We here in the U.S. should probably be forced to watch “how to pour” videos. OK, I mean mostly me. Either way, it is still instructional.
Label Review – Fun Light from Noble Ale Works
Not much Noble Ale Works beer makes its way north to Glendale, more canning resources shifted over to the 16oz IPA’s. Though, I must admit that the names are as funny as every.
Speaking of fun, the new can design for their new cream ale is quite good, ditching the hop face creepiness of their hop bombs and instead going for a 1/2 regal and 1/2 Industrial lager look to them. I would have added a little royal purple to the shadow of the word fun to break up the gold but I like the flow of the lines from back to front of the can.
Signs Ahead
With SABInBev and it’s “High End” and ZX disrupters trying to muddy the water of the craft beer scene, a counter tactic has been unveiled on both a city and national level.
First off, the San Diego Brewers Guild will be issuing window clings, flags and even tap danglers for use in tasting rooms and at events. You can read more about it HERE.
The Brewers Association has created a new seal to promote independent craft brewers. Dogfish Head is the first to promote that their packaging will sport the upside down bottle logo. (A design that I think is fine though the interwebs seem to have an issue with it)
Bringing this down to earth, I think window clings and seals on premise are of little use out in the real world because the point of contact with a beer is the key purchasing decision point not a sticker on the front door. Because the main purpose (in my mind) for these seals is for those who are “casually” into beer. That will look for an IPA but don’t want to deep dive into the business side.
Bombers and six-packs with either seal of approval will be stocked without any problem since the bottle shops and stores aren’t put out by extra work or expense and will be the most effective in my mind because people can easily see that one has the seal and another doesn’t. And the aforementioned “casuals” will see it and be cued to look for it again. Especially if they see it on more and more brands. You can bet that BA member breweries are already designing their labels to fit the new seal. Some will complain that they are forced into adding it, lest they be left out, but they also have to put SKUs and other labeling onto a bottle and can be creative about it.
But that leads to a nitpicky query on my part, which bar or bottle shop will willingly go along with demarcating their keg merchandise.
A brewery taproom can splash #independent everywhere and if they have guest taps are probably already choosing fellow like-minded breweries so there is no battle to be won. Getting a consumer there was the win. A tap dangler ain’t gonna help.
It is in the bottle shops and bars and restaurants that a tap dangler or other means of communicating “not Bud” could make someone stop and think. Say you go to the fancy Spire 73 at the newly opened Wilshire Grand building here in DTLA. They have Boomtown Brewing, Angel City Brewing and Golden Road on tap. A fully independent brewery, a brewery owned by Sam Adams and the faux Bud craft option. It would be great to see the Seal next to the first two and nothing next to the third on both the paper menus and online.
But would the bar they play along? What’s in it for them?
Milk Stout in Milk Bottle
This NY Times article does not specifically mention beer but it does show that outside the container thinking should not be relegated to glass vs can.
What type of packaging can be sustainable, or recycled more while also not breaking the budget of a small brewery. Is there an earth substance that can be harnessed to block light and be light like a can without the drawbacks of that metal? And can that be made without damaging the food supply.
Something to ponder as you pull a beer from the ‘fridge. Would you drink a beer that was put into a package made from mushrooms, or kelp?
Mystery Shopper
By now, the existence of mystery shoppers is no secret. Yelp may be oft discussed and dissed but shopper with a paycheck instead of a grudge could potentially be more helpful. Enter Secret Hopper a new mystery shopping company. Their niche is the craft beer industry.
Here is their log line, “With over 5000 breweries in the United States, Secret Hopper wants to determine what sets a brewery’s customer experience apart? It is Secret Hopper’s goal to make every guest at breweries a repeat customer.”
Where the rubber meets the road is the quality of the reviewers. Will they be able to deep dive into the quality of the beer or is it just surface level, service and tap room ambience? Will the branding be discussed? How often will people be required to go back?
Could be interesting but my last question is, How many breweries in the independent sector could afford this service?
Peel the Label – Is Beer Delivery Viable?
There are players ranging from ZX Ventures to Hopsy, Drizly and other millenially monikered names entering the beer delivery market. But is it a market that can actually be viable long term?
I think not. At least not nationally and not on a state level either.
The two best bets for making this work would be approaches that are diametrically opposed. You can string together operations by city. Have a service in Portland, another separate one in Salem, Eugene, and so on. Each smaller service could deliver to a targeted area from breweries in that area. For beers outside your radius, you would have to have that zone deliver to your zone and then to you. Akin to a library system. I can request a book and if my city library does not have it, they can ask another library that they are partnered with if they do.
The logistics on this would be a challenge, that is certain. Drivers would have to visit multiple breweries in their area and either drop their bounty off at a distribution hub for outbound drivers to deliver or do both pick-up and drop-off from one roaming vehicle. There would certainly also be issues with order fulfillment. Smaller breweries don’t make as much of some beers. If an order is received at 1pm for a hazy NE IPA beer that a customers sees as “buyable” on a website, the driver leaves that instant but what if the keg has just kicked or will in-between the driver leaving and arriving? How does a company handle this on the fly in a way that makes customers happy?
Now a bottle shop could conceivably offer a delivery service. But that would require upgrades and maintenance of SKU’s in an on-line store environment and again, how large a delivery radius could a store handle? And the only way to adequately cover a city would be by banding together with other bottle shops. Using L.A. as an example, there is simply no way to get a beer from Beachwood Brewing in Huntington Beach to my home in Glendale without expending lots of time and gas and freeway frustration.
