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my occasional rants and raves about what is going on in the industry.
Hop NZH-102 now has a fancy name, Superdelic! The varietal is from NZ Hops Ltd., a cooperative of New Zealand cooperative of hop farmers.
Superdelic is part Hersbrucker Pure and a New Zealand male.
Tropical notes along with red fruit and candy are the descriptors.
Back in the day, which now means pre-2020, beer festivals were an every damn weekend occurrence, especially in the summer here in Los Angeles.
Now, it is different. Big gatherings of people are back now but festivals are not really trending. The last time the California Craft Brewers Conference had a connected festival was in Long Beach in 2019, this year in Sacramento there is no festival.
I have written of my waning fest interest on this blog back then but I do think that a reimagined festival theme would do wonders. Probably not to rival the epic Firestone Walker Invitational but something fun nonetheless.
A craft beer meets craft bourbon festival would be great. I would think that a pizza and beer or tacos and beer mashup would also be great. Creativity being the key. That creativity can be in location like the recently attended Brews & Bites at the Ritz Carlton or tossing it out there, a brewery night at the incoming Lucas museum in Exposition Park.
Los Angeles has so many neighborhoods and so much history and vibrant culture that could pair with beer. I believe that a killer festival idea is out there.
Beer business news broke earlier this month that I thought I should make at least a brief comment on….
A little twist on the acquisition front as Drakes Beer is the new owner of the brands only of Bear Republic Brewing famous for their Racer 5 IPA. (which I now need to find to compare one version to the upcoming new one)
Rich Norgrove the leader of Bear Republic will join the Drake’s organization which bodes well for continuity. How many recipes will make the trip is a question.
I guess that means that Drakes must be doing OK or have brewing capacity and secondly, that there is now a brewing space open for a new brewery. Which is why I am usually only momentarily sad when a brewery shuts down, because I feel it is an opportunity for a new owner to make new beers.
An unassuming box. But filled with wonder. I do not live in the Sea/Tac area but if a local L.A. brewery sold bag in a box of a beer, I would probably get a couple a month and would have definitely asked for one for my birthday.
I do wonder why I have not seen this packaging in more places. Perhaps it is not efficient or cost effective but for the non home brewing crowd, it would make a great option.
In a move that might have great potential especially with crowlers, Augusta Label + Packaging now has a patented resealable lid for canned beverages.
It is both leak and tamper proof and can be used with any can line or manual seamer. They are on their second generation lid now. Cost and shelf life extension will be my big questions butI certainly hope it is something that can be perfected, especially if 16oz cans are going to be the dominant craft beer package, even for high ABV beers.
The California Craft Beer Summit will be back at full strength in Sacramento this March.
After temping in Long Beach for one year and then postponing for more, the Summit is back at the state capital.
And I will be too! You will be getting plenty coverage in March on this blog but you might consider joining us because there will probably be some special brewery events around town.
Predictions tend to either clump into educated guesses or a pundit re-wording the same thing they said the year before, and the year before that.
With that latter spirit in mind, let’s trot out some antiques and I will comment…
Pilsners will really be a thing this year – This is the biggest craft beer chestnut. The thing is, most places have a really good pils or a lager on tap. Highland Park Brewery here in Los Angeles has all kinds on tap. We can stop with this prediction because it is low key already proven.
Seltzers will lose steam – This has been the pandemic question each year. I never found one that struck me as anywhere near a beer replacement and have wondered how people thought they were drinkable. I think the category will lose additional steam this year. People will continue to buy them but they are not the song of the summer anymore.
Non-Alcoholic will gain momentum – This is pretty much a gimme as predictions go. More people are entering the market chasing that sweet deal that Athletic got from Keurig / Dr. Pepper. The beers themselves are still near beer in name only but the sober curious will buy them despite flavor flaws.
Mergers and Acquisitions – The era of big deals is on pause. This year, it will be the snatching up of closed breweries by those who need more production room. Perhaps in a different part of town or state to cut down on delivery costs.
Before Christmas, Bart Watson, the economics guru for the Brewers Association talked about craft beer in 2022 as well as a dip into what he thinks maybe in store for 2023.
Here are some of the numbers nuggets from his talk….
It looks like some tough sledding next year but as the world clicks closer to normal, more opportunities might show themselves.
I will let the video do the heavy educational lifting today…
Advancements in hops keep coming and Roadhouse Brewing Co. has tag teamed up with a company called RipeLocker and hop growers at Oasis Farms to put a spin on their hazy IPA, The Walrus.
Per the press release, “RipeLocker has designed specialty containers for storing and shipping freshly harvested whole cone hops. Thanks to revolutionary CO2 technology, the atmosphere inside the containers can be regulated ensuring that the contents remain as fresh as possible. With these containers, craft brewers can extend the season for fresh hopped beers. Additionally, craft brewers located greater distances from hop growers will now have access to harvest fresh hops despite the additional transport time.”
“The Walrus has always utilized some of our favorite hops – Mosaic, Eldorado, Calypso and Amarillo, but for this wet hopped version, we utilized Mosaic and Idaho 7. The Idaho 7 certainly added a new level of tropical fruit and dankness to the beer that we usually don’t see when using pellets and other advanced hop products,” says Roadhouse Brewmaster Max Shafer.
If this technology passes more tests like this and is in the right price range, then it would really expand the definition of fresh hops.