Madison Beer Review

Mikkeller Nelson Sauvin Single-Hop IPA

2009-07-17T05:30:00.001-05:00

I will admit to being a fan of just about anything Mikkeller puts in a bottle. Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, headbrewer of Mikkeller, is uniquely his own. He doesn't so much as follow as trends as break them down to their basic components, reconfigure them, and put them back together to create something at once modern and current and also challenging and fresh. Indeed, just last week, the intrepid souls of Hoosier Beer Geek interviewed Mikkel and he explained his mission thusly: "I think it is sad that so many people don't know what possibilities beer has. I want to show them what hops, malts, and yeast taste like."

Take for example, his recent collaboration with 3 Floyds Brewing Company, called Oatgoop. Released this past winter it combines recent trends in the brewing industry such as high-alcohol, wine-style beer and using non-traditional grains. In that case, he paired with a high-profile American brewery to create his own take and came up with a high-alcohol, wine-style beer that uses a non-traditional grain. It was a big, complex, playful approach to the barleywine. On the other side, is something like the Jackie Brown, a surprisingly straightforward, even if somewhat hoppy, take on a traditional brown ale. The Jackie Brown not only demonstrates his superb skill in brewing to style, it posts his own imprimatur and provides a pointed counter-point to something like this Nelson Sauvin Single-Hop IPA.

Where the Jackie Brown is relatively traditional, this Single-Hop IPA is anything but traditional. Mikkeller has rent the hop and IPA trends into pieces, brought it down to its components and dissects each one under a microscope. A series of five beers that focus on a single hop each: Nugget, Simcoe, Cascade, Warrior, and Nelson Sauvin. It is a singular focus on the hop, exposing not just the positive qualities, but the negatives as well. The Jackie Brown is a benign take on a traditional style, each of the five Single-Hop IPAs are a non-traditional, over-the-top, under-the-microscope look at not just the hop, but the style itself, and even our own perceptions on what an IPA is. Thought you like cascade hops? Try a Cascade Single-Hop and see what you think. No idea what the Nelson Sauvin is? Try this one:

Appearance: big creamy, foamy whipped cream head; opaque burnished copper; a soft-dusky cloud
Aroma: crazy fruity and musty; on the grapish side of citrusy - can definitely see why people call this hoppy wine-like; a slight biscuit maltiness hides behind
Flavor: sharp and hoppy, with a slight pine-sol (but not in a bad way) brightness, not super-bitter, but very flavorful in a grassy-hoppy kind of way; the hops are very definitely up-front but a solid maltiness lies beneath that implies that this beer could age interestingly
Body: soft and oily with a medium-lean body; dries out in the finish to clean everything up, though leaves a lingering off-grape flavor
Drinkability: something a little different; surprisingly, I think, I could drink a lot of these and at 6.9% it's not overly alcoholic
Summary: some of the descriptions of this seem strange ("pine-sol", "off-grape") but only because, I think, it is so unlike very many beers; it is actually similar flavor-wise to Dogfish's Midas Touch with it's non-traditional, grape-like, beer flavors; it's very nice, but approach and presentation are everything with this - if you were to pour this into a shaker pint and hand it to someone to drink as a beer they might be put-off; but with a white wine glass and paired with a dinner (sautéed whitefish with capers?) it is very approachable

Michigan, A Recap, Part 2 - Founders, New Holland, Bells

2009-07-15T13:00:00.001-05:00

s I mentioned in Part 1, I didn't make it to Dark Horse, though I've been told by those who went that the location has a country "hole in the wall" feel to it.

So, first up was Founders where co-founder Dave Engbers gave us a behind-the-scenes look at the shiny new stainless there. Then, for the next two hours Mr. Engbers chatted with us about everything Founders and beer.

