Why do people suddenly care (again) about Fat Tire?

Why do people suddenly care about Fat Tire?

OK, maybe they don’t really. I found this tasting note from John Frank at Axios Denver telling:

Fat Tire is like an old friend. You can immediately connect, even if it’s been too long since you last visited.
- The original pours a beautiful copper hue, easy-going with caramel and nut flavors that remind you it once counted as full-flavored craft beer.
- While well-made, the remake is uninspiring. It has a Honey Nut Cheerios aroma, and the flavors of sweet cereal that finish less satisfyingly.
The bottom line: You can probably drink more of them, but do you want to?

. . . even if it’s been too long since you last visited.

I spent more time Tuesday looking at Twitter than I have in the last two weeks, maybe a month, working my way through various threads, wondering when those commenting last drank Fat Tire, or why they spent so much time typing words about the can, or if the rebrand will help New Belgium recharge Fat Tire, or in another words if “high quality, low impact” (a reference to the beer’s zero-emissions production process) will create more connections than “Follow your Folly” once did, or why a brewery should be obligated to make a legacy beer exactly like it always has even if it quit using the exact same ingredients maybe two decades ago, or for that matter exactly what a legacy beer beer is, or . . . whew . . . exhausting.

No, We Don't Have Fat Tire.

This was taken in 2009 at a beer store in Charleston, S.C., a few days before New Belgium Brewing began selling beer in North Carolina. As the company had since 2006, when it started selling beer west of the Mississippi, it offered three brands in 22-ounce bottles — Fat Tire Amber Ale, 1554 Black Lager and Mothership Wit. Two weeks later they would launch the same three brands on draft, following with six-packs about a month later.

We arrived in North Carolina March 2, the day Fat Tire went on sale. We visited a package store the next day. Neat stacks of 1554 and Mothership Wit remained piled as high as an elephant’s eye. The Fat Tire was gone.

In 2009, Fat Tire accounted for 70 percent of New Belgium sales and it fueled expansion. Many customers thought Fat Tire was the name of the brewery, and the Fort Collins, Colorado, post office regularly delivered mail addressed to Fat Tire Brewery.

(I wrote about this in 2019, supplementing more words for #FlagshipFebruary, a project initiated by Stephen Beaumont and Jay Brooks.)

This did not happen by accident. After an early romance with drinkers when the company began selling its beers in the Northwest in 2002, New Belgium Brewing discovered the grass-roots relationship marketing, closely tied to cycling and love for the outdoors, that had worked close to its Colorado base could not be replicated in Oregon and Washington. When sales fell, New Belgium turned to marketing consultants Douglas Holt and Douglas Cameron. Those two outline and explain the strategy they developed in a chapter called “Fat Tire: Crossing the Cultural Chasm” within their book, “Cultural Strategy: Using Innovative Ideologies to Build Breakthrough Brands.”

Cliff Notes version, there was a tagline and a commercial. New Belgium used the tagline, “Follow Your Folly, Ours is Beer,” for at least 10 years after it was introduced in 2003. “We wanted to say ‘here’s the kind of ideology we aspire to, we celebrate all those who pursue the same kind of thing, and this is exactly the ideology that is at the heart of our brewery and the beer we are drinking,” the authors explain in “Cultural Strategy.”

The commercial featured a character they called The Tinkerer. He finds an old bicycle at a garage sale, carefully restores it and then happily rides it into the Colorado countryside. I think there was more than one iteration, and this is the one I found on YouTube . . .

Twenty years ago this commercial reflected a DIY ethos that had been central to brewery startups for 20 years by then. Of course, there was also the Fat Tire bicycle connection.

It was good marketing.

It is much easier to judge such things looking in the rear view mirror. I think I will leave it at that.

-30-

Australian hop crop appears ‘average’

An update from Hop Products Australia, whose farms produce almost all the country’s crop:

“At the halfway point of the growing season, we have experienced another typical La Niña weather pattern characterized by cooler daytime temperatures and increased rainfall. With our soil saturated and our dams full, 4 percent of our acreage became subject to flooding. This was a common story across eastern parts of Australia at the tail-end of 2022. Despite some challenging conditions, we were able to modify our calendar of inputs, complete stringing and training on schedule, and help most of the flood-affected acreage recover. In general, our hops have now reached the wire, are filling out with laterals, and on the cusp of inflorescence which will give us more insight into the climatic impacts on yield this season.

