Beer Bio:

Style: English Pale Ale

Calories: 144 per 12 oz. serving

Carbs: Unknown

Alcohol Content: 4.8 percent by volume

 
Looking at the basics, Newcastle Founder’s Ale pours to an amber/orange hue with a nose that combines biscuits, bread, a small amount of fruit, and a touch of peat. The body of the beer is completely clear and well- filtered and the foam level, while less than impressive, does maintain a thin layer as you consume. The flavor profile is pleasant, with tastes such as caramel, toffee, bread, and sweet malts. There is a toasted/roasted dimension to the malty component and the flavor offers a small amount of herbs and even a hint of pear.  

Newcastle Founder’s Ale is a pale ale by name, but it is brewed in the British tradition of a pale ale so it is quite different from the pale ales that American craft breweries have produced over the years. The flavor profile with Newcastle Founder’s Ale leans toward the sweet side with a touch of dryness in the end and with a lower bitterness rating than most examples of the pale ale style. Looking at the official numbers, this ale has a bitterness rating of just 20 IBU. This is not only less bitter than the typical pale ale, it is also less bitter than most other beers in the market.  

Newcastle Founder’s Ale is a little light on taste and doesn’t offer the full body common to many of the great English Pale Ale. This fact could win the product some fans, but also some criticism. The lighter body and easy- drinking style will be just fine with casual beer drinkers who want something smoother and less pronounced. But beer connoisseurs are likely to take issue with the lighter body and taste. I find the flavor profile intriguing due to the complex tastes of toffee, barley, fruit, caramel, and herbs, but I am also a little disappointed that the body is this light. In other words, I like what I taste, but I wish there was more of it.

Newcastle Founder’s Ale is one of four of Newcastle’s limited release products and, like the others, it is going to be available in the United States for only a set number of months each year. It will be sold in six packs and twelve pack from February, 2012 through April, 2012 to be followed by the other products in Newcastle’s limited edition series: Newcastle Summer Ale, Newcastle Werewolf, and Newcastle Winter Ale.  

Newcastle’s iconic Brown Ale is known the world over, but Newcastle Founder’s Ale will likely never grow to enjoy such a high level of name recognition due to its limited release status. Even if it was a year- round brew, I am not sure it would catch on with all beer fans for the reason cited above. Still, in spite of its flaws, it is still a good session beer and a nice, easy- drinking example of an English pale ale. It’s not the type of beer that will blow you away with its greatness, but it still has enough of the good qualities I expect in a beer to make it deserving of a try.

Rating: 6 cheers out of 10

But there are a few silver linings among big brewers and one of them is Modelo Especial. First brewed in 1925, Modelo Especial is one of the largest imported beers in the United States. It is the fastest growing brand within the Crown Imports portfolio by overall volume and continues to outperform the industry. Here are some facts from the past year:

• Modelo Especial surpassed 35 million annual case depletions and set annual depletions record for the 20th straight year (Source: Crown Internal Depletions).
• Modelo Especial solidified its position as the number three bestselling import beer brand, while establishing itself as the 14th largest beer brand in SIG rankings.
• By June of 2012, Modelo Especial and Negra Modelo Draft will expand to 14 new states (from 27 to 41).
• Modelo Especial gained more dollar share than any other brand in 2011 (Source: S-IRI)
• Depletion trends of +13.7% vs. prior year outperformed the industry by approximately 16% and other imports by approximately 15% according to Beer Institute and Crown internal depletions data
• Finished 2011 ranked #3 Import and surpassed Bud Light Lime to become the #14 overall beer brand in 2011.

With numbers like these, Modelo Especial is on its way to becoming a top ten beer in the United States. Craft beer lovers are often divided on Modelo Especial, but most agree that it is better than the average south- of- the border brew and its growing popularity shows that the beer does have an appeal that attracts beer drinkers from all categories.

2011 may be a year to forget for many of the big brewers, but the future looks bright for Modelo Especial. It easily outperformed the other big guys like Anheuser- Busch Inbev and Miller and with interstate  expansion planned for 2012, it will likely prove to be the best year yet for this popular Mexican import.

Beer Bio:

Style: Hefeweizen

Calories: 147 per 12 oz. serving

Carbs: Unknown

Alcohol Content: 4.9 percent by volume.

Poured from a bottle, St. Arnold Weedwacker is yellowish in color with a somewhat cloudy, unfiltered body. A head of frothy white foam adorns the top of the beer and remains in place for a good amount of time, leaving some lacing as the beer is consumed. The nose on this beer is interesting, combining scents of citrus, yeast, wheat, and pilsner essence.