Breweries can be expensive operations. To run even a small brewery requires a capital investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment. Of course, you can make the money back, but when you first get going, it can be hard to know where that next sale is going to come from. Founders was no different. Shortly after it had begun, the bank came calling on some past due bills and basically gave the brewery one week to pay or it was going to foreclose on its collateral (fancy bank speak for: shut you down and sell your equipment). It was at this point, after a scramble to investors to help out, that a beer started to get some awards. This beer would save the brewery, allow for growth, and see the brewery to its newest flagship beer set to takeover later this year.

Which beer was this saving grace? The Dirty Bastard scotch ale, a rich, malty, slightly hoppy scotch ale that weighs in at a respectable 8.3% ABV. The Dirty Bastard was the flagship for Founders, bringing it the money to make it to its reputation-makers: Breakfast Stout, Kentucky Breakfast Stout, and Canadian Breakfast Stout. Surprisingly, these are not based on the same underlying Breakfast Stout recipe as the barrel aging imparts flavors that require adjusting the flavor profile of the base beer. This was something that we saw at Jolly Pumpkin and bears repeating here: beer is a living product - it changes shape over time and the beer that goes into the barrel or bottle very often is different from the beer that comes out of the barrel or bottle; thus, the brewer needs to predict what the beer will taste like after this aging and but a product in that will become what the brewer intends that you, the customer, will drink. This requires more than mere science, it requires art and craftsmanship to apply expertise and experience in predicting these flavor changes given the materials, the temperatures, the times, and a variety of other factors that impact the final product.

Which beer is poised to become the new flagship for Founders? The Centennial IPA, a classic American IPA in the hoppy, West Coast style that has become the calling-card of Founders' non-stout beers.

More importantly, the success of the Dirty Bastard allowed Founders to build its taproom. The taproom now serves not just as a place for locals and pilgrims to quaff a tasty beverage, but it provides cheap marketing research about what works and what doesn't. While not surprisingly few beers fail at the taproom, some have never made it out. For example, we were told the story of a blueberry lager that was positively reviewed by sycophant revelers, brewery staff nixed anyway as entirely unrepresentative of anything Founders wanted to portray about itself. On the other hand, was the undisputed champion of the entire weekend: a Maple Porter. This Maple Porter has not been brewed with maple syrup. It is a big-bodied, hoppy-ish porter that is aged in whiskey (or was it bourbon?) barrels that were used to age maple syrup at a local syrup producer. The barrels are now used to age this porter and create a wonderfully rich, complex beer that is sweet without overdoing it, a bright whiskey undertone, and roasted malts at a monster 10% ABV. It is a great, great beer and will hopefully make it into bottles for all the world to enjoy.

Also on tap was a Bourbon Barrel Red's Rye that impressed. The Red's Rye series of beers present an interesting challenge for Founders. As a grain rye can be harsh and husky and can turn off quite a few people; yet, many people like this flavor a lot. So, there's a balance that has to be struck between making beer that people can respect and appreciate, but also making beer that people will buy. It is for this reason that the Black Rye has been discontinued. Personally, I find this disappointing, as it was a great, great beer. I mentioned my love for this beer to Mr. Engbers and, while he commisserated and agreed that it was a good beer, it simply wasn't being bought on retail shelves. The bartender, Kim, had a better solution: mix about 1/3 Porter to 2/3 Red's Rye and voila(!) Black Rye.

I ordered the faux-Black Rye much to the disgust of Mr. Engbers. A cohort ordered the concoction you see there to your left: a mix of the Oatmeal Stout (on top) and Cerise (on the bottom); a nice, full-bodied, roasty, sweet, cherry-fruit bomb that has an absolutely beautiful presentation. It was at this point that we got into a rather heated argument that seems to be spilling into the beer geek universe: to mix, or not to mix. I am, as a general rule, anti-mixing. I think it corrupts both beers to result in a generally inferior product. But, having said that, the faux-Black Rye was surprisingly close to the actual Black Rye and, honestly, anything that results in a drink as pretty as the Oatmeal Stout/Cerise mix cannot possibly be all bad. As a brewer, of course, Mr. Engbers' point is well taken: the mix is not the intended product and to the extent it results in an inferior product, or really to the extent it results in a different product, it is not the product of the brewery. It's that simple. Kim, our wonderful bartender, made the point that her job is to serve what the customer wants - and if the customer wants a Black Rye, but one isn't on tap, she can get really close by mixing them and it makes the customer happy. A fair point. I'm not sure I can reasonably explicate a difference between this faux-Black Rye and, say, Granite City's horrible practice of putting together two of its beers to come up with something that isn't as good as its components (which is saying a lot!), so I'll chalk it up to hypocrisy and move on, I guess.

