Tag: firkin

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The Firkin for October 2014

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Did your craft beer fall off the back of a truck?  No, I am not implying that your favorite beer is brewed by the mob but is your favorite watering hole putting a hand out in front of your local brewer asking for something/anything before a beer can go on tap?

Apparently it is a big enough issue in Boston that Dann Paquette from Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project took to Twitter to call out places that do just that with the hashtag #dirtylines.  Simply put, those establishments that un-politely ask for money for tap handle space.  In radio that scandal earned the sobriquet, Payola and that is exactly what it is here.  And it is currently illegal in the three-tier system. The reasoning being that a large pocketed brewery could block access to the wares of a less wallet endowed competitor and that would NOT be the Free Hand of Adam Smith in the marketplace.  That is why there are no Budweiser Taverns that carry only Bud products and I would think that barring their own payola issues that even Republicans and Democrats would agree on this.

This obviously exploded on the craft beer websites with this nicely phrased Esquire article being tagged multiple times.

But it led me to ask the following question: How do you prove that a bar or restaurant is doing this?  And how do you stop a shame based social media onslaught? Beacause, let’s face it, Pretty Things will sell beer based on the fact that they make good beer.  It may not be on tap in Boston (especially now) but I will certainly buy more in solidarity with them having the guts to name names. I posted the Esquire piece on the LA Beer Blogger Facebook presence and there were comments asking for names but no comments with names.

But how do I, Joe Beer Blogger find out if a bar that I frequent is doing this?  If I see great tap lists dominated by locals, is it OK?  If the owner of Brewery A holds events there does that mean the bar is kosher?  Or is there some app that shows which bars do it and what percentage of their taps are “bought”?  Without the information to effectively spend my money elsewhere, I am just left to guess and hope that the people I am friends with are playing fair.  Or do I casually start talking about it at the bar and see if I get thrown out for seditious talk?

I also don’t want to see Yelp-ian witch hunts against a business without proof.  Don’t “assume” or “guess” that a place is worthy of being #dirtylines material.  Make sure before you start typing.  There are enough uninformed and flat out stupid reviews out there to last five lifetimes.  Don’t add to the pile of crap.  Add to the helpful pile.

Lastly, if I find out that any of the places that I go to are doing this as a matter of “business” or as standard operating procedure.  I will not go to that place and if I write about that place, I will say that they extort money for lines at the end of each post.  If I, as a blogger, am held to some strange undefined, ethical standard where I am not supposed to get “freebies” while writing basically for FREE then why should a bar, who is making money off selling beer be allowed to hold a beer hostage from you and me?

It is hard enough to work distribution deals out. See Clown Shoes for an example. To get squeezed on both ends is just wrong. It amounts to a perverse form of Double taxation

The end goal is to have choice.  A capitalistic system requires competition.  I should be able to get the widest possible amount of beers.  Anyone or anything that circumvents that is doing craft beer a disservice.

 

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The Firkin for September 2014

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It was right after the pumpkin spice potato chips. Or was it after the (quite possibly fake) pumpkin spice flavored/scented condoms? Either way the pumpkin bubble has burst for me. I will carve the hell out of a pumpkin this year out of spite for the spate of pumpkin products.

But seriously, I got nothing ‘gainst the gourd and I certainly don’t want to stifle brewing creativity. But this Halloween season, you will not find me excitedly choosing a beer from the P-Spice display. With the caveat that if a brewer brings something new to the glass and during October, I will listen and possibly taste. (I will review two pumpkin beers this month to keep on top of the trend)

But the combination of seasonal creep that puts pumpkin beer on shelves by late August and the ever increasing use of pumpkin and its pie spices as an unimaginative brand extension tool for seemingly every product under the sun, has me burnt out.

I understand that distribution dictates when beer gets brewed and when it arrives on shelves. Supply chain economics seem to be the driving factor at play. But why encourage me to drink pumpkin beers months before Halloween and Thanksgiving? If I told you to drink a Maibock in January, would you? Or Oktoberfests in May? It seems that Pumpkin beers and Holiday ales are not subject to the same calendar as other beers in the market.

Maybe I am just grumpy because we here in L.A. haven’t had a spring, fall or winter in a long, long while. But where is the brewing counterculture of tapping the beer that you want to drink, when you want to drink it and having the customers come to you because your beer is so good? Why are some bowing to the pressure of releasing beer early?

