DIFFERENCES

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

Ah yes, here we go again. I read AB-InBev bought Beatbox for the tidy sum of nearly $500 million. I’ve never tried a Beatbox, which I understand is a basically a boozie juice box that has spent a ton on advertising and has attracted the Gen Z drinkers. In ’24 it was the top-ranked RTD brand in convenience stores After hearing so much about Gen Z being healthier and drinking less here’s an 11.1% ABV with silly flavors like Blue Razzberry, Cherry Limeade, Fruit Punch, Orange Blast, Peach Punch, etc. which must all use “real natural” flavoring and this is what Gen Z gets all excited about!?!

Didn’t we just go through a summer of incessantly hearing about Surfside; a hard tea with vodka drink, commercials all day long. And before that it was Sun Cruiser, another 4.5% ABV hard tea that ran commercial after commercial. I see a method to their madness…if you advertise it enough, Gen Z will drink it, as long as it’s got a catchy name and colorful can and some fruit flavoring.

And mass advertising works well for beer also, look at all the Corona, Modelo, Mich Ultra (after the Bud Light fiasco) and Heineken with lots of commercials and they all sell well. It works for craft beer too! Remember Kona out of Hawaii. ABI bought them back in 2020 as part of the Craft Brew Alliance and it’s one of the few they kept after their recent selloff. Why, well most probably because they do a ton of advertising for Kona Big Wave and it sells very well.

So why doesn’t craft beer just take the same approach and advertise like crazy?? Well, I guess first off advertising costs bucks and most craft brewers don’t have many of those lying idle so they’ll stick to the smaller stuff. Most crafts aren’t national, although that shouldn’t stop them from targeting their own markets. From a national perspective both Boston Beer and Sierra Nevada could and do advertise. Boston Beer has tried to ride the wave or movement from craft beer to other RTDs as they also own Truly Hard Seltzer, Twisted Tea, Angry Orchard, Hard Mtn Dew and Sun Cruiser.

But aren’t we really talking about, the shiny new toy that everyone wants effect?? And when that shows up in the advertising scheme and it clicks with those paying attention then it’s the next shiny new toy, which will soon displace the previous shiny new toy, unless you’ve been able to build brand loyalty. Even with that you’ll need to keep up the big bucks advertising to keep it fresh and in front of those fickle or maybe more accurately electronic content consumers. And of course, if your fellow drinkers start drinking something else good chance you probably will too.

Craft beer isn’t about shiny new toys! Some might scoff and think the ever-changing land of IPAs is craft’s shiny new toy, but it’s more about the taste than the hype. A perfect example is Heady Topper. It’s a sought-after beer that I’ve never seen an ad for on TV and they’ve never changed their can art…they don’t need to we want what’s inside the can…we don’t drink the art on the can…

ABI mostly miscalculated the projection of craft beer inititally, as to be honest we all did. So now they’ve mostly exited that market and decided to buy the shiny new exciting toy to see what they can do with it and maybe hope they can hitch some of their beers along for the ride. Personally, I think they just bought the shiny new toy that will begin to fade when something else comes along, but they have the money to burn to try these little games

Well Gen Z if that’s what floats your boat you can have your shiny new toy; I’ll stick with my craft beers, thank you very much…

Is It Time To Celebrate !?!

by Glenn :Big G" DeLuca

Hey 2025 has not been a really great year. I read about brewery closings every week. And it’s not just announced closings, its bang, shutting the doors with no notice, one day they’re there the next day the doors are closed. For the customer it means no more of maybe one of your favorite beers and no more hanging out with friends and beer buds at a local place you’ve taken for granted. But what about all the brewery workers who are now out of a job??? Again, in some instances they had a job yesterday, but not today…ah, that’s a shock to the system. And what other local breweries are hiring? Not good!!

Then there’s the auctions where they can’t pay the bills anymore and they’re so deep in debt the banks are just looking to recoup some of their money and auctioning off every piece of equipment, signs, chairs, basically anything someone will buy. I’ve written about this before, brewers who were doing well, took out loans to expand and the increase in business might have been there early but its faded and now they can’t make their payments; good brewers maybe not so good businessmen.

And what about the economy in general; basically, it ain’t great, between inflation and tariffs pretty much everything costs more. So, breweries costs are higher so they either need to raise their prices or eat it. And some of us drinkers don’t have as much disposable income as we did before and spending $6-8/pint sitting in a brewery taproom or bar can definitely thin your wallet more than picking up a 4, 6 or 12 pack (or dare say a 30, if you understand what I mean) in the store. Less traffic in bars/restaurants means less turnover and selection than what we were used to and yea, they may need to raise their prices as their costs for beer and everything else has gone up also.

Non craft related our government’s tariffs on imports along with the immigration crackdown has basically whacked Modelo, since approximately half their buyers are Hispanic. Has probably helped the other macro breweries the most.

So, is it time to celebrate?? Well, why not?? The torture of 2025 is almost over, hopefully we can smile a little, enjoy our holidays and let’s cross our fingers that 2026 is not a continuation of this awful trend, but a change in a better direction.  We can hope, can’t we?? I’ll drink to that!

Thoughtful Thoughts When Thinking…About Craft Beer

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

A few things have come to mind so decided to just hit you with em…

Interesting that some bigger names of good successful breweries have or are closing up shop. And no, I didn’t just have a cold one and misspeak; when I say successful, I mean MAKE GOOD BEER! There are still over 9,000 breweries but I’ve tasted a fair amount that are either terrible or fair to middling. It’s not necessarily a surprise that a brewery that makes good or great beer has an issue. Think about it; you’re doing well, you can hardly make enough beer to satisfy your customers so what do you do…take out a big loan and expand; buy new equipment, move to a bigger space in a different place and bingo, you may well have just overextended yourself. Some of your customers don’t follow you to your new place, now you’ve got more inventory which isn’t moving as fast and possibly most important you’ve just added a loan payment to your balance sheet and maybe threw it out of balance.  Making good beer doesn’t mean a brewer is also a financial wiz and in many cases without some really good financial assistance may not be coming up with a viable plan. That’s not a craft beer problem; that’s a basic business problem. Even in today’s challenging atmosphere there’s still this myth that opening a craft brewery is a great idea! It really hasn’t been for awhile but that hasn’t stopped new breweries from coming online every year as others are closing, being bought or merging.

And most of those mediocre breweries get enough customers to make it by and don’t try to expand, so just keep on sucking away good dollars that could be supporting good and great breweries. Unfortunately, it’s OUR (the craft beer drinkers) FAULT because we’re not picky enough to just buy the good stuff. Now I can see some saying, easy to say, everybody’s taste is different, you could never get consensus on who’s mediocre. Well, I beg to differ! If you ask craft beer drinkers to put breweries into three categories of Great, Good and SoSo; I’m willing to bet there will be a lot more consensus than most expect. And the key is you don’t need 100%. If the SoSos business declines some will start to close which is exactly what we need to drive business to better ones. I’d venture to say if 25 % of the 9,000+ breweries closed the entire industry would do better.

Let’s talk about Gen Z. There’s all this talk that they don’t drink and they’re killing craft beer. Seriously, please don’t tell me they don’t drink; maybe they drink less and maybe they have more choices so drink less beer than we did. Some say they have no money so spend less; hey I wasn’t a rich youngster but I’d manage to have beer money. In the pre-craft, basic lager days I wasn’t drinking the more expensive Michs or the Heini’s either. We did have the advantage of going out and buying pitchers of beer we were all sharing, definitely overall less costly on a unit basis than today’s trying a few different crafts when you’re out.  Maybe the “Zs” are sticking to some of the “less expensive” majors and avoiding craft in a similar way. And think about the effect of advertising. Craft breweries aren’t doing a whole lot of high-profile advertising like a lot of the cheap RTD drinks like Surfside, etc. which could easily make a difference as the “younger” folks can’t get enough of social media so are more prone to see that stuff. The macros like Ultra and Modelo and Corona do plenty of advertising with groups of friends having a great time with beer so you’d think that should help the image of drinking beer.  And in terms of social media, when posting some are concerned with the “image” they portray and I guess a drink is more upscale when posting than a beer…whatever…

Just read about the explosion in NA beers in…wait for it…Germany!?! Maybe it’s similar to here where there’s all this press but when you look at the numbers it’s really just a trickle. I would also venture to say that Germans are probably not drinking the amount of IPAs we are, so when comparing an NA to a lager it’s a lot closer comparison. The other potential issue is quality; most American NAs lack taste. Two of the best I’ve had are Guinness 0.0 and Erdinger. So, if the NAs being made there taste better well there’s a better chance of people drinking them.

And hopefully in a couple of weeks all those pumpkin beers will be gone and we will have survived another year of inundation of not-so-great pumpkins…

Going A Little Too Far 

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

I’m an HGTV fan especially when I’m working out; The Property Brothers, Fixer Upper, Love It or List It and Flip or Flop are my favs. It’s interesting watching the different styles of houses and situations that come up and how they handle them. It’s also a good way to stay current with design styles, learn how to address different issues, etc. I realize you don’t see all of what’s going on since they show 4-6 week reno’s in less than a half hour. Additionally they stage the finished product so everything looks new and perfect and just right, whereas you may not be planning to replace all your furniture.  And yes it can be a little contrived, especially on Love it or List it, where it’s always one will never leave and the other will never stay, but hey it’s a lot better than watching so called “Reality” shows .

I also get an email every few days from Houzz.com, which is a home design company. As I understand it, this couple was remodeling their house, using the then standard approach of collecting magazine articles and pictures and getting referrals from professionals and friends. After a frustrating and not entirely successful experience they felt there had to be a better way, so created Houzz; a place to browse other

redesigns, collect photos, get information on different subjects and connect with professionals and other homeowners who have gone through or are going through similar experiences. Each email will have a bunch of interesting articles on actual redesigns, comparison articles on different materials, articles on working with contractors, etc. I’ll flip through and usually find one I’m interested in.

I got one recently and one of the featured articles in subject line is; Behold This Epic Basement Brewery! Now there’s one I’m going to open up and read!  I scroll down and there it is; Room of the Day: Cheers to a Home Basement Brewery for Craft Beers. The intro talks about Kal Wallner, a Canadian electrical engineer, who turned his decade long love of brewing into a project and then a business.

So I’m ready to read an article about this guy building a brewery in his basement, thinking it’s a step up from the many typical homebrewers who just use some of their space and don’t worry about building something more permanent. And yes initially it’s about him wanting to find commercial grade equipment and not being able to, so deciding to build his own. Well that’s interesting; he must be very particular as there is lot more equipment around; probably most built in China. He brews about once a month, an all day affair, and is down basically every day during the two to four week fermentation.

Then we get to the next paragraph and it gets very interesting. Seems it’s really a complete build of an unfinished basement for his family of four and the brewery is just one part of that. Other areas to be included are a bar and seating area (that makes a lot of sense), a lounge with fireplace, a home theatre, a bathroom, a sauna and a movie storage room. OK, well it is an 11,000 square foot basement, so they can build all this in for adult size bodies as opposed to kids.

He hires a local basement design company; planning takes three to four months and the build out six. He designs and builds his own brewery equipment and supplements that with other standard pieces. When the project was finished he documents the whole process, which took much longer than actually building it, and has published instructions for building all the brewing equipment on his website, side business number one.

Wallner sounds like your typical craft homebrew kind of guy, as he not only wanted to brew but be able to serve his beverages in a nice relaxing atmosphere. The design has his bar right outside the brewery with a large window affording a view into it, so with the lights shining on the kettles “it’s got a little of a brewpub feel to it.” Great design and layout!

Another reason many small homebrewers would not do this (besides not having an unfinished 11,000 square foot basement available) might just be the cost. The equipment cost $6,000, which since he built it himself must be all material and  upporting equipment, and the entire project cost >$100,000. And yes he did use a design company, which gets factored into the overall.  And he created a second side

business with instructions on how to build your own home theatre, so maybe there’s some offset to all the expense.

While I’m in awe of the result, I’m still thinking this is overkill. But then again the Wallner family doesn’t live in northern NJ, they live in Ottawa Canada. So maybe I should look into the weather there for some other reasoning. Ottawa is north of Toronto and not on a lake so, as described, the summers are warm and humid and the winters are very cold. Lows to high in June are 55 to 75, July 59 to 79 and August 57 to 77, which to us is more like a mild spring. Winter though is a different animal; December is 14 to 27, January is 5 to 21, February is 9 to 25 and March 19 to 36. The average numbers of days of snowfall for those four months are 13, 15, 11 and 8 and the average snow depth those months are 4.3”, 8.3”, 9.8” and 7.9” respectively.

OK, so with that in mind, a nice lounge area with a fireplace, a sauna, a movie theatre, a bathroom with a urinal and fresh brewed beer sound like it might take an edge off that type of winter. I hope he makes great Stout…

While I don’t see this as the next wave of homebrewing, I think I should get in touch with him and see if I could arrange a road trip with some of the guys next summer; heck it’s only a seven hour drive.

=========================

Glenn DeLuca writes about beer and culture of drinking. He may be reached by writing thebigG@beernexus.com or webmaster@beernexus.com.

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My First Book Review

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

II love craft beer and definitely like to read many of the articles I see online, but there aren’t a lot of books about craft beer that really peak my interest. Recently a couple of my fiends…oh sorry friends had read “Quench Your Own Thirst” by Jim Koch and passed it on to me. I’m a big admirer of Jim as I know he had a lot to do with the growth and current craft beer scene today, so yea I’ll read it. I thought he probably

wrote it many years ago since Sam Adams was formed back in the 80’s; yes the last century; and he should have had time to write it after 20 plus years but to my surprise this was published in 2016, 

It was a quick read with many small chapters with a good flow and lots of observations, learning points, dos and don’ts and encouragement along the way. Jim was better prepared than many of today’s home brewers/entrepreneurs who want to venture into the land of being a commercial craft brewer, in that he was a Harvard grad and had an established and successful career in business consulting, helping other companies solve their problems. He was also lucky to grow up in a family with a great work ethic also involved in brewing; not to mention his great-great- grandfather’s recipe. It’s not just a book on how he started Sam Adams but for those who don’t want to take the path that others or society are suggesting; taking risks/following your own gut can be challenging and rewarding. He didn’t know he was going to start a brewery, he knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur and had to figure out in what.

His first and primary lesson; every problem has a solution. His approach has always been to look at the issue you’re having and figure out how to address/fix it. It doesn’t mean the solution is easy or obvious and it may take time and some trial and error to find it, but there is a solution. And if you don’t have it maybe someone else may have the answer because their thought process, approach or basic knowledge or

understanding is different.

Think of the beer business back in the 80’s. Domestic beer was dominated by the major brewers bland lagers and regionals were beginning to have a harder time competing. And Americans were intrigued by the tradition and expected better quality of the foreign beers as they came marching in trying to capture a spot in our market.   Fritz Maytag and his success at Anchor Steam were a major influence creating an outlier to the everyday established norm and was a major germination seed in whwould be The Boston Beer Company.

And think of the issues he faced that current craft breweries twenty or thirty years

later -

•   One of the biggest questions he had to face; who is going to buy this? There was no discernable segment of beer drinkers who were clamoring for better tasting beer.

•   What to name a new entry into the beer world? Even Fritz didn’t have that problem since Anchor Steam was an existing beer. Today you can use any crazy name for the brewery and even crazier for the beer itself.

•  Think of how difficult it was to get investors for a craft beer company thirty five years ago, which is why it took a guy like Fritz Maytag and his money to make Anchor Steam the success it was. Compare that to today when craft breweries are well over nine thousand; guess there’s a lot more available capital now.

•  What about the time and effort to sell a new beer to bars and restaurants compared to today. How many draft lines did bars have thirty years ago vs. today when they can have a couple of dozen or close to a hundred.

•    Also different for that period; spending time in bars educating consumers and servers. He could and did learn a lot talking face to face with the customers, understanding what their thoughts and hot buttons were. Just as discussions with thebar owners and personnel and retailers who’ve been in the business could bring

insight on many different issues. Today’s craft beer clientele certainly has a much higher level of understanding but there is still room for more learning as we see with beer seminars, tastings and dinners as well as the BJCP constantly training certifiebeer judges. And there is Cicerone training and certification for servers to hone their craft.

One major success approach; Quality is more important than price. That was a major premise in making Sam Adams Lager; that we Americans would pay a little more for a higher quality beer if we knew about it. That was certainly a big struggle early but look at craft beer now. There are many breweries making high quality beers and selling them for $13 to $20+ for a four pack and we’re buying them because we love

the taste. There are many who are still very happy with a 30 pack of Milwaukee’s Best or Icehouse or Natural Light, but they’re drinking without tasting much which may well be fine for them. And following along those lines, the best marketing in the world won’t sell a bad product. Marketing lets a good product speak for itself.

Another major factor in his success was creating the right business culture.  Creating a company’s core values and having them be more than just some words written somewhere but understood and followed by all. Looking for and hiring the right people; from his first partner who he worked with as an admin assistant, who was smart, liked people and bartended on the side; someone who fit in well and brought to the table many of the things to compliment his knowledge and skills. Hiring the MBA or PhD that walks in the door with a great resume is always enticing but the best person for the job may be the guy/girl who started at the bottom and worked their way up the ladder and knows more about the process and company than anyone

else. Hiring one of the best consulting brewmasters he could find to work with him converting his last century recipe to modern day equipment and contracting with a brewery that was also willing to work with him to brew beer differently than the current approach. Sure sometimes finding the right person or place is part luck, but understanding what you need and not settling play a part also. And today their new

employee orientation starts out with a tasting class by Jim. They need to understand and be able to talk about the beer and the brewery.

Something I never would have guessed was also a major reason for success; Contract brewing. That was what allowed them to expand as quickly as they did. They never needed to go look for more capital to invest in more equipment and space, they could ramp up production by buying more raw materials and/or finding another contract brewer. I must say I have many times questioned a craft brewer who contract brews, but after really understanding how that can be both cost efficient and brew better beer, I’m changing my tune. I have seen many a small craft operation that isn’t all that sophisticated and it may well work for a startup, but ramping that up can be tough. Now for those who just want to start a craft brewery and use contract brewing to find a different style/taste then I’m not nearly as enamored by that type of effort, but if you’ve homebrewed and want to take it to the next step this can be a much smarter way.   

Their approach to expansion was also measured. They pursued “organic growth”, moving into new areas when they were getting calls to be there, rather than pushing to open new markets which may not be ready for them or they be ready to handle properly.

Jim also developed what he calls, The String Theory. A small company with great culture and values can beat bigger companies flush with money and resources. It certainly sounds counterintuitive but it makes sense because the small company will better value and use their resources, because of the culture. Don’t be spending time and money on things you don’t need. Just hiring someone to get more work done

doesn’t always work; new employees take time to train and also time from their manager. Can you do it another way quicker or reorganize the work to be more efficient. And looking at the supply side to see where the cost of goods and services you buy and use is another way to be more cost efficient.

Highlights along the way -

•  1985 GABF – huge publicity

•  Doubling in size every eighteen months in the 1980’s.

•  Exporting to Germany and challenging the foreign imports – They were sending inferior beer to us and obviously a much easier target than trying to go after the US mega brewers.

•   Adding freshness dating, not in a code, but a simple easy to read date, and doing buy backs on outdated beer.

•  1995 IPO – actually selling to consumers by advertising in their six packs.

•  Surviving the 1996 A-B attack on contract brewing and their attempt to buy up mos of the Hallertau hops depriving Boston Beer of an important ingredient.

•  1997 – Buying one of their contract breweries, Hudepohl-Schoenling brewery in his hometown Cincinnati.

•  1995-2003 – sticking with it and not giving up and selling out when all of a sudden you have virtually no growth.

•   Learning from failure to drive success across the craft beer segment but also with the introduction of Twisted Tea and Angry Orchid.

•  2005- finally realizing that the best advertising was telling their story

•  2007 -  staying innovative introducing the Sam Adams Beer Glass

•  2008 – understanding that giving back is an important part of success and setting up the Sam Adams Brewing The American Dream. Working with small entrepreneurs, not just brewers, with education, training, technical support and loans.

Well I’ve probably told you too much already, but there’s more to be revealed. This is a book written for small business entrepreneurs not just craft brewers.  If you’re a craft beer lover and want to learn about the very young history of our craft beer movement and maybe even pick up a few tips that could apply to you and your ventures  maybe you’ll want to spend a little time, Quench”ing” Your Own Thirst.

I think I need a Sam Octoberfest about now.t

=========================

Glenn DeLuca writes about beer and culture of drinking. He may be reached by writing thebigG@beernexus.com or webmaster@beernexus.com.

A Double Tribute

by Glenn " Big G" DeLuca

Well, this last month was a tough one for craft beer!

We lost a Craft Beer Pioneer who many called The Father of Craft Beer, Jack McAuliffe

I started this article in 2022. When I did, I wasn’t thinking about next month’s article I was thinking of an article I would need and want to write “when the time came.” I’ve always marveled at how quickly TV and newsprint come up with such detail on a person’s life very shortly after they pass. I really don’t think everyone gets pulled off everything to do research and put it together immediately, rather they probably have files on celebrities/influential people where they’ve collected data/information and all they need to do is pull it out and get it ready. There are times when things just coincidentally hit you and spur a connection/thought; and that was what happened when I decided to begin this, hoping I’m not using it for a long time…but realizing when the time came this would be the basis of my next article.

I was reading an article on the Smithsonian and remembered when I learned they were opening a Beer exhibit back in 2019. It’s exciting to think THE Smithsonian Institution would not only think about but actually create an exhibit, “Brewing a Revolution” on the history and industry of brewing beer and realize that to be complete they had to include craft beer.

I first learned about the exhibit from The Brewer’s Daughter Blog in early ’19, which is written by Renee DeLuca (no, we’re not related!). Renee, whose birthfather is Jack McAuliffe, now owns and is keeping New Albion Ale alive. For those who need a refresher Jack, inspired by what Fritz Maytag had done with Anchor Steam, built the first microbrewery in 1976 out of basically whatever he could find. He named it New Albion, which is the name Sir Francis Drake gave to the Northern California when he landed in the Bay Area. He longed for the taste of the European beers he drank while serving in the Navy in the 1960’s. Remember at that time we were loaded with mostly fizzy lagers. Jack brewed chewy ales, porters and stouts and people loved it.  Although they wanted more, he really couldn’t make a living so unfortunately, he shut down after only six years in business.

Although he closed, his successful creativity (in brewing good tasting beers) inspired many others like Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada, Jim Koch of Sam Adams, Stick Ware of Boulder Beer, Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head, Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River and many others that it was possible to brew really good beer. Basically, what Jack had done was create a template for how to build a microbrewery; a guide map for all to follow. Seeing we’re at 9,000+ today I’d say it was a pretty good one!

New Albion became known as The Original Craft Beer.

Jack never reveled in what he had done, but eventually Renee got Jack to attend the GABF in 2011, where he was sought out by Jim Koch who told him how much he revered him, oh and by the way he had bought the rights and trademarks to New Albion back in 1982 when it came into the public domain because he thought it was important to the craft beer industry. In 2013 Jim invited Jack to Boston Beer and they brewed a 6,000-barrel batch of New Albion after which he transferred the rights, trademarks and proceeds to Jack, which Jack then transferred to Renee.

So yes, Jack does deserve to be called the Father of our Craft Beer industry. Some might say that it’s no big deal because if Jack didn’t do it someone else was bound to, but he did do it and I, for one, am very thankful he did. Thank You Jack!

Unfortunately, this is a Double Tribute as my small cadre of craft beer drinkers and lovers lost one of our own beer buds. He’s been sick for a little while and he succumbed to his illness faster than any of us could have imagined. So, there’s a bar stool for a smiling, joke telling, generous friend that now sits empty and it S**KS!

My suggestion is we all raise a glass or two or three of our favorite craft beers and toast Jack; we owe him a lot, and also toast each other, the good times we’ve had sitting around drinking crafts and those yet to come. You never know when things might change permanently.  I might even suggest it’s time to open a special beer you were saving for the right time to open, which is what I’ll do to honor them both…R.I.P.

Don’t Get All That Excited Yet!

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

Last month I read an article about BevBoost, a Colorado company founded in 2023, that just came out with a device, they claim, will revolutionize the beer and beverage industry. Okay, you piqued my interest!!!

Matt Cutter, the founder of Upslope Brewing, was chasing the dream of preserving the intense hoppiness of a fresh brewed IPA, without having to go to the taproom to get it fresh on draft. He conceptualized a device that could infuse hop extract into a beer at the time of consumption. Working on that concept he developed a dual-chambered widget that can be inserted into an aluminum can at the point of manufacturing. Tested at Upslope, they claim it was an immediate success!

This widget is a recyclable insert that can hold fresh flavor compounds, functional ingredients, vitamins or mood enhancing additives such as THC and CBD and releases them right when a carbonated drink is cracked open. Luckily it doesn’t require shaking as opening a shaken can of beer is a recipe for a bath. It needs no refrigeration and supposedly there’s no compromise in shelf life, but I think it’s WAY TOO EARLY to be claiming that; talk to me after you’ve tasted a five-year-old can of beer and then tell me it tastes fresh. And they’ve figured out a way to easily install them into existing product lines, which does seem like a huge plus; not having to spend a ton of capital upfront and have to recoup it is a big plus for getting more breweries to try it.

Interesting…I mean Guinness brewers invented the widget back in 1968 and began adding Nitro widgets to their cans in 1988. It was improved in 1997 as the “floating widget” or “smoothifier” to solve the overflow issue. They added it to bottles in 1999. One might be thinking why it would take decades for someone to think about using a widget a little differently, although in the early days of craft beer we went to breweries to taste, and bought and drank whatever we could find in stores and bars. As the brewery count skyrocketed, hop varieties began to multiple and we’ve had a downturn in consumption, freshness has become a much bigger issue.

I viewed their little video on how it works. Not sure how different it is than the Guinness widget but their patent has expired. Must be different to get a new patent for the same type product??

Initially Upslope has a limited release Hop-Boosted IPA with a fresh boost of cascade hop extract available at their taproom and select retailers. What I’d really like to do is a side by side of draft and can to see if I can taste the difference, but they probably don’t have that beer, without the widget of course, on tap. The BevBoost website is definitely promoting its use in all kinds of beverages and encouraging potential customers/users to contact them. Who knows what their plan is increase their own production and get it out to other breweries. If they want to revolutionize the industry, they have to get it out to them, right?

This sounds very interesting; no clue how long it might take to spread, but I start thinking that this might and probably will take a long learning curve. I’m not a brewer, but just thinking this has got to rewire a brewer’s head. So, you brew a batch of beer, taste it and then decide how you want to enhance, although it’s already fresh, so how do you know what it will taste like in a month and therefore what to enhance it with? Do you then make up a dozen different widgets all with different extracts, make a test batch of cans with all those widgets and try it?? Again, as the beer ages how do you know the hop extract(s) you picked will give you the taste you want??

And then the rabbit hole really opens up. I’m reading Matt’s quote “We didn’t just create a new beer. We’re inventing the beginning of a new category of beverages.”  and thinking there’s Pandora’s box! We’ve already seen a bunch of different RTD cocktails/beverages and this will allow beverage makers to be adding all sorts of different flavors, enhancers, etc. So, if I buy one of these how do I know what I’m getting…by the description on the can which will be worded to make it sound like the best tasting beverage ever…

Am I overthinking this?? If this any different from all the other crazy stuff they’ve put into beers like oysters, yeast from beard hair, seaweed, collagen, bull testicles, etc. And how do we know how long the added ingredient will stay fresh inside the widget cannister?? Sure, it’s not in the beer but everything has a shelf life inside a plastic shell.

What’s to prevent a lazy brewer from just dressing up a bad batch of beer or making one basic beer and just adding different widgets to it so it seems like they’re making lots of different beers??

Will the macro breweries have a use for this; maybe for slow sellers that sit on the shelves? Maybe some brewers might revive old beers that people love but just didn’t sell enough of; here’s looking at you Pabst who owns a ton of old distressed brands, although some may be a little too old to revive at this point.

As you see there are lots of questions to be asked and we, the drinking public, will need to make sure we get the transparency we need to understand how this is being used as opposed to taking it at face value.

                                        bring back the good old days!?!

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

Ah yes, the Good Old Days, when new craft breweries were opening every week somewhere in the US, when bars were crowded and if you didn’t try that new offering from a brewery, it was gone the next time you came in, beer festivals were happening and you had your choice of which to attend and craft beer was everywhere! But, unfortunately or fortunately those days are gone and they won’t be making a comeback…

But there is one thing I would love to have back and I’m betting all the others still drinking and enjoying craft beer would also; great bartenders and great service!

My goto bar had a solid core of really great bartenders and they trained the newbies that came in how it was supposed to and should work, so when someone left, they didn’t skip a beat. They’ve all moved on and now we’re left with service that sometimes is sorely lacking.

My buds and I usually hit the bar every Tuesday and Friday afternoon. We start about 3:00 and on Tuesdays it can be quiet at that time. There are about 16 barstools at the bar and 5 tables in front of the bar for another 22 seats that the bartenders service. When we’re there at a table on a Tuesday with only a few others at the bar why are we sitting there waiting for service?? Okay so there’s only one bartender till 4:00 and maybe they need to run down and grab some beers to stock the coolers or occasionally change a keg or start the popcorn machine but having customers waiting for periods of time is not the ideal model. We do stagger in so initially they need to come over to us multiple times. It’s gotten to the point when I’m ready for beer 2 or 3 I just go up to the bar and order it and sometimes just wait till they hand it to me. Many times, they’ll say “you don’t have to come up, I’ll be over” but sorry I’ve already felt I waited too long.

Last week I went in and sat at the bar as I knew we’d be a small group. There aren’t many at the bar, the bartender already said hello but he’s down bs’ing with other customers. Finally, he comes back and I ask about the two Pils on tap; I get a taste of each; BIG MISTAKE, as he walks away and there I sit waiting till he eventually comes back. He’s a nice guy but he just doesn’t get it. 

When I’m ready for beer #2 another bartender helps me. He pours my IPA in a 12 oz glass when the menu says pint, which I point out to him. I’ve had this beer before and it’s been on for close to 2 weeks; I don’t recall it not being a pint last time, but hey sometimes they change it. So, he grabs a pint glass and starts to fill that. I’m sitting right in front of him with my first beer in a PhD glass, a program where we qualify for larger MBA and PhD glasses, so I say “ah I want one of these!” As he grabs one of those I tell him not to waste it and pour it into the larger one. He’s not new, he’s served me before, I don’t expect he remembers whether each customer is an MBA or PhD, but then ask. I got my bill and left as I’d had enough that day, not beer, but aggravation. And yes, I left a smaller tip than I usually do. And if this continues, I plan to reduce what I’ve been giving because a tip is supposed to be for service!

I’m sorry but many of today’s bartenders would struggle a few years back. Beers turned over much more quickly and after a day off there could be 6 or so different beers on tap that you had to bone up on quickly. Fridays back then not only were all the stools and tables full; the bar was 3 deep; no way today’s cadre is up to task of handling that.

So, maybe you’re thinking I’m Alexa Hente, which for those of you have never heard of him he was aka “The Demanding One” in a coffee commercial, and I’m just expecting too much. Hey sorry, I think I can be very patient, at times. I think more so I was spoiled years back when our bartender would be standing next to me as I was finishing my beer, ready to take my order before I even looked at the menu. Obviously, they paid attention, they watched their customers and were there when we needed them; now that was service at its finest!

Please tell me where have they all gone…I want them back!!

I’ll Drink to That!

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

It’s that time of year; the Brewer’s Association just released their annual Top 50 Craft Breweries and other relevant data on 2024! And as Dylan once sang; “The times they are a changing”…still. That’s one thing we can always be sure of; the unbelievable upward climb of the past is long gone and the craft brew industry and movement are in a constant state of flux/adjustment/improvement. Which is not necessarily a bad thing as the world keeps moving forward, we hope progressing, and very few things remain static.

So, what are some of the interesting numbers/trends:

•  ’24 was the first year since ’05 to see a decline in breweries; down 67, which is a mere 0.7%; not really a big deal

•  Some big names dropped off after being acquired; Stone, Bell’s, Founder’s

•  Lots of other smaller mergers/acquisitions are breweries trying to stay afloat and expanding to help scale.

•  Overall beer production fell 1.2% and craft’s share stayed relatively flat around 13.3% (surprising that craft’s share didn’t fall further with the big names lost, but Tilray did pull back in a bunch of ABI castoffs)

• ·With all its additions, Tilray is now the #4 craft producer!

• ·Monster the new CANarchy, despite their ineptitude, amazingly hung in there at #9.

• Sad to say but Athletic moved up to #8 and all they make is non-alcoholic and at least for my taste buds it ain’t great stuff; I’ve had a lot better non-alcoholic beers.

•  A few new names; Zero Gravity, Fat Head’s and New Trail, which goes to prove if you hang on long enough and wait for others to close or merge or be acquired you’ve got a chance of being in the Top 50.

•  Eight of the top 10 Overall Brewing Companies are macros and alcoholic companies; again, not surprising.

It would be interesting to see the actual production numbers associated with the rankings and also at least the next ten. Being a northeast guy I wonder where Other Half is? Looking at their website they now have 8 locations, not sure they all have brewing equipment, but they’ve definitely expanded and their beers are much more available. And with VT represented by Fiddlehead at 23 and now Zero Gravity at 47 I also wonder where’s Lawson’s, but I guess just because they make great beer doesn’t mean they make enough of it to be one of the top producers. I’m sure other craft beer lovers in places like CA and CO and OR are wondering the same thing about breweries they know and love.

For all the challenges of the most recent past it appears craft is hanging in there and still competing. Our well-established craft breweries are obviously attractive, especially to foreign beer companies looking to establish a foothold in the US. The macros that initially decided to buy into craft to grab a piece of the market are withdrawing, which is great, who needs them mucking things up.

Everything is not rosy but it’s certainly not the gloom and doom that appeared to be coming. Doesn’t mean 2025 won’t be a tough year but craft beer has matured, is not the young, new shiny toy anymore and has learned they need to compete and innovate, but first and foremost make really good beer. That’s really the key, if you make great beer, we craft beer drinkers will look for it and enjoy it.

And craft breweries continue to be innovative and branch out. One of the latest that’s gotten publicity is Private Label Beers. The big one here is Deschutes partnering with Costco. They had a big hit last September with Kirkland Signature Vintage Ale, a 22 oz. barrel aged imperial stout with the Deschutes logo. Turns out to be a Win-Win as Deschutes is then available in 49 states and they don’t have any sales or marketing costs; just produce a lot of good beer. They just followed that up with a Helles Style Lager which at $14 a 12 pack is a bargain for a really good lager. Others have seen this success and although there aren’t many as big as Costco there are still opportunities.

Other Half in Brooklyn is partnering with Wegman’s on a hazy IPA. Hardywood Park in Richmond, VA is partnering with Trader Joe’s on a Dark chocolate peanut butter Porter. Paradox Brewery in NY is partnering with Stewart’s Shops on a Mountain Brew Lager. And I’m sure there are others who see this as an opportunity to expand their marketing using someone else’s name and pull…nothing wrong with that. And the big difference this time is they’re not trying to hide who’s really making the beer as opposed to previous attempts, which is what makes it a Win-Win.

There are a couple going about it differently. Aldi is partnering with Carlsberg to produce a German style Pils. That’s not a big surprise as Aldi is a German based discount chain, so they may well already have a relationship with Carlsberg.

The other is our old friend Walmart, who tried selling really cheap beer before. They are a grocery behemoth that sells beer so having their own private label make some sense. Here’s the catch, they’re trying to mimic/rip-off the big boys meaning their Brewmasters Selection portfolio will have a Golden Cerveza, can you say Modelo Especial, Brewmasters Lite, can you say Miller Lite and a Brewmaster Premier, can you say Mich Ultra. Basically, they’re picking three of the largest selling beers and make their own cheap version. I’d expect the macros to not be happy and fight back, which is great as they’re leaving craft alone. They’re using City Brewing, a contract brewer, which has locations in LaCrosse, Latobe, Memphis and Irwindale so spread out enough to supply Walmarts all over the country.

So, we’re hanging in there, which is a beautiful thing for us who love our craft beer! Keeping my fingers crossed it continues.

Craft Beer Madness

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

Well, we’re coming to a close on March Madness, which many of us go crazy over, even though it ends in April, but hey most of the games and upsets are in March. But that’s got nothing on our craft beer world which has been maddening, crazy, insane, duh and a whole bunch of other similar adjectives for quite a while…like decades.

Probably first was the unbelievable growth where year after year new breweries were opening left and right. Hard to believe we were upwards of 10,000; we never officially crossed that plateau but if you think about breweries that bought other breweries and then only counted as one... At an average of 200 per state, I can find a grade school student who can name 20 states that are too small or even too large but largely rural to support that. Finally, we’ve got more breweries closing than opening, which makes sense for many reasons.

Then we had the macro breweries realizing that craft beer was growing and here to stay so figured they’d jump in and start acquiring some of the better ones, probably assuming their money and knowledge of the beer industry would lead to them eventually owning the space. Sometimes sticking to what you’re good at (brewing large batches of fizzy lagers) isn’t a bad idea as the macros have now retreated and sold off many if not most of their acquisitions.

There were also the non-beer companies that thought they needed to get in on the act and are in the process of or have already failed miserably. Constellation has to be the prime example paying $1B for Ballast Point, only to sell it for pennies on the dollar. Currently we have Monster Beverage buying CANarchy and proceeding to ruin some great craft companies and losing a lot of money doing it. With the industry having a hard time was it a smart idea to buy something that you really wanted to use to incorporate your business into, rather than just run it; maybe but it had to be a much-reduced price and/or have a better plan.

We also had foreign breweries thinking it was time to get into the American craft market. Kirin’s Lion subsidiary bought both New Belgium and Bell’s and has done fairly well, with the exception of ruining Fat Tire, the declining flagship of New Belgium, and pissing off a lot of veteran craft drinkers. Then there’s Sapporo who stupidly bought Anchor Brewing with the absolute dumbist idea of using it to mass produce Sapporo and then Stone, which was a much better target with excess capacity on both coasts and at a great price, but they don’t seem to have the right processes in place to accomplish it.

Craft was initially great tasting lagers and ales, hefeweizens and other seasonals; then came the IPAs! Craft beer drinkers couldn’t get enough of the hoppy, piney, bitter beers, so everyone HAD to make one. Even Jim Koch at Boston Beer, who wasn’t an IPA fan and resisted as long as he could, realized he had to have that in his product line. Then came the Doubles and Triples, Quads and Quints. Then the New Englanders found a way to make the IPA hazy, tropical and juicy and many IPA lovers loved it. IPA dominates craft to the tune of approximately 50%, has for decades and shows no signs of giving back even with the backlash and renewed emphasis on other styles, which is just a way to appease those complaining and maybe hit a homerun (had to acknowledge baseball is back!) where a brewery finds a real temporary winner to ride for as long as it lasts.

In searching for the next big “thing” brewers make hard seltzers and hop water. Hey they’re easy to make and hopefully keeps some of the not so enthusiastic non beer drinkers coming in to the tap rooms and not complaining. But the rest of the alcoholic beverage market is paying attention and starts trying more canned cocktails, spiked lemonade, hard tea, etc. and the RTD market begins to flourish to the point where there’s something new and popular every year now; I’m thinking Surfside is the new hip one being promoted.

There’s the craft beer drinker him/herself who used to be loyal but now only wants to try the latest release. With so many hops and different ways to brew it’s easy for brewers to keep tweaking and releasing “new and different” beers that aren’t necessarily all that different and, in some cases, not all that good.

What about the prices in taprooms? We’ve all noticed they seemed to have climbed more than you’d expect and if they’re cutting out the middleman and the bar/restaurant it should be cheaper. They were getting to be on a par with the bars/restaurants but we’ve seen them jack up prices also.

And some bars have a good reason to jack their prices when some breweries are charging $3-400 for a sixtel of beer!! A sixtel is a mere 5.6 gallons of beer! When that’s the base price and you can only get 55 12 oz pours, they have to charge a lot to make any money. At those prices not only does it look, but is “liquid gold.”

Many breweries start on a shoestring budget so they’re located in an old warehouse in a not-so-great part of town or a newly opened warehouse strip. Breweries have been good for gentrification, where they attract more people and businesses to an area and it improves socially and economically. Which is then a double-edged sword as that old warehouse is worth money and so the rent goes up or it’s sold and the new owner wants higher rents or it was sold to tear down. We’ve heard of many breweries getting high rent increases that they could not afford and can’t find another place of comparable value to move to. Now to mention moving a bunch of large tanks, piping and other equipment isn’t all that easy either.

And the latest wrinkle; tariffs. Hop farmers sell a lot of hops overseas. With retaliatory tariffs there will be less overseas sales and potentially a glut; good for our brewers. But probably just for a year as farmers will plant less next year.  And hey aluminum tariffs are going to help the cost of 16 oz cans…NOT!! If it gets bad some breweries may dust off their old bottling lines…if they still have them.

Call it mad, call it insane, call it crazy; some might even call it progress! Craft beer doesn’t just have a month of madness, it’s year-round and don’t expect it to change any time soon!!

Enough Already with the Continued Differentiation

By Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

Years ago we had IPA – India Pale Ale, a bitter distinctive style, different from the lagers, porters, stouts, hefeweizens, etc. Then we got more styles of hops and brewers decided to experiment which is a good thing. But now we have more “styles” of IPA than you can shake a stick at and to be perfectly honest it seems like a runaway train.

There are definitely some logical ones:

• ·English IPA -  the original, closest to what was exported to the British colonies, using exclusively  British hops like Fuggles and Goldings; typically, a very dry, hoppy finish with a 6-7% ABV.

• American/West Coast IPA – where it all began for us US craft beer drinkers; the piney, resiny bitter hop blast that we just called IPA back then.

• ·Belgian IPA – generally made with Belgian yeast giving the clove and spicy notes commonly found in hefeweizens and Belgian Tripels. Always good for a change of pace.

• Double/Imperial IPA – loving the bitterness we want more and brewers said sure and cranked up the hops and the malt to balance it out and the ABV starts climbing. A  minimum ABV is considered 7.5%.

•  Triple IPA – so you really like the doubles, so let’s crank up the hops some more and now we’ve got big aromas that can reach 12% ABV or higher…not for the faint of heart…

• ·East Coast/New England/Hazy IPA – enough bitterness already, let’s go fruit forward/tropical!

• ·Session IPA – the pendulum has swung! After all the high ABV doubles and triples many felt it would be great to tone it down, but still maintain the aroma and taste. Therein lies the rub, their lightness and lower ABV, in many cases, means a less hoppy taste. Too many are too watery, but think Founders All Day IPA for one of the Best!

• ·Black IPA – aka a Cascadian Dark Ale after the region where it was developed. Basically, a dark beer that looks like a stout but with the hoppy aromas of an IPA. The roasted flavors of the malt contrast with the floral, citrus, piney flavors of the hops. You don’t see many of these and to be honest it’s tough to find a really good one.

• ·Grapefruit IPA – a variation of a fruited IPA; aroma and flavor largely come from the grapefruit also lending acidity and amplifying the bitterness.

• ·Rye IPA – as one might expect let’s use rye instead of barley, which gives it more of spicy, grainy flavor.

• ·Red IPA – let’s combine the malt flavors of an American Amber Ale with the hoppiness of an American IPA.

• ·White IPA – first brewed around 2010, combines the flavor profile of Belgian Witbier with the hops of an American IPA

• · Sour IPA – another combo but this time the tartness of a sour ale with the hop profile of an IPA.

• · Milkshake IPA – one of my least favorite brewing ingredients; lactose, along with fruit puree and hazy IPA hops…as some might say, dessert in a can.

• ·Brut IPA – introduced around 2017, basically a pale (ranging from straw to light gold), dry and highly carbonated IPA with a bone-dry finish. Personally, I think it fizzled out pretty quickly.

• Cold IPA – let’s brew an IPA at lower temps than what is normally used to ferment an ale, use lighter malts, often with adjuncts and lager yeast;  humm, sounds a lot like an IPL doesn’t it, well yes but there are subtle differences.

• Fresh Hopped – a seasonal pleasantry every year; taking the early hops of the harvest and asap putting them in a tank of fermented beer for a few days. Hops are normally dried to preserve them, which works great for the vast majority of our IPAs. They can also now “flash freeze fresh hops” which might get you about as close to fresh as you could get. The one I always look for is Sierra Nevada Celebration!

We just listed 17 different types of IPAs, although it should be noted the BJCP recognizes and judges 9 categories.

So, let’s take a deep breath, but don’t think we’re done here?!?

What comes across my desk, ah make that iPad, an article that says “Meet the Latest Regional IPA Styles.” Now what?  Midwest, Mountain and Northleft to mention a few…

First up they’re telling me Great Lakes decided to create a balanced subtly-sweet, not too bitter “Midwestern” IPA. “Nobody really talks about it but there is a Midwestern style” says Great Lakes interim co-CEO and which, under his breath, says we’re trying to attract a broader audience of IPA drinkers. OH, NOW I GET IT!  So not just coming out with your latest IPA iteration, you’re referring to it as a “new style,” can anyone say marketing ploy…

What else you got…how about a Southwest Coast IPA from Ska out of Durango, CO?

Well, I’ll raise you a “desert-dry” San Diego IPA from North Park, Burgion and Societe.

But what about us on the East coast?? Well in the Finger Lakes region of NY, they’re brewing IPAs with only NY hops which they say deliver NE aromatics with a clean, dry finish…not sure how they’re “styling” this one.

Back in CO, Odell brews Mountain Standard, which is popular in the states with big mountains

Then there’s Great Notion up there in Portland brewing Northleft

And don’t forget Firestone Walker’s California IPA…

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!  I’m sorry but this is mostly marketing BS. Let’s step back; we know there are now over a hundred types of hops and since I know a little about wine also, I’ll use a common French term; terroir. A term that encompasses the many differences in soil, climate, weather and the farming practices when we have the same crop grown in different regions. And duh it applies to hops too; the Citra grown is the Northwest vs. that grown in NY, will have different characteristics.  

So, STOP already, it makes sense that IPAs even using the same exact ingredients made by different brewers can taste different. Just brew a damn good one and I’ll be happy to drink it without all the nonsense on the side!!! The BJCP hasn’t been fooled by this and neither should you!

A Good Idea – ACBHOF

By Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

Beer has been around for eons AND it will continue, no doubt about that. Definitely one of the most popular alcoholic beverages of all time.

In terms of alcoholic beverages wine has been around about as long as they’ve found a mixed fermented drink of rice, honey and hawthorn fruit and/or grape residue in a vessel 7000-6600 BCE. There is evidence of beer produced around 8500-5500 BCE.  And then beer from barley around 3500-3100 BCE.

But hey this isn’t a history lesson…or maybe it is, but not so ancient. And not just history but anything that brings more publicity to craft beer is good so creating the ACBHOF; yes, the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame is something we should take note of.

This hasn’t gotten a lot of publicity, I stumbled across it and decided to check it out. They have a website, yes, americancraftbeerhalloffame.com. They have a Board of Directors but I must say I’m not familiar with any of them, although there are thousands of people involved in craft beer and based on their write-ups each sounds like they’ve been around the block…or at least been sitting at the bar. There’s also a Board of Advisors of forty folks who were involved in the nomination process of the first inductees into the Hall.

I see this was setup as a 501(c)(3) organization so they want us to donate to their “mission” which they say is to “give back to the craft beer industry.” Not sure what they’re intending or what expenses they may have…

They have a Craft Beer Timeline on the website which starts with Fritz Maytag in 1965; a good start! It’s very interesting to scroll through it and they do preface it by saying  it’s by no means comprehensive and when they have one entry in an early year or skip a year then you know there’s a fair amount missing, but then again it should be a high-level timeline as there is no way to encompass everything that happened once craft beer started to really roll. It stops/closes with the incorporation of the ACBHOF in 2024.

There is a Blog which starts with a Welcome on 7/31/24. There are numerous other posts. One discusses the Nomination and Induction process and it closely resembles the Baseball HOF, which they do credit. I don’t have a problem with that as it’s a fairly good process although definitely has its flaws, as we just saw with one moron leaving Ichiro Suzuki off their ballot…

The Hall itself is made up of four separate wings; Founders, Brewers, Retail & Distributors and Advocates & Innovators. Makes sense to recognize contributors in the different ways they influenced the craft beer movement/revolution.

On October 23, 2024 they listed the nineteen nominees for enshrinement into the first class in The Hall. That seems like a very small number but it is important to distinguish those who made the greatest impact early. The nineteen in alphabetical order are; Charlie Bamforth, Larry Bell, Sam Calagione, Fred Eckhardt, Teri Fahrenforf, Charles & Rose Ann Finkel, Bert Grant, Ken Grossman, Julia Herz, Michael Jackson, Kim Jordan, Jim Koch, Fritz Maytag, Jack McAuliffe Suzie Stern & Jane Zimmerman, Garrett Oliver, Charlie Papazian, Pete Slosberg, Carol & Ed Stoudt and Don Younger. An impressive list and I must humbly admit I’m not familiar with a few of those names, so I had to look them up to familiarize myself with their impact/accomplishments!!

