Category: Opinion

my humble and correct opinion

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The Firkin for March 2022

Fungibility, metaverse, virtual. Words that have morphed in recent years and to me sound almost as bad as the overused, ‘unpack’.

So of course big beer has to enter this make believe land like Heineken has HERE. But what is a innovative way to create a community around your beers when literally, you want people from the community to visit and try your beers?

I am no Luddite wailing against social media nor do I inherently disagree with the idea of virtual currency or virtual art. But beer is meant to be enjoyed in the one real world that we know of.

That does not mean I will buy a token (or is it Tolkien?) in a restaurant or brewery start-up. That seems a step removed from not getting anything on a Kickstarter or Indie-Go-Go.

But there can be a fun way to get, say, a virtual brew day tour. Or get a VR canning day followed by a special 4-pack later. There are creative ways to use an NFT that also includes beer.

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The Sun is Setting

**unverified rumor alert**

It looks like, barring some late save, that Sunset Beer Co. will be forced out of their corner bottle shop and bar in Echo Park. Personally, “losing their lease” is both worded wrong and makes it a little too bloodless. And those who rally around the no gentrification cause should spend more energy here.

Back to beer. This shop has been my main go-to. I buy beer elsewhere but Sunset Beer Co. is where I can find the widest selection. I look forward to their weekly newsletter every Friday and usually have to fight the urge to just leave work and browse.

L.A. beer fans should send this iconic beer spot out on a high. Amp up your beer runs over the next couple months.

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On the Vista

Don’t go out looking for a single hop pale or IPA just yet but there is a new hop varietal in the pipeline to look forward to, Vista

The link above is for a dedicated website just for it. You can even buy Vista merch. As for the hop itself, melon and stone fruit are the hallmarks of what it brings to the mash kettle.

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Two A’s

Take a look at the attributes of these two new (in hop breeding time) from Glacier Hops Ranch.

I posted about Alpenglow already and it is still limited but the words Pina Colada attached to the Ahhhroma (still not sold on that name) hop seem likes one that could really take off. Maybe in a year or two we will see if either become popular.

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Tweaks

The Brewers Association made no big waves in their 2022 beer style guidelines. Clarity, spelling and grammar being the key words in their press release.

“As the craft beer landscape continues to evolve, we want to ensure that our Beer Style Guidelines continue to be a trusted resource worldwide and are in stride with the innovation that continues to be brought forward,” said Chris Swersey, competition director, Brewers Association. “We took 2022 as a year to focus on housekeeping, to address some discrepancies within the exiting beer styles, and for a small number of significant updates to certain beer styles.”

Stay tuned for GABF in the fall to see who comes up with medals.

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A New Look Fig

Figueroa Mountain has performed a label refresh of their beer line-up and it looks good. Vibrant colors, good font choices and art but take a look at the right side of the line…

…that is Hiker’s High Hazy IPA – a new “bright and tropical IPA that’s as hazy as those foggy mornings at the top of your favorite peak. The new 6.8% beer is now available in 6-packs of 12oz cans throughout the state”, as well as at their other California locations, my closest is Westlake Village.

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Blue and Yellow

To the Universe: When I said to myself that I could not wait until Covid wasn’t the lead and only story, I didn’t mean that I wanted something worse. So, please help Ukraine, OK Universe.

In the meantime, drinkers from all over can help in three different ways by visiting one website, Drinkers for Ukraine.

There is a collaborative brew for brewery owners, an auction for beer fans as well as a live stream fundraising event later this month. Hopefully, this will be resolved in Ukraine’s favor before then.

You can also be on the lookout for local, to you, events where proceeds go to assist the Ukranian people. I have already seen at least one beer in a blue can with yellow accents.

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The Firkin for February 2022

First it was food trucks. Then it was trivia nights. Then big TVs for sporting events.

Brewery taprooms had been filling every nook and cranny of the calendar up to when the 2020 hit. And now that calendar is filling again as we move from pandemic to endemic.

That leads me to two “attractions” that seem to be gaining traction. Maker’s Markets and Reality Show nights. Neither sound particularly tied to beer in my view.

You can point that say, craft soap and craft beer share that descriptor but if I want to buy a bar of locally made soap, I can do that without a brewery. Why do I need a few Etsy-ized tables in front of a brewery? This coming from someone who loves going to little shops. Wine + Eggs in Atwater Village is cool. Hi-Lo Markets are grand.

Then there are the Bachelor or Bachelorette nights. Maybe my hatred meets lack of interest in phony love not reality is showing and I understand that a weekly event might bring in regulars but it’s just icky. Like a footballer jersey sporting a Russian company sponsor. I do not have a replacement idea that would draw a drinking crowd but you are not going to see me watching a couple in a windmill or some bro hightailing it over a fence.

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HenHouse Talks the Future

And to get to the future, you have to talk about the past. And that past is fraught when you are a minority brewery in this country.

Which is why it was great to hear Shyla from Bow & Arrow and Teo from our SoCal Crowns & Hops talk about their respective journeys in a beer world that is quite white.

Here are some of the words of interest that struck me from the discussion…

  • Why do we assume that beer drinkers and brewery owners look a certain way?
  • access to capital is still a major hurdle
  • call out people, don’t let the haters use language without using language to change the narrative
  • No Jerks!
  • How do we frame gentrification when it is a minority business person in a minority neighborhood
  • We need to get to a time where the story is the beer and the beer only, and not who is behind it because telling the story of who you are, if that story always revolves around your skin tone is tiring
  • Don’t be an Ally in name only. Do sonething
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NAGBW – Distribution

A week or more back, the NAGBW broached the three-tiered topic of distribution. The speakers were Kimberly Clements of Pints LLC and Lester Jones of the National Beer Wholesalers Association.

Here are my nuggets of wisdom from the Q&A…

  • California is a whole market on its own
  • lots of merger and acquisitions, but the consolidation game isn’t over and despite barriers to entry, smaller, boutique outfits are not to be written off
  • the role of the distributor is essentially the same though the world around is different
  • where beer is being distributed has grown
  • coverage of distributors seems more negative, though most days it works just fine in the background
  • you have to take what the market gives you, if cans get too expensive, then draft may grow
  • on premise and off premise lines are blurring when you can drink a beer at a grocery store