While traveling in Northern Indiana to visit Three Floyds brewery one summer evening I was told about a country bar in a small town that had great tenderloins. Indiana is noted for their tenderloins and it is an Indiana tradition I love to partake in.

I arrived at the local bar with notices in the window proclaiming “We Love Our Troops” and displaying American flags in all the windows.  Upon entering I also noticed even more American flags hanging on the back wall along with red white and blue flashing lights across the bar. This most certainly was the “Heart of America”.  I also found the bar very clean with lots of people, small children, and I was sure everybody knew everybody and that I was the outsider.

After sitting down the waitress came over to ask what I wanted to drink. I was wearing my “Drink Local Indiana Beer” shirt from last year’s Indiana Micro Fest so I asked “anything local?” She seemed confused by the question then directed me to the bartender. I then asked him what he had that was locally made.  He proudly handed me a Shock Top.  I quickly stated that no, that was not a local beer but a brand owned by a company in Belgium.

Still trying to satisfy me he showed me all the beers he carried (there were 45 different beers in the cooler). Only one was even remotely craft or local, Sam Adams Light. He then said he might have something in the cooler and he went took but came back and said no this was it.

Now I could tell the bartender seemed offended by my comments about local and there were a couple other people at the bar paying attention and I am sure they did not believe what I was talking about so I did not push it any farther.  But I would guess if I went to everybody in that bar that night and ask them about Local Beers and local foods they would boast about the fact that they were buying everything local. Beer, now that is a different subject.

As a craft beer enthusiast and a beer wholesaler I find this scenario both common and frustrating. If I asked the sixty or so customers of the bar that night if they thought they were eating pork tenderloins from Brazil what do you think they would say?  If I asked them if they realized all the beer selections there were from foreign companies what do you think they would say?

Now the question is if I believe that those consumers would buy something else (especially if it was local) then whose fault is it that they have no local beer choices? Does the problem lie with consumers, retailers, wholesalers or brewers? Do consumers even care? As a wholesaler could we or should we use that as a selling tool?  In this scenario the bar manager was probably offended and that would make it an even tougher sale. But was he offended because he did not know?  Or did he not want his customers to know?

By the way, the food was great!

Lots of room to comment here and I would like to hear it.

We’re well into thesecond year of a sluggish economy and craft beer sales are looking great while the rest of the beer industry struggles. In fact, 2009 saw an increase of 7.2% in the sales of craft beer while the overall beer industry struggled with a 2.2% decline according to the Craft Brewers Association.

Clearly, the economy has not yet hurt the craft beer category, but is the down economy actually helping the sales of craft beer?

The US economy continued to decline from 2008 to 2009 in a variety of measurements including the growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP), one of the key measurements of economic productivity. Craft beer sales, already healthy coming into 2008, grew even faster in 2009. From 2005 to 2009 the US GDP declined in growth rate each year while craft beer sales continued to rise.

Consider that many people are saving money by going out to eat less often. The AC Nielsen company reports on consumers “with nearly half (47%) going to bars or clubs less often than they did before the economic downturn.” That hurts our friends at restaurants and bars to be sure, but some restaurants and bars are fighting lower numbers by adding more craft beers to their menus to help distinguish themselves from their competition. Craft beer attracts new customers! In fact, the National Restaurant Association lists “local wine and beer” as their #5 “Top 20 Trends for 2010″ in thier publication “What’s Hot in 2010.”

And for those who are staying at home the purchase of a craft beer six pack instead of a national or bargain brand is still a very affordable luxury. A ten dollar six pack consumed at home may only be the cost of two beers consumed at a restaurant. Craft beer becomes a tasty reward even while spending less money.

What about the concept of trading down? Aren’t people buying cheaper beer across the board to save money? AC Nielsen reports that trading down has occurred in beer and that those who did trade down are likely to stay with their less expensive choices, even after the economy rebounds. Sales of the “bargain brands” of beer are on the rise while many “premium import” and domestic brands are flat or falling. AC Nielsen suggests that those beers that lost ground through “trading down” will suffer permanent damage that a resurgent economy will not repair. That means that those people who have migrated to the craft beer category due to economic conditions are likely to stay there.

But what do consumers trade down from to get to the relatively expensive craft beer category?

