Tag: The Session

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Session # 79

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Each month Beer Bloggers from around the world converge on one topic.  This month Ding’s Beer Blog has the hosting honors and has proposed this topic…

Anyone with any inkling of my online, in-person and blogging presence in the American beer world since 2000, will know that the whole of my beer experience in that time has been colored by, sits against the backdrop of, and forms the awkward juxtaposition to, my English beer heritage and what has been happening the USA in the last few years. Everyone knows that I have been very vocal about this for a very long time, so when it came to thinking about what would be a great ‘Session’ topic, outside of session beer, it seemed like that there could be only one topic; ‘What the hell has America done to beer?‘, AKA, ‘USA versus Old World Beer Culture‘.

This probably won’t be pretty, and you’re probably not gonna like it much, but hey, what’s new?

I didn’t quite know how to approach this topic.  Primarily because I don’t see American beer in opposition to any other type of beer.  I don’t see the brewers I know, “Doing things” to beer. Is the envelope being expanded and then crushed?  Yes.  But not in response to the good to great brewers in the rest of the world.

I reiterate that I don’t underestimate the impact that the craft beer scene has unleashed.  But I think that the “old World” is in a spot that the U.S. was in a few years back.  Stuck in a sea of Bud and Heineken.  And I think that Germany, Italy and Belgium as well as England will come roaring back.  Why? Because there is a gap of quality.  A gap of creativity.  And market gaps get filled.

That is why beers from here are so popular and so wildly inventive.  There was a yawning gap between the flavorless and what people yearned to taste.  Laws needed to be changed.  Competition needed to heat up and many other financial and brewing factors had to change.  You needed the rabble rousing and the Imperial IPA’s to open up the field.  And once it was open, it was OPEN and there was and is nothing that can’t be done.  I have had two beers which simulate the spice patterns in Horchata. You look up Mango IPA and get multiple hits.

And you see it in England with BrewDog and with breweries like Kernel.  You see it at Baladin in Italy. And you will see that creative spark lift the boat of World Wide beer to levels that you and I cannot imagine.

As long as the options remain open and brewers do not feel constrained to fit into a box then whatever beers are created will further the growth of craft beer.

 

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Session # 78

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This month we have a writing “test” from BeerBarBand….

What better way to test our writing skills and remind ourselves of why we do this than to post your elevator pitch for beer.

“Elevator pitch” is a term used by marketers, sales people, film/tv makers and the like. It’s the delivery of a short but powerful summary that will sell their idea or concept to the listener in one swift hit.

Here’s the scenario:

You walk into an elevator and hit the button for your destination level. Already in the elevator is someone holding a beer…and it’s a beer that annoys you because, in your view, it represents all that is bad with the current state of beer.

You can’t help but say something, so you confront your lift passenger with the reason why their beer choice is bad.

30 seconds is all you have to sell your pitch for better beer, before the lift reaches the destination floor. There’s no time, space or words to waste. You must capture and persuade the person’s attention as quickly as possible. When that person walks out of the elevator, you want them to be convinced that you have the right angle on how to make a better beer world.

Here’s the rules:

  1. In less than 250 words or 30 seconds of multimedia content, write/record/create your elevator pitch for beer in which you argue you case, hoping to covert the listener to your beer cause.

So here goes……

Tell me about your thought process when you purchased the beer that is in your hand.  When you were staring at the shelves of beer choices, what was it about that particular beer that called to you? I ask because if you deliberately chose that beer, I want to know why. I will understand if faced with the dizzying array of craft available you are overwhelmed or if you are “slumming”.  But I want to know, if you know, about all the choices you have. 

Because you do have choice, you could drink a different beer every day for a year and still have some new beers to try in the next (and the next after).  And choice is good, it means that there are no excuses to NOT have a craft beer. 

You CANNOT say that you don’t like craft beer.  You CAN say that you have not found one you like but that means that you are wasting time with that one in your hand. You CANNOT say that you can’t find good beer.  It has invaded every town and city.  You just wanted to grab the closest or cheapest. 