One last tidbit about Founders: their annual production is around 22,000 bbls, making it about the size of Capital Brewery here in Wisconsin. I was amazed to hear that brewery that seems so ubiquitous is, in fact, quite small.

Next on to New Holland, where the Existential hopwine is king and some derivative of The Mad Hatter represents close to 50% of the available taps. New Holland's Holland, Michigan brewpub is not where the beer is produced (the actual brewery is a few miles down the road) but is where we stopped to have a bite to eat and check out the wares. Personally, I don't really get excited by much of what New Holland makes; the Mad Hatter is OK, but there are many other IPAs that I would rather drink and that seems to hold true for much of their product line - it's all fine, but none of it makes me want to grab it over something else of a similar style. Most of us on the trip feel the same way, so we tried experimenting a little with New Holland's other line: spirits.

New Holland, in addition to being a brewery, is a distillery. They make whiskey, gin, and a few types of flavored vodkas. I had a faux-Tom Collins (one of my favorite drinks, by the way - I say "faux" because it was made with lemonade not lemon and simple syrup) with the gin that was pretty decent. Another of our group ordered a drink that turned out to be absolutely brilliant: a gin and tonic with the New Holland gin that had been soaking with cucumbers. The cucumber taste came through and the gin really shined; hands down this drink was the highlight of New Holland. The whiskey was expensive, $15 for what looked like a generous, not quite double, pour, but pretty good. Unlike many "craft" whiskey's this didn't overdo it with a heavy body and flavor; instead, it showcased some nice vanilla overtones with background flavors of cherry and oak on a light to medium body. Very nice, and not too much of a burn - easily drinkable without water to cut it.

Finally, on to Bell's. Bell's, as a pioneer and leader in the Midwest Craft Beer Industry hardly needs to justify itself and its decisions to anyone. It provides good, if not awe-inspiring, beer to just about every bar, restaurant, hotel, liquor store, grocery store and tavern in the entire Midwest. But, to say we were disappointed with the Eccentric Cafe, the downtown Kalamazoo bar/restuarant/taphouse/tied house would approximate, if understate, our feelings. The $6 cover did not start things right and we knew we should have just gone elsewhere when we saw that the cover charge could be modified by wearing a toga. Allowing some, apparently regulars, to slip by without charge only resulted in more frustration. Closing the kitchen at 9pm sealed the deal and we left without hearing a note of the "funky" cover band playing to a grass lawn covered with pot-smoking frat-boys and girls in togas and fake-fro wigs.

We did manage to grab some beers before we decided to high-tail it out of there, and the golden rye ale was rye overload - which even for an avowed rye-lover proved too much. The sour rye and sour fruit beers were a little better if not overly impressive; though, to be fair, compared with Jolly Pumpkin, it would be hard to impress. So, with that, hope you've enjoyed this trip to Michigan. All said and done, including bottles that came home with me, gas and my share of hotel rooms, the trip cost about $300. It took us 3 days and I put about 1000 miles on my car, albeit most of it just getting to and from Michigan itself from Wisconsin.

So, thanks to all of the breweries that hosted us. Thanks to all of the guys that were with us. Congratulations to my step-brother. And, I hope this review has inspired you to take a beer trip.