Many wine drinkers have been in the habit of purchasing $30, $40 and $50 bottles of wine to drink at home and many of them are looking for less expensive alternatives as well. Some of them are likely finding that a $15 to $20 bottle of wine does pretty well for them but they can also buy six pack of craft beer for around $10 or a wine sized bottle of craft beer for that same $10 or less. So I’m sure that many wine drinkers are finding that craft beer is far better than the beers they might have abandoned in favor of wine years ago.

The poor economy worldwide may also be benefiting craft and specialty brands in other ways. I recently read a press release from Fuller’s (England) recapping their financial performance over the previous 12 months and stumbled onto this passage -

The recession has seen media prices fall and we were able to secure high profile media space at competitive prices. We stepped up our marketing activities during the year to benefit from the lower media prices and invested more than we did last year, running television, cinema and poster advertising campaigns.

Lastly, does success breed success? Even the mainstream media has noticed that craft beer sales are continuing to grow when most businesses are struggling. Media attention has been more focused on craft beer in recent months than ever before as the promise of job creation in the craft beer industry gains more attention. At a time when many businesses are failing, craft brewers continue to expand, pay taxes and contribute to the economy.

National Public Radio (NPR) just did a terrific piece on this topic. You can listen to the audio here:

Craft Beer stats courtesy of the Brewers Association, US GDP stats courtesy of the World Bank, AC Nielsen quotes are from the online “Supermarket News” article “Nielsen: Alcohol Consumers Still Cautious“

Who should attend? This event is a no-brainer if you write about beer or are involved in the blossoming world of social media surrounding beer. But perhaps more importantly, this event will have some tremendous content for those of us (like me!) who just love great beer and are genuinely interested in helping to promote it. I cannot imagine that there is a better way to prepare yourself to be an “influencer” in the world of beer than by attending this event.

The list of people who will be there is already starting to look like a “who’s who” in the social media world of beer. Ashley Routson, aka The Beer Wench, beer blogger extraordinaire,will be the Chief Blogger for the 2010 conference. Colorado bloggers will be on hand in spades including Chuck at Beer at 6512, Rick at Big Foamy Head (who also runs Epiphany Brewing), and Eli and Erik at Beer Tap TV (Eli also writes at Confessions of a Beer Geek).

By the way, Boulder is one of the best places around to enjoy beer. The breweries in Boulder alone are amazing (Avery, Redstone Meadery and many others), but within a short drive of Boulder lie Oskar Blues, New Belgium, O’Dell’s, Left Hand, Great Divide, Breckenridge, etc., while the city of Denver hosts many of the best beer bars in the country, including the famous Falling Rock Tap House.

Simply put, Colorado may be the best state in the union where great beer is concerned!

The conference is being organized by Zephyr Adventures, the same folks who have put together the North American Wine Bloggers Conference with its partner OpenWine Consortium and now co-organizes the International Food Bloggers Conference. The people at Zephyr are pros and we’re very happy to see that they are putting a big spotlight on beer bloggers with this event.

US Craft Brands -

Abita (Louisiana): Satsuma Wit is in stock now. Also, a special pilsner called S.O.S (Save Our Shoreline) will be bottled and shipped to Indiana in August.  75 cents of each bottle of S.O.S. will benefit recovery efforts of the Louisiana coastline. From Abita: “This unfiltered Weizen Pils is made with Pilsner and Wheat malts.  It is hopped and dry hopped with Sterling and German Perle hops.  It has a brilliant gold color, sweet malts flavor, and a pleasant bitterness and aroma.   It is 7% ABV and has 35 IBU.”

Atwater (Michigan): Atwater’s newest beer, Atwater Pale Ale, is now available.

Avery (Colorado): Avery’s newest anniversary beer, 17, is in now. It is a black lager.Avery Brewing will be phasing out 14er ESB and Redpoint Amber.

Barley Island (Indiana): The Barfly IPA recipe has been slightly tweaked to increase the American hop flavor.

Bell’s (Michigan): Bell’s Poolside will be available in 1/2 bbl kegs beginning in July. Bell’s Oarsman will be available year ’round in bottles beginning in August.

Boulevard (Missouri): Dark Truth Stout, Single Wide IPA and Zon are now available in bottles.Boulevard Sampler packs will soon start to contain Boulevard Amber. Amber replaces Lunar in the Sampler Pack. For the time being, Amber will only be available in the Sampler.