The nineteen were actually cut down from an initial list of sixty-seven unique names! They don’t go into specifics how they accomplished that. They also admitted they got some negative feedback, more about names not included, and that it shouldn’t just be individuals as there are duos who worked together who should get in together, as in the Rock and Roll HOF, where duos and groups are inducted as well as individuals since you don’t split up a Simon and Garfunkel or a Hall and Oates, etc. They made an adjustment and will allow pairs and groups in future nomination processes.

In November they voted; there were about 150 Electors casting approximately 1,500 votes. We should hear this month which nominees got the required 75% and comprise the initial class.  Not sure why The Big G wasn’t asked to be an Elector, but hey if I’m unfamiliar with a couple of the names I shouldn’t be…

I do note there is one very obvious name missing from the list. Now it may be on the larger list, but I have a feeling he’s probably been overlooked. His name was in the news when they came up with their list and it’s been very much in the news recently; President Jimmy Carter.

As we know in 1978 President Carter signed H.R.1337. The bill was primarily aimed at taxes on trucks and buses, but Senator Alan Cranston (D-CA) added an amendment allowing an adult to produce up to 200 gallons of beer for personal or family use without having to pay taxes. Before that a homebrewer technically had to pay excise taxes on any beer made, but there was no mechanism to do that. This opened the door for initially hobby homebrewing which ushered in, what we love today, the craft beer and microbreweries businesses.  Rep William Steiger (R-WI) co-sponsored the amendment. President Carter signing the bill wouldn’t have had the impact he did without the Cranston amendment, so this should probably a group induction of Carter, Cranston and Steiger in the Advocates & Innovators category.

I’m sure they’ll notice and fix that indiscretion.

Like you, I’ll be curious to see who gets in, if they give us details on the voting, like the BB HOF does and who else was on the larger list. I may have to raise a glass of one of the remaining brews represented by those on the list; i.e. a SN Pale Ale, an Anchor Steam (if it’s available yet), a Sam Adams Boston Lager, a DFH 60 Minute IPA, a Bell’s Two Hearted Ale or a NB Fat Tire.

M.O.T.S.

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

Ah, so you think maybe I’m writing an applesauce article because it’s the start of Dry January…well if you’ve read my musings for any length of time you know I am not a proponent of that or anything else you want to call it. Hey if it’s your cup of tea (no pun intended) that’s fine, but the only reason I take extended time off is prescription meds, illness, etc.

MOTS, probably a familiar acronym to many, is More of The Same! As I look back at the crazy beer year of 2024, I can’t help but think that we’re probably in for another one in 2025.

Will we see a piece of our history treated badly, closed and then resurrected by a new owner like Anchor Steam; I hope not, but I wouldn’t rule it out.

Will we see the American mega breweries decide to ditch most of their craft acquisitions like ABI and MillerCoors did this past year; well, no because they don’t have much left and it would mean getting out completely, but there are other larger conglomerates that own multiple craft brands that could wind up closing or spinning some off.

And correspondingly will we see foreign breweries continue to buy into craft like Sapporo and Kirin have? Will the rumored relationship between Suntory and Boston Beer Co. actually develop?

Will we see more rise and fall RTDs that jump on a bandwagon, advertise incessantly and try to score some points and hit it big; absolutely, knocking off someone else’s successful idea is the American Way!

Will we see craft beer sales continue to decline…I hate to say it but more than likely.

Will we ever get back to the point of having a lot of great craft beer bars with really knowledgeable servers; man do I ever wish. Getting good help these days is like pulling teeth. How I yearn for the days when my server would be standing next to me when I was ready to order my next one. Nowadays they’ll walk by you twenty times without looking and there are times when I have to flag them down like I’m the guy guiding the fighter jets on an aircraft carrier. Used to be a great craft beer bar had a core of really good servers who trained the newbies how to do it the right way so when there was turnover the place kept humming along. Servers come and go so fast today it’s like a carousel.

Will we see more breweries close than open, more breweries combine operations to save costs, more contract brewing and other ways to streamline and cut costs; you bet! As cost of goods and labor have gone up the prices of sixtels have continued to climb, some to the few hundred-dollar range; and at that price it better be really good!!

And will we see more breweries cheapen their recipes to keep costs down; I hope not but it’s already a not-so-great trend for our tastebuds.

Will we see the NAs/non-alcoholic beers continue their trend of increasing their share; most probably and that’s okay if they can produce a good tasting beer, which unfortunately the vast majority can’t.

Will IPAs continue to dominate; well why not, with the number of different hops and ways to hop there are so many variations possible, plus it can be a great tasting beer…when made right.

Will craft lagers continue their recent surge in availability and popularity; let’s hope.

Will we see another catastrophic event, that will buckle the knees of the industry like the pandemic; let’s hope not! The craft beer industry will have a lot less survivors on a second go round!

Will the pundits declare craft is on its last legs and dying off; you bet! Hey it’s a lot easier to criticize so “those who will not be named” will take the easy road and just piss and moan instead of maybe trying something positive and inciteful.

And on a non-craft, more like heritage, beer note; will Pabst shut down another one of their inventory of distressed brands like they did with Ballantine? I’m not sure how much of their inventory they still produce (can’t say brew as they don’t own a brewery) now, why not shut down another one… Ballantine should be remembered as a pioneer as they brewed one of the first and earliest IPAs beginning in the late 1800’s and they also brewed their yearend Special/Christmas beer, Burton Ale, beginning in the 1930’s and aging it for up to 20 years; it wasn’t sold  but given as a gift to prestigious friends.

Whatever this year brings I, and I hope you, will be out there experiencing it and enjoying many of the great crafts available, because there are a ton of them; you may have to search a little but they’re out there. And many of the better craft breweries haven’t given up, they just keep trying to brew great beers…and we appreciate that!

So hey, welcome to Craft Beer in 2025; expect M-O-T-S, which in these times is basically anything goes!!

World’s Best IPA – And We Have a Winner!

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

Although it appears less popular than years ago, I think most of us pay attention to the GABF to see which beers and breweries win awards. But there are obviously other beer and alcohol tasting events; so, have you heard of the World Drinks Awards?? Well one part of that is the World Beer Awards.

I must say I was a bit surprised when I first read this year’s awards, but maybe because I haven’t heard of them before. Here are the seven IPA types and winners, all being called “World’s Best”

·       American Style IPA – Maisel & Friends, West Coast IPA,  Germany

·       Black IPA – The Flying Dutchman, Black is Black And I Want My Baby Back, Black Rye IPA, Belgium

·       English Style IPA – Myoko Kogen Alpen Blick Beer, Haneuma IPA, Japan

·       Imperial/Double IPA – Jing-A, The Airpocalypse Double IPA, China

·       Milkshake/New England IPA – Parklandia, Stanley Park Brewing, Canada

·       Session IPA – Albanos, Session IPA, Brazil

·       Specialty IPA – Stiegl-Hausbier, Ginder, Austria

Then of course there is the overall winner chosen from one of the above and (drumroll please!) the “World’s Best IPA” is the Alpen Blick Beer Haneuma IPA from Japan!

To say I’m not understanding what I just read and have lots of questions is…well obvious as The Big G always has questions.

First off who are the World Drink and World Beer Awards??? (Remember Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid…”Who are those guys?) I look at their website and it’s not clear to me who really sponsors this but it doesn’t appear to be a fly by night circus act either. Specifically, this competition “selects, awards and promotes the best beers to consumers and the trade throughout the world.” It’s been held annually in the UK since 2007, so not a new kid on the block  but not as old as GABF which started in 1982!

There is no list of all entrants so I can’t tell how many IPAs were in each category and therefore how many they beat out. Nor can I tell how many breweries in each of the how many different countries were entered.  For the winner in each category, I could go down a level to the Country Winners to the  Gold-Silver-Bronze where there were four or five in each category. In some of the categories you could see all the countries entered and their list of winners. What was very strange about that, when there was a US option the same five breweries were always listed and in most cases with the same beers in each; sorry not making sense. Again, I couldn’t see all the entries of any of the other countries; there must be a way but there’s only so much time I’ll spend clicking and looking.

I’m really confused why there aren’t more US entrants, although maybe it’s cost prohibitive to be entering this even every few years with the fiscal constraints on most breweries these days; although if you combine it with a vacation trip... There were more than three dozen judges from around the globe and several have participated in the GABF and World Beer Cup in the US, so this isn’t or appears not to be slanted away from the US.

I’m not expecting an English Style IPA to be an overall winner; they’re good but don’t have the bitterness of the typical West coast IPAs we know and love. The Brits use a lot of Fuggles and East Kent Goldings, but Myoko Kogen uses Citra! They’ve been brewing since 1997 and use water from the Myoko Kogen plateau, which they say give it “a rich aroma and umami.” I’ve never heard of “umami” so I look it up in Wiki. There is no English equivalent but it translates to a pleasant savory taste and is one of the five basic tastes (and here I thought I was writing a beer article). It is characteristic of broths and cooked meats. I guess if I were a Beer Judge this taste aspect would mean a whole lot more to me, but sorry I do not have the most refined taste buds in the world, much less my block.

I head to the Mogen Kogen Brewery website. Alpen Blick is a ski resort in Myoko, which has a hotel and ski resort, which the brewery is part of. Looks like it’s just a small piece of the overall resort and therefore if you want their beer; they also brew Pilsner, Pale Ale, Golden Ale and Dark Lager, you probably need to be at the resort or at least in Japan, i.e. you’re not finding it here in the US unless someone brought it home with them. Haneuma is the name of one of resort villages, which translates to vaulting horse, so doesn’t appear to have any other significance.

I’m very surprised I’m not seeing any US IPAs on the top three in any category. I mean we make more different IPAs than you could ever taste in your life so there’s not one???

I decide to look at the other nine beer types and the number of categories for each (in parens); Dark Beer (8), Flavoured (9), Lager (15), No & Low Alcohol (8), Pale (17), Sour & Wild (9), Specialty (8), Stout & Porter (7) and Wheat (7). We did have a Gold in one type: No & Low Alcohol Beer, category: Sour & Wild; Athletic Brewing! Going to the Country Level there were 6 Athletic, 4 Big Drop, 2 Surreal and 1 Sam Adams in the Gold-Silver-Bronze winners.  I also found a US category winner in Specialty -World’s Best Heritage Beer; Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co’s Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale and in Stout & Porter -World’s Best Stout; Flying Lion Brewing’s Rye Stout.

I’m guessing a GABF medal carries more prestige here in the US, but hey, a medal is a medal; nobody asks about the standards or participation or judges or method. Look at the wine industry; they have tons of competitions and therefore lots of different wines have medals to boast about. Probably just too cost prohibitive to try to win a medal.

And English Style IPA as the World’s Best IPA…who’d a thunk it…

And We Were Worried!!

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

Well maybe worried is too strong a word; maybe shocked or concerned or determined or angry are better descriptors.

Of what you ask; well, you need to go back into the memory banks all the way to 2011 when we had <2,000 craft beer brands and AB/InBev bought Goose Island; a well-known and respected craft brand. That was the proverbial “shot across the bow” that the macros were paying attention and understood that craft beer was here to stay. They needed a plan to counter the continued growth of craft over the past twenty-five years and if you can’t beat ‘em, buy ‘em. In the ensuing eight plus years they bought and/or created themselves a whopping nineteen “craft” brands and two cider companies.

And the boys at MillerCoors (back then, now Molson Coors) were actually a step ahead of ABI, as they created their Tenth and Blake craft and import beer division in 2010; starting it with their faux craft beer Blue Moon, created in 1995, and the former Miller brand Leinenkugel’s, along with Peroni, Pilsner Urquell and Grolsch. MillerCoors, through Tenth and Blake, did the same thing during the 2010’s, buy a bunch of craft breweries; Terrapin, Hop Valley, Revolver, Saint Archer and Atwater, along with another startup, A.C. Golden.

Neither bought any old craft brewery/brand, they were looking for solid, already well-respected ones they could expand. Why buy a no name and have to build it up if you could just create your own and do that? I’m sure the macros figured they could use their nationwide distribution along with their multiple breweries to expand their targeted craft brands and get a strong foothold in the market. They knew they’d have little problem getting shelf space hoping to crowd and blur the lines of the real crafts.

I think many of us wondered if they could understand and integrate the nuances of craft beer when they were used to continually cranking out big batches of their lagers and lights, doing targeted or nationwide advertising and shipping them off to market. Did their distributors understand their portfolio was expanding, the handholding they would need to do and were they willing to do it?

Did they have any clue where the craft beer revolution/market was headed in the next ten plus years?? We, in craft beer, certainly didn’t as each year the number of new craft breweries continued to open and grow year after year. Did they realize that going from 2,000 to 10,000 would really change the dynamics of craft beer profitability? Did they realize that with the expansion craft beer drinkers would change from being loyal to the ones they liked to always be looking to try a new and different one? Did they understand the RTD market would explode after hard seltzers made a hard run? Did they know we’d have a pandemic which would put amazing pressure on bars and restaurants, as well as supplies?

To be fair anyone who expected half of that would be considered clairvoyant! And if you knew, how would you have changed things to react differently and survive and prosper?  Just knowing doesn’t mean you’ll be able to weather the storm, you could make some wrong decisions.

There were signs that ABI either wasn’t sure what to do with all their acquisitions or wasn’t happy with what they had accomplished (or not) or maybe even realized they went too far or, who knows, what other reasons there could be. A big shoe dropped a little over a year ago when Tilray, a cannabis and consumer packaged goods company, bought eight of the ABI craft beer brands; Shock Top, Breckenridge. Blue Point, 10 Barrell, Redhook, Widmer Brothers, Square Mile Cider and HiBall Energy. I’m not willing to spend the time to see how well each of these was performing but I did read they were shedding some of their “less profitable” brands.  I think Shock Top was probably the surprise as ABI created that in 2006 to compete with Blue Moon. Initially it was doing very well, but Blue Moon pulled ahead and Shock Top was rebranded in 2017. Maybe it was included to sweeten the pot. Clearly Tilray was getting a deal paying approximately $85M for not necessarily distressed brands but certainly underperforming ones. Not something they’re unfamiliar with as two of their current brands, Green Flash and its subsidiary Alpine, had overexpanded been foreclosed and sold to a private investor group which a few years later sold to Tilray.

ABI had clearly cut back but they still have over half their craft beer portfolio.

Tenth and Blake on the other hand just threw in the towel! They just sold four craft brands for $23M to, you guessed it, Tilray; Hop Valley, Terrapin, Atwater and Revolver (Saint Archer had already been shut down prior). So that leaves their Tenth and Blake division with Blue Moon, Leinenkugel’s and AC Golden (and their imports), which duh, is basically where they started back in 2010 when they created it. That seems more like a dog chasing its tail for all the time, energy and money pumped into it for fourteen years. I’m doubting they made any money buying and selling these brands. MC claims it “supports the conglomerate’s long-term goals” and achieving portfolio premiumization will “require tighter focus on the segments we believe have the highest growth potential”,  that’s a mouthful; which in plain English probably translates to “we’re not selling enough of these craft brands so let’s not waste any more time and money and stick to what we’re good at.”

This makes me want to go out and have a real great tasting craft beer! I’m sure I’m not the only one who loves to see the underdog take one! And if you’re thinking this article sounds familiar, yes recently when Anchor was rescued, I was all excited and went over some of the buying and selling.  Hey, what can I say, I just couldn’t resist another high five when I read about MC throwing in the towel on Tenth and Blake!

Cheers to Real Craft Beers!!

How Do I Spell Beer -  S-O-C-I-A-L

By Glenn "Big G" Deluca

I needed to getaway for a few days and decided on Delaware. Hey it’s not that far, the summer rush is over, there’s no sales tax and being perfectly honest I’ve never been to one of the early important breweries; Dogfish Head. Crazy I know but just never got down there.

I checked with a “well” traveled beer friend,  got a list of suggestions and did some prep work to maximize my trip. First up on the way there is Matt’s Fish Camp on Rt 1 for Happy Hour starting at 3:00; buck a shuck oysters, some other nice appys and yes, $2 off drafts! Grabbed some oysters and a local Thompson Island IPA; on to the Deviled Eggs with jumbo lump crab and Old Bay seasoning (awesome), next up some Calamari, another Thompson Island and some NE Clam Chowder (a little different than I’m used to, less potatoes but bacon and sherry, very nice!).

Since DFH’s been very successful they’ve branched out, bought an old inn/motel in Lewes and fixed it up. The rooms are nice, they have bikes and beach chairs, a nightly firepit out back, the staff is very friendly, there’s some very good coffee available; the only thing they’re missing is…beer; well, each state has its rules regarding what you can and can’t do and so they don’t have any there. It’s well located on a canal within walking distance of a great street with shops and restaurants.

Time to hit Big Oyster Brewery for a light dinner. Good flight and Ahi tuna sandwich but I’m learning they can’t sell singles which is what I want for a nightcap, so hit the liquor store on way back. Not staying up late as I’ve booked a tour at DFH the next day. They have a 25-minute Quick Sip Tour for $5, but the Off-Centered Tour is about 75 minutes with an experimental brew along the way, going up into the Steampunk Treehouse, a logo glass and a flight; no way I’m not doing that for $20, that’s a steal of a deal!

There’s a couple with DFH sneakers on our tour; I’m thinking maybe they did a marathon or something to get those; more later. Tour is interesting; start us off with a sample of 60 Minute, so already the tours a success. Learn quite a bit about more than I knew about Sam; he was an English major, liked creative writing, had a Sierra Celebration Ale and fell in love…with beer. Decided to try homebrewing and used cherries which he didn’t realize would crank up the abv, had a party to drink it where they all liked it and he told them all he was going to be a brewer. Next up was telling his parents I’m quitting school to be a brewer, which went better than he probably expected, when his Dad says okay, but it needs to have some association with home/family and since they had a vacation in ME on Dogfish Head… So why does a MA/ME guy start a brewery in DE…that’s where his wife is from…

Start chatting with the DFH sneaker couple. The sneakers were a collab with Merrell, who I’ve never heard of before, that they bought online years ago. They live in Cooperstown NY, have a beer cellar, come down to DE every year, have toured DFH before, but never been up the Steampunk so signed up for the tour again, my kind of people. Had lunch together finishing our flights, which of course I picked the brewery only beers that will probably never make it into production. Hit the store where I bought a bunch of beer and REALLY appreciated no sales tax. They mentioned Dewey Beer, not too far away, so we met them there for a few more. Dewey started in Dewey Beach then added this newer place in Harbeson and is mostly local distribution so never had before. Although I heard a lot of great things about them, the beers were solid, not phenomenal. Enjoyed hanging out with a fun couple that loves beer, hopefully we’ll run into them again.

Head back to DF Inn; pull in and there’s a group of 20-25 partying in the back. I know they can’t all be staying there so head in the office and ask if there’s a private party going on.  No, it’s a bottle share, many are associated with DFH, but it’s just a group that meets there occasionally. The organizer, Tom, standing nearby comes over and introduces himself. In his working days he was a professional clown; Mr. Chuckles. He’s long been a supporter of DFH and in his honor they actually made a stout named Mr. Chuckles in 2020! He takes me outside and introduces me to the group, hands me a glass and starts pouring me a beer. I guess they know a beer guy when they see one, even if I came empty handed, unintentionally of course. As I meet folks and get more beers to taste I realize this is no ordinary group, they know and appreciate their beers. I should have grabbed my phone and took pics as there were so many great beers, I’m tasting I can’t remember all these tasters so quickly, but there was a CBS, a 5-year-old BCS, and an amazing stout from Prairie Pride in Nebraska to name a few. Tom sends me the link for the Lewes Craft Beer Meetup on meetup.com (sounds more like a dating site…) and tells me to look for their Christmas party in early December; hey they know the Big G knows his beer and I’m better find some good stuff if I head down again; I owe ‘em. I could have hung there quite awhile but unfortunately dinner reservations brought an end to my tasting.

The next day it’s off to Revelation Brewing. They’ve been around eight years, solid beers. I see an interesting sign at the bar “No minors within 6 feet of the bar” so I ask the bartender. Turns out that a law in DE, guess they’re afraid one might grab a beer?!? Technically a woman or man with an infant in a baby carrier can’t be closer than 6 feet; not sure anyone’s ever gotten a citation for that, but makes you want to scratch your head. I’d love to take a poll of all state legislators in every state to see how many have actually gone to a brewery to taste beer, relax and mingle as opposed to a photo op; maybe we’d have better more logical laws if they did.

Time for lunch and it’s off to DFH Brewing & Eats in Rehoboth, which is next to their original brewery. It’s still in operation and they make different experimental brews from the main brewery which you can only get at the two restaurants next to it. BTW DFH distills also and the only liquor they serve in their restaurants is DFH; makes sense to me. The law is DE is a brewery and distillery can’t share a wall; it doesn’t say they can’t share a floor/ceiling, so the distillery is on the second floor in Milton…

It's back to the DF Inn to rest up and there’s a new couple from the Joisey Shore so we start yakking about the different breweries we’ve been to. Turns out they’re going to the same DFH restaurant that night, so see them again later.

Time to head home but it’s lunch with cousins at Jessop’s Tavern in New Castle that has an incredible number of Belgian beers. A couple of those along with a delicious Shepard’s Pie that could feed a family and it’s on to the last leg home.

I’m not telling you anything you don’t know if you’ve been to a brewery tasting room, brewpub or craft beer bar; craft beer people are just typically friendly. It’s easy to strike up a conversation. It’s fun to talk about different breweries you’ve been to, compare notes on great beers and maybe add another place to your list of places to go.

To NA or Not to NA

Are You Seriously Asking Me That Question?!?

                                                                         by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

NA (non-alcoholic) as it’s popularly called or AF (alcohol free) as I’ve also seen or whatever else you want to call it is definitely rising in popularity. And I’m really wondering WHY?

Don’t get me wrong there are times when we have a medical condition or are taking medication when you want a beer where an NA is a great option to have. There are also the times when you’ve been at the bar or BBQ or beach and had a “few” and realize it would be a great time to take a break so reach for an NA. But to want an NA as a first choice, why bother?? I know one thing; you aren’t doing it for, taste as the vast majority of these are nothing to write/email/text/carrier pigeon/etc. home about.

NA beers aren’t new, they were around decades ago; the ones I remember were Kaliber, Clausthaler and O’Doul’s. I wasn’t a regular drinker of any of them, why bother when all you had then was the fizzy lagers from the big macros of the time. Kaliber was introduced in mid 1980s by Guinness, which I never knew back then, and is still around. Clausthaler is German, which I also didn’t realize for all these years, and has been around since the 1970s. I see there are a few different types, not just one, and the Dry Hopped, introduced in 2015, has gotten some rave reviews. Last year they introduced their ISO which is a 0.0 NA (meaning absolutely no alcohol, even though most 0’s are allowed and do contain a small amount)! O’Doul’s was Budweiser’s entry to the NA market in 1990. Again, you could drink these back then as there wasn’t the drop off in taste as you can find with today’s craft beers.

Athletic Brewing out of CT wasn’t the first craft brewery to only brew NA beers, but they’ve grown extremely fast and somehow become the face of NA brewing. Early on I’d been hearing about the great NA brews coming out of Athletic. The best bartender at my craft beer bar, who knows her beer, told me how much she liked them so I was eager to try them. When I did, I couldn’t understand why all the hype and hysteria; they were not great at all, basic mediocre if you ask me.

Athletic was founded in 2017 and opened their brewery in 2018. By 2021 they had sales of $37M, from over 100,000 barrels of beer, which equated to >60% of the craft beer NA market share; that’s pretty amazing. They were doing so well they bought a facility in San Diego from Ballast Point in 2020 and in 2022 opened a new larger brewery in CT. Also, in ’22 Keurig Dr Pepper made a $50M investment in them. The BA’s (Brewer’s Association) list of “craft beer” breweries had them as the 27th in in 2022, 13th in 2023 and this past April listed them number “10”, with a 51% volume gain over 2022. Important to remember with these rankings is everyone moves up when there’s a merger among or acquisition by a non-craft entity, which may or may not have contributed to some of their meteoric rise.

I have tried a handful so here are my thoughts based on my tastebuds:

As I mentioned I have tasted a few of the Athletic beers and haven’t found one I’d go back for Heineken 0.0 is a great representation of Heineken, but if you think it’s a skunk beer to begin with, as I do, then I really dislike it. Unfortunately, it’s a big recognizable name so you’re more likely to find this in bars and restaurants.

 Guiness 0 is one of the best! You can’t compare it to a draft as that isn’t fair, but if you put it next to a can of Guinness, it compares amazingly well. I’ve had many of these of would never hesitate to get one. Some would say it’s a touch thin, expecting a creamier mouthfeel.

Brooklyn’s Special Effects is also very good, which you could/would expect from a quality brewery as they are.

            Sierra Nevada Trail Pass was very disappointing. Sierra Nevada is a pioneer and class brewery with many                   enjoyable beers but this is one they should drop.

 Lagunitas IPNA was so bad I just threw it out; yes, used it as drain cleaner.

             Sam Adams Just The Haze is another very good drinkable NA, surprising for a brewery not known for their                  forays into IPA.

  Bitburger is very nice and close to the original, but again you’re starting with a Pils, so not a huge drop off.

·Beck’s NA is pleasant and of course hasn’t been made in Germany for years.

·Erdinger Wheat Beer, another German entry, is enjoyable.

·I tried a few of the Industrial Arts Safety Glass series and no, won’t be buying any of them.

· BrewDog Hazy AF was very good!

And since NA is expanding you knew it was only a matter of time before we had…wait for it…draught NA. You bet, non-alcoholic beer on draft. Again, Athletic began selling kegs to bars and restaurants in 2023. Many of us prefer a draft to a can or bottle as it often tastes fresher, sometimes cleaner, so if that works for NA also that’s a good thing as anything that will help improve the taste is a good thing.

But there are some questions as to how safe this might be since alcohol is one of the key features that helps keep keg beer safe. The BA put out a report in January titled “Non-Alcohol Beer on Draught – Is It Safe?” Unfortunately, it was a non-report as they said there wasn’t enough evidence to understand the risks involved.

There was an earlier Cornell University study “Survival of Foodborne Pathogens in Low and nonalcoholic Craft Beer” which found that common bacteria like E.coli and salmonella can survive and thrive in non-alcoholic beer. The good news Listeria did not grow!?! And it’s probably not a great idea to be using half kegs as NA will spoil much more readily than convention beer because of the lack of alcohol and the high levels of sugars.

So, no thank you I’m not trying any draft NA till they’ve got this figured out and hell why not just be safe if you must have a draft and have a Coors Light or Mich Ultra at 4.2% . Better yet move to one of those 3.2% states; okay just looked that up and they all ended by 2021. I remember friends doing their basic training in states where they could only get 3.2% beer saying they could drink a case and still walk a straight line.

And there are a couple of other human factors that can affect keg NA also; how it’s stored and how clean draft lines are. Both are issues today with all draft but they can be more serious with NA because of the lack of alcohol. Many distributors don’t use refrigerated trucks and when they drop them off on the loading dock and they sit in the sun that is just wonderful for the beer.

Not to be left out, a Canadian brewery in Fredericton, N.B., is brewing a non-alcoholic beer for dogs…yes you read it correctly the first time; DOGS. It’s being shipped to bars, restaurants and retail stores across Canada and there appears to be a fair amount of interest. I’ve seen plenty of commercials for fresh dog food and how wonderful it is for your pet. So now if they’re having a chicken-based dinner, I guess they could have a pils or if they’re having a beef dinner, they might accompany it with a porter. Obviously it’s a niche market but if it comes to the US then you know there are lots of pet owners who’ll buy it. Look when I was a kid and we had a dog they got a half a can of Vets dog food, which as I recall had red and yellow can labels signifying different flavors, along with some dry Purina and they would live for years so not sure what all these new healthy dog foods are doing so much better. I guess we might know some day when the DFDA is established; yes, the Dog Food and Drug Administration…

I guess I’ve said my piece on NA, but not for nothing but why do websites selling only non-alcoholic products want me to be 21 to enter their website…what am I missing??

Through The Eyes of a Child - Part 3

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

I’ll bet there were a few flashbacks when some of you read this title! You’ll immediately be thinking back to when I met Logan, the precocious craft beer child savant who hasn’t yet tasted one, last year. Well not to disappoint but this is not about him or a follow up. To answer your question yes, I have seen him since and he’s still that same precocious fun child but there’s really nothing new to report.

This is more observational as to the types of dilemmas that craft beer parents can run into…through not fault of their own of course. It’s more about the observational and imaginative minds of children.

Let’s start out with the bar manager who REALLY loves his craft beer. How much you say?  Well enough that he has a regular size two door fridge in his garage FILLED with beer! He has lots of connections and friends who when out hunting are happy to bring him back beers he’s never had. Plus, he’s a big fan of Tavor and buys beers many of us have never seen or heard of from well-known breweries in other parts of the country. It’s difficult to find a beer to gift him because he’s seen and heard and tasted so many great beers already. It’s obviously great when he brings one in to share!!

Fast forward to school one day when his six-and-a-half-year-old daughter decides to talk about “Daddy’s beer fridge” at show and tell. Most of her classmates are not all that excited or impressed, but the teacher is listening intently as she describes this frig filled with only beer and how Daddy won’t allow anything else in it. She doesn’t mention this isn’t the kitchen frig but the one in the garage and the teacher doesn’t asks probing enough questions to elicit that. Her teacher takes some notes and is concerned enough to discuss this with the Vice-Principal at the end of the day.

The next day the Vice Principal calls Mrs. Bar Manager and asks her to come in for a discussion. It’s always concerning when the school calls about your child. The VP relays her daughter’s show and tell content and expresses some concern about it, understanding that it’s also coming from a young child. Mrs. Bar Manager is obviously relieved as she explains what her husband does and that this is their second frig in the garage, that yes, he is very protective of and of course their daughter has seen it full of many colorful cans and bottles that her Daddy will excitedly talk about with his friends.  Mom’s not the happiest but certainly glad that there really wasn’t an issue or problem.

And yes, Mr. Bar Manager does get a little bit of an earful when he gets home that night…

Out of the mouths of babes…

And that brings us to our next incident/story. One of the shift mangers is always telling us about her young daughter who sometimes creates a far different very descriptive picture of what she’s seen and heard. For instance, when her husband had a cut that was bleeding and Mom gets home, by her daughter’s description it sounded like there was blood all over the place and he had to be rushed to the hospital.

Mom Shift Manager had her own special good luck ritual when it came to lottery scratch-offs; she would first rub it on her butt, yes that lower posterior unit, for good luck of course and then scratch the ticket. It did work for her a couple of times when we were at the bar and she would tell others how her ritual worked.

Well, here we go again in that wonderful past time of show and tell and sure enough she’s telling her classmates that Mommy goes to work, gets a ticket, rubs it “you know where,” then scratches it and wins money. The kids are all clapping as they heard about rubbing it you know where and winning money, but the teacher is a little aghast so she asks where Mommy works. Wouldn’t you know, it’s a bar, which conjures up a not-so-great image in her mind.  Another situation where the image created by a young child causes concern so the teacher talks to the Vice-Principal, who then calls Mom.

Mom Shift Manager comes in and I have no clue how the VP delicately handled this one, but it did become clear that this was a scratch-off ritual and she works in a calm family-oriented pub, not a house of…well you know…

And last but certainly not least, here again, it always pays to be careful what you say in front of your children.

My friend brings his family one night for dinner at our favorite pub. He has a couple of beers with dinner, friends stop over to say hi, what are you drinking etc. He’s not buzzed but happens to mention with a laugh he doesn’t want to get pulled over after the last pastry stout with a 10% ABV.

Sure enough he gets pulled over for what the officer said was an “interesting” lane change. They talk a few minutes, the officer checks his license, registration and insurance card and appears to be ready to let him go when his young son says “Daddy talked about all the pastry stuff beers he had.” Well that changed the discussion quickly as my friend then exits the car, explains where they were, what he had to eat and drink, etc. The officer has him do the physical sobriety test of touching your nose, walking a straight line, etc. and, luckily for him, decides he’s okay and not to use the breathalyzer, which he most probably would have passed. He’s not happy about what his son said but hey he probably thought he was helping Daddy out…

So craft beer lovers always remember what a young child sees and hears may sound way different when they relay it…

  UPs n DOWNs

by Glenn "Big G" Deluca

 It’s really been a lot of gloom and doom the last few years in our craft beer world.

• The unexpected pandemic, which hey why would you expect a pandemic (or even the Spanish Inquisition for that matter, those who remember Monty Python), was a major shock to the system. In the short term many of those that thought they had a great model by just selling out of their taproom took a hit and a bunch couldn’t survive it.

• Then the scarcities of supplies from ingredients to cardboard and aluminum packaging hit. And the old cycle of short supply raising prices squeezing finances even more.

•  Hard seltzers and other RTD products had already carved away a niche that the pandemic increased.

• Drinkers’ habits changed and they didn’t necessarily go immediately back to their old habits, so taprooms, bars and restaurants who were waiting and hoping for the masses to return haven’t seen it.

• Draft sales are obviously better, since that’s pretty easy to do just being open vs closed, but not where they used to be.

•  Inflation has led to higher salaries and increasing rents.

•  Craft beer sales are basically flat, although revenue may be higher since breweries have had to increase prices.

•  New brewery openings are basically even with closings so that’s basically flat also; which to be honest isn’t a bad thing as too many weren’t making good enough beer and they shouldn’t continue to be supported and operate if they can’t…step up or step out!

• With all the sales, acquisitions and mergers, the waters are more muddied so it’s getting more difficult to tell who’s an official “craft beer brewery” and who’s not. And in some ways that doesn’t seem as critical or important as it used to be. Making really good and great craft beer is hopefully what seems to be floating the boat these days.

And there was some very exciting and uplifting news recently. After Sapporo USA bought Anchor with the extremely stupid idea of them using that brewery for brewing their Sapporo for US consumption, Greg Koch came to their rescue by having overextended Stone Brewing to where he needed the cash infusion. And bingo there’s another brewery to buy which has capacity where you can brew your beer here in the States. And like the child with a new toy (which we’ll see if they’ve learned their lesson or try to ruin this one also), they kicked Anchor aside in the trash and decided to sell it piecemeal, since the actual property the brewery sat on was the most financially valuable piece.

Little did we know our craft beer community had a savior in Hamdi Ulukaya, Founder and CEO of Chobani’s! Hamdi is a Turkish immigrant who back in 2005 bought a shuttering yogurt factory in NY from Kraft Foods. He reformatted it to create strained yogurt similar to what he grew up with in Turkey. And  there was definitely a niche there as Chobani is the largest selling Greek Yogurt in the US!

Hamdi sees the parallels between building Chobani into the business it is and the revitalizing the legacy and history of Anchor. Does he know the craft beer business, NO, but he is a businessman. He spent time learning about Anchor and its rich tradition. Right off he’ll change the label/packaging back to the classic, which was another of Sapporo’s screwups. He’ll learn about craft beers’ competitive field but he’s got some knowledge with highly competitive drink fields also, as he became a majority owner of La Columbe Coffee Roasters in 2015 (full owner in 2023). This was a purchase where he was afraid private equity was going to do their “thing” and ruin what he loved about the company and its products. Hey, I’m liking this guy!!

So, there should be a lot of happy craft beer drinkers this Fall in Northern Cal and a lot of bottles of Christmas Ale for the holidays. It’ll take awhile for the rest of the country to see it back on the shelves, but it will be worth waiting for. I have read some not so nice things about Hamid and his business style so we’ll have to wait and see how he deals with newly formed union, staff, and salaries before we get too excited about it being a panacea but there are a lot of issues in many of 10K breweries; it’s not now and  never will be a perfect world.

The other interesting news is the quiet talk about Suntory being in talks to possibly acquire Boston Beer Company. Years ago, this would have caused a huge hue and cry but these are different times. Decades ago, it was just the macros, AB and MolsonCoors, who started buying some of the better craft breweries to break into the field and try to dilute it. Many of us, me included, would not continue to drink a craft that one of the macros bought as I wanted to support the small independent craft brewers. Well, we’ve seen that they’ve failed as AB got tired of the toy that wasn’t big or streamlined enough and got rid of most of it and craft breweries just kept multiplying.

There was also the foreign and non-beer company interest that increased and changed the complexion a great deal. I think we can skip the Constellation Brands $1B purchase of Ballast Point as they were way out in left field on that one and took an amazing bath when they recently sold. But looking around:

•  Heineken that already had a 50% share bought Lagunitas outright  -  2017

•  Lion, the Kirin subsidiary, bought New Belgium Brewing, which being employee owned was approved by them. They did screw up their Fat Tire flagship but the Voodoo Ranger series has gone gangbusters.  -  2019

• ·A couple of years later Lion then purchased Bell’s Brewery in MI. It’s not fair to blame Larry Bell as he’d been in the beer business 35+ years and without a family successor he’s entitled to get out so an opportunity for Lion to expand further in the US and they’ve done well so far.  -  2021

• Monster Beverage , a dominant player in the energy drink space, decided to enter the alcohol space through craft beer and hard seltzer, buying CANarchy.  -  2022

• ·Last year Tilray, a cannabis and consumer packaged goods company, bought eight of the ABI craft beer brands to add to their current stash of SweetWater, Montauk, Alpine and Green Flash.

I always thought Suntory was another one of the Japanese beer companies. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen or had one. Looking at their website they started in 1899 producing wine, then adding port, then whiskey and it wasn’t until 1963 that Suntory added beer to their lineup. They want to be known as a food and beverage company, although I’m not seeing any, what I’d call, food items. They began emphasizing the importance of one of our most important resources, water, in 2003. With Its purchase of Jim Beam in 2014 Suntory became the third largest maker of distilled beverages in the world!

Glancing through their brands I see a few very familiar names; Orangina, Schweppes, Pepsi, Laphroaig, Canadian Club, Maker’s Mark, and Courvoisier VSOP as part of a broad lineup of beverages and spirits (although they may not own the rights to all these worldwide…I’m not digging that deep.) Obviously, they’ve been acquiring some name brands over the years.

Their “Premium Malt” beer was inspired by Czech and German pilsners and is Japan’s leading brand of premium beer (not sure what encompasses the category of “premium” beer is as I’m reading Asahi Super Dry is the most popular in Japan).

With its diversity I’m guessing their beer is probably not the biggest piece of their portfolio. Adding BBC, which includes DFH, and itself is similar in that they’ve diversified into other alcoholic segments making them quite a bit more than just Sam Adams and DFH, would seem to offer much in terms of expanding in the US. And since home competitors Kirin and Sapporo have already made big moves into US craft beer maybe they feel this is a good way to expand.

There was already a relationship between the two so the news that another Japanese alcoholic beverage company wants to expand further into the US and acquire one of the biggest craft names in Boston Beer Company is not surprising; even though they po-pooed it after it hit the headlines (why would you scream it from the rooftops to possibly get others interested in bidding and driving up your price). And Jim Koch has the final say so I’m guessing there’s no way this would look like a Sapporo buys Anchor debacle; he has way too much pride in what he and others have done to create and build craft beer in the US.

I think all we craft beer lovers want is a proud and respectful owner who will try to understand what makes craft beer tick here in the US, like Kirin/Lion has with New Belgium and Bell’s, and not disrespect it like Sapporo did with Anchor so we can continue to enjoy the BBC products we like.

  Most Unforgettable    

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

For BeerNexus.com

If you know where to look there are lots of craft beer articles these days. You’re obviously are a smart reader as you’ve come to the Nexus of the Craft Beer World to be informed, amused and of course well read, so kudos to you. But yes there are others out there who write constantly so have to come up with something of interest and note every day or so. So yes there are a lot of the “best beers to drink now” or “best unknown breweries” or newest trends or best whatever, you get the idea. I will look at some of these but usually I’m not all that excited by many of them.

But recently I found one that tweaked my interest titled; “We Asked 16 Beer Pros: What’s the Most Unforgettable Beer You Ever Had?” Now that’s an interesting and potentially thought provoking question, unless maybe you’re a millennial that’s only been drinking a few years, then it’s the one you had yesterday. So they accomplished step 1, tweaking my interest so I’ll go directly to step 2 which is reading it, but that doesn’t mean it will be a good article, after all who are the 16 beer pros.

Well the first paragraph does set the stage saying some beers are unforgettable but they may not necessarily be the best or rarest or most profound. They go on to say some beers stay with you because they capture a moment, reminding you of special people or times in your life. I can see immediately that this is a different type of reflection, the kind that means you understand beer and to a greater extent one of the major factors in our craft beer experience; that we love to taste different beers and that it’s not usually the one we’ve sought after that’s the most memorable, but it’s most fun when we’re in what becomes a specific space/location and sharing it with friends. I’m liking this article already and I still don’t know who the sixteen are, but it’s definitely got potential.

First out the gate is Sam Calagione, founder and CEO of Dogfish Head; no slouch indeed. He talked about having a “super” fresh Herold Pilsner with Michael Jackson at the Breznice brewery In Czechoslovakia and his vivid memories of a relaxing afternoon sipping those fresh beers and talking about many other things than beer. Wow, this article is delivering exactly what I was wondering if it could. It’s not just I had this awesome beer and now I can go to heaven, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it can also about the circumstances, place and who you were with.

An excellent start and no I’m not going to go through the other fifteen one by one. First of all I only recognized one of the names, Heidi Geist, who basically designs beer labels. She created The 48 Beer Project, by driving around the country talking, writing, photographing and probably even drinking a few beers. I guess if I could get someone to sponsor me to drive around the country, try beers and therefore be a craft beer celebrity I’d do it to; oh I thought I was a craft beer celebrity; we may need to revisit that later. I wasn’t necessarily disappointed I didn’t recognize more of the

names as many were from known places; New Belgium, Modern Times, Brewers Association, Other Half, Jack’s Abbey and Russian River to name the obvious ones.

As I continued to read through these some were not all that insightful, but some very interesting like Sam’s. One of the better was being at a family gathering and when everyone went inside for cake, he grabbed a bottle of Miller High Life, went up into his treehouse and drank it while the relatives milled around below with the feeling no one knew where he was or what he was doing. Now that’s an early beer experience that will stick with you.

Another was someone buying a building for their brewery and the current owner gave them a bottle of Sam Adams Triple Bock (1999). They opened it when the sale was finalized to celebrate; drinking a beer produced before they were able to drink by a craft beer pioneer, christening their craft beer journey.  Doesn’t get much more memorable than that.

Then there’s the wine drinker who worked in the wine industry and had a 3 Fonteinen Oude Gueuze which basically changed his life. “Its ability to so clearly represent a place, the delicate balance yet explosive character, the absolutely unique and uniquely delightful aroma and flavor, and the clear display of mastery in working with a few simple ingredients in a specific location; it inspired me to further explore truly wild beverages and beer and ultimately to work with my wife to open our brewery years later.” That one beer changed this guy’s life and he vividly remembers much of the feeling of it almost a decade later; now that’s an impression!

Another early experience was in Germany at a beer garden with his Mom, having a Hofbrau Dunkel. The environment of the beer garden, the atmosphere and the culture of beer created a much different setting than you usually have back in the States. That first experience with a dark lager inspired the first beer recipe he wrote. Not to mention the look on his mother’s face when she saw the liter stein come out and when he ordered another five minutes later. We probably surprise our parents more often than we think; both good and bad.

To me the other experiences weren’t as exciting although I don’t want to give short shrift to what was to them an unforgettable moment, as I wouldn’t want them to do to me. A few were when someone opened an old bottle of something, others were I tasted this beer and it was just the right taste at the right moment or it opened up a way of thinking about a certain style of beer. As a collection they were all different and interesting in their own way as one would expect. Our experiences with beer are unique and they can and do create memorable and in some cases unforgettable experiences.

Now that was a fun article. It got me to thinking of how I would answer that question. So I hit the Google brain search function to sort through the moments that pop up as most memorable or unforgettable. I’m honing in on a few.

The first would be as a sophomore in college. My mother, sister, a cousin and I headed down to Florida to visit my Grandmother who had moved to St Petersburg. While there we stopped at Busch Gardens, which was right next to one of the AB breweries, before InBev ripped that apart. As I’m recalling as part of the admission price I was entitled to two drafts. I’m not remembering if I had a choice or there was only one available but I had Michelob, which back then was considered a super- premium and a beer I wasn’t normally drinking as it was more expensive than the

basic lagers you could get. Michelob, as described by AB, was a malty, full-bodied European-style premium lager, using European noble aroma hop varieties and a 100% malt blend of the finest two-row and caramel malts. Notice all the references to European inferring that made a difference compared to our standard American lagers. Anyway sitting outside in warm sun, relaxing with a couple of probably the freshest and one of the better beers I had had to that point was something I still remember. Of course now we can get fresh beer virtually any time we visit a craft

brewery and have one in the tasting room.

My second one is a lot fuzzier as I don’t remember exactly where or when, possibly the mid 70’s, or who I might have been with but I do remember the beer; it was Genesee 12 Horse Ale. And I remember really liking it.  According to the Genesee website 12 Horse is English style ale, brewed with six-row barley malt, hops from Yakima Valley and their proprietary top-fermenting ale yeast. It was introduced in 1933 and is their most requested Heritage brew so I guess I’m not alone in remembering it. Again this was a one off, more expensive than the standard lagers and ales. And yes ales certainly are tastier than lagers, but I can see where this could have been a crossover beer a decade or so before the craft industry started. I have looked for it from time to time but never found it. I was duly impressed that my beer bar the Cloverleaf has an old 12 Horse Ale advertisement framed and up on their wall.

My next memorable moment would be when we arrived in LA at a friend’s house in the summer of ’78. We were driving cross country and the stretch from Vegas to LA was long and hot and I didn’t AC in my van, so it was VERY hot. So yes I needed a shower when we got there but first I had Coors. I had had Coors before that, but it still wasn’t distributed east of the Mississippi so it still had that mystique. But hey, it was good to arrive and get out of the heat; good to see a friend I didn’t get to see often and yes very good to quench a big thirst.

Those are all “pre” the craft beer revolution that we are currently enjoying as I started drinking beer well before that. And I must say there are a few times I tried a craft brew that I had heard a lot about and it didn’t meet expectations. That’s usually because of too much hype generating too much expectation, which can ruin what is really a great beer. I do remember my first taste of DFH 60 Minute, Ithaca Flower Power, Heady Topper, Road to Ruin and many others. But I think my unforgettable craft beer moment was when my alumni association had an event last summer at The

Other Half. They had, and still do have, quite a reputation. My BeerNexus partner in crime, Vince, came along also. Both being IPA lovers we knew we were going to love this, but they exceeded our expectations. Beer after beer was amazingly good and in a few hours we had tried a great selection of their IPAs and stouts. My taste buds

were in nirvana that afternoon and their beers basically blew me away. Oh and by the way I took a few cases home.

So when you get a chance, crack a cold one and sit back and run your own Google brain search and think about the memorable and unforgettable times and places you’ ve been with beer. Hopefully there will be many of them and it will be a worthwhile and relaxing reminiscing about them. It might even make you want to pick up the phone and call someone involved just to connect and share the enjoyment.

Glenn DeLuca writes about beer and culture of drinking. He may be reached by writing thebigG@beernexus.com.

***   ***   *** 

  Is Your Taste Changing?

by Glenn DeLuca

For BeerNexus.com

It’s the first Tuesday of the month and I’m at my go-to, The Cloverleaf, for our MBA (Masters of Beer Appreciation) / PhD (Professor of Hops and Drafts) Night. Tonight’s featured brewery is Allagash and there’s an Ultimate Wild Ale Flight and five different bottles so plenty to chose from. Being an IPA guy Allagash has never been one of my favorites, but you have to respect them.

Rob Tod started Allagash in Portland ME in 1995 and has grown it to a top craft brewery; the Brewers Association has them at #21 for 2024. He literally built his own brewery, which is what many of the early craft beer pioneers did as there wasn’t a readily available supply of brewing equipment around, and wanted to start with only one beer; a Belgian style wheat beer he named Allagash White. When you’re talking the mid to late 1990’s many didn’t know what to think of this hazy beer, but they gave it a try and it caught on. A Gold medal at the World Beer Cup in 1998 (not half bad for only starting in 1995) and then another at the 2002 GABF should tell us they were doing something right

They added another brewer and added more beers to their lineup. In 2007 Rob took a trip to Belgium with a few other “possibly” notable brewers; Sam Calagione, Adam Avery, Tomme Arthur and Vinnie Cilurzo. There he learned

about Coolship brewing which inspired him to try to brew traditional Belgian-style spontaneously fermented beer in Maine and became the first one to not only try it in here in the states but succeed. Their spontaneously fermented beers were so well received that in 2010 they were invited to the Lambic festival in Belgium named “The Night of the Great Thirst” and for the next four festivals, held biannually, were the ONLY American brewery; not too shabby!

Allagash deserves a lot of credit for not only finding their niche but owning it and not wavering. When hoppy IPAs were taking over and brewery after brewery decided to join and not buck the trend, Allagash stayed their course. Their only dalliance I recall was a Hoppy Table Beer which was very enjoyable, but not the hop bomb we’re seeing from many other breweries. So, I guess the moral is if you make good beer, no matter what style, we craft beer drinkers will find it and yes drink it.