St. Arnold Weedwacker offers an unusual taste for a hefeweizen style of beer or any other style, for that matter. The flavor is like a combination of a pilsner and hefeweizen and it combines wheat, yeast, and earthy grain with a touch of lemon and banana. Some toasted notes and crispness are present in the body of the beer and the overall flavour is sweet overall, with only 15 IBU of hop bitterness.

St. Arnold Weedwacker is an unusual beer and it ranks as one of the newer products in the St. Arnold lineup. It was originally conceived as part of St. Arnold’s so-called “Movable Yeast” series, which was an educational effort to let people see and taste how different a beer could be when nothing was changed except the yeast strain. Weedwacker uses the same base recipe as St. Arnold’s Fancy Lawnmower, but replaces the Kolsch yeast of Fancy Lawnmower with Bavarian hefeweizen yeast. Everything else is the same, yet the tastes are quite different, proving the educational point of the Movable Yeast series: That yeast is an important contributor to the taste of beer and its influence is more pronounced than the average person realizes. Weedwacker made its point on an educational level, but also proved so popular with the public that it was added to St. Arnold’s regular rotation.

St. Arnold Weedwacker is an eminently quaffable beer and its flavor profile is actually a little smoother than Fancy Lawnmower. The yeasty qualities, wheat, low bitterness level, and other qualities make this beer a refreshing brew for a warm day and also a very good brew to consume with certain foods- especially breakfast foods such as eggs, sausage, and biscuits. I like this product, but at the same time, I can see how some consumers may have reservations about the taste. The chief complaint I anticipate from first- time samplers is the somewhat sour taste, followed by the unusual scent. Sourness, as most beer drinks will agree, is usually associated with an inferior product, but if you can get past the sour sensation and the odd nose, I think most will find this product to their liking.
St. Arnold Weedwacker is, overall, an interesting beer from St. Arnold and one I am certain to purchase countless times over the years to come. Its refreshing nature and hybrid style make it a unique entry from St. Arnold and one that most people- including both rookies and seasoned beer connoisseurs- will find to their liking.

Rating: 7 cheers out of 10

The fortunate fact for Anheuser- Busch InBev is that it is a very large business with ample supplies of capital, making it easy to develop and market brand new products. And in a short time, beer drinkers will get to sample the latest new entry in the Anheuser- Busch InBev family: Bud Light Platinum, a higher alcohol version of the popular Bud Light brand.

Looking at the numbers, Bud Light Platinum has just over 40% more alcohol by volume and about 25% more calories. Bud light has 4.2% alcohol by volume and 110 calories per 12 oz. serving while the new Bud Light Platinum has 6% alcohol by volume and 137 calories per 12 oz. serving,. These increases are fairly significant and the alcohol level of this product is actually higher than that of regular Budwesier.

So why, exactly, would Anheuser- Busch InBev create such a product? According to the company, Bud Light Platinum was created to appeal to a market that likes Bud Light, but wants something a little more flavorful and slightly sweeter. And since Bud Light is already a top seller, it makes sense that Anheuser- Busch InBev would try to capitalize on the Bud Light name. he company also plans to go for a specific brand image with this product, bottling it in a blue bottle- something never before tried by any large commercial brewery.

I don’t have any problem with Anheuser- Busch InBev trying to expand and improve sales because this is, after all, an important activity of any business. But what bothers me is that this product is really pushing the limits of “lightness”. A beer with 6% alcohol by volume hardly qualifies as a light beer and even though the calories are lower than most brands, they are still pushing the limits for something that is supposedly “light”, which, in he world of malt beverages, is supposed to signify a beer that is easier on the waistline.

I like the use of the word Platinum in the name because it does have a certain appeal and it sounds much better than other words often used to denote a beer with stronger, more alcoholic attributes. But is the name “Bud Light Platinum” really going to be sufficient to help this product sell? I’m not so sure, even though I agree that the sweeter flavor profile will win over converts who are a little uneasy with the somewhat bitter profile associated with Budweiser and Bud Light products.

I guess when your market share is dwindling and your sales are in decline, you have to do what you have to do, but once again, I must question Anheuser- Busch InBev’s wisdom in introducing a product like Bud Light Platinum. Simply fortifying the alcohol of your best selling product will not necessarily result in a better tasting brew and it could even backfire with some beer drinkers who enjoy Bud Light solely for the calories and carbs it saves.

