Beer future today brighter than in 1980

In doing a little background research for The Session #80 I came across a 1980 article in the Master Brewers Association of the Americas Technical Quarterly titled “Beers for the Future.” Alas, it is mostly an examination of the how and why of producing low-alcohol beers. So no nifty predictions about beers made with pumpkins or aged in wine barrels.

However, one table provides a bit of data on the direction American beer was still headed in 1980, the year Sierra Nevada Brewing began selling beer. It compares beers from 10 large brewers in 1957 with 1979 beers in various categories.

ABV IBU
1957 beers 4.7%      21
1979 lagers 4.6% 15
Super premiums 4.9% 19
Low carbohydrate       3.8% 13

 
Jump forward to 2009. The Barth-Haas Group began analyzing the bitterness levels in brands from around the world in 2006. They measured iso-alpha acids (milligrams per liter), which broadly correspond to International Bitterness Units (IBU). So, with a bit of fudging, 1 mg/L=1 IBU. The 2009 results, published in Brauwelt International in 2011, found that 11 U.S. lagers averaged 7.6 milligrams per liter. The article drew attention to earlier reports that bitterness units were still around 20 in 1980 (see above) and 12 by the late 1990s.

U.S. lagers, South American lagers, and Chinese beers contained the lowest levels of iso-alpha acids (7 to 9 mg/L).

Wednesday links: Chicago, and Citra described

Stray thoughts and links for a Wednesday:

– Chicago. Forty-eight breweries? No wonder there are something like 48 stories this week.

* The Battle for Chicago. As somebody who started buying mimeographed copies of Bill James’ Baseball Abstract in the 1970s (yes, Bill James predated Sierra Nevada Brewing) I really need to write something about this concept of “Beers Above Replacement.” Having a problem wrapping my head about the pale ale/first baseman analogy.

* Craft Beer Boom Embraced in Chicago’s Neighborhoods. And now Jonathan Cutler is an elder statesman.

* Chicago’s brew future: new breweries on the horizon. There are fourteen more about to open (suburbs included).

* Man, We’re Gonna Have A Lot of Breweries. The guy who wrote the previous story (for Time Out Chicago) has more to say.

– Paragraphs I could never write, which is probably just as well. From Ben McFarland’s article, “Raising a glass to Britain’s craft beer heroes,” in The Telegraph:

Citra, Oakham Ales, 4.5%

In a derelict warehouse somewhere in Peterborough sits the Citra hop, its arms strapped behind its back, its feet shackled to a chair built from pale malt and wheat. Surrounding it, their eyes a maniacal mix of menace and madness, are Oakham’s brewers going to work with hacksaws and hammers in each hand, the Citra squealing gooseberry, greengage and grapefruit. A superb single-hop beer.

There are more, just as fun.

– A point of order. When you put the word “unique” in the headline my first thought should not be “but what about [fill in the blank]?”

The headline in the Boston Globe: “Beer bistro owner plans unique brewing facility.” The nut: “[Daniel] Lanigan is preparing to build what he says will be the country’s first brewery entirely devoted to contract brewing: the making and packaging of beer to meet the exacting specifications of commercial clients.”

That it will be the first must be news to the investors who’ve put $100 millions behind Brew Hub, which I understand will be open by next summer.

A field report from the beer aisle at Walmart

Beer aisle at Walmart

Standing in the beer aisle at Walmart last week I tried to imagine a time when I might see a bottle of Orval or even Goose Island Matilda sitting in the cooler. Not there yet.

I went to Walmart out of curiosity. First, there were a series of stories last month about Walmart getting serious about selling more alcoholic beverages, obviously including beer.

… we do learn that Walmart hosted 500 representatives from the alcohol industry at its Sam’s Club auditorium in Arkansas for a little adult beverage get-together last September. At the Summit, the company’s executives proved to alcohol buyers how serious they were about increasing Walmart’s share in the beer market — and that means doubling its adult beverage sales by 2016.

Then the story resurfaced last week with with a Bloomberg report that Walmart “is so committed to becoming America’s biggest beer retailer that it has been selling Budweiser, Coors and other brews almost at cost in at least some stores.” Alan McLeod had a bit to say, and then even more. He also pointed to a related Beer Advocate discussion.

I found myself wondering if where a beer is sold matters a hill of beans. Despite generally overthinking “beer from a place” this is something I had not really considered. Where’s it is consumed, in situ, sure. But not where it is bought. That’s how I ended up at Walmart. I didn’t come to any conclusions, but now I feel up to date. I already stuck a note on the corkboard I’m looking at as I type, reminding myself to revisit by the first week of December to see if anything has changed.

It was more interesting because I also stopped at my local grocery store, Schnucks, on the way home and took more notes. Schnucks has an excellent beer selection, most of it kept in coolers. While the Walmart selection isn’t as broad as at a gas station in Fulton, Missouri, I ducked into recently, Schnucks has plenty of Firestone Walker beers, Left Hand, Ommegang, Green Flash, and so on. Plus a fine selection from more than a half dozen local breweries.