I don’t believe that it is the grumpy grandpa in me that is irritated.  Seasonal Creep takes the fun of enjoying the moment away.  How can the actual day of Halloween be fun if you are assaulted with pop-up costume shops for months.  To me it is a sign of a culture that doesn’t enjoy the day in front of them and has to set their clocks to future fun days.  Let me drink my Oktoberfests and ambers and dopplebocks first before hitting me with the full fury of fall.

Or maybe I should just give in to the marketing and start drinking winter ales right now or better yet I could start planning an all pumpkin based brewery. Pumpkin IPA anyone?

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The Firkin for August 2014

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When people speak of craft beer people being snooty or uppity. It is usually aimed at the apparent seriousness and wine-ification of beer. Where some of the fun seems to be leached out of the simple act of drinking a beer.

And that leads me back to a question that I come back around to on occasion after visiting yet another, nicely appointed bar with a well-made bar and varied tap list with Etsy-esque bottles used as lighting fixtures and a cool logo. Why aren’t there more fun craft beer bars out there?

Where is the British or Irish bar? Where is a bar with old-time videogames (Philly I guess). Or the charity pub (see here). Or hell a dive bar. A certain cookie cutter approach seems to have taken root. Breweries have taprooms in industrial districts and invite food trucks. Bars will have gastropub fare and multiple taps and multiple TVs. End of story.

How about matching the creativity of beers with a creativity in design and thematic elements. I’m not looking for Dave & Busters meets Charles Edgar Cheese but something fun. Maybe a design theme based on a bottling line or history of a local and perhaps long gone brewery.

I would like to see a little whimsy injected into the next wave of beer establishments. We already have bloggers belittling other bloggers for not being serious enough, we already have brewers suing over names, we already have a bleeping hellacious water issue in California.

There is enough serious. Let’s have a fun pub.

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The Firkin for July 2014

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Scrolling idly through Facebook posts, I ran across one that announced the winding down of the Taplister website/app. Barring a financial angel swooping in and saving it. For those who did not use it, Taplister was a crowdsourced source for what was on tap at bars and breweries. You could log in and find out what was pouring before you arrived at your barstool.

I was watching with a careful eye how Taplister and another website, BeerMenus looked and how often it updated and if and how much they would charge for access. The main reason for my interest is that I do a non-crowdsourced and more manual version of what Taplister was offering in the form of the Food GPS L.A. Beer Blast. And I alternated between thinking that crowdsourced would overrun what I was doing and then believing that it was better the old-fashioned (my) way.

But now I have come to the realization that although the look of the website and app is important, and the ease of use is important, plus accurate up-to-date tap lists is of paramount importance, they all fall in line behind how the creator/owner is making it a viable business.

Do you charge the customers for using? If so, then many in the interweb community will simply not use it. Because free is everywhere with a little poking around. Do you charge the bars or breweries? If so, then many publicans and brewers may opt out, leaving gaps that makes the service seem incomplete and leading to comments of “Why isn’t Bar A on the list?, they’re the best”.

You can use a combo of both or scramble for sponsors to cover costs. But in the end evaluation, is there a need for a constantly updating gargantuan list of tap lists? Enough to warrant charging for it? I don’t think so. Which leads to the question, What can and should be charged for if “everything” isn’t it?

Let me answer that by tackling the information itself. I am turning toward the viewpoint that a huge amount of data is less helpful. With curated lists being better in tune with what will be needed. There is a reason why listicles are popular. You take a vast swath of data and condense it into a list. A list is easy. Too easy most times without any goal other than as clickbait. That inherent flaw of throwing a list together without education, or worse, having the interwebs choose through voting has made actual curators more needed than ever before. And a curator can charge for expertise.

What is more valuable than microscopic coverage of a city or region and every beer on tap is a vetted list of which craft beer establishments you should spend your money at and what beer they are serving, compiled by someone or a group that has trust and knowledge. This opinion isn’t to toot the horn of the L.A. Beer Blast but it is an example of having people with craft beer experience in Los Angeles providing a snapshot of where craft beer fans really should go for their next pint. I would pay to hear and taste what people like Ryan Sweeney or Brian Lenzo or Steve Skorupa think I should have a glass of.

I see a future where we look to those with great taste to guide us to great beers and great breweries and not to a massive list of beers that is so large that it is debilitating.