Okay so back to our MBA/PhD night. I ordered the Ultimate Wild Flight and was not overly impressed. The Helena, a Flanders Red Ale was good. The Little Sal was on the sweet side but reminded me more of cherries than the blueberries they used. I found the Fox Leap least exciting as I got no cherries nor the bourbon barrel taste I expected. And then there was the closer, Shiros Delight, an American Wild Ale which I thought to have a very light taste for 9.9% abv and was getting subtle notes of cherry and plum; clearly the winner of that flight.

The night was still young (since we started in the afternoon) and they also had an “Allagash From The Cellar” selection of five different bottles. When I ordered my next beer after the flight (and to be honest w/o looking at what was available on draft I’m not recollecting it all, not implying that it wasn’t good) I also ordered a 12.7 oz. bottle of the 2020 Coolship Red and some glasses so we could all taste it. The Coolship Red was described as a 6.2% Lambic, aged on raspberries for six months in oak wine barrels; sounded pretty interesting to me.

The Coolship Red arrives, is opened and I pour. We’re enjoying it and basically all think it definitely better than any of the four in the flight. I like to log my beers into Untappd and as I pull it up, I see I had a Coolship Red two years ago on 4/7/22, which being the first Tuesday of the month was definitely an MBA/PhD night with Allagash as the featured brewery. What surprises me most is I only gave it 2.50, which seems low for what I’m tasting now. I open up my comments to read “Tart, fruity, not the best style for me.” For this check-in I’m giving it a 4.00 and commenting “Interesting how much more I like this than 2 years ago, it’s very refreshing, a slightly sweet tart.”

I must say I’m a little surprised at the difference between today and two years ago. Now certainly beers brewed a couple of years apart and aged in an oak barrel will never be exactly the same. And let’s not forget the situation/experience of what you’re drinking are different and so your taste buds are never going to react exactly the same either, but in this case, I’m leaning more strongly to the last few words in my 2018 comment, not the best style for me.

That was great and since sharing a 12.7 oz bottle amongst five isn’t all that much beer I’m thinking we should do another one! I peruse the four others available and decide to go with the Pick Your Own described as a 6.2% Flanders Red, aged in an oak foudre with Lactobacillus and Pediococcus for two years after adding fresh, local raspberries, cherries, strawberries and blueberries. My beer buds are definitely excited I’m ordering another one!

The Pick Your Own arrives, is opened and I pour. Do I know how to pick em! This is the best yet and we’re all thoroughly enjoying it. This is what’s great about craft beer; ordering a different beer that tastes great and enjoying it with your friends; it doesn’t get any better than this (wait that sounds familiar like it came from an old beer commercial, so I look it up and duh it’s been used for lots of different products but yes there are a bunch of Old Milwaukee ads using it; hard to believe it was used with Old Sludgewaukee, it was drinkable in it’s day but yea it could get A LOT better even back then)!

Back to Untappd to log this one in and bingo, I logged in it two years ago on 8/7/22! So, wait am I really here in 2024 or did I just take a ride with Christopher Lloyd aka Dr. Emmett Brown in his time traveling DeLorean?!? I must say this is curious and I’m very interested to open my 2022 check-in to see this next comparison. Well there it is, another 2.50, although my comment was a little more positive, “very fruity as it warms up, a pleasant sipping beer on a hot day.”  Two years ago, it was obviously on draft, as I noted it improving as it warmed. As an aside, if I were creating the perfect craft beer bar, I would have two coolers, one for all the lagers, ales, IPAs, etc. and one for the Belgian style and more importantly all those imperial stouts that are ALWAYS way too cold when first poured. Being warmer might wreak havoc with pouring them but there should be a way to handle that. But until then I’ll continue to order two at once so the ones that need to warm can sit and do just that.

Okay where was I; oh, about to check-in the Pick Your Own. I’m giving it a 4.00 and commenting, “Wow 2 years ago I wasn’t so excited by this giving it a 2.50 but today it is delicious, robust and showing the numerous fruits used.” Two years ago it was a draft, this a bottle and again we’re talking about an American Wild Ale, so could never be exactly the same, but I’m still thinking this may well have more to do with my taste than the beer.

Let’s think about this. When I started drinking it was pitchers of cold American lagers. There wasn’t much interest in foreign beers; hard to believe Heineken was considered one of the better back then. As more European and Canadian beers came into our market, we were starting to get different tastes; the maltiness of some of the German beers, the lightness of the Czech style pilsners and yes, the sour of the Belgians which were never high on my list.

Then came American craft beer, which at first was mostly just your basic lagers, ales, IPAs and stouts. As craft beer became entrenched and more breweries opened every year, brewers began trying to brew beer they and we liked and make their own niche. There were a small percentage who decided that Belgian style beers would be their calling and many like Allagash, Ommegang, The Bruery and The Lost Abbey to name a few became some of our American standard bearers for Belgian style beers. Many other breweries decided that the full spectrum was more to their liking but also brewed Belgian style beers very well like Firestone-Walker, pFriem, Boulevard and Schlafly to name a few.

Opening a beer menu today will typically include at least one of these; witbier, saison, farmhouse ale, sour, tripel, dubbel, grand cru, golden strong or even a grisette on tap and usually many in bottles.

As I’ve tasted more of our craft beer offerings, I’ve also started tasting some of the classic Belgian offerings of Rodenbach, Chimay, Saison Dupont, La Chouffe, Gulden Draak and of course La Trappe and come to appreciate their difference in style and taste as well as their quality.

So yes, craft beer has challenged me to expand my taste and I’m happy to say I appreciate that and I’ve been up to the challenge!

Is your taste changing? If not maybe it’s time to accept the challenge of those beers you may not be all that fond of; you never know what might happen… 

Kudos to Celebrating and Recording

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

Craft beer, as we know it today, is really little more than four decades old; still a veritable youngster, although many of those who love and partake weren’t even born when it started.  A couple of months ago we had Flagship February, which was a

shout out to many of the beers that got us here and are still around. They were the pioneers that grew in popularity as more and more beer drinkers stepped away from the traditional American lagers and slightly more tasteful imports and enjoyed a beer that was more robust and had more taste. It is a shame that many of the pioneers are struggling, but that is due to the evolution of our craft beer industry. It’s not just the sheer number of breweries but the increased number of styles that we can regularly see when we head into our local craft beer bar and see what’s new on tap. But it’s good to know we haven’t forgotten those who got us to where we are today. It’s always important to understand your history and the events and people that shaped it.

And last month another important event in recognizing and preserving our history took place. On March 9th Theresa McCulla and her colleague Steve arrived in Arkansas. They were there to meet with Jack McAuliffe; yes that Jack McAuliffe!  And if you’re scratching your head not remembering who Jack McAuliffe is well I’ll give you a quick refresher. In 1976 Jack created the first post prohibition US microbrewery, New Albion Brewing Company in Sonoma, CA. Although he wasn’t able to keep it going his great tasting beer and his work influenced others and helped create a blueprint for  microbreweries that followed. He is therefore considered the father of American craft beer.

So who are Theresa and Steve and why did they travel from Washington DC to Arkansas to meet with Jack? Well they work for the Smithsonian Institute! And to be more specific Theresa is the historian for American Brewing History Initiative at the Museum of American History. And they were there not only to meet with Jack but to take an oral history.

So how did this day go? Well first they sat down with and took an oral history with Renee DeLuca, who is Jack’s daughter and current owner of New Albion Brewing.

Since your first thought must be that she’s related to me and therefore I got an inside scoop and I’m also promoting a close family business that would be no, no and no. I have no clue if there’s any relation as I haven’t really worked on, nor have much info on my paternal tree, but let’s also understand that DeLuca is not an uncommon name. We ain’t Smith or Jones, but there’s a lot of DeLucas around. As to how I found out about this, Renee has a blog called The Brewer’s Daughter, which you can sign up for at brewersdaughter.com. Every so often I’ll get an email that she’s posted something and go in to check it out, so yes she recently wrote about this day. And why wouldn’t she, it’s about her father and his legacy in craft beer and New Albion.

Back to the story, Renee talked about finding her father, since no she didn’t live with him growing up, nor know who her birthfather was. Then 2012-13 when Jim Koch of Boston Beer, who had bought the rights to New Albion, decided to revive it so brewed and distributed it. Then Jim gave the rights back to Jack, who passed them to Renee, who now has Platform Beer Co. brewing New Albion. As an aside I was completely bummed when I was in Cleveland a couple of years ago for a day, hoping to find and try some New Albion and couldn’t find it; hopefully someday I’ll get to try it.

Next it was over to Jack’s house, where he proudly showed them his collection of memorabilia, books and photos. Then they sat down and took a formal oral history; the story of the origins of craft beer and New Albion, as told by Jack. With the task well in hand it was time to celebrate, so down to Jack’s favorite brewpub, the Creekside Taproom for a few beers, where as one of their local regulars he was of course given a warm welcome (similar to how I’m greeting when I enter my favorite craft beer bar…well maybe not quite as warmly as Jack in his.) No better way to celebrate an event than a few beers amongst friends!

But the story’s not complete yet and won’t be for a number of months. Sometime this Fall the New Albion Brewing Company will be among the exhibits in the Museum! And at some point you will also be able to listen to his oral history online. I’ll certainly be interested to listen to it and we can post the link on Beernexus when available.

I haven’t been to the Smithsonian in a while but this is first I’ve heard about thAmerican Brewing History Initiative so had to check it out and what better way than an internet search. The American Brewing History Initiative is a two year project to

document, collect and preserve the history of beer and brewing in America, with a special focus on home brewing and craft beer.

The Museum already holds a rich collection related to American brewing technology and advertising from the turn of the 20th century. The point of this initiative is to collect newer histories of home brewing and craft beer. As American brewing culture expands in scope our understanding of its role in American history should also expand. Interestingly enough this initiative, made possible through the generous support by the Brewers Association, will ensure a permanent, prominent role for the story of American beer and brewing in the Museum’s archival collections, public programming and exhibitions.

And here I was thinking the Brewer’s Association would be trumpeting this at some point, but they’re way ahead of me, they funded it, now that’s smart thinking. As I look into it further there are already twenty oral histories from such luminaries as Fritz Maytag of Anchor, Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada and Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River, along with a few others that worked with Jack early on.

From a timeline of some events posted it looks like this has been going on for a couple of years already, so I’m surprised I hadn’t heard about it yet. There are tons of beer articles these days and somebody must have written about it, but I must not be reading the right ones. From a “know where you came from” perspective it’s a great idea to collect this data and put it all in one place while it’s still available.

I decided to check out the Brewers Association website, figuring it should be easy to find more information there, but I had to search to find it. Found the press release from May 4, 2021, which was announcing the launch of a three year initiative; not sure why there’s a difference on Smithsonian website, but we are coming up on three years. I must say I applaud the Brewers Association for their forward (or in a historical sense, backward) way of thinking by funding something not sexy or splashy that’s quickly gone but something more permanent which will provide us with some great data and information on our formative years. I am surprised they don’t promo it more on their website, would seem to make sense.

Again I can’t believe I haven’t heard of it before but hey many would rather write about new beers or breweries or why there are too many IPAs or craft vs macro breweries, etc.; didn’t we all learn in school that history is boring! Well maybe the way it’s taught might be part of the answer, but it’s always good to understand what came before and how that impacts today’s world. So yes I’ll be definitely checking out what I can online.

All this history has made me thirsty; time for one of the older established crafts to contemplate just how far craft has come in forty plus years.

                                                Trust Your Taste

                                                                     By Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

So it’s a typical Tuesday afternoon and I’m headed to the Cloverleaf to have a few with my beer buds. There’s nothing special going on in terms of a tap takeover, etc.  ut I’m sure I’ll find something to enjoy on tap.

I don’t need any punches for my PhD card so no reason to have any of the hop or draft brews, unless of course I really want one.  I begin to peruse the draft list and down near the bottom I see Kane First Reef. Kane makes great beer and I often have a Sneakbox or a Head High. Their Overhead DIPA is pretty good also, but this is anew 7.8% DIPA so I mark that as my most likely closing beer. The next beer that perks my interest is Interboro Mad Fat Fluid, which is a very nice IPA and at 7.0% packs some punch so that would be a good second beer. So yes I’m a hophead, yes I do love a good IPA and the great thing is there are so many good and even great ones out there it’s a great time to be IPA lover.

I’ve got a couple of big brews picked out so maybe something on the lighter side to start. It’s a warm day, although yes I am sitting in an air conditioned bar, and I seeFounders Pilsner on the list. I haven’t had their rebranded version  of PC Pils but I remember liking it, so bingo that’s first up; in a PhD glass of course, and it’s today’s $3 beer so can’t beat that. It’s okay, not exciting, I’m thinking they played with the formula as I recall enjoying PC Pils, but hey that had to be last year and your taste buds aren’t the same every day so maybe it’s me, not the beer. So here we are Brian, Vince, Richie and I enjoying our beers and having a few laughs. Jack shows up, who’s been out of town for a while so we’re catching up on his adventures. AuntKris, also known as AK and whose brother is the second generation owner  of Cloverleaf, shows up and joins us also.

My Founders Pilsner is gone so on to a Mad Fat Fluid. I take a sip expecting a nice hoppy taste to contrast the cleaner taste of the first pilsner, but it’s not there. I’m a little confused as this is not the Mad Fat Fluid I remember. It doesn’t taste bad, but it’s not the taste I’m expecting; it’s kind of just there. I give it to Brian to taste and he agrees it’s not bad, but not all that exciting.  I open up Untappd as I want to see how I rated it in the past and read the flavor profile. I gave it a 3.75, the overall rating is a respectable 4.05. The description is, “Aromas of orange, grapefruit and pineapple. Citrus & tropical juice on the palate, soft mouthfeel with moderate bitterness. Brewed with English Optic malt and lots of malted oats and wheat. Fermented with American ale yeast and hopped with Mosaic, Centennial & Equinox. Pours hazy pale yellow.” I don’t have the greatest nose/sense of smell but I’m not getting much of anything. And I’m not getting any tropical notes either.

I take a few more sips and something is not right. I call the server over and tell her something is not right. I very very infrequently send back a beer but I’m not enjoying this at all. I ask her to replace it with a Head High. The server did kind of stand there for a minute, I guess not sure what to do, but eventually takes the glass and brings me a Head High. Well she’s fairly new so probably just getting a feel for how things should work there. Ah, now that first sip of Head High tastes really good!

Since she’s a fairly new server, I’m not sure she’ll do anything so I go up to the bar and tell Greg, the experienced bartender that he should taste the Mad Fat Fluid. Interestingly enough sitting at the bar next to me is the rep from the the distributor (Hunterdon) who handles Interboro. He says that’s what he’s drinking as he’s never had it before. I mention the description and he says he gets some tropical from it. I tell him it just doesn’t taste like the Mad Fat that I’ve had before. He’s wearing a really nice Green Flash shirt so I segway into my disappointment that they’re not in NJ or anywhere close for that matter as they made good beers. He explains he got the shirt at a meeting with them years ago as Hunterdon was their distributor. If they come back they would still be their distributor but we both agree that probably won’t be happening for some time. I head back to my table and my Head High.

I don’t know if Greg did taste the Mad Fat Fluid, but I happen to look up and see the manager tasting a beer behind the bar, so maybe he’s tasting trying it. He then disappears. A few minutes later the Hunterdon rep comes over to our table and gives me the thumbs up. I was right! They had swapped the lines downstairs and were pouring the Allagash on the Interboro line and vice versa. So I guess I know my beer! And hey it does happen, especially in craft beer bars with a lot of lines; they’re in a hurry, the cooler is crowded and it’s easy to be in a rush and make a mistake.

AK sees the manager on the side, calls him over and asks what happened. He said the lines were swapped when they were tapped. The Leaf has a very small box so they really need to keep track of the kegs. AK points to me and tells him I was the one who knew something was wrong. I’m not expecting a medal or a free beer, maybe just a “good job, thanks for alerting us” and the manager says “we trained you well.” Luckily I had my seat belt on my barstool; I looked at him and said “you just took credit for me figuring out something was wrong; seriously?!?” I get a sheepish grin in reply and he walks away. This isn’t one of the managers I have much interaction with; he’s pretty quiet going about his job interacting more with the staff than the customers.

You can imagine the discussion at our table following that interaction! Of course everyone applauds my tasting acumen. I’m still pretty much shocked that was the approach the manager took as I’ve been a regular customer for years. I’m not a regular regular who comes in every other night, but I’m typically there at least once a week.

Ryan, the third generation Dorchak and current general manager, does come over and says he heard I picked up on swapped lines. Ryan is often out and about with the Cloverleaf patrons. We’ll chat about whatever, not always beer related and he’ll bring us different beers to sample when he has a special bottle or a craft brewery brings some in hoping he’ll add them to his lineup. It’s a lot like an extended family. As I think back this reminds me of another time when the beer didn’t taste like what I expected. They checked the cooler and the right keg was tapped on that line. It took a few more minutes to figure out that the night crew from the evening before had tapped the keg at close but didn’t run the prior beer out of the line. Again the beer wasn’t bad; it just wasn’t what I expected so I said something.

I think it just goes to show that you don’t have to be a beer judge to know and understand your own taste and be confident in it. In fact a beer judge would probably be more inclined to view the beer from the perspective of what’s right and wrong with the beer than is it the beer it’s supposed to be. Now I’m not suggesting everyone start sending back beers, but when there is that occasion where you’re having a beer your familiar with and something’s not right, it’s certainly worth saying something, which hopefully a good craft beer bar should not take offense at but rather make the perfunctory checks to make sure everything is as it should be.

So now every time I see the Hunterdon rep at the Leaf I do ask him if there are any of his beers he wants me to check out; I’ll have to stop after a few times before I get annoying.

I’ll be printing up business cards next week; Big G’s Quality Control Beer Tasting Service. The business plan is I go into bars and, unbeknownst to the bartenders, I taste the beers to make sure they’re correct. I’m not sure how many managers will be thrilled to engage my services, but we’ll have to see… I don’t think I’ll alert the IRS to big jump in my income just yet; then again taking my earnings in trade could be a pretty good deal…

Glenn DeLuca writes about beer and culture of drinking. He may be reached by writing thebigG@beernexus.com  or  webmaster@beernexus.com

Craft Beer Pet Peeves

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

Craft beer is wonderful! It’s great to be able to go out to a bar or taproom and taste some delicious and tasty craft brews but there are a few things that bug me… Any beer where it takes me longer to read the brewer’s ingredients and description than it does to drink the beer. Yes I understand it’s all about what’s new and different now, but hey this isn’t mama’s meatloaf for dinner or Sunday morning quiche, where you look in the fridge to see what you’re going to throw in. So how long did the brewer spend trying to figure out what all to throw in to get to whatever taste he/she

wanted; or maybe it was a vision or more likely a nightmare. Seriously, just make good beer and stop trying to impress me with how many different flavor enhancing ingredients you can add.

And even if it’s only a one or two additives or ingredients do I really want any of these in my beer?? Let’s see lobster, no, I don’t care if it’s from ME, only in the shell or on a roll; Oreo’s, no I dunk them in milk; testicles, look us older guys may be a little low on our testosterone level but I’m not looking to increase it with testicles brewing in my beer; ghost or any other hot peppers, no I’m into pleasurable beer drinking; ramen, no isn’t that like a soup dish; and I’m sure there are way too many to list that I have absolutely no interest coming anywhere near the brewing process.

Then there are the ones that try to taste like something else we know; say for instance Orange Creamsicle or Lucky Charms or Pastrami on Rye. Okay so I had those as a kid but it wasn’t a beer and I don’t want beer that tastes like ice cream or cereal or a sandwich. Sure enough a brewery recently came out with two Carvel flavors; Cookie Puss and Fudgie the Whale. I don’t know how they get their beers to taste like that, but I absolutely positively without question do now want any artificial flavorings in my beer to get to a specific taste. I want it brewed with natural ingredients

So I know it’s a challenge and just a one off and you’re looking to be recognized since there are over 7,000 of you now, but I’m not all that interested.

And don’t be afraid to put READABLE/UNDERSTANDABLE packaging or freshness dates on your beer; it’s actually better for you. If I have a beer and it’s not as good as I expected and I see it may be a little past it’s prime, then I’m much more likely to try itagain as opposed to just thinking it’s not a good beer. Yes it means you need to work with distributors who understand this and work at it keeping everybody’s beer fresh.

Oh and another thing; when I come into your taproom, try your beer, like it enough to want to buy some and take out my growler, please don’t tell me you only fill YOUR growlers. Seriously, it has to have your name on it for you to fill it! You can’t claim cleanliness as if I bring yours back you’ll give it the sniff test and maybe rinse it, so don’t try that excuse. And if it’s got your name on it, you’re still going to put a tag on it that tells me which of your beers it is, usually with a date, so it’s not like we have no clue what it is. You could also be creative and produce stickers that you slap on the side with your name and a space for you to fill out the beer and date. You just want to sell more of the actual glass containers and that doesn’t make my wallet or my pantry at home happy as I rather not spend my money on items I already have enough of, so cut the nonsense.

Enough about the brewers, let’s talk about craft beer bars..whoa baby is there a lot to talk about:

So you want to be part of the club and offer craft beers and do a nice job decorating, have a decent number of taps and a good lineup. So here I am ready to check you out and what do you hand me; a menu with a list of your drafts with the beer name, brewery, ABV and calories. Wow that’s just wonderful, so do I pick up a wee gee board at the door to figure out how many ounces you’ll be pouring and how much you’ re charging for each one? And if I ask, the server needs to go over to the register and look each one up and if you have twenty four taps and I’m interested in a few different beers I have to inquire and I need to write them down somewhere…aren’t we wasting a lot of my time where I’d rather spend it drinking the beer. So okay maybe you didn’t have time to get a full bore menu ready before your grand opening but if you continue this for a few weeks then I’m really not interested in your excuse and you really don’t want my business. When was the last time you walked into a restaurant and their menu listed all their entrees without prices? And would you go back???

When the first really big craft bars started opening up with 75 or 80 or 90 or 100 draft lines I thought they would be heavenly; here’s a place where there will always be something new to taste or something that I know I already enjoy. But that presupposes a couple of things; one you have enough business to support all those draft lines and two, you understand that some will not sell as fast as others and you may need to help them move by offering discounts or special flights OR you just leave them on forever and they begin to taste like, well old, not so fresh beer. So what I’m saying is you have a responsibility to make sure your beers are turning over so they’re fresh. And yes we all understand the stouts and barrel aged beers don’t need to move as fast as the NEIPAs, but they also don’t taste fresh forever. I did have an experience in an unnamed almost one hundred tap bar where I was disappointed with a beer. The brewer actually read and responded to my Untappd post and said the beer was well past its prime. If they said that to me about a beer I had at the Cloverleaf I would think they’re just covering for themselves since I know

they turn over their inventory, but that wasn’t the case here.

And whether you have 24 or 94 lines there is no excuse for not cleaning your lines. It’s just miserable when you’re ready to take your first sip and the taste is off, it just ruins the beer. And by the way I’m paying good money for those drafts today, this ain’t no $2 tall boy of Nattie Light, so I expect to get a fresh beer poured through a

clean line. And if you were foolish enough to put on the Not Your Father’s Root beer and then put another beer on before cleaning the line fifty times I don’t want that lingering taste on each subsequent beer; put the Coors Light on that line.

And for the liquor/beverage stores and distributors I have a few choice words: ROTATE YOUR STOCK and make sure you’re not selling me really old beer. When Iwalk into a store and bottles/cans are dusty I sense there is a problem. Yes its workand you hope the distributor really cares about the product on your shelves and will encourage you to put something on sale before it gets old or they really need to take  it back, but it’s part of your responsibility to me, the consumer.

And to the craft beer drinkers/lovers:- Stop complaining there are too many IPAs! Guess what, if the market was over

saturated and sales were not increasing brewers would turn to other styles; but they’re not. And think about it, there are over one hundred different hops availablenow and they each have their own flavor profile so there are numerous ways to combine and brew with them to affect the taste which is another reason there are so many. That’s just not possible with some other styles like pilsner, kolsch or lager. If you don’t like IPAs it’s not like there’s no other styles available for you; there’s been an explosion of brewers trying numerous styles even besides the basic lager, ales,

porters and stouts, like saison, gose, brown ales, red ales, porters, barrel aged,wheat, Scottish-style, bock and of course the specialty like the always lovable pumpkin beer.

I have a few friends who write down every beer they taste, then they go home and enter into a spreadsheet. Now to their credit they have been doing this for years so have an extensive list of the craft beers they’ve tasted, and yes they started to record their beers before the advent of Untappd and RateBeer and Beer Advocate. But there is something to be said for keeping up the times. In fact isn’t that what they’re doing with craft beer by tasting new craft beers as they come out. And yes it may be true that they can enter more information and do quick sorts or searches on their spreadsheet, but come on guys let’s keep up with the times. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh I forgot they don’t have smart phones; they still have flip phones that don’t connect to the Internet…never mind.

And another thing, doesn’t it really frost your cookies when you drive out of the car wash and the plastic between your mirror and the car is still dirty! Didn’t I just spend $12 for you to clean the whole car? Wait what does that have to do with craft beer you say? Oh, okay well maybe I just lost my train of thought there and just decided to keep listing some of my other pet peeves. So guess I’m done,

I feel better now…time for a nice refreshing craft beer… 

My Beer Ancestry

By Glenn  "Big G" DeLuca

Ancestry is and probably will continue to be a “hot” topic. Turn on the TV and you can see shows where they’ve chosen celebrities and revealed their background or go online where it’s difficult not to see an ad for an ancestry website where you can search for your long lost relatives and build a family tree. I found out my cousin has a family tree for my Father’s side of the family so I bought Family Tree Maker allowing me to download, view and make it my own. My sister reminded me she has a family tree for my Mother’s side of the family, albeit paper, which when she locates I can build into my family tree.  These should save me a ton of time putting together MY family tree. And I decided to take it a step further; Ancestry had a sale on their DNA analysis recently, so I figured what the heck, I sent them some spit…er saliva. It will be interesting to see if what I believe is my three European country heritage takes me other places in the centuries before that.

It got me to thinking that since I’ve been around and drinking beer for decades, maybe I could/should research /document my beer ancestry. That does present a few issues as there are no websites that will tell me what I was drinking when. There also was no Facebook or Internet site where anyone could have snapped a pic of me when I was holding a beer and posted it. Guess I could look through old pictures but I wasn’t taking selfies with my camera, my pics would be of others. And I’m not going to ask any friends to go through their old pics to see if they have any of me holding a bottle or can with a distinguishable label. So the only alternative is to do the old, hopefully, reliable brain search and see what comes up. I’m thinking I’d better define what I’m trying to do. Since my friend and I have done significant taste testing and I’m now going to tap takeovers and festivals, there is no way I could ever list or remember every beer I’ve ever tasted, nor would you really be interested spending the time reviewing it. But I did have  favorite/”go to” beers at different times of my life, so that sounds like it could be the basis of seeing what my likes were and how they changed…not to mention a hell of a lot easier to recall.

I grew up on Long Island and there were a fair amount of NY beers; Rheingold, Knickerbocker, Piels, Ballantine (ok technically Newark, but they sponsored the Yankees!) and the one that was my first love, Schaefer; “the one beer to have when you’re having more than one”. Schaefer will always hold a special place in my taste buds as it was my first “go to”; I bought and drank Schaefer whenever I could. When hitting the bars with friends in the days of 3 or 4 taps of lagers, many times we’d get whatever was cheapest (within reason of course as even back then I really wasn’t

interested in touching, much less drinking, a Rheingold…).

That lasted a good 5-7 years and then I was off to Connecticut for grad school, where I met a guy who was to become a good friend and drinking buddy. He loved Schlitz, so he got me drinking Schlitz also.  It made sense as I couldn’t stand Crud er Bud, never could, and back then Miller promoted itself as the “Champagne of Bottled Beers”.  Well I really wasn’t all that interested in champagne and certainly didn’t consider myself an upper cruster, so of the Big Three, Schlitz made the most sense and by the way tasted the best; so that was my second “go to” beer.

I probably also need to make distinction between primary and secondary “go to” beers as there were times when there was more than one favorite, or maybe it was more like a close second. Being in grad school and not overly rich when I would head home I would most times pick up a case of Utica Club, a decent upstate NY pilsner at the great price of $0.99/six pack. So for $3.96 I had a case of beer in the trunk for us to drink, when we weren’t studying of course. So then UC is #2b.

I graduate and move up to MA. I have a job and more money than when I was a grad student and my #3 “go to” becomes…drum roll…hold your breath…you won’t believe it…Michelob. Yes I hate Bud, but Mich is what they called, at that time, a super-premium; it was pretty good and yes had that distinctive bottle that set it apart from the rest, not that I drank it because of the bottle, but that didn’t hurt. During that time we started to get a lot of imports that were attracting attention; Moosehead from Canada, Molson Golden, also from Canada (and one of the worst beers I’ve

ever had), Miller bought the US rights for Lowenbrau, Schlitz introduced Erlanger and A-B, not to be outdone imports Wurzburger Hofbrau (I guess they figure if they’ re going to lose Mich drinkers to imports it might as well be their own…). And those are just the big names I remember, there were a lot more; so tasted a lot of different brews but Mich remained my “go to” for many years.

I do need to mention #3b; Steinlager from New Zealand. I can’t say I drank a ton of it as it wasn’t inexpensive, but got it when I could as I liked the taste (the label does say it’s the World’s Best Lager…). Interestingly enough I found it a few years back in a large beverage store in Portsmouth NH and yes I got a case and enjoyed it over time.  When I was back a year later they no longer carried it as their distributor had discontinued it. I haven’t searched for it since then, but I may just after I finish this article.

I take another job in NJ for less money than I was making in MA (thinking of course I’ d save money on expensive MA car insurance…was I in for a surprise) , but needed the career change. So for a while it was back to more reasonably priced beers. The first few years I can’t remember a “go to” beer but at some point I settled on Miller Genuine Draft or MGD, so that would be my #4.  Miller had introduced Lite beer a decade prior and it did so well it drove the light beer craze as we see both Bud Light and Coors Light are two of the bestselling beers (actually a pretty sad statement).

They had mainstreamed Miller and moved into second place with the help of Schlitz shooting themselves in the foot. MGD was originally Miller High Life Genuine Draft as it was the same recipe as High Life, but with a different “cold filtered” treatment, the intent was to give High Life drinkers the fresh draft taste they got from a non- pasteurized keg. You think they might have been trying to steal alittle thunder from Coors which wasn’t national yet??? I had never been a big High Life fan, but I liked MGD and it probably didn’t hurt that I could get 30 packs of cans at a reasonable

price and was my “go to” for years

Not to be outdone, Coors introduced Extra Gold the same year as MGD and they also had and Extra Gold Draft version. I remember the Coors mystique years ago when I couldn’t get it. A friend of mine on vacation actually iced a case and drove it back east for me; that was a treat. And I remember the few times I had it when traveling out west were also enjoyable moments. Extra Gold was a solid lager and I’d place it #4b.

But the craft beer revolution had started and I always looked to taste different beers when traveling.  At some point I needed a change from MGD and decided to step it up to Sam Adams. Sam was a quality lager and there were many times when I was out at a bar or dinner or traveling and the tap handles were Bud and Miller and Coors but there was also a Sam wedged in there and I knew I’d have a good draft beer. Sam Adams became my #5 “go to” for many years. And of I’ve said in the past we all owe Sam Adams and Boston Beer a thank you for helping to mainstream craft beer and helping create the monster it is today. And yes even today I always enjoy a Sam when I take that opportunity.

I was paying more for Sam but it was worth it, then prices started going up. Around the same time a stroke of luck. I had visited The Mendocino Brewing Company in Ukiah CA, a pioneer in the craft brew industry, in 1989 and tried their signature Red Tail Ale, which was delicious. If you found it east it was expensive and you had no clue how old it was. Well they borrowed money to expand brewing and wound up not being able to make payments so they were bought the owner of an Indian airline. Around the same time the Olde Saratoga Brewing Company in Saratoga Springs did

the same thing; borrowed to expand brewing and couldn’t make the payments and who buys them…the same Indian airline owner. This is a stroke of luck because they start brewing the Red Tail Ale and Eye of the Hawk and White Hawk IPA and the rest of the Mendocino brews in Saratoga Springs and ship to NJ!!! And it gets better as Bottle King basically has the Mendocino brews on their club pricing all the time. So Mendocino becomes my #6” go to”.

Initially I probably drank more of the White Hawk IPA (which unfortunately for them, not me, has been blown out of the water with the explosion of IPAs in the last few years) with some Red Tail mixed in but eventually gravitated to their Blue Heron Pale Ale. That was great for a while until their distributor went bankrupt and out of business.  So for quite a while I couldn’t get it and their new distributor won’t bring in full cases, only the mixed 12 packs, which isn’t what I want. But every once in a while another friend traveling up to VT will stop in Saratoga Springs and pick me up a case.

That brings me to a few years ago, when I have more time and can spend it at tap takeovers, festivals and in general enjoying the explosion of new breweries and different beers. Today a flight is one of the most beautiful things as I don’t have to drink a pint of each and in many cases am not interested in 12 or 16 ounces of a sour or high alcohol or just okay, not great beer. So I no longer have a “go to”.  I usually buy something I’ve had and really like but it’s not necessarily the same. I kind of liked having a “go to” as it made beer shopping pretty easy, but taste wise it’s a much more interesting time.

That was actually a fun trip down my memory lane on “my beer ancestry”, seeing where I’ve been and how I got there. What would be really interesting is if I could line all those beers up and have them one after the other. I’m sure I wouldn’t be all that impressed with the earlier ones, but times and tastes change and that’s what makes beer drinking great.

Maybe I’ve spurred you to do your own beer ancestry…if so, have fun. 

A Missed Opportunity

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

A few weeks back one of my beer buds forwarded us a link titled “Beers With the Most 5-Star Check-Ins on Untappd in 2023.” Interesting in a couple of ways; 1) not sure when they pulled the data, but they had to have at least two months left in 2023 so why didn’t they just pull the last twelve months to give us a full twelve-month picture? Not sure it would change the beers or order but still… And a much more interesting #2; my beer bud doesn’t use Untappd, so how’d he find this before me??? He started logging in his beers MANY years ago on a spreadsheet before anyone had ever thought of an app (well back then I’m not sure there were any apps…) and not being the most tech savvy guy he decided it easier to keep it all in the same place; or maybe he doesn’t know how to load an app on his phone… I’m not sure what more than beer, brewery, and date he keeps, but it’s a LONG list.

Anyway, I get this link and I don’t open it immediately. It’s really a teaser as I begin thinking about highly rated beers that I might think/hope/expect might be on the list. The first that comes to mind is the DIPA, Heady Topper by The Alchemist. They basically singlehandedly brought us the New England hazy juicy IPA craze. That though could be a risky choice as it was first brewed in 2004, so we’re closing in on two decades of the same beer in the same can but just looking at the present. Is it still as popular; I guess more craft beer drinkers are trying it every year and there are some like me who will drink it whenever they can find it, but maybe it’s not getting as many 5’s as I think; after all there are TONS of hazy juicy IPAs out there now, but how many nearly as good.

As an aside, our beer bar gets a few cases of both Heady and Focal Banger occasionally, and I don’t care what’s on the draft list, I’m ordering it. The Alchemist does put dates on its can, which isn’t a huge deal for a beer that sells that quickly, but back in May 2020 we were drinking Heady that was canned 10 days before and Focal canned 11 days before! It got even better in September 2022 when the Heady was canned 8 days earlier and the Focal 7 days. The only way to get it fresher is drive up to the brewery yourself!!

And since I mentioned it, let’s talk about what I call Heady’s stepsister, American IPA Focal Banger. I remember the first time I had it and was shocked at how good it was! Personally, I think it’s Heady’s equal, but it doesn’t get the hype or publicity Heady does, so it would be on my list, but I wouldn’t expect it to be among Untappd’s highest “5” counts.

What next, well how about Tree House’s flagship IPA Julius?? Tree House is a homerun machine when it comes to brewing DIPAs. I’ve tasted a lot and it’s amazing how good so many of them are, but Julius is one of the first stars. They’ve made a bunch of different iterations. But again, Tree House self distributes ALL their beer so is it possible they could be spread far enough to garner enough “5s” to make the list…

What else…ok duh there should be 5-10 beers immediately popping into my head…I think I have brain freeze, so let’s just slowly put a list together…

•  How about Sierra Nevada’s Hazy Little Thing? As I understand it is now their top selling beer and they’re widely distributed, definitely a possibility.

•   Hill Farmstead is a great brewery, but I don’t know how widely distributed they are and although I’ve had quite a few of their really good beers, there’s not one that really stands out

•  Well since I’m hanging in VT: Lawson’s Sip of Sunshine!  I remember the days when you could only get it in VT. It grew in popularity and they contracted with Two Roads in CT to make enough to supply demand, but I think distribution could be an issue. In January 2021 they were in nine northeast states. I checked CA and TX and it’s not available today so not sure how widespread they are.

• As long as we’re in the Northeast how about Maine Beer Co or Bissell Brothers?? Both make great beer. Dinner is probably Maine Beer’s best beer and they are in 32 states. The Substance Ale IPA is Bissell’s flagship and Swish DIPA would be the two Bissell beers to think about.

• What about The Bruery?  They make some excellent beers, but many in large bottles and I’m not thinking they have the volume. They do also make the Offshoot beers which are very good, but I’m not thinking they’d be on the list.

•  Goose Island Bourbon County Stout which has gotten wider distribution under AB/InBev but they had a handful of variants each year, which should thin the counts.

• Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout, another delicious big barrel aged stout that is well known and probably nationally distributed that many of us look forward to each year…a possibility!

• So about now you’re looking at my possibilities and saying “hey birdbrain, what about some of the European classics!!” Untappd isn’t just the USA and we get some great imports so we drink them also. So maybe there’s a Duvel or a Rodenbach or an Orval or a Weihenstephaner or a Chimay; ah there definitely should be a few of these if enough people are checking them in.

Okay enough guessing. Let’s open the list and see if I have a clue and what obvious beers completely slipped my mind…

The intro talks about Untappd being released in 2010 and now having 10 BILLION registered members; that’s got to be a broad spectrum of beer drinkers and yes, we do see those who check-in Coors Light.

There’s #1 and I’m embarrassed already; big duh; it’s Pliny the Elder with 9,057. And I’m sure Pliny the Younger will show up also; two amazing US craft beers. In my defense I’m sad to say I’ve never had the opportunity to try either, but yes, they should have entered my thought process.

This confirms my initial thought that a bunch of us sitting around the table would have thrown out many beers and more than one would have included the Plinys.

#2 lifts my spirits back up as it’s Heady Topper with 7,570; and that was my first thought. I’m feeling pretty good, but there’s more to come so let’s not get too excited.

#3 Trappist Westvleteren 12 with 4,167, yes, an excellent Belgian Quad. I’m thinking I’ve tried this but I don’t have it logged in on Untappd.

#4 – Duvel with 3,625, so I’ve picked two of the top four! An excellent Belgian Strong Golden Ale.

#5 – Zombie Dust with 3,441! A surprise maybe, but Three Floyds knows what they’re doing. An all-Citra Pale Ale released in 2010. So, like Heady, we craft beer drinkers are not all about the newest one on the block when it comes to rating a great beer.

#6 – Focal Banger with 2,761!! Well, there are a bunch of other craft beer drinkers who bear out my initial thought that this should be on the list. I seem to be doing well with the even numbered beers…

#7 – King JJJuliusss with 2,382! Interesting I expected Julius, which is an IPA, while this is a DIPA, but I was correct to think Tree House would be on the list.

#8 - Spotted Cow by New Glarus with 2,377; only five less than King JJJuliusss. I’ve had this Farmhouse Ale and it’s good, but I’d probably never give it a “5”.

#9 – Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier with 2,337! A German classic that I remember having decades ago; long before Untappd, and yes, on my list…

#10 – King Julius with 2,306! Tree House strikes again with their flagship DIPA. Interesting they have two closely related beers in the top ten. Too bad I picked the flagship IPA, but obviously on the right track.

#11 – Orval with 2,149! Yes, I’m glad my brain moved out of the US to think about some of the great foreign beers there are.

And tied at #11 with obviously 2,149 is Sam Adams Octoberfest!!! This has got to be a bigger shocker than Spotted Cow, but Sam has typically made solid beers for decades so it’s nice to see there is one that really stands out!

And finally, lucky #13 with 2,085 is the well-known and only TIPA on the list; Pliny the Younger! Interesting the list starts and ends with Pliny!

There must be more beers with 5 stars but looks like they stopped with those having at least 2,000. Makes sense as what does a beer with 100 5 stars tell you.

I’m not feeling too bad getting five of the thirteen. Maybe I should get another half point, although I was barking up the wrong branch on my Tree House pick.

Just for kicks I looked at all my 5-star check-ins which go back to 2016. In most recent to oldest order:

• • •  Liberty Ale, probably because it may be the last one I ever have;

    •  BCS on tap in ’22;

    •  2010 KBS 11.2% on tap in ’19 (gotta love when someone hangs on to a bbl for that long!);

    • Kane -2015 A Night to End All Dawns (ANTEAD) 12.4% taster on tap in ’19;

    •  a bottle of 2012 Vtg Rodenback (Bbl 170) in ’19;

    •  Lawson’s Sip of Sunshine, first time on draft in November 2017;

    • ANTEAD (coconut) on draft at a Kane event April 2017;

    • Barista Chocolate Quad – an 11% Belgian Quad brewed by Kasteel Brouwerij Vanhonsebrouk twice, at     least one on draft, January & July 2017;

    •  Infamous Milk Stout by Against The Grain May 2016;

    •  Segal Ranch Session IPA by Green Flash January 2016;

    • Ballantine Burton Ale -a strong ale first brewed in the 1930s & aged in American oak for years, designated a “Special Brew” it was given as a gift to prestigious friends of the brewery, had the 2015 revival by Pabst twice on tap, January & September 2016;

    • Sam Adams Rebel IPA – Jim Koch was not a big IPA fan but when he finally broke down and joined the IPA craze, I really enjoyed it,

    •   late 2015 & early 2016; Maine Beer  MO, a pale ale probably on draft late 2015

    •  and finally, IPA (west coast style) by Nebraska Brewing in early 2016.

I’m not sure I ever pulled up my 5-star check-ins before, but that was fun, remembering some incredibly good beers and yes hardly remembering some of them.

But back to my initial thought; we could have had a blast sitting around coming up with a list of possible 5-stars and then reviewing the list…maybe next time.

It’s Time to Challenge Some of Our So-Called Craft Brewers

by Glenn "Big G" Deluca

I believe we’re still hovering below the ten thousand mark in the wonderful world of craft brewers. As I’ve said before, kudos to the Craft Brewers Association for trying to keep this straight with all the breweries that have been bought and sold along the way and the many different kinds of owners that can make you scratch your head wondering if they are/can still be considered craft. If you think about the count without trying to distinguish ownership then I’d say we’ve passed ten thousand, which is pretty amazing.

But QUANTITY does not and never will equal QUALITY; that’s not a revelation, but a basic fact. There are some things that drive me to drink about our craft brewers and I think it’s time I shared a few of my pet peeves…

1-      There are WAY too many breweries that make really middle of the road, pedestrian, or downright awful beer. I’m not a craft brewer or home brewer; I have no interest in brewing; I’m one of the millions who want the end-product. So, this isn’t about me saying I can do better; this is about me expecting you to produce some good beer if you expect me and a lot others to come to your taproom or buy you product in bars or liquor stores. I’m not saying brewing good beer is the easiest thing in the world, but because your home brew wasn’t bad and your friends all said “you should open up a brewery” doesn’t mean it easy to scale up from that kettle in your basement or garage to a big shiny barrel system; there are complications and intricacies involved.

2-      Let’s not misconstrue my initial comment as to say the day you open the door you need to be serving great beer; that’s not a realistic expectation. Opening a new brewery space is a lot of work and effort. I expect decent beer but a grace period is definitely in order. I would say a year; if you’re still making that mid-grade beer a year later then do us all a favor and get a new brewer; I don’t expect you’ll ever step it up.

3-      There are only so many spaces that can reasonably hold a brewery and a taproom and we see many in those mini strip mall garage bays, which makes a lot of sense. If you decide to open on Main Street and are paying high rent then make sure you’re driving the traffic needed to support that high rent through your door, don’t just crank up your price.  If you decide to use a space that has little to no parking nearby, then don’t expect to see me; I’m not driving around looking for a spot so then I can walk blocks to your place. Yea it may be a great place for a brewery but not if we can’t get there easily.

4-      I see many places are kid and animal friendly, which is fine. Most parents and pet owners know when they really need to move on if the kids or pets are ruining the atmosphere. I can understand how parents with young child(ren) want to get out and a trip to a local brewery to see others and have a few cold ones makes sense and if you make decent beer and are clean and attractive, you’re probably building a customer base. And many taprooms are amenable to allowing customers to bring in snacks; some even have menus for places that will deliver, that’s smart.

5-      Craft beer prices, like most everything else, have gone up! We can see it at the pump…er tap. There are beers I’m paying $9 for an 8 or 12 ounce pour at the bar! Some of that has to do with the abv, some of that with the name/reputation of the brewery, some of it is the cost of ingredients and other aspects of doing business, but it’s mostly what they’re charging for a sixtel what’s driving the cost. When I go into a taproom and they want $9 for their beer I’m feeling ripped off! You’ve cut all the costs from the distributor and any profit from the bar/liquor store by taking your own sixtel and serving me, sometimes in a friggin’ plastic cup; that should be a Class A felony rip-off in my book. And if you expect us to pay that, it better taste like liquid gold!

6-      When I come to your taproom, I don’t expect you to roll out the red carpet, but I do expect reasonable service. There is a fairly new brewery open not far from me and they’re one of the few I know whose beer is good right from the start. But it really pisses me off when I sit down on a bar stool, the place isn’t crowded and it takes five minutes to get a beer. Why, because the two behind the bar are busy BS’ing with other customers or friends, not paying attention and I usually have to flag one down. So, if you’re a brewer but don’t understand customer service, get your “you know what” out from behind the bar and hire someone who does. It would be preferable if your servers can speak about the beers as some of us craft beer folk may ask a question occasionally, but at least make sure they can find someone who can. I think it’s called something like Customer Service 101…

7-      I’ve seen some other trends that are not welcoming. How about no tasters…so I can’t taste your beer without buying a small or large glass. What if I don’t like it, then I’m stuck with it. Okay I understand if you’re allowing customers to taste then you’re creating more glassware to wash, so yes more electricity, hot water, cleanser, and time away from serving for your staff. I have seen a creative way around that by a large well known, easily top five brewer in the state; using very small plastic flutes. That’s a great idea, but yes, it’s probably not environmentally friendly. I didn’t ask if they have a good way to recycle them but then again, we’ve learned that we’ve been being duped on all this wonderful plastic recycling. Somebody needs to come up with a better way.

8-      The other trend I’ve seen is No Flights, seriously why would you not serve me a flight. Some places will give you two instead of four. Actually, you’re probably screwing yourself. If I go in with two friends and we each order two, that’s really six we get to taste and can figure out quickly which ones to stay away from

Okay so that’s my list; I’m sure I’ll think of something else after I send this in. I’m hoping the craft brewers that see themselves in here will not just get pissed off because they’re 100% sure they know everything there is to know about brewing. Just take it as constructive criticism…and make good beer.

Drink Beer Like You Listen to Music

by Glen "Big G" Deluca

If you’re a Top 40 music listener (whatever Top 40 is considered today…) than you should probably stop reading as you may not get my connection…or maybe you will…

Music is an integral part of our life as we grow and mature. When we hear older songs, we can be transported back to our childhood, high school, college, a vacation, a friend or a person we met, a car we had…you get the idea. And yes, music can also bring recollections of a beer we first had at a concert, festival, backyard BBQ, etc. when both enhanced the time and therefore the memory we have.

But that’s not exactly the connection I’m trying to make here…

In the earlier days of craft beer, we had a limited distribution of many beers as it was much smaller and more regional, who knew if it was going to survive, and there wasn’t the production and distribution like there is today. So, road trips were very important for us to experience the taste and styles in other areas. Although there are now almost ten thousand breweries, so yes there are still thousands of local beers you can only get where they are; many craft brands have now succeeded and their distribution has expanded greatly. Additionally, you have beer trading/selling websites for individuals to connect and Tavour which has a large selection of very good beers to buy, but in some cases the beer can be older and yes, expensive! But even today some continue to be difficult to get like Pliny in CA or Heady Topper in VT or Other Half in NY or Anchorage Brewing in AK, which makes them even more desirable.