“Even though the hop and brewing world seems to be going through significant realignment of supply and demand, the outlook for Aussie hops remains strong. Since crop 2023 is expected to be on average, we encourage brewers to proactively review their Aussie hop requirements and reach out regarding forward contracts.”

Harvest will begin next month.

TWTBWTW: Being local versus being for locals

"Death of a Salesman" set

An interesting thought from Alister Reece.

“This also got me thinking about how so many of the beer styles we love and take for granted are a combination of location in a physical sense and locale in a population sense.”

I’m in the process of assembling a lengthy recap about what I’ve previously written “hop terroir” for the next issue of Hop Queries. Much of the research focuses on geographical differences, but there is more.

The first question asked here, back in 2005, was, “Does it matter where a particular beer, any beer, is brewed?” In thinking about this way too much in the years since, I’ve returned often to something Amy Trubek wrote in “The Taste of Place: A Cultural Journey into Terroir.”

“This broader definition of terroir considers place as much as earth. According to this definition, the people involved in making wine, the winemaking tradition of a region, and the local philosophy of flavor are all part of terroir. Unlike the narrow view of terroir, this humanist point of view is not really quantifiable. Terroir speaks of nature and nature’s influence on flavor and quality, but here the human attributes we bring to ‘nature’ are cultural and sensual rather than objective and scientific.”

You might also enjoy

– Changing colors. We were New York City last weekend (the photo at the top is the set for “Death of a Salesman”; they were pretty specific about the rule against taking photos during the play) when I read this story about how New Belgium is making over Fat Tire. Had we been at home in Colorado, perhaps I could have tracked down a can of the beer and provided drinking notes. I will put that on my to do list.

– The Meaning of Dry January. I was wrong last week when I typed the link I posted then would be the only one to a story about Dry January. Beer drinkers may choose to quote this, “One takeaway from my research is that lower-alcohol-content beverages are better. It’s easier in a social situation to drink and continue drinking and not worry about your consumption.” They should read the rest of the story.

– What are the elements that make a beer memorable? Context. Context. Context.

– The shelf turd abides. A “a vessel of ironic detachment.”

– You Were Never Going to Go to Noma Anyway. I spent too much time in the week reading about changes at Noma, the hyperlocal Copenhagen restaurant, blah blah blah. Because I’ve been reading too much about the place since I wrote “Brewing Local” and wondering about how fine dining, beer and inclusivity (or exclusivity) fit together. So I’d also recommend you take a look at “Noma and the Fizzle of Too-Fine Dining,” “Noma’s closing exposes the contradictions of fine dining,” and “How much does our food tell us about who we are?”

TWTBWTW: Low visibility for beer business 2023

How are things looking for beer in 2023?

I’m OK if posts related to “Dry January”™ don’t continue to arrive at the same pace as they have in the first week of the year. They start to get repetitious. I expect this will be the only one I link to, unless I spot one even more striking.

– DRY INFIDELITY: On having a beer break in January

“You don’t know the story behind somebody desiring a break from beer in January. It may be that they have concerns for their own drinking patterns. It may be for financial reasons, especially after the pressures and expense of Christmas. It may be for fitness reasons as there are plenty of calories in this stuff, despite what people argue. It may be for mental well-being to have a break from a known depressant.

“Or it may be for any other reason unbeknown to others. It is a personal choice and everybody has the right to make it.

“But I’m tired. And I’m bored. And I’m sick to death of the irresponsibility of people within this industry. I’m tired of the shaming and guilt tripping online by people in this beer bubble and community being far too flippant about the mild poison that they peddle.”

You might also enjoy

– The pub with no internet. So that would mean no Untappd, right?

– Firestone Walker Wookey Jack and the State of Black IPA. I didn’t know you could write about the history of Black IPA without mentioning Greg Noonan.

– They Meet Up in Motels Across America…to Trade Old Beer Cans. This is not new, but it showed up in a collection of stories about collections. It reminded me to look and see of a story I wrote about “Beer Dave” for All About Beer is in their growing archives. It is, although my byline is not.

– 6 Beer Industry Trends to Watch in 2023. No. 6: “Taprooms Will Become Attractive Interactive Hubs.” Yes. Disc golf at Live Oak Brewing in Austin, Texas.