Brooklyn (New York): A limited amount of Sorachi Ace bottles are currently at liquor stores.

Brugge (Indiana): Brugge beers will be largely available only from the Brasserie for the remainder of the summer and into the fall. Brugge is looking for options to open a brewery in the Indianapolis area that will eventually allow them to continue putting bottles and kegs into more general distribution.

Dogfish Head (Delaware): We hope to have 120 Minute IPA, Sah’tea, Chateau Jiahu and Theobroma in mid to late July. This order is not yet confirmed by Dogfish Head.

Flying Dog (Maryland): Not enough Raging Bitch Belgian IPA to ship to Indiana – sorry!

Hair of the Dog (Oregon): There are still some cases of Adam, Fred and Ruth available!

Harpoon (Massachusetts): Leviathan Big Bohemian Pilsner is now available!

Hoppin Frog (Ohio): Turbo Shandy is coming in the next couple of weeks.

Mishawaka (Indiana): Kolsch will soon be in the newest version of the Indiana Sampler pack.

Ommegang (New York): Ommegang Belgian Pale Ale (BPA) is now available in bottles.

Rogue (Oregon): Chatoe Rogue Single Malt and Chatoe Rogue Dirtoir are now available. 7 ounce bottles of Imperial Stout, Younger’s Special Bitter and Imperial Red are now available.

Schlafly (Missouri): American IPA is now available as a specialty release.

Three Floyds (Indiana): Arctic Panzer Wolf Imperial IPA was just released in very limited quantities of 22 ounce bottles. Apocalypse Cow is expected in the next few weeks.

Specialty Imports -

Bavik (Belgium): A very small amount of Wittekerke Framboise will be coming to Indiana in several weeks.

Hite (Korea): Hite beer is now available in Indiana in both 12 ounce and 22 ounce bottles.

Lindemans (Belgium): Faro will be coming to Indiana in bottles by late June. Faro is a traditional style of un-fruited lambic beer (sour beer) that has sugar added to it to balance the sourness.

Paulaner (Germany): Paulaner will be shipping limited amounts of Paulaner Wiesn beer to Indiana later this summer. It will come in 1 liter cans packaged with a Paulaner mug. The Wiesn beer is the same, golden hued beer served at the Paulaner Oktoberfest tent in Munich.

Rochefort (Belgium): Some Rochefort 10 cases are now in stock.

St. Peters (England): Organic English Ale will be back in Indiana in July.

Unibroue (Canada): Unibroue is now shipping 2 different Sampler Packs. One contains high gravity beers (high alcohol). Unibroue Raftman is now available in the low gravity version of the Unibroue Sampler Pack.

Van Steenberge (Belgium): Current stock of the Van Steenberge Sampler Pack contain a DVD that talks in depth about each of the beers. The DVD is hosted by one of our favorite experts on Belgian beer, Johnny Finceion.

Wychwood (England): Fiddler’s Hearth will no longer be imported to the US beginning immediately.

Zatec (Czech Republic): Zatec Dark Lager is now available in bottles in Indiana.

This year, Boston Beer will approach or exceed the 2 million barrel production limit that the Brewers Association (BA) places on their definition of a craft brewer. According to the BA, a craft brewer must be small, independent and traditional. And small may no longer be a fitting definition of Samuel Adams.

Two millions barrels is a lot of beer.

Compare that to Indiana’s largest regional brewer, Bell’s Brewing, who produced about 120,000 barrels of beer last year or compare them to Indiana’s largest brewer, Three Floyds. who produced 14,000 barrels of beer last year and 2 million seems like an ocean of beer! But compare Samuel Adams to Anhueser-Busch who brewed about 100 million barrels of beer last year and suddenly 2 million barrels doesn’t seem like so much. Jim Koch, founder and president of Samuel Adams, says it best in the New York Times article when he said:

“If we’re not a craft brewer,” said Jim Koch, president of Boston Beer, “what else are we? We’re certainly not Budweiser.”

But in the end, does it really matter to me how much beer they make? Shouldn’t the real issue be the type of beer that’s important? If it’s the beer I want to drink, why should I care how much of it they make, as long as they make enough of it so that I can actually get some.