Are you one of those who always asks what’s the latest beer on tap instead of perusing the menu to see what’s available? If you’re having two or three beers what’s wrong with going back and revisiting some of the earlier craft beers that actually paved the way for “the bounty” we have today? When was the last time you had a Bell’s Two Hearted or a Sierra Pale Ale or a DFH 60 Minute?? Yea you had a ton of ‘em years ago, and if I have one today it’s not the same; it’s not fruity or juicy like many today and maybe tastes weak in comparison to a more recent offering. First of all, they’re hard to find on tap today because yes, everyone wants to try the latest and greatest. But when you do find it on tap maybe it’s time to order one and enjoy it for what it is. Maybe you’ll think of a time in an airport or railroad station bar or at the hotel bar at a business trip killing time and were thrilled to find one of these on tap interspersed among all those macros that we now don’t have to drink anymore. That was always a pleasant surprise making for a better time, kinda like that old song that brought back a specific memory…

By not drinking some of our classics once in awhile be prepared to lose them as we just did with Fat Tire. New Belgium (now owned by Kirin, which may say a lot about why the change is happening) is selling a ton of their Voodoo Ranger IPA series and less and less Fat Tire so they reformulated to make it lighter and it’s nothing like the original. I had my first Fat Tire decades ago in Coors Field and have enjoyed it many times since then but I’m not drinking this sorry reformulated excuse for a beer; wait and see they’ll pull it eventually.  And then there’s Jim Koch with his grandfather’s recipe Sam Adams Boston Lager. I cannot believe he would actually change it, but it’s now “crisper,” and no it’s not as good as it was. So, who’s next to either reformulate or pull a classic???

All those who just drink the newest shiniest colorful label or most outrageous concoction of a beer out there, LOOK IN THE MIRROR, it’s your fault!  Yea you say you’re only one person so what does one person making the choice to drink older crafts you’ve enjoyed before; besides the fact you may well enjoy it again; it’s like voting, each person gets one vote, but it’s the cumulative that matters so yea your vote does matter and yea your choice of what craft beer to drink matters also.

Then again there are probably those who don’t care if they disappear; time to move on…well hopefully they’re not sitting on the bar stool next to me, there won’t be much to talk about…

Traveling and Tasting

 by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

Like most when I’m hitting the road or the air for a getaway, I’m looking to make the most of my trips; catching the historic and fun sites, the beach and when I can incorporate the local craft beer scene and in some cases the wine and beer scene.

I always try to prepare in advance looking up craft breweries, reviews, and locations; just like I do for other local attractions. It’s always a bummer when there’s a well-known brewery you’d like to get to and they’re either not open when you’ll be there or they’re location is a little outside the scope of your trip, but hey you need to make due. And yes, it’s important to hit the local package/liquor/beer (or whatever they call them in the states you’re in) stores as you may well find a few good brews you can try and/or pack in your suitcase and bring home to do some additional tasting. My suitcases have carried many beers from many places over the years. I like carrying cans better but I pay attention to pack carefully and have never had a broken bottle…(and let’s hope this doesn’t jinx my luck in the future).

This summer was a trip to Iceland, where we did a small ship cruise around approximately half the island. Iceland is the land of fire and ice and much of the inland is either uninhabitable or if you live inland, it will be a journey to get supplies, see people or sell your product. With most villages on the shoreline a small cruise ship can get you around by sailing at night. The other benefits are you unpack once versus having to unpack and pack almost every day on a land tour and there were <200 people as opposed to those germ factories with thousands of people on board.

Iceland is pretty far north, in fact the northern most part  touches the Artic Circle. And, not to brag but I do have a certificate signed by the ship’s captain that I crossed the Artic Circle. As you might expect, the temperatures there are not nearly as warm as they are here even in the northern US, which is why you go in the summer when the southern temps may reach 60 and the northern temps may reach 50… There are those that want to ski and see the Northern Lights but damn it’s cold and you’d need a lot more warm clothes…yes, I’d love to see the Northern Lights but I’m not interested in all the cold weather that comes with it.

When you think of Icelandic beer, I’m sure many will know Einstok. It’s readily available here in the Northeast. I did a quick internet search and see it’s also in a handful of other states and they’re continuing to grow and expand, which is interesting in our crazy world of almost 10,000 US craft breweries so lots of competition. They claim to be the only globally distributed Icelandic craft beer! I also had no clue they’re in the northern part of Iceland, about 60 miles south of the Artic Circle. Of course, this allows them to advertise their use of water from prehistoric glaciers flowing down the mountain through ancient lava fields. It is always interesting to note how many breweries use local spring, mountain, etc. water as part of lure. Maybe some is so pure they don’t need to treat their water as I suspect the vast majority do. There are some great breweries in Brooklyn; you think these breweries just use it from the tap…if so, I have some land in FL for you…

I went to their website to find they were founded in 2011 and call themselves a craft brewery. Not that I ever thought of it, but I expected them to be a lot older, although it’s always important to understand the history. Iceland had full prohibition beginning 1908. In 1921 they amended it to allow Spanish and Portuguese wine to avoid a trade war. It took until 1935 for a referendum lifting prohibition to pass, but it only allowed beer @ 2.25% or less; not sure why you’d even call it beer. Some felt beer would encourage drinking and its cultural ties with Denmark were seen as unpatriotic after Iceland gained independence. Hey, as we well know, government logic is sometimes wacky no matter where you are in the world. Finally, after 74 years on March 1, 1989, now a holiday known as National Beer Day the 2.25% limit was removed.

There are approximately 30 craft breweries in Iceland and a couple of large domestic producers. That equates to approximately 1 for every 12,000 persons (including children). With our population of 334+ M and using 10k breweries, that’s 1 for every 330,000+ persons including children.  You could say they have a definite advantage over the US, but we also don’t know how their production volume compares and we have so much more variety, both which should work in our favor.

I did try a few beers and now see two of them were from the big domestics and two of them from craft. I remember seeing a couple of breweries as we coached around on excursions but couldn’t hit any. Most were clean crisp lagers. Here in the US, we expect most craft breweries to have one or more IPAs, but if you think about it that doesn’t make sense in Iceland. They need to import so much of what they use. Yes, they have grains, but I’m guessing they grow little to no hops. And with so many types now it would be cost prohibitive to import a lot of hops, so Pils, lagers, ales and porters are the primary styles.

There was one place I was dying to get to…the Fridheimar Restaurant. Fridheimar is part of a mammoth greenhouse started years before using geothermal power to enable them to grow vegetables year-round; mainly tomatoes but also some cucumbers, lettuce, sweet peppers, and strawberries. Producing two tons of tomatoes every day, they needed to do more than just sell them but create all types of tomato-based products. Their tomato soup is out of this world and served with fresh bread and you can eat as much as you want. Other products include tomato sauce, Healthy Mary, green tomato apple pie, tomato ice cream, hot sauce and…wait for it…tomato beer!?!? This I have to try!

Our last excursion day I ask the guide if we’ll be anywhere near the greenhouse/restaurant. He smiles and says “don’t miss lunch.” OMG we’re actually going there for lunch. As I said the tomato soup and bread is their best-selling menu item and excellent. Their second-best selling item is the tomato beer; they have green tomato and red tomato, so I ordered them both. I’m thinking the lighter color one is the green; I had a 50/50 shot and blew it. The lighter is the red and tastes like a nice lager, very enjoyable. On to the darker color green tomato, which the waiter says was his favorite, it had a surprisingly bold taste like a pale ale, a little zing, but not bitter like you’d expect from adding hops.

 When finished I asked if they bottled or canned these and unfortunately, they deemed the additional laws to do that more than they wanted to handle.  At that point I was wishing I had brought a growler or two on my trip; not sure how a growler in the suitcase would work, probably confiscated at the airport, plus it’s not going to keep all that long. And hey who wants to piss off Customs on the way back into the country.

So was that that the highlight of my trip, no, but it certainly made it more enjoyable. And now I’ve had a beer that most beer drinkers will never get to try; that’s why they call me The Big G!

Through the Eyes of a Child – Part 2

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

As you may recall last month, I relayed my observance of a young child moving from table to table when we were out at the bar one afternoon. I spoke with his parents and asked if I could interview him, which they agreed to think about.

Here’s how it played out…

That night I’m home reflecting on what just happened. I’m still amazed but I need to do some prep work, like come up with questions; a conversation might flow easily, but I need to be prepared either way. I definitely should write down some questions as I don’t want to leave a meeting/interview with him and realize I left out some really important things. 

And where to do this; what’s going to be the best place to pull this off? Bingo, I’ve got it, our bar has a side room that’s usually not used until the evening crowd comes in; that would be perfect as he knows and is familiar with our bar. Next time I’m in I head over to K-Man, the Bar Manager, who is probably the biggest craft beer guy I know; not only does he order the beer for our bar, but personally he also orders all types of upscale beers from Tavor, has friends picking him beers for him on their outings and has a regular size frig in his garage filled with craft beer!! I tell him I need a favor, explain to him about the child and that I’d like to do an interview in the next room, which is typically not used unless there’s an event or it’s a busy night or the weekend where they’ve got lots of customers. If they’re in having lunch, I could be at a table in the next room, they could just bring him into that room; it’s perfect because he’s familiar with this place and this is where he’s checking out beers and better yet it should be quiet with few distractions. He looks at me like I’ve had one too many, but he’s easy going and says “sure, good luck.” I’m making progress already!!

The next few days are nerve racking as I’m wondering if they’ll even bother to call me…I really hope I didn’t blow this opportunity. Finally, there’s the call! They were somewhat hesitant at first but thought if Logan did have a gift or knowledge or whatever that it makes sense to begin to investigate it. I told them about my idea of using the empty next room at our place and they thought that would work out well. They’ll look at their calendar and get back to me with some dates. YES, I’m making progress and this calls for a beer!

They call me a few days later, suggest a couple of dates and I clear them with the manager and get back to them.

The big day has arrived. I’m wearing my BeerNexus shirt and my Fat Tire hat, not because they just ruined the beer but because it’s got a colorful bike on it, figuring either one may spark a reaction. I grab a craft and a glass of water, head into the back room and grab a table. After a few minutes he comes in with his parents, I lift my glass to him as a toast. He looks around, comes over to the table and studies me. After a couple of minutes, it begins:

Logan – You set this up, didn’t you?

Me – after the shock of his statement wears off, “Well yes, I did, you’re very perceptive. I saw you a few weeks ago and noticed, with great curiosity, you going table to table and appear to be interacting with the customers about their beers. I spoke with your parents and they agreed to set this up to see if I could learn more about your apparent knowledge and interest in beer. And yes, we are in a slightly different setting, but you are speaking with me, which I haven’t seen you do before with other customers.”

Logan – “You’re correct I realized this is a different situation and it’s also a quiet room. Speaking can be a distraction as older folks, meaning those 21+, as they’re probably expecting more cutesy talk than a real discussion, so I first communicate with my eyes and they seen to understand I’m there to learn about the beers they’re drinking. I really can’t explain how I’m getting them to understand me. I know you’re curious if I’ve ever tasted beer and no I haven’t…unfortunately I’m MANY years away from that, but looking forward to it. After hearing about different beers, I do look at UNTAPPD to learn more; yes, technically I’m not allowed to be on it, but I have a workaround, but let’s not go any further on that topic. 

There is nothing wrong with me learning what I can now, but the conundrum is many of today’s great beers I learn about probably won’t be around in another fifteen years, so I’ll never get to taste them as you do. There’s also no guarantee that future brewers will make those that survive the same way with the same ingredients as everyone wants to put their own spin on it; didn’t we just see two pioneers, Fat Tire and Sam’s Boston Lager reformulate and who knows what advances in ingredients and brewing there will be… And no, I don’t speak/communicate with other children about beer as they’re only interested in their juice, milk, and cookies, but craft beer lovers are always interested in talking about what they’re drinking.”

ME – luckily, I had my seat belt on as I’m still sitting in my chair, with an obvious stunned look on my face, haven’t taken a note just basically mesmerized. “Wow I guess I really didn’t know what to expect but your level of your knowledge/awareness is amazing.”

Logan – “Thanks; like I said I really have no idea how or where I obtained it, but I have so many years before I can enjoy them…I think I’ll be well prepared.”

ME – “I’m obviously quite impressed. Would you have any concerns about me writing about you? I’m not nearly the most read craft beer writer but something like this will get picked up by some others and that could lead to others requesting interviews. I don’t want to put you into an uncomfortable place. I could just use first names so it’s not as easy to find you but somebody will.”

Logan – “I think that’s okay. I can easily choose not to do an interview and if someone gets too persistent, all I need to do is babble a little bit till they give up. In most cases I would refer them to you as you were the first to realize what I was doing, reach out to talk and do so in a very respectful way.” He looks at his parents “you okay with that?”  They both nod in approval.

ME – “That’s great I really appreciate you meeting with me and I hope we can keep in touch from time to time.”

Logan – “Well I’ll start reading you on BeerNexus; I figure I’ll be able to learn from you and the others”

With that we said our goodbyes and they were off. I sat there for a few minutes, finished what was left in my glass and absolutely decided it was time for another just to sort of celebrate what I consider one of my most interesting craft beer experiences. Now my next challenge is to put all this down for my readers and let them know.  I do hope to keep in contact with him and see how he matures.

And now you know, the rest of the story…..

Through the Eyes of a Child – Part 1

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

Just when I think I’ve seen and heard it all…

It’s a usual day at the bar with my buds; having a few brews and laughs, trying a new beer etc. As the afternoon wears on I notice a small child moving around and stopping, basically at each table. Who doesn’t like a cute youngster so nobody shoes him away but as I pay closer attention, this is different, they are interacting with him.

As he comes to each table, he appears to study each individual, then check out their glass and the contents. When he focuses on a person, they pick up the menu, point out the beer they’re having  and begin discussing its qualities/merits, even though this child has not said a word to them; it’s almost as if there’s some sort of telepathy happening. After they tell him about their beer the child will sometimes smile, sometimes laugh, sometimes shake his head and if it’s the last person at the table just move on and go up to another table at which something very similar will take place. I must say I’ve never seen anything like this…

My buds don’t seem to notice my fixation on this child as they’re yacking about this and that. When I say, “hey are you watching this kid,” they look and see a small child moving around which isn’t really that unusual for a small child so pay it no attention. I am literally enthralled as I’m not sure what’s going on, but could this be a beer Mensa or savant…a child that without ever having had a beer (I’m assuming) understands craft beer and what we in the craft beer revolution, now evolution are going through.  Yes, it sounds absolutely crazy but hey from time to time we see these child geniuses who can play music or chess or whatever at levels far superior to anything they’ve been exposed to, so why not beer??

This is an opportunity I cannot let pass; I must find out more; maybe I could even score an interview (okay with a child that I haven’t heard speak yet, which doesn’t  necessarily mean he doesn’t…)! Assuming I could score an interview and could tell others about it, that could catapult me as one of the important voices of today’s craft beer! OK well I’m getting excited and really shouldn’t be making this about me as I’m not the genius, just the scribe.

I need to move quickly as hey this kid could run out the door in a couple of minutes just as well as sticking around. I look around the room and there are his parents watching him; which is a good thing as these days way too many parents are not paying attention to their kids.

I walk over and introduce myself and mention I’ve been watching him as he moves from table to table and am very curious how long he’s been doing this, if they’ve trained him, are they big craft beer drinkers, etc. They seem a little overwhelmed by my barrage of questions, so I slow it down so as not to scare them away.

So, no they haven’t said anything to him about beer, potty training was hard enough. They do like craft beer but are not the type to run from place to place in search of the newest next craft beer. They’re sure he’s probably heard them discuss craft beers but it’s not like he’s ever sat still taking notes. He always runs around but they noticed this new activity/interest of visiting tables started a few months ago. They’re not sure what to make of it, but he seems to enjoy it, never had a customer complain and after a bit he’ll be ready to leave so they don’t try to usher him out the door, just let him have his fun.

I feel I must go to a very sensitive area so I say “I’m just curious and I’m not trying to pry or get anyone in trouble, but have you folks given him any beer to try?” Well as expected they’re shocked, give me a hard look and are obviously now suspicious of me. They almost yell “of course not” “are you crazy” and “why would you ask something stupid like that.” I basically got my answer unless they’re both actors from Broadway or a local theatre company…I’ll have to check credentials later. I quickly respond “No no, it’s just that as I watch him, he’s focused on the beers other customers are drinking and If he’s never tried a beer, I guess I don’t know how to connect the dots.” They agree they have no clue where his craft beer focus and possible knowledge came from.

Okay so it’s now or never to take the next step and it went like this:

ME-“Well I like craft beer but I’m not an expert, I do write about it in varying forms on BeerNexus.com, I’m not a psychologist or a therapist or a mind reader…I’m just a guy who loves craft beer so I’m wondering if you think you would allow me to speak with your son?? By the way how old is he?”

THEM- “Well I guess if you could get him to sit down and pay attention to you; you realize we’re not going to force him to pay attention to you and he doesn’t speak much when he’s moving around like this. Logan is 5.”

ME- “Yes, I thought about that and he seems to somehow be communicating telepathically with the customers as most reach for their menu and start telling him what they’re drinking and he’s paying attention. So, I’m thinking if I explain to him what I’m trying to accomplish, with a beer in my hand of course, that maybe he’ll do it with me…which sounds crazy as all hell, but it’s worth a shot.”

THEM- “ well let us think about it and how this might work as a bar setting may not be the best place with all the other distractions, although that’s where he does this;  can’t do it in the playground...”

So, I give them my BeerNexus card and suggest they read an article or two to better understand my appreciation of craft beer, tell them it was very nice of them to give me the time to discuss this and I hope to hear from them, and yes call me with any questions/concerns/whatever. Oh, by the way, may I ask your names?

“Jack and Carole.”

“That’s very interesting as you share names with a couple of our early brewers; Jack McAuliffe, who pioneered the building and blueprint for microbrewing and Carole Stoudt, who was one of craft beer’s first female pioneers who began brewing in 1987 and had a successful restaurant in neighboring PA.”

I get back to the table and my buds ask me if I know those folks. “No, they’re the parents of that kid running around I pointed out.” They look at me strangely as they still haven’t noticed there’s really something special about that kid; luckily one of us is paying attention…

I have a lot of thoughts running through my head at that point and then I feel the tap on my arm as one of my buds is alerting me that Eric is standing there waiting for my next order; “oh sorry” I take a quick look at the menu, can’t really concentrate so quickly spout out, “I’ll have the same,” which of course I then realize I don’t even remember what I’m drinking…

My brain is fried so I need to calm down realizing this may never happen, but I need to go home and think this through.

So, I’ll let you know what transpired…next month…

Stick To Your Own Schtick 

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

I like to keep informed and no not just about beer, but about current events, although there’s typically not a lot of uplifting stuff going on these days. I subscribe to my regional local paper and get it online. Every day I head to the Sports section first and then when I have time, be it that day, the next day or even a few days later go through the rest and read what I’m interested in. Of course, if they had a BEER section that would be my obvious first read, but that’s why we at BeerNexus are here, to fill that gap.

As I go through, I always stop and check out the editorial cartoon, some of which are amazingly spot on. I’ll read the paper’s editorials if the subject interests me. There’s usually two; one more mainstream or liberal and the other more conservative. It got to the point where I had to stop reading the more conservative op-ed as the writer’s rhetoric got to be too much. I prefer my news and op-eds be real as opposed to made-up. And I’m not a progressive, more like a middle of the road/moderate. I do remember the days when both Democrats and Republicans both realized they weren’t going to get exactly what they wanted and understood they were there to “govern” (a novel idea) so would actually sit down and negotiate! It seems so long ago from today’s “my way or the highway” approach of many today; and yes, there are many who are more moderate and willing to compromise, but the fringe seems to stymie that more often than not.

Recently after the big Bud Light transgender can flap, I happened to catch a follow-up piece the conservative op-ed guy wrote to his initial piece and it’s clearer than clear he shouldn’t be writing about beer, a topic he really has very little clue about, then again, I guess we’re all entitled to an opinion, be it logical and grounded or off the wall.

So, let’s step back, he claims he’s “a beer aficionado”; he never had a good beer till his mid-20s (many years ago) when he went backpacking in Europe and tried English and German and Irish beers. Very few will disagree with him that you could find many more flavorful beers in Europe than our mass market fizzy lagers.

Anyway, when he heard about this, he remembered not understanding the introduction of Light beers with their less alcohol and calories and in today’s world he has “observed” mostly heavier customers buying light beers… But being the open aficionado he is, he went out and bought a can, drank it after a run and found it cold and wet; again, no argument there. Then he realized the beer is so nondescript they need to use marketing tricks to sell it, like an influencer.  Okay Mr. Aficionado what’s the largest selling beer in the US, ah Bud Light; okay name two more in top five, ah  Coors Light and Corona… Are we seeing a pattern here; are you seriously going to tell me they use “marketing tricks” to sell all that beer that’s basically nondescript?? Yes, they market heavily but if even half is sold by trickery, I have some land in FL for sale for those that drink them…

His conclusion was this was AB’s effort to get younger, hipper folks to drink their beer and viewed this as one of the greatest marketing mistakes of all time as “younger, hipper people are more likely to drink craft beers for the precise reason that they’re younger and hipper.” Wait, WHAT??!!??

I’ve read those lines fifty times and I’m appalled at the utter simplistic approach and lack of any basic awareness or understanding of the amazing world of craft beer.

Time for a few lessons; let’s start with Craft Beer 101: The Beginning.

When craft beer started in the mid to late 80s, it was because 1) it was allowed and 2) beer drinkers were looking for better tasting beers! What a novel idea, better taste; does that have anything to do with younger and hipper…ah no, it has to do with some beer drinkers wanting more taste. Did every beer drinker want better tasting beers, absolutely not, and does everyone drink beer, ah no there are those that prefer wine or cocktails or no alcohol. Let’s compare this to say beef; do all the younger people want it rare because they ate bologna as a kid and are not all that much older now or do some like it medium-rare or well-done…and what about those that don’t want to eat meat at all; so, what spectrum of beef does younger and hipper fall into??

Talk about younger and hipper, do they like to try different things? Do they get influenced by what others in their group are drinking?  And since they’re younger and hipper they must be the only ones drinking hard seltzer, canned cocktails and non-alcoholic beers and drinks because they’re new to the market, obviously the definition of what younger and hipper would want to drink...

I went back to read his first article, which I luckily missed the first time around.  He spoke with a craft brewer who is, how shall I say, not necessarily representative of the group. They did make a good point that craft beer more than likely will not  get itself into an advertising mess as they don’t have the big dollars to do it. They stick to word of mouth (at the bar or on Untappd), handing out coasters and key rings and glasses, and another novel idea sponsoring local events so their community gets to know them.

So, did ABI get themselves in trouble with the right wingers who drink their beer, of course. And it gave some of the more wacko the opportunity to make stupid videos of them shooting cans of Bud Light, which I’m pretty sure they had to go out and buy; oh, and by the way don’t expect ABI’s ad agency to be asking you to be in any of their commercials going forward…

Do I think the whole thing is a riot, sure, but unfortunately, it’s part of our crazy “my way or the highway” society. Maybe if we could get our representatives and congresspersons to go to a beer festival and only let them talk about the beer they’re drinking maybe we could get them to reboot; you know like when you unplug your TV or dishwasher or another electronic appliance because it’s been a little out to lunch/not behaving properly and a restart is like a refresh which often works.

But back to the point here, some will say his article was “tongue in cheek” to which I say “I ain’t buyin it”. So, Dude, stick to your crazy politics and stay away from craft beer in future op-eds, as you don’t know the craft beer community, you haven’t got a clue and we don’t need you spouting wrong impressions that some may read and actually believe!!

  The High End Goes Low

by Glenn DeLuca

I like to keep up with trends and what’s going on with craft and the beer industry, so whenever I see something that might be of interest, I check it out. When I recently saw what sounded to be a negative article on one of my all-time favs, AB/InBev, I definitely check it out hoping for a chuckle or two. And this one was a surprise; ABI has laid off a bunch of employees from many of the craft breweries they bought and there appear to be more cuts coming in their craft beer segment.  Not that I follow their every move, but I also learned a few things I hadn’t heard or known had happened along the way.

But let’s step back and think back to the good old days when craft beer was just beginning and we had all these great tasting lagers and ales and IPAs and we didn’t have to drink the mass-produced fizzy lager beers anymore. We loved it as they were good, as we tasted and liked them it became more acceptable and more craft breweries opened giving us even more choices. It took about twenty-five years and even though we were fairly miniscule in the world of beer the macro brewers took notice and decided they wanted or needed to get into the game; probably to try to stunt its growth. They realized, at that time, they couldn’t create and market their own craft beer (unless they tried to disguise it), they’d be laughed at, so the quickest and easiest way to get involved was to buy them.   

Then came the sonic boom in March 2011 that woke us all up, AB/InBev bought one of the better-known craft breweries, Goose Island (GI). Most of us were pissed off at GI, as the prevalent feeling was, they “sold out” to the big guys; they cared more about the money than the beer... Remember also there were still <2,000 craft breweries at that time so it was definitely a shock to the system. And let’s not forget about the other behemoth, Molson Coors, which was still MillerCoors back in 2010 (months before ABI bought GI) when they announced the creation of Tenth & Blake, their craft beer division. They started with breweries they already owned; Leinenkugel’s (brewed in their 10th Street brewery in Milwaukee) and Blue Moon (headquartered on Blake Street in Denver) (so now I understand where the name came from…) and for some reason threw in some of their top imports; Peroni, Pilsner Urquell and Grolsch.

We’re now a dozen years later and my has the craft beer world changed. Anyone who predicted there’d be >9,000 craft brewers, a 450% increase, in the next twelve years would have been laughed out of the bar. With those two major mass producers anyone not predicting a wave of craft acquisitions for the next twelve years would have been crazy since they both had the ambition to get their foot in the craft beer world, not to mention the $$$ to do that.

And so, the ABI barrage began:

·       2014 they acquired 10 Barrel and Blue Point

·       2015 they acquired Elysian, Golden Road and Four Peaks

·       2016 they acquired Breckenridge, Karbach and Devils Backbone

·       2017 they acquired Wicked Weed and launched Veza Sur as part of Wynwood

·       2019 they acquired Platform

·       2020 saw a major increase as ABI, already a one-third owner of the Craft Brewers Alliance bought the remaining two-thirds. CBA had started out as a merger of Redhook and Widmer in 2008. Over the years they added; Kona, developed Omission, developed Square Mile Cider, and added Appalachian Mountain, Cisco and Wynwood.

By my count I see 19 beer brands and 2 cider companies; not a bad haul.

Molson Coors was not sitting on the sidelines either; over the same period, they bought Terrapin, Hop Valley, Revolver, Saint Archer, A.C. Golden and Atwater to add to their incumbents.

What were ABI and Molson Coors expecting?? Probably to take some good craft beers, brew them in multiple places and use their distribution networks to expand their footprint, sales and thereby become a bigger player in this fledgling craft beer market. Did either of them think for a second the number of breweries would skyrocket to 9,000? Did either of them see the challenge of the expansion of the beverage market into hard seltzers, hop water, canned cocktails, hard Mt Dew and hard iced tea; the rise of non-alcoholic beverages, the new approach to drinking of “what’s the newest beer to try” or the mantra of “drink fresh, drink local”?? There’s probably one person out there who nobody listened to who was mentioning stuff like this (but I’d like to hear their take on stock market right about now…).

So maybe it’s not a shock that with all their money and expertise they’ve also struggled to get more from what they’ve invested, since it’s really out of their realm. To them craft beer is still just a relatively small pimple. I think ABI should probably  be more concerned that Modelo Especial might overtake Bud Light as the #1 selling beer in America; that would be a proverbial kick in the pants (although it is interesting you can find 20 best selling lists that are all different, which doesn’t make a ton of sense).

But they also haven’t done a great job steering the ship. One of the things I missed was the creation of “Brewers Collective” which became their craft division including both acquired and developed. The High End then became their imported segment along with their organic beers which are all in Mich Ultra family. So, what I thought was still The High End is really different today. Then they restructured the Brewers Collective at least three times since 2017; which tells you they haven’t figured out the best way to run this small but varied segment of businesses. In February 2022 they decided to merge the High End and Brewers Collective Sales Teams.

And so now a year later with some of their craft breweries (GI, 10 Barrel, Wicked Weed and Kona (the last, probably because of a huge advertising influx)) doing well, but overall seeing year over year negative growth they announced layoffs at six of their acquired crafts and completely shut down Platform Brewing, after buying it four years ago (somebody should be getting the axe for that acquisition).

And it probably doesn’t help when, at times, they’ve run Bud ads smearing craft when they’re trying to sell crafts two or three coolers down; luckily for them many of those watching Bud ads don’t realize nor care that ABI owns some of these. They certainly do NOT proudly represent or respect their own crafts by doing that.  I definitely try to stay away from any ABI craft but I don’t have the list memorized so once in awhile I have one. And it should be easy to stay away with the proliferation of craft breweries, there are always tons of other brands I can try.

It's good to see ABI struggle with this. If they have to pay more attention to their own house it should give them less time to mess with ours. I’ll be looking forward to their next misstep in their craft beer world. And as many of us learned early on, the Goliaths don’t always beat the Davids…

 Too Good To Be True!

by Glenn "Big G" Deluca

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m a big UConn, as in University of Connecticut, Women’s Basketball fan. They’ve been a top program for years and it’s fun to watch them play good sound fundamental basketball, not to mention win a lot. Since I’m a few hours away I usually get to one or two home games, but once in awhile they play by me so I get a bonus game. Now that they’re back in The Big East, Seton Hall is one of their conference opponents so they come down to South Orange to play at their small arena, Walsh Gym.

The Big East blew themselves up in 2013 because of the running conflict of football vs non-football schools and they wanted to be a non-football, primarily known as a basketball conference. UConn stayed in the old conference structure, The American or AAC, which was FBS/Football Bowl Subdivision. Technically The American was part of The Big East that was basketball only in 1979.   The American really wasn’t a good basketball league for us, competition wise, as we were really good and they were so bad we never lost a game. In 2020 when there were a ton of schools switching conferences, UConn moved back to the Big East for most sports except football which is still in FBS.  Confusing, you bet!! And it makes you want a drink but not exactly where I’m headed with this.

Luckily, I was able to score Seton Hall tickets when UConn was in this year. I hadn’t been to Walsh Gym in over a decade as we haven’t been in the same conference since 2013. As I recall it was more like a tall high school gym with bleacher seats; heck it was built in 1941 so colleges were basically playing in front of a student crowd and maybe a parent and a scout. There was a major renovation planned which was delayed by Covid but was finished in 2021. Walsh is now an updated very nice facility for basketball; comfortable chairback seats, a new hardwood floor, a big center-hung scoreboard and video, a new sound system and really bright lighting. All that and it’s only 1,300+ seats making every seat in the house a comfortable and great view.

UConn didn’t bring its Pep Band, Cheerleading squad, Dance Team or even Jonathan the Husky mascot. You’ll typically see them all at home games and The Big East and NCAA championship tournaments. But also, in reality they’re trying to maximize space in Walsh so the only place for visiting team support is the lobby or outside. Seton Hall had their Pep Band of 15-20, about 15 cheerleaders and about 15 dance team members, which means there’s a lot more of them than team and staff.

It was a great game, for us, as we played well and Seton Hall never had a chance. During the game we got to watch their cheer and dance squads and of course mascot perform. I went home to watch my DVR’d pre- and post-game shows to catch up on commentary you don’t get in person.

A great evening so I hit the rack, but at some point, I’m wearing my BeerNexus team jersey with my distinctive “Big G” on the back headed into our favorite craft beer bar. As I enter the BeerNexus Cheer Team is welcoming me with an oddly familiar late-night intro/theme “Here’sssssss The Big G” along with the other patrons as I head to OUR table. The BeerNexus Dance Team is actually performing on the tables but it makes sense as it’s still slow so they take up less space that way, but will have to move off the tables as more patrons arrive. Kind of a twist, dancing on the tables before having a drink. One problem, the BeerNexus Pep Band is also playing but they only know one song, you guessed it, “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall”. The manager gives me “the look” so I know they have to go so get their director to move them into the parking lot.

In rapid succession the rest of the team shows in their BeerNexus team jerseys; “Big Toe Brian”, “Don’t Give me an IPA Richie”, “Let Me Get Out My Notebook Vince” and bringing up the rear, “I’d Like a Taste of That One - The Judge”, as the B-N Cheerleaders give each a rousing welcome cheer and yes, the B-N Dance Team is dancing up a storm.

As can be expected the Cheerleaders are, you got it, cheering us on as we order and drink. Some of the more memorable cheers:

“Brian, Brian, he’s our Big TOE; If he can’t lead us no one can.”

“Write it down, write it down, Vince, Vince.”

“Bring the Judge another taste, bring the Judge another taste.”

“HEY, how’s that Maibock Rich? Hey, how’s that Maibock Rick?”

And of course, when any of us take out our PhD card we hear; “hey get another punch, hey get another punch”, meaning punch on the card of course; drinking beer is and should be a nonviolent activity…

The BeerNexus Dance Team performs between rounds but they’re careful to do a lot of spinning vs kicks, we’re in a bar not a gym...

Some of the patrons form their own team…but you better believe we’re the HOME team…as they’re getting tired of the noise we’re generating; hey; if you just want to have a beer in peace and quiet -- Go Home!

After a few excellent brews and therefore a successful Happy Hour we head out; the Dance Team is dancing, the Cheerleaders are cheering and the patrons are going wild…not sure what that means. I forgot to mention another member of our support staff who’s been there the entire time also, the BeerNexus Mascot. And need you seriously ask who or what our mascot is?!? We ain’t talkin’ no taster, no tulip, no pilsner; we’re taking a Big Stein; we call him Stan the Stein, but sometimes it could be Sally the Stein, it’s hard to tell inside the costume.

I decide to chest bump the Stein on the way out as a sign of another victorious afternoon and before I know it, I’m flying about six feet through the air and sitting in a puddle of foam. Ah, why didn’t somebody tell me our Stein was full!!! The rest of the team respectfully declines any overtures by the Stein.

I collect myself and head out only to be greeted by the Pep Band. So, after all this time they’re down to 27 bottles of beer on the wall… Hey look they don’t get paid, they don’t practice often and sometimes they lose count so they rarely finish the one song they know.

All of a sudden, I’m sitting in bed awake wondering what just happened; was that all real or was it just a dream. I figure it must have been a dream spurred on by the game I just saw.  To my surprise the next time I hit the bar, one of the other regulars asks me if we could dispense with all the cheering…

Please – I’m Begging You!!!

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

Mid-January we got the news that New Belgium Brewing was tweaking/reformulating the recipe for their flagship, Fat Tire Amber Ale, and giving it new packaging. It seems their flagship, although still popular (I believe I read #16 on the craft beer list somewhere) has lost >50% in sales volume over the past six years. That does seem like a huge drop off but then again it’s been around for 30+ years which ain’t so bad for our “what’s new for us to try” craft beer world and New Belgium is killing the IPA market with their Voodoo Ranger series so it’s not like it’s causing any financial strain. I don’t read the announcement as carefully as I should so I’m thinking they want to invigorate the brand by slightly changing the recipe along with the label and packaging look to draw more interest, hey rebranding happens all the time.

Packaging Is a lighter, brighter look, the bicycle is still there with a mountain and a red sun with wavy lines. I’m not remembering what the Kirin or Lion logos so look it up; there’s nothing close to anything on the new label as I was wondering if they might be subtly injecting their influence. I’m seeing the phrases “High Quality” and “Low Impact”, well you wouldn’t put Low Quality and they say they’re using the same malts and yeast. New Belgium has always been environmentally conscious and in 2020 they declared Fat Tire to be “America’s first certified carbon-neutral beer by cutting emissions and buying carbon offsets so stressing their concern and impact. You also wonder if Low Impact might be assumed by some to refer to the ABV of 5.2% since there’s so much recent news about the high ABV DIPAs and conversely the No and Low Alcohol beers. More concerning is the description of it now being “crisper” and “brighter” and it’s no longer called “Amber Ale” but rather Ale (on the can) and in other places a “Blonde Ale”.

I quick run out and get a six pack of the current Fat Tire figuring I’ll be able to get the reformulated in a week or so and do my own side by side.

Let’s start at the beginning. One of New Belgian’s co-founders was bicycling through Europe on a mountain bike and sampling beers along the way. Definitely enjoying the flavor profiles of Belgian yeast they used, began brewing something similar back home in Colorado. On the trip many of the locals noticed and commented on the bike so adding those two brings us to the name Fat Tire. New Belgium Brewing Co. and its Fat Tire were launched in 1991 in Fort Collins, CO and the rest is history. It became one of the most important early craft beers made.

I actually remember my first; out in Denver and wanting to see Coors Field, I score some tix in the street after the game started so a great start. Coors Field is really nice ballpark and I’m strolling around, checking out the views when I exit one section and spot a small concession stand off on its own and bingo, they have craft beer!! I check out the selection and there’s Fat Tire, so yes, I had my first in Coors Field, and yes it was good!

About a week after the announcement I’m out at the bar and the manager comes over and asks if we’ve had the new Fat Tire, which none of us has. He says it’s terrible, like drinking Coors Light. They have it on tap so pours us all a taste. It is absolutely now a light golden color like a basic lager and he is right, it is nothing like the Fat Tire I know and enjoy and there’s really nothing to it.  So two things; one, my initial guess of a minor tweak was wronger than wrong and two, he just saved me the cost of a six pack of the new one as no way I’m interested in drinking any more of it.

I’m just finished absorbing all this, what I think is, “not so good” news and start thinking about all the other crossovers/gateway/well established decades old beers that I’m praying don’t do the same thing when the next shoe drops… WCVB Channel 5 in Boston lets us in on exclusive access they had to the filming of a Super Bowl commercial where Jim Koch is talking about Sam Adams Boston Lager’s “remastered” recipe. WHAT????

As I understand it Jim is talking about making the “perfect” Boston Lager and he’s been “chasing perfection” for 38 or 39 years. Hum, so does that mean they’ve been tweaking the formula all along; I wouldn’t be shocked if there were a couple of changes but I ain’t buying they’ve been changing it every  year. And what happened to the old story that this was his grandfather’s recipe?? Now if we’re lucky this is more of an ad campaign than any real change as there is this opportunity to advertise non-AB beers on the Super Bowl as they dropped their exclusivity, or probably just decided it wasn’t worth the cost.

I don’t want to wait till the Super Bowl to see it…and what if I miss it…I mean I will need a break here and there!! I search for it online before the game and there it is with info from their press release; “Boston Lager Remastered still uses the beer’s original mid-19th century recipe passed down to Founder Jim Koch from his great-great grandfather. However, the beer will now be brewed with fewer steps in the filtration process, which Boston Beer Co. say will make for  “a brighter, easier-drinking beer”.” Ah sorry but that sounds eerily like the kind of nonsense New Belgium was spouting. Jim, you’re not a new foreign owner, you’re one of the most important figures in the craft beer movement, what are you thinking??? So next I watch the commercial; it’s cute but it’s the one shot of a Boston Lager draft at the end that is making me nervous…it does look lighter in color than I’m remembering…don’t tell me!! Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, maybe they didn’t ruin it, but I can’t make a judgement before I taste it…may have to be the side by side I planned for the now renamed Flat Tire…

And if Sam Adams did ruin the classic Boston Lager, what’s next?? Pretty please with icing on top don’t touch Dogfish Head 60 Minute! That’s another classic IPA that I’m sure doesn’t have nearly the sales it used to.

And now that we know our “friends” at Lion/Kirin know how to screw up a classic let’s remember they also own Bell’s. Suppose their Two Hearted Ale, always considered one of the finest IPAs, has probably slipped in sales volume and they’re going to “fix it.” I was actually pleasantly surprised to see it on tap at my craft beer bar the middle of February and yes, I’ve had a few because it’s not often you see it on tap anymore.

Sapporo bought, what many credit with starting the craft beer movement, Anchor Steam in 2017. That was a blow but Anchor is not a huge brewery like many of the other crafts so sounded like they needed another beer company as owner that could help with scaling down of costs. They did do a major repackage in 2021, but kept the beer the same. Interestingly enough I don’t see it around as much as before and I don’t see their Liberty Ale, Anchor Porter or Anchor IPA at all, which is a shame.

Then there’s our friends at Sierra Nevada. Again Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is one of the classic crossover/gateway beers. Can’t be nearly as popular as it once was but it’s still pretty damn good. Sierra Nevada has continued to innovate and their Hazy Little Thing is one of the top selling IPAs. Their portfolio is strong, they built an East Coast brewery and remain independent so like New Belgium I doubt that declining sales of Pale Ale warrant any drastic action.

So I’m begging, I’m pleading PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE to whoever owns any of those classic beers that still exist; don’t change the recipes to try to reinvigorate their sales; leave them alone and just build around them.

And since breweries react to “US”, the craft beer drinkers, maybe some of you who moan about being tired of the hazy juicy IPAs, don’t moan, act and think about revisiting one of the classics especially when you find it on draught. Think about how long it’s been since you had one and remember how it was years ago when these were the beers that told us we didn’t have to drink fizzy macro lagers anymore… Let’s respect not denigrate our founding classics.

We Made It!

by Glenn " Big G" DeLuca

Okay pat yourself on the back you made it through another Dry January or Drynuary or Janopause or whatever you want to call this, what I think, silly idea. Our relationship with alcohol is a complicated one and it is always important to remember alcohol is a drug and alcoholism is a disease. Alcohol be it beer, wine or liquor is imbedded in our lives and has been for many centuries, it’s not something new like the addictive internet. Having a healthy relationship with alcohol can be beneficial along with a healthy diet, exercise, supportive family and friends and the lack of and ability to deal with stress, but yes, there can be too much of a good thing.

To be perfectly honest I heard/saw more than enough about this idea/cause/promotion the first TEN to FIFTEEN days of the month that I needed an extra cold one to figure out how I was going to make it through the rest of the month! And yes, it kept coming albeit at a slower but never-ending pace.

Did you know it’s an increasingly popular idea?!? I’d love to know how they determine that; sure alcohol sales are down in January; well geez how many bottles of booze, beer and wine were bought and given as gifts the month before, so maybe you’ve got some at home OR maybe folks went to one or two or a lot of holiday parties during December and thought a little break (ah, like a week or so) wouldn’t hurt OR maybe they looked at all their credit card receipts and thought it might be a good idea to cut back spending and a six pack at home is a whole lot cheaper than six drafts at the bar OR maybe they made the infamous New Year’s Resolutions, which trend heavily toward diet and exercise so they bought a salad and hit the gym OR maybe it’s winter time and the weather is more conducive to staying in rather than going out... In other words show me some real proof as without that it’s a lot of hype and I ain’t buying it.

Now I (and a few hundred others) hit a Craft Beer Festival on January 7th; where probably the only Dry anyone was worried about was the weather; oh and maybe somebody spilling their taster…(a shout out to the new friends I met because one of my party actually did spill his beer…). Now that’s how to counter any thoughts of going dry…hanging out, trying different beers and meeting folks.

And yes, there were a lot of articles on all these great NA (non-alcoholic) beers and RTD cocktails and liquors. I’m seeing some names I’ve seen before, meaning they’re still in business, and some new names but I’m not overly interested in trying unless I really need to. Hey if you’re on medication or ill or driving or doing something else where it would be beneficial not to be buzzed then that’s a good excuse to try and/or have a few of these. One big beer store sent out an email of all the different NA beers they had available. I don’t blame every brewery for feeling the need to make one, knowing it won’t be their #1 seller, but just that someone in their tasting room might prefer a non-alcoholic beverage…besides water. 

It’s similar to the Hard Seltzer craze; it’s easy for a brewery to make so have some available again to make sure you’re covering the bases for your customers. I’m also seeing articles about celebrity sponsors for NA beverages; I’ve never really been big on buying something because some already overpaid name is getting more money to endorse something they probably have tried but don’t use. And to those that choose to use a big-name celebrity sponsor, I’d be really careful to vet their background so it doesn’t come back to bite you. A friend of mine in Philly found a NA bar, so went in and asked about their NA beer list to which they replied “we don’t carry them, we just have NA cocktails”…okay, what…does the phrase “you cannot be serious” sound about right here…

I was in that circumstance last year where it best to stay away from alcohol and during that time I did try a few NA beers. I’ve heard a lot about Athletic Brewing out of CT and how great their beers were and sales continue to skyrocket so I tried a few. Sorry to say I was extremely disappointed; they were really weak when it came to having the kind of real beer taste I want. The best I’ve tried so far was the Guinness 0.0 . It wasn’t as good as a real Guinness but if you had it as your second one you may not notice all that much. I would venture to say that a blind tasting of both, in cans to be a fair comparison, might surprise quite a few people… And no I will never bother with Heineken 0.0 as I don’t like their alcoholic skunk beer so why would I want a non-alcoholic skunk beer…

I’ve heard going Dry compared to a colon cleanse in that it cleanses the toxins from your body. Well some very reputable medical organizations say a colon cleanse isn’t necessary. And I would venture to say that probably their best advice with regard to alcohol is not to avoid (unless you’re dealing with a medical situation where it could be a detriment) but to use in MODERATION. Isn’t it really like anything else? Too much water can be harmful; too much of any one type of food, be it meat or fiber or dairy or salt etc. is not good for the body’s health.

And hey, what about the craft beer bar(s) you go to?? Hopefully you’ve at least been there to buy some food if you’re not going to drink alcohol. This is their business, their livelihood and you, who came in once or twice a week and now haven’t shown up for a month isn’t great for them. You’ll be walking in in February expecting to be welcomed like the conquering hero; they’ll definitely say they’re glad to see you; of course under their breathe they may be saying “where the flip have you been?”.

So to those of you observing (there’s no way we can call this celebrating) Dry January and waiting till 12:01 AM February 1st to have a beer, go for it. I personally will be staying away from my bar on probably the 1st and 2nd so I don’t need to hear any stories about how wonderful Dry January was…

Hyped New Year

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

You’re probably thinking I probably had a little too much at my New Year’s Eve celebration, but no I intended to and did write “Hyped”.

Let’s begin at the beginning. One of my beer buds sent me an article titled “Is Wine Fake?”. I started reading it and I’m thinking they’re talking about crooks taking cheap wine and putting expensive labels on the bottles, so we consumers are paying a lot more than they’re worth. Unless I’m mistaken there was a big wine bust recently of some folks that were doing exactly that. And why should that be a surprise as US Customs and local/state police are always finding “counterfeit/knockoffs” of expensive name brand items like Rolex watches, Nike’s, fashion clothing, Louis Vuitton and Gucci leather goods, Apple products, etc. etc. etc. Hey counterfeiting is big business so yea why not expensive wines.

As I continue to read, I realize that’s not the point. They’re actually talking about the difference between wines and why is one $10 and one $20 and one $50 and another $100 and if some trained Sommeliers have a problem telling the difference, then what about most of us average consumers??   

The author then goes on to look at numerous studies that would tend to bring us to a logical conclusion that most sommeliers/wine judges can definitely distinguish the bad wines but that there isn’t the consistency you’d expect when comparing medium price vs expensive wines and many times not consistency on the same expensive wine from one tasting to another.

Then he makes a couple of interesting comparisons:

 In a blind tasting of Coke vs Pepsi, more people chose Pepsi, but that’s not how we chose our soda, so more people drink Coke because the preconceived notion that the Coke should taste better…hmmm   What about pizza; there’s NY style, Chicago style, Detroit style, European style, to name a few. They’re all different in their own right and each of us could have a different favorite (unless of course you’re a pizza junky and would eat anyone put in front of you) which doesn’t mean we’re all wrong; it means we have different tastes…

So yes, the sense of smell and the sense of taste are extremely critical to being able to be a highly trained judge. Some would say well cinnamon has its own smell and taste and everyone should be on the same page irrespective of their own senses. I would agree except not everyone’s senses have the same degree of refinement, or dare I say sensitivity.  True, sommeliers do constantly train, but I really think you need to have the innate ability in order to train it. If your senses aren’t that good to begin with all the training in the world won’t change it.

The author does say his title “Is Wine Fake?” was meant to be provocative and clearly wine is not fake, it’s a real beverage made from fermented grapes, but his real issue is the nature of the expertise on wines by the experts. There are those that would claim the expertise is fake, but many who would agree that the experts do have a much better record than us ordinary customers. And if that’s the case then why bother reading reviews about tasting notes and aromas you’ll probably never experience.

So now that you think I’ve defected and am now writing for WineNexus, no that was just my lead in.

Isn’t craft beer in a very similar place?? We have the BJCP-Beer Judge Certification Program, where our expert beer tasters study and train also. Their Mission Statement is to 1) encourage knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the world’s diverse beer, mead, and cider styles, 2) promote, recognize and advances beer, mead and cider tasting, evaluation and communication and 3) develop standardized tools, methods, and processes for the structured evaluation, ranking and feedback of beer, mead and cider. Nothing wrong with that, in fact that’s a good thing.

Years ago I sat through a weekly BJCP class learning about different styles each week and listening to the discussion about them. I realized then that I just don’t have the senses other do and wasn’t willing to go whole hog into trying to train myself, it just wasn’t worth it. Basically I know what I like when I taste it and that’s good enough for me.

One of our beer buds is a Certified Judge and it’s always interesting to hear what he thinks about a beer we’re having. I find his standards are high as he can be critical of a beer I’m enjoying but he’s talking about it from his judge’s perspective which has many facets, where I just like the taste

I think another complication in the IPA world is there are now over 100 different hops, so with many ways to approach i.e. dry hopping, double dry hopping, wet hopping, lupulin powder, etc. and the ability to use one, two, three or as many different hops as you want, I’m not sure there’s a clear path to follow. True they’re all still IPAs and maybe that’s not important as a wine needs only be 75% to be called by the specific grape name and vintners can mix in small amounts of many other wines to alter/refine the taste. I guess the other complexities in wine are when to pick, how you’re crushing, whether you put it in wood or stainless and how long it’s there, so the brewer/vintner each have numerous choices/decisions along their path.