– Speaking of trends. The Wall Street Journal had two stories about beer this week. As the headlines (The Huge Number of Small Breweries Creates a Beer Glut and Beer Sales Drop as Consumers Balk at Higher Prices) suggest they were less than optimistic. The posts are behind a paywall, but there is an option. I read the print editions at my local library.

It’s Monday, it’s 2023 & people are still writing about beer

And so 2023 begins, with predictions about many things beer related.

But first, one more look back, this from Alan McLeod. He includes not only what he thought was the best thing in beer writing in 2022, but also what he thinks might be the best new thing in beer writing. I won’t spoil the surprise, and will be here when you come back.

Beer & writingWhile on the topic of beer writing, and before getting to more serious beery predictions, a bit of fun.

Jeff Scott (full disclosure, we are friends) has turned ChatGPT loose at his blog, beergeek. I suggest starting with, “A Craft Beer Eulogy From The Ghost of Hunter S. Thompson.” At the bottom you will see the AI prompt used to generate the post. If you enter that prompt in ChatGPT now you will get this response:

“Sorry, but I am not programmed to generate expletive-laden content or to imitate the writing style of specific individuals. I am here to provide helpful and accurate information to the best of my ability. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

As it turns out, ChatGPT is constantly evolving, perhaps learning. Those using it will have to do the same. For now I will leave you to enjoy the posts and AI generated images at beergeek and think about the answer I got when I asked ChatGPT about the future of beer writing:

“It is difficult to predict the exact future of beer writing, as it will depend on the interests and trends of both writers and readers. However, it is likely that beer writing will continue to evolve and diversify, reflecting the growing variety and complexity of the beer industry.

“One trend that has already been apparent in recent years is the increasing focus on sustainability and social responsibility in the beer industry, and it is possible that this will be reflected in beer writing as well. Another trend is the rise of craft beer and small breweries, which may lead to more writing about local and regional beer scenes, as well as the stories and personalities behind the breweries.

“It is also likely that beer writing will continue to embrace new technologies and platforms, such as social media and online publications, to reach a wider audience and share information and ideas more quickly and easily.

“Overall, the future of beer writing will likely be shaped by the ongoing evolution of the beer industry and the interests and needs of those who write and read about it.”

And AI?

The year ahead

– 23 thoughts about 2023. “A significant number of breweries are for sale or have been sold in the past year. Some are of great value and truly worth every penny. Others are worth zero, or worse. Expect to see more interesting sales, depressing closures, and everything in between. You won’t be able to keep up and the action already underway.”

– The state of (UK) beer in 2023. What you get with 15 years of context included. “In a nutshell, we think pubs feel at marginally less risk now than a decade ago, but brewing feels deflated and tarnished.” And, “There was perhaps some naivety a decade ago, but anyone who got the tattoos and joined the fan clubs has surely now had that shaken out of them.”

– Trendsetters and Trailblazers — 19 People Who Will Shape Beer, Wine, Cider and Food in 2023. “Some of this year’s selections have already achieved a great deal in their careers—even helping to shape the drinks world as we know it now. Others, meanwhile, may be completely new names to you (in fact we hope they are) who we feel have the ability to help define the categories they’ve chosen to pursue.”

– Things May Be Bad, But Brewers Remain Optimistic. “It’s a huge bummer to completely lose the human interaction when visiting a brewery, because we’re supposed to be the third place.”

– 12 Drinks Trends to Look Out for in 2023. “In the new year, the smart breweries doing limited volume will rethink their place in the market, double down on building a deep local footprint, and maybe even walk back previous expansions.” Leading us to…

– Are San Diego’s big breweries a thing of the past? This one is behind a paywall, but Pocket will get you past it. “Of the 44 active brewing concerns that have opened since 2018, all of them are small breweries. Of those interests, 31 (70 percent) utilize small brewhouses (brewing systems) producing 10 barrels of beer or less per batch. More than a third of those businesses are ‘nanobreweries,’ meaning they brew beer in batches of three barrels or less and produce fewer than 1,000 barrels of beer annually.”

You might also enjoy
– Pale ale: it’s much, much, MUCH older than you think.

– 2011: The Golden Age Ends. Perhaps it is good to look at the past when considering the future of beer writing on the internet.