Press Release Tuesday - WomenEnjoyingBeer.com

2009-07-14T13:30:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of a podcast this morning and I'm still working on the second half of the Michigan summary - we spent a lot of time at Founders and have a lot of info (new, awesome beers!!). In the meantime, girls in the craft beer industry don't get nearly enough recognition as it is a dude-centric industry, hobby, and beverage. So, I'm always glad to bring more women into the fold. Thought this might interest some of the ladies out there.

--------------START PRESS RELEASE FROM JUSTBEERNEWS.COM-----------

Hello, Beer Writers and Enjoyers!!

I am in a partnership with Ginger Johnson, "Women Enjoying Beer" - please check out the web-site if you have time www.WomenEnjoyingBeer.com

We are working with Brewers/Breweries to provide our research on marketing to women the other 50% of their market of which they do little marketing to, or in some cases mis-market to. We are also working with food/beer establishments to make sure that there is proper staff education which leads to consumer education which leads to more sales, interest and better business for all. Another main focus is simply to provide education to women about the beer industry as it is uncharted waters for some and for the others who are more seasoned there is always more to learn or something new.

That being said I just wanted to invite anyone who is intrested it exchanging dialog or doing a story we would love to talk. Additionally, we are holding a number of events - Kansas City is the next venue for July 16, 17 & 18 if there is anyone in the immediate area interested. We are also looking into the St. Louis area potentially for August. Please contact us if you are interested in learning more, have questions, etc. We believe we have a news worth cause in helping the beer industry as a whole have continued growth especially in the Women's market.

Ginger Johnson ginger at WomenEnjoyingBeer.com or Deidre Vodehnal dlbrady1013 at gmail.com

Thank you for your time and consideration!

Deidre Vodehnal - A Women who Enjoys Beer!!

www.WomenEnjoyingBeer.com

Michigan, A Recap

2009-07-13T12:00:00.003-05:00

Much thanks to all of the breweries who hosted us, but most of all to Ron Jeffries at Jolly Pumpkin and Dave Engbers at Founders Brewing Company who really went out of their way to make this trip educational and enjoyable.

This trip covered 8 (or 9 depending on which group you were with) breweries in three days: Arbor Brewing Company, Jolly Pumpkin, Kuhnhenn, Dragonmead, Founders, New Holland, Bells, Olde Peninsula, and Dark Horse. Unfortunately, MBR wasn't able to make it to Dark Horse, but we look forward to catching them when they are in town for the Great Taste of the Midwest.

First up was Arbor Brewing Company for lunch. This particular day Ann Arbor was a bear to get around. There was an Antique Car Rally going on at the same time we were trying to get there and many of the streets were blocked off which made parking anywhere near the brewery near impossible. Once we got there we enjoyed a fine lunch with the smoked lager and the stein beer. I applaud the server for checking to make sure I knew what I was getting into when I ordered the smoked lager - smoked beers aren't for everyone and if you don't enjoy drinking bacon, you may want to order the taster first. But I love smoked beers. And this one wasn't quite as smoky as she had let on - or at least compared to something like the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauch Marzen or Ur-Bock. Nonetheless it was quite enjoyable, as was the stein beer which was more like a simple, sweet oktoberfest than a true, complex, caramelized steinbier like that brewed at The Grumpy Troll.

Then on to Jolly Pumpkin in Dexter, Michigan. Ron Jeffries, owner and brewmaster, was on-hand to show us around the modest warehouse facility.

There were three things that stuck out about the operation at Jolly Pumpkin. First, you can't see them in these pictures, but the mashtuns are square stainless converted dairy equipment. The mashtuns have sliding doors on top like a dairy case and don't look anything like the usual mashtun that you see in breweries. From the get-go you realize the crafted nature of an operation like Jolly Pumpkin - the craft of brewing is fundamental to the very way that they do business.