Many times I’ve had a beer that’s gotten great reviews and I’m not all that impressed. So maybe the beer is old, or maybe the beer or food I had before altered it, or maybe I’m in a lousy mood (although why would I be when I’m about to have a craft beer) or maybe it’s just not for me. I remember many instances when I’ve had, what I think, is a great beer and I tout it to one of my beer buds and they’re not overly excited by it and I’ve had the same happen to me. I try not to be overenthusiastic these days because when a beer is hyped to you, you raise the bar a notch and expect a really great beer, so there’s more chance of being disappointed.

I’ve also written in the past how UNTAPPD has blown away Beer Advocate and RateBeer; really more so because it’s an online app that allows me to check something out and log something in at the moment. I regularly use it when out, understanding that the ratings are, in many cases, too high. I do also like to go into the Style Guide and read the brewer/brewery description; hell they made the beer and put it out there so they should know what’s in it and what they were trying to do.

Recently I’ve seen a trend I don’t like; I’m seeing more and more plain hype rather than just a description. Without naming the brewery or beer, here’s one I read recently:

“Vadar… Drink… You’ve been defeated by a Space Ball. Learn the power of Madagascar Vanilla and Mild Sugar from Yogurt to use the Schwartz and combat Dark forces on the Moon of Vega. This beer is ‘Ludicrous Speeds’ Father. Using a Citra whirlpool and a giant dryhop of Citra and Citra Lupomax we then conditioned this beer on Madagascar vanilla and Touch of lactose.”

Okay so maybe I’m not into Star Wars enough, but what exactly does this tell me about the beer, yea there are a few basics but almost secondary to message. I’m sure they had fun writing it, but it seems like more of a commercial than a Style Guide description. Yea I know the craft beer market is competitive and any edge you can get to get us drinkers/consumers to buy your beer is good for you, but I’m less inclined to try your beer after reading this.

As a comparison here’s a rather straightforward one:

“Double Dry Hopped version of our 7.0% IPA brewed with Citra, Centennial and Simcoe.”

They’re telling me about their beer and not promising I’ll enter another galaxy (although I have with some really great beers…).

Another issue I’ve seen (and tasted) is when a brewer makes a beer and then puts it into a Style Guideline it clearly doesn’t belong. Maybe it’s not a clear fit anywhere so they pick one. Recently we had a beer and my bud and I looked at each other and agreed, this is clearly not a Berliner Weiss.

So ask yourself a question; do you prefer a “Pepsi” brewery, one that tries to make their best beers or do you prefer a “Coke” brewery, one that expects you to like their beers because they have well known name and get good reviews i.e. hype??

I guess I’m suggesting we all trust our taste, since everyone’s is different and understand that 1.3K reviews with an average 4.15 rating doesn’t mean you’ll like it. Another good indicator is trusting the breweries you’ve had good beers from and knowing those you’ve tasted from other breweries that haven’t impressed you are a good indicator of what you might expect also.

And when you’re in a tasting room and the server/brewer is blowing smoke about the beer rather than telling you about it; challenge him or her. When they begin to understand we’re not interested in the hype maybe they’ll stop…

Can Craft Beer Open More Doors??

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

When you think about it Craft Beer and the craft beer community are pretty amazing. It was a mere thirty-five or so years ago when we heard about these pioneers who wanted to make great tasting beers as an alternative to the macro fizzy lagers most all of us drank. Back then, every once in a while, we’d have the opportunity to sample a really good bottle of foreign beer, but again they had the same problem we did, mostly macro fizzy lagers. And unless you went to England you weren’t going to get those room temp cask beers you could over there.

After a few succeeded and our taste buds were awoken there was a lot of interest in this fledging industry so that today, according to The Brewer’s Association, we have 9,000+ craft breweries with a 13.1% share (on a barrel basis) and a 26.8% share of the US beer market dollars (wasn’t the tagline “you’ve come a long way baby” a Virginia Slims commercial back in the day?). I give the BA a lot of credit for “trying” to maintain and arbitrate who is and who isn’t really craft beer these days but with all the movement it’s becoming next to impossible. We are well past the early days when AB and MolsonCoors started buying breweries and we were aghast that craft brewers would “sell out”. Today we have private equity owners with partial or full ownership, multinational alcoholic beverage companies with beer, wine and spirits , non-alcohol firms like Monster owning Canarchy and foreign breweries such as Sapporo, owning the classic Anchor Steam and Stone, and Kirin, owning New Belgium and Bell’s. Are they really no longer “craft”? If by some definition they really are then the market share numbers could be even bigger, but then again, the BA classifies Yuengling as craft, so yea it’s really tough to get a handle on a “real” count. But craft beer has succeeded and is here to stay!

With more and more breweries and the ability to open taprooms and sell beer direct, breweries attract locals who want to meet some friends and have a beer, day trippers who will travel to hit a few breweries in a day and see some sites they may not before and even vacationers, a few who make the whole trip about beer and more so those who plan their vacation and will look to see what’s available wherever they’re going since “as long as I’m there might as well check out the local scene”. And yes, the whole “farm to table” and “eat fresh, eat local” with food have also applied to craft; they’re using local products where possible and “drink fresh, drink local” have certainly helped to bring people in.

The atmosphere in most craft brewery taprooms is very relaxing and friendly; kids running around or playing games, a few dogs, some folks watching TV, but usually a lot of discussions/talking. Taprooms are a place where patrons feel very at ease to start talking with people they don’t know because it’s easy to start a discussion about the beer you’re drinking.

Over the past year and a half we had our eyes and ears opened to some of the not so nice things about our craft industry in the brewing/operations process; aggressive and nasty behavior, sexism, racism, lack of equity and representation, etc. that has not shed a glowing light on craft. To be fair it’s definitely not all and probably just a small subsegment but if it’s allowed to continue in the community that will not be a good undercurrent.

With the increase in breweries we’ve seen an increase in diversity of ownership and messaging; including Blacks, women, LGBTQ and other minority groups. If you have the money or financial backing you can join the long list of those who’ve found a space, bought equipment and started brewing. You can use your logo and can/bottle labels to have fun, represent something or express feelings and try to create discussion/thought in those drinking your beer. You can make beer for special events or charities to become more a part of the overall community, not just beer drinkers.  The only qualifications I would make is 1) you need to be representing a real topic, i.e. not some of the flat out lies or half-truths that we see all over, mostly the internet and 2) that you need to make good beer to really succeed, but I have seen many breweries whose beer was flat out bad or just average or pedestrian who have not gone out of business.

I was inspired to focus on this after I read a recent article about how Native Americans are working to reclaim their heritage by opening craft breweries. Their thought process was that craft beer was an approachable way to bring people together and use their taproom as community hubs  to build a narrative for Indigenous people, where customers are immersed in the Native American culture. It has not been an easy journey, as like other groups, they have faced many obstacles and not always been welcomed by other craft brewers. There’s also the false stereotype of alcohol associated with the Indigenous creating another barrier to setting up microbreweries on Indian reservations. It can be difficult for some, especially elders, in the Indian community to feel right about sharing their culture expecting some of the same problems they’ve experienced in the past. Many in the younger generation are willing and moving forward hoping that the name or label on a beer or artwork on the wall might generate a question or discussion allowing the sharing of stories and their perspective on land and on life.

I think it would be really interesting to visit some of these but unfortunately most are in the Midwest or West. Reservations in the Northeast are more interested in setting up casinos which definitely can be seen as an attraction but I’m not sure how they could reach out to clientele and possibly create awareness or have discussions like a craft brewery.

I thought it might be possible to draw a parallel to baseball and the color barrier. Baseball was whites only until the Dodgers Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to play. He did not have an easy time with fans and other players as well as hotels and restaurants when travelling. It took time as other teams began to sign Black players and over time, they began to hear cheers rather than jeers. And it’s still a work in progress with Blacks, women and others finally beginning to get more opportunities to be in coaching and management positions.

I thought I’d close out the year by looking at some positive aspects. Can craft beer be one of the vehicles to growing diversity, equity, inclusion and representation in our society; let’s not ask Why, let’s say Why Not.

Have a great holiday season, and a crafty, healthy 2023. 

A Few Random Thoughts

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

For the first time in two years Munich Oktoberfest opened in September; 1-liter mugs everywhere, women in cleavage-barring traditional dresses carrying more in one hand than you can, men in Lederhosen shorts and pretzels the size of dinner plates! Any beer lover knows and wishes they could attend Oktoberfest; this is the premiere, the king, the one and only (apologies to GABF who is just a kid as Oktoberfest has been going on for over two centuries), etc. But unfortunately things are quite a bit different than they were a couple of years ago. The pandemic has changed many things, there are still variants that could spread easily and unfortunately beer has not been found to prevent or be an antidote to Covid. And the supply chain issues, like getting enough teddy bears and stuffed animals for the fairground booths, and price increases similar to what we’ve seen here, the German brewers are also seeing in almost everything from raw ingredients to bottles, bottle caps, cardboard, stainless steel, wood pallets, even cleaning supplies. As we’ve seen here supply issues create interesting scenarios in juggling and cost, but the added complexity there is Putin using Russian oil as a weapon against Europe which unfortunately relies heavily upon it. Plain and simple the brewing process needs a lot of energy, oh and then of course don’t forget the refrigeration to keep it cold. It will be interesting this coming winter if they begin to ration energy and decisions are made to heat homes vs produce items…like beer.

German inflation was 7.9% in August, fairly similar to ours, and could approach 10% by yearend. We tend to focus on only our, USA, inflation, instead of understanding we’re part of global economy and that we can’t just right our storm, but everybody/country will need to settle down before it’s over. We’ll need a boatload more beer for us to continue having this type of discussion.

So as you may have expected the average liter is up about 15% over 2019. Although not as well attended as 2019 (5.7M vs. 6.3M) this year’s Oktoberfest will likely be considered successful as people needed and wanted to be doing some of the happier things, they missed during the pandemic and it was relatively calm. Was attendance down because of Covid fears or inflation forcing some to cut back or yes, the uncooperative weather which was untypically rainy, cold weather; probably a combination of all three.

I must say I like the official ceramic beer stein but I really have enough drinking vessels so I won’t be looking on eBay for one…

Would You Ever Have Expected to See This??!!

There are many classic European beers that have been around for centuries that have influenced our taste and of course our craft brewers as they continue to try to make great tasting beer. One of those is  the legendary Saison DuPont! Brewed since 1844 it’s regarded as a classic Belgian seasonal ale, which was designed to quench the thirst of the seasonal farm workers. It’s brewed in the winter and left to ferment for several months in wooden barrels before being served in the summer.

Seeing that large green bottle with the caged cork is one of those sights that brings a smile to your face and an anticipation on your pallet. Although only 6.5% ABV the big boy is a 750ml bottle so if you’re by yourself that’s like drinking three beers. Now three beers are not too much to drink and if you’re having it with some food that’s easily doable, but some of us would probably shy away from opening one for ourselves.

So as I’m browsing the beer ale one day, I see this bright yellow green and white can I’m unfamiliar with so I stop for a closer look and damn; it’s a 4 pack of 16 oz Saison DuPont in cans, wait, really?! I’m shocked; who would have ever thought you’d see this classic in a can. And yes, it’s 16 oz cans, not those 11.2 oz chintz bottles the imports try to pawn off on us. And better yet, it’s only a few dollars more than the 750ml! I don’t need a calculator to know this is a great deal and opening up a 16 is no big deal! And although a true side by side taste test has not yet been performed I have it on good authority you probably won’t notice any difference between the bottle and the can.

Obviously, the Europeans have noted that we in the US have gravitated from bottles to cans…all those cynics who laughed at Dale’s Pale Ale when they went all in on cans…who’s laughing now…

My Go-To Strikes Again!

I’ve written many times how my beer buds and I hang at the Cloverleaf Tavern and are how we think it compares very favorably to any other beer bar and although the drafts don’t turn as often as they used to pre pandemic, there’s always something of interest. During the pandemic they were bringing in a wide array of new and interesting beers for take home purchase only. After reopening they have continued to bring in different cans from quality breweries. For a year plus they have able to periodically snag a few cases of The Alchemist’s Heady Topper and Focal Banger. There’s always a 2/person limit so it can be shared and not scooped up by just a few people.

A few weeks ago we’re perusing the menu and there it is on the front page highlighted can list, Heady Topper at $7.50 each, which is a shocker since it’s usually $9.50. One of my comrades asks if it will be fresh and I guaranteed him it would be; Heady is not a beer that languishes when it appears, so we each order one. Before I open carefully look for the date at the bottom and I’m blown away; it was canned EIGHT days ago!!! I had no clue when I guaranteed fresh how fresh that would be. I’m can’t remember if I’ve ever had one that fresh! I was wondering if I’d find something different in the taste to show off the freshness, but it was the usual very good Heady. We immediately look at the full can list inside and sure enough they also have the Focal Banger at $7.50. I’m assuming it’s also going to be pretty fresh so I order one for us to split. Looking at the bottom of the can is almost like doing a scratch-off ticket that you think can be a winner, so here goes and again I’m amazed. So I ask my buds to guess how old it is and I don’t remember their answers but the Focal Banger is a day fresher, it was canned SEVEN days ago!! Since it’s 2 /person my bud takes one of each home and I grab anther Focal for home enjoyment.

Just another time when we’re glad we’re there and not at another place…

Climate Change is Affecting US:

I recently read about how the extreme heat in places like the North West and Mid-West are dramatically affecting fruit crop yields. So how does that affect us? Well many breweries use fruit as an adjunct, a non malt source of fermentable sugar, mostly for sours. In the current farm to table trend they’re using local fruits as they’re close by and they’ve created relationships with local farmers to get some of their freshest every year. (And no we’re not talking pumpkins as they brew pumpkin beers in the summer well before they’re ripe so they’re using pumpkin mush from prior years.) So in the NW where there are tons of large forest fires there’s also the distinct possibility of smoke taint as many vineyards are also dealing with. Other obvious impacts of smaller yields are lesser quality and higher costs. I’d expect many brewers, in addition to raising prices, will have to cut back on the types and amounts of fruited beers they make. Hopefully they don’t try to substitute canned or frozen for the fresh.

That’s it for this month’s Beer Beat, see you next month…

There’s Craft, There’s Crazy/Weird, Then There’s  Well…Necessity…

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

Thinking back we’ve all heard about some of the crazy and downright nasty ingredients used by “brewers” who let their creative juices go a little too far. And yes, some of these brewers would just say they also have culinary tendencies which can be a big influence on their beer. I’m sure there are acceptable combinations but I’m really focused on the lower end of the spectrum here.

Searching my memory banks I’m recalling lobster (hey maybe the lobsters enjoyed it more than just plain old boiling water), Oreo’s (so when you grow up you no longer want to dip them in milk…), testicles  (I’m not remembering from which animal, but who cares! Now for a full disclosure moment I do recall being in a Kansas City steakhouse at a conference with friends and ordering the Rocky Mountain Oysters appetizer, which translates into Bull Testicles. I forget if I drew the short straw or was just feeling adventurous. They were edible, although I’m not recollecting anything overly good or bad in the taste; but it did NOT taste like chicken! Now this was decades ago so I’m pretty sure I survived with no adverse effects.), human beard (yea this brewer decided there was probably some funky stuff in his beard that would enhance his beer…maybe just make better beer… I don’t recall any disclaimers on how often he actually washed it before using, but maybe that was the point…), ramen (sorry got nothing on this one) and pastrami on rye sandwiches (I’d much rather eat a delicious pastrami on rye, with a nice spicy mustard of course, WITH a beer than it be part of my beer). I’m not recollecting any others at the moment, but I’m sure there is a long list.

Besides weird ingredients there are also flavor enhancers.  Old Bay Seasoning comes right to mind, but I really prefer it in my crab cakes rather than beer. Who can forget the infamous Cookie Puss, inspired by the Carvel Ice Cream stores iconic cake of the same name; so they use Carvel vanilla in the brew. This category has got to be even bigger than the ingredient one and probably a lot less problematic than the first, although I really am not excited by a brewer putting in a flavor to make my beer taste like some other familiar taste. What’s the point?? To me these are just side shows in the carnival of beers where you stare at it and keep moving.

I’m going to segway here…

I booked a small ship Icelandic cruise for next summer. I’ve heard some very good things about Iceland, the land of fire and ice, its dramatic landscape, volcanos (with a recently fairly active one outside Reykjavik), geysers, hot springs, lava fields, glaciers and national parks. It’s a Nordic country considered part of Europe so yes, those Viking explorers somehow made the at least 800 nautical miles (depending of course where they left from) some eleven plus centuries ago; I’m assuming there were few deluxe accommodations. There are  less than 400,000 inhabitants on its not quite 40,000 square miles, although a vast majority of the land is uninhabitable. Norway has a ton of oil and they could easily just ship it over to Iceland to fuel their power plants but Icelanders are sitting on a geothermal gold mine so they’ve figured out how to use it and are probably one of the greenest countries in the world.

Much to my surprise, about four months ago,  I heard Good Morning America (GMA) touting a  Michael Strahan (yes, THE Super Bowl winning defensive end for the New York Football Giants) trip to Iceland for their Extraordinary Earth series. You bet I’m watching!

So there’s Michael talking to scientists while learning about puffins and whales and what they can tell us about the environment. Then he’s visiting some of the beautiful scenery. And lastly, he’s off to visit one of the largest geothermal greenhouses where they’re growing mainly green and red tomatoes (producing about two tons a day or almost 20% of Iceland’s total) along with other flowers and spices, etc. And part of that greenhouse is a restaurant, where you can be sitting next to vines while having lunch. What we call farm to table here is greenhouse to table up there. So what do they prepare with all these tomatoes to have onsite or take home; well the headliner is soup, and of course sauce (which some of us call gravy), pancake syrup, BBQ and desert sauce, jam, tomato and apple pie, ice cream, chutney, a NA green and NA red tomato drink and believe it or not both red and green tomato BEER. Okay sign me up I’m game to try a tomato beer.

The name of the greenhouse/business, which includes the restaurant is Fridheimar. The beer is brewed in collaboration with Olgerdin Egil Skallagrimsson brewery founded in 1913 in Reykjavik. It was first introduced in April 2018 and called a “light, summery beer.” On Untappd it’s listed as a wheat beer at 4.8%. I’m guessing both varieties are called Tomatbjor (I think you can guess what bjor in Icelandic translates to in English). Based on the pics the green pours a light golden color, while the red has a light red haze to it. With 706 ratings it’s a respectable 3.48, but unfortunately not many comments, which is one of my complaints about Untappd, but here are a few;  “Had no idea what to expect and it’s good”  “Quite Astonishing” “Had the green…and it is delicious”

So hey when you have too much of something and are already using it in many different ways, someone needs to be creative and say, “what about bjor?” That actually fits right in since our brewers are already using a ton of other fruits in beer; pumpkin, strawberry, blueberry, mango, peaches, pineapple, cherry, raspberry, apricot, etc. etc. etc. I would classify this as a normal addition, but in this case with an abundant supply, necessity to rather use than waste comes to mind. I couldn’t find any material/info about the process of how it came to be; it’s got to be out there somewhere but I can’t read Icelandic either.

Fridheimar is only 30 minutes from the famous Gullfoss Waterfall, which sb on our itinerary but I need to see if this is included also!! I’m not sure if it’s available outside of the Fridheimar Restaurant of if they bottle it, but if it’s not in Reykjavik then you won’t find it elsewhere.

BTW Iceland enacted Prohibition in 1915.  In 1922 they legalized wine (pushed by Spain to import theirs on a trade deal) and in 1935 legalized all alcoholic beverages except beer >2.25%. Opposition to beer was strongest from rural areas and traditional socialist parties; typical temperance and something about the susceptibility of adolescents to drinking a beer rather than taking a shot, ah yea, typical political logic… It took until March 1, 1989, which is now referred to as Beer Day, for the alcohol limit on beer to be removed.

So here I am feeling pretty good I’ve something somewhat unique and BAM (Holy Batman) I see one of food and entertainment feeds with the headline; Local Brewers Turn to Beloved Jersey Tomato, these summer ales honor the Garden State’s star crop. Okay, duh, I live here, I know how good Jersey tomatoes can be so why wasn’t I thinking “hey Iceland, we do that too”…

First off if you’ve never had a fresh Jersey tomato you don’t know what you’re missing. Yea I know tomatoes are grown all over the country and I’m sure there are many good and comparable ones, but these are one of the better reasons to live here, especially in summer and fall. The article mentions three breweries who have been using them for a few years.  One of the brewers clearly points out, many expect it to taste like a V-8 or michelada, but it’s fairly light as all it is is macerated tomatoes added to the brew. So the tomato is not a prominent or overpowering taste it’s subdued, which works great for farmhouse or light wheat style beer.

As I read on, I realize I’ve actually had one they’re mentioning; this could get embarrassing, I might need to do the ostrich thing, but I find relief! It’s described as a salted pale ale and now I remember; salted is putting it mildly, I like a little salt on my fresh tomato but this salted pale used the whole shaker for each tomato, that’s overkill that blows away any of the tomato taste, which is why I doubt I got any tomato taste from that beer.

So okay I guess I don’t have to go to Iceland to try some tomato beer, but that’s a mere sidelight to my trip and btw they make some other “bjors” (I’m learning the language already!) that we don’t get here that, well hey, I might just coincidentally find in my  travels and therefore be coerced to try them… Unfortunately I have to wait till next summer, but something to look forward to can be good.

Stick To What You're Good At

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

The Washington Post is THE daily newspaper and most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington metro area and also has a large international audience. It also is one of few remaining to still operate foreign bureaus. Founded in 1877, a new owner in 1889 asked John Philip Sousa to compose a march for its essay contest. He composed “The Washington Post” which became the standard music to accompany the two-step dance-craze and remains one of Sousa’s best-known works. In 1898 it printed the classic illustration “Remember the Maine”, which became the battle-cry for American sailors. In 1933 Eugene Meyer purchased The Post out of bankruptcy and restored its health and reputation. In 1946 he was succeeded by his son-in-law, Philip Graham. In 1950 The Post is credited with coining the term “McCarthyism” in an editorial cartoon. When Philip died in 1963, he was succeeded by his wife, Katherine Graham. During her tenure she took The Post public in June 1971 in the midst of the Pentagon Papers controversy. In late 2013, the very wealthy Jeff Bezos purchased The Post for $250M.

It's considered a liberal leaning paper but like anything else there is typically ebb and flow. Eugene Meyer had been appointed Federal Reserve Chairman by President Hoover, so not surprising their editorials were not supportive of FDR’s New Deal. Phil Graham was friendly with JFK and Ben Bradlee, editor in chief, and Kay Graham paved the way for the aggressive reporting which yielded both The Pentagon Papers and Watergate scandals, along with increased opposition to the Vietnam War. Whereas during the Bush Administration they published 27 editorials supporting the Administrations ambitions to invade Iraq. Since it endorsed Jimmy Carter in 1976, The Post has never endorsed a Republican presidential  candidate, although in 1988 there was no endorsement.

Over its long existence, The Post has won 65 Pulitzer Prizes , second only to The New York Times, its  journalists have received 18 Nieman Fellowship and 368 White House News Photographers Association awards.

I don’t subscribe but I do read The Washington Post Weekly which my newspaper picks up on Sundays as an added section.

Interesting you’re saying but this has what to do with craft beer?? Well I recently saw a Post article on our beloved craft beer titled “Craft beer is polarizing: More drinkers want high ABV or none at all” and with that catchy title and knowing their quality of reporting definitely picked it up to read.

First off, I can’t agree with them starting right from the title that craft beer is “polarizing” as there are more choices now than ever before. Basically if you can’t find something you’re interested in either you’re in the wrong bar/store or you’ve gotten picky beyond belief, but I’ll let them make their case to me.

They first discuss the guy who’s concerned the craft beer prices have gone up so he’s analyzing price vs. packaging size vs. ABV; he’s a bang for buck kind of guy who isn’t looking at anything under 6%. Interestingly enough he doesn’t mention factoring in taste anywhere. Next, they say he’s “part of a growing number of beer drinkers who are increasingly gravitating toward the extremes of beer’s alcohol spectrum, choosing either very strong beers or beers without any alcohol (NA) at all.” That seems like a quick leap but then they pull out the stats; in the last four years high ABV beers (>8%) have gained 5% market share and nonalcoholic beers have gained 1% (is 1% change over four years a significant change???). And this is “particularly true within craft beer”, wait what??? So how many of the big macro brewers like ABI, MillerCoors, Heineken, etc. make beers >8% and most of their NA offerings have about as much taste as cardboard.

Next a quote from the senior brand manager for New Belgium Voodoo Ranger: “We’re seeing high intensity beers get more intense and …. low intensity beers get less intense to the point that some of them don’t even have alcohol in them.” Well that’s a mouthful (not of beer) from someone in the industry. My first question is what is your definition of “intense”? Seems to me it must have a high correlation to ABV since that’s what he’s focused on. And BTW what’s wrong with drinking a nonalcoholic beer with potentially some real taste; maybe you’re on medication or it’s a really hot summer day or you’ve got a drive ahead of you or you just want one or…

And now they’re going to” shut the barn door with the big connection”; in summer of 2019 Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA caught fire, New Belgium redesigned the package to prominently display it’s 9% ABV and by the end of 2020 it surpassed their flagship beer Fat Tire as it’s #1 beer. It continued to increase sales as it passed Lagunitas IPA as the best-selling IPA in 2021. I call Fat Tire, a 5.2% amber ale, a crossover beer. It’s one of a few back in the 80’s like Sam Adams Boston Lager and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale that we beer drinkers started trying that told us we didn’t have to drink fizzy lagers anymore, that we could finally get a good tasting beer. I’m sorry, give Voodoo credit, but to me that’s more of indication of how good Fat Tire is that it was their #1 beer for decades, so yes, we drinkers are still buying it and maybe it’s continuing to wean other beer drinkers of the macro beers.

Now to the other end…yes brewers have finally made some decent tasting NA beers and its sales are taking off at the expense of other crafts in the 1-4% range. Above that in the 5+% range we have our beloved Pale Ale, which a director of operations for Craft Beer Initiatives calls “a dying style.” I really can’t argue that; there are fewer and fewer and many times when you have one it’s hopped up so is it a pale ale or an IPA in disguise. With the tremendous increase in the number of different hops available and dry hopping, double dry hopping, wet hopping and any other way you chose to bring in hops, the rise and dominance of IPAs is part of a natural progression/development of craft beer.

And here we are, at the conclusion… Trends come and go but there are two possible avenues here; the polarization continues hollowing out the middle, what craft beer was built on where other beverages will be happy to fill the void or the polarization slows and craft beer’s overall ABV settles back near the middle.

I’m getting the feeling this wasn’t written by a true craft beer lover; sounds more like someone is getting into Beer Analytics and looking solely at the numbers and then predicting it could continue or maybe not… I would strongly suggest they stay away from day trading as a vocation.

Analytics, the accumulation and analysis of numbers looking for trends, can be an important ingredient but I also like to do my research on the ground. I have taken note this year I’ve seen more offerings of pilsners and lagers available. I’ve spoken to or read about more brewers/breweries wanting to make a cross section of styles instead of all IPAs. Some just think it’s time to get back to the basics and they understand our tastes are not all the same and if they make good solid beers, their customers will be happy and of course some will be bigger sellers than others, but that’s just basic logic. I also find it interesting that the BJCP is adding two categories, Italian Pilsner and New Zealand Pilsner, which tells me there are more breweries making these and they’re different enough to warrant their own judging. 

I also had the opportunity to stop at Tree House Brewing recently up in MA to purchase some of their awesome beers. For those unfamiliar they are one of handful of New England breweries that popularized the NEIPA and their flagship Julius is known as one of the best. And since you’re wondering why I didn’t just go the beer/liquor store, Tree House does NOT distribute; every draft/can/bottle is sold at their brewery or one of their satellite locations and they are doing very well. Tree House is well known for their large selection of very good IPA & DIPAs but as I scanned the list of what was available, I was very surprised to see numerous pilsner and Helles lager offerings along with witbier, kellerbier, hefeweizen, and wheat. I’m sure they’ve made some of these before but I thought this was a particularly robust selection for a brewery that’s reputation was built on IPA. Seeing style expansion from a brewery like that tells me craft beer has not forgotten the spectrum of styles.

So looking at the numbers they call it “polarization”; sorry I’d call it progress or natural progression. As craft beer has grown and developed brewers are finding they can’t make the same beer every day and continue to survive competing with 9,000 other craft breweries, not to mention they are also a creative lot who want to try new recipes and methods. And we consumers have something to say about it also, as we’re the ones choosing what we want to drink (so why am I starting to see Pumpkin beers on the shelves already?!?).

I think maybe The Post should stick to news articles as I will of their offerings…

Queen Rules Again!!

by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

No no, not The 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth of the UK (although she does have quite the set of hats); the 52-year-old rock band Queen!  They were clearly ahead of their time pumping out what would become timeless classics.

I’m sure the Golden State Warriors and the Colorado Avalanche were belting out “We Are The Champions” on the PA after their victories in the NBA and NHL Finals.

And whenever a crowd, especially sporting, needs to brought to its feet can anything match the pounding beat of “We Will Rock You”?  I’m getting excited just thinking about.

Fortunately or unfortunately as the case may be another one of their anthems was being played at the Brewers Association in late June…”Another One Bites the Dust.” Coming on the heels of New Belgium in 2019 and Bell’s in 2021 another of the long standing, well known, fiercely independent and Top Ten craft breweries sold or sold out depending upon how you look at it. Stone Brewing has been acquired by Japanese brewer Sapporo through their Sapporo U.S.A. unit. Sapporo is one of the big four in Japan along with Asahi, Kirin and Suntory. I had no clue, until I did a little research, Japan produces the seventh largest amount of beer countrywide on a yearly basis and beer leads all Japanese alcohol consumption with 40% of the market, just ahead of Sake.

Suntory appears to be the least active in terms of acquiring breweries but they did buy Beam Inc. in 2014 which, at that time, made them the third largest spirit producer in the world so  they certainly appear to have a different direction in mind.

Asahi, the largest in Japan, made major transactions with AB-InBev obtaining 20% of Tsingtao in 2009 and then Grolsch, Peroni and SABMiller’s UK brands in October 2016. AB-InBev was obviously preparing to buy SABMiller which they did immediately and then sold SABMiller’s Eastern European business to Asahi.  In May 2020 Asahi bought Australian Carlton & United Breweries giving them a 48.5% market share. They seem not that interested in the American craft beer market.

Kirin, #2, was also active in Australia/New Zealand when in 2009 it bought brewer Lion Nathan, which it then merged with National Foods, which it had owned since 2007. So they own a bunch of breweries and added wine and spirts to the mix. Kirin’s other beer acquisitions were in Brazil and the Philippines until they made their big splash here in the US in 2019 with the acquisition of New Belgium using their Lion subsidiary. They weren’t done as in late 2021 they acquired Bell’s (after which my January 2022 article “We Should Expect More” was spot on…not that I’m patting myself on the back or puffing my chest or taking any bows or anything silly like that).

And finally Sapporo, who were first to start importing Japanese beer in the US in 1964! Sapporo Brewing Company in La Crosse, WI  was formed in 1984 and started contract brewing. Interestingly enough Sapporo Premium has been the #1 selling Japanese beer in the US since they started in 1984! They expanded slowly buying Canadian Sleeman Brewery (which also owns three other Canadian Breweries; Okanagan Spring, Unibroue and Wild Rose) in 2006 and a little more eye-opening Anchor Brewing (really the beer that kicked off and inspired our craft beer evolution) in 2017. Since they couldn’t produce enough Sapporo between Sleeman and contract brewing with City Brewing in La Crosse, they do import from their brewery in Vietnam. To cut costs and increase market share they felt they really needed their own US brewery for more production and better logistics, so in 2021 they were thinking about acquiring a west coast brewery or expanding their contract brewing by 2024.  

One of the very interesting comments on their intentions with the Stone purchase was their plan to be brewing 360,000 barrels of its own beer in the Escondido and Richmond breweries, along with Stone beers, essentially doubling production in those breweries! So bingo this acquisition actually gets you a lot more than you were looking for; a top ten craft brewery in Stone AND two brewery facilities, one on each coast, that would allow them to easily crank up Sapporo production here in the US and save a lot by not having to import from Vietnam. I know they’re already the #1 selling Japanese beer and expect a bounce back after the pandemic, but I’m not sure how they expect to increase market share. Hopefully they do know that beer sales here are still big but under attack with hard seltzer and now easy to buy, carry and consume cocktails and wine in single unit packaging/cans that should help expand both of those markets.  Who’s going to buy  the additional Sapporo beer, do they expect to convert other brand drinkers or replace other Japanese brands I wonder?

Now let’s talk a little bit about Stone. Greg Koch, considered by some to be an “in your face”  owner, who yelled “I’ll never sell out” from the treetops and ridiculed those who did or were acquired by “Big Beer” seems to have the shoe on the other foot…or maybe he just misplaced it in his mouth. There is little talk from him now about selling out, it’s more of a sidestep that “this is the right next chapter for Stone Brewing” oh and yes about his next opportunity…maybe he should stay away from fortune telling…

So, why then is he selling; that’s simple his business plan put them in debt up to eyeballs! Stone was founded in 1996 and is the largest brewery in Southern California.

• In 2006, they relocated from their original brewery to a new custom designed site in Escondido including the Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens, an 8,500 square-foot restaurant and an acre of gardens as well as a Stone Store.

• In 2013 they opened a second Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens in San Diego. At a cost of $8M, this 23,500 square-foot facility can seat 700!

• In Summer 2014 they announced Stone Brewing Berlin which opened In 2016 and was distributing to another dozen European countries. And yes, you guessed it, included  Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens-Berlin. In 2019 the entire operation was sold to BrewDog. Greg did admit that the European market was a lot tougher to gain a foothold than he expected.

• In October 2014 they chose Richmond, VA for their east coast brewery and it opened in mid-2016. I am a little surprised there was no Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens…

• In May 2016 they announced plans to open a 10 bbl brewery and tap room in Napa, which opened two years later.

• In February 2018 Stone filed a lawsuit against MillerCoors for their use of the word Stone on the sides of their Keystone packaging.

• It appears they increased their “ambulance chaser” division in 2018 as they also began alleging trademark infringement against any organization, many unrelated to beer, that used Stone or Bastard in the name of their company or product. Well that’s bound to make you a lot of new friends…

So from humble beginnings (oops sorry nothing humble about Greg Koch) to thinking you are King of the craft beer world and therefore should build an empire…I believe it’s called “biting off more than you can chew.” He was able to get out of his Berlin fiasco but he must have cost him as no way he got back what he put in. And when Sapporo tells us today, they can double production in the two breweries, that tells us Stone had increased production far behind their ability to keep and attract more drinkers to Stone.

Certainly nobody could be expected to predict the pandemic and what it would do to so many industries; with bars and restaurants hard hit and therefore draft beer taking a beating. But when you first start and you’re happy with locals coming to try your beer and you see more breweries open year after year, you must have something in your equation to understand when there are >9,000 craft breweries the mantra of “drink small, drink local”, which you can no longer claim, can hurt you. And you also need the foresight to know other things are coming like hard seltzers and wine and cocktails in cans, that can and will affect you.

And congrats to you, or better yet your ambulance, err legal team for beating MillerCoors and getting a $56M award. Unfortunately that’s not enough and you’d have to begin cannibalizing parts of Stone to pay off debt or maybe come up with some better ideas to raise cash, outside of suing other business; there were 90+ infringement suits by 2020.

If you want his side of the story go to the Stone Brewing blog and read his diatribe from June 24th…oh, make sure to have a tissue handy. And if you feel bad, I understand they started a GoFundMe page to help him buy a chest protector as he can’t stop beating his chest and he doesn’t want to break any ribs…I certainly maybe contributed…

And let’s complete the circle back to where we started; the Brewer’s Association. They were our pied piper telling everyone in the country how great and powerful the craft beer movement is. Unfortunately, now when they turn around to see who’s following, they can see the masses because there are a lot less big guys blocking their view. I guess the ability to use the BA independent craft brewer seal is useful until it’s not. As the arbiter of who’s craft who isn’t, the waters are getting really muddy. It’s okay when Sam Adams buys/merges with Dogfish Head and it’s okay when Oskar Blues, Cigar City and a few others form a collective, but it’s not okay when they’re bought by Monster Beverage. I get it but I and many other of my fellow craft beer drinkers still consider New Belgium and Bell’s craft, even though Kirin owns them. I will readily admit I do get more excited when AB-InBev or MillerCoors buys a craft brewery as I consider them the big beers still remaining from my ute (I think all the rest are owned by Pabst).

Many are predicting the Brewer’s Association will go away. They survived the pandemic and they were really hurting so I think they’ll keep on keeping on for a while. Maybe they’ll get someone in there who has a different idea to redefine and make the craft beer “who is and who isn’t” waters less muddy…we really could use it.

                                  dress etiquette for drinking

by Glenn DeLuca

It’s July and we just went through the Graduation season; from high school to college to grade school to kindergarten to nursery (did I miss any) and here comes the 4th of July! And hey I get it, you’re busy and want to get out, have a beer and enjoy the summer so thought maybe I’d hit you with a quick little ditty I just recently discovered…

The esteemed Ivy League University in New Jersey named Princeton has a “Senior Jacket” tradition. The school hands them out just before commencement and they’re worn by the graduating class on Class Day as part of end-of-year celebrations. But many alumni are not so keen on the terminology “Senior Jackets” as they refer to them as “Beer jackets or beer suits”…hmmm, let’s look into this minor discrepancy.

We have to go all the way to 1912, a mere 110 years ago, to find the beginning of this obviously long-standing tradition. A group of seniors, not happy with their dry-cleaning bills after visits to the Nassau Inn; which you may just guess was a local bar within walking distance, understood the crux of the problem and decided to come up with a solution. That solution was adopting washable blue denim overalls and jackets of workmen for their soirées. Somehow, I don’t think they were drinking much craft beer as today we hardly spill a drop, unless of course it’s not so good.

As a point of note; the Nassau Inn is still in existence and still within walking distance but looking at their website it’s looking rather upscale now.  I’m thinking the Princeton students aren’t frequenting Nassau Inn like a century ago, nor would the Inn want them to, but they certainly are interested in events like graduations and reunions.

Princeton was the third Ivy League school founded in 1746 after Harvard and Yale. In the next 25 years four more; Columbia, UPenn, Brown and Dartmouth were founded with Cornell dragging along almost 100 years after Dartmouth. We all know Ivy League schools are known for their academic excellence, selectivity in admissions and some social elitism. Now that would be the case back in 1912 when mostly rich kids were even graduating high school, not to mention going to any kind of institute of higher learning. But hey they were no different from today’s college kids who love to drink beer; of course today’s students have a lot more options to choose from including non-alcoholic stuff, shall we say. And again, these 1912 students experienced a problem and solved it in a unique way.

The Class of 1913 knew a good thing when they wore it and further enhanced what would become an ongoing tradition by naming them “beer suits.”

The Class of 1914, not to be outdone, substituted white duck for blue denim. The obvious question, what is white duck fabric; well I asked first so (how we answer all questions) went to the internet. Looks like it’s a type of canvas, but has a higher thread count making it softer; good for durables like bags, work clothes and beer suits of course. Not a clue if it’s exactly the same as it was 108 years ago, but that’s a side track I’m not heading down.

Logically there was a pause for WWI but the tradition was revived in 1919. The Class of 1920 were first to use a design; black arm bands to mourn the passing John Barleycorn (who most of us learned about 50 years later when Traffic named a song and album after him, so again these students were ahead of the time). Designs on the back of the jacket became the thing with each class looking to give it their special touch. Many had the tiger (since they are the Princeton Tigers, sorry NJM they beat you to it), beer usually in a mug (to be expected) and yes girls (hey we’re talking mostly 21-year-old males here…). Of course major events were inspirational along the way like prohibition (1922), the stock market crash (1930), an undefeated football season (1934), WWII (1941) and riding in a space capsule (1963). After WWII, in the mid-20th century, the beer suit dispensed with the pants to became a beer jacket; not to imply that the students wore no pants at all, probably the one of their choosing, e.g. the ones lying on the bed.

If you think this isn’t serious stuff the Princetoniana Museum on campus maintains a collection of Beer and Reunion jackets some of which are displayed at alumni events. A class of ’39 grad collected the first jackets and information and later a class of ’56 member took over and expanded it considerably. It’s not possible to display the entire collection so it’s online viewing, which I did to check them out.

In recent years the Beer Jacket became the Senior Jacket “to signify its role in identifying and uniting the members of the graduating class.” Having worked at an institution of higher learning in a past life I would be shocked if the school wasn’t involved in this change and maybe even offered a little incentive. As we know, in these litigious days, it does not look good if you’re promoting, allowing or looking the other way and then there’s an ugly or not so nice incident. Each class now has a distinctive logo, usually chosen through a contest, which becomes their unofficial emblem.

Many of the major Reunions up to the 25th have costumes that reflect the class reunion theme and many alumni pull out their Beer Jacket to wear (as when else would you wear them). At the 25th, Princeton does provide Reunion jackets to those attending as it’s typically the most important and best attended.

Take a moment to think back to your past and current drinking days; were there times where you had specific clothes with a certain group or at a certain place; i.e. where or are you part of a smaller tradition than at Princeton. For me it was usually something that was clean…

Okay, thanks for attending my lecture, you all passed, class is over, go pick out the proper attire, get a beer and enjoy the 4th and the Summer!

Whatever The Market Will Bear…

by Glenn DeLuca

Our usual group is gathered around a table at our go-to place, The Leaf, chatting about things. One mentions he was out and spotted a liquor store he hadn’t been in for a while and since he had the time thought he’d check it out to see if there’s anything of interest. Definitely not nearly as big an assortment of specialty bottles as he remembers. He does spot a bottle in a cardboard tub which definitely piques his interest; it’s a Goose Island (GI) Bourbon County Double Barrel Toasted Barrel Stout (2021), one of the many variants they’ve put out. He then asks us to guess how much it is. We range from a low of $15 to a high of $24. He laughs and says take your 24, double it and add $7…it’s $54.99! We’re all in a little shock and quickly asked if he purchased it which draws a round of laughs. Okay the basic Bourbon County Stout (BCS) is about $13…this variant, aged twice in Elijah Craig barrels, the second aging after the barrel’s been lightly charred, in a 16.9 oz bottle encased in a designed cardboard tube and coming in at a healthy 16% ABV is $55, seriously; we all profess to not being interested in purchasing it.

As we’re sitting there, I decided to check out availability and price on the internet and up comes a list of liquor stores, not a lot mind you, and many in NYC and I’m in shock. I read them off to my buds; $69.95, $69.99,  $89.99, 2 @ $99.99 and $100 even and that’s without the delivery charge also!!! Holy Moley $55 seems like a steal now! We’re all pretty much amazed, maybe we should buy one and make some profit, but none of us are closing our tab to run out and buy it quite yet.

That evening my bud who first saw it looked on BeerMenus and came up with a similar list of liquor stores, mostly in NYC, and in the high range we previously saw.

We all know GI Bourbon County Stout is well known as it originated some thirty years ago, has been credited with starting the whole bourbon barrel aging twist (can’t really call it a gimmick as it’s stood the test of time), and yes, been an amazing success. I’m not sure when they made their first variant but they were doing a few when AB-InBev bought them in 2011. AB-InBev does know a good thing when they see it so they pumped in money and resources so the barrel ageing facility has been greatly expanded and they’re now doing double the number of variants every year.

One of the BCS’s mystiques used to be its rarity as it wasn’t easy to get. Production under AB-InBev has been ramped up considerably although some of the variants are still difficult to find but how could it cost so much? I took a look at Untappd and find it’s got 6.9K check-ins with an average score of 4.58, which is a pretty high score even for Untappd. I ask my buds what they think is possibly the highest rated beer and the nominees were; Russian River Pliny The Elder, Sam Adams Utopias and Dogfish Head Utopias Barrel-Aged World-Wide Stout; all three potentially worthy of very high scores.  So let’s look em up:

·       Pliny the Elder is right up there at 4.51 with 264.1K check-ins, but Pliny the Younger (the TIPA) is even higher at 4.63 with 32.3K check-ins.

·       Sam Adams Utopias, which some might have trouble calling a Strong Ale at 28% ABV, is also a very respectable 4.46 with 18.8K check-ins.

·       DFH Utopias Barrel-Aged WWS is also a very respectable 4.41 on 125.8K check-ins., coming in a smidgeon above the DFH Bourbon Barrel Aged WWS at 4.37 with 7.2K check-ins.

I must congratulate my fellow beer bud enthusiasts as they came up with very comparably rated beers!

So we’ve found three rated comparably but can we find them anywhere in a retail setting might be the kicker here as they have release dates with limited supplies so the high-end craft drinkers may well pick them up sooner rather than later. Pliny the Elder is listed as out of stock at a very reasonable $6.99/bottle. Based on my experience the odds of seeing it on any store shelves here in the East are fairly slim and if you do buy it immediately as it will be gone in a flash, although I was just told it is available in Philly.  I searched for Utopias and found a store about a half hour away for $280, which is reasonable compared to ads that popped up at $400 & $500. That’s a 24 oz. (42% more) beautifully designed bottle, still not cheap but you really can’t compare it to this Double Barrel Toasted Stout, nor much of anything else to be honest. Lastly, I’m looking for DFH Utopias WWS and bingo you can find a few places that have it! It’s sold either as a single or in 4 packs of 12 oz bottles, which is a fine amount if you’re consuming it yourself, I’m seeing prices starting around $40/4-pack. Even if you pay $40 for a 4 pack that’s only $10/ bottle compared to the GI at $55; granted it’s 40% more volume for a mere 500% more… It’s probably a fairer comparison if you just buy a single bottle but still if it’s $15 , that’s still 367% more.

Untappd has a “Find It” button, which I hit, and it comes up with one result, Taphouse 15 in Jefferson, NJ. It doesn’t list a price, only availability, so I go to their website to check it out.  It’s an extremely reasonable $69 which is a lot cheaper than most of the liquor stores have it, although you do have to drink it there!!

Doing some more research I go to the Goose Island website and find their description of it:

Our Double Barrel Toasted Barrel Stout was aged for one year in Elijah Craig’s Small Batch Bourbon Barrels, then another year in Elijah Craig Toasted Bourbon Barrels. These toasted barrels are built to the same specifications as normal bourbon barrels but are more heavily toasted and very lightly charred. Not only does this stout embody distinctive elements from Elijah Craig’s award-winning Small Batch Bourbon Barrels - like warm spice & vanilla - it also deepened in intensity during its second year of aging. The result? A Bourbon County Stout unlike any before. In addition to the familiar chocolate, caramel and vanilla comes flavors of toasted marshmallow and a very pronounced fruit and oak finish. Bourbon County Double Barrel Toasted Barrel Stout has a rich complexity and flavor only attainable through true craftsmanship, partnership, expert blending, and, of course, patience. The is only the second time we have packaged a “Double Barrel” Bourbon County Stout – and trust us, you’ll want to get  your hands on this special limited-edition gem.

Nothing like tooting your own horn, but by saying “unlike any before” they are telling us (or maybe selling us…) it’s one of their best ever. So obviously this is one special variant, which with Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon barrels and double aging after it’s charred should be. Any ratings I’ve seen on all the 2021 releases say this is the best one and although I didn’t check the prices on the other variants, I’m sure the most expensive one!

Thinking the $55 is a steal compared to the others we’ve seen probably isn’t a correct assumption, better yes, but not a steal. We know everything is more expensive in NYC, be it a beer, a hamburger, a gallon of gas, a parking ticket…you get the idea. The other point of note is there are folks with more disposable income in NYC so if I have a hard-to-get bottle of craft beer why wouldn’t I jack up the price to see if I can get one of those craft beer lovers to pay me more for it; some may call it being greedy, others would suggest supply and demand and this is certainly a bottle that can sit on the shelves a couple of years with no issue and become rarer…and potentially more expensive as supply dwindles.

Give AB-InBev and GI credit (which if you know me then you know I hardly ever give AB-InBev credit), they had a success on their hands and instead of ruining it, they’ve been able to expand it, keep the quality and continue with the mystique.

Seeing the comparison I went out got a 4 pack of the DFH Utopias WWS for $40, which for the quality, seems like a great deal.  I’d like to taste the Bourbon County Double Barrel Toasted Barrel Stout; maybe if I get a decent lottery scratch off winner, I’ll put it towards a bottle.  If I see the shelves are empty a few weeks after this is published, then I’ll have to assume I spurred a few on to go out and get it while it’s still available…

When Life Gives You Lemons…

by Glenn DeLuca

Make Lemonade….well okay maybe. I, along with my other co-conspirators here at BeerNexus, write an article every month. Some months I have a couple of ideas and decide which to concentrate on and which to push forward to a future date. Some months I just need to wait until something strikes me or hits a chord and then I get started. This was quite a different month…time for the backstory.