Boulevard Smokestack beers at Walmart

Boulevard Tank 7The price at Walmart includes the cost per ounce, making comparisons easy. At Walmart, at least now, this is mostly a matter of comparing packs of 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30. But — for those who don’t have the Beer Cost Calculator app on their phone that a 750ml bottle of Tank 7 from Boulevard costs 33.9 cents per ounce while a 4-pack of Tank 7 costs just 18.7 cents per ounce could be a revelation. The 750 of Tank 7 costs $8.47 at Walmart and $8.99 at Schnucks (the 4-packs $8.97 and $10.99, with a note at Schnucks that was .70 off the regular price — I usually pay $10.99 at my local beer store).

Will Walmart soon sell more 4-packs, 750ml bottles, maybe 500ml (Urban Chestnut Brewing packages its beer in 500s, in 4-packs and 8-packs)? That’s the implication of these various stories.

Some other observations: a 12-pack of Kräftig Light cans was on sale for $8.97 at Walmart and $9.99 at Schnucks, compared to $10.97 for Bud Light Lime-A-Rita. Kräftig was founded by Billy Busch — yes, one of those heirs — who is promising he will eventually build a very larger brewery in St. Louis. Meanwhile the beer is brewed under contract in Wisconsin. It’s an all-malt beer that does very well is various tastings.

Both Coors Light and Miller Lite 30-packs sell for $17.35 at Walmart at $17.97 at Schnucks. Bud Light Select and Budweiser are both $18.37/$18.35 (Walmart is always listed first).

Samuel Adams Boston Lager (12-pack) is $12.88 at Walmart, $13.99 at Schnucks, while the New Belgium Folly Pack is $12.47/$14.99. Stella Artois is $12.47/$15.99, and Heineken $12.47/$11.99. Schlafly Pale Ale 12-packs are $11.47/$11.99, and the Sample Packs $13.47/$11.99.

Hops, hops, hops

55,000 pounds of hops at Loftus Ranches

You are looking at more than 25 tons of hops on the cooling floor at Loftus Ranches in Washington’s Yakima Valley last Friday. This is what they mean when they say “green gold.”

I was in the Northwest last week first of all to speak at Hop Union’s Hop & Brew School (“Hop Aroma & Flavor: BC [Before Cascade] and AD [After Dank]). Since Hop Union paid my way to get there I added a few days to visit hop farmers in both Washington and Oregon and get an update on the brewery at Mount Angel Abbey. A five-barrel brewhouse is due to arrive before the end of the year, which might be before the brewing space it ready. The monks should be pleased if they have beer to sell when Mount Angel hosts is massive Oktoberfest next September.

But back to hops, and a few links.

– Sixpoint Brewery in Brooklyn used Mosaic (readers’ choice) for a “wet hop” beer called Autumnation, and a wrote a bit for their blog. I’ll let you know what I think of the beer after I taste it.

– It seems there are stories about “wet hopped beers” at every turn these days. I like this one from Long Island, even thought it is not at all clear we can call “small-scale hop farming economically viable.”

– Shepherd Neame will host the first UK Hop Symposium on Oct. 3. Tony Redsell, Peter Darby and a day in and around Faversham, Kent — wish it weren’t 4,000 miles away. In addition, Eddie Gadd of the Ramsgate Brewery will talk about the Kent Green Hop Beer Fortnight.

– Roger Protz profiles Ali Capper, who is determined to keep British hops relevant to brewers in the UK and elsewhere (particularly the US).

– You may have already read about it, but Sierra Nevada’s first Single Fresh, Wet & Wild Harvest Festival (sorry, you’ll have to fill in your birth date) next month will bring even more attention to the to unkilned hops.

– Although breweries from all over the country are shipping beer to the Sierra Nevada party if Scotty were to beam me to one festival it would be the Hood River Hops Festival. Beers from breweries almost all right the middle of Hop Country next Saturday (Sept. 28). For an idea of what might be served, Jeff Alworth is keeping a running list of what’s being served in Beervana.

Session #80 announced: Is Craft Beer a Bubble?

The SessionHost Derek Harrison at It’s Not Just The Alcohol Talking has announced the topic for The Session #80: “Is Craft Beer a Bubble?”

It’s a good time to be in the craft beer industry. The big brewers are watching their market share get chipped away by the purveyors of well-made lagers and ales. Craft breweries are popping up like weeds.

This growth begs the question: is craft beer a bubble? Many in the industry are starting to wonder when, and more importantly how, the growth is going to stop. Is craft beer going to reach equilibrium and stabilize, or is the bubble just going to keep growing until it bursts?

This discussion will most definitely overlap with the chatter that broke out following Joe Stange’s “Will it fall? A look at America’s brewery boom” article in DRAFT magazine. Given that The Session mostly attracts contributions from the UK and US it’s not realistic to suddenly expect reports from Italy, Argentina, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Scandinavia, and all the other places (apologies in advance) that small breweries and selling beer beyond the mainstream . . . but that would make good reading.

What is clear is that you don’t want to take anything I write too seriously. Just a year ago Derrick Peterman asked us to predict how many US breweries would be in operation in 2017. I settled on 2,620. Given that by June of this year the number had already grown from 2,126 to 2,620 it appears I might have underestimated the total.

The October Session will convene on the Fourth. Join in and send Derek the information for his recap.