Monday beer links: Mixing history & business

MONDAY BEER & WINE LINKS, MUSING 4.04.16

Recreating Old Beer Styles Conference.
It’s too bad that Ed Wray couldn’t make it to the Ales Through the Ages Conference in Williamsburg to provide the same sort of detailed report from it he does this one at Fuller’s in London. But, of course, he can take a train to get to Fuller’s. Anyway, Martyn Cornell and Ron Pattinson went pretty much straight from Williamsburg to London, and didn’t repeat what they said in Williamsburg when they got there. Intuitively, the following thought makes sense, but it is nice to see supporting evidence: “Martyn talked about the taste of porter. He reckons that throughout its history there have been at least six different types of beer called porter, so when asked what porter tastes like the initial reply has to be ‘when?'” [Via Ed’s Beer Site]

The Identity of Irish Beer.
Jeff Alworth writes, “People think about beer in a lot of different ways, and the lens I use is slightly idiosyncratic. I think of it in terms of national tradition. This is a lens that includes not just beer style, but history and culture—the reasons beer styles emerge. It is the only way I know to explain why, say, people in Cologne drink kolsch, but in Munich they drink helles. It’s why cask ale, lambic, and weisse beer still exist.” Agreed, but now there is the matter of wondering how beer changes when a culture/society changes. [Via Beervana]

Is this the end of the Campaign for Real Ale?
[Via CAMRA]
Why the geeks won’t welcome a CAMRA rebirth.
[Via Stonch’s Beer Blog]
CAMRA describes its “Revitalisation Project” as “a wholesale review into the purpose and strategy of CAMRA.” Seems very important, but not really clear (to me) what the implications are. If it ever is I will report back.

GALLERY: Not Always About the Beer.
Be sure to scroll down to see the Carlton and its carpet in the lounge. “The landlady told us that people still respect the distinction — couples dressed up for a night out stick to the best room, solo male drinkers stand and play pool in the public.” Civility on display.[Via Boak & Baley’s Beer Blog]

What’s In a Name? Beer Industry Home to Unique Professional Titles.
“Master of Communal Amalgamation, Schmaltz-of-All-Trades and Slayer of Dragons.” [Via All About Beer]

THE BUSINESS PAGES

The Second Wave Sell-Off: Private Equity In The Craft Beer Market Spells Upheaval Within A Decade.
[Via Forbes]
The Pay-to-Play Scandal In The Beer Biz: How Far It Goes Nobody Knows.
[Via Forbes]
Two excellent stories by Tara Nurin, with information that hasn’t been reported any place else. “Despite what you might have believed, PE investors aren’t satisfied to collect off annual profits. A traditional private-equity fund, which pools money from wealthy individual and institutional investors to take equity stakes in companies, has a finite lifespan of usually 10 years. When that fund sunsets, investors expect to get paid out. A lot.” Doesn’t sound like a pretty sunset, does it?

Pabst Raids Dad’s Beer Fridge as It Looks to the Future.
“[Eugene Kashper] is pushing an aggressive effort to leverage the company’s distribution network, a part of the business that had been built up under previous owners, and dusting off old beer recipes and brands to capitalize on consumer desire for local products. ‘We’re ideally suited for the whole locavore thing,’ he said.” I’m happy to give full credit to any brewery promoting local, but think it takes more than hauling out a few old recipes. [Via New York Times]

Cask beer: is the price right?
The view from the UK: “Anybody who knows anything about beer will know cask is the ultimate craft. For this reason alone cask is under-valued and hence under-priced relative to craft keg. Also the massive ‘added value’ a highly skilled and motivated cellarman can bring to the perfect maturation of cask beer is rarely, if ever, reflected in the retail price.” In the US? Let’s be honest. Quality is all over the map, but nonetheless cask beer often sells for a premium. [Via Inapub]

Craft Wine? Craft Beer’s Innovation Edge (and What Wine Can Do About It).
“I guess I am calling for the broader commercialization of what you might call ‘craft wine.’ Fresh ideas, small lots, variations on the traditional themes but with some added flair. Not for everyone, that’s for sure, but the craft beer and spirits boom shows that there are many consumers who are interested in a more dynamic concept and some of them are being drawn away from wine.” [Via The Wine Economist]

FROM TWITTER

The person you are all competing with to be my favorite person of the day is the bartender who just carded me at a bar that serves my beer.

— Erik Lars Myers (@topfermented) April 1, 2016