The second interesting thing were the open fermenters and wood barrels that give Jolly Pumpkin beers their unique funky, sour characteristics. The open fermentation doesn't have to result in a sour beer - in fact, a number of breweries, including some European light lager breweries, use open fermenters. Open fermentation can be tricky, and these in particular are flat-bottomed vessels, not the usual conical fermenters that have become ubiquitous in the brewing industry, which makes cleaning even more difficult. Also, Jolly Pumpkin does not innoculate their barrels with purchased wild yeasts and bacteria strains; only strains already found in the brewery and the barrels are used. This results in more complex interactions - lab-produced strains are isolated and have known interactions, but true "wild" beers have dozens if not hundreds of strains that all act on the beer in different ways.

Third, the sheer amount of manual labor - from blending to hand bottling to rotating the stock for carbonation - is amazing. In fact, if you listen to how much work goes into producing a bottle of, say, La Roja you'd be amazed that Ron has any time at all to be giving yahoos like us a tour around the place. Small operations almost always have some sort of hand-bottling facility. But, Jolly Pumpkin's labor starts even before beer gets into the bright tank with tasting from each wooden barrel in consideration for a given batch. Even the storage and tracking of the barrels is manual. Then each proposed barrel is tasted and considered for the current batch and blends. Then bottling is a time-consuming, largely manual process. Finally, Jolly Pumpkin beers are bottle-conditioned. This means that each bottle is primed with additional yeast and sugar and set aside to carbonate. Where cases are stacked, temperature variances from the top of the stack to the bottom of the stack require the stack itself to be manually re-ordered in order to ensure consistent carbonation throughout (bottle carbonate faster at higher temperatures).

After Jolly Pumpkin, it was off to Kuhnhenn (with stops at Ashley's in Ann Arbor and Slows in Detroit). The picture to your left there is the taster of Kuhnhenn's slobber-inducing Raspberry Eisbock. The Eisbock is a big, burly, complex, high-alcohol, high-priced sort of thing that seems almost engineered for beer geeks around the globe. And, it's really, really good.

Unfortunately, Kuhnhenn's was out of some of their other taps and the remainder of what we had - porters, oktoberfests, stouts, IPAs - weren't really inspiring enough to make us stick around through bad piano covers of "Jane Says." So, taking the advice of some beer people much smarter that me, we went to Dragonmead, also in Warren, Michigan. Which begs the question: what's up with Warren, Michigan? It's an industrial hole of a suburb with shuttered car factories and other industrial warehousing, but home to two good breweries. Strange.

Dragonmead was unbelievably good. While it's been open for 11 years, it has surprisingly little hype (especially considering Kuhnhenn up the street) and seems to fly under-the-radar. But the true beer geeks know what's up, I guess and the recommendation to stop here was spot on. The tap-list of house-brewed beers went on for 5 or 6 pages - styles of every type and variety. Smoked beers, pepper beers, scotch ales, kolschs, doppelbocks, dubbels, blondes, wits. The Kolsch, an under-brewed style, was really one of the best I've ever had. The mild, another oft-looked-over style, was on a nitrogen tap and was phenomenally good; the roastiness and assertiveness peeked above the creaminess of the nitro carbonation to provide a flavorful, low-alcohol, highly sessionable beer. And the music, with acoustic Steve Earle and Hank Williams Sr covers, was much more accomplished.

This post is already too long, so I'll summarize day two of the trip - Founders, New Holland and Bells - tomorrow.

When Is Beer Like Music?

2009-07-10T05:30:00.001-05:00

When you realize that both are being produced in ever-crowded markets. With growth of craft breweries in the double digits, and the penetration of craft breweries approaching 10% of beer sales, the market is quickly getting crowded. So, how do you break through that noise to get at consumers and get them to buy your product?

Well, we talked about branding a few weeks ago. Hand-in-hand with branding is the idea of connecting with your fans. This is an area that musicians are really struggling with. In an age where files containing minutes worth of music are essentially free, how do you get someone to actually pay for your content?