As a sports fan two of my ultimate favorite teams are the NY Yankees and the UConn Women’s Basketball Team. Both are big winners in their respective fields; Yankees with 27 World Series  championships and UConn with 11 National titles. Both also espouse the same mantra at the beginning of each season; this season is successful if we win it all. The Yankees aren’t popping champagne making the playoffs, winning a Division or Championship series and UConn isn’t cutting down the net winning their Conference or Regional Finals; it’s all about being the last team standing. Now that doesn’t mean the season was a total waste of time if you didn’t succeed, it means you didn’t make your goal. Now for other teams that don’t have that storied history of success celebrating making the playoffs and a victory can be important steps to improving but for winners that could deter from the real goal. And now for those of you saying it’s easy to jump on a winning bandwagon, I’m calling your bluff; I was born and grew up on Long Island and I attended UConn, so as the boys would say…I’m what you call… ”connected.”

I would hope that all craft breweries have a similar mantra; that they want every beer they make to be a delicious, award-winning beer. Some, like Sierra Nevada and Bell’s, definitely fall in that category, where almost every beer is really good, which doesn’t mean if you don’t like a particular style that you should or will like it because a top-notch brewery makes it. There are others that started off slow, but kicked it in gear, picked up their game and moved into that upper tier of craft breweries that you can depend on for great beers. Now I’m sure every craft brewer will say that’s their mantra, but liking your own beer is a first step, it’s we, the drinking public, that really make the decision if you’ve made it to that level.

Back to my story - this past basketball season started out very promising and the UConn Women were consistently ranked in top five. Then it happened; our star, who happens to be the prior year’s player of the year went out with an injury and had surgery; undetermined when or if she might be back. Then a few others had injuries and there were games we played with only six or seven available players. True, most teams have injuries and no other team is feeling sorry for us. Our star starts rehabbing and comes back, albeit not the player she was before between the injury and missing a couple of months, others get healthy and we start to play much better ball. 

The Selection Committee assigns us a #2 seed in a geographically close region, Bridgeport CT, but we’re a definite underdog and many don’t expect us to make the Final Four. The second-round vs UCF on our home court is a tough physical game as that’s their style but also there are teams that think they might beat us by beating us up, but we prevail. The Regional Semis vs Indiana is a close game at half but we open it up in the third quarter for a comfortable win. The Regional Final vs NC ST is probably one of the best games I’ve ever seen (yes, I went to both the semis and finals). Neither team was willing to lose; NC St tied regulation with seconds to go and then tied the 1st OT with a 3 at 0.8 seconds; they were not willing to lose. We managed to prevail in the 2nd OT with a four-point victory.

So it’s on to Minneapolis for the Final Four!! I book my airfare as I go when the UConn Women go; I’ve made 14 of the last 16. We were lucky to find reasonable tickets online a few weeks back as scalping has gotten out of control at these recently. Our Women have a tough road ahead; first Stanford, last year’s national champ, in the Semi’s. It’s another tough physical game, which we pull out by four-points.

Now it’s on the Finals against South Carolina, who’ve been ranked #1 the entire year. They are very good and to win we will have to play our best game of the year and hope they don’t. They jump out to an early lead, we fight back and get close a couple of times, but we don’t have enough; and hey as much as I don’t like SC, they played like the #1 team the entire year so I give them credit.

Riddle me this Batman – how do you lose a game when you have a higher shooting percentage than the other team???

Easy Riddler – you let them double your rebound count, which gives them 22 second chance points vs your 5… 

Unfortunately we had no answer to their domination of the boards otherwise it could have been a different story.

We obviously hung with many UConn fans before and after games. Before the Final I heard a couple in our Alumni Office were sick, one of our players was so sick she played only a few minutes and one of our cheer squad was sick…humm.

So you were wondering what all this sports talk has to do with a beer article…I’m getting there.

The night I got home I felt like I might be getting sick. I took a Covid AtHome Test the next day and under bring LED lights with a magnifying glass I could see the faintest of faintest of faint line, so I figured I’m probably okay. I then heard that three in our Alumni Office that I spent time with tested positive for Covid so setup a Rapid test for the next day and bingo, I’m a Winner, when I don’t want to be, I came back positive. My symptoms aren’t bad, cold like, but my Dr prescribed the Paxlovid antiviral pills. Interestingly enough one of the side effects is a long-lasting bitter taste that affects what you eat and drink…not good. And unfortunately, it’s not the piney/resiny WC IPA bitter, it’s more of a nasty, I’m not going away bitter.

I had a few good Minneapolis crafts, a few WI New Glarus Spotted Cows, their signature brew and a few nice ones from The Freehouse, conveniently a five-minute walk from our hotel and voted Minneapolis’ best large brewpub; a nice brown ale, a very good and potent Scotch Ale, a nice piney and resiny WC IPA and a not so juicy/fruity New Zealand IPA. Other than that I’ve been dry for a couple of weeks and wondering how long it’s going to take my taste to recover, not really good for someone who loves IPAs… I’m thinking I could just drink a lager and mouth/tongue bitterness will make it taste like an IPA…

Therein lies the rub. How am I going to write an inciteful  article on craft beer when I haven’t been drinking nor doing much of anything related to craft beer. I’m probably going to have to drink mostly lagers until I get my taste back.  I’ll also have to stop logging in beers on Untappd since it’s not fair to rate beers when my taste is off (if you read my last month’s article).

Okay so maybe I’ll just write about the experience and hey there’s got to be tons of us craft beer lovers who get sick (hopefully not Covid) or for one reason or another are not drinking for a period of time. And come to think of it, now I now why I don’t bother with Dry January since I just did a mostly Dry  April…

The bitter taste is subsiding and I’m beginning to feel more normal. My first time out my beer buds were nice enough to save me a seat…at a DIFFERENT table…not true, they welcomed me back but for obvious reasons were not interested in sharing any tastes of their or my beers.  Mine weren’t that exciting, I started off with Pils just to get back in the saddle, or was that a bar stool.

Thankfully the bitter taste is gone and I’m beginning to actually taste my beers again. This is a great thing as think about it, if you lost your taste then most of the greatest part of food and craft beer would be gone…perish the thought.

So when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, but please, please, please don’t mix it with your beer…that’ll ruin the beer and probably your taste also…

Craft Beer Ratings Are Officially a MESS! by Glenn Deluca

It’s time we finally had a frank discussion about beer ratings! If there’s one thing we love to do its taste craft beer and many of us like to keep a record of every beer we’ve had. In our earlier years that meant writing it down at the bar, going home and, if you’re lazy throwing the napkin/paper in a shoe box, or if you’re a little more enthusiastic entering it into an Excel spreadsheet or Word doc with such info as brewery, beer, style, date, bottle, can or draft, a rating and maybe some thoughts/comments. But now that we’re over 9,000 breweries and they’re cranking out new beers every day that makes the task a little more daunting.

After craft beer became established three major rating and sharing sites have come along and allowed us to record and share our thoughts with others as well as finding out what they’re tasting and thinking if we’re interested. I’m drawing a distinction here because there are tons of publications and websites that produce lists of “most popular” and “best” and “most important” and, well you get the idea; but those are what a small select group think; I’m talking about the craft beer drinking public here and what we drink and think.

1996 saw our first web-based tool; BeerAdvocate (BA), an online beer rating site which also rates bars and beer stores.  It was founded by brothers Todd and Jason Alstrom and is based in Boston and Denver. Being first onboard is a definite advantage in a space where passionate craft beer drinkers were looking for a place to review beers, discuss trends and engage in debate. BeerAdvocate was successful enough to promote its own festivals and have a print magazine.

Being first is great but it also means there will be others coming with a twist and upgrades and yes, competition. And after some great initial success BeerAdvocate was feeling that competition and last year, BeerAdvocate sold “certain assets” to Next Glass, the parent company of Untappd (coming up later). As they did when they bought Untappd, Next Glass said they will continue to operate these businesses separately. BA had been struggling to “keep the lights on” for the last couple of years. They had pulled the plug on their BA Magazine about a year prior. That was a major source of revenue but a model that was beginning to disintegrate as advertising dollars were moving  to other outlets. Without this sale/consolidation BA probably would have closed up shop so although we see this as continued consolidation, we could also look at Next Glass as saving some of our oldest data.

It took a few more years for the second major rating website and in May 2000 RateBeer (RB) was founded by Bill Buchanan as a forum for beer drinkers to exchange information and share opinions of beer. Not long afterwards, in June 2001, the web site consultant Joe Tucker joined and eventually assumed full ownership.

In June 2017 AB-InBev acquired a minority stake via their global growth and innovation arm, ZX Ventures. Obviously (and I was certainly one of them) that led to concerns of a conflict of interest citing the possibility the site could present bias towards AB-InBev brands, there was a lack of transparency over the role of the company’s investment and another big no-no, it could potentially gain access to customer data. Several breweries attempted to demand that their listings be removed from the website. Execute director Joe Tucker stated that “Nothing about this investment changes who we are and what we provide. We will just be able to give our community of beer drinkers an even better experience”. As of February 2019, RateBeer became fully owned by ZX Ventures.

UNTAPPD started in 2010 at Fathers Office in Santa Monica, CA. Accessibility advances, that BA and RB didn’t have starting earlier, brought a new and major enhancement. Untappd is a geosocial networking service and mobile phone application founded by Greg Avola and Tim Mather, which allows its users to check in as they drink beers and share these check-ins and their locations with their friends.  A Check-In consists of a  description, photo, rating, serving style, the ability to tag friends, location, flavor profile choices and the purchased location although all are not required.

On January 17, 2014 Untappd had passed the One million user mark and by April 2016 they had 3.2 million users. And why not? Everyone walks around with a cellphone and having an app to check-in beers is just like having one for checking traffic or weather or gas prices or getting a ride if you’ve had one to many or…yes, I could go on and on; it’s called convenience. Now there are some who prefer to use their cellphone as a phone and not bother with a lot of apps, so those craft beer drinkers are not using Untappd as of yet.

On January 15, 2016 they announced they would become a subsidiary of Next Glass, a beer and wine rating and suggesting application. Both companies indicated their applications would remain independent , but will benefit from increased data integrations.

Being on your phone not only is it at your fingertips, you can tag friends who are with you, you can create a Friends list so they can all see what you’re drinking and they can “Toast” or “Comment” your check-in. Hey, this is a lot more fun than going home and logging it into a spreadsheet. And you can earn “Badges” be it for different styles of beer or taking a photo or visiting certain bars that have their own badge and additional ones for every multiple of five in each category. If I look in my Profile, I see I have 1,047 badges out of a possible 13,538. To be perfectly honest, I’m more of a Blazing Saddles guy (we don’t need no stinkin badges…) and don’t need that type of incentive to buy and drink a beer. And who sat around thinking up all the possible badges they have and programming it; seriously, what a waste of time.

But the Profile does have some other good info; when I joined, January 15, 2016, the number of Check-ins 1,346 and the number of different beers 1,253. As you can see I do not typically check-in the same beer over and over again. It is interesting when you order a beer you think you haven’t had and start a check-in only to find you did have maybe a year or two ago; like I say “so many beers so little time.” Since I’m really looking at this closely for the first time, I’m doing a little math as we speak, and see I’m checking in a little over 200 beers per year, a little over 4 per week; not bad. It also gives me my average rating which is a 3.49. I can also pull up a list of all my check-ins and Sort by all types of metrics; Beer Name (alpha order), Date (new to old or old to new), Rating (from 0.25 to 5 in .025 intervals), Brewery (alpha order), Style (alpha order), Serving Style, Country (I’ve tried from 18) and ABV (from high to low and FYI 7 of my top ten are from The Bruery and the other 3 are Dogfish Head; no surprises there). I must admit I’ve hardly used these features, but it can be interesting if you’re so inclined. I can also pull up the Venues I’ve been to, my list of Friends and other stuff, so yes, there’s a lot of information you can pull out should you be interested.

I will also admit that I have never checked in beers on either BeerAdvocate or RateBeer so do not know what’s needed to join or any kind of information that may be available on them. Many times they’ll be referred to as the sites for “beer nerds.” I was never really interested in writing down my beers to go home and login, but yes when Untappd came along I jumped on it. But all is not great in the world of Untappd, although it can’t all be blamed on them. Let’s talk about some issues.

In March 2021 the Sacramento Bee reported that a local brewery owner isn’t happy how Untappd ratings could be affecting his business.  Alaro Craft Brewery makes a great English IPA, The Castillo, which won the gold medal at the 2018 GABF in that category as well as the gold at the CA State Fair’s competition. In February 2021 they took medals in five categories at the EL Dorado County Commercial Beer competition. Back then The Castillo has a 3.72 rating but only one review had any comments. As it got more comments the biggest complaint is the beer isn’t hoppy enough; that’s the uneducated beer drinker not understanding the style of beer they’re drinking. Dah, it’s called an English IPA but that doesn’t mean it should be a hop bomb like many of today’s IPAs.  One can see where this could definitely be frustrating for a brewer and it is for Ray Ballestero who said “I think it’s hype-driven, I think our biggest thing is a lot of people on Untappd are just chasing little badges. The more they do the better. They go through and just bang out reviews. It’s easy to do unless something really hits you.”

He's got a point! When I look at other reviews there are many with no comment. I always try to put in a comment so if I pull it up again, I have an idea of what I was thinking about the taste relative to the rating I gave it. Tasting so many different beers, if you were to pull up all you rated at say 3.75 what difference could you tell about them without a comment, except for style and draft vs bottle or can?? It would be very interesting to get a database dump to analyze the ratings.

You do hear the comments that Untappd ratings are high. There’s even an Instagram account, untappdwtf (oh right, whiskey tango foxtrot…), dedicated to showing the dumbest reviews; for instance a 1-star review noting the bottle was damaged so they DIDN’T drink the beer (well that’s perfectly illogical) or another review of a coffee-vanilla porter noting there’s too much coffee taste… I would tend to agree that many ratings are too high. My average is 3.49, which based on circumstances I think is okay. I’m not afraid to rate a beer a 1 or 2 if I think it deserves it. Also when one of my drinking buds orders a new beer to us and passes it around, sometimes it’s just okay. I know I’m not ordering that beer and NO I do NOT log it in based on just a swallow, that’s really not enough; I would say you need at least a 3 or 4 ounce pour to use “Taster” in Serving Style category. So there are some beers that if I had ordered could have brought my average down a little. Hopefully Untappd doesn’t read this and add SIP to the Serving category which would be the ultimate joke.

When our group does a tasting, I usually put together a spreadsheet and spend time looking up the ratings on BA, RB and Untappd. There are always more on Untappd and typically the ratings are higher but recently they’ve been getting closer.

As Untappd has grown in popularity it has also become more influential to some bar owners, e-retailers, festival organizers and even beer distributors to a much greater extent than either of it’s two predecessors. That is clearly NOT good. Everybody’s taste is not the same. When I go to a festival, I want to taste beers I haven’t had. Now if there are 1,00 reviews of a beer and it’s rated a 1.00, then maybe I’m okay with it not being poured, but limiting it to beers just highly rated isn’t right. What about the new beers not yet rated, the cask selections and the small batch one-offs to name a few?

There are other verified instances of misuse: Tavour, a US beer delivery app, told St. Louis’ 2nd Shift its Untappd scores weren’t within “certain parameters” and declined to carry them and a UK brewer, GBH, was uninvited from an international beer festival when organizers saw the brewery’s average scores were lower than those of other attendees.

Untappd adds users every month and interestingly enough growth outside the US is so good only about half its users are in the US! Interestingly Untappd doesn’t track their users’ activity; which would also be very interesting to factor in. Check-ins dropped in 2020 but using that in any logical way is problematic due to the pandemic; we didn’t stop drinking, we drank less in bars/restaurants and more at home. Also when you have a new toy you tend to play with it more, so I can easily see someone using it for awhile and then not using it nearly as much.

I decided I could do my own little investigation and here’s what I found:

·       Coors Light    –   2.41  w/399.6k check-ins

·       Corona Extra  –  3.10  w/561.2k check-ins

·       Heineken     -      2.94  w/571.9k check-ins

·       Bud Light     -      2.32  w/425.5k check-ins

·       PBR          –          2.82  w/366.8k check-ins

·       Miller Lite     -     2.50  w/361.6k check-ins

·       Sierra Nevada Pale Ale  -  3.63  w/492.7k check-ins

·       Bell’s Two Hearted Ale  -  3.95  w/505.5k check-ins

·       DFH 60 Minute IPA     -   3.85  w/383.1k check-ins

·       Founder’s All Day IPA    -   3.70  w/516.4k check-ins

·       New Belgium Fat Tire    -   3.58  w/467.8k check-ins

·       Cigar City Jai Alai        -   3.94  w/392.4k check-ins

Well that’s very interesting! I’m amazed at the number of check-ins for your everyday light American lagers plus the imported super-premium skunk. To be fair Untappd doesn’t say it’s for craft beer rating only but I do  not understand why you would bother to log any of the big macro beers in. On the other hand I feel pretty good about the ratings and check-ins for some of the older and more widely known craft beers! What I can’t tell from either of these is how many different people logged them in, which is an important piece to any analysis. If the Coors Light drinker logs in his same beer time after time, then ratings are skewed.

So hey craft beer lovers if you’re using Untappd please do the ratings justice and if you’re looking at other’s ratings remember, don’t look at the man behind the curtain, they may not be what they appear to be.

We Raise A Toast To You

by Glenn DeLuca

I’ve written about and mentioned The Cloverleaf, my go-to bar, many times. My beer buds and I are semi-regulars as we’re typically there twice a week. I distinguish ourselves from the hardcore regulars who are there almost every day but there are many others like us who are there periodically.

Having been a regular for years you get to know and interact with the owners, managers, bartenders and some of the servers. And yes, over the course of time there’s the come and go where you say goodbye to some and hello to the new ones, although that’s been amped up considerably during the pandemic. You also start meeting all the other regulars, getting to know them, sharing a beer, a story, an incident, a laugh, etc. We all do our own thing during the day but come together basically as an extended family when we’re at the Leaf.  An extended family aka The Brotherhood of Beer, that offers comradery, companionship, fun, support, comfort, lots of laughs and even some serious beer discussions. At times it’s like the days of old (before OZ, oh I meant the internet) when families/communities got together and spoke about their history so that it could be remembered and carried on; so I’d say our brotherhood/sisterhood is doing that.

It’s been challenging during the pandemic as first the bars and restaurants were closed so you might see the staff once a week when you went in to buy beer and food to keep them going. When they reopened it was still hit and miss for many of the regulars as some were older or in some way health compromised and didn’t want to take the chance of catching Covid. Little by little you would catch up with someone you hadn’t seen in a while, then of course Omicron hit and it put a damper on attendance again.

It was definitely a shock last Fall, when we learned that one of our regulars, Kevin, who we hadn’t seen recently, had a stroke. Unfortunately it wasn’t a mild one and he was laid up in the hospital. One of our regulars kept in touch with the family and created an email list so we could periodically find out how he was doing, following the ups and downs of his recovery. Many of us sent cards and some went to visit when we were allowed to.

After four plus months in the hospital we got an upbeat note that he was doing better and would finally be transferring  to a rehab facility. A few days later came the big shock that he had passed away. One minute you’re here the next minute you’re gone, talk about deflating… When you lose one of your own it’s personal. And then the next email told us the family decided it would be a private service due to Omicron, definitely a bummer for those of us who would have gone to say goodbye.

You think back to when was the last time I saw him, conversations we had, toasts on Untappd, etc. I do recall spending some time with him at a fellow regular’s house in early Fall. I was lucky enough to have some Treehouse to bring and he definitely enjoyed that.

But we’re an extended family so word came out that we would be having a toast to Kevin at The Leaf the next day. About twenty or so of us made it, the owner rang the bell, said a few words about Kevin and we all toasted him. Obviously much of our discussion before and afterward revolved around Kevin; stories, reminiscences and laughs. We finished our drinks and headed out.

So here’s to the regulars Brian, Richie, Mr. Blue, the Judge, the CW, Juan, AK, Greg, Burt, Jeff and his gang, Ole and his entourage, Mike, Bobby Tomatoes, Stingray Jack, Martini Jimmy, John and Ruth, Tim and Shelia, Charlie and I’m sure I’m leaving someone out, unintentionally of course. I look forward to seeing you all when our paths cross and continuing our gatherings at The Leaf.

For those who have a go-to make sure you enjoy your time there with your regulars as you never know who’ll be there and who won’t.

And finally I’m raising my glass, here’s to you Kevin, may you rest in peace and I hope there’s a craft beer bar in heaven that has a stool with your name on it so you can continue with a new extended family.

We Should Expect MORE!! by Glenn "Big G" DeLuca

MORE you say…MORE of what?? Well MORE craft beers for one, there are always new ones to try whether in the bar, taproom or store; how about MORE craft breweries for another, we’ve crested 9,000! but we’re not done ; and then there will absolutely be MORE IPAs, you better believe the #1 style in craft beer will continue to flourish and grow; but those aren’t the MORES I’m thinking of…unfortunately or fortunately as each case may be I’m thinking of M&As, yes mergers and acquisitions…

Before the holidays we had another bomb drop; Bell’s Brewery out of Michigan, was sold to Lion (commonly referred to as an Australasian group as Kirin, Japanese, bought Lion, Australian). Their first acquisition in our market was New Belgium back in 2019! Obviously, Lion is looking to get into the US craft beer market in a big way as they didn’t pick off a couple of small up and coming breweries; no they picked two of the top ten at the time and those two combined will be larger than every other craft brewery except Yuengling and Boston Beer and yes, they’re both quality organizations that make good high-quality beers.

Bell’s is one of our iconic craft breweries started in Kalamazoo in 1985 by Larry Bell, many of whose beers I enjoy and drink. I decided I’d first go their website and learn a little more about their history, so here are some of the highlights I pulled out on the voyage:

·   1989 - it took three plus years to get a distributor but now others in MI have better access.

·   1992 - saw the release of their summer beer Oberon, initially called Solsun until ’96.

·   1993 - they became the first brewery in MI to open their own onsite pub.

·   1994 – the one and only Michael Jackson (sans glove) pays a visit.

·   1996 – Bell’s Beer Garden debuts.

·   1997 -  Two Hearted Ale (that we know and love) is debuted! Its predecessor was a Pale Ale debuted in the late ‘80s. As we all know it became one of the first standard bearers in the IPA style, along with DFH 60 Minute, and is to this day still considered one of the finest craft beers made in the US. It became their #1 seller in 2013 surpassing Oberon.

·   2002 – Bell’s Comstock Brewery, seven miles from their Kalamazoo location, is completed and begins brewing. Original Kalamazoo brewery is kept for innovation, rather than production.

·   2004 – the first HOPSLAM is brewed! Again a well-respected Imperial/DIPA, which was very difficult to get until they began distributing here; which reminds me as of this writing I haven’t seen it yet but it should be available soon…can’t wait…

·   2006 – first Octoberfest brewed

·   2007 – first Bourbon Barrel Aged Expedition Stout

·   2008 - first Christmas Ale brewed

·   2010 – Larry Bell wins Brewer’s Association Recognition Award

·   2012 – more expansion, a new 200-barrel brewhouse.

·   2014 – Bell’s opens an entirely separate brewery, Upper Hand, to offer a completely different line of beers available across MI. I must admit I had not heard about it, but I also don’t live in MI

·   9-13-2015 – Funvitational – 30th Anniversary Celebration. They invite breweries from all over the world for a festival; 4,000+ attend and >200 beers are poured! (HOW DID I MISS THIS?!?)

·   2015 – first brewed Double Two Hearted.

·   2019 – first brewed Official, their Hazy IPA.

I must say I learned quite a bit about the 30+ year history of Bell’s. As an aside I was lucky enough to get sent on a business trip to Detroit in the late 1990’s. We stayed at an airport hotel and somehow after the meetings I found the bar and had my first Two Hearted Ale; you just don’t forget those moments in your own craft beer drinking history…

Larry Bell, who is 63, made the announcement at the company’s all employee event, indicating he had a return bout of cancer and is fine after successful surgery but “it does make you think about what you’re going to do.” The opportunity to join forces with New Belgium, a “similarly minded company as ours regarding their values and how they operate,” was too good to pass up. Interesting to note that Bell’s was one of two family-owned craft breweries in the BA/Brewer’s Association top ten, leaving only Sierra Nevada to carry that torch.

In some of the articles I read I noticed there was criticism basically saying why aren’t you saying Lion is buying you instead of talking about joining forces with New Belgium as if he was purposefully being misleading. But if you pay attention, you see that 1) New Belgium CEO Steve Fecheimer was retained to continue running that operation, still headquartered in Fort Collins CO, 2) Bell’s Executive VP will continue to run that operation and report to Fecheimer, 3) Fecheimer, also a Michigander, was with Larry for the announcement, 4) actually New Belgium is coughing up a sizable chunk of the purchase price (although isn’t their money Lion’s money also so I’m not sure what the argument is) and 5) their plan is to fully integrate the two breweries. I’m not sure what “fully integrate” the two means but they each have their own slate of very good and popular beers so I’m assuming that continues since it wouldn’t make any sense if it didn’t.

New Belgium had been employee owned for seven years before their sale to Lion so obviously their employees agreed to the deal. Fecheimer said they’ve enjoyed 25% growth the past two years and they’ve been able to build upon their mission and invest more into its brands since it’s sale.

After looking at the information available I really don’t see an issue. It certainly does not appear that Lion has tried to come in and run things their way to make it their own, which if they want to be a player in our craft beer market was and is a smart thing to do. Consolidation means bringing things together and there will opportunities for economies of scale and that makes sense. Do you think some of the same happened when Dogfish Head was acquired by Boston Beer? Absolutely! In contrast think back to 2006 when AB bought Rolling Rock. Basically they bought the name and recipe, moved production to Newark and had no interest in the actual brewery or employees; true they weren’t buying a craft brewery but the point being they weren’t interested in the culture or people, just adding the market share of that beer.

Interestingly enough other Michigan top craft breweries have been sold or partially sold in the past few years. Short’s sold almost 20% equity share to Lagunitas, a subsidiary of Heineken in 2017. Founder’s, who was clearly in competition with Bell’s to be considered the #1 MI craft brewery, having already sold a 30% stake, sold another 60% to Mahou San Miguel Group, a Spanish group who begin brewing beer in 1890. Mahou made similar purchases with Avery Brewing in Boulder CO buying 30% in 2017 and another 40% in 2019.

I don’t get nearly as excited by a sale like this than I do an acquisition by AB/InBev or Molson Coors. Craft to them is a sideline business, an adjunct to their fizzy light lagers. That is absolutely not the case with New Belgium and Bell’s.

And we all have to realize that many of our pioneer craft brewers started thirty or forty years ago, have been through a lot and just like any of us are getting older and should get their opportunity to hang it up and retire; isn’t that what we all want… And if they don’t have a family already ingrained into the business or be uniquely employee owned like New Belgium, then being sold is probably the only avenue. So thank you and congratulations to Larry Bell for what you’ve done for my taste buds, I hope you enjoy your retirement.

It’s been ten plus years since the first shot across the bow when AB/InBev bought Goose Island and in the ensuing years create their “High End” division and pick up another nine craft breweries. Joining the party MillerCoors already had their faux craft, Blue Moon, and through their move to Molson Coors setup their “Tenth and Blake” craft division and has picked off a few more along the way. Outside of AB/InBev buying the remaining share of the Craft Brew Alliance (at a reduced rate), both have been relatively quiet after some strong initial entrees. And point of note, the CBA was started in 2008 when two pioneering craft breweries, Redhook and Widmer, decided to work together. I strongly doubt that either of the bigs are interested in any of the really large and established craft breweries, as they can’t get the economies of scale they can when they buy a regional and are able to push production into their breweries and leverage their distribution network to grab more shelf space in other parts of the country.

Since the initial flourish we’ve tended to see more private equity and foreign acquisitions as well as mergers.

I, as a craft beer lover, cringe when it’s one of the two bigs or private equity (since they’re usually about squeezing costs to make money) but don’t get nearly as concerned/excited when a foreign brewery purchases one of our own as I believe they’re more interested in the actual beer. Heineken had 50% stake in Lagunitas and then bought the other 50%. Lagunitas is still considered a quality craft and appears to still be doing well. Neither Ommegang nor Boulevard nor Firestone-Walker have lost their identity or suffered, as far as I can tell, from their ownership by Duvel Moortgat. They all still make quality beers that I’m certainly interested in when I see them in my craft beer bar. And although early, Founder’s doesn’t seem to have suffered selling a majority to Mahou.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying there hasn’t been M&A activity. You can pull up a list and see there’s a bunch of activity every year with some unfamiliar, somewhat familiar and one or two big names. With the increased competition, both within craft and outside from hard seltzers and to-go or RTD (ready to drink) cocktails, the effect of the pandemic on the economy and those that are barely surviving, those that want to retire and those that want to cash in on their success it makes sense there’s movement.

And of course before I can finish this and get you all thinking about it, here’s comes Monster Beverage stealing my thunder and buying CANarchy Craft Brew Collective!!! Couldn’t they have waited a couple of weeks…geez…

CANarchy was formed to keep independent breweries independent by joining together. CO Oskar Blues and FL Cigar City are the two big fish of the seven involved. One of the things I like about their approach is they offer mixed brewery twelve packs; I think that’s a great way to get people to try other brands. They are currently ranked the sixth largest craft brewer and in a surprise announcement the BA believes they still meet their definition of a craft brewer since Monster is not a beverage alcohol industry member.  Monster is an energy drink that incidentally is 20% owned by Coca Cola. But I’m thinking that could well change as clearly their intention to create alcoholic version(s) of Monster. Their CEO said “The acquisition will provide us with a fully in-place infrastructure, including people, distribution and licenses, along with alcoholic beverage development expertise and manufacturing capabilities in this industry.” I’m guessing they really don’t plan to mess with the craft beer side but let’s hope they don’t distract them with all the work creating an “Alcoholic Monster”. And when released I’m guessing the BA probably reviews their status…

It would be very interesting to put all the craft breweries into different buckets such as independent, foreign owned (of course then we need to decide how we handle AB/InBev and Molson Coors but I guess they go in that bucket), private equity and collective/cooperative; not sure what others there might be. There are lots of small issues like brewpubs/gastropubs, employee owned, does contract brewing make a difference, what about micro and nano and pico, what about three tier vs. two tier vs. direct, what if they also make hard seltzer or liquor or cider or mead, and there must be more issues/questions to resolve. Without getting too deep into the woods it would still be interesting to see what we come up with because it’s become a lot more complicated in the last thirty years. I’ll bet the BA could actually come up with the list since they need to review each brewery to determine if they can list them as “craft by their definition” but I’m thinking they’re not overly interested in publishing it as they want to keep their and our focus on totally on BA craft members.

Anyway when you see the next merger or acquisition in the craft brewery industry (hopefully in a few weeks after you read this) you’ll think The Big G has his finger on the pulse…or is that his hand on the glass…

AND YOU THOUGHT IT WAS A SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUE!!

So here we are at the Christmas holiday and Covid’s going wild again! We are all so tired of Covid but I guess we need to just keep on keeping on. But we are definitely in a better place than last Christmas as we didn’t have the vaccines then so family and friend gatherings were at a minimum.

Then in dawned on me; how the heck did Santa survive last year’s Christmas before the vaccine?!? This poor guy is not indestructible and heading into homes all over the world and with so much exposure how could he not get it? I bet he was smart and wore a mask into every home as we didn’t see any “Santa on a ventilator” headlines earlier this year. And what about the milk and cookies, did he dare eat them, not that it’s passed by food, but someone had to put that cookie on the plate! I’ll bet after last Christmas Santa needed a break and hit some warm island beach; one with the bar right on the beach, as he must have needed a few.

This year should definitely be easier as I’m sure he’s vaxed and boosted but still he’s got to be careful. But hey the guy deserves a lot of credit for all his hard work for kids all over the world. That gave me an idea; I headed down to my stash in the basement to see if I had anything suitable and there it was, a Bruery  11 Pipers Piping, which came out in 2019 and for those who may not remember which one this is it’s a Scotch-style ale brewed with Belgian Candi sugar and coriander and aged nine months in Speyside Scotch whiskey barrels! And speaking from experience, YES, it’s delicious. I gotta believe there are a bunch of homes with beer out instead of milk but I hope this will be a special one.

Luckily, I still have a few days before Christmas Eve so I can pull this off. I have a wine chiller I can put  the Pipers in as it’s definitely too cold right out of the frig and, depending upon when he shows,  hopefully has warmed up for suitable taste. I have a Bruery glass for him to pour it into. I have one of those champagne caps I’ll leave out just in case he only wants a little and then can take the rest with him. And in place of cookies I’ll get a big pretzel that he can heat up and some mustard packets; who doesn’t like a good mustard on a hot pretzel. What a great idea for a change, this is really coming together and I’m feeling really good about it!

So here we are Christmas Eve, I set everything up and leave him a note about how I wanted to do something special along with instructions to heat the pretzel and I’m off to bed. We’ll see how this works out tomorrow morning!

At some point during the night a loud ding wakes me up. I get up, go down the hall and there in the kitchen is Santa taking his pretzel out of the oven! I’m half asleep and a little stunned so don’t move for a minute and then Santa spots me, gives me a big smile and says “HO HO HO Big G, this is the best surprise I’ve had all night”! Well thank you Santa, I think you deserve it, I’m sorry I disturbed you, I’ll head back to bed and let you enjoy it.  Nonsense he says; that’s a big bottle, go grab a glass and we’ll enjoy it together. Wait, what; I’m going to sit and have a beer with Santa, seriously!! He’s sees I’m a little hesitant so puts his arm around me and says “hey it’s a long lonely night so if I can stop and share a beer with a fellow craft beer lover, I’m not missing that opportunity.”

We pour, toast and take our first sip; delicious. This is excellent he says. I’m wide awake now and having one with Santa so what the heck say, I didn’t know you were a craft beer lover. Are you kidding, after all the milk and cookies I need some of the good stuff? He takes out his phone and clicks on the UNTAPPD app and starts logging in the 11 Pipers! You’re on UNTAPPD??? Of course, I need to keep track of my beers like you, but you realize just like you use The Big G as your username I don’t use my name, I use Red Suit Man, how appropriate I’m thinking. He pulls up his list and no surprise just like I have 90+% at the Cloverleaf, he’s got 90+% at the North Pole Pub. I give the elves instructions and then head over for Happy Hour most days! Mrs. Claus doesn’t like me out carousing at night so Happy Hours work.

Santa seems to be enjoying his 11 Pipers and pretzel and before you know it the bottle is empty. Since I drank some of what was supposed to be for him, I said “I don’t know how much time you have but I’ve definitely got a few more downstairs that you might like.” When I saw the twinkle in his eye, I had my answer; down I went and a few minutes later I’m back. I’m really hoping there’s something he hasn’t had or really likes as that always makes it more fun. I’ve got a Brooklyn Black Ops (stout small batch aged in Four Roses barrels), a classic North Coast Old Rasputin and a Ramstein Winter Wheat.  Santa is impressed, very nice selection! Greg up at High Point Brewing in Milford always leaves me a six pack but I haven’t had his Ramstein Winter Wheat so let’s try that.  

Santa’s enjoying the Winter Wheat so I ask how things are going tonight. Oh pretty well but it gets tougher every year; most kids aren’t happy with any clothes or books mixed in with their toys; they want these crazy things they see on TV, but hey life is all about change and I’ve seen more than most. The less fortunate kids are the most appreciative.

Time for another I query. Sure let’s check out Old Rasputin; I get a chuckle when I drink this as I knew the guy and not wanting to speak ill of the dead let’s just say he was a piece of work, which finally did him in. But he’d be happy to know his name, image and legacy live on over a hundred years later.

Well that was only 12 ounces so I look at the Black Ops and I get a nod from Santa. I’m getting a little nervous as he’s got more work to do but I guess he’s not going to get pulled over in his sleigh, his reindeer really do the navigating.

Wow the Black Ops is delish; very smooth for a high double digit ABV with bold chocolate and coffee notes and a hint of vanilla like oak; an excellent finisher.

Well Santa is feeling no pain and neither am I. He looks around, jumps up and says I gotta get going I’m behind schedule! I apologize and he smiles at me and says no apology necessary, this is the best time I’ve had since 1927. He begins to regale me about a very interesting adventure and well I think I’ll just stop there as it was a discussion between him and I, and hey everyone deserves their privacy.

I thank Santa for his company, he thanks me for mine and the beer of course, he’s off and I crash back to bed not to wake up until late Christmas morning. At first, I think no way, that was just a dream, but there are the beer bottles on the table by the tree where we were drinking; hey nobody’s going to believe this…

A day later a get a message on UNTAPPD from none other than Red Suit Man! It read: Thanks, had a great time, unfortunately I did mess up a bunch of presents at a bunch of homes, but luckily everyone thinks there’s a supply chain issue so no harm no foul! Hope you make it up to the North Pole Pub, where the tab is on me.

So there it is folks, I singlehandedly created what we all thought was a supply chain issue by hoisting a few delicious craft beers with Santa. He had all the stuff all along but maybe we had one too many…but it was fun and definitely memorable. It pays to keep a couple of really good craft beers on hand, you never know when they’ll come in handy.

The Big G Goes International  

by  Glenn DeLuca

Okay so before I jump into this, I need to give you some of the backstory.

Back in 2018 I took a Baltic Sea Cruise. I landed in Bergen, the second largest city in Norway to do a pre-tour of Norway. I’m definitely interested in trying local beers be they old established brands or newer craft beers so imagine my shock when the first restaurant I walk into has only Bulmer’s Cider and Founder’s All Day IPA on tap; ah, not a great first impression.

When you’re on a tour most days are planned so you don’t necessarily have a ton of time to go bar hopping but hoping at lunch or dinner or drinks hanging out after dinner you get to try some.

So in Norway:

• I did have a Hansa with dinner in a wonderfully quaint place, the Bruggeloftet & Stuene with, if I remember correctly some delicious mussels.

•  In the Stalheim hotel I had an AEgir Bryggeri, which is a craft brewery started in 2007.

• ·Some of the best beer I had was on the overnight ferry ride from Oslo to Copenhagen where I was able to try some Skands, which is a Denmark brewery. Their Elmegade IPA and Humlefryd, a Pilsner, were both very enjoyable.

We met the ship in Copenhagen and unfortunately, although not a bad choice, there was only Bitburger on tap; so when on the ship I made do with what was available.

At our port/tour stops there wasn’t much to talk about craft beer wise, but definitely some locals that had been around for centuries.  

• ·In Gdansk I had a Tyskie, which is a 400-year-old brewery that had ownership changes throughout the years and in 2017 was bought by Asahi Group Holdings, and a Ksiazece Golden Ale also brewed by Tyskie. 

• ·In Tallin I tried a Saku and A. Le Coq, two of the three largest breweries in Estonia   

• ·Not free to roam around much in St Petersburg, not that I really wanted to, we did have a tour lunch which included Baltika, a fairly well-known Russian beer, which is pretty bad, some Russian wine, which was really undrinkable and a shot of vodka, which was great because I had at least three since many didn’t want to do shots of vodka at lunch; hey in Russia do like the Russians and drink Vodka because the beer sucks.

• ·Next up Helsinki and we were lucky enough to find Painimoravintola craft brewery, started in 2016, and tried their  Summer Ale, IPA, Weizen and Pils, all on tap and yes, good stuff  I did spot an Evil Twin in their to-go fridge, so yea our American craft beers do travel.

• ·Stockholm was our last stop, a great city with some eighty plus museums (but none of beer…) and staying an extra day allowed me to do some research and I was pleasantly surprised. Some of my finds included Grangesberg, a dark Pils from a well-established brewery; a Pale Ale and IPA from Gotlands, Sweden’s first craft brewery started in 1995, so obviously doing something right; an IPA from West Coast Beersmiths, a craft started in 2015 and a few others. Stockholm is Sweden’s largest city at 1.5M+, about 2.5X larger than #2, so if craft beer is going to flourish anywhere it’s there.

It was after this trip that I first thought about writing about what other countries are doing vis a vie craft beer, but the problem was I needed to do some serious traveling to check them out so I wasn’t seeing that as a really viable project.

Late 2019, again pre-pandemic brought a trip to Australia & New Zealand. The first observation I didn’t expect was that I never saw Foster’s Lager which we all know from the commercials, is beer in Australian…I guess somebody forgot to tell them and caulk up another one for good old advertising.

Australia has a similar problem to us with larger breweries buying up market share, so national brands like Tooheys, Victoria Bitter and Carlton and microbrews like 4 Pines and Mountain Goat have been gobbled up. Again being on tour didn’t allow much time for “research” so I had my share of the major brands available and a few good craft like Hemmingway’s and Bridge Road. Let’s also keep in mind that in hot Australia they’re more interested in quenching their thirst than having a better tasting beer.

In New Zealand we drank a lot of their great sauvignon blancs but I was able to slip in a few craft like MOA and Garage Project. I must also admit that many years ago I was a big fan of Steinlager, which became harder and harder to find in the US until they stopped importing it, so I took this opportunity to catch up with an old friend a few times. Check us out in our Pictures section of the Nexus!

I had had two other trips prior to these; one to Ireland where I drank Guinness, Guinness and more Guinness and I couldn’t care if there was another beer available as it’s really much better than it is here in the US, absolutely delicious! And another to Spain where I don’t remember anything but Estrella Damm, their national beer, an almost 150-year Spanish lager, which is okay, not great and can be found here in the US.

And now for part two of the backstory…I like winners, so yes, I’m a Yankee fan and I’m also a UConn Women’s Basketball fan; I attended UConn so I have a connection and it’s not that I just pick winning teams to route for. Both are similar in that they are the biggest winners in their sport and both aspire to “win it all every year”; they’re not teams that rationalize we did better than last year or we made the tournament /playoffs or we advance to a higher round; if they didn’t win the championship, it wasn’t a successful year.

Last month the UConn Women were playing in a tournament in the Bahamas, which wasn’t too hard to resist; three basketball games against other good teams and some great tropical weather before we head into winter…duh…

Atlantis Paradise Island is a big place with four major resorts. Not only is it fairly expensive but it’s really hard to get decent restaurant reservations times. Those who’ve been before or been tipped off book well in advance as opposed to when you get there. On my way to Carmine’s for dinner I pass the Pirate Republic Brewing Taproom, which is pretty crowded and I note at least a half dozen of their beers on tap; I’ll definitely be checking them out.

After dinner I contact some friends and we hit our resort’s closest bar, Plato’s. I’m in the Bahamas so yes, I’m trying a Bahamian beer and that’s Sands. If you’re out at the beach or pool and its 90+ degrees it’s definitely thirst-quenching, but it’s an island beer so it’s basically cold and wet but I’m in an air-conditioned bar and not sweating a whole lot while doing my 16 oz curls. I did not bother with a Sands Light as I’m sure it’s similar to a Coors Light; half a glass of beer and half a glass of water. I did try an Atlantis Ale, a darker lager which was the best of the drafts and became my go-to for evening bar drinks. They had two other taps which I asked for a taste and neither was very impressive. Interestingly enough they charge $6 for a pint and $8 for a super-pint. It dawned on me that they’re using reverse logic than we expect; the pint is $.375/oz and the super is $.40/oz…oh well with service not necessarily the best I’m usually doing a super.

I have a free day before the games start so head over to Pirate Republic for lunch only to find it closed, well that’s a bummer.

Our first game is Noon the next day. They use a ballroom where they put in a court so this is a very intimate setting and we’re going to get a great view of the action. They have food and beer but it hasn’t been that long since breakfast, I’ll wait till halftime. I am pleasantly surprised as they have three of the Pirate Republic beers so I grab their Island Pirate Ale, which is a 5.2% Session IPA and I am definitely impressed; best beer I had the entire time there.

Pirate Republic also has a small tent where they’re pouring tastes of their IPA and two others; Long John Pilsner, a pleasant 4.5% pils and a Gold and Haze of Piracy, a 4.6% Belgian Wit, which is also nice. There are three people at the tent and I start chatting with Jonathan who it turns out is the Assistant Brewer. I mention to him I’m disappointed their Taproom is closed. He’s surprised so goes to check it out. He tells me that’s a franchise and not always open till the busy season but their brewery/taproom isn’t that far off the resort I could stop in and taste them all, although I’m not sure I’ll be leaving the resort.

Also in our discussion I learn Pirate Republic is the first and only production craft brewery in The Bahamas. They started in 2015 and have done very well as they, much to my surprise, are available in the ABC Stores in FL and will soon be in the Publix in FL! I’ll have to be on the lookout for them next time I’m down there.

After the game I headed toward the Pirate Republic Taproom just in case they’re open for lunch and try a few of their other brews and sure enough every restaurant in that area was closed, which would be the same pattern the next two days. So it’s nice out I head to one of the outdoor places for some lunch. Both food and beer choices are limited but I tried a Bush Crack, which even though  5.8% was a typical island beer. The only good thing was a 16 oz can vs the Sands 12. The next day’s lunch I tried a Kalik Gold, which is 7.0% and even though labeled a malt liquor was pretty light.

The next day at halftime of the second game I went to get my Island Pirate Ale. I happened to pay more attention to the menu and notice “domestic” beers are $9 and “imports” are $10 and since I’m not in the USA, the Crud Light is actually an import and more expensive! I must say I got a good chuckle out of that.

I head in to the tent and tell Jonathan he really needs to do something about the Taproom. He can see I’m a craft beer lover in distress so tells me he’s going to take care of me and give me a six-pack! When asked which one I’d like I say how about a mixed six so I get two of each of the three they have. I ask if he’ll hold it till the end of the game as I don’t want to head back to my seat carrying a six.

After the game I head over to the tent. I purchase a t-shirt, least I can do considering their generosity and have a picture taken with Jonathan; in our Pictures section of the Nexus.

So if you’re in FL definitely consider picking up a PRB instead of a PBR and check them out. And of course next time you’re in Nassau, Bahamas check out their taproom and brews.

Now if we could get this Covid under control maybe I’ll get to travel abroad and do more “research”

Craft Beer Dinners Are Back!! - by Glenn DeLuca

What exactly is a craft beer dinner? Well for some it may be deciding to have a six pack for dinner sans food. Sorry but I don’t really consider that dinner, you have to at least throw in some cheese and crackers or pretzels. What it does mean for us craft beer lovers is a prix-fixe menu served to pair with a selection of beers, usually from the same brewery and most often at a pub or restaurant. It’s a one-time event that often comes with hefty price tag per person, but considering the four to five food and beer pairings you’ll be having it’s usually a deal; just ask your palate if it was worth it after you’re done.

And make no mistake this is work more so for the pub or restaurant. If the beers are from the same brewery, then discussions/collaboration should typically begin two to three months ahead. Probably first is agreeing on a date that works for both. Then a discussion of what beers usually from lighter to heavier, as you don’t want to max out everyone’s taste in the first course. Then the work begins for the chef, under- standing the taste and nuances of each beer and coming up with an interesting menu to complement each and hopefully even incorporating the beers into the food via dressing or cooking or sauce. 

This is work but if you’re a chef and you work with a basic menu with some specials most of the time then this is another challenge/opportunity to do something unique and show your stuff. Consider also the challenge of making an interesting food menu for us craft beer drinkers to want to attend, not too expensive to scare us away and not to mention the ability for the kitchen to be able to prepare each course along with the daily customer base.

There’s also the possibility the pub/restaurant might work with one of their distributors or handle it all themselves, deciding on a theme and picking the same or similar beers from different breweries, such as pumpkins/Oktoberfest in the fall, stouts in the winter, lagers/pilsners in the summer or Belgian Strong Ales. And you really should have your menu set when you start advertising as that’s what draws us in and gets us excited as opposed to reading “Beer dinner with 5 XYZ Brewery beers along with a food pairing for $75”; I’d venture to say most would want more detail before committing.

And a beer dinner is not a rushed affair; it is more a leisurely stroll. Typically the brewer/owner/brewery rep will start off and tell everyone about the first beer they’re having, then the chef will explain the first food pairing indicating how the choices will interact and compliment the beer. First, you’ll taste the beer by itself, then start with the food and beer and next of course is to listen to those you’re sitting with to see and hear their reaction as they are with you. After enjoying and relaxing we’ll start the process all over with the second course and so on. And what hopefully you’ll decide about each course and the entirety is, was it “paired excellence”.

I can’t remember the last time I went to one with all this crazy Covid going on for the past eighteen months, so I was definitely pleased and excited when I saw the post that the Cloverleaf Tavern was hosting a beer dinner with Carton Brewing from Atlantic Highlands, NJ. I’ve been to a few other beer dinners at the Cloverleaf and each has been excellent; I have complete faith in their chef, Kevin, to come up with some great pairings. And Carton is no slouch, formed by cousins Chris and Augie Carton in 2011, Carton has established themselves as an innovator/experimenter and one of the better craft breweries in NJ. Part of their philosophy is to brew original so they focus on creating flavors and not remaking them. Why produce a pale ale when they can go to the store and buy Sierra Nevada? And so it’s not a surprise that they’re flagship is Boat Beer, a 4.2% super hoppy session beer.

SIGN ME UP, I’M IN!! When I asked about the signup, they hadn’t even started it yet, so there I was on line #1! And I checked in a few times to make sure enough were signing up so they wouldn’t have to cancel it for lack of interest!

