Tag: Beer blogs

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The Session # 102 – The Landscape of Beer

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For the 102nd Session, the topic is “The Landscape of Beer“. “How do you see that landscape now? What about in 5, 10, or even 20 years? A current goal in the American Craft Beer Industry is 20% market share by the year 2020. How can we get there? Can we get there?

Whether your view is realistic or whimsical, what do you see in our future? Is it something you want or something that is happening? Let us know and maybe we can help paint the future together.

As long as no one links back to this answer to The Landscape of Beer question in five or ten years, then I will respond. Good? OK.

Oh, and no calling me some “half-full / too positive / Cheerleader” either. Is that acceptable terms? OK.
Now that the negotiating is done, what do I see for the future? Let’s break that down into What’s Hot and What’s Not (if Sports Illustrated is cool with me stealing that)

Medium Hot
I believe that the craft beer segment will continue to grow. The pace will slow as breweries contend with the “How” of growing from big fish in little pond to really small fish in a national pond. Raw ingredients and equipment shortages will also tamper growth but the drip, drip, drop market erosion of the BudMillerCoors market share due to their stubbornness in failing to create flavorful beer and not fruit–a-rita’s ad nauseum will provide the fuel for craft beer growth.

Very Hot
Consolidation will occur and in more creative ways as the players shy away from signing up with ABInBev but still want to grow. More nationally linked companies like Duvel with a presence across the country will develop. Partnerships and contract brewing might develop as well.

Not but also Hot
The more mature markets of Portland, Seattle, Denver, San Diego will see the most dramatic losses of brewery numbers because those businesses that survived the start-up phase may not have the combo of business savvy and great beer to make it to the next level. But the decreases in those areas will be more than offset by late blooming markets like L.A., the South and others whose growth will proceed at the faster rate.

Not
There will be a tremendous drop off in beer blogs. The wave of enthusiasm will wane as bloggers either lose interest or realize that blogging is basically unpaid marketing for either their own personal brand or a brewery. And I don’t see other writing outlets expanding either. Sadly, I think there are already more than enough “How to taste” beer, regional guidebooks, and general beer books out there as well.

Ice Cold
Whales and snobs are on the downswing as well. Bridal parties are taking place in taprooms. Beer tourism is growing and food and beer is poised to break out. The “commoners” who do those things drive whales crazy (and away) and buy flagship beers much more than costly beers. Couple that with fast rising prices on those special barrel-aged beers and you will see that more approachable beers will be bought. More approachable beer will need to be made. Less tank space for one-offs. Less interest from snobs. Less demand for whales and the cycle spins forward.

Crazy Prediction
A new American born or adapted beer style will halt the dominance of the almighty IPA. I won’t be so rash as to predict what it will be because I think someone out there who has yet to open their own place has started a recipe for an IPA antidote that may go viral.

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Influence Peddlers

Count me as a fan of the Beer Bloggers Conference. (Now if only I had a Bruce Wayne / Oliver Queen backer to get me to Asheville this year.)  One of the fun services they provide is a list of Influential Beer Websites that they base on:

Alexa Rating: While this is not a perfect indicator of a website’s popularity, it is easy to access and relatively accurate.
Facebook Likes: Given the influence of social media, we considered the number of Facebook likes.
Twitter Followers: The same goes for Twitter.

Considering the wildness of the web, those tools are fine if influence is measured by traffic alone.  What it doesn’t, and possibly can’t measure, is the cultural impact of a website.  You are going to see your local brewery or beer bar on this list but they may have an outsize impact on the community relative to size.  I would posit that the Brewers Association website may not have the Twitter following of Coors but they are a bigger player who affect and cause discussions around the country.  Same with home brewers and home brewing clubs. They generate talk.  Which is a different type of social minus the media.