Mike Masnick over at Techdirt suggests this super-handy formula: "Connect with Fans (CwF) + Reason to Buy (RtB) = The Business Model". In support of his "mathematical" model he references Trent Reznor who proposes some great steps for bands to make sure they have the support necessary to promote their b(r)and. Most of it is music-centric - although my favorite is not:

Have your MySpace page, but get a site outside MySpace - it's dying and reads as cheap / generic. Remove all Flash from your website. Remove all stupid intros and load-times. MAKE IT SIMPLE TO NAVIGATE AND EASY TO FIND AND HEAR MUSIC (but don't autoplay). Constantly update your site with content - pictures, blogs, whatever. Give people a reason to return to your site all the time.

This hits just about every one of my biggest online pet-peeves: Myspace (seriously? does anyone use Myspace anymore?); flash (try to visit a flash-based site like, say, this one, on a Blackberry - how's that working for ya? If you can't be seen on an iPhone/Blackberry, you are not relevant. period.); intros/load-time/autoplay (if your customers have to wait, they're going to leave - and for the love of GOD WHERE IS THAT GODDAMN MUSIC COMING FROM?! MAKE IT STOP!!); navigation (keep it simple and drop the cutesy references - seriously, a disco ball?! WTF? A disco ball is NOT a navigation item); out of date content (there's no excuse for it - I'm looking at you practically every brewery in Wisconsin).

But I like Masnick's formula: CwF + RtB = Business Model. The advantage with the beer industry is that the primary good doesn't have a marginal cost of $0; as of yet, it still costs money to transfer a unit of beer. But still ...

Connect with Fans: Who are your fans? And I don't mean in a general "beer drinker" kind of way. I mean specifics. Not "who do you think your fans are", but who ARE your fans. What age groups? What gender? What do they do for a living? Where do they live? What, specifically, are their interests? Not just "music", but what kind of music? Not just "sports", which sports? What do they do with their expendable income? How does this differ for you than for other breweries? Are you in front of them or with them when they are doing these things? Why not? Think outside the box - beer sales are not just made at grocery stores, liquor stores and restaurants.

Reason To Buy: There needs to be a reason to buy your beer over a different brewery's. What is that reason? "Ours tastes better" is not a reason. Sense of community (not just local community, but a more global "common interest" community, as well), luxury, experimentation, relaxation, and, yes, partying, are all reasons.

This formula is not the same for everyone. What works for Tyranena won't necessarily work for Pearl Street or Rush River or Lakefront or New Glarus. Moreover, your product isn't just your beer - it is your brand. Do your fans like country music? Why aren't you having country music at your brewery? Do your fans golf? Why aren't you sponsoring golf outings? Are your fans environmentally conscious? Why aren't you selling them (or giving them) re-usable shopping bags? Are your fans homebrewers? Why aren't you holding homebrewing competitions (ps. mad props to The Grumpy Troll for this***)?

*** "'Ten Lords a Leaping' this is the first beer from the Madison Homebrewers and Taster Guild contest we held in March. Four top beers were selected and the one that sells out the fastest will be the grand prize winner. The first beer on tap is a very hoppy beer. If you like Liberty Pole and Freedom, you will love this beer. Check it out! Cheers, Doug"

Madison Beer Review Presents Beer Talk Today

2009-07-09T05:30:00.000-05:00

On part two of this weeks podcast, Kyle has a bone to pick with Budweiser, and tries to pronounce "de-alcoholize."

Here's the mp3

Mr. MBR Goes To Michigan

2009-07-08T05:30:00.007-05:00

When we talk about beer in the Midwest, I humbly submit, there are two states that stand above all others: Wisconsin and Michigan. Each contains about 20% of the breweries in the Midwest; Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri share the remaining 60%, with Ohio being the next closest with more than 20 fewer breweries than Wisconsin (42 to 66, respectively) despite a population almost twice the size. Michigan, with a population slightly smaller than Ohio has 70 breweries.

Wisconsin has New Glarus, Central Waters, Tyranena, Lakefront and Capital leading the pack (not to mention an incomparable brewpub culture that has almost twice as many brewpubs as breweries). Michigan has such amazing breweries as Bells, Founders, New Holland, Dark Horse, Atwater and Jolly Pumpkin.

