“A brewery is no place for a Norwegian with a stainless-steel fetish because you can really blow your bank account.”
From Mark Stutrud, founder of Summit Brewing in Minnesota. The Star Tribune article also quotes a 29-year-old grocery warehouse worker who aspires to be a fiction writer. If he’s stretched for cash, he said he’ll buy a cheaper non-malted alcoholic drink, rather than switch from craft beer to the standard stuff. “It’s an acquired taste, and it’s hard to go back.”
Should Molson Coors have been surprised by the shitstorm that followed the announcement it will launch a clear beer as part of a drive to increase the number of women lager drinkers in the UK?
I gotta think they could have been better prepared, but it might have taken supernatural powers to plan for the double blast (as in two barrels of a shotgun) that Melissa Cole and Ashley Routson delivered, then the comments that followed. Go look. I’ll wait.
Stephen Beaumont adds more the the topic so I’ll keep it brief. Recent studies have found men and women perceive some flavors and aromas differently (make that some men and women, because there’s nothing universal about these perceptions, so they very from man to man, from woman to woman). For instance, men (in general) are more likely to describe the aroma of Citra, a new-ish hop prominent in Sierra Nevada Torpedo, as “tropical fruit.” Women are more likely to find it “catty” (as in cat piss or liter box).
Should brewing companies — and it’s generally the largest ones that have the money to finance such research and make those changes — design beers to appeal those preferences? Should they draw up marketing campaigns with that in mind?
And a few more links since you made it this far . . .
Teri Fahrendorf was way ahead of me.
While I was wondering why more beer marketers don’t pay attention to Mother’s Day, Fahrendorf — a brewster herself and creator of the Pink Boots Society — was sending a message to the small breweries of America via the Brewers Association Forum, calling for action rather than blogger-like pondering.
Grass Roots Mother’s Day Event:
Once in our ancient brewing past, beer was brewed by mothers, in their homes, for their families. Now that rarely happens.
One goal of the Pink Boots Society is to reach out to the fair gender, expose women to great beer, and encourage them to learn about it and enjoy it. We hope to create more female beer drinkers and homebrewers in the process, (which are additional Pink Boots Society goals).
Mothers Day is celebrated around the world, from Australia to Zimbabwe, each May. Let’s invite folks to bring their mom out for a beer that day.
If you own or work for a brewery or brewpub, consider inviting your customers to “Bring Mom Out for a Beer” on May 9, 2010. Offer moms free brewery tours and free or low cost samplers of your beers from 1:00-4:00 pm.
If you own or work for a beer-centric pub, then design your own creative idea to get mothers in your door and tasting great beer on May 9th from 1:00-4:00pm. Feel free to share your great idea on the Pink Boots Society forum and let me know how it went.
We don’t currently have a nifty way for you to register your individual event online, or to publicize it through PBS. Try grass roots tools, like Twitter, Facebook, and anything else you can think of. We’d love for you to email us your success stories, so we can spread the word.
Grass roots and beer pair so nicely.
The first of what will be many email solicitations just arrived suggesting a “beer of the month” club membership makes the Father’s Day present.
You know it’s almost time to plant the tomatoes (we can get a late frost in our parts) and brew a wit beer once the “Dads and Grads” promotions begin.
But what about May 9, Mother’s Day? What’s wrong with giving mom a membership in a beer club? Who’s assembling baskets complete with artisan cheese, chocolates and beer?
This started as a comment within the conversation following the previous post, but when it hit the third paragraph I thought it better to start anew.
Perhaps I should have made myself clearer.
– This is the opposite of marketing. We now have a broader choice of beers — some obviously better than others, and some pretty terrible — because brewers did not, and still do not, listen to marketers who said/say drinkers will not buy beers with distinctive flavor (America in the 1960s and 1970s). Sierra Nevada Pale Ale never would have got out a focus group.
Which is not to say that some breweries aren’t trying to attract attention by promoting they have the beer with the most this or the most that.
– The Halltertau hop growers started coming to the Craft Brewers Conference in 2007, obviously to promote sales of their hops. They do this by bringing beers that showcase their hops. Eric Toft, who grew up in Wyoming but who has lived in Europe for more than 20 years and been brewmaster at Private Landbrauerei Schönram for almost a dozen, writes the recipes for the beers. Victory Brewing in Pennsylvania brews them because a) Eric has a long-standing relationship with Ron Barchet and Bill Covaleski, b) Victory has contracts for barley and hops with Bavarian producers, and c) the logistics of licensing and shipping.
The pale ale was not created to sell anywhere, but to illustrate to other brewers (mostly American) that Hallertau hops make an excellent addition to beers other than those intended to mimic those from Bavaria. Basing a recipe, let alone a marketing campaign, on my tastes would probably lead to disaster, but my opinion is they are right. I’d much rather try a new not particularly high gravity pale ale made with Saphir or Smaragd (two newer varieties) and one amped up on another addition of Northwest hops. I like those beers, but well-done versions exist and it seems to standout brewers feel compelled to simply dial up the flavor intensity.
Just my opinion, but I’m not sure you will find a better spokesperson for tradition in Germany that Eric. He pitches his yeast cooler and conducts primary fermentation cooler than most, automatically adding time to the production process. He uses only aroma hops, but makes some of the hoppiest (this is a relative thing) beers in Germany. That means more hops, more expense.
Workers at the brewery skim the fermentation every day (open fermenters, also a pain in the brewers’ butt) so the bitterness is more mellow. Schönramer Gold, which won a gold medal in the World Beer Cup, lagers 10 weeks. That’s after the longer primary. You really need to visit the brewery restaurant (it’s not far from Salzburg) because its the only place you can get Schönramer Pils and Dunkel unfiltered.
He believes that drinkers can taste the difference. Landbrauerei Schönram has doubled production since Eric took over (this wasn’t a start up; been around for more than 230 years). At the same time consumption in Germany has shrunk dramatically, so maybe he’s on to something. Just as Ken Grossman and Jim Koch were a while back and Alex Ganum is today.
– The new wave of beer drinkers are asking questions other than “which beer has the most alcohol?” or “which one has the weirdest ingredients?” Some ask just that, but also about where the beer is from, about the ingredients, about production practices. They talk about flavor, and want to try new ones — sometimes “extreme.” But here’s what you should really love about them, Mike. They drive marketers crazy. The don’t just advertisers make things up.