in 2011 there were zero taprooms and 1.4 million micro-breweries in the U.S. and by 2021 those numbers had grown to 2 million taprooms and 4.5 million micro-breweries.” Huh? But it’s amusing to read hypothesizing from outside the bubble.