So take this list with a grain of salt or a glass of Gose.
1    Heineken 63
2    Beer Advocate  57
3    Dogfish Head Craft Brewery  52
4    New Belgium Brewing  50
5    Stone Brewing Company 48
6    Bud Light   45
7 tie    Budweiser  42
7 tie    Coors Light  42
9    Miller Lite  41
10    Untapped   29
11    Sierra Nevada Brewing Company   28
12    Rogue Ales   26
13    Samuel Adams  25
14 tie    Drink Craft Beer 24
14 tie    BJ’s Brewhouse   24
14 tie    Dos Equis     24
14 tie    BrewDog    24
14 tie    RateBeer.com   24
19 tie    Guinness   22
19 tie    More Beer!   22

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Session # 94 – Your Role in the Beer Scene

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Here is the assignment from Ding’s Beer Blog, “So, where do you see yourself? Are you simply a cog in the commercial machine if you work for a brewery, store or distributor? Are you nothing more than an interested consumer? Are you JUST a consumer? Are you a beer evangelist? Are you a wannabe, beer ‘professional’? Are you a beer writer? All of the above? Some of the above? None of the above? Where do you fit, and how do you see your own role in the beer landscape?”

If the game is to put a person into a box (a very American thing to do, and one I loathe) then technically, I am a craft beer blogger/writer.

That being said, I think that description is a bit of a moving target. When I first entered the Los Angeles beer scene, I knew no one and knew beer even less. I would not want to re-examine those first posts. Scary stuff finding your voice.

Now, I (certainly) hope that my writing is snappier and that I play to my strengths more because I now know more beer people and know more about beer. Though don’t ask me to blind taste test, I fail those miserably.

What I am trying to get to in a roundabout way is that you can be a beer blogger but that isn’t enough information. The stereotype box is too big. Yes, I am a white male of a certain age but I also promote more now than I did before. You can call it cheerleading if you want and I won’t deny it or run away from the name. I also write about Los Angeles beer more now.

So, to be more specific, I blog about craft beer from a male perspective with a focus on Los Angeles. But I am also a native Oregonian so you will see plenty of PDX talk on my blog. So even an expanded definition will ultimately miss something.

Plus it doesn’t take into account that I can be opinionated. So am I more op-ed than promoter? Some days, yes.

So I may be on the guest list marked as media but I am also a consumer, a salesman and when I am feeling grandiose, an influencer. And that is the key to craft beer people. They aren’t just one ticked off box. They are brewer/educators. Delivery/home brewers. Breweries/pubs.

Don’t try to pin us down.

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Peel the Label – Recognition

There seems to be an almost natural rivalry between online and tactile. It was music that was, and still is, the flag bearer for that debate. There are as many camps as there are aspirants for the Iron Throne. Vinyl enthusiasts, streaming music channels or live at a club all vie for attention.

The same hold true for print versus online if you want to go for the adversarial paragraph opener. I was reading through some wine blogs (which beer bloggers should do to both hone their game and see a wider world) and I came across this:

My take on print vs. online media is that print’s business model screwed the pooch a long, long time ago. It has nothing to do with wine and is happening in every form of print media on any subject matter. People enjoy interactions and opinion, and are seeking to balance straight-ahead, mostly-objective, fact-based coverage (which for decades has been the bread-winner for print) with subjective, opinion-based, op-ed-style pieces that by-and-large center on the unique voice of the writer. In other words, nowadays people will take a human relationship and a sense of personal trust over a pronouncement of facts (or even opinion) as deigned from an expert.

It was from 1 Wine Dude and I found myself toggling back and forth as to whether I agree or not.

I believe the debate has been about what people want covered and how they want it covered. And I think a mixture of fact based journalism and opinion are what is needed. And as much as music, movies, TV and newspapers couldn’t straddle online and off, they are still uniquely positioned to deliver that content.

But I also think that blogs can deliver as well and that print and blogs could both do it without partisan rancor. It comes down to one word: recognition.

I am not talking about badges and ribbons for participation. There are two missed opportunities for recognition that I think mesh for this topic.

First, recognizing who the other person is. This happens to be something that print seems to miss with two hands and a flashlight. If I may stereotype an entire group of people, what I hear most about bloggers is that they are not journalistic enough. With the implication that, journalists are better and that you should all want to be them one day.