Would you eat the same meal, night after night? Even the most lazy among us don’t do that. But it is what you are doing by buying that one beer over and over.

Once this elevator door opens, I want you to do some homework and find a better beer.  Craft beer is waiting for you.

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Session # 75

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The May Session is hosted by allbrews from the San Francisco Bay area.  And here is the topic…..

“Like sandlot baseball players or schoolyard basketball junkies, many amateur brewers, including some beer-brewing bloggers, harbor a secret dream: They aspire to some day “go pro.” They compare their beer with commercial brews poured in their local pubs and convince themselves that they’ve got the brewing chops it takes to play in the Bigs. Some of them even make it, fueling the dream that flutters in the hearts of many other home brewers yearning to see their beer bottles on the shelves at City Beer or their kegs poured from the taps at Toronado.

Creating a commercial brewery consists of much more than making great beer, of course. It requires meticulous planning, careful study and a whole different set of skills from brewing beer. And even then, the best plan can still be torpedoed by unexpected obstacles. Making beer is the easy part, building a successful business is hard.

In this Session, I’d like to invite comments and observations from bloggers and others who have first-hand knowledge of the complexities and pitfalls of starting a commercial brewery. What were the prescient decisions that saved the day or the errors of omission or commission that caused an otherwise promising enterprise to careen tragically off the rails?”

Full Disclosure: I have ZERO, NONE, experience with starting a commercial brewery.  That being said, I have noticed what separates the successful from the less so.

Of course sucess can be attributed to many factors. A flagship beer that flies off the shelves. Location: both the physical building and the proximity to willing customers. Great branding and marketing. Loud and obnoxious marketing. The beer quality can (and does) vary from great to better than Bud.

But failure, from my safe perch of blogging, primarily comes from being disconnected from your customers.  And a brewery has many customers.  Their distributor, bar owners, beer drinkers to name the three biggest.

A brewery casually disregards any of them at their own peril.  A perfect example of this disconnection is on the crowdfunding website, Kickstarter.

Breweries have been especially drawn to this method for raising funding for equipment, ingredients and other big ticket items. And it provides a case study in how to create and maintain and engage a fan base.  All items that I believe are very important to long term success.

Fully funded Kickstarters share fully engaged creators/brewers who do the following:

1. Set a reachable goal

Some projects have set dollar amounts that even a casual / occasional backer can see won’t be reached.  It is much better to start small and reach “stretch” goals.  Otherwise your backers will lose interest when they see that the percentage towards the goal is inching forward and not running.

2. Do events

Even if you do not have beer to sell, get out and either support the bars that will hopefully be buying your beers.  Hand out bumper stickers or pass out questionnaires.  If nothing else, spread the word about the brewery.

3. Meet the press

Talk to your local newspaper, the big newspaper in town and then hit up any and all beer bloggers in the area.  Give interviews at any opportunity.  Post progress on the social media sites that work best for you. 

4. Explain your beers

Make sure that your pre-conceived line-up of beers is thoroughly explained on your Kickstarter page and your website and blog and Facebook because in the end it is about the beer.

Then drink a lot of coffee and soda because you will be on the ground running for the duration.  Which is great practice for the actual brewery too!

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Session # 74

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“April’s topic from This is Why I’m Drunk is “Finding Beer Balance.” It’s a discussion I hope will offer a variety of responses as people consider their interests outside of finding the perfect pint.

Is beer your vice? Is beer your reward? Does beer really have to be either? Do you find lifestyle balance through work, hobbies, family or maybe even “Dry Days” like David Bascombe? There are a variety of ways to find balance.

These questions are simply a jumping-off point. No matter what your answer, I’d love for you to join us in April. ”

 I have employed many different tactics so that I don’t “burn out” either myself or my palate. 

– Beer Off-Days where I don’t have any beer.