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In the Tap Lines for July 2014

header_attractionsFourth of July.  Perfect for craft beer.  So many different ways to pair beer with hamburgers, hot dogs or for the more adventurous ribs.  I will be assisting (OK, watching) a friend home brew for the first time.  So there will be stories to tell even without a grill.  And also coming this month…..

~ e-visits to three breweries from the state of Maryland going from DuClaw Brewing Company, Flying Dog Brewery and Public Works Ale
~ video reviews of two beers from Tahoe Mountain Brewery.  Recolte Du Bois in two versions.  Peach and Sage.
~ two more beers will come up from the BSP cellar to be reviewed. This month two stouts from 2011.
~ Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events
~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark
~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world
~ … and Session # 89 will converge bloggers onto a single topic, this month Beer in History

Here are two events to get your July started in the Los Angeles craft beer world:
1) Tuesday, 7/1 – Firestone Rare beer tap takeover at Stout (Hollywood), 6PM
2) Saturday, 7/5 – Beachwood Brewing’s 3rd Anniversary Celebration

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The Firkin for June 2014

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Criticism is a buzz word in the world of beer blogging. Mostly revolving around the topic of “There isn’t Enough”. That bloggers are playing it safe and letting breweries skate when they should be called out.

I am of the school that positivity leavened by realism doesn’t make one non-critical. But what gets lost in the “cheerleader” or “evangelist” debate is timing. When and where do you criticize a beer?

There are some who may want to try a beer multiple times over a span of time to see if a beer is progressing or moving backward or in stasis. That is fine if it is a core beer. Not so good, if it is a specialty one-off.

Do you criticize when a brewery is young? Or do you wait for it to find its sea legs? That method is foiled because some breweries are strong out the gate and can create unrealistic (or is it the converse) expectations. In SoCal, both Bottle Logic and Societe set high bars that other start-ups have not matched.

Do you speak to the brewer or to PR person? At a festival with thousands or quietly one on one? E-mail or in person?

These are all questions to ask yourself after you have formulated your constructive criticism. I know there are times when I simply do not want to hear any criticism. Whether delivered well or not. And since it is hard enough for married people who live together to recognize those “bad times”, you can imagine that opining about why a beer might not be up to snuff to a brewer who may have just spent time cleaning a kettle might be more difficult.

On this blog, I attempt to lay out why I don’t like a beer without outright stopping other people from trying that beer. My method is to be hopeful until I get let down repeatedly. But that doesn’t mean that anyone is off the hook. If beer 1 is bad enough to warrant a negative review, I will say so on this blog with a caveat that I hope it gets better or that I may not be the best palate for a particular style. Because the goal of criticism is to improve the NEXT effort. The goal is not to give your blog credibility or to drive someone to anger.

The way to get better beer is for people to be honest so that a brewer can then either use the opinion or not. Then the blogger can choose to either buy their beer or not.

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The Firkin for April 2014

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Anonymity.

Restaurant reviewers used to guard their identity vigilantly to make sure that they would receive “typical” service from waiters and chefs.

In the age of Social Media, that is out the window. Reviewers get “outed”. Famous Reviewers are “gets” for a newspaper or website. So they focus marketing attention on them because they are a draw to a segment of readers.

What does this have to do with craft beer? I think craft beer needs a little secretive tasting research. Because there are so many people Tweeting and Untapping, you are not immediately pegged as a beer blogger or writer. You can sample a flight from a brewery without getting extra attention. Everyone is reviewing so you can slide by unnoticed.

I prefer that on a first visit to a bar of brewery not to reveal that I write about beer. I want to see how customers are treated. I want to hear what the bartenders are talking about. I want to take in the whole picture. I can learn from the unguarded moments.

You can have great moments talking with your favorite brewer too. But the dynamic is different. You can’t tell someone that a beer is bad without trying to soften the blow or thinking about which words to use before speaking. If you don’t know the people that filter can come off and a different, more permissible one comes on.

There is much talk about “critical” writing but I believe that isn’t the largest writing problem that beer people have. It is way down on my list of issues. What I think is more pressing are not abandoning the methods used in the past by restaurant reviewers and the like. They worked for the most part.

Reviewers went to a restaurant multiple times. They sampled multiple dishes. They are upfront about their tastes. They are honest about their review process. Then they review. And that review can be glowing and positive or acerbic and negative. Neither opinion is wrong or less “journalistic”.