Are we more concerned with drinking beers because other people don’t drink them, or are we choosing to drink the beers that we truly enjoy and appreciate?

Article Notes:

According to the Brewers Association, brewers must meet these requirements in order to be considered a craft brewer:

• Small – Less than 2 million barrels of production annually.
• Independent – Less than 25% of the brewery must be owned by a “craft” brewer.
• Traditional – 50% of the volume of beer produced must be all-malt or use adjunct ingredients to enhance, rather than lighten flavor.

Production of select brewers in 2009 in barrels (according to the Brewers Association):

Barfly is a straight on, classic American India Pale Ale (IPA). And like any good American IPA the citrus notes are there in abundance, but they don’t knock you over. That coupled with a 6.5% abv make this an IPA to enjoy pint after pint. There’s actually a nice balance here as the malt component is complex enough to carry the hop flavors with ease.

Barfly is the first beer that I ever tasted that makes use of the Summit hop. Summit hops are similar to Amarillo or Cascade hops with an orange/grapefruit type flavor but I think the citrus is more pleasantly subtle than most of the Amarillo based IPA’s I’ve had. Summit was first harvested in 2005 but has become a fairly popular hop with brewers and drinkers in a short period of time. An interesting note, Summit is a “dwarf” hop, which means that it grows to low for the normal harvesting machines to pick, so it has to be picked by hand. It’s also pretty high in alpha acids (16-18%), the stuff that makes hops so tasty and bitter.

Barley Island labels are certainly distinct. They do a great job of bringing to mind an old fashioned friendly bar or tavern.

Most of them were designed by Randy Mosher who is not only a terrific artist, but a very noted beer author and expert. His Radical Brewing website covers his work both artistic and literary. One of my favorite Randy Mosher books, “Tasting Beer,” is always a source of food and beer pairings for me.

I still enjoy an occasional visit to Barley Island original brewery in Noblesville, Indiana. It’s right off the square downtown so it’s easy to find, but in 2009 they opened a pub in the Broad Ripple part of Indianapolis, which makes it even easier for me to get there.

Me neither.

Whose is bigger? Just a couple of days ago I learned from our friends at BeerNews.org that Schorschbrau Brewing of Germany had beat out Scotland’s Brewdog Brewing for the current high alcohol by volume (abv) title with their 43% abv “Schorschbock”. It beat out Brewdog’s “Sink the Bismarck” which had previously held the abv title for a scant few months at 41%. Though surely, Brewdog is preparing a counter strike as I write this.

Brewdog seems to have touched off this battle with their 2009 release of Tactical Nuclear Penguin. Penguin weighs in at 32% abv. Schorschbrau responded with a 32% version of Schorschbock to regain the abv title. 32% was pretty strong for 2009 but not so much in 2010 where 43% is the new standard.

Aside from some gratuitous publicity, what’s the point of this battle for abv supremacy?

Brewdog describes their reasoning for creating Tactical Nuclear Penguin at their website:

This beer is about pushing the boundaries, it is about taking innovation in beer to a whole new level. It is about achieving something which has never before been done and putting Scotland firmly on the map for progressive, craft beers.

Progressive, perhaps. But also potentially pointless as far as beer is concerned. You’re really just making a distilled spirit and calling it beer.

How do they make a 43% (or 32%) beer? It’s pretty simple, really. All the beers in the recent competition for world’s strongest beer are simply regular beers that are frozen. As the beer freezes, water crystallizes into ice and leaves behind a thick liquid heavy with alcohol. That remaining liquid is separated from the ice and voila, 43% beer. In essence, beer is being distilled through freezing instead of boiling. The German “Eisbock” lagers were made into very strong beers through this same method but through all the centuries that Eisbocks have been made, no one seemed to think it necessary to ramp the beers up to 43% abv, which could have been done at any time given enough of a freeze.

If you’re a craft brewer and this battle is any indication of a lasting trend in the craft beer world, you might as well hire Heidi Montag to be your brewer.

Don’t get me wrong here – I loved seeing the Brewdog guys dressed in penguin costumes to promote this beer. That’s just good, clean, Scottish fun. But what about making great beer? I’m sure I remember reading somewhere that making great beer was what the craft beer movement was about.

