Monday’s fermentation links: ‘It’s just beer news’

BEER AND WINE LINKS 04.16.18

I’m pretty sure Alan McLeod was lamenting the use of the term “deep dive” in his commentary on recent beer news last week. Fact is when I see the words “deep dive” I expect what follows to go deep less often than not. The good news is that several of today’s links are to stories that dig decently deep. I might also add that I’m in the midst of three separate dives myself (also known as a bid idea), so posting here will remain random indefinitely.

Has American Craft Beer Taken Over the World?
Lew Bryson asks important questions, including these, “Is the success of American craft keeping other countries from developing their own palate? Is this some kind of beer imperialism?” I also was in Chile to judge Copa Cervezas de América, although I arrived too late for that trip to the coast. Later in the week John Roberts of Max Lager’s Brewery and I made it to Cerveceria SpoH. It is located in a leather-making district, where the air is pleasantly thick with the aroma of tannins. Spoh is hops spelled backwards (because somebody trademarked the word “hops” in Chile) and, sure enough, the brewery is best known for Animal IPA. But we also tasted beers that made it clear brewer Max Ivanovic is good at subtle.

In three trips south of the equator last year I was involved in plenty of discussions about what’s new in hops, but in every place there were also questions about how to make beers that are Brazilian, South African, Chilean. Some North Americans started asking similar questions 30 or so years ago. It took a while to get to where we are.

How the Hazy New England IPA Conquered America.
To Haze, Or Not to Haze?
Need to name your new NE IPA?
Northern California’s new ‘Champagne’ beer could signal the end of the hazy IPA trend.
Headlines can be just silly, can’t they? Hazy IPA has not conquered America, and ‘Champagne’ beer is not going to leave it flatter than a table top (James McMurtry hums in the background). Apologies for returning to this oft-discussed topic, but there might be a reason. In the first story, Kate Bernot nicely recaps how we got here. In the second the divisive nature is mentioned, the results of which include the silly name generator in the third and the need to come up with a “style” that saves us from this new “style.”

For approaching two years I’ve been asking people who know a lot more about brewing than I do various questions about these beers, like do they really need to be hazy? Along the way I apparently have left the impression, perhaps because it is fun to make fun of them, that I don’t like such beers. I know that because I get emails that begin, “I know you don’t like this style, but…” That’s not true. Some of them suit my palate. The most recent example would be Space Lettuce from Monday Night Brewing here in Atlanta. I also appreciate that experimenting broadens the way we think about beer. Consider Boyzen the Yard Milkshake IPA (pictured) from Wrecking Bar Brewpub, a short walk from our house. Wheat, oats, lactose, vanilla beans, and boysenberries. Not a sentence, but a lot to think about there. The boysenberries together Citra and Mosaic hops create an unfamiliar fruitiness that is delightful, and the interplay of light tartness and rich mouthfeel makes each better.

Time Traveling: How Craft Beer Has Evolved Since 1990.
More here about the last 10 years than clear back to 1990, but consider this from Craft Brew Alliance CEO Andy Thomas. Older brands have experience to lean on, but experience “might make longtime players slower to react to emerging trends – be it the emergence of direct-to-consumer sales, hazy New England IPAs, or the growing interest in taprooms. In other words, the early innovators aren’t keeping up with the innovation curve.”

Collecting Alcohol in the Age of Instagram.
Turns out to be more here about bourbon than beer. I am passing this along mostly so you too and have nightmares about the “crotch shot.”

There’s Always Money in the Lemonade Stand — How the Own-Premise Model is Rewriting the Beer Industry’s Future.
To return to this week’s theme that thinking about beer (in this case the business of beer) differently allows brewers a certain freedom that may result in more beer we want to drink. “Own premise allows you to not water yourself down for the masses. Indeed, now is the time to lean more than ever in the opposite direction, and make less concessions as to what kind of beers you’re brewing and what kind of world you’re creating. These things should be coming from inside you, from someplace authentic, that will attract like-minded people.”

RESOURCES

– Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives: ORAL HISTORIES, VIDEOS.
– This San Diego Library Is Now Home to an Archive of Craft Brewing History.
– 10 Books About Food to Add to Your Home Library.

WINE

The Changing Face of Wine in America: The Cooper’s Hawk Phenomenon.
A variation on beer’s “own premise” theme?

FROM TWITTER

Me: [stressing about deadlines]
My husband: “it’s just beer news” pic.twitter.com/BhOwX5D1Ca

— Cat Wolinski (@BeerAffair) April 11, 2018