– Having spirits (my favorite being gin) or wine instead of beer.

– Ordering lagers and pilsners instead of bigger choices on the menu board

And that doesn’t even take into consideration going to a movie or heading out to the beach or Farmer’s Market or other numerous (non-beer) activities.

But what I found works best is to simply curtail the amount of beer that I consume.  For example, I recently went to a “One Night Stand” featuring Beachwood Brewing at one of my favorite Los Angeles craft beer spots, Beer Belly.  Now, I could easily order three or four pints because Julian Shrago brews GABF winning beers. 

But instead, I will either order a taster tray or just get one pint.  When I do that, I leave wanting more and not not feeling like I had overdone it.  Plus, if I order a smaller amount, I can leave a barstool for the next customer sooner and get home and watch Parks and Rec.

The younger me would want to sample every beer on the list but now that I know that there is no way that I can drink ALL of the great beers out there.  And the side benefit is that I am now forced to slow down and really enjoy the craft beer that is in front of me and the more enjoyment I have the more “in balance” my life is.

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Session # 72

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The February Session is hosted by the Montana Beer Finder.

Here is the topic: “In light of it being about two weeks before Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be a good time to talk about how we love beer. Pay attention now, as I said “how,” not “why.” Much has already been discussed about why we love beer: its creativity, its taste, its social aspect.

Think of this topic and discussion in terms of being in a relationship (again, a good primer for Valentine’s Day!). You can say to your partner, “Honey, I love you.” But think of the saying, “actions speak louder than words.” From my personal experience, it’s always better to show your partner the ways you love them instead of saying simply, “I love you because you make me happy.” Instead if you come home with flowers every now and then, or do extra house chores without being asked, or plan an impromptu date, these are ways we show our partners how we love them because our actions show we think of them when they’re not around.

To bring that back to beer, I’m not suggesting we need to be thinking of beer all the time, or as much as we think of our partners (though some of us might!), but I’m curious to hear what you beer lovers do to show appreciation for good craft beer.

Perhaps it’s that you buy a case of your favorite seasonal and share it with others every chance you get, or you commit yourself to only drinking that beer until it’s gone. Perhaps whenever you travel to a new place, you seek out as many local beers as you can instead of finding your favorites. Perhaps you don’t even buy bottled beer, but instead fill your growlers and drink at local taprooms. Perhaps our writing and blogging about beer shows how we love beer.

Again, think of the phrase, “actions speak louder than words,” so I’m not looking for what characteristics beer has that makes us love it, but what we do to show our love for it.”

After reading this month’s topic, the first thought that came to my mind was telling a story. And that is exactly the “how” that I strive to hit at every beer event, with every blog post and with every beer review.

My “how” is to take the golden opportunity to hand off my love of craft beer to someone else by really explaining to those who will listen why you love the (insert favorite beer of the moment here) in front of you. Then you are on your way to creating a story around the beer which I firmly believe creates excitement or at the very least creates an aura around the beer that will make someone else order one too.

And if you can go further down the rabbit hole and discuss the history of IPA’s and maybe even tell someone to buy a book on hops or Pete Brown’s adventure with a barrel of IPA then that makes the story even better.

With every new book I read about beer, I find new tidbits of beer history old and more recent that are perfect trivia to tell friends and family about. If there is a new brewery or gastropub opening, it is an opening to tell people that I work with about craft beer. Buying a beer for my sister-in-law is an opportunity to explain the parameters of a beer style.

All of these create a story about craft beer and people love to hear a good story. You don’t have to be the Brother’s Grimm (Though Grimm makes some good beers) or Stephen King (Sun King will do). Just show your love of beer by talking about it.

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Session # 71

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The first topic of 2013 comes from the blog, Brewers and Drinkers….
“It always surprises me how many beer bloggers are out there, and how not all of them brew.

For me brewing was a natural progression from my interest in beer.