I’ll invite any of you to join me in a great 12% Belgian Tripel or Russian Imperial Stout just about any day of the week. I’m not opposed to high alcohol beers. But I’m probably opposed to making something with a lot of alcohol in it and calling it beer just for the sake of some fleeting world record. I suspect that you’re probably sacrificing the good of the beer for the sake of the record.

For those of you attending the Indy 500 on Sunday – remember that you are welcome to bring your own beer to the track! In my mind, that’s a great feature of the race as we’re not stuck with the selection of beers that the Speedway may, or may not, have available for us to purchase at $10 per. Just remember these points:

1. No bottles allowed. Cans, cans cans. You can bring the cans in any size including the very popular Bell’s Oberon 5 liter mini-keg. If you can’t drink it all yourself it’s a great way to make some friends! Boulevard Wheat, Wittekerke Witbier and Sun King cans would also be great choices.
2. Your cooler can be no larger than14″ x 14″ x 14″. So make sure your beer all fits in that space if you want it to stay cool.
3. There’s no ice to buy at the track. Bring your own.

Check out the official Indianapolis 500 Digital Guest Guide here, or read the Hoosier Beer Geeks great rundown on which canned beers to take to the track here.

There are also some interesting beer connections to the Indianapolis 500 that are worth noting.

Watch for Conquest Racing’s Bertrand Baquette this weekend. He’s starting at the 24 spot (car #36) and hails from one of our favorite beer countries, Belgium. More importantly, the Brugge Brasserie logo will adorn the nose of his car (you can just barely see it in this picture). As a Belgian native, Bertrand has got to be very excited to find such great, Belgian style beer in Indiana and it is great to see a local brewer getting some advertising and promotion in the biggest single day spectator event in the world!

I hear from Ted Miller that Bertrand was very impressed with the beers from Brugge, Indiana. But I’m sure he’d rather be drinking milk come Sunday.

Tomas Scheckter will be driving the number 23 car from row 7 and also carrying a beer related logo, the Laverstoke Park Farms logo drawn by Tomas’ 7 year old brother (near the upper right corner of this picture). Laverstoke Park Farms is an organic farm in the UK owned by Tomas’ father, Jody Scheckter. Jody is better known for being the 1979 Formula One World Champion, so he knows more than a little bit about racing. Laverstoke Park Farm produces organic grain and hops that are brewed into Laverstoke Organic Ale and Organic Lager at Fullers in London. The beers have just this week arrived in Indiana.

Of course, the Indianapolis 500 has a long history and tradition of being associated with beer. Back in the 1930′s, Falls City (Louisville, KY – sort of local) was an official sponsor of the race and Miller Brewing has been a major sponsor in more recent years.

This isn’t your father’s beer can we’re talking about. My father drank cheap beer, anyway.

The arguments in favor of cans are several:

• Beer is better protected in cans away from damaging light that glass may not stop,
• Cans are easier to ship and carry as they are not nearly so heavy as bottles,
• Cans can be taken to the beach, golf course or into venues that don’t allow bottles, and
• Cans are more environmentally friendly than bottles.

But are cans really better for the environment than bottles? Opinion is split and the facts confusing.

The Brookston Beer Bulletin recently published a thought provoking blog post on the topic (read it here) suggesting that bottles are really the better option. Here’s an excerpt:

So what about glass? Heylin remarks that “at least glass comes from sand, is reusable, and when thrown away goes back to sand. Aluminum? It lasts forever.” I’m assuming, though, that taking sand and turning it into glass also has environmental costs associated with it, though what they are I don’t know off the top of my head.

A very good friend of ours,  Jeanette Romano, Assistant Director at Lake County (Indiana) Solid Waste Management District, thought about it and had this to say:

I love that people are thinking about the environment!  Brooks’ statement “at least glass comes from sand, is reusable, and when thrown away goes back to sand”… actually, glass has to be crushed/pulverized to return to sand…not just thrown away.  If it makes it to a landfill….it will remain glass.  I know….I’ve mined a landfill and found old bottles still in good shape!  Items in a landfill are basically mummified.

I prefer to drink my beer from a glass bottle…I don’t like beer in a can.  It takes less energy to recycle glass cullet into new bottles…as long as it’s sorted by color.  As far as using aluminum cans….others discuss the bisphenol A (BPA), which may affect human health, is in the thin plastic lining of aluminum cans keeping beer from contacting the metal so the beer retains its flavor.  I’m all for a national bottle bill, too.  I also think restaurants and bars need to move towards recycling….especially beer bottles.

