There Is No Such Thing As Too Much Beer
15 Sep 2011 1 Comment
in american ale, anheuser-busch, Anniversary Ale, beck's, Beck's Oktoberfest, beer, Beer Advocate, budweiser, craft beer line, feastive ale, Goose Island, Hudepohl Festival Bock, Hudepohl Oktoberfest Bier, InBev, nut brown ale, oatmeal stout, Shiner Oktoberfest, Spoetzl Brewery, St. Arnold Brewery
The science of tasting beer can be a hilarious subject. Take a look at members’ reviews over at Beer Advocate, where some brews are hailed as the second coming, while others, for the crime of being produced by companies owned by international corporations are banished to the outer darkness, the unholy ones, as it were. All of this of course, is quite arbitrary, especially when beloved breweries, such as The Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, receive an Anheuser-Busch Inbev offer they could not refuse.
It should be noted that Goose Island chose to discontinue producing their Nut Brown Ale and Oatmeal Stout before the acquisition. Their concentration on the beer connoisseur segment of business, emphasizing expensive, oak barrel aged products, seemed far away, from the Goose Islands I sampled in the last century, which were modestly priced ales of great character. Such is the nature of change, as the old cliché goes. But one thing I do hope for, is that Goose Island returns to bottling their Christmas Ale into 12 ounce bottles, instead of the 22ounce version, given the silly name of bomber, so in vogue with the craft beer crowd. With a few exceptions, most bombers means you are going to spend a lot of money for 22ounces of beer. Three $9 bombers means you are paying $27 for a five and a half pack of beer. I gather that many believe that this leads to a superior drinking experience. Equally, many believe that if a beer is modestly priced, it must not be good, and many a fine recipe is dismissed because it is not expensive enough. Delegating many tasty recipes to condescending terms such as a good gateway beer.
I bring all of this up because of recent tastings of different Oktoberfest beers, which are popping up everywhere. Take Beck’s Oktoberfest from Bremen, Germany. A fest beer given the Oktoberfest designation in the United States, since only the brews within the city limits of Munich are allowed to use the name in Germany. Beck’s, now a part of the Inbev global portfolio, still makes a very tasty Marzen lager for fall, using only the four classic ingredients.
Or take Shiner Oktoberfest, probably the lightest take on Marzen. Where a doughy palate is simple and direct. The 96 Anniversary recipe, called a seasonal ale on the bottle. But this is where geography plays into the picture. The Spoetzl Brewery, being in Shiner, Texas, has to designate any beer above a certain alcohol level as ale, regardless of the fermentation method. The geographic location also helps explain why this recipe has a lighter approach: it gets very hot in Texas. Different parts of the country have different requirements. There is certainly room enough for all to be enjoyed. 
When Cold Beer Counts
10 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in anheuser-busch, Avery, beer, brooklyn lager, budweiser, heineken, InBev, stella artois, Uncategorized
There is a famous scene in the John Cassavettes movie Gloria where Gena Rowlands, walks into a bar in the morning hours and asks for a beer. “What kind?” the bartender asks. Which Gloria (Ms. Rowlands) replies: “Cold.”
I didn’t fully appreciate this until after 16 days of plus 90 degree temperatures. In such a climate, “cold” is the most important attribute. In the hot summer sun, beer in a can seems quite suitable, so I have to laugh when the so-called craft brewing world announces the craft can revolution. Which I gather provides an excuse to sell their crafted creations in aluminum, dispensing with the notion that beer is always better in glass bottles.
There is of course resistance to that notion among those taught that glass was the last word in beer packaging. Brown glass bottles has always been a selling point with Samuel Adams, who so far have resisted the craft can revolution. A movement that now includes Avery, Brooklyn, Abita, and many others.
This is also where the marketing distinctions become a bit of a blur. In fact the term craft beer seems a useless designation, unless it simply means more expensive beer ($18 for a six-pack of cans?). And now the game is afoot, to convince all those glass bottle drinkers, that beer in a can can be just as good, after all those years of complaining about ‘metallic taste’.
It would be interesting to have a blind taste test to determine if you can actually taste the difference. Much packaging depends on psychology. How else can it be explained why so much time and resources is devoted to finding the right button to push? There is a dirt into gold aspect to this. Back in the 1980′s, the Mexican migrant worker cooler known as Corona became the sought after yuppie drink of choice, knocking off Heineken from its throne as the Number 1, U.S. imported beer.
