Lager
Doug Veliky writes that it has been a running joke since 2014 that the upcoming year would be “The Year of the Craft Lager.” More like since 1994.
But were this to come true, it would be a welcome change. “It may never be the ‘The Year of the Lager’ because you simply don’t convert an impactful enough percentage of cheap light lager drinkers to $11.99 four-packs in a single yea . . . I am very open to the idea of the 2020s being ‘The Decade of the Lager’ though.”
Plenty of brewers would like to see it happen. The picture at the top is two ballrooms full of attendees Friday for a panel discussion at the Craft Brewers Conference: “Let’s Talk Craft Lagers: Brewing on Low to High Tech Systems.”
TikTok taste test
Can a bunch of journalists tell the difference between Karbach’s new Love Street Light and Bud Light? A smaller Houston brewery takes a shot at the latest release from one owned by Anheuser-Busch.
Vessels I
A primer for how different vessels impact aromas, flavors, and textures in a wine. It would be great to read something similar related to beer. (If it is already out there, please send a link.)
Vessels II
An ode to drinking wine from cheap glassware:
“For me there’s an order of importance when it comes to enjoying wine: the company, the quality of the wine itself, the food and, somewhere near the bottom, is the glass. Unpretentious glasses say spontaneity, fun and pleasure while delicate expensive ones say oneupmanship, pedantry and general twattery. They are for the sort of people who say stemware instead of glass, or timepiece for watch. Don’t be a glass bore. Life’s too short.”
But clean, please. Clean is still important.
State of the industry
You’ll have to connect a few dots, but here is Bart Watson’s “State of the Industry” presentation at the Craft Brewers Conference:
Previewing the conference, Jonathan Shikes took the opportunity to examine eight topics facing craft beer right now.