But as I’ve discovered more about brewing my enjoyment of beer has changed.

The more I learn the less I enjoy mediocre beers, knowing how easy they are to make. Similarly, great beers seem all the more impressive now.

Apart from this general change, I’ve also become a more analytical drinker. I try to identify flavours in a way that I never did before.

How did they get that biscuity malt flavour up front? Is that raisin? They overdid the bittering hops, didn’t they?

Brewers and Drinkers is about your relationship with beer and how it’s made. Do you brew? If so why? If not, why not? How does that affect your enjoyment of drinking beer?”

When people learn that I am a not-so-famous beer blogger, I will inevitably be asked if I brew at home. I have two stock answers.
1. I have attempted and made some spectacular vinegar.
2. My wife hates the smells associated with beer being brewed so I refrain.

And as much as I push beer education and beer reading and flat out drinking as many beers as you can safely try in general practice, I do not think that you need to be an expert home brewer to either judge or enjoy craft beer expertly. You can coach a football team without playing a single down or be completely non-athletic and call the play-by-play of the game featuring multiple coaches who never strapped on a helmet. And I feel the exact same way about beer.

I, of course, can’t answer for the other side of the equation for the fine people who home brew and then order a sampler tray from a new brewery and wonder if it will stand up to their own standards. That may be a difficult circle to square.

But your relationship with the beer in front you should be one of discovery and open mindedness. If home brewing helps to create that state of mind then kudos to you. If it creates too many questions, then maybe it is a detriment. Think about the costumer who watches a movie and only notes what could have been done differently with that dress on the leading lady or that military uniform is too tight or frankly any other artisan who looks upon a piece of work that they did not do and picks out the negative first.

Now I will not over-generalize and say that every home brewer does that. My “no data to back it up” guess is more beer snobs do it overall. But the point is that you should do your best to live in the moment with the pint of beer. That beer may be sub-standard and you may know exactly why and you may know how to fix it but drink the pint first and give a rounded critique from the aspect of a drinker first, home brewer second and then whatever other occupations after that. Because, as a member of the brewing fraternity, wouldn’t you want the same from the people drinking your beer?

I am reminded of what the comedian Patton Oswalt said about the Star Wars prequels in one of his stand-up routines, “I don’t give a shit where the stuff I loves comes from. I just love the stuff I love. That is enough for me.”

Ultimately, I will take every brewery tour and read a book devoted to water and brewing but hand me a pint of Weird Beer from Smog City Brewing and all that important knowledge takes a back seat to the aroma, look and taste of the beer.

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Session # 70 – Don’t Believe the Hype


Here is the December topic courtesy of Good Morning….
“Back in the summer, I shared a bottle of Westvleteren 12 with my brother and my father. Whilst I was aware of it’s reputation as “best beer in the world”, they were not. Whilst we all enjoyed it, we all agreed that we much preferred the other beer we had that night. The question that came into my head was this…

If I had told them it was the best beer in the world, would their perceptions have changed?

How much does hype have an effect? Are we much better off knowing nothing about a beer, or is it better to have the knowledge as to what the best beers are?

Which beers do you think have been overhyped? How do you feel when a beer doesn’t live up to it’s hype.

Is hype a good or bad thing for beer? Tell me what you think. I’m looking forward to seeing what the general consensus is.”

Hype, in and of itself, is neither correct, incorrect, good or bad. It is simply the blowing up of something that heretofore was unknown.

That means, to me, that any beer that is considered a “let down” after you have tasted it is not the fault of the hype but of the beer itself. Because, if you then say that the hype was exaggerated or over the top then you are basically saying that you believe what other people say and not what your palate is telling you.

But it seems, if you look at the top beers on the various craft focused websites, that a lot of people are either parroting back what has been told to them because they fear writing down their true reactions or it isn’t hype and the beer is just that damn good.