So earlier this year a trip was planned for this coming weekend. MBR's step-brother is getting married and to celebrate the occasion, a beer trip through Michigan is being executed. First up is Jolly Pumpkin in Dexter, MI. Brewmaster Ron Jeffries will show us the magic kettles and even magic-er wooden barrels where the golden sour elixers known as La Roja and Bam are created. From there on to the converted hardware store, brew-your-own shop, and generally badass brewery Kuhnhenn Brewing Company in Warren, MI.

Next, we run the gauntlet starting at Founders Brewing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founders creates some of the most original and tasty beers out there - from the Kentucky Breakfast Stout to Red's Rye IPA to Centennial IPA to the Ambrosia Tart. From Founders, on to Holland and the home of New Holland Brewing Company. While New Holland is oft over-looked they are well-loved and they create the ever-solid Mad Hatter IPA, and not only a schwarzbier, but also a kolsch, rye doppelbock, and Belgian dark, among countless others.

I'm not sure I need to tell you about our next stop, Bell's Brewery in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ubiquitous, omnipresent, unerring, and the undisputed king of Midwest craft beer; we'll be stopping in at the brewpub in downtown Kalamazoo to see what crazy libations can be had on tap direct from the source that can't be found anywhere else. I'm betting dollars to donuts that a growler or two will be filled.

Finally, we end our trip in Marshall at Dark Horse where we will attempt to drink all five stouts in succession and then chase them down with a Double Crooked Tree IPA.

For this reason, posting on Friday may or may not happen. I will try to get up some pictures as I have internet access throughout the weekend. Stay tuned here, or at our Facebook page our at MBR Twitter where you'll be updated on our progress through Michigan.

As you can see, a great trip can be done in a long-ish weekend with minimal expenditure and maximum beer. The only downside is driving, so make sure at least one of you is a designated driver for an appropriate period of time. Hope to see you on the road!!

Impromptu MBR Meet-Up

2009-07-07T15:30:00.000-05:00

I know it's late notice, but MBR and The Business Forum are having a joint get-together at The Malt House tonight. We'll be there starting at 5:30 and who knows how long we'll be there.

I hope you'll come out and join us.

Madison Beer Review Presents Beer Talk Today

2009-07-07T05:30:00.001-05:00

In part one of this week's podcast, we review our lost interview with Lake Louie's Tommy Porter. Plus in News in 60 Seconds we cover Oregon Beer Week, drinking on the job, Kirin's new Yebisu Stout Creamy Top, and Stone's hoppiest beer ever. Plus, a confused caller.

Here's the mp3

Cheers!

Audience Participation: Cheap Beer

2009-07-06T05:30:00.002-05:00

NPR ran a story on the Washington Post's blind tasting of cheap beers (had to be less than $6 for a six-pack). This is something that we have in the works and will be bringing you ... well ... as soon as we can get schedules coordinated to do it.

In the meantime, I was thinking about this over the holiday weekend as I found myself suffering with Miller High Life and Coors Light at Summerfest (though both Lakefront and Milwaukee Ale House both have facilities there - unfortunately I didn't see them before I had bought my beer - it was the first time I had been to Summerfest).

We had New Glarus' Naked with fireworks which I enjoy considerably more than Spotted Cow. Furthermore's Oscura made it into the mix for Concerts on the Square last week. Of course, neither of those meet the sub-$6 requirement. Unfortunately ingredients and general economies of scale issues prevent the good stuff for selling less than $6 for a six-pack. This is why I find myself buying 22s and 750s, many of which can be found for less than $6.

We've already talked about my latest obsession with Coors Banquet. So, what do you grab for less than $6 a six-pack?

Fond du Lac Area Tavern Holds Fundraiser After Patron Kills Passenger In DUI Crash

2009-07-02T18:00:00.000-05:00

The kicker. The fundraiser is to raise legal defense funds and hospital bills for the jackass who was