It’s “D” day (as in D for Dinner…) and I head over. Unfortunately none of my beer buds sign up so I’m sitting at a table with a few other single signups; a great way to meet other craft beer lovers. Before the dinner they’re doing a live podcast by The Lager Room Guys, sounds interesting. I’ve haven’t heard of them before, not sure when they started but it is via subscription so I’m guessing you want to be available every Tuesday, although I’m guessing you can listen to it later through one of the services they use. Come to find out I know one of the hosts, Jersey Johnny, from my days at Cricket Hill and 381 Main. He had moved south years ago after his house burnt down so I hadn’t seen him in a while. 

Their podcast is a combination of craft beer and sports and they have a different guest(s) every week. Most times they’re doing it virtually, like most everyone else has been working during the pandemic, but there have been some on site like this one. So the podcast starts and we can hardly hear them as there are no speakers in the room, so pretty much everyone is sitting at their tables having their own conversations. Sure they interview Augie and Ryan and ask us to clap or make noise every once in a while, but I’m clearly disappointed. I tried to go online to find it but the latest one I can find is a couple of months old, so yea why make it available in a few days then no one would subscribe…

The next attendee at my table shows up, he looks at me and says “you were at Trader Joe’s this morning, I remember your shirt”; and yes, of course I’m wearing my BeerNexus shirt since I want to represent us at the craft beer dinner. He’s still wearing his Trader Joe’s shirt. He goes on to say “I saw your shirt and was going to go over and tell you I was going to a beer dinner tonight” to which I obviously would have replied, so am I! Obviously, we had a good discussion over the evening.

Finally time to drink and eat, or is that eat and drink… The first course/beer is Tangled Up, a 3.9% Sour – Fruited. And yes, the name is a huge hint as to what fruit, assuming you’re familiar with Bob Dylan’s Tangled Up in Blue; that would be blueberries. It’s very nice, not overly sour and not overly blueberry, a nice blend. Kevin has paired that with a Cheese course: crispy goat cheese, sliced roasted beets, crispy bacon & Tangled Up honey glaze. What a great start, everything goes very well together and is delicious!

The second course begins with Festy (which I’m going to assume my learned audience knows immediately what it is). That is accompanied by a Charcuterie Board with smoked duck, capicola, salami, aged cheddar, brie, swiss, crackers & Fest fig jam. Festy is a good festbier and OMG the food tastes are amazing with the duck and cheddar being totally outstanding. That’s two for two!!

The third beer up is Something Nice; a 5.3% Table Beer. Augie tells us it’s typically a lighter beer that everyone should be able to enjoy. I’m not overly familiar with Table beer so did some research afterward. One article says years ago in Belgium and France a Table beer was a mild, very low alcohol drink that could taste something like soaked Wheaties that all the family members sitting around the table including the kids could drink; that seems to match. Another article says its UK based; in the 18th century England setup three classifications of beer; Strong, Table and Small based on the ABV, which determined the wholesale price and of course the amount of tax, so the Strong was most expensive and highest taxed. We seem to have some differing answers to the origin. 

Today’s Table beer has changed, it’s probably more akin to a Saison, the ABV is up a little but its characteristics are shareable, sessionable and approachable. Now that I’m thinking of Table more in that sense, I do remember having Allagash Hoppy Table Beer and enjoying it very much, but not realizing what the Table meant.  I have to be honest there’s not much to Carton’s Table Beer and it is my least favorite beer of the night (even though I haven’t told you what they all are yet). And also on the table along with the Table Beer is a Seafood course consisting of PEI Mussels braised with Something Nice, roasted brats, diced potatoes, sun-dried tomato & crispy onion. If I wasn’t in heaven after the second course I’m heading there now; the mussels and brats are delicious (so when are PEI mussels not good?!?) and the potatoes and tomato are great accompaniments; I stayed away from the onion as sometimes we don’t always agree. Three for three!!!

Next up is This State Needs More Pubs 4.6% English Brown (cask). It’s at this point we learn a little more about Augie. He’s obviously passionate about craft beer but he understands it’s part of a community and he strongly encourages us to go out and support our local pubs. The pandemic did not seem to affect (meaning closures) any craft breweries that I’ve heard of but there are a number of pubs and restaurants that couldn’t survive and closed their doors. A Brown is not on overly popular style, it’s good to have one once in a while. This one is good, definitely milder being in cask rather than gassed up. Well I guess it’s time for the main course (although the Seafood could easily have been the main course!) and it’s a Steak and Ale Pie. Its Sirloin braised with This State Needs More Pubs, diced pumpkin, acorn squash, peas, carrots & mushrooms in a flaky pie crust. Another delicious pairing! Absolutely four for four!!!!

And now a little palate cleanser, a Banana Mousse Intermezzo, featuring a small pour of Will It Banana? a 10% Banana Cream Ale accompanied by a slice of banana with a dollop of cream on top. The two together were perfect! I personally would have done the intermezzo between the seafood and steak as although it was 10%, we weren’t drinking much of it, but it worked fine here also. Not a course so I’ll say four and a half for four and a half!!!!i

It’s hard to believe, our night is coming to a close, it’s the Grand Finale, yes DESSERT; Stout Tres Leches. The beer is Hoopla, an 11.5% bourbon barrel aged stout conditioned on candied coconut and vanilla beans accompanied with Tres leches cake prepared with Hoopla, topped with shaved chocolate and Hoopla chocolate sauce. I’m not a big desert guy when it comes to cake, especially when I’m pretty stuffed already but this looks and tastes amazing especially while enjoying it with the Hoopla. I’d say there’s been a lot of Hoopla in the room all night! Five for Five, Shut the door!!!!!

I said goodbye to my new beer friend; now a friend on Untappd. I thanked and congratulated Ryan, the GM, for putting on another tremendous beer dinner.  I headed over to see Chef Kevin and tell him what a tremendous job he and his staff did. We don’t get to see much of the guys in the kitchen but they deserve to hear the accolades for their work.

Since I’ve never had the opportunity before I head over to the crowd around Augie and manage to get in and introduce myself. He also notices and comments about my “official BeerNexus shirt”. I thanked him as I want to make sure he knows his beer and his efforts and his love of the craft beer community are appreciated. I didn’t give him my card as it’s been a long night and he’ll probably be chatting a while and then needs to head home, but I will send it to him this month and suggest he read my article.

Oh and yes, my palate and I were a couple of very happy campers when we left…can’t wait for the next one!

Do I Really Know Them All? 

 by Glenn "The Big G" DeLuca

Mr. BeerNexus recently sent an email with the results of this year’s GABF-Great American Beer Festival, letting us know that three NJ breweries won medals. We do have some great, some good and some not so good breweries, as I’m sure every other state does so decided to take a look. Luckily, they added filters to the list so I could pick NJ and see which three won. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I was let’s say, underwhelmed. First was a Gold Medal in English Mild or Bitter from Mechanical Brewery in Cherry Hill. I’ve never heard or visited them as that’s almost 100 miles from here, but certainly would be interested in trying it. There were also two Silver Medals; a Gluten-Free from Departed Soles in Jersey City, not a good brewery from my past experiences, and a Wood and Barrel-Aged from Spellbound in Mount Holly, which is a good brewery from what I’ve had from them.

I unfiltered to take a look at the entire list and was amazed as it went on for pages and pages with mostly beers and breweries I’ve never heard of in categories that I would have never thought of. I should have been wearing my “So Many Beers…So Little Time” t-shirt as when you think of the magnitude of breweries and beers, you’re really lucky to taste a very small percentage.

Interesting, but what about our better breweries, did they enter and not win or maybe they didn’t bother to enter. To be honest I’ve never attended so have no clue how many attend or how GABF operates, although I’m sure there’s an entrance fee so I did a little research and here’s what I learned:

• There are typically about 800 breweries at the Festival so I assume these are the ones pouring for       attendees and they’re probably donating their beer

• There are approximately 4,000 different beers at the Festival; that’s a lot of different beers!

•  There are about 2,300 breweries in the competition so looks like you don’t need to be there to be in the competition, but it would obviously be a lot better to be at the Awards Ceremony if you do medal.

• There will be 9,000+ beers in the competition so appears to be an average of about 4 entries per brewery. 

• There should be about 300 judges awarding 300+ medals in over 100 categories and there is a fairly new addition of categories for Collaboration beers.

• There is an average of 80+ beers entered in each category but the category with the most has always been India Pale Ale with the last few years it being the offshoot, Juicy or Hazy IPA…what a shock.

As I dig further:

• The 2021 entry fee is $160/beer for a BA-Brewers Association member and $385 for a non-member; so yes, it pays to be a member but they don’t exclude you if you’re not.

• They have basic eligibility rules; must be fully licensed, have a Basic Permit/Brewers Notice on file and be currently open and operating with at least one beer currently commercially available for retail sale

• And yes, those that contract brew, which is a fair amount, are eligible if the producer meets the above three.

• Each brewery can enter up to five beers but no beer can be in multiple categories; as they say, pick your best.   

Again, having never attended, I’ve never really thought about it before. I’m going to assume the 800 at the festival are included in the 2,300 in the competition as if you’re going why wouldn’t you enter your beers. So, approximately 25% of the total number of craft breweries are at GABF.  It appears approximately 60% of the craft breweries are members of the BA, which makes some sense as new, small startup breweries just need to establish themselves before spending money on memberships.

And with 9,000+ beers in competition and 300 judges, that’s a lot of tasting. I’ll have to chat with my beer bud, The Judge, to better understand how they could possibly narrow down the really big IPA and Hazy/Juicy IPA, etc. categories as there are so many entries.

It makes sense that a brewery would not necessarily want to attend and/or enter every year. With today’s numbers you wonder if a well-known brewery doesn’t want to enter as they could wind up being beaten out by three small no name recognition breweries and with no medal. I guess it’s a little like sports, where on any given day the underdog can win, which is why they play and on any given day anyone can win in a competition.

Back to the list; medals are in alphabetical category order so the first 14 are all American or American-Style followed by  Australian Pale Ale (didn’t know they had their own style pale ale and I guess some here is making it!), then the Belgians, a few Germans and IPAs galore and on and on.

My eyes begin to glaze over as I see category after category and some with about as much appeal as a Crudweiser; multiple Fruit categories , chili (just what I need a beer who’s taste makes me thirsty for a real beer), chocolate (nice in a stout, but on it’s own?!?), coffee (I prefer mine with cream…in the morning), a bunch of Experimental categories (why not just call it Pot Luck beer where the brewer throws in whatever…), Field (never heard of it, although I have been known to drink beer out in a field on a nice day), Herb and Spice ( possibly a musical group cloning Peaches and Herb…), and Smoke (definitely my ribs, not so much my beer) to name a few I’m not overly interested or excited about.

I did notice the Non-Alcohol category and noted the silver and bronze went to Athletic Brewing in Stratford, CT. I’ve heard good things about them and definitely need to give them a taste!

Okay so that’s alphabetical; I go to the GABF website and find a list of 2021 Style Categories which will lay them out in a more logical order. The first style is Hybrid/Mixed Beer Styles and yes pretty much all of above non-appetizing ones are in that list. There are 34 different categories, 9 having multiple sub-categories for a total of 36 sub-categories . The next major style is Lager Beer, now we’re getting into more styles I can relate to. There are 18 categories, 10 having multiple sub-categories for a total of 23 sub-categories. And the last style category; Ale! There are 46 (now we’re talking!) categories, 21 having multiple sub-categories for a total of 60 sub-categories. So if I’ve done my math correctly, that’s 98 categories with a total of 187 sub-categories. I’m definitely a little confused since they said 300 medals which means 100 categories so what’s the point of having sub-categories if they’re all lumped together competing for the same three medals, shouldn’t there be 561 medals…

Yes, I’m confused and I think I need a craft beer; preferably a medal winner but I doubt there are any in my fridge. Let’s compare; ok there are six sub categories of Smoke Beer, but yes only three medals. So all the entries no matter what sub-category all go into a room, light up and see which one creates the best Smoke… That’s another question I’ll have to pose to The Judge.

Let’s peruse the list of winners:

• Session Beer had the least entries with 24, followed by Australian Pale Ale at 26. There were another 8-10 in the 30s.

• And yes, Juicy or Hazy IPA had 427 and American Style IPA had 404; obviously not popular at all.

• Figueroa Mountain Brewing in CA is the overall winner with 4 medals, followed by Moontown Brewing in IN with 3. There were probably 15 other breweries with 2.

• As you might expect CA had a medal haul of 60, which is an amazing 20% of all medals. Would be interesting to know what percentage of entries they had. WA was second with 22 nipping out the home state of CO with 21. 

• I couldn’t resist doing my own Best Name contest so went through them all; drum roll please; I have 4 Honorable Mentions: Face Down Brown, Mo’Diggity, Stay the Funk In and Breakside Disco Queen Lager. And the Winners are: Bronze – Hold The Waffle, Silver – No Slaw Extra Toast and Gold – Magic Carpet Rye’d!! Guess I’ll need to put those medals in the mail…

And we haven’t even addressed the Collaboration categories yet, well not today…

Maybe I’m looking at it from the wrong perspective of me, instead of craft beer overall. The purpose of the BA is to promote craft beer. The GABF is a huge event that garners a great deal of hype and publicity and if they only had 50 categories there’d only be 150 medals, so the more the merrier. It’s not like they’re making them up, although some of the categories seem to be a little bit of a stretch but as craft beer has grown there is more competition for tap and shelf space and many  brewers have decided not just stick to the basic styles but to also branch out into other areas, as being a brewer is also about creativity and experimenting. The BA does encourage winners to tout their medal achievements in their advertising/publicity, which makes a lot of sense, but there is a LONG list of what is and isn’t allowed.   

Although I was initially thinking the number of categories was overkill and why do I need to look at craft beers in such confined categories I really don’t! Some I’m not really interested in trying and many of them I’ll never see as they’re small production and either just at the brewery or small local production. If it’s good for craft beer then I’m absolutely good with it as it promotes good craft beer and our community. There’s nothing like good craft beer; I’ll drink to that!

CRAFT BEER JEOPARDY

Everyone loves Jeopardy, the game show where they give you the answer and you need to provide the correct question, in the form of a question. It’s been around a long time and yes, I can say I remember the first afternoon iteration with Art Fleming as host, which ran from 1964-75. My Spanish teacher from Jr. High school, Carlos Rios, was a contestant on the show but didn’t win. In our class we all had our names translated to the Spanish version but how you get Diego out of Glenn is still a translational mystery to me, which is maybe why I can only remember a few handy phrases like “en la bibliotheca” and my favorite “loco en la cabeza”. That’s long before I became The Big G, so if BeerNexus was translated to Spanish would you be reading The Big D?? I never understood why he would get so upset when we would translate his name to English and call him Charlie Rivers; but hey we were just kids having fun well before craft beer.

There was a second syndicated version with a weekly nighttime edition from September 1984-5 and also an All-New Jeopardy from October 1978 to March 1979.

But I digress; the current version began in September 1984 and unless you went down the rabbit hole with Alice and are living in Wonderland, you know that Jeopardy host Alex Trebek was fighting cancer and lost his battle late last year. After 36+ seasons he was an institution as Jeopardy host and the big question was who would replace him. So, this summer they’ve had numerous guest hosts, some of which are from other shows, just doing a different gig for a week and a few others who are in competition to replace Alex. It’s been interesting to watch the difference in styles and see who could do a good job and others who I was happy their hosting was done.

Got me to thinking they already do special tournaments for teachers, college students, celebrity; why not throw in a Theme Week with one of the shows on Craft Beer. It should be easy to come up with ten categories plus a Final Jeopardy question, but they can’t be too easy or too hard.

I can envision it now; Johnny Gilbert comes on “our first contestant is Livingston aka The Judge who has travelled much of the world and is a certifiable craft beer judge; our next contestant Brian, who went from the boiler room to the bar room and keeps a meticulous list of the thousands of beers he’s tasted and our final contestant, who will start us off not because he drew the short straw but because he’s the shortest, that prolific writer and taster of beer, Vince aka Mr. BeerNexus.” After the thundering applause we hear “our now our guest host, the one and only “Beer Beat” writer and drinker/connoisseur of craft beer, The Big G.” and dare I say even more thunderous applause.

Thank you, Johnny Gilbert and welcome craft beer lovers and honored contestants. As you know this is a special edition of Jeopardy focusing on Craft Beer as part of our Theme Week. We have three distinguished and learned professionals here all with their MBAs/Masters of Beer Appreciation and all with multiple PhDs/Professor of Hops and Draft with Brian at 8, Vince at 3 and The Judge at 2. As you know we’re doing some interesting things during theme week so for Craft Beer each correct question can earn you 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 bottles in The Jeopardy round and 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 cans in Double Jeopardy and the Daily Doubles have been renamed Happy Hour but still operate the same way. The winner will have their bottle+can count divided by 24 and, unless perfect, bumped up to the next highest with a guaranteed three cases, while the second and third place finishers will receive two and one case respectively. Unfortunately, our contestants won’t get to pick the different brands of craft beers, our producers held a taste test so the “winners” are getting whatever is left over.

There’s not enough space here for me to review all sixty-one answers as well the correct and sometimes incorrect questions but I do want to mention some of the highlights. The BeerTube version will be up on BeerNexus and I’d recommend all craft beer lovers watch it to test their knowledge versus that of our three illustrious afficionados.

There definitely were some bunny answers in the Jeopardy round:

·       1 bottle in the Hops category, These are the three primary C hops. was quickly answered by Brian; What are Cascade, Centennial and Citra?

·       3 bottles in the Abbreviations category, BA, buzzed in by Mr BeerNexus, initially I was thinking of the last beer I had, Barely Acceptable, but I believe I’ll say, What is the Brewer’s Association? Correct and please do NOT mention the last beer you had as we don’t need the lawsuit.

·       4 bottles in the Abbreviations category, GBBF, Mr BeerNexus buzzed in and in his hurry said what he thought he saw, What is the Great American Beer Festival? I’m sorry that’s incorrect; Brian quickly buzzed in What is the Great British Beer Festival? Correct and to which I had the opportunity to attend; Brian jumped in, “as have I”.

·       3 bottles in the Hops Category, This New Zealand hop gives a floral and fruity taste, was correctly answered by Mr. BeerNexus, What is Nelson Sauvin? The Big G, after announcing correct, then went into a silique about his love of craft with Nelson hops, until Johnny Gilbert had to cut in and get me to move on. Obviously, I was already moved discussing probably my favorite hop, Nelson Sauvin…have I mentioned how much I like Nelson…okay Mr. BeerNexus you have the board…

·       The Judge, being BJCP qualified, ran the Styles category with answers like; for 2 bottles, this version of a popular style is often called hazy and juicy, What is New England IPA?; 4 bottles, this hoppier style developed in the 1800’s was better suited for sea travel, What is India Pale Ale and  for 5 bottles, the Happy Hour for this round for which The Judge bet 10 bottles, Golden, light and dry this is an ancient Belgian Farmhouse Ale, What is Grisette? After which The Big G and other contestants applauded his knowledge and success running the category.

Well done contestants, The Jeopardy Round ended with The Judge at 43 bottles, Brian at 23 bottles and Mr. BeerNexus, who will be starting off Double Jeopardy, at 20 bottles, where there are plenty of “cans” available. You all have the commercial break to quickly scoff down the craft beer you brought to inspire you for the next round.

After the commercial break including one for Coors Pure Light Organic (obviously they’re hoping for some of the regular viewers and not those tuned for this particular topic), Double Jeopardy was definitely more difficult:

• ·       2 can in the Miscellaneous category, This competing product has taken hold in the last couple of years and is made by many craft brewers, buzzed in by Brian, What is hard seltzer? Correct, to which The Big G added that none of us was really interested in having any with so many delicious craft beers readily available.

• ·       2 can in the Brands Category, This appliance magnate bought a struggling San Francisco brewery and turned it into what most consider the first craft brewery, was buzzed in by Brian, Who is Fritz Maytag?

• ·       4 cans in the Brands Category, Scarlet Lady Ale, buzzed in by Mr. BeerNexus, What is Stoudt’s? Correct, which unfortunately Carol Stoudt decided to cease operations in February 2020.

• ·       10 cans in the Brands Category, Old Rasputin, buzzed in with a smile by Brian, Who is North Coast? And yes, it’s in my label collection

• ·       8 cans in the Miscellaneous category, This pioneer created the template for the craft brewery movement, buzzed in by Mr BeerNexus, Who is Jack McAuliffe? Excellent, correct, the creator of New Albion.

• ·       The Judge swopped in on the 10 can Miscellaneous category, This is the fear of having an empty beer glass, What is Zymocenosilicaphobia. Both Brian and Mr. BeerNexus looked on stunned as The Big G shouted “absolutely correct!”

• ·       As expected, The Judge nearly ran the Brewing Category; for 4 cans, the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing, What is Wort? and for 8 cans, the addition of hops post fermentation on two different days, What is Double Dry Hopping?

A huge round of applause at the end of The Final Jeopardy Round! With another impressive showing  The Judge with 50 cans has a total of 93 bottles+cans, Brian with 40 cans has 63 bottles+cans and Mr. BeerNexus with 48 cans has 68 bottles+cans. And the category for Final Jeopardy is,

“Craft beer S___ and S___”.  Drinkers make your wagers.

After the obligatory commercial break where AB/InBev spent $1M so they could air the Clydesdales strolling down the street, hey we’ll take your money if you insist, The Big G is back.

“Players the Final Jeopardy category is “Craft Beer S__ and S__”, here is the answer.”

“Most would not profess to be this, but those would do are probably this; remember it needs to be in the form of a question.”

This has been a tight battle and Final Jeopardy will absolutely determine the new CBC/Craft Beer Champion. By the looks on their faces you could tell none of the contestants expected this complex an answer; they’re frowning and sweating and starting to write. As the music ends pens are down and now to the reveal.

Brian you were in third place with 63 bottles+cans what is your question, What is Savant and Stupid? no I’m sorry Savant is correct but Stupid is not, what did you wager, all 63 that leaves you with 0.

Mr. BeerNexus you were in second with 68 bottles+cans what is your question, What is Savant and Snob, that’s correct, what did you wager, all 68, that puts you at 136 and in the lead.

We come to The Judge who won both Jeopardy and Double Jeopardy, what is your question; What is Smart and Snob, no I’m sorry that’s incorrect, what did you wager, 44 which leaves you with 49 and in second place.

Mr. BeerNexus pulls a come from behind victory, you are our winner and 136 divided by 24 gives you five and two-thirds, which we’re rounding up to 6 cases!

What an exciting show, thank you contestants, thank you Johnny Gilbert and most of all thank you craft beer fans and connoisseurs; now let’s all go and have one of those delicious craft beers!

After the show we learned that the three contestants had agreed to pool their winnings and have a tasting, which was very appropriate as these gentlemen, being the craft beer lovers they are, prefer to share and enjoy with their fellow craft beer buds. Now I do need to be forthright and let you know that I, as host, was also invited to the party, but I did turn to OJ for my inspirational line. “I cannot be bribed, but I will imbibe!”

And yes, when the ratings came out  the Craft Beer show in Theme Week was the highest rated beating out such luminaries as Knitting, Bungie Jumping, Raising Pet Hogs and Stupid People Sayings.

Hope we can do this again in next year’s Theme Week!

Glenn DeLuca writes about beer and culture of drinking. 

He may be reached by writing thebigG@beernexus.com. 

                                                              Craft Beer Phobias

Glenn DeLuca For BeerNexus.com

I’m watching a medical phobia issue alert on the news and as I pick up my glass of beer I begin wondering what phobias may be associated with craft beer. I could have multiple issues and not even know I have them! Wanting to be a well-informed craft beer drinker I need to do some research to understand what I may be confronting; hell I don’t want to wait until they’re doing a news alert on the TV and maybe I’m so shocked I wind up spilling my liquid gold or something terrible like that.

First I find the dreaded Zythophobia, the fear of beer. Seriously, there are people who are afraid of beer?!?!?! Wow I feel really sorry for those folks! I think I’ll setup a support group at my local pub for them to commiserate and discuss this issue; maybe I’ll give that a little more thought first. As I read further, their fear is more of the alcohol (which technically is methyphobia) as there can be multiple issues; short term effects such as memory loss (where did I park my car) or fainting/passing out or loss of balance or consuming live yeasts or long term effects such as kidney or liver disease, heart disease or the dreaded beer belly. Whoa, that’s a lot of possibilities, some of which I’ve already experienced, but I don’t fear them. Hey you can get run over by a bus crossing the street so having a few beers doesn’t appear to be anything to fear and I certainly don’t, so can cross that off the list of suspect phobias.

Zythophobes probably also have Tavernaphobia, the fear of going to a bar. Hey that’s a good thing for them to have; if you don’t want to drink beer then stay out of the bar because I want a stool to sit on when I go to the bar! I’m feeling better already; that’s another phobia I don’t have.

So far this is going pretty well; so let’s see what others there may be… Methophobia aka Potophobia or the loss of control when drinking alcohol. Now there’s something I’m sure I experienced in the good ole days of going out and us buying pitchers of the lagers of those days. And when you’re younger you do have a tendency not to know exactly when to slow down or stop. But actually now with craft beer I’m drinking to taste and enjoy, something you really didn’t focus on years ago. Cross this off.

Acerophobia, the fear of sourness. Oh baby, this comes close.  I’m not a sour fan. I’ve tasted a bunch and those that make me pucker are not my style. But I’ve also tasted some really good ones so I’m always willing to try another one, but there is always that “fear” of the super sour. Ok so I’ve found my first possible phobia! If that’s the only one then I’m in good shape but I have a lot more to investigate.

Decidophobia, the fear of making a decision. I think this is a bartenders’ worst fear; standing there with a customer who has no clue which of the 30 craft beers they should get and asking them, “which one do you like?” I may take my time perusing the beer list and deciding which of them and in what order I want, but I never have trouble making a decision!

Geumaphobia or Geumophobia, the fear of taste; not a problem whatsoever! In fact it’s the exact opposite I want to taste the nuances of each of my craft brews and to be honest I wish my taste buds were more refined.

Cainophobia/Kainolophobia or cainotophobia/Kainophobia, the fear of newness, novelty. This is the antithesis of a craft beer drinker. Most of us search out the newest beer available. So if you’re afraid of trying a new beer, then stick to your megabrew, there are still a bunch of them on tap and I won’t compete with you for any of them.

Atelophobia, the fear of imperfection; well if you have this you don’t drink craft beer. Every beer is different, very few are perfect and if they were all the same then you wouldn’t be a craft beer drinker, you’d stick to your megabeer. Another one that’s the antithesis of a craft beer drinker.

This is going pretty well.  I keep humming Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust“ as I check off all these phobias I don’t have! I’m also beginning to think that you have less phobias if you’re a craft beer drinker…this could be a new medical breakthrough! But it will probably have to go through years of FDA study, so I’ll apply for that study group.

Little did I realize there are a whole bunch of phobias associated with beer festivals: the fear of road travel. Well yea I guess if you’re afraid to travel you’re not going to make it to many festivals as they’re usually in larger spaces that you

must travel to. Hopefully this one doesn’t stop you from walking around the corner to your local pub so you can at least enjoy quaffing a few w/o traveling.

Demophobia or Enochlophobia, the fear of crowds. Absolutely; do not go to a festival if you’re afraid of crowds because you are more than likely in the middle of one. Macrophobia, the fear of long waits. I’m sorry we all suffer from this. Give me the name of one person who’s really happy to get on a long line and wait; especially for a small pour of beer. And we don’t like a long wait anywhere: supermarkets, restaurants, concerts, traffic…I could go on but I think this is so widespread its commonplace.

Diplophobia, the fear of double vision, which usually tends to happen at the end of the festival. I really don’t mind having double vision when I’m looking at my Double India Pale Ale.

And then if it’s an outdoor festival, which many are, there are many other phobias to consider. Dendrophobia, the fear of trees. Entomophobia, the fear of insects, Ombrophobia or Pluviiophobia, the fear of rain or being rained on, Phengophobia, the fear of daylight or sunshine and Molysmophobia or Molysomophobia, the fear of dirt or contamination.

There’s also the combination of Ombrophobia and Molysmophobia; its call MudInTheFaceophobia. It can happen when you’ve had more than your share and you inadvertently leave the vertical position for a horizontal one. It’s usually pretty messy and may require help from friends. It may also lead to Catagelophobia, the fear of being ridiculed.

Okay enough with festival phobias, let’s get back to basic beer drinker phobias.Hippopotomonstrosesquippedalio- phobia or Sesquipedalophobia, the fear of long words. Not that I even have a chance of pronouncing the first one, although I bet a six year old will spell it next year at the National Spelling Bee, but look at it this way, here is only so much room on the label, can and tap handle so really looooooooooooooong beer names are not a good idea to begin with, so I think we’re good on this one.

Nomatophobia, the fear of names, could be related to the last one. But I could see this being a possible issue as brewers make more different beers and try to come up with more wacky, catchy names some of them do get a little over the top Apiphobia, the fear of bees, well nobody wants to be stung by a bee, but probably a bigger concern for a mead than craft beer lover.

Socialphobia, the fear of being evaluated negatively in social situations. Yes it is true there are those who will be happy to ridicule you for something silly, like saying you like a certain beer and you don’t know about wort or the chemistry of brewing, etc.etc.  But this is not confined to the pub. These know it alls will do that in any social setting, and that’s probably why you try not to hang out with any of them in the first place. Now if you’re loud and obnoxious and basically making a fool of yourself, then you get what you deserve and being called out is certainly in order.

Albuminurophobia the fear of kidney disease. Not really thinking craft beer is going to be the primary cause issue you wind up with kidney disease.

Frigophobia, the fear of cold cold things; absolutely I got this one when talking about craft beer! Usually the keg cooler is set to keep everything too cold so many of the beers coming out of the taps are very cold. I definitely like to let them warm up so I can get more of the taste the brewer wanted me to get.

Hyelophobia or Hyalophobia or Nelophobia, the fear of glass. No Way! I prefer my beer in a glass, but will suffer w/o it when outside. And if you open the kitchen cabinet and see the stack of beer glasses I’ve brought home from tap takeovers you’ll  think I might have the opposite one, loverofdifferentbeerglassesophobia.

Anthrophobia or anthophobia, the fear of flowers and yes I’m usually not overly thrilled when they put flowers in the brew process. Let’s stick to hops and grains! Hygrophobia, the fear of liquids, dampness or moisture. Dampness I get, but hey water is a liquid and you can’t live w/o it, so this is a certainly a different one. Neophobia, the fear of anything new. Well with the speed with which new craft beers are coming out, having this you would be deathly afraid of the craft beer movement and again should stick to your ordinary, everyday megabrew.

Olfactophobia, the fear of smells. Again, the exact opposite I wish I had a better olfactory sense and could better enjoy some of the aromas craft brews have. That doesn’t mean I like nasty smells, but not adverse to the nuances of smell. Tropophobia, the fear of moving or making changes. Not an issue when there are different brews on tap every other day. If that bothers you, stick to unchanging megabrew.

Bathmophobia or the fear of stairs or steep slopes. I would say this is much more likely at the end of a long night of imbibing.

Well there are a lot of potential phobias that could affect us craft beer drinkers, but I’m thinking most really don’t apply. Again I’m going down the path that craft beer lovers have less phobias than the “average” person. I think I’ve probably exhausted the list and then I found it; the worst possible phobia a craft beer drinker can have:

CENOSILLICAPHOBIA -THE FEAR OF AN EMPTY GLASS or to be more precise ZYMOCENOSILICAPHOBIA-THE FEAR OF AN EMPTY BEER GLASS! When I found this one I felt fear; my heart began to race, the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up and my spine tingled!

But fear can also be a double edged sword along with joy. Because an empty glass means you may have just finished a great beer and now get to refill it with a whole beer and it could be a different beer you want to try or it could mean you’re going to move on to the next beer in your flight, so why would I possibly fear an empty beer

glass?!?!?

This investigation has been instructive and tiring; I think I need a beer. But I have learned a good thing, I do NOT have Phobophobia, the fear of phobias…

Glenn DeLuca writes about beer and culture of drinking. He may

be reached by writing thebigG@beernexus.com. 

 A High Note To Craft Beer

For BeerNexus.com

The other day I head over to my favorite craft beer bar. As I walk in the manager on duty sees me and says “hey I’ve got a big surprise for you, come over here” and he points to the corner. I’m a little confused as I’m not sure what the deal is; did I not pay my bar tab last time and I’m going to be punished by having to sit in the corner or did I inadvertently piss off one of the bartenders and they don’t want to serve me or maybe something else?? The manager goes over to talk to the bartender and joins me in the corner; this can’t be good. He points to the box on the wall, it says Craft Beer Jukebox. Okay so what is this one of those new automated pour yourself a beer machine to ease the crowding at the bar? But then why call it a Jukebox; please don’t tell me I have to listen to 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall; that song is enough to drive

you to drink even mega fizzy lager almost beer! The bartender walks over with a beer, hands it to me and says it’s the latest Icarus IPA. Cool, Icarus has been coming out with great IPA after great IPA, so this should be great.

Manager - okay now you’re ready, we just got this in and you’re going to love it, push a button.

Big G  -  Push what button?

Manager  -  Any button!

Big G  -  Hey I am holding a liquid libation is this thing plugged into a GFCI, I don’t really need a shocking experience.

Manager  (looking a little frustrated)  -  just push a button.

Big G  -  Okay here goes, eenie, meenie, miny, moe here’s the button that’s for me.

The music starts and it’s a Beatles song, ok. I take a sip of my Icarus and it is delicious.

Manager (looking at me and shaking his head)  - it just goes to show you really don’t

listen when you’re absorbed drinking a really good craft beer.

Big G  - What? Did you say something I didn’t hear?

Manager  - No, you’re not listening to the music.

Big G  -  Well yea it’s a Beatles song.

Manager  -  What Beatles song?

Big G  -  It’s easy, no pun intended of course; All You Need is Love!

Manager  -  You just proved my point, you’re not listening, you think you know what you’re hearing, but you don’t.

Ah I need some more of this delicious brew before I can figure out what the heck he’s talking about. I take a good swig and as I’m enjoying it I hear.

Beer      beer     beer

Beer      beer      beer

Beer      beer      beer

There’s nothing you can drink like a real craft beer

Nothing you can drink that’s quite as good

Nothing anyone can say to make you change your mind

It’s easy

Nothing you can make as good as real craft beer

Nothing you can savor as much as that

Nothing you can do, but learn how to love craft beer in time

It’ easy

All you need is beer

A really good craft beer

All you need is craft beer

Craft beer is all you need

All you need is beer

A really good craft beer

All you need is craft beer

Craft beer is all you need

There’s nothing you can taste like a real craft beer

Nothing else you can drink so real

There’s no craft beer bar that isn’t where you’re meant to be

It’s easy

All you need is craft beer

All you need is craft beer

All you need is craft beer

craft beer is all you need…

Big G  -  Whoa, you’re right that wasn’t what I was expecting, that was definitely a different rendition and it was certainly apropos. And I’m definitely enjoying my Icarus.  As I turn to head to the bar

Manager  -  where you going?

Big G  -   well I heard the song, it was great, I figured I’d head to the bar.

Manager  - So what’s the name of this thing?

Big G  -  The Craft Beer Jukebox

Manager  -  so you think that’s all it has? Push another button!

Big G  -  okay here we go, but this time I’ll listen more closely

One, two, three, four

I just want to celebrate another day of drinkin'

I just want to celebrate another great craft beer

I put my faith in the brewers

And the brewers didn’t let me down

So I ordered another beer

And I will carry on,

Big G  -  hey that’s Rare Earth’s  I Just Want to Celebrate!

That's why I'm telling you

I just want to celebrate, yeah, yeah

Another day of drinking, yeah

I just want to celebrate another great craft beer

Had my hand on tulip glass

And the tulip glass emptied out

And the server’s lookin’ over at me

But I’m here to stay

That's why I'm telling you

I just want to celebrate, yeah, yeah

Another day of drinking, yeah

I just want to celebrate another day of drinkin'

I just want to celebrate another great craft beer

It’ll never get you down, no, no

Don't let it turn you around and around and around, no

Well, I can't be bothered with fizzy beers

And I can't be bothered with wine, no, no

I'm using up the time and feeling fine, every day

That's why I'm telling you I just want to celebrate

Oh, yeah

I just want to celebrate another day

Oh, I just want to celebrate another day of drinkin'

I just want to celebrate another great craft beer

Don't let it all get you down, no, no

Don't let it turn you around and around, and around, and around

And around, and round, and round

Round, round, round, round

Round, round, round, round

Round, round, round, round

Don't go round

I just want to celebrate

I just want to celebrate

Well, I just want to celebrate

Said I just want to celebrate (celebrate)

I just want to celebrate (I want to celebrate)

I just want to celebrate (I got to celebrate)

I just want to celebrate

Big G  -  hey this is pretty good, beer versions of some great songs!

Manager  -  I told you you’d like it! Check out some of the other titles

Big G  -  We’re Not Going to Drink It – Twisted Sister, We’re An American Beer – Grand Funk,  I’m Still Drinkin – Elton John, Why Can’t We Have Beer - War. Sounds like some great songs with modified craft beer lyrics.

Manager  -  Well we’re one of the first to get one of these but I’m sure some of the other craft beer bars will be getting them soon.

Big G  -  This sounds like fun, but I need another beer before the next one so I’m headed back to the bar!

As I peruse the crafts on drafts I’ve got a big smile on my face as song lyrics run through my head. That was a great idea! And it goes to show that the craft beer movement does have impact on our economy other than just the product and jobs

and paraphernalia and retail/strip mall space that helps increase traffic and sometimes revitalize neighborhoods and food trucks and beer festivals and yea well there are many more but my glass is empty…

---------------------

Glenn DeLuca writes ;about the culture of beer. He may be reached by writing thebigG@beernexus.com. 

It Pays to Have A Go-To Bar

A couple of years ago our group used to hit a few different bars for our Friday Happy Hours. Nothing stays the same, so when a couple made changes we weren’t thrilled with and another closed we focused on pretty much the one that was already our Tuesday hangout, The Cloverleaf, and already the best and most consistent. During the past year plus when they were only open for takeout for awhile and then limited seated, we tried to be as loyal and supportive as possible since the last thing we all wanted was for them to go under and have to find another place that wouldn’t be nearly as good. We’re all definitely happy that we’re finally coming out of this year plus funk and starting to get back to the way it used to be! This past month was definitely an interesting one…

Just Another TYPICAL Friday Happy Hour  --

Oh boy, it’s finally a warm sunny mid 70’s degree day in the middle of May and it’s Friday, so yes I’m headed to Happy Hour.  It’s so nice to drive with the windows down and enjoy the, unfortunately pollen laden, warm air as you drive. I definitely need to make a stop on the way and hit the car wash to get all the that green s…. off my car so it looks like it’s supposed to!

I get there a little later than normal and all my buds have already positioned themselves. That actually was part of the plan as I as getting over a “Bout with Gout” and I really want to ease back into beer. Hopefully you’ve never experienced it before, so for educational purposes gout is really a type of arthritis, caused by a buildup of uric acid. Two of the main culprits are shellfish and alcohol, especially BEER, which means this is not so good for those of us who love craft beer. I’d venture to say that 99% of the time that excess acid heads straight south to one of your big toes and it can become extremely sensitive, red and/or swollen. It’s so sensitive that the weight of a bedsheet at night can be excruciating. Luckily there is a prescription medication that can help clear up the problem in a few days, but I don’t want to push my luck.

Hey sorry for the divergence but as we all know there are always twists and turns in day-to-day life and this can be a big one… And FYI, in case you’re thinking gout is an old person’s issue, think again; men are more likely to develop gout between 40 and 50 (although one website said 30 to 60) and the belief is women are protected by estrogen so would tend to develop later…so you never know.

So, I sit down and begin to peruse the draft list. I had heard that Ramstein Maibock was on draft and I’m definitely ready for one of those. I ask Richie, our non-IPA lover sitting next to me, if that’s what he had and he proclaims it’s his second. Rebecca comes over to see what I’d like and I tell her I’d like a Maibock like he has. Well without a moment’s hesitation she says “that’s his Bock not your Bock” and I could hear the drum roll. She was definitely laughing under her decorative face mask and everyone else was duly impressed. She’s definitely been serving us too long as we’re “my” bocking and “your” bocking all the time…well at least when we’re drinking Maibock as it wouldn’t make a lot of sense if we’re drinking IPA, it just doesn’t work…we have trained her well!

We’re having our usual conversations about beer, current events, what the weekend plans are etc. Vince, aka Mr. BeerNexus, is scouring the draft and front-page bottle/can list to see what possibilities there are for him to procure another punch in route to his Third PhD. He just finished his Second PhD and has been obsessed with getting punches. The Third PhD allows one to order any pint pour in a STEIN, so yes, we’re talking a REALLY BIG POUR at the pint price!  Interestingly enough those of us who have three or more PhDs very seldom get the stein, we usually get the PhD glass. The PhD glass is 2 ounces more and the PhD stein is 4 ounces more, so you really need to understand how much that increases your alcohol intake and keep in mind you plan to drive home when we’re finished. We did all tell Vince that when he graduates, we’ll all be using our PhD Stein to celebrate with him.

But back to Vince; for years we encouraged him to start the MBA program and he was never interested; something about having to try a lot of beers he’s already had and some he really doesn’t want and maybe he just didn’t come to The Leaf enough to think it was worth his time, etc. etc. etc. Well, a couple of years ago he succumbed and started his MBA, graduated and is now addicted to PhD program. Although he claims his addiction will only last through this, his Third PhD. Why you say, well there are no rewards for PhDs 4 and 5, you have to wait for #6 to be awarded a Cloverleaf growler. It is a very nice stainless growler, but as he correctly notes he really doesn’t need another growler and how often does he fill one anyway. I agree, I have a bunch of growlers and seldom use one.

Back to the list; it’s about ten days since Cinco de Mayo so they’re looking to clean out their Coronitas, so they have a bucket of six 7-ounce Coronitas for $15, which would qualify for two punches. We can sense the brain waves, not to mention the smoke coming out of his ears, that Vince is up to something. He then makes his proposition: “I will buy a bucket of Coronitas  IF  you each drink one” and since there are five of us, he will drink two! He then goes on to clarify that we have to drink the whole bottle not just a few sips. I call Corona chihuahua piss so you can correctly assume this is one of my least favorite, highly undrinkable beers, but in the spirit of having some fun I can choke down seven ounces so I agree. Richie agrees and Brian agrees so it’s now up to The Judge. His beer tastes are much more refined than any of us and he can find fault with beers that others of us are thoroughly enjoying so this could be a tough sell, but he surprises us all and agrees! Maybe it was all the pressure of being the decider…

Vince is lucky, as Jackie brings out the bucket he tells her about our adventure and she says she really likes Corona, so Vince immediately donates the extra one to her, for after her shift of course. I think we should have immediately disallowed that as he was supposed to drink two so now has a major advantage but we generously let it slide. Thank God for the lime that we all stuck in the neck of the bottle! I hear utterances of “it’s drinkable” and “on a hot summer day” and “it’s better than a few of the local craft beers we’ve tried” which is true there are a couple of pretty bad breweries masquerading as craft beer that are just terrible. When you analyze what you’re tasting you realize the lime is a predominate flavor and really is the only thing that make it drinkable. Vince is happy as he’s getting three punches today and has finished his spring season. We all look at the draft menu as we need a good tasting beer to wash it down. The finale is when the Managing General Partner comes over to our table to express his profound amazement and utter confusion that we all just drank a Coronita…which isn’t good as next time he’s got a unique beer he’s pouring he may question stopping at our table of possibly less refined tastes…

REDUX  --

It’s the following Tuesday and we’re back at the Leaf for our usual midafternoon get together. As we peruse the menu The Judge says “the bucket of Coronitas isn’t on the menu anymore.” I for one am not disappointed as once is definitely enough, but I am a little shocked when The Judge actually asks the server about them and we learn they sold out. I’m having a little trouble understanding how The Judge would actually consider drinking another one for two punches on his PhD, but I guess we all make tradeoffs when we feel there’s valve…

Who Knew I Was That Popular  --

There’s an email from The Cloverleaf in my inbox announcing that Sam Calagione and the Dogfish Head Sales Team will be at there for lunch on Monday AND after lunch he’ll have some time to talk with us. That sounds like a great possibility for an icon of our craft beer movement to meet the famed writer of BeerNexus, The Big G… I also don’t gloss over the fact that 60 Minute IPA drafts will be $3.50 and the 90 Minute IPA will be $4.50, along with assorted cans as well as a limited supply of rarer bottles. 60 Minute is one of the classic IPAs and you don’t see it on draft nearly as much as you used to, which is not surprising in this day of “let’s try the newest beer out there.” I’m game so immediately forward to my beer buds to see who’s interested. Interestingly enough only Brian is so we plan to meet for lunch on Monday, have a few delicious beers and we’ll see if we get to chat up Sam.

I arrive at 12:30 and see Sam and his wife and the DFH team have taken over the patio. It’s got to be tough to have a business meeting/lunch for them with food and drinks like the good old days. We head in and grab a seat at the bar. There’s Dana, who was on vacation so we haven’t seen for over a week so we’re catching up with her. We order our 60 Minute IPA and begin enjoying it. Dana tells us they have only have a few bottles of 2014 & 2016 World Wide Stout (some bourbon barrel), Raison D’Extra and the 120 Minute IPA, so let her know if we want any. The Raison D’Extra is a 15-18% Belgian style brown ale brewed with tons of malt, brown sugar and raisins so I’m thinking this would be a great dessert/finish beer for the afternoon. Since I’m sitting in front of the cooler they’re in and there’s not a lot of other customers yet I’ll just keep an eye on them to make sure I get one.

I saw a couple of bottles leave so ordered the Raison to sit and warm when I ordered my second 60 Minute. As it sits in front of me, I’m noticing the label and the cowboy with a guitar on it. I’m wondering who it is, it’s an older style cowboy hat, I’m thinking maybe Gene Autry. I try to Google it and do not get an answer; how unusual is that?!?  It’s time to order lunch and sure enough we’re halfway through and Ryan comes in to tell us Sam will be talking to folks in the outside tent; okay so I guess the rest of lunch will have to wait. Luckily there aren’t tons of people wanting to meet him so we patiently wait our turn. He’s definitely friendly and talkative, but Brian, who collects labels, brought some of his very old DFH labels which really spurred the conversation. One was the original 60 Minute label, which Sam told us he had found the picture he used and come to find out he gets a call from the person asking him why he used his picture. Sam tells him he thought he was dead and basically had to give him a lot of beer for him not to sue. He signs Brian’s label and Greg asks him to sign his Raison D’Extra bottle, which reminds me to ask him who the cowboy is. Turns out it was an homage to Woody Guthrie; you learn something new every day. He poses for a picture with me, signs a coaster for me and we’ve taken enough of his time so it’s back to finish lunch.

The Cloverleaf has many old tap handles displayed on shelves throughout. They show Sam an old 60 Minute tap handle and he identifies it as one of the originals, made by his family and this is only the fourth one he’s seen in his travels! That, along with Brian’s labels, probably cemented his thoughts that they definitely picked the best craft beer bar/restaurant in Northern NJ to have their luncheon!

It’s time for the finishing touch, the Raison D’Extra, which I’m sharing with Brian, as six ounces of this high an abv is just fine. It is delicious; has warmed enough to get a smooth clean taste with a rich raisin notes complimenting the malt and sweetness of the brown sugar; an excellent closer!

What a month! I’m looking forward to more of these!

                                                                   DIGITAL GOLD

BY GLENN DELUCA

Many of us craft beer lovers refer to beer as liquid gold, but we’re far from the first to be using that term. Beer is one of the oldest drinks humans have produced. Wikipedia tells us the first chemically confirmed barley beer dates back to the 5th millennium BC in Iran. Almost any cereal containing sugars can undergo spontaneous fermentation due to wild yeast (today we try to mimic that through coolships) so it makes sense that alcoholic beer like beverages were independently developed throughout the world. And that was a good thing as you may not have wanted to drink some of the water back then and it was probably a good way bring people together to relax and socialize; sounds vaguely familiar to something we do today. Who knows when they really first started calling it beer…?

In Mesopotamia there is a 3,900-year-old Sumerian poem, The Hymn to Ninkasi, who was the patron goddess of brewing, which contains the oldest surviving beer recipe describing the production of beer from bread made with barley. Beer and bread were two important staples of a developing society and so yes, they worshipped it.

It’s easy to think the term liquid gold came from the fact it was liquid and it was a bright yellow, but who really knows what color it was back then. There are descriptions of sitting around a communal bowl using straws so I’m thinking it probably looked way different. Another possibility is the wealthy would keep real gold for jewelry and statues (what a novel idea!) and pay workers in beer and bread.  

I did a quick search on liquid gold beer and came up with a few things. Captain Lawrence Brewing out of New York makes a Belgian style pale ale named Liquid Gold and Goldmark in UK has a Liquid Gold session ale. There’s a Liquid Gold craft beer bottle shop and tap room in San Fran. The best was the Frank Fehr’s Brewing Co who introduced a tasteless and breath-free odor beer called Liquid Gold in 1954. They claimed to use “Vacuum Aging” which took the CO2 out of the beer pulling out the nasty hop resin which they called “gurk”. It was initially popular because it left no alcohol smell on your breath, but if the gurk was the nasty part, then why did they leave it in the other beers they sold?? Sounds like an early attempt at a light beer but might have been more aptly named, Fools Gold…  I was a little surprised to not see more, but there’s probably been more references to beer as liquid gold in the past that didn’t come up.

