{"id":16891,"date":"2022-03-07T07:11:02","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T13:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/appellationbeer.com\/blog\/?p=16891"},"modified":"2022-03-07T07:11:02","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T13:11:02","slug":"monday-beer-links-some-success-is-random-b-o-r-i-s-is-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/appellationbeer.com\/blog\/monday-beer-links-some-success-is-random-b-o-r-i-s-is-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday beer links: Some success is random; B.O.R.I.S. is not"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes beer stories pop up during the week that seem to be thought about along side something that I am currently reading. Such as this story about \u201cWhat\u2019s the Next Big Beer Style?\u201d<\/a> It showed up about the same time I reached the seventh chapter of \u201cHit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

First, about the list. Adam Beauchamp at Creature Comforts stays true to what he said<\/a> when Creatures introduced its Cold IPA collaboration with Bell\u2019s Brewery. Second, I like the honest answer from Mitch Steele of New Realm Brewing, which is that making predictions is a crap shoot. \u201cA lot of us brewers are wishing we had crystal balls. But we keep hearing that beer drinkers are moving back to lagers and other lighter styles. We\u2019re also hearing that West Coast IPAs are making a bit of a comeback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back to \u201cHit Makers\u201d and the chapter where author Derek Thompson considers how random success can be. \u201cMaking complex products for people who don\u2019t know what they want\u2013and who aggressively cluster around bizarrely popular products if a couple of their friends do the same\u2013is unbelievably difficult work. It\u2019s important to appreciate the stress inherent to being a creator, an entrepreneur, a music label, a movie studio, a media company. People are mysterious and markets are chaos. Is it any surprise that most creativity is failure,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n

That is not exactly like brewing something new and trying to sell it, but it also not totally different. And there is this next thought, \u201cOne solution for taming the chaos is to own the channel of distribution.\u201d Hmmm.<\/p>\n

BRINGING IN OUTSIDERS<\/strong>
\nCan \u2018Outsiders\u2019 Like Me Disrupt the Wine Industry? The Answer Isn\u2019t Clear.<\/a>
\n\u201cOur culture, our heritage, and the places we come from shouldn\u2019t determine where we land or what we\u2019re able to be a part of. The truth is, there is no wine gene.\u201d Pretty sure there\u2019s no beer gene either.<\/p>\n

STILL BODACIOUS<\/strong>
\nFrom Ireland . . .<\/a> \u201cThere are certain products of American brewing that were once spoken of reverentially, back when all that was thrilling in beer came from the USA, and as a still-scribbling hack who was around then, I take great pleasure in ticking them off.\u201d The original B.O.R.I.S. revisited, plus brand extensions.<\/p>\n

PUBS, BARS & SALOONS<\/strong>
\nThe Chelsea Drugstore – the pub of the future?<\/a>
\n\u201cIn the 1960s, British brewers sometimes behaved as if they didn\u2019t believe the traditional English pub had a future and scrambled to find ways to reinvent the pub for the late 20th century. For Bass Charrington the solution was a glass and metal wonderland in West London, on the King\u2019s Road \u2013 The Chelsea Drugstore.\u201d<\/p>\n

For whatever reason, when as I was reading the responses (click to expand) to Robin LeBanc\u2019s question I thought of the final words in \u201cFaces Along the Bar.\u201d They are, \u201cThe saloon<\/em> was a creature of its time, and its time was past.\u201d<\/p>\n

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What's your dream bar? Not a real place, but the qualities in a bar or pub that you like?<\/p>\n

Is it minimal & clean, or traditional-style with wood framings and dim lights? How many taps does it have? What music is in it? many rooms, or just one? What's it looks like from outside? pic.twitter.com\/O0Y0sj8NiY<\/a><\/p>\n

— Robin LeBlanc, from work (@TheThirstyWench) March 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n