Category: Beer Industry

my occasional rants and raves about what is going on in the industry.

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With or Without ABV

Sustainable Beverage Technologies from Colorado debuted some new tech last month about their draft system that “removes” alcohol from beer.  Yup, you scan the full beer list and say, I want the El Segundo Power Plant but without that 10+% ABV.

I have got to believe that this process also removes flavor compounds as well as other important things from the finished beer.  It would be like cooking a meal and then removing the salt.  How can you just target that without at the very least making all the other components of the beer loom larger?

I would in line to try a test for sure but until better tasters and beer judges than me give it a thumbs up, I will be giving it the side eye.

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Peel the Label – Extra Inclusion

In this time of major uncertainty, thoughts run to how to get people to the taproom. For a brewery, a pint over the bar is the best profit margin you can get especially with looming aluminum price increases.

There are trivia nights, painting nights, comedy nights, food trucks and all manner of events to get people into breweries.

But there are other deeper cuts that could be tried as well. I am not a fan of babies / toddlers / young’ins but I am probably in a minority so what can you do to bring parents in and create an environment that they want to return to. Perhaps a new parents meet-up where you cut the price on N/A drinks so when parent can imbibe. Or how about creating a quiet night for parents with autistic children who may feel that a taproom is too loud for an outing.

You can have nights for local sports teams but how about going deeper and having a women’s March Madness day to bring in a crowd that is truly growing. How about a book exchange to see if you can get introverts, like me, down to get even more reading material.

Or you can just program what every other brewery is doing.

Peel the Label is an infrequent series with no photos or links. Just opinion.

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Your Own Personal Tariff

Even though the initial round of tariffs have been postponed (with aluminum on the way) maybe in part because Canada banned American made spirits from their state-run liquor stores, I wanted to send out a blanket message to anyone who works in distilleries in Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee who voted Elon for President that they nearly voted themselves out of a job.

Tariffs, as I have mentioned a few hundred times before work best as a protective layer for a young and growing homegrown industry that may be more expensive to start but could grow and become competitive and then not need the tariff protection. It is pretty basic economics. Unfortunately pretty basic economics seem beyond the grasp of too large a group of Americans.

The point of this post is not to say I Told You So. This post is for us few nice Americans who are siding with our neighbors to thr north and south. How do we push the needle to sanity? Below are some small actions you can take to help….

  • Buy Local + – the plus sign is the important part. Make sure that the local you are buying from is not a pro tariff, anti DEI, money above people brewery and if they pass that simple niceness test, then buy from them as directly as possible.
  • Do not buy – craft beer from places like Target who backed away loudly from DEI measures. liquor from big multi-nationals especially if they are from a state that Nazi Musk won. Basically be a mini-Canada.
  • Start buying from progressive or minority run business – use this time to discover new breweries, distilleries, cider spots. I have a whiskey from a female run distillery named Home Base and gin from another female run distillery, Freeland Spirits.
  • Buy from Canada and Mexico – no better middle finger than spending your money on goods from those two countries who are being shat on for no good reason.
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Bleak San Pedro MidWinter

In the run up to Christmas, Brouwerij West posted on social media that, barring a miracle, they would be shutting down early in 2025.

That “so there’s a chance” led me to check their feed more regularly and the news is still up in the air as of the end of the year. There is a GoFundMe that you can access HERE.

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Also Starting

It is not only the Brewers Association making changes at the top.  The California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA), has announced the choice of a new Executive Director in Kelsey McQuaid-Craig.

McQuaid-Craig is a Certified Association Executive and has over a decade of association management experience most recently with the California Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians which will hopefully help her navigate the political waters of Sacramento and help out the Golden State’s breweries in the coming years.

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YCH and PBS 2024

I am usually wary of brand extensions but I do think that what Yakima Chief Hops does with their annual blend to benefit the Pink Boots Society fits into a brand extension slot but with benefits.  

This year the blend features a harmony of Simcoe®, Mosaic®, Chinook, and Krush™.  That last one seems to be quite en vogue at the moment.

The other cool thing about the 2024 blend is that YCH “partnered with women-owned farms within its network of growers to assist in creating the blend. Jessica Riel of Double ‘R’ Farms, Reggie Brulotte of Brulotte Farms, and Erica Lorentz of Lakeside Ranches each hand-selected their favorite lots from this year’s harvest, which the YCH sensory team used to craft three compelling blends for the Pink Boots Society membership to vote on.”

A third cool thing is that YCH will donate $1 from each pound sold to the Pink Boots Society.

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Celebrity Day – Spider Beer

Looks like another celebrity is entering the beer game but with an N/A twist.  Tom Holland is founding a company with the un-Marvel name of Bero and will have three non-alcoholic beers initially.  Kingston Golden Pils, Edge Hill Hazy IPA and Noon Wheat.  Nary a spider pun to be found but certainly some British influence.

It will be direct to consumer via their website with plans to launch in Target next year. Holland has discussed his sobriety which makes a venture into near beer a good call.

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Wheelin’ & Dealin’

The Modern Times fallout continues as Craft ‘Ohana, the parent company of Maui Brewing Co. is partnering up with San Diego based Wings & Arrow Beer Co. to kinda-sorta supervise Modern Times operations.

This is where it gets even more complicated though.  Wings & Arrow is part of Great Frontier Holdings which is the overarching group for Ninkasi and Ecliptic Brewing amongst other seltzer holdings.  

Got me to thinking about how one cqn have a manager, who has a manager, who has a manager.  Eventually there is too much distance between the brew floor and who owns the business.  

I have a feeling this will be ongoing.

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The Pitch

It is safe to say that I enjoy a good entrepreneur story and if you don’t like the personalities of Shark Tank there is a different show that you can listen to as a podcast or on YouTube called The Pitch and recently they had a beer episode.

The founder of Hoplark which makes hop water and hop teas is branching out into brewing efficiency.  ReCraft has engineered a way to get more utilization of hops and water that might save some money for a brewery.  

Take a listen (or watch) HERE.

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Reno My Brewery

Anheuser-Busch announced a new $16 million investment in its Los Angeles ( Van Nuys ) brewery with the main takeaways being:

·      Expansion of packaging capabilities for the company’s “beyond beer” brands like Cutwater and NUTRL, including variety packaging

·      Increased production capacity for 25-ounce cans to meet increasing consumer demand

·      Facility upgrades to enhance water conservation and reduce boiler emissions

Anheuser-Busch has been in the Valley since 1954 and is one of more than 120 facilities across the country.

I am down for the third item of water saving but am a bit confused by the first two.  Are there not enough variety packs from Bud? Or its ethanol options?  And 25 ounce cans?  I thought the 19.2 ounce stovepipes were the package du jour.

I also noticed nothing about buying better hops or local malts or making better beer.