St. Arnold has been growing at a fast clip for many years as more individuals discover its many distinctive products. A quick look back at previous year’s shipments reveals the consistent, rapid growth of the business:

Year                          Barrels Shipped

2007                                17,811

2008                                22,749

2009                                25,710

2010                                31,445

2011                                40,416

As the above numbers indicate, St. Arnold added 8,971 barrels in 2011, representing a growth rate of about 28.5% from 2010 to 2011. In both percentage terms and in the number of barrels shipped, 2011 ranks among the best years in the companies history and if this percentage growth rate continues, St. Arnold will more than double its present size in just three more years.

Looking at shipments of individual brands, St. Arnold Fancy Lawnmower, a Great American Beer Festival winner, remains the company’s top seller, with a 42% increase in shipments from 2010. St. Arnold Amber Ale and St. Arnold Elissa IPA rank second and third respectively in 2011 and both enjoyed significant increases in total shipments. What is even more impressive is that ALL St. Arnold products, including seasonal and special edition releases, witnessed shipment increases in 2011. Even the best managed breweries in the nation usually have at least one laggard in the product lineup, so for St. Arnold to see all of its shipments increase for all brands is a remarkable achievement. 

The large breweries are struggling to maintain market share and many of the big brand beers like Budweiser and Michelob are in decline, but the future looks bright at Saint Arnold Brewing Company. The business is well- positioned to further increase its production and experience yet another record breaking year in 2012.

1. Stronger Bones

Beer contains high levels of silicon, which is linked to bone health. In a 2009 study at Tufts University and other centers, older men and women who swigged one or two drinks daily had higher bone density, with the greatest benefits found in those who favored beer or wine. However, downing more than two drinks was linked to increased risk for fractures.

For the best bone-building benefits, reach for pale ale, since a 2010 study of 100 types of beer from around the word identified these brews as richest in silicon, while light lagers and non-alcoholic beers contained the least.

2. A Stronger Heart 

A 2011 analysis of 16 earlier studies involving more than 200,000 people, conducted by researchers at Italy’s Fondazion di Ricerca e Cura, found a 31 percent reduced risk of heart disease in those who quaffed about a pint of beer daily, while risk surged in those who guzzled higher amounts of alcohol, whether beer, wine, or spirits.

More than 100 studies also show that moderate drinking trims risk of heart attacks and dying from cardiovascular disease by 25 to 40 percent, Harvard reports. A beer or two a day can help raise levels of HDL, the “good” cholesterol that helps keep arteries from getting clogged.

3. Healthier Kidneys

A study in Finland singled out beer among other alcoholic drinks, finding that each bottle of beer men drank daily lowered their risk of developing kidney stones by 40 percent. One theory is that beer’s high water content helped keep kidneys working, since dehydration increases kidney stone risk.

It’s also possible that the hops in beer help curb leeching of calcium from bones; that “lost” calcium also could end up in the kidneys as stones.

4. Boosting Brain Health 

A beer a day may help keep Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia at bay, researchers say.

A 2005 study tracking the health of 11,000 older women showed that moderate drinkers (those who consumed about one drink a day) lowered their risk of mental decline by as much as 20 percent, compared to non-drinkers. In addition, older women who downed a drink a day scored as about 18 months “younger,” on average, on tests of mental skills than the non-drinkers.

5. Reduced Cancer Risk 

A Portuguese study found that marinating steak in beer eliminates almost 70 percent of the carcinogens, called heterocyclic amines (HCAs) produced when the meat is pan-fried. Researchers theorize that beer’s sugars help block HCAs from forming.

Scientists also have found that beer and wine contain about the same levels of antioxidants, but the antioxidants are different because the flavonoids found in hops and grapes are different.

6. Boosting Vitamin Levels 

A Dutch study, performed at the TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute, found that beer-drinking participants had 30 percent higher levels of vitamin B6 levels in their blood than their non-drinking counterparts, and twice as much as wine drinkers. Beer also contains vitamin B12 and folic acid.

7. Guarding Against Stroke 

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that moderate amounts of alcohol, including beer, help prevent blood clots that block blood flow to the heart, neck and brain—the clots that cause ischemic stroke, the most common type.

8. Reduced Risk for Diabetes 

Drink up: A 2011 Harvard study of about 38,000 middle-aged men found that when those who only drank occasionally raised their alcohol intake to one to two beers or other drinks daily, their risk of developing type 2 diabetes dropped by 25 percent. The researchers found no benefit to quaffing more than two drinks. The researchers found that alcohol increases insulin sensitivity, thus helping protect against diabetes.

9. Lower Blood Pressure 

Wine is fine for your heart, but beer may be even better: A Harvard study of 70,000 women ages 25 to 40 found that moderate beer drinkers were less likely to develop high blood pressure—a major risk factor for heart attack—than women who sipped wine or spirits. 