I believe it is a bit from both column A and column B. I used to check out the “scores” and “ratings” of beers before prying off the crown cap. I used to strain to locate the faint notes of pineapple and/or caramel in a certain beer and I realized that I wasn’t paying attention to the actual beer that was in my glass. Not to say that I am not overtaken by certain beers with reputations that precede them but I pour it into my glass and swirl as if it were the beer before and the beer after. If it astonishes then I am in agreement with the crowd. But if I pull back and think of what needs to better the beer then I know that my taste buds are not in alignment.

For an example, I recently lucked into trying Heady Topper from the Alchemist. Barring me winning the lottery and traveling the beer world with my winnings. I probably was not going to sample this beer. So I read about it. Perused some reviews and put it into my wish list. When the can was handed to me, I smiled and profusely thanked the person who brought it and tasted it. But I didn’t taste it like it was heaven sent. I didn’t taste it like I was part of some BeerAdvocate clique. I simply tasted it as a lover of craft beer.

Heady was indeed up to snuff and then some. One of the best beers that I imbibed in 2012. So, to me it is not overhyped. But to you or the person next to you it might be. And that is not a bad thing, or a good thing or correct or incorrect. It is just we all have different reactions. And some reactions are more passionate than others.

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Session # 69


The November topic comes from Brew Beer and Drink It!…
Ever feel like there are many things in this world that are backwards, upside down, wrong… that just don’t make sense?

Like local craft beer not being considered ‘domestic’ in the menu of many restaurants in the US…

Or like having a beer that doesn’t taste very good have the largest market share…

… among other things…

… but, hey. This. World. Is. Not. Perfect!

At least there are many things I would like to see change for the better… many of which are already happening… more micro-breweries are spawning and pissing off the big boys…

Not that I wish anyone bad, but I like seeing:

a) more people share the wealth of this industry rather than just a few companies

b) passionate people brewing because they love the craft more than they care about pleasing the pockets of shareholders and

c) micro-breweries actually getting involved with the community and hold events that benefit non-profits…

I raise a glass to New Belgium for holding their Clips of Faith events!

I like seeing breweries treat other breweries as friends and not competition… love all the collaboration brews coming out!!

I like attending beer festivals where it’s not about making money, but rather to unselfishly share and give… to enjoy beer… good tasting beer, that is… and bringing community together…

Most beer festivals I go to will mark the number of beers you have to make sure everyone gets enough… but they also want to make sure the beer is gone! and they will just share… and give unselfishly…

I know I didn’t have just one beer at the last beer festival I went to… —>

The Perfect Beer World… that’s how I picture it…

So with that being said… what is something you would like to see change… something that will take us closer to the Perfect Beer World?

The topic is wide open… even if you think that what you want to change for the better is not important or ridiculous… share it!

It is in our DNA to always be dreaming of the perfect world. It is probably why the story of Aladdin and the Lamp is still as powerful as it ever was. I always attempt to stay rooted in the here and the now and enjoy the pint in my hand but thinking about the next beer or what I would like to see on the tap list is always there in the back of my mind.

So here are a few “tweaks” that I would make to create an improved craft beer world today. November 2012 imperialized and dry hopped as it were.

1. A “fast track” for governmental approvals so that breweries could come online faster. It would really lower the hurdle for aspiring brewers.

2. Local beers in stadiums and arenas. Angel Stadium now serves up Bootlegger’s and Hangar 24 but I would love to see Staples with cans of Golden Road and Dodger Stadium with Eagle Rock brews and the new Farmer’s Field with Strand, Monkish and Smog City.

3. To be eligible to have a city wide beer week you must have a session festival. Only beers under 5% allowed.

4. More smaller distributors. The more there are, the better handled, I think, some brewery accounts will be leading to more beer in the marketplace.

5. Less imperial stouts on steroids and more pilsners.

6. More bottle shops with taps.

If all that magically appeared today, I could put away this old lamp with no genie in it.