This marketing coup was upstaged by another when Stella Artois, makers of a Belgian working class lager convinced the world, or at least the part that had money to spend, that Stella is a fine representative of “cinema, cuisine and culture”.
It should also be noted that Heineken, Stella Artois, and Corona are all available in bottles and cans. International branding doesn’t want to miss an opportunity. The redesign of AB Inbev’s Budweiser logo is a good case in point. Heineken pull tabs on their cans are green, Budweiser’s are red. Obviously, package design is enormously important, although the vast majority of consumers hardly even consider it. Marketing beer at this scale very often means promoting an imaginary lifestyle. Its not just beer, you might say, but a way of life.
Imagine The Surprize
27 Apr 2009 1 Comment
in adjunct lager, beer, bock, Great Lakes Brewing, InBev, James D. Robertson, Uncategorized
Fifteen years ago when the craft brew world was starting to go into orbit, few at the time would have imagined that the orbit is permanent, or L5 as they say. Recently sampling Great Lakes Grassroots Ale, I was struck by the fact a brewery located in Cleveland, Ohio could produce an herbal farmhouse style of ale, found in Belgian and French farms, and somewhat rare, even in their countries of origin. Mind you, it is not my favorite beer, but the Belgian yeast strain, combined with the herbs, keep this in authentic context. On the bottle’s label, it is referred to as a mild ale, which when you see that it is 6.2% abv, they are using the term mild in the Belgian sense of the word. In British vocabulary this ale would be deemed strong.
But there is certainly something to be said about sitting in the backyard, on one of the warmest days so far this year, amidst abundant foliage and sunlight, and pouring this beautiful golden ale into what could be rightfully called a performance ale glass, which exhibits this beer in all its saison glory.
Brewers in the United States are very interested in all different styles of beer. Take Andygator from The Abita Brewing Company in Louisiana. A big southern take on the traditional German Mai bock. Packaged into a 22oz bottle (a bomber as the beer crowd calls it) this 8% golden boy, is most definitely a bottle for two. If you open this while alone, well its time to get happy and responisble ( by not performing any tasks that require responsibility). Time to sit back and enjoy the malty golden nectar.
Which brings me to a point I would like to make. As The Beer Doctor, I was schooled in tasting by Beer Hound James D. Robertson, who taught me as a taster, its my job to meet any beer’s recipe halfway. In other words, if I am sampling a beer brewed with corn grits, say Straub or Pabst for example, I am not going to compare it with an all malt recipe. To say that beers made with adjunct grains are inferior is to deny the history of brewing (especially in the United States) that brought them about. Whether it is macrobrews or craft brewed, these marketing terms are incredibly overrated, because in truth, it is the recipe that counts, and how it is put into production. Of course branding has something to say, when it comes to satisfying the ticklish consumer palate. That is why Heineken Lager is sold in green bottles. Why Corona is sold as some fantasy beach vacation, rather than the dull migrant cooler that it actually is. Stella Artois is another marketing coup, taking a rather common table lager from Belgium, and making it “Reassuringly Expensive” as it was touted in England up until a couple of years ago.
The price of beer is often used as a way to determine the quality of the beer. After many years in the trenches, so to speak, I can assure the dear reader that this is not so. But people believe what they want to believe, so I am not at all surprised when I observe someone forking out serious dough, for a six pack of something I would consider not worth buying at half the prize. Such is essential human freedom, and bless us all for deciding what each of us wants to drink.
The recipe is the thing that will catch the conscience of The Beer Doctor. Whether it is new world or old world or downright acrchaic (such as brew lagered for months in stone caves). If it tastes good or interesting, it is going to be counted. Cheers!
A FATAL GLASS OF BEER
17 Jul 2008 Leave a Comment
in beer, budweiser, InBev, matt brewing, samuel adams
This is a story about baseball and beer. Okay, it is not about any ballpark, since I don’t have the scratch to throw away on that. This is about a few carefree 
(mindless?) hours watching a televised baseball game, from an air conditioned beer cave basement, complete with a forty year old refrigerator that I swear, will continue its chilling function, as long as there is electricity.