For your next first visit to a new establishment. Try incognito and see how it works for your writing.

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The Firkin for March 2014

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This rant was started after reading about the sad Hunahpu incident earlier in the month.  (You can read about this mess HERE).

Instead of doing a post-mortem on that particular event I think it is time we took a look at how many more overbooked one-offs do we need in the craft beer world before we all realize that the old model doesn’t work? And instead of trying to be the little Dutch boy plugging leaks with ticketing issues, tapped kegs, downed servers or rowdy patrons at these “events”, it is time to look at the supply and demand.

Now I know that some breweries produce these special limited releases for varied reasons.  And that some of these specials become whales for varied reasons.  And those whales beget the special once a year blow outs.

But once they become whales, the old way of doing things must be abandoned.  Why?  A, because it draws a MUCH different crowd.  You begin to draw the hoarders, collectors and snobs in MUCH higher percentages.  People specially planned and flew to Florida for Cigar City.  Not to mention the curious onlookers and lookey-loos who follow the latest trends.  And you end up creating an event that cannot possibly meet the expectations of a MUCH different crowd than the usual taproom day and becomes too much work to handle.

You can simply ignore the rest of this post and hire an event company to do the ticketing, security, admission and everything else and have your party in a big enough space to handle the crowds.  And hope for the best.  Or you can make more foundational changes.

Here are my Supply and Demand inspired recommendations:

1.       Undersell tickets.  If you have five bottles of beer to sell, sell three.  If you have space for 5 people, sell three.  You get the picture.  I understand that sales are monitored for overflow now but now may be the time to really tighten the screws.  If it is a special beer you will be able to sell it later.  Or do a charity auction.  You can send it to the White House, President Obama likes beer.  If you are not choosing to increase beer production then you have to manually decrease the demand.

2.       Spread out the celebration.  Have a morning session and an afternoon session.  Or a Saturday session and a Sunday.  Then follow rule # 1.  The goal being to thin the herd and make runs on the keg or bottle allocations less scary.  If you saw the video from Cigar City, imagine if half that crowd was at home waiting for their Sunday session and not there.  It is simply another manual lever for reducing demand.

3.       Release the beer through other distribution channels.  Preferably in intervals throughout the year.  This is the supply side of the argument.  Go ahead and have your big party once a year. But also, like a release valve, package some three months later and sell it through your distributor to great accounts.  Put it on tap randomly at your taproom for regulars.  Sell it separately to your mug club later in the year.  It means making the event less of an event but that is how you also make the event more manageable.

Now some places choose to not grow to meet over pent up demand.  Others want the press.  Others believe that making more means that the beer will no longer be THE coveted one.  If that is the path that a brewery chooses then good luck to you running an event.  Because the love of craft beer ain’t going away.  And as much as you learn about putting events on, you are still, primarily, a brewery first not an event company.

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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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Firkfest

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FirkFest, Orange County’s first cask beer festival, is scheduled for March 22, 2014 from noon to 4.

This new addition to the beer fest scene will be located in the Farmers Park in the Anaheim Packing District located at 400 S Anaheim Blvd, (which was recently talked about in BeerPaper LA).

I will let Greg Nagel the driving force behind this and the OC Beer Blog describe the rest, “Firkfest highlights Old World beer serving technique and blends them with new creativity of today’s burgeoning local craft brewers. Thirty Southern Californian breweries will participate in this unique event that pays homage to how beer has been traditionally served for centuries.

The name Firkfest is a spin on the name “Firkin” which is a 10-gallon cask. A cask of beer is traditionally considered “real ale,” meaning the carbonation is supplied naturally from the yeast finishing secondary fermentation in the vessel. Cask beer is served directly from the vessel in which it finished fermenting and is normally served at cellar temp 50-55F. Cask beer is also a one-time blank canvas for brewers, who typically add specialty ingredients for the one-time serving. The use of extra dry hops, coffee, tea, spices, fruit, and peppers are commonly added to base beers.

 “What you drink at Firkfest can never be replicated exactly,” says Nagel.

Restaurants from the much-awaited Anaheim Packing House – ADYA (Indian), The Kroft (specialty sandwiches), Ecco (Italian fare), Wheat and Sons (butcher) – will sell locally-crafted food. The Packing House, due to open Spring 2014, will serve as a culinary center that brings together artisan food producers and purveyors in a public market type setting.”