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Search Results Archives: October 2011

October 27, 2011

American Beer Day: A Time to Reflect

by bryancarey — Categories: About Beer, Beer Media, Breweries, Domestic, Macrobreweries, Microbrews — Tags: Anheuser- Busch InBev, beer, brewery, brewing, craft — No Comments

October 27 isn’t just the day that falls four days before Halloween. It is now recognized as American Beer Day- a day to celebrate the brewing industry, its history, its influence, and the many great contributions American beer has made to our quality of life.

How important is beer? Well, consider these facts: Beer is the most widely consumed alcoholic beverage in the United States, where more than 1,700 breweries produce more than 6 billion gallons of beer each year. Breweries across America include large, well-known macro- breweries such as Anheuser- Busch InBev, Miller, and Coors as well as regional brands and locally brewed craft beer brands. American pale lager is still the most popular style, but American breweries produce products of distinction across the spectrum.

Industry- wide, the trend is toward craft beer. The big breweries still control the market, but their dominance is waning. The craft beer industry gained momentum in the 1980’s, surged in the 1990’s, fell back a little in the early 2000’s, and is now expanded rapidly again in this, the second decade of the twenty- first century. As tastes continue to mature, there is no reason to believe that this trend will reverse in the coming years.

The American brewing industry has gone through many different phases and has experienced many highs and lows. Yes, the brewing industry was forced to endure the thirteen years of anti- American, anti- freedom insanity known as prohibition during the early part of the 1900’s. But America repented for this ghastly sin and repealed the prohibition amendment in 1933. Today, the industry is back on its feet and thriving like never before, with new breweries opening weekly and with malt beverage products that rival the finest in the world.

So, as October 27 winds down, take some time to reflect on the brewing industry and what beer means to you personally. Pay a visit to your local brewery, buy a six pack of your favorite brand, or otherwise find some way to pay your respects to the world’s greatest beverage and the men and women who work hard to brew, package, and distribute your favorite brands each day.

October 21, 2011

Walmart to Stock More Craft Beer

by bryancarey — Categories: About Beer, Beer Media — Tags: Anheuser- Busch InBev, craft, retail, store, walmart — 1 Comment

Walmart is huge, to put it mildly. The business has stores in every nook and cranny across the United States and many Americans are within ten minutes of one or more Walmart, Walmart Supercenters, or Walmart Neighborhood markets. It is difficult to escape a business of this magnitude and many consider Walmart their one- stop shopping excursion for all their household needs.

But in spite of its status as the apex of retailers, Walmart is the absolute pits when it comes to craft beer selection. Walmart ranks number one in terms of overall retail beer sales in the United States, but its top ranking is due not to great selection, but to its overall popularity as a grocery retailer and, when it comes to beer, its tendency to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Sure, you might find some Dos Equis, Beck’s, and a few other interesting products, but the bulk of Walmart’s refrigerated section is dedicated to Bud Light, Busch, Old Milwaukee, and similar brew.

Pressure is mounting, however, on the nation’s largest retailer to open up more shelf space to craft beer and just this past week, former Walmart CEO Lee Scott made a proclamation that was music to the ears of craft beer fans everywhere. Speaking to a large gathering of distributors at the National Beer Wholesalers Convention in Las Vegas, Scott (who still serves on the Walmart board) stated that Walmart realizes it needs to offer more room for craft beer and an overall better assortment of malt beverages in general.

Customer service is part of the reason for the opening of Walmart to the craft beer segment. Scott acknowledged that consumers are turning away from Walmart in favor of Kroger and other stores where the beer options are better and there is no good reason why the largest retailer on the planet cannot offer the same or better selection at a competitive price. Yes, the big guys at Anheuser- Busch, Miller, and Coors will cry foul and try to interfere with the enhanced competition, but the ultimate decision rests with the customer and if craft beer is what they want, craft beer is what they will get.

Craft beer still has a long way to go before it reaches the level of sales enjoyed by the macrobreweries. After all, only about 5% of the beer market is craft in nature. However, this market is expanding quickly and its recent growth is in the double digits, compared to a two percent decline for beer sales overall. Thus, from the standpoint of economics, it makes sense for Walmart to recognize this trend and open the beer aisle to a wider assortment of products. Craft breweries are opening at a rapid pace and the numbers today are at their highest level (around 1,800) in more than one hundred years.

Walmart hasn’t made any immediate changes yet and decisions like this are still largely under the control of individual store management. But with a few small changes, a visit to Walmart might one day include a six pack of Deschutes and a 22 oz. Rogue rather than a quick purchase of Milwaukee’s Best and a bag of Great Value potato chips.

October 13, 2011

Harpoon Octoberfest: Not True to Style, but Good

by bryancarey — Categories: Beer Reviews, Domestic — Tags: ale, Boston, craft, Marzen, Oktoberfest — No Comments

Seasonal beers offer a nice change of pace from our usual brands and the fact that they are released on an infrequent basis adds to their anticipation and appeal. Since Fall is upon us, the seasonal beer for the moment is marzen style Octoberfest and one good tasting example is Harpoon Octoberfest, a seasonal beer from the popular Boston craft brewer.