The point that is missed is that beer bloggers (again in general) are not journalists and don’t want to be. Most have a 9-5 and a life and blog on the side. They are not trained in writing or web design or want/ have an editor that is not a significant other. When journalists can accept that or at least recognize it, they will be more secure in their place and the role of bloggers.

Bloggers, on the other hand, could always do with a little added professionalism and a renewed focus on writing. I include myself because I hope to be learning and not stagnant. Journalists and print can help one grow as a blogger. If only for grammar reasons. And if bloggers can recognize that writing is more important than SEO, that would be cool too.

The other shade of recognition is what the strengths and weaknesses are for your chosen delivery method. Don’t blame the Sunday paper for being filled with news you saw hashtagged yesterday. And don’t blame a blog for being visual forward. Just two examples that I have heard recently.

Print and blogs are simply delivery methods. Both may not survive the next technological leap. Or both might. They are not a banner that you rally behind. Each individual needs to find out the best way to say what they want to say, in the way that the say it best. Then look at which way allows them to say that.

Or you can continue to snipe at each other like Lannisters and Starks.

Another 1 Wine Dude link that I think you might find enlightening is HERE.

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The Firkin for February 2014

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I don’t mind a beer blog that is infrequently updated.  I don’t mind if it is short and filled with spelling errors.  I even don’t mind if it is a re-posting of a press release all that much.

But what kills me are blogs that get updated once every Blue Moon (pun intended).

I will excuse those who are primarily Facebooker’s or Instgrammer’s or who use Twitter only.  Fine.  I get it.  It is perfectly acceptable to be a craft beer fan via Twitter as it is a blog.

But if I head over to your blog and all I see are posts from a month back then I have to wonder.

What is stopping you from putting new content up? Or at the least a note saying brb.

Is it time?

It is not hard to set a schedule and stick to it.  If it is.  If “work” intrudes, then set a more realistic goal.  If once a day is too much, then try once a week.  Regularity is the key.  And if your ambition is too big and your dreams for your blog require more time than you have then you need to scale that back or wait until the time is right.

Is there not enough going on in your city?

This is harder but you can find topics to write about.  Discuss which style of beer you like and why.  Write about your first beer.  Write about your last beer.  Review all the beers you have.  Or write about what your city needs to become more hospitable to beer.  Talk to bartenders and find out which craft beers are selling and why.

Or is it…..

…time to re-evaluate how the blog fits into your life. If you have gone to the trouble of setting up a blog and then don’t use it, do you like blogging? And that will lead to the next question, what do you want to blog about?  Why are you doing it?

And if that means taking a hiatus or changing course, then put a post up on your blog talking about that.  Let the readers know what is going on otherwise we may think you are stuck on an island with no beer and a volleyball named Wilson.

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Beer Blog Shout Out!

Though I eschew the Friend Friday thing on Twitter, I do occasionally send a shout out to a fellow beer blogger who I think more people should read.  The BSP Bump (Don’t sue me Colbert).

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So, if you would like to add some French flair to your blogroll, check out the Tasting Nitch website to get a view on beer that is refreshing and fun.

And it has thought bubbles in the photos which I think is cool.

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Beer Bloggers Conference – Day Two


A long but educational day. Many speakers from blogging communities to sensory info. Oh and Jamie Floyd from Ninkasi dressed as Darth Vader. And I captured two Six Points beer. AND my new favorite beer from Breakside. Gin barrel double wit. Just wow. AND a sneak of Jubel 2011. More on that and The Love of Beer movie later in the week.

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July’s Other Beer blog

Being born and raised in Oregon means I like to hear about what is going on in Oregon beers from down south in LA. And one of the better stops to get my Portland Beer Info fix is Jeff Alworth’s Blog Beervana.

He has also in the process of writing a book plus he has a book of his best beer musings out too.

Check out the Beervana. It’s almost as good as going to the actual place.

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June’s other Beer Blog – The Full Pint

I have seen the Full Pint guys at many an LA beer event and since I was talking California breweries this month, I figured I should give a “Tip of the Hat” as Stephen Colbert says to these California beer writers.

They have a full but not busy site with beer reviews, beer news and most importantly, events that you can attend.

So stop by and check out their site today!