Notice that I haven’t even mentioned the added cost that would have to be tacked on to make this financially workable. That is a cost that will reduce the pool of prospective customers. Oh and I haven’t even looked into how local, state and federal laws would come into play.
But what if SABInBev decided to jump into the game?
They have distribution in place. But they lack the selection that people will pay a premium for. Who in their right mind is going to order up a case of Lime-A-Rita’s or America cans and pay a delivery fee for something that is not a premium price product and can be found at any corner store or gas station for a lower price?
Their product is everywhere and plentiful. Not something that is being hunted for or, quite frankly, desired to that extent. Especially to the extent that a mark-up would be tolerated. Maybe, delivery can be targeted for larger orders for parties or weddings or the like. But that too is already more than adequately covered.
In basic economic terms, the demand cannot be supplied and the supplier is not in demand. To my eyes, the customer base for delivery requires a certain selection (from craft breweries) and those that can fulfill orders effectively (distributors) does not have that product. There is a chasm that would require quite a bridge to make this work.
Perhaps, independent beer can be delivered but it would take something like Amazon partnering with Whole Foods for that to possibly happen?
Peel the Label is an occasional series where I opine about the big picture of craft beer and blogging without photos, videos or links.
San Miguel (not a casino)
Los Angeles already is home to large breweries from Bud in Van Nuys to Miller off the 210 in Irwindale as well as Pabst in Los Angeles. Add to the big list, the Philippine-based San Miguel Brewery. The international brewery announced plans for its first US production site somewhere in Los Angeles.
San Miguel is on a spending spree to increase their capacity at home and will be plunking down around $150 million for this SoCal site which will take 2-3 years to build.
According to San Miguel president Ramon Ang, “The reason we are going to build a brewery in the US is because the volume of exports today in America can now warrant us to put up the brewery to support that volume,”.
They must think that the market for beer is robust enough not only in L.A. but on the West Coast as well to warrant the expense.
Cismontane Lightning
Evan Weinberg and Cismontane Brewing recently bought the brewing equipment from the former Lightning Brewery in San Diego environs.
But why it was purchased is more the story than the actual equipment. Weinberg has been quoted as saying that the reason behind whipping out the credit card “was more altruistic in nature.” A simple effort to help out the founder Jim Crute.
We will probably being seeing more equipment sales in the future without the semi-happy ending that happened here. We will probably see more Green Cheek style location take-overs too. But the large step of financial rescue will probably not be seen again. It is easier to share ingredients but most craft brewers don’t have the ability to make such a purchase.
Seminars Aplenty
In advance of LABW9, I am putting forward a suggestion to emulate Portland Beer Week when it comes to beer education. The 2017 Seminar Series (presented by Oregon State University and The HR Group) has a limited number of talks (5), they are held at various brewery locations around town and they are for both beer fans and pros. As an extra bonus, all come with beer to drink while learning.
Here are three from this year’s slate that caught my eye.
Sustainability Talks
“Learn how a few local breweries approach sustainability through community outreach, ingredient sourcing, and activities within the brewhouse. Presenters and topics include: Jack Lamb (Aslan Brewing CEO/Founder), Christian Ettinger (Hopworks Founder/Brewmaster), Ben Parsons (Baerlic Brewing co-Founder/Brewer), Renee Johnson (Fort George Sustainability Director) and moderated by Heather Sorenson (Plugged in PR.)”
Barrel-aged Beer Seminar
“This seminar features four brewers/brewmasters with potent skill in barrel-aged beer representing Sierra Nevada Brewing, Founders Brewing, Bear Republic Brewing and Breakside Brewery. The discussion will follow techniques, styles and other theories on aging beer in barrels as well as covering multiple kinds of spirit barrels from rye whiskey to vermouth. Attendees not only get a one-of-a-kind learning experience but will get to sample two or three rare, specialty barrel-aged beers from each brewer over the course of the roughly two hour seminar. Time will be allotted to ask questions and mingle with the brewers and Zoiglhaus Brewery will be open for post beers and dinner after the seminar.”
Branding for Beer
“In the increasingly competitive craft beer market, whether your opening a taproom, brewpub or hard cider, branding and design is more important than ever to stand out and define your business. The “Branding for Beer” seminar will cover everything from logo design to merchandising to label design and standing out on supermarket shelves to a brewpub or t-shirt. A panel of branding and design experts will speak on the subject, moderated by Oregon State University instructor Ryan Wheaton and including Blaine Fontana (Muralist, designer of Breakside Brewery’s new IPA, Wanderlust & Pilsner labels), Andy Morris (Creative Director who lead Stumptown Coffee’s branding and more recently Little Beast Brewing) and Dave Bourne (IGNITE Beverage Branding, responsible for Base Camp Brewing & others).”
Most seminars and panels that I have been too are tucked off to the side or corner of an already established festival and can be hard to hear due to the ubiquitous music that is played. And they usually become afterthoughts to the beer and the socializing. These are designed to be the destination and there is a nominal charge for the beer which makes it seem more important as well.
So if you will be attending PBW (which starts today, I believe), check one of these informative sessions out.
Pelletizing
Twenty acres of Idaho farmland will become the first hop pelletizing facility in the state later this fall when they open their combined pelletizing facility with cold storage plus a pilot brewery and tasting room with the name Mill 95.
This is similar to what Bale Breaker does in Washington State and it sounds like a great and aromatic place to visit and I expect it will be jam packed in picking season.
Now we need to get an artisanal maltster and yeast wrangler to create a one-stop shop.