10 Ingredients for Craft Beer Success

As I suspect that most homebrewers harbor some deep down (or in some cases not so deep down) aspirations of opening their own brewery — I know I do — I found this presentation really interesting.

It’s a link to Neal Stewart’s blog that I was directed to from Stan Hieronymous’ blog.

Anyway, Stewart formerly worked for Pabst and Flying Dog and directed some really successful marketing campaigns for each. So he knows how to sell beer. Which, if for some reason you wanted to start a brewery, would be a very helpful skill. I won’t paraphrase his entire presentation, but instead just some highlights I found interesting:

1. Have a Home Base: Basically he says successful breweries market their product in the direct vicinity because the “story” of the brewery is more meaningful to people that live near it. There are also other advantages that would relate to the local market including brewery tours and the fact that it’s cheaper the closer you’re shipping product.
2. Create Conversation Opportunities: Things like beer festivals, tours and even social media provide the brewer with an opportunity to interact one-on-one with potential consumers and tell the “story” mentioned in No. 1. This, Stewart says, is what craft beer consumers respond to best.
3. Activate the Icon: He says the icon must creatively embody the brand’s spirit. The icon is the brewery’s main symbol (he cites Fat Tire’s Bike, Shiner Bock’s Goat), and Steward says the best way for craft brewers to activate an icon is through sponsored events such as Gonzofest or Tour de Fat.

There’s plenty more good information in there, so read up and store it in the back of your mind in case you might need it for a future venture.

 

 

Thoughtfulness

So in my recent struggle to update the blog frequently, I sometimes come across articles that remind me why I started doing this: to have a outlet for things that occurred to me. This post reminded me of that. Alan McLeod muses about “the enemy of good beer.” Sort of stemming from the Eric Asimov post I recently put up on the wom. Read it, ponder and have a pint. Or read it and have a pint at the same time, then ponder. Or read it, then have a pint and ponder at the same time. Or do all three simultaneously. Your choice.

A Stout by any other name…..

Good article in the New York Times about stout.

I’ve always shared the opinion expressed by Mr. Asimov, which is that people overestimate the “stoutness” of most stouts. Hell, Guiness is only like 4 percent alcohol. Ever done a car bomb? You can chug that stuff!

The article really made me just want to hang out with Asimov. To everything he said my response was, “Yes. Yes. Yes.” Go read it, and then drink some stout. If you’re in the mood for something a little stronger. D’Vines has Brooklyn Chocolate Stout for $7 a 4-pack.

Neglect

The wom has been going through a period of serious neglect. I’ve had some busy times at work and I’ve also been getting another blog off the ground. You folks who have read the wom for beer might be happy, because now all my UNC Basketball related posts are going to be on another venture, The Rafters.

therafters.wordpress.com

So from now on, only beer related posts. Hopefully I will get into blogging mode here soon.

Really need some beer news? Check out dcbeer.com for DC area stuff, like how the new Birch & Barley and  Church Key are rumored to open up like now-ish!

You could have found out for yourself at dcbeer, but **SPOILER ALERT** I know I’ll be trying to snag a pint of the extra rare Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout.

Internet at the house!!

So I haven’t been very active on the posting front lately. A lot of that has to do with the fact that since the beginning of September, I haven’t had internet in my apartment. As of today, that is no longer. I should hopefully be able to get lots more content up now. And I am going to be contributing to DCBeer as well. So drink up!

Peru Brew

Sam Calagione, has a great first name. I’m a little partial. He also will try just about anything when it comes to beer, and has a specific affinity toward old or ancient recipes (i.e. Midas Touch, Chateau Jiahu, etc.). He is up to his old tricks again with a fermented Peruvian corn drink. Story here from the New York Times.

While I like most Dogfish Head beers, I’m getting a little jaded over the whole “extreme beer” thing the company expounds. I have Calagione’s book, “Extreme Brewing,” and it’s decent. Though after reading through the recipes it seems the way you make most styles of beer “extreme” is by adding lots of sugar to boost the alcohol. The other way is to use something strange in the brewing process, like chewed up purple corn in the NYT story. I have to say I applaud the guy’s seemingly never-ending search for something new and exciting with brewing, but this one didn’t do it for me. This one just showed what “extreme beer” is, a marketing tool. And a very successful at that. Obviously, as the term gets used in the Times story.

The first thing that I was opposed to was that the chicha they were producing is still made in South America by natives. I wouldn’t call that extreme. I would call that repackaging a tradition from another part of the world and selling it to Americans. Second, the reporter let some South Americans try the finished product, and they said it didn’t taste like chicha at all, more like beer.

That part kind of stuck with me. I’m a fan of Midas Touch, Dogfish’s brew that was devised from liquids found in old drinking vessels in King Midas’ tomb in Turkey. Part of the attraction to the beverage in the first place is curiosity. “Hey, I wonder what people used to drink thousands of years ago?” But the fact that the Dogfish chicha did not seem to be in line with real chicha makes one wonder. What if the Midas Touch actually tastes nothing like the “ancient Turkish recipe using the original ingredients from the 2700 year old drinking vessels?” What if I’m just the target of good marketing?

There’s another side to this story, too. Why should I care? I like the beer. It tastes good. So what if it doesn’t taste just like some shitty old drink from B.C. times?

I guess what it boils down to, pun intended, is that Dogfish Head wouldn’t be as popular as they are now if they were making a bad product. Craft beer consumers are certainly more picky than consumers of mass-produced lager, and they would stop buying it if it weren’t good. That’s not to say we are immune to good sales techniques, that always helps, but it is to say we can’t be fooled if the product doesn’t back it up.

Alumni Game

So I had some friends attend this, and to say I’m jealous would be the understatement of the year. But at least there’s a story I can read about it online to make me feel a little better. (photo from SI.com)

New Beery Restaurant

Ferment Believer – Young & Hungry – Washington City Paper

New restaurant opening up in Logan Circle. I meant to post this on Friday. Via CityPaper.

UNC Rings

My brother alerted me to his article profiling the ’08-’09 team’s sweet championship rings. Very nice. (Picture by Robert Willett of the News and Observer)

Check it out.

Where the Wild Things Are

If you spend some time perusing the shelves of any specialty beer store, it’s hard to have missed the fact that beers fermented with the formerly “wild” yeast strain, Brettanomyces, have begun to pop up everywhere. I say formerly because the major yeast producers, Wyeast and White Labs, offer it in an isolated culture to brewers so that they can introduce it themselves, rather than leaving the fermenters open and hoping it finds its way into the beer through the air. The yeast, which gives beers a certain sour character sometimes described as “horse blanket,” is available commercially for home brewers as well. The beers the yeast produces are unique and have the ability to either make instant fans or foes when tasted. Greg Kitsock has an article in the Washington Post yesterday about some of these beers.

As far as the beers mentioned in the article, I know you can find Matilda at D’Vines at 14th and Irving NW because I went there yesterday. I moved to the Columbia Heights ‘hood last Sunday and this looks like it will be my go-to place. I’ve also seen  Wild Devil at the P St. Whole Foods. I haven’t seen either of the Ommegangs or the Bruery Saison Rue, but I haven’t had my eyes peeled. That might even be a good feature for the blog, to post hard-to-find beer sightings, similar to City Paper’s Beerspotter. Man, I am full of ideas. I haven’t had any of the beers in question, so I won’t give a short opinion, but I am very curious to get into some of that Matilda, as Kitsock made it sound so appetizing, and I know it’s available close to my house.

***UPDATE 9-8-09*** Wild Devil is also available at D’Vines.