Tag: Brewbound

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Brewbound is Podding


The industry website Brewbound is entering the podcast arena with the plan to “feature interviews with the beer industry’s top founders and executives, as well as promising newcomers.”

I will be downloading the first episode to see how Brewbound editors Chris Furnari and Justin Kendall conduct the interview and what questions they ask.

Hopefully they will swing around to talk to some locals as the first two guests of the weekly interviews are Dan Kenary from Harpoon and New Realm Brewing Co-Founder and CEO Carey Falcone.

You can find the show from wherever you get your audio fix.

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California Craft Beer and the Law

There were some interesting positions taken (I know, That’s What She Said) in a recent blog post on the BrewBound site pertaining to laws and craft beer.’

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Tom McCormick, the executive director of the California Craft Brewers Association was asked a few questions about laws and possible laws being considered and where the CCBA stands on them.

First up is Assembly Bill 2004 which would allow brewers to sell their beer at local farmers’ markets if the bill passes. This is something that I have seen very sporadically but that I think might me a good fit if done right.  If nothing else, the opportunity should be allowed.  This could be a ripe opportunity for a brewery to connect with it’s community and collaborate with farmers who could provide future ingredients.  There are also many roadblocks that I foresee.  Police or extra security might be involved and the area might need to be roped off to keep the kids out but these could be creatively surmounted.

According to BrewBound, “The bill maintains some restrictions for beer makers, however. Breweries will only be able to sell at farmers markets in their own or adjacent counties. Nevertheless, said McCormick, it would level the playing field with wineries, which have been legally selling products at the markets for many years.”

Next on the docket is Assembly Bill 2010.  This tackles the duplicate permit issue.  This allows a beer company warehousing and retailing privileges minus beer making.  Right now, you can duplicate to your hearts content.  But this bill puts a cap of six on the practice.  I don’t know where 6 became the perfect number.  Why not 10 or 11 1/2?  I think that stymies growth to an extent so I disagree with the CCBA’s stance that it is OK.  Just because one or more breweries may be growing more quickly doesn’t mean that others won’t in the future or that one brewery will eventually own California.  I think we are way past that at this point.

For those few who follow this blog who are interested in the intersection of craft beer and the law, I would love to hear your thoughts.

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No Reason Not to be in Denver

Unless you are me, and think it is better to go Denver for the Great American Beer Festival every three to four years.  But for brewers, it can be invaluable which is why last year’s overflow situation sucked, to be perfectly frank.

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News from the excellent Brewbound site explains that this year will be different: “The Brewers Association (BA) has streamlined the registration process for this year’s Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in hopes of avoiding a repeat of a debacle that made securing a spot at the event difficult in 2013.

Last year, brewers flooded the BA’s servers in an attempt to register, which resulted in the festival selling out in half an hour. As such, not all beer companies were able to sign up. Additional “technical problem[s]” with Ticketmaster, which the BA contracts for general public and member ticket sales, “had a negative impact” on some members, as outlined in an apology issued by the BA at the time.

……to ensure that brewers aren’t excluded from participating, the organization said it plans to accept every applicant wishing to submit products for judging — unless more than 1,400 companies apply.

But while the amount of breweries able to participate in the medal competition has increased, the number of beers a company can enter for judging has not. That number will depend upon the total number of brewers competing, the BA said.”

It won’t make the medal ceremony any shorter but hopefully those who want to go will get the chance and those who don’t want to will also learn that it might be better to step aside.

 

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Duvel America

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I wonder what the craft beer folk who hate “big” will think of this.  A large foreign brewery looking into acquiring ‘Merican owned craft breweries.  Does Duvel Moortgat get a pass because of Ommegang and Brasserie d’Achouffe (among other holdings)?  Or will the following quote  “We would like to acquire two or three U.S. craft breweries over the next five years,” that Simon Thorpe, the president and CEO of Duvel USA and Brewery Ommegang gave to Brewbound.com scare the bejesus out of people?

Will the anti-“big” brigade believe the next Thorpe quote, “We view ourselves as a craft brewer that happens to be based in Europe and has a brewery in the U.S.,” ?.

Duvel has a few prerequisites for potential partners:  long term growth, potential for scaling up, geography and type of market the target brewery is targeting.  The last generated this intriguing statement from Thorpe,  “We are not interested in brands where margins and pricing is low,” Thorpe said. “We are only interested in the luxury end of the market. We are looking for premium, high-end, beautiful brands.”

Informal talks have been held but no names released.  But this may be the start of a consolidation phase for craft beer.

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Food GPS Teaser – Friendly Banter

Before the main event at the Brewbound – Brew Talk at Golden Road. A diverse panel of speakers covering three sectors of the craft beer ecosystem were called to the podium to talk about the State of Beer in Los Angeles.

Included were Anne Conness the chef for Simmzy’s, Jace Milstead the beer guru for Ace Distribution and Jeff Sapsford from Sunset Beer.

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Here are some tidbits from their talk (in no particular order of importance).
You have to “earn” the privilege of pouring special beers. You don’t get the uber rare beer if you don’t support the rest of a breweries beers.

It would be great to go to signature L.A. landmarks and see signature L.A. beers served there.

You have to have IPA’s on at least 1/3 of your taps.

If you are brewing beer, two key things: Consistency and Availability.

Seems like anyone who gets fired decides to open a brewery.

Be a part of the market.

On Food GPS tomorrow, what I took away from business discussion between The Bruery and Golden Road.