Craft breweries have had to quickly pivot in the past year to stay alive after taprooms and bars closed and draft accounts virtually disappeared. People weren’t going to stop drinking so they had to figure out how to safely brew, produce more cans and bottles than draft, how to do curbside pickup, setup delivery service, redo their websites to stay in touch with us and take orders, and even start making hard seltzer, but let’s not get started on that.

Recently I saw a new innovation from Threes Brewery in Brooklyn; they started accepting digital currency, i.e., cryptocurrency. It’s not as crazy as it sounds since once, they started online ordering customers started demanding they accept PayPal. It wasn’t that far a stretch to think about crypto and it was fairly easy to setup through the Shopify app. They accept six different types of crypto; Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, USD Coin, Dai and one other.

Let’s step back here as I had no idea there were that many different crytocurrencies established and available. You always hear about Bitcoin but I will admit I never heard of the others. Maybe if I was interested, I would have done more research and therefore know more. The fluctuations in Bitcoin are so crazy; as I write this 1 Bitcoin is worth >$52,000 and last week all digital currencies plunged wiping out >$200 billion of valve, sure it rallied back but this isn’t real money, it’s speculation.

It’s supposed to be extremely secure as it uses blockchain and since again, I only know what I hear, I really don’t know how blockchain works. I’m sure everyone heard there is no password recovery so if you forget your password, you’re locked out after ten attempts and that’s it, done, kaput, finito, goodbye; and yes, one person lost $220 million after he forgot his password. Some think that crypto is what criminals use who don’t want to get caught but that’s not true either. Ask the Italian guy who used Bitcoin to have his ex-girlfriend killed. Blockchain is public so authorities can do a digital search and figure out who the owner is/was and yea they got him.

Threes is not expecting many to really use 0.000396946667 Bitcoin to buy a 4-pack but a few people have and Threes plans to keep it, as an investment.

And guess what, Threes is not the first to accept crypto; Philadelphia Brewing was first in 2013, Iron Triangle in LA, which has since closed, in 2016 and BrewDog brewpub in London when it opened in 2018.

And are you ready for this; there’s a crypto call Beer Money, intentionally designed as a means of payment within the brewing industry…so much for the old liquid gold, I’ll pay you in beer… There’s also a German based crypto called Beercoin, which can only be produced by drinking beer and scanning QR codes on the underside of the bottle cap, which I guess doesn’t do much good for those of us drinking draft or cans. Their goal is to create a beer-based cryptocurrency; that’s all fine and good but what’s the point? Although if you’re paying me to drink beer that could be an enticing option, but after I have it what can I use Beercoin for, maybe just bragging rights at the bar… Neither of these has gained much traction and to be honest why do I need to buy crypto to then buy beer when I can just use my good old credit card or maybe even some cold hard cash…

And if you think that’s it there’s DownStream, a collaborative brewing project in Ireland that claims it is the “world’s first blockchain beer.” Wait, so is it beer or is it digital or what?? So, it’s actually real beer, but they have a “Global Product Authentication Service” (GPAS) incorporated into a QR code on all product labels to allow us to reveal the authenticity behind the brewery’s provenance from barley to bottle, so you know for certain that what you’re drinking doesn’t just taste fantastic, but is real, honest to goodness craft beer. Wait, what… I did watch their explanatory video and looks like they’re trying to go through the whole brewery process on each beer. I guess I really do need a lesson in blockchain to understand how they can guarantee it’s all what they say it is. I hope they didn’t name any of their beers after Bernie Madoff… This could be good for those of us who hit the bar alone and instead of interacting with anyone can watch the video while we drink the beer…sorry doesn’t excite me…

And now back to reality; on another note, although now part of Lion, we have to give a shout out to New Belgium Brewing who for Earth Day just brewed a new version of Fat Tire called Torched Earth. There intent was to show us how difficult it might be to continue to make really great beer if climate change continues to wreak havoc on our environment. Obviously, they don’t expect or want to sell a lot of bad tasting beer so they didn’t produce a lot of it and it’s mostly available in their taprooms. Craft beer has always been a leader and many beers have been brewed and named to create awareness, so add this to the list. I would try it just for the effect but I can say I’ve tasted many a bad beer that wasn’t trying to be bad, but that’s not the point here…

How To Ruin Craft Beer 101

For BeerNexus.com

Thank you for signing up for Professor Big G’s online class. Since we shouldn’t be gathering together, I decided to follow the lead of many of the top-notch universities in the land, go virtual and use the internet as my communication vehicle. Please make sure to take good notes as there will be surprise quizzes along the way; open can and bottle are allowed of course.

As to my teaching credits I regularly attend the highly rated Cloverleaf Tavern U and have one MBA (Masters of Beer Appreciation) and am currently working on my seventh PhD (Professor of Hops and Drafts). The “Leaf” is consistently ranked one of the best beer bars in the Northeast and I am proud to be one of the thousands of learned folks who have and currently do attend this institution of finer drinking.

Let’s get started…

Section One:  Bigger is ALWAYS Better

We all know this to be absolutely true so let’s take a few scenarios and do the math: •   The dent that the extremely nice person who was parked next to you put in your rear fender and when you first saw it after yelling “#$%^&*” you said “couldn’ t they have made it a little bigger and more noticeable…”

•   The XXXL hat you bought, not because you have a big head, but because itwas on clearance and you couldn’t resist. Of course, it covers your eyes so you’ re now dealing with a bloody nose because you didn’t see the wall in front of you.

•    If only the kidney stone you just passed was a little bit bigger so you just could have just passed out from the excruciating pain rather than really have to feel it.

•    For those who can remember the gas shortage in the 70’s when you could only buy it on alternate days of the week and you sat in long lines just to get tothe pump hoping they wouldn’t run out before your turn and six months before it started you bought a huge 4 door hardtop with a 390  4 BBL cubic inch engine, which now sits in the driveway more than it’s on the road.

•   Your CAT scan just revealed a golf ball sized tumor and you were hoping it would be more like a baseball, with striping instead of dimples of course.

•    The whole “Super-Size” craze where many of the “wholesomely delicious” fast- food places made bigger burgers and stocked bigger cups so we could drink even more soda and we now have a ton, no pun intended, of obese and diabetic people.

•    You bought the 42 oz baseball bat as you want to crush the ball when you hit it but it takes you so long to swing it through the zone the pitcher has already thrown two slo-pitch strikes over the plate (yea Spring Training has finished and the regular season starts today!).

Before we discuss these examples let’s have a quick multiple-choice question to see how this may apply to craft beer. Take a minute to ponder this.

Question 1 -  A 16 oz 12.5% ABV Imperial Stout is always better than an 8 oz pour?

a.   Definitely since I can’t see straight now this should straighten out my eyesight.

b.   Yes, but only if you drink it through a straw.

c.    I’ve only had one beer and after this I’m Ubering home

d.    Actually, if the bar or bartender is going to give me a 16 oz pour of this, I’ll order 2!

Typically, we tend to think that bigger is better, but as we’ve just seen it’s really case specific and yes that can certainly apply to multiple aspects of craft beer. More to come on that but on to our next section.

Section 2  -  Freshness has no relation to craft beer, unless of course you think about the following

•     Craft beers’ middle name is fresh!

•     Brewers try to package their beer when they think it’s reached the optimal flavor, aroma and appearance.

•     Beer is a kind of organism, i.e., something that lives and breathes (but hopefully not oxygen) and begins to lose some of its luster and brilliance once packaged.

•     One of the main ingredients, those big beautiful gorgeous hops (yes, I’m getting excited…and thirsty) are their most flavorful when fresh and it’s that hop profile that begins to fade.

•     Freshness is now viewed as so important many breweries are putting either canned/bottled on dates or freshness dates, which Sam Adams actually started doing in the 1980s.

•     Some breweries are keeping more of their beers refrigerated and many stores have reconfigured their cooler section to handle more local refrigerated crafts.

Section 3  -  For this section I’ve included a link to February 10, 2021 interview that was, to say the least, interesting.  It’s quick, approximately 2 minutes 30 seconds, and pay close attention to the numbers; you may have to replay it just to grasp the numbers so take a few notes. I’ll begin again in ten minutes just to make sure everyone’s had ample time to spend with this.

https://abc7news.com/localish/raleigh-beer-garden-record-for-most-beers-on- tap/10327316/

Okay, hopefully everyone’s had time to review and digest this amazing beer interview.  

First Question – who’s interested in going to the Raleigh Beer Garden to drink draft beer?  Well, I see a bunch of hands raised and thumbs up. My first inclination is to immediately fail you all, but this is about learning so no that’s not he right approach; make sure you have no distractions, pay close attention and let’s do some analysis of this.

Next Question – how long would it take to try all 222 North Carolina beers on the Second floor assuming you try three flights of four beers each day. That’s 12 a day, divided into 222; 18.5 days and you may want to add a few as maybe you miss a day here or there or have a few light days with only two flights.

Next – how long would it take to taste all 144 on the First floor; again, assuming three flights of four or 12 a day, that’s another 12 days, although they carry many of the commercial beers available also like Bud, Coors Light, Corona, PBR, Blue Moon, etc. so you won’t need the 12 days on the First floor. They are a Beer Garden so I don’t have a problem with them carrying those; hard to believe but  lots of people still drink them. So, it would take almost a month to try every beer you’d like to try, but unless you’re a craft beer newbie you’ve probably had some of these already so maybe you’ll only need three weeks.

Next – if there are 144 on the First and 222 on the Second, that’s 366 drafts. It states they own the Guinness World Record for the most beers on tap at 397. My understanding is that Guinness checks and you can’t just call them up and tell them what you have and they blindly accept whatever you’re saying but if the other floor is only liquor then where are the other 33 beers on tap; is that their private stock?!? I did see almost 20 ciders and meads on their menu so maybe they were included…

Now let’s do some deeper digging. Our smiling buddy Wes says they rotate 20-30 off each floor per month and at least 30 a month total. Well 30 total is 15/floor, so what is it, 20-30 or 15; it makes a difference, albeit slight in this case.

Let’s be generous and say they rotate 30/month on the Second floor. With 222 it would take 7.4 months to go through every draft, BUT that’s assuming they’re all purchased at the same rate. That doesn’t happen in any bar or restaurant, some are more popular and will move more quickly than others. So, when you walk in there are about 15 really fresh beers and another 15 that have been on 2-3 weeks. There’s no paper list and their online menu doesn’t tell you what’s fresh or running low as they don’t want to advertise to the educated craft beer drinker the ones on for 6-7 months...or maybe longer. If they did why would you try another of the other 192 unless they’re stouts, porters or barrel aged? It’s a little better on the First floor since rotating 144 at 30/month is a mere 4.8 months; if it’s actually 20, then you’re at seven months.

Initially you were probably thinking all the servers are craft beer savants as “they need to know their wall.” Well, if only 20-30 change a month once you’re there awhile and have learned what’s on it shouldn’t be that hard to swap out an average of one a day.

There was something else I found interesting when they showed the cooler; all the kegs were half barrels. We know that many of our craft brewers use sixtels on smaller production, one off and high abv beers so I was surprised to not see one. Now they didn’t say which bar it was so maybe it was the international but still there should be quite a few non-North Carolina crafts in that bar; so not one sixtel…

Additionally there was absolutely no room in there to walk or move around so I’m guessing they probably change beers at night or in the morning rather than during a shift since there’s no rush with so many available. A full half keg weighs about 160 pounds so they better be bringing in some football lineman to lift them onto the shelves as most of us aren’t doing it.

Let’s think about this from the craft brewer’s side; are you excited or repulsed ifthe Raleigh Beer Garden wants to carry your beer, knowing it could be on for seven or more months. Look if you’re brand new you’ll take any draft line you can get, but if you’re somewhat established, I’m hoping you realize this isn’t a great proposition for you. If we taste your old, losing taste beer and don’t like it are we more or less likely to try any of your other beers?? Unfortunately, they probably order most from a distributor and the brewer doesn’t have a clue.

On to Wicked Weed. I went to their website and looked at their “About” section. They opened in 2012 and obviously made good beer as they continued to expand and grow. And there it was, my suspicion confirmed in the next to last sentence; “In order to continue the growth they had seen in the past six  years,Wicked Weed Brewing entered into a partnership with Anheuser-Busch family of craft breweries.”

I’m glad I found that before I went to the top fifty list of craft breweries on the CBA, as duh they wouldn’t be on it. I was wondering how any craft brewery, and I’ll include Boston Beer, Sierra Nevada, Founders, Bells, etc. could possibly supply 200 different beers on tap at the same time; and why would they ever want to is the more important question. I guess if you have some A-B help you can do abunch of variants on a bunch of beers, although I’m not sure how exciting that is.

And what about smiling Wes? Well, hey he doesn’t own the place, he works there and unless you’re independently wealthy you need a job, so he’s doing what he was hired to do so it’s not really fair to trash him, but let’s just say I’m not overly impressed.

I remember when we first started getting the 60 tap bars and then 90 or more. Yes, I was initially excited until I went and realized I had no clue how long any had been on. I do remember a not great rating and commenting on my Untappd on a choice in an unnamed 90 selection bar. A couple of days later the brewery commented that the beer was old and shouldn’t be on draft any longer. I appreciated that and think that brewery is smart to monitor when consumers are checking in their beers as they can learn from that.

Well, I see we’re running out of time; hopefully you’ve all gained a little insight to make your drinking experience better. And in closing always remember these three words; “FRESHNESS TRUMPS SELECTION!” so make sure you are “Thinking before drinking” and if you wind up in a place like this maybe ask for a taste first to try to determine if it’s still fresh. 

Class dismissed, let’s go have a delicious fresh craft beer.

Glenn DeLuca writes about beer and culture of drinking. He may be reached by writing thebigG@beernexus.com.

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What A Long Strange Year It’s Been!

For BeerNexus.com

Well here we are; the holidays have begun and we’re nearing the end of another year. I took a look back at my December 2019 article and reminded myself what a great craft beer year it was, with lots of great beer and events and fun. And at the end I challenged 2020 to see if they could at least keep it up if not do better.

Well, maybe we were all just in a slumber, hunkered down doing our own thing and chasing our own dream and not necessarily paying attention to each other. We just expected things to go along as they were, but what we learned was 2020 would be that cold slap in the face, a wakeup call, some might even characterize it as an awakening. Not since 1918 have we had a pandemic that was as deadly as this, evidenced by losing more than a quarter million soles…so far.

But 2020 had even more in store for us as a few polarizing events focused us on racial injustice and minority discrimination. We had forgotten that outside of the Native Americans we or our ancestors came to this land and we were always proud of being a melting pot of different peoples. That was a good thing; people from other countries wanted to come here for freedom and opportunity. And since many things come in 3’s we also had some of the most political polarization we’ve ever seen in our lifetimes.  We had no clue what was in store for us when we started this year.

As we know, craft beer is both creative and resilient, so breweries virtually stopped kegging and moved to canning. Mobile canning, which was a growing supportive industry, turned out to be a godsend as many breweries can’t afford to go out and buy a canning line, much less have the space for it and I believe the process has gotten better as its matured. Many also skinnied down their offerings as they couldn’t be selling nearly as much draft when either closed or at limited capacity, so probably easier for both production and sales, although it’s pretty easy to slap a label on a plain can which is what many are doing. Man also felt the need and responsibility to say or do something and joined in producing their own or collaboration beers like All Together to help hospitality workers or Resilience for CA wildfires or Black Is Beautiful to raise racial injustice awareness to mention a few of the bigger ones. And yes, you heard it here first, I will even give a shout out to A-B, which paused beer production to can emergency water to help wildfire communities; keep in mind I’m still not advocating buying their beers.

Of course, there was already an aluminum shortage and the industry is saying that demand in North America is growing at a pace of eight to ten BILLION cans a year; which they may well have trouble keeping up with so could be a different/another problem down the road. And to get their beer out there some started delivering, while other joined Tavour which is a beer shipping service. When allowed many setup picnic tables with umbrellas or tents to first shield us from the sun and then added heaters to help keep us warm while we drank cold beers. Surprisingly some new breweries in the planning stage opened amidst this craziness!

Bars and restaurants were in the same boat so adapted with only take out for a while but then also expanded their supply of canned craft and started bringing in ones we hadn’t seen In these parts to keep us interested in trying new ones, which is what we love. When allowed they also setup tents and canopies and umbrellas for outdoor seating and put up plexiglass to segregate tables, seats at the bar and the bartenders. (Anyone wishing they had stock in the plexiglass industry the beginning of this year?!?)

And we the consumers adjusted first by drinking more at home, either by ourselves or joining others on a Zoom call (now there’s another stock I wish I had the beginning of the year), meeting in a friend’s backyard or in an empty hotel parking lot to socially distant socialize and quaff a few. It was great to see our drinking buddies when we were allowed to sit outside at a bar or taproom. it wasn’t what we were used to but we made due. The other alternative is to piss and moan and complain but basically that’s not productive; you need to play the hand you’re dealt, which is what I think we, the craft beer community, did. And many in our community looked inward to begin discussing racial and minority issues that we’re not immune to and how to move forward and be better citizens and supportive.

We still don’t know the fallout yet; we’ve heard of some bars and restaurants and some breweries closing permanently, but if this continues there will be more. It’s definitely an unfortunate situation but nothing anyone of us can help any more than by being responsible, staying safe and not helping this lousy Covid spread. Right now, your local craft brewery needs you more than ever. But compared to other industries like movie theaters, airlines, performing arts centers, travel agencies, museums, cruise lines and your basic brick and mortar stores, who are all just taking it on the chin, craft beer is in a better position; so, there’s definitely something to be thankful for.

As we wind down this year, we can look forward to a new year. Unfortunately, it’s going to start off a lot like the old one for a while. As the vaccines roll out (which amazingly we’re up to three now, sorry I’m not counting the Russians since they didn’t do a whole lot of testing, just basically said, hey it works, ah count me out on that one) over a period of months we’ll be able to create our new normal, which, trust me, we’ll like a lot more than the last eight or so months. I’m not sure we’ll see many if any big beer festivals but I’d be happy with more crowded bars; one step at a time is fine with me. And hey change is part of life and craft beer’s been helping it change for almost forty years and should continue to as far as I can tell.

So maybe seeing a four or six pack under the tree this year isn’t such a bad thing and maybe, since it’s the holidays, splurging on an expensive beer you’ve wanted to try is a nice way to treat yourself, and others if you’re sharing it of course. But whatever you do the most important thing is to stay safe so you’ll be able to

continue to enjoy all that delicious craft beer for years to come.

So, 2021 we know you can do better and I’ll even throw a pretty please with icing on top as I’d really prefer not to repeat 2020. Maybe more of us can sit down over a few crafts and have more civil discussion on issues and create a little better understanding of each others views but whatever it is craft beer and its faithful will adapt, we always have.

Glenn DeLuca writes about beer and culture of drinking. He may

be reached by writing thebigG@beernexus.com.

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It’s finally February 2021, we’ve made it to a new year, but it’s still cold out there  and we still can’t move around as freely as we would like, but hey baby steps are good. Around the 10th of the month, I saw my first reminder of Dry January.

Forgive me if I’ve forgotten to remember it, but there are a few other things going on. I did write about this auspicious event before; I didn’t like it then and I like it even less now! Yea I get it, maybe you went to numerous holiday parties  and then New Year’s Eve and you drank a lot more than other months so you’ll take some time off and detox; wait what?!? …with Covid there weren’t a lot of holiday parties and there weren’t nearly as many holiday family get togethers so if you were overindulging you were doing it in smaller confines. And let’s be honest, Covid gave many of us a good reason to imbibe a little more and it hasn’t gone away so I just want to keep enjoying my craft beer, wine and cocktails; I don’t want or need a break right now!

I saw another article that Dry January expected a slight increase this year from 11% to 13%, who “plan” to go sober during January. And you get the usual that they’re “trying to be healthier,” “trying to drink less” and almost half said they were drinking too much during Covid. We’ve all seen the stats that off premise sales are so much higher, but duh, the corollary is on premise sales are so much lower because we couldn’t or didn’t want to go sit in bars, restaurants and tap rooms. And by the way, this is a lot like New Year’s Resolutions when many of us “plan” to do this or that and don’t quite get it accomplished…a month is a long commitment.

For those who are interested this was certainly a much better year to try it than in the past. Why you say, well because the NA or non-alcoholic craft beer offerings are coming in droves! And if you want to broaden your base there are even NA spirits now, but more on that later. We all remember the few constant NA beers on the shelves for years (well maybe those bottles have been on the shelves for years but I meant available for years); Kaliber, Buckler, Clausthaler and O’Doul’s. Most of us have probably tried at least one of them and yea it tastes like a fizzy lager but that’s the problem, we don’t want any more of those fizzy lagers which was the vast majority of what we got for years. Thanks to legislation that opened up brewing and some of our pioneers who knew it was possible to brew much MUCH better tasting and interesting beer we have a movement and 8,000+ craft  beer breweries.

Although we probably could have gotten there on our own, I think we should probably thank a couple of the commercial brewers who made big splashes last year; yes, I’m talking about Heineken who came out with 0.0 and our old favorite AB who released a new version of their Prohibition beer named Bud Zero. They both have the bucks to spend on advertising and that advertising, although not appealing to us craft drinkers, does put the idea of non-alcoholic beer somewhere in our conscious so when we start hearing about NA craft beer, we’re much more likely to try it as we do other styles that craft breweries make.

As for Heineken, they had us convinced for years that skunky beer was super premium (boy were we gullible!) but I’m about as interested in non-alcoholic skunk beer as I am cod liver oil. I read a review of Bud Zero that said it was thin, watery and flat with no nose or taste; I’m thinking not even those who like Bud will drink this. Basically, the only Bud Zero I’m interested in is ZERO IN MY GLASS.

Since this is the first time I’m really looking at the non-alcoholic category, I’m surprised to see so many major breweries with an offering; Stella Artois Alcohol-Free, Beck’s Blue, Samuel Smith’s Sam’s Brown Ale, Guinness “Pure Brew”, Mikkeller “Racing Beer”, Bitburger “Drive”, Free Damn, Schneider Weisse “Alkoholfrei”, Saintsbury’s Low Alcohol Czech, Birra Moretti “Zero”, Lowenbrau “Alkoholfrei”, San Miguel 0.0 and there are a lot more! So yes, I’m definitely surprised to see so many name breweries have jumped into this market. Of course, with the consolidation that’s taken place over the years many of these aren’t independent breweries anymore, so the big-wigs at companies like InBev and SAB are basically directing them to offer an NA or Alcohol Free.

We probably should step back a minute to acknowledge the slight distinction  between non alcoholic and alcohol free. Free as in 0.0, nada, nothing, etc. means the brewer has supposedly removed all the alcohol from the beer. Non alcoholic is defined as 0.5% or less ABV, so yes there is a hint of alcohol in those beers but I think you could get more alcohol walking past the cologne section in a department store than one of these beers. I’m obviously viewing them in the same boat.

Our craft brewers have taken notice and it’s also probably some feedback to the burgeoning supply of craft beers >10.0%. A few of those big boys and you should be careful driving home.

Let’s start with some of the bolder ones that are completely non-alcoholic:

•   Athletic Brewing in Stratford, CT. The owner decided to give up alcohol but wasn’t happy with the limited options he had so partnered with a great brewer in 2017 and developed two great NA beers (they also have some seasonal and one offs); Upside Dawn Non-Alcoholic Golden and Run Wild Non-Alcoholic IPA. The reviews I read are pretty good; Upside Dawn- citrusy hop notes, clean and light body, solid bitterness on finish, juicy and balanced and Run Wild- the same juicy

hop quality with a huge IPA aroma, balanced with great mouthfeel and 70 calories. I’d love to try both of these but you never see them around so I’ll try ordering from the brewery. They’re doing so well they’re projected to brew 10,000 barrels this year which is quite a feat. They’re obviously popular with lifestyle/fitness folks but I don’t think they’ll be challenging Mich Ultra any time soon, as those folks want to be seen drinking a fizzy lager and impressing each other with how well their workout went…

•   Bravus Brewing, out of California, founded 2015 because of a health situation and limited options, is considered the first US non-alcoholic craft brewery. They have a current nice selection of Amber Ale, IPA, Oatmeal Stout, Peanut Butter

Stout, Raspberry Gose and Cerveza. They’ve also been brave enough to try a bourbon barrel aged NA stout, which has gotten some very good reviews.

•   Surreal Brewing also out of California and also because of health and options opened in 2018 with their Red IPA. They also make a Kolsch, porter, juicy IPA, West Coast IPA and a Milkshake IPA.

Our well-established breweries are also expanding their lineups to include NA; Bell’s has Light Hearted Ale, Brooklyn has Special Effects, Sam Adams has Just The Haze, Firestone-Walker has Flyjack and BrewDog has Nanny State to name a few,

It’s interesting to note you read a lot of mixed reviews on many of these, some love them, some not so much. But is this any different from other styles of beer?? Absolutely not, I tasted many a craft beer I would never consider drinking again. The good point is we have more options and the even better point is the non-alcoholic options may encourage some who aren’t interested in alcoholic options to go out and join others at bars and taprooms. And isn’t that also much of what craft beer is about, the social aspect.

And it gets better for those folks and the rest of us because we’re starting to see non-alcoholic wine and spirts also! Mind and Body Wines offers “premium” low calorie and low alcohol wines. Spirit wise there are entries like Borrago, which is a steam distillation of six botanicals, Free Spirit which offers a gin, tequila and bourbon, New London Light which is a London style dry gin, Proposition Smokey Margarita and Seedlip, who offers three distilled herbal elixirs. Sounds like most of these are designed for mixing rather than straight up which makes sense. This is the first I’ve heard of these so can’t say I’ve ever had any of these and to be honest probably wouldn’t buy a bottle without tasting it first just to be sure.

Clearly the non-alcoholic options are expanding and that’s a good thing for us.I would love to see some creative marketing at the end of this year come up with mixed 6, 12 and 24 packs of non-alcoholic brews. That would be a great gift, although hopefully you’re not trying to send the message they drink too much, to a beer drinker.

I would definitely consider a version of Dry January 2022 if I had a selection of these to try when I’m ready to have a brew at night, of course I’m not worried about driving to the bedroom later that night, but I could be “trying to be healthier.

Glenn DeLuca writes about beer and culture of drinking. He may be reached by writing thebigG@beernexus.com.

Well hallelujah 2020 is finally over! The holidays just weren’t the same this yeand it was a hell of a year all around. We’re not out of the woods just by changing the calendar, we need everyone who wants to get the vaccine (and sorry I can’t understand why the vast majority wouldn’t want to) to get it so we can reopen bars and restaurants and tap rooms and go out and enjoy ourselves again. It’s going to take time and hopefully the additional time, which will certainly be over a year since this started, won’t be the death knell of more bars and breweries. We’ll have to cross our fingers and wait and see on that.

From the consumer standpoint although we couldn’t frequent bars and breweries as much as we like there was reasonable access to some good and yes some really great craft beers. So, on that front there isn’t much to complain about; we might have been more limited than before but we weren’t denied.

I love IPAs so whenever I see an article on or about IPAs, I read it. Found one recently where some brewers were trying to come up with their own classificationfor their IPA. Basically, instead of NEIPA or Hazy they were calling it Opaque…say that again…ok, Opaque. So yea there have been other descriptors like foggy or murky but what’s the deal here. I’m thinking this is basically a marketing ploy. I.E., how do you distinguish your IPA when it’s about 50% of the entire market.  You either fit into one of the existing categories or you try to create your own so we craft beer drinkers will think it’s another style to try. I need to do more research and no I’m not talking about drinking them, I mean looking around to see if I can learn more about the origin and if it’s legit.

The first description I see says opaque IPA taste like pillows plumped with fruit juices… If you’re like me you read and then re-read a few times and think, what does that even mean? Definitely when I wake up I take my head off the pillow, I might have a little cotton mouth and probably the first thing I drink is some fruit juice and this has what to do with an IPA I’ll have later that day… If that was supposed to entice me, it was a huge swing and miss (can’t wait for pitchers and catchers to report).

Some think the hazy category has likely reached the saturation point. Interestingly enough, Sierra Nevada’s Hazy Little Thing passed Lagunitas as #1 selling IPA in October. Nielsen is telling us there are more than 500 hazy IPAs in off premise channels, implying that new entrants “will need to find ways to clearl differentiate themselves.” My point exactly; more marketing ploy than a different style.

Back to research, let’s look at the handy Beer Styles Guidelines which they use to judge beers that I have downloaded on my phone and see if that brings any clarity. Well, there is only one IPA category with seven sub-categories; American IPA, and six Specialty IPAs: Belgian, Black, Brown, Red, Rye and White. I guess I’ve probably had at least one in each of the Specialty categories but seriously how often do you see a Brown IPA or a Red IPA or a Rye IPA; not all that often. Well, that’s not much help at all as it seems to me there should be about a dozen sub-categories of American.

Let’s think about the American category.

•     In the early years there was really just one style, the English IPA, which was a hoppy golden ale that used exclusively British hops like fuggles and goldings for a dry but grassy, earthly light citrus taste.

•     CA brewers decided to “Americanize” IPA using some of the big American “C” hops like cascade, citra and chinook to give a bigger citrus aroma with some pine and slight dank smells, which were less dry but significantly more bitter. Since IPA styles have expanded, we now refer to this as the West Coast IPA.

•     As many of us craft drinkers got more used to the West Coast, we wanted more hops so brewers were happy to experiment with hops creating what we call Imperial or Double IPAs, basically stronger hoppier beers. The best ones are able to balance the higher alcohol taste with the malty bitter hops.

•     And if you can make a Double then why not a Triple IPA, which at 12-13% are closer to the alcohol content in wine and are not to be taken lightly when you’re out enjoying them, unless of course you have a designated driver or are taking an Uber.

•     WHY STOP THERE YOU SAY? Well, they didn’t as we have Quadruple IPAs and some of the braver, well maybe braver isn’t the right way to view this approach, took it another step to Quintuple IPA. I’ve had a few Quads but never seen a Quintuple in a bar or a store, so yea they’re pretty rare, which is probably a good thing.

•     Now that we’ve cranked the ABV higher than we really need to many of us are saying that was great but I can’t stand, much less drive, after a couple of these. Our craft brewers, being the understanding and listening group they are said, well okay you want a “good tasting” lower alcohol IPA and the Session was born. Usually, an IPA < 5 or 6% was pretty mellow and not all that exciting taste wise, so yes this was a challenge for craft brewers, but Founders created the standard for the category with their All Day IPA. For many of us they are a lot more popular in the summer when you’re out and about enjoying the fresh air and having a few, but I usually like to “climb the ladder” when I’m out so starting with a good tasting lower ABV Session to start is not a bad thing.

•     But enough about the West Coast as they only became known as the West Coast after the East Coast or more specifically New England started another trend; the unfiltered hazy, cloudy sometimes with a yeast bomb on the bottom of the can NEIPA or New England IPA. And to be honest it was really more of those VT brewers like Alchemist and Lawson’s and Hill Farmstead that started making outrageously good beers in these isolated hard to get to places with little or no parking. They helped create the phenomenon of us craft beer lovers standing in long lines just to get a sought-after beer.

•     We can’t talk about the expansion of IPA without talking about the incredible increase in the number and style of the major ingredient; the HOPS. I searched online and found a spreadsheet with 147 different hops! Obviously, we have some that are extremely available and popular and some that must be difficult to find.

•     After the brewer decides which hops to use, they might have a choice how they’re available being fresh, dried or pelletized. That leads us to terms like wet hop, fresh hop, dry hopped, DDH or double dry hopped, triple dry hopped…

•     But the brewer is not done yet as you have the hops in form procured, now there are different times they can be added; before, during or after the boil.

We’re not done with our list but let’s step out for a minute and think about the choices and options that brewers have today they didn’t years ago. In the early days of craft, breweries had ONE IPA and they pretty much make it the same way all the time; and we loved them and drank them. There were some that distinguished themselves as top notch such as DFH 60 Minute, Ithaca Flower Power and Victory Hop Devil to name a few.  Now with all the different hops to choose from, deciding which of the bittering or aromatic or dual purpose to use, how to combine them to make a good tasting beer, which form of hops to use and when to add them; the number of options are ridiculous. So, when you’re tasting a great IPA there’s a brewer who’s hopefully mastered the art…or maybe got lucky as we all do every once in a while.

I really enjoy the breweries that have decided to make an IPA series, where they have one name for beer and then use the hop names they’ve added as descriptors; something like BigG IPA-Simcoe, BigG IPA-Cascade, BigG IPA- Nelson/Galaxy…well you get the idea. I’m remembering back many years ago when one of our founding breweries, Boston Beer, produced an experimental IPA 12 pack with 11 single hop IPAs and one that combined them all. They also included tasting notes so it was a great way to explore the different taste characteristics and qualities of each hop. It was definitely innovative for then and yes, very enjoyable. Of course, today you’d need at least a 48 pack for starters.

Okay so let’s get back to our list; I think we’re at the bottom of the barrel so to speak:

•     Coffee-I’ve had a few and they’re okay. I prefer my coffee tastes in my stouts.

•     Wood Aged- I hardly see these but hey you can age anything in wood to change the flavor characteristics.

•     Fruit-you name it and some brewer has tried to add it but you tend to see a lot of mango, blueberry, grapefruit, peach, etc.

•     Brut – I was very skeptical of this when it came out but you have to try it which many of us did and the next big craze was over before it began.

•     Milkshake IPA – let’s add lactose, an unfermentable milk sugar, to lend a sweet lushness. We’re seeing lactose used frequently now but if I have a choice, I’ ll usually pick one without lactose.

•     NA – believe it or not we are now talking “non-alcoholic”! There are some pretty good NA beers out there and brewing an NA IPA with the bold bitter taste you expect is not an easy task, but there are some.

•     Eclectic – aka “catch all” like someone used their hair, another oysters, another donuts; hey you name and some brewer probably tried it. So, are they avant-garde, innovative or just plain crazy?

Wait, where did we start with this; oh, right I don’t see opaque anywhere on this list and I hope we don’t. If you want to join the club don’t try to make your own category, just make GREAT IPA. I don’t care about the label or the name or the descriptor; all I care about is the taste.

Here’s to 2021 and all the great IPAs (and yes other styles) that we’re going to have!

Stay Safe and Drink Craft!

Glenn DeLuca writes about beer and culture of drinking. He maybe reached by writing thebigG@beernexus.com. 

What A Long Strange Year It’s Been!

For BeerNexus.com

Well here we are; the holidays have begun and we’re nearing the end of another year. I took a look back at my December 2019 article and reminded myself what a great craft beer year it was, with lots of great beer and events and fun. And at the

end I challenged 2020 to see if they could at least keep it up if not do better.

Well, maybe we were all just in a slumber, hunkered down doing our own thing and chasing our own dream and not necessarily paying attention to each other. We just expected things to go along as they were, but what we learned was 2020 would be that cold slap in the face, a wakeup call, some might even characterize it as an awakening. Not since 1918 have we had a pandemic that was as deadly as this, evidenced by losing more than a quarter million soles…so far.

But 2020 had even more in store for us as a few polarizing events focused us on racial injustice and minority discrimination. We had forgotten that outside of the Native Americans we or our ancestors came to this land and we were always proud of being a melting pot of different peoples. That was a good thing; people from other countries wanted to come here for freedom and opportunity. And since many things come in 3’s we also had some of the most political polarization we’ve ever seen in our lifetimes.  We had no clue what was in store for us when we started this year.

As we know, craft beer is both creative and resilient, so breweries virtually stopped kegging and moved to canning. Mobile canning, which was a growing supportive industry, turned out to be a godsend as many breweries can’t afford to go out and buy a canning line, much less have the space for it and I believe the process has gotten better as its matured. Many also skinnied down their offerings as they couldn’t be selling nearly as much draft when either closed or at limited capacity, so probably easier for both production and sales, although it’s pretty easy to slap a label on a plain can which is what many are doing. Many also felt the need and responsibility to say or do something and joined in producing their own or collaboration beers like All Together to help hospitality workers or Resilience for CA wildfires or Black Is Beautiful to raise racial injustice awareness to mention a few of the bigger ones. And yes, you heard it here first, I will even give a shout out to A-B, which paused beer production to can emergency water to help wildfire communities; keep in mind I’m still not advocating buying their beers.

Of course, there was already an aluminum shortage and the industry is saying that demand in North America is growing at a pace of eight to ten BILLION cans a year; which they may well have trouble keeping up with so could be a different/ another problem down the road. And to get their beer out there some started delivering, while other joined Tavour which is a beer shipping service. When allowed many setup picnic tables with umbrellas or tents to first shield us from the sun and then added heaters to help keep us warm while we drank cold beers. Surprisingly some new breweries in the planning stage opened amidst this craziness!

Bars and restaurants were in the same boat so adapted with only take out for a while but then also expanded their supply of canned craft and started bringing in ones we hadn’t seen In these parts to keep us interested in trying new ones, which is what we love. When allowed they also setup tents and canopies and umbrellas for outdoor seating and put up plexiglass to segregate tables, seats at the bar and the bartenders. (Anyone wishing they had stock in the plexiglass

industry the beginning of this year?!?)

And we the consumers adjusted first by drinking more at home, either by ourselves or joining others on a Zoom call (now there’s another stock I wish I had the beginning of the year), meeting in a friend’s backyard or in an empty hotel parking lot to socially distant socialize and quaff a few. It was great to see our drinking buddies when we were allowed to sit outside at a bar or taproom. It wasn’t what we were used to but we made due. The other alternative is to piss and moan and complain but basically that’s not productive; you need to play the hand you’re dealt, which is what I think we, the craft beer community, did. And many in our community looked inward to begin discussing racial and minority issues that we’re not immune to and how to move forward and be better citizens and supportive.

We still don’t know the fallout yet; we’ve heard of some bars and restaurants and some breweries closing permanently, but if this continues there will be more. It’s definitely an unfortunate situation but nothing anyone of us can help any more than by being responsible, staying safe and not helping this lousy Covid spread. Right now, your local craft brewery needs you more than ever. But compared to other industries like movie theaters, airlines, performing arts centers, travel agencies, museums, cruise lines and your basic brick and mortar stores, who are all just taking it on the chin, craft beer is in a better position; so, there’s definitely something to be thankful for.

As we wind down this year, we can look forward to a new year. Unfortunately, it’s going to start off a lot like the old one for a while. As the vaccines roll out (which amazingly we’re up to three now, sorry I’m not counting the Russians since they didn’t do a whole lot of testing, just basically said, hey it works, ah count me out on that one) over a period of months we’ll be able to create our new normal, which, trust me, we’ll like a lot more than the last eight or so months. I’m not sure we’ll see many if any big beer festivals but I’d be happy with more crowded bars; one step at a time is fine with me. And hey change is part of life and craft beer’s been helping it change for almost forty years and should continue to as far as I can tell.

So maybe seeing a four or six pack under the tree this year isn’t such a bad thing and maybe, since it’s the holidays, splurging on an expensive beer you’ve wanted to try is a nice way to treat yourself, and others if you’re sharing it of course. But whatever you do the most important thing is to stay safe so you’ll be able to continue to enjoy all that delicious craft beer for years to come.

So, 2021 we know you can do better and I’ll even throw a pretty please with icing on top as I’d really prefer not to repeat 2020. Maybe more of us can sit down over a few crafts and have more civil discussion on issues and create a little better understanding of each others views but whatever it is craft beer and its faithful will adapt, we always have.

Glenn DeLuca writes about beer and culture of drinking. He may be reached by writing thebigG@beernexus.com.

***   ***   *** 

An Extremely Successful Beer Hunting Trip!

For BeerNexus.com

I started writing this article back in April and all hell broke loose so I shelved it for a while. But it’s time to get back to it, so here you go.

My beer club, the Draught Board 15, holds a March Madness IPA Challenge for our March meeting every year and it’s obviously one of our more popular meetings. The idea is to taste 32 different IPAs, in a bracket format of course, until we have a winner. The following year we would bring back the Final Four from the year before and find another twenty-eight IPAs new to the challenge. We just completed our eighth challenge, so we’ve tasted numerous IPAs (and if that worked perfectly the math tells that would be 228 DIFFERENT IPAs, but not if you have a repeat winner or if we couldn’t find all the final fours to bring back each year which has happened).

The initial couple of years we had North, South, East and West brackets and filled them with beers from breweries as much in those geographic regions as possible. That soon became very difficult as it’s difficult to find different West and South beers each year here in the Northeast. The brackets are now A, B, C and D, but don’t be thinking we’ve copped out and are just willy nilly dropping beers into the bracket seedings; HOURS are spent looking up the beers on RateBeer, BeerAdvocate and UNTAPPD so as to bracket them as fairly and evenly as possible, since it’s all about the beer.

IPA was much simpler eight years ago so that’s been both a blessing and a curse; a blessing in that both breweries and IPA have exploded in popularity and almost everyone makes at least one IPA if not three or four so there should

always been new ones to taste, but a curse in that we initially decided to only include the basic IPAs. We did that using the beer’s name, so any beer name that included a descriptor, such as double would not be included. Well that works

pretty well except there are some DIPAs that just use their name, for instance Clown Shoes Galactica. And I picked that one because it’s really a DIPA, which can give it an unfair advantage and it did as Galactica won our challenge two years in a row!

But as IPA has exploded so have the different styles; there are now Session, New

England, Triple, Mango, etc. etc. etc. so it’s become a little more complicated

choosing them each year. So yes, Sessions and New England are okay but

triples and mango or any other fruit for that matter aren’t. Are you thoroughly

confused, well if not you should be! In any event it’s not only complicated but

usually one or two of the DB15 Board members travels out of state to see what

they can find. A few years ago, I volunteered to look for beers in Florida as I

typically travel there every February. I’m usually tasting different beers when I go

anyway so if I find a couple I think are worthy it’s no big deal to throw them in my

suitcase for the flight home; especially since the vast majority are now in cans so

the odds of the Samsonite gorilla breaking any of them are pretty slim. And yes, it’

s easy to find new beers but I’m really only interested in bringing ones that I think

are good and can compete; why bring back a not so great beer that’s going to be

a loser??

In 2018 I brought back two beers, one Brew Bus Last Stop IPA lost in its first

match up, but the other Green Man Trickster IPA, out of North Carolina, made the

Final Four! That’s a great feeling as we going through the results to see the beer

you submitted win round after round. Hey, a little validation of your ability to taste

and distinguish great tasting beers is always nice!

In 2019 I was again in Florida in February so did some taste testing to see what I

could find and I came up with two new ones; Tampa Bay Brewing Co. Old

Elephant Foot IPA and Brew Hub’s Rome City IPA. I’ve been to the Tampa Bay

Brewing Co brewery and restaurant in Ybor City quite a few times; good food and

pretty good beer, so their Old Elephant Foot was a no-brainer to bring back. As

an aside their APA Reef Donkey is always one of my go-to beers whenever I’m in

Florida. Brew Hub is a 2012 St. Louis brewery who added another brewery in

Lakeland, FL. Their philosophy is similar to Two Roads in CT; to brew their own

beers and also contract brew for others. I found their Rome City IPA to be a very

good IPA, definitely a worthy competitor for out challenge. I had to really search

to find the Green Man Trickster so it could return as one of the prior year’s final

four. Unfortunately, 2019 wasn’t my year as none of my three advanced far.

Here we are in February 2020 and I’m in Florida again and in search of some

new (to us) IPAs for our upcoming March Madness. I’ve passed the sign for the

Big Storm Brewing Tasting Room right off Rt 54 in Odessa many times and never

stopped so I decided it was about time I check them out. I was pleasantly

surprised not only grabbing their Palm Bender Gulf Coast IPA for the challenge

but also their Arcus Southern Pale Ale and Wavemaker Amber Ale for my beer

buds to taste. Hard to believe it took me that long to stop there when it was on my

route, but hey sometimes something is right under your nose and just don’t see

it. I did some other tasting and found Bear Lasers from Hidden Springs Ale Works

in Tampa and determined it to be another worthy competitor.

I had, what I thought, were two really good IPAs from Florida but I wasn’t done

yet! I had an event in CT so stopped at a fairly large beverage store in New

London. Perusing the coolers I found a couple of interesting Maine breweries’

IPAs. Luckily, I took a look at the bottom of the can for dates and found they had

been around for months so back in the cooler they went. The mantra with IPA is

drink it fresh so why take a chance on what may be really good beers but are

possibly past their prime?? And while we’re on the topic let’s just say a word

about beverage/beer stores that do NOT pay attention to their inventory. Sorry

but that’s criminal and offensive to us craft beer drinkers who might buy an old

beer that we deem not so good only because it’s past it’s prime. With today’s

inventory computer programs there should be an easy way to track beers and

either run specials or return them…I’m just sayin.

I head to their “local” cooler to see what they have and there is a fair amount to

check out. I spot one that I’ve had before and really like, Pour Judgement from

Grey Sail Brewing in Rhode Island. I’ve been to their brewery in my travels and

really like their beers so this is another worthy competitor. Here’s another

interesting one, Flower Child IPA from Cambridge Brewing Company, Cambridge

MA. I’ve never had it but the ratings appear to be good so it’s worth a shot. The

“local” cooler does have a lot of CT beers but I guess neighboring states count

as so far I’ve picked out beers from RI and MA…

Finally, there’s a CT beer, Lizard’s Breath IPA from Firefly Hollow Brewing out of

Bristol, CT. It’s worth getting just for the name and label but my standards are

higher so yes, I check out the ratings. Awesome I just picked up three more, but I’

m not done yet! There are more breweries along the “I”95 corridor in CT and my

next stop is Thimble Island. I’ve been there before and liked their beers so I’m

thinking their IPA would be another good entry.

I head home, take pictures of them all and send them along with some info on

each brewery to see how many they can use since I really have no clue how

many they already have. They can use them all, excellent! Now my only job is to

keep them cold and bring them in a little early the day of; oh, and yes get my

taste buds ready for our upcoming March Madness.

Luckily our meeting was March 8th as about a week later all bars were closed so

we snuck this one in by the thickness of an aluminum beer can. Obviously, I didn’t

know the seating before the tasting but learned the Bear Lasers was seated 5th

in B, Palm Bender was 7th in B, Pour Judgement was 6th in C, Flower Child was

4th in D, Lizard’s Breath was 7th in D and Thimble Island was 8th in D. On first

glance it doesn’t look like I picked great beers, but there are 32 so there needs to

be eight in each region and we’re trying to get good beers so there’ve got to be

four 7 & 8 seeds no matter what. To borrow a sports phrase and apply it here;

“that’s why we taste the beer.”

Our setup is four tables so each table tastes a different region and those four

winners from each are then tasted by a different table. The last three rounds are

tasted and judged on by everyone.  We had our usual great time tasting, not

liking some immediately, loving others and we then wait patiently as they tally the

results for the reveal.

In the first round:

•     Bears Lasers in a 5 vs 4 matchup loses to Good Life Descender,which is a  

.      good IPA from OR that I’ve had before.

•      Palm Bender in a 7 vs 2 upsets Sixpoint Meltdown IPA

•      Pour Judgement in a 6 vs 3 upsets Founders Unraveled IPA

•      Thimble Island in an 8 vs 1 loses to Tonewood Fuego IPA

•       Flower Child IPA in a 4 vs 5 beats Urban Village Wrong Way IPA

•       Lizard’s Breath in a 7 vs 2 loses to Ex Novo Mass Ascension IPA

So, three of mine advance. I really though Bear Lasers was a great candidate for

a top spot but hey on a different day or at a different table…you never know.

Round Two:

•        Palm Bender in a 7 vs 3 upsets Hop Concepts Rebellion Take On Anything I

•        Pour Judgement in a 6 vs 2 loses to Odd Side Citra Dank Juice IPA

•        Flower Child IPA in a 4 vs 1 upsets Tonewood Fuego IPA (which had

beaten Thimble Island  Rd 1)

I’m getting pretty excited as two of three advance into the Elite Eight!!

Round Three – Elite Eight

•        Palm Bender in a 7 vs 1 upsets Wicked Weed Pernicious IPA

•        Flower Child IPA in a 4 vs 2 upsets Ex Novo Mass Ascension IPA

Oh baby my lower ranked beers are knocking off all the higher ranks and have

each won their region; this is awesome!!

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

•        Palm Bender in a B7 vs A2 matchup beats Surly Furious IPA

•        Flower Child IPA in a D4 vs C4 matchup beats Bell’s Official IPA

Okay now this is totally unbelievable I have BOTH beers In the Finals so I win and

have runner-up

Drum Roll Please…..and the winner is…Flower Child IPA!!!!

I really liked the Palm Bender but heck I tasted the Flower Child at least three

times in the last three rounds and probably voted for it at least a couple of times.

I must say I’m feeling pretty good at that point and of course it gets better as we

finish whatever is open and select from the unopened ones to take home; can’t

beat that.

So yes, it’s already November and at this point I doubt I’ll be going down to FL

any time soon much less February so not sure Palm Bender will be back for next

year’s challenge. Assuming we’re able to have our usual March Madness next

year. That will be a big disappointment for us craft beer IPA lovers and yes for me

as I was planning to find a couple of more exceptional entries…