10. Longer Life 

In a 2005 review of 50 studies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that moderate drinkers live longer. The USDA also estimates that moderate drinking prevents about 26,000 deaths a year, due to lower rates of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

These benefits appear to apply in other countries as well, with an earlier study reporting that, “if European beer drinkers stopped imbibing, there would be a decrease in life expectancy of two years—and much unhappiness.”

Well said!

Source: Yahoo; original post by health expert Lisa Collier Cool

 Beer Bio:

Style: Holiday Ale

Calories: 199 per 12 oz. serving

Carbs: 20 grams per 12 oz. serving

Alcohol by Volume: 7.5 percent by volume

Great Lakes Christmas Ale sports a copper/golden color with a nose of holiday spices. This beer offers an active level of carbonation that, when contrasted against the copper body looks like snowflakes falling from the sky. Ok, carbonation goes up, not down, but you get the idea. Based on appearance alone, it looks quite nice and is certainly enticing.

The taste of Great Lakes Christmas Ale continues in the spirit of Christmas. Flavors of cinnamon, ginger, honey, caramel malt, and clove dance around on the palate. The flavor, with its combination of malts and spice rack ingredients, reminds me of the great taste of spiced Christmas cookies and for this reason, I like to enjoy a bottle or two of Great Lakes Christmas Ale as an after- dinner drink, either with a sweet treat or as a dessert all by itself.

Great Lakes Christmas Ale is a tad bitter and there is a brief alcoholic bite in the finish, but the sweet malts and spice quickly bring the taste back in line. The pleasantness of these flavors helps you forget the slight bitter edge at the close and many will find it good for balancing the taste and preventing over- sweetness or cloying tendencies.

Christmas only comes once per year and considering the delicious, creative brews offered by so many breweries, it is a shame we cannot have Christmas celebrations more frequently. Great Lakes Christmas Ale is one of my favorite winter warmers and I recommend grabbing a six pack or two if you happen to be in Ohio or someplace else where Great Lakes Brewing products are sold.

Rating: 8 cheers out of 10

Among the brands promoted at sporting events, Anheuser- Busch InBev is the brewer whose advertisements are most widely seen so it may not come as a surprise to discover that the so- called “king of beers” is considering promoting its name through a somewhat different but related marketing channel. Starting in January, 2012, Anheuser- Busch InBev is going to sponsor its own reality program. Titled Budweiser: The Big Time, this reality program is going to focus on competitions in different sports and in different activities.

Now, what exactly would encourage Budweiser to sponsor a reality television program? Well, according to official sources, Budweiser wants to entertain sports fans who miss their Sunday afternoon of football by presenting competitions of a slightly different sort. Instead of pounding a sixteen ounce Budweiser following an opening kickoff, sports fans can sip on bottle of Bud while they partake in reality program depicting amateurs just like you and me competing in soccer, baseball, and even in non- sporting events such as cooking.  As our non- professional reality stars aim to be the best, Budweiser will make sure to display its logo at every opportunity. The show will premier on ABC and while it won’t be permitted to show an individual taking an actual swig from a Budweiser can or bottle, the company can do just about anything else to promote the brand.

Okay, so Budweiser wants to entertain us and practically every other reality television concept has been tried, so is Budweiser: The Big Time necessarily such a bad idea? It certainly wouldn’t be fair to judge a program without first watching a few episodes and the sample video clips I have found on the internet cannot be used to properly asses the show because they are too brief and more than likely present only the best the show has to offer (much like any short advertisement for a new program would do). Thus, I will preserve making any final judgment until a later date.

Regardless of the program’s merits, however, I cannot help but speculate that the true motive behind the show is the simple idea of marketing. Budweiser hasn’t come out and said that this isn’t the main reason for the show, but there is every reason to suspect that it is. According to sales statistics, Budweiser as a brand is in a major slump. Its sales are way down and its market share isn’t even close to what it was during its peak years. Brand managers are probably searching for something, anything, to improve name recognition and drive sales higher. And since reality television is so popular, someone over there at Anheuser- Busch InBev headquarters decided that Budweiser: The Big Time could offer the needed exposure and produce the boost in sales that Budweiser so vitally needs.

As I said, I won’t pass judgment on the show until I see it, but I just don’t see how displaying the Budweiser name over and over, in the background, on clothing, on signs, etc., is going to encourage people to purchase the beer.  The show sounds more like a sixty- minute advertisement with some silly fun going on in the background than an actual television program. Sure, I can see Budweiser attempting to “spice” up the show with hot women and edgy material, but I still don’t see how this will necessarily translate into higher sales for Budweiser. I already see the Budweiser logo saturating the spaces at ballparks and arenas across America and it has never encouraged me to make a purchase.