Now if the game being televised is the Chicago Cubs from Wrigley Field, advance planning requires that I travel to place where I can obtain Heileman’s Old Style, the unofficial but nevertheless, the beer of the Chicago Cubs. But since planning is not always in place, and I seek a beer within very short walking distance, InBev’s Labatt Blue is usually the alternative. But on the night of the all-star game, they were completly sold out. The store’s owner put forth another solution:
“How about some Budweiser? For the Beer Doctor I have 18 bottles for eight dollars.”
$8 ? I thought, even with states taxes that is less than $8.60 !
Sold I said and buy it I did. This proved to be a huge mistake.
I have not tasted a Budweiser in 9 years. The last six pack was their millennium edition, during a Monday night NFL game. It was pretty bloody awful.
This time, with a “born on” date of May 30, these bottles were well within their 110 day window for freshness. The first thing I noticed was the colour. It was more golden than it was 9 years previous. The nose too seemed a bit more malty. As to the taste…
A bland refreshing coldness is the gist of it. Even the one time cloying sweet presence of rice seems to have vanished.
Suddenly I remembered someone had left a bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon in the fridge. I thought, it is time to do a taste test, reviving the clash of the titans that occurred back in 1893.
Anyone who wants to know more about this history should take a look at Maureen Ogle’s Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer.
There has been a fascination with pilsner style beers ever since they were introduced. Part of this was due to an expansion of the working class, who saw for the first time, to order a golden coloured carbonated drink that aesthetically competed with upper crust champagne. So vitally important that the beer be not only golden but clear. This is what lead Anheuser-Busch to use beechwood strips during fermentation, to collect those unsightly particles that would still be floating around. Their discovery of using rice as an adjunct grain proved to be a goldmine to this very day. They also started bottling Budweiser to make sure you got the Genuine article. Soon there after, they began shipping the beer cold, using refrigerated railroad cars.
Leaving the land of rice for corn, Pabst Blue Ribbon pours with substantial foam. There is some flavor and it has more of a finish. As in 1893, Pabst beats Bud. In fact that is where the self-congratulatory Blue Ribbon comes from.
Perceptions can be very fickle. I remember a time when yuppies, or at least people who thought of themselves that way, frowned upon Budweiser as “the working man’s beer”. For them, the beer you preferred was Miller High Life in returnable long neck bottles. Pabst, voted America’s best in 1893 (according to Pabst) was now relegated to the bottom of the hillbilly ladder. But times changed, and Bud, with the help of Hollywood, soon became hip again. Pabst enjoyed a resurgence as the rockabilly beer of choice.
All of this macro-brewed investigation has left me nearly exhausted. The night of the all-star game, which went late into extra innings, all I had were these bottles of Bud, so bland that they became undrinkable, no matter how cold or what glass was used. Even drinking it straight from the long neck just didn’t cut it. Cold water was a welcome alternative.
This brings up something I want to state, because, as the Beer Doctor it needs to be said. Four of the worst beers in the world. They are: Budweiser, Warsteinner, Stela Artois, and Corona. Which makes me appreciate the efforts by those U.S. brewers who take the flavor of their beers seriously.
I can not name them all, but some of The Best Brerwers In The United States, would surely include The Boston Beer Company, The Anchor Brewing Co., Penn Brewing, and F.X. Matt. The recent controversy over InBev’s purchase of Anheuser-Busch, brought charges that foreign ownership would prompt them to change Budweiser’s recipe. Considering the marketing driven swill that nearly everyone embraces, I think they’ll keep it cold and fresh and lousy, the way it is suppose to be.
I was recently asked, what is the great national lager. I would have to say Samuel Adams Boston Lager. What a surprise to the Bud light crowd, a beer with actual flavor.
Peace and thank you.
GETTING IN BED WITH INBEV, PART TWO
19 Jun 2008 Leave a Comment
in beer, budweiser, business, InBev
This is all starting to sound like a suspense novel. Now Washington is involved. InBev has hired a posse of lobbyists. Trent Lott is on board. So is Senator John Breaux of Louisiana. The Glover Park Group, a media firm known to be connected with Senator Clinton, has been tapped for consultation. Carlos Brito is taking no chances, well aware that Anheuser-Busch spent over $3 million in lobbying in 2007. This year their PAC and employees have already given over $1 million in political contributions. The foxes are scrambling to see who gets the big hen house, with all those prized eggs.
Senator Kit Bond had another take. He told Carlos Brito: “This Bud is not for you.” The Missouri Senator has concerns he says, for the line workers, the farmers, the suppliers, and the St. Louis community in general. It does not matter who InBev hires, he is against the deal and that’s that.
