Category: Opinion

my humble and correct opinion

Posted on

All Four

Arts District Brewing begat Imperial Western Beer and now brewmaster Devon Randall will add another name to her resume as All Season Brewing Company is set to open sometime in (maybe) early 2020 at the former Firestone Tire Building on La Brea near Wilshire.

The space will hold the new brewery as well as a Chicas Tacos location and marks, as far as I can tell, the only real mid-city brewery in Los Angeles.

When more information comes available, I will pass it on. Along with other jokes about how SoCal only has one season.

Posted on

A Greener Forge

A few days ago I saw a cryptic post about the timing of the sale of Barley Forge. It seemed on its face as a simple explanation for fans who might want to schedule last visits to the Costa Mesa brewery, but it also was a foreshadowing that the brewery was changing hands. Greg Nagel from OC Beer Blog broke the news that new that….

It looks a strategic parry to their neighboring brewery, Gunwhale Ales which opened a second location near Green Cheek and now Green Cheek is returning the favor. Also, it is interesting that this will be the second brewery space that Green Cheek will take over.

Posted on

The Firkin for November 2019

The only constant is change. Nothing stays the same. Your favorite beer or local brewery may not be the same next year.

And we as beer consumers need to lean into that. We need to be pro-active and not get stuck in ruts just because they are easy and safe. If you stay in the rut, you will soon not be impressed by anything and you will miss out on beers that you really should be trying.

The rut might be of chasing hazy IPA or eschewing new beers for classics or just being loyal minus critical attention. Whatever path you are on, you need to add more paths to your repertoire. Hike them all and store that knowledge for later.

If you are the same beer drinker in a year as you are today, then all of this beer plenty we have will have been for naught.

I am thankful for all the choice and all the beers that I have had (even the bad ones) and I hope that #independent keeps on changing and evolving with me.

Posted on

New Kirin Belgium

Well this was some news to find in the local paper. I was in a Wi-Fi “un”-enabled spot and did not see this come across the ticker. The employee owners of New Belgium followed a path that Full Sail broke ground on in selling to Kirin – Lion – Little World. I have the feeling that more of this will happen in the future as older and bigger and not hip breweries look for a parachute out. Whether this works will be seen. Full Sail has not regained momentum but Anchor sold not once but twice and seems to be stable but then on the third hand, Lagunitas has been slimming down even with Heineken behind them. Or maybe this will mean a foedre sake blend in the future.

Posted on

An Excise Christmas

If you were worried about the looming Christmas deadline imagine what small brewers are feeling.  December 31st is the end of the CBMTRA (Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act).  That act of Congress (one of the few that the do-nothing’s in DC have done) reduced the excise tax basically in ½ per barrel.  Instead of $7.00, the charge went to $3.50 instead.

But it was a temporary relief bill and if it is not re-authorized the cost of being in the beer business will go back up.  Thankfully, most states see the benefits of this and it is hard to find many politicians that are against bringing it back but with impeachment sucking the air out of the room, it could easily be forgotten.

I think we all need to send a little Thanksgiving reminder to our representatives to remind them of how beer can grow without an Excise tax headwind.

Posted on

Fandom

I know that the label for the new Mosaic hopped IPA from Stone Brewing is targeted at IPA Diehard Fans but I could see this as something that could be brand widened to include the colors or logo of local teams around the country. Stone could even make a Charger version for when they finish their season outside of the playoffs. Nice little, this is what happens when you leave San Diego nudge.

Posted on

Seltzer’s End

I fall into the summer fad camp and slow fade from prominence future for spiked/hard seltzers. I know the October numbers were still great but I don’t think the good times will continue. Others think it will last a lot longer and others can’t believe people are still talking about it. For us naysayers on the spectrum another reason to see less Claws and fewer breweries getting into carbonated water is that Bud Light is getting in on the action.

By the time that a big ship of a corporation turns and adds the name of its big seller onto a non-beer product and not just some faux Bon & Viv’s style sub-brand, means that smaller players are going to get run over because Bud will take shelf space. Also now that “Commercial Grandpa” is in the business, the coolness factor will be dulled considerably. And all of those people who jumped in, in the fall will probably scramble away.

Posted on

Thoughts on Beer at the Morrison

When I go out for beer it is 99% of the time to a brewery or a very #independent craft beer bar. When I go out for food, I would prefer that craft beer be on the menu but understand (though disappointed) when it is not. That being said, there are restaurants that try and those that seem to just buy what they remember or what sells. That is prelude to what I saw when I met some friends for a monthly rotating dinner this time at the Morrison in Atwater Village.

A) The place was quite dark and due to the layout the paths could really only be one way at any time. The main light came from the multitude of TV’s playing the Clipper game

B) ABInBev bought Golden Road some Ram coasters to give out. Too bad that Goff, Gurley and Co. are middle of the NFL road this year.

C) The beer list was not half bad. There were a couple Smog City beers, Chronic from Pizza Port, 805 if you wanted to just chill. They had a whole section of limited beers that the menu was selling hard. But overall, it seemed like a place that was making an extra effort. I mean anyplace that has Russian River is ahead of the game.

Posted on

250

Jason Lee Norman, an Edmonton publisher and author, has come up with an ingenious use for a can of beer.  Norman teamed up with Blindman Brewing for custom can labels for the brewery’s limited edition summer ale.  Each can had a micro-short stories from local writers on the label.

For those who love to have something to read on cereal boxes this is perfect.  Pour your beer and then read your story while you taste the ale.  I could see this being a great idea for a brewery that has a large distribution footprint that can add local flavor by having a different label for different markets.

Posted on

Cost of One CBA

A little financial sleight of hand and suddenly a 20 million dollar fine seems like a small price to pay for the Craft Brew Alliance. ABInBev owned a minority stake in the group that includes Appalachian Mountain Brewery, Cisco Brewers, Omission Brewing Co., Redhook Brewery, Square Mile Cider Co., Widmer Brothers Brewing, and Wynwood Brewing Co. (basically just Kona and Widmer and really just Kona if you want to sit on brass tacks) had a September deadline for ABInBev to buy them at higher price A) 475 Million. That was declined and the 20 million paid so that lower price B) could be paid around 321 million.

321 + 20 < 475 sums up that transaction.

What happens now though Kona gets added to the formerly known as “High End” or “Brewers Collective” as if we were in the USSR. The other breweries on the list will too but I doubt they will last long before being spun out somehow. ABInBev has the geography and styles covered already with higher financial performers. Widmer Bros. is the odd duck here as a heritage brand with super-strong ties to Portland. It might be a target for revival for an ambitious under VP in ABInBev ranks. Or it may end up on the scrap heap too which would sad for the current oldest brewery in Portland.