Anheuser- Busch InBev calls Budweiser: The Big Time an amateur competition to entertain sports fans. I call it an act of desperation and even if the show lasts through the remainder of the television season, I will be surprised if it succeeds in the way the company hopes.

No, that six pack of imperial stout you just finished hasn’t affected your vision. You did, indeed, read that correctly. White Castle is considering selling beer and wine at its fast- food restaurants.

White Castle, the iconic fast- food joint loved by some and loathed by others, is looking for ways to improve sales at its restaurant locations. In order to meet the demands of consumers and hopefully boost profits in the process, White Castle is considering adding beer and wine to the menu. It is testing the concept at its Lafayette, Ind., store location as a potential enhancement to its restaurants. It is testing some new restaurant concepts as well, such as Blaze Modern BBQ, Laughing Noodle, and Deckers. The company feels it needs to branch out into new areas in order to compete with the fast- casual restaurant chains and to meet customer demands and changing needs.

As far fetched as a Double Slider with a Bud Light might sound, it really is not that radical of a concept. After all, other fast food restaurants such as Burger King have experimented with adult beverages and fast- casual chains like Chipotle, Smashburger, Freebirds, and others already offer malt beverages and wine or wine- based drinks with their meals. Many of these establishments have enjoyed success, so why can’t White Castle do the same?

According to White Castle Vice President of Corporate Relations, Jamie Richardson, the idea of washing down an order of onion chips with a bottle of Miller Lite has been received positively in Layfayette and the overall response to serving beer and wine with a White Castle meal has been “better than expected.” But Richardson also cautions that nothing is final. White Castle will not consider expanding the concept further unless sales at the Layfayette location justify a change on a larger scale. 

At the Lafayette location, White Castle is offering a variety of wines for $4.50 a glass and bottles of domestic beer for $3. The prices aren’t bad and are certainly reasonable for any restaurant.  Still, it is difficult for many to get past the White Castle/Beer and Wine concept in general. Many consider White Castle burgers something to eat after drinking beer; not before drinking, and certainly not with a beer, but after drinking beer. White Castle cravings usually take place after a game of beer pong, not at the same time one pops the cap on a bottle of porter.

Whether or not the decision to require a beer/wine  selling license to future White Castle franchise owners becomes reality remains to be seen. In the meantime, I think I will keep my White Castle consumption and my beer drinking as separate indulgences.  The thought of an order of fish nibblers washed down with a Coors Light does something to my psyche, not to mention my stomach.

Texas brewers have been complaining loudly about the misleading nature and often utter stupidity of these laws for some time and many have agreed that court action would be necessary to overturn these laws on unconstitutional grounds.  Jester King craft brewery, a business located in Austin actually filed a lawsuit against the Texas TABC (Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission), challenging the constitutionality of several Texas beer laws on 1^st and 14^th amendment grounds.

Today, December 20, 2011 a judge has made a decision and has sided with the Texas brewing industry. This is great news for the growing Texas beer business because it offers greater flexibility and allows brewers to (gasp!) actually tell the truth about their products. The judgments include changes such as:

Advertising: According to the old rules, breweries were forbidden from telling customers where to buy their products. Now, they can freely state this information, in much the same way that any other advertiser is permitted to do. In addition, brewers are no longer forbidden to use certain descriptions to describe their products, such as “strong ale.” If the ale is strong, brewers can now say so.

Labeling: Previous Texas law required malt beverages below 4 percent alcohol by weight to be labelled as “beer” and anything over 4 percent alcohol by weight to be labelled as “ale” or “malt liquor.” This false and misleading rule is now overturned and brewers can accurately refer to their products as beer, ale, lager, or whatever description accurately fits.

Why Texas had laws like this in place is anyone’s guess, but most people agree that big business interests were behind the restrictions. The big brewers know that the craft beer industry is a very real and growing threat to their survival. The big brewers also have boatloads of cash and they know that they can sway lawmakers through financial means. By confusing the public and by making it more difficult for small craft breweries to advertise and market their products, the big breweries were hoping to reign- in the craft brewing threat, at least to a small degree.

Texas still has a long way to go in its efforts to shed decades of stupidity but the overturning of these crazy beer laws is at least one step in the right direction. Now, when I pick up a bottle of ale at my favorite carryout, I won’t have to wonder whether it was really brewed with ale yeast or lager yeast. I can actually get the truth- something that is sorely lacking in Texas politics and has been lacking for years, both with business and otherwise.