I might argue with Jeanette on drinking beer from cans – I pour my beers into a glass and it doesn’t taste any different to me whether I pour it from a bottle or a can. But otherwise, Jeanette makes some great points. Overall, there are a number of factors to be considered in the cans v. bottles argument.

In the environmental defense of cans:

• Cans are more frequently recycled with more material being recovered for second uses.
• Cans are more convenient to recycle. They can be crushed to save space and aren’t tough to carry, so people are more prone to recycle them.
• Glass takes thousands of years to degrade – it doesn’t turn back into sand unless we pulverize it ourselves. By the way, it takes money, time and energy to do the pulverizing.
• Glass is more costly to transport in dollars and gasoline because it weighs a lot more than aluminum. This matters whether you are transporting the empty bottles to a brewery to be filled, or transporting the bottles filled with beer. Drinking local only helps here if the glass is also made locally.

In defense of bottles:

• Cans are lined with bisphenol A (BPA) to prevent beer from coming in contact with metal, but the bisphenol may have human health implications. The BPA lining prevents your beer from tasting like metal and is also used in soda, juice and other cans.
• Mining bauxite to make aluminum is a very land scarring effort while bottles are made from readily available sand.
• Cans require more energy to produce than bottles from raw material to finished product.
• Bottles can be recycled, we just choose to do it less often than recycling cans.

So which do we choose? Cans, or bottles? I did a little research and soul searching and came up with the following opinions.

• I hate the way the British pronounce “aluminium.” You might as well say “nucular” instead of “nuclear” if you want to drive people crazy.
• It’s true that cans are recycled more frequently and that more aluminum is recovered for reuse much more often than bottles. But doesn’t that just come down to our own laziness about handling heavier, bulkier bottles? We can and should do better as individuals with glass recycling.
• Glass is more costly to ship whether empty or full of beer. There’s not much we can do about that. A bottle is simply heavier than a can so transportation of bottles will always be more costly than the transportation of cans. I also like that I can take my own, lightweight, cans to some outdoor events and venues even when I can’t take bottles.
• Is consuming Bisphenol A (BPA) any worse for me than drinking beer itself? Its use does raise health concerns but current research is still overwhelmingly of the opinion that it is extremely safe as it is used in cans. Most health agencies believe pretty strongly that the amount of bisphenol A (BPA) that you’d consume in a lifetime of drinking from cans each day is still well below any amount considered to be toxic. Recent research does bring to light some potential hazards, particularly for pregnant women and infants and more research is needed.
• Jamaica is a large source of bauxite (aluminum) for North America and the scarred land left by mining operations but has been very successful in reclaiming the pitted areas for use in growing grass, fruits and some forests. Movie note: the exterior of Dr. No’s island lair in the James Bond film “Dr. No” was the bauxite mine at Ocho Rios not so far from Ian Fleming’s Jamaican home “Golden Eye.” Today, cruise ships frequently dock there at the “James Bond dock.”

In the end, there seem to be plenty of arguments both for and against cans. In my opinion, this issue comes down to one thing: we all need to do a better job of recycling our own bottles and cans while encouraging our friends to do the same.

Notes:

Brendan I. Koerner wrote an excellent assessment of this issue last year called Wear Green, Drink Greenly: The eco-guide to responsible drinking. I stole a bunch of Brendan’s ideas. Thanks, Brendan!

BeerNews.org just posted a piece about the explosion of craft beer in cans. Read it here.

What’s my point? A craft and specialty beer wholesaler like World Class Beverages wants to help retailers understand beer. It’s imperative that there be some significant level of beer knowledge in a store, bar or restaurant that wants to place some emphasis on craft and specialty beers.

The level of beer knowledge in the general population keeps getting better and better. Bars, restaurants and beer retailers need to keep pace in order to be successful.

Don’t get me wrong, a distributor representative can’t be in the store all day selling beer. There’s just no substitute for having good people working in your store. But a good distributor should be able to offer training and educational resources to make a craft and specialty oriented store successful.

If you are a bar, restaurant or retailer looking for help in this area, ask your distributor for it. If you are a consumer looking to direct your favorite bar, restaurant or store to better beer, ask them for it.