Harpoon Octoberfest

Beer Bio:

Style: Marzen (Octoberfest) ale

Calories: Unknown

Carbs: Unknown

Alcohol Content: 5.5 percent by volume

Harpoon Octoberfest is a ruby/copper colored beer with a nose that is enticing, combining scents of sweet malt, nuts, plums, and cherries. A good pour produces a good deal of foam that eventually settles down to a thin layer. The body of the beer is completely clear and this combination of qualities makes for some self- evident appeal to the visual and nasal senses.

Moving to the taste, Harpoon Octoberfest offers a good deal of complexity with flavors like bread, nuts, a small amount of chocolate, earthy notes, toasted malt, caramel, and fruit vying for attention. The beer is medium in body, a tad salty, and offers a mild bitterness. Harpoon brews it using Munich, pale, and chocolate malts along with willamette hops.

Harpoon Octoberfest has been around since 1990, but I havent tried it and, consequently, haven’t bothered putting my feelings to paper until this year. I see this product every year on the store shelves, but I haven’t reached for it until this year. Part of my reluctance is that I am not a huge fan of the Marzen/Octoberfest style. I have tasted many versions that simply missed the mark, but at the same time, I agree that there are some notable Octoberfest beers and so I decided to try Harpoon Oktoberfest and hope for the best.
Now that I have sampled a few bottles of Harpoon Octoberfest, I can say that this is a good tasting beer and one worth trying if you haven’t already. I found that I liked this beer a little more with each passing sip and I found it interesting in its complexity. I like the different combination of nutty, toasted malt, and caramel notes and I can agree that this is the type of Octoberfest that most will find acceptable at worst and very good at best.

Harpoon Octoberfest has its plusses, but it isn’t without a few faults and chief among them is the glaring fact that this beer is brewed as an ale and thus it isn’t a true representative of its style- a style that is traditionally brewed using lager yeast. Second, it is a little fruitier in taste than I prefer for this style. Among the Octoberfests I like, the reason I like them is usually due to their bready- like aroma and taste. This beer doesn’t have that nice, liquid bread character and isn’t really the best example of its style.

On the other hand, if you can get past the word “Octoberfest” on the label and rate this as a generic beer, you will find that this is a good malt beverage product. I was a little offended at first that Harpoon decided to call this a marzen brew even though it is brewed as ale, but once I got past my purity standards, I found myself liking this product for what it is. It could be better if the recipe was tweaked just a tad, reducing the fruity component and increasing the taste of bready malts. But Harpoon Octoberfest is still a good tasting beer and a nice change of pace during the cooler time of the year.

Rating: 7 cheers out of 10

October 9, 2011

Anheuser- Busch and SABMiller, Together as One?

by bryancarey — Categories: Beer Media, Breweries, Domestic, Macrobreweries — Tags: Anheuser- Busch InBev, beer, budweiser, Buyout, Coors, Merger, SABMiller — No Comments

Anheuser- Busch InBev, the largest brewing operation in the world, has reportedly been in talks to purchase the second largest brewer, SABMiller, in what would be one of the largest takeovers in corporate history.

According to the Brazilian news website IG, SABMiller has been talking with Anheuser- Busch InBev for some time about a potential sale of the business to its larger foe. Spokespersons on both ends decline to comment on the deal, but SABMiller shares spiked in price last week when the news hit the street.

The thought of a merger of any type between Anheuser- Busch InBev and SABMiller doesn’t sit well with many people for numerous reasons. For one, the partnership reeks of potential monopoly. Both companies are already very big and the idea of them becoming one would be like Toyota purchasing Ford Motor. These two businesses are not based in the United States anymore so any merger between the two would not be subject to U.S. anti- trust overview, but it still concerns some people just the same.

Then, there is the mere idea of old rivalries joining together in unison. As anyone in the United States knows, Miller and Anheuser- Busch were bitter rivals for decades and the thought of these two enemies becoming a single company just doesn’t feel right. Add to this the fact that SABMiller owns a portion of Molson Coors and the feelings of uneasiness become even more vivid. Anheuser- Busch, Miller, and Coors products sold by the same company?- the thought sends shivers down my tall boy.

Most financial analysts say there is no reason to worry about this deal going through because, among other things, the cost would be staggering. Anheuser- Busch InBev would have to cough up somewhere in the neighborhood of $70 to $100 billion to seal a deal this large. InBev had to borrow a huge sum of money when it purchased Anheuser- Busch back in 2008 and, as of June 30, 2011, still has more than $40 billion in debt. Given a debt load this large, coupled with the difficult global economy, it is unlikely that Anheuser- Busch InBev would be able to purchase its closest rival, even if it wanted to.

No one has confirmed or denied any rumors yet, so there is still an outside chance that this marriage may actually reach consummation. I don’t believe it will, but be prepared for the pitter-patter of Anheuser- Busch/Miller/Coors feet if the deal becomes reality.

October 2, 2011

2011 Great American Beer Festival Winners

by bryancarey — Categories: Award Winning, Beer Travel, Breweries, Brewpubs, Competitions, Festivals, Macrobreweries, Microbrews — Tags: beer, best places for beer, brewery, competition, craft, festival, microbrew — No Comments

2011 Great American Beer Festival is now officially over. It ran from September 29 through October 1 and it will go down in the books as the largest yet. A total of 526 breweries took part in this year’s festival, contributing a total of 3,930 beers to the competition. The numbers are up significantly from last year and with growth in the craft beer industry at its present level, the figures are bound to be even higher in 2012.