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Session # 59


The first session of 2012 comes from Mario over at Brewed for Thought…..
“So as we are all incredibly interesting people, and almost always drink beer, let’s talk about what we drink when not drinking beer. Maybe your passion for coffee rivals that of craft beer, or it could be another alcoholic beverage such as scotch. My daughter being a root beer fan would appreciate her dad reviewing a few fizzy sodas. Maybe you have a drink that takes the edge off the beer, be it hair of the dog or a palate cleanser during the evening.

Beer cocktails, wines, ciders, meads, you name it as long as it’s not beer. Try to tie it in with craft beer in some way for extra credit. Be creative and I’ll see you guys in the new year.”

I must admit that I am just a dabbler, pinkie toe in the cold water type of guy when it comes to other beverages.

I can tell you that Dr. Pepper made with actual sugar is unarguably better than the mass produced stuff. I often enjoy coffee from the folks at Intelligentsia on lazy weekends. And my extremely tiny liquor cabinet is primarily populated by smaller batch distillers.

But beyond that? Well, I just don’t know that much. And it is because my passion is not there. And/Or, I just don’t have the cranial capacity to hold The Oxford Companion to Wine and the Companion to Beer in my head at once.

With the preamble now out of the way, there is one tipple that even though I am not a beverage multi-tasker, I enjoy most often when craft beer is off the table. A simple gin and tonic. Compared to my favorite brew, I feel freer when drinking a gin and tonic because I don’t have to analyze and then over analyze each little sip. I can simply enjoy the subtlety of the gin and the fizz of the tonic at the roof of my mouth.

And there are some tremendous gins out there from Junipero from Anchor or Hendricks that lightly trip across the tongue. And maybe it is that effervescence and complete lack of beer-i-ness that keeps me coming back. Or maybe it was instilled in me by my father and our trips to the bar at the Empress Hotel in Victoria B.C. Whatever synapse fires when I order one is darn close to the one that goes when I select a beer. Just writing about it is making me wonder if I have any tonic at home to go with my Aviation “eau de vie de Genievre”.

Now let me get back to my GinAdvocate magazine and rating the latest on RateGin.com.

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Session # 52

As host of Session #52, I’ve decided not to focus on the substance of beer, but the material that plays a supporting role. Bottles, coasters, cans, labels, ads, tap handles, church keys, hats, t-shirts, tip trays, glassware and signs have been collected by fanatics ever since beer has been sold. These objects constitute the world of breweriana, a term that surfaced in 1972 to define any item displaying a brewery or brand name. The majority of highly prized objects are from the pre-prohibition era, but ephemera from every period in brewing history, including craft beer, finds a home with each beer drinking generation.

So what old or new beer related items do you collect and why? It’s that simple. This is your opportunity to share the treasured objects your wife or husband won’t let you display on the fireplace mantle. You don’t need to be a major collector like this guy to participate. In my mind, just a few items constitute a collection. Maybe you have mementos from a beer epiphany or road trips? You can focus on a whole collection or tell the story behind a single item.

I saw this topic and thought to myself that the craft beer ephemera that I hold onto is pretty pedestrian.

I have a big bowl holding a bunch of bottlecaps for a possible future project. Maybe a table like the ones at Saraveza in Portland, where the caps are displayed in colorful patterns under glass. I just need to keep collecting caps to bring that project to life. Also I need to learn how to be handy as well.

I have some empty bottles around. A Laurelwood Deranger Red. A traditional Gose bottle, some of the Stone Brewing collaboration bottles. But since I hate to dust and my wife can see it, hear it and smell dust particles, I keep the bottles to the minimum to avoid having to spend time dusting instead of drinking.

What I spend the most time on are my books of brewery coasters and beer labels. Each page organized by location. So there are multiple California pages, Oregon pages and the like. It will eventually be quite the pictorial chronicle of my journey through beer.

So that is it. No man cave with neon signs. No signed bottles. No framed photographs of me with beer luminaries on the walls. Just a full fridge and memories.