But is it? What about the Oracle? What Oracle? Why the Oracle of Omaha of course. I’m talking about Big Daddy Warren G. Buffett, owner of 35.3 million shares of A-B stock, or 4.9% of the company. According to the Dutch newspaper De Standard, the Oracle is on board with the acquisition. If this is the case, having the Oracle’s blessing may very well mean the purchase will become a reality. 35.3 million shares at $65 a share. Go ahead, don’t be afraid of the math.
Yikes! All this monumental fuss over a very pedestrian beer. It is enough to drive you to drinking… water.
GETTING IN BED WITH INBEV
13 Jun 2008 Leave a Comment
in beer, budweiser, business, InBev Tags: Add new tag, business
The news announced: “an all cash takeover at $47 billion”, now that sum is reported to be $47.5 billion. I am speaking of course of the buyout of Anheuser-Busch (ticker symbol: BUD) by the Belgian based brewing conglomerate known as InBev. According to Theresa Howard of USA Today, it just might be that InBev needs to bed A-B, more than vice versa. It is being reported that the hydra-headed brewing concern has squeezed all of the profit margins from their existing portfolio. Sales in Latin America, their biggest market, are now flat. The old adage, get bigger or get out, seems to apply here. InBev’s CEO, Carlos Brito reveals their desire by promising to keep A-B’s headquarters in Saint Louis, along with continuing operations in their 12 regional breweries.
But then, there is the whole matter of marketing, especially sports marketing. InBev known in big business circles for its cost cutting, will certainly change Budweiser’s advertising, what beverage industry analyst, Tom Pirko calls “Anheuser’s carpet-bombing approach”.
Anheuser-Busch, known for making The King Of Beers, is most certainly the king of advertising, spending $475 million in the United States, with $20 million going for TV spots on the Super Bowl. Contrast that with InBev, whose brands include Bass, Beck’s, Stella Artois, spent $58 million in the United States.
Many analysts believe that InBev will cut advertising expenditures and fight competition by cutting prices (so that’s why that 24 ounce Labatt’s costs one dollar!).
Of course there is much controversy in all of this. Objections to the purchase, on patriotic grounds seem disingenuous at best. Since 1852, Anheuser-Busch has been an American-owned and operated business. In addition to great tasting beer, the company has provided thousands of domestic jobs as well as millions of dollars in charitable donations to nonprofit organizations and disaster relief, and has a long history of environmental awareness. Anheuser-Busch is a huge supporter of our military and their families both here and abroad… so intones savebudweiser.com, a web site created to cancel the purchase. Throwing in the military line seems to imply that to be bought by the Belgium based company is somewhat an act of surrender. But what is truly suspect on savebudweiser.com, is when it declares, We don’t want another American icon turned over to a foreign company; we want the motto to remain… The Great American Lager. Funny they just happened to use the latest marketing motto to express their nationalistic fervor. Instead how about “A Bud Never Meets A Stranger” or “When You Say Budweiser, You Said It All” or “For All You Do, This Bud’s For You!”
Putting aside the emotional jingoism, consolidation has been going on in the beer industry for a long time. From a Pitt News editorial on May 24, 2006: Last Friday, Rolling Rock said goodbye to its home in Latrobe. The recipe and label of the green-bottled brew were purchased for $82 million by Anheuser-Busch. Which says nothing of Bud’s relationship with Japan’s Kirin Brewery. Throw in the marketing arrangements with Tsing Tao in China, and what we have here is an American based company with very global concerns.
And then, there are always those people who simply can not stand Buweiser, who couldn’t care less. I find their posts on beer sites: The man who drank 3 Buds at a wedding reception, which produced his first hangover in twenty years. The people who love the Bell’s Brewery, and that’s that. (Well, maybe not, Carlos Brito may one day make Larry Bell an offer he simply can not refuse.)
“Anheuser-Bush is just about as American as can be” said one construction manager, “I just don’t like them being gone and owned by a foreign company.” I am sure the people of Latrobe, Pennsylvania felt likewise, when the 250 jobs and $300 thosand property taxes evaporated when Anheuser-Busch bought the brand and pulled up stakes… from the glass lined tanks of Newark, New Jersey?
Money does not talk, it screams. The possibility of $70 dollars a share (ticker symbol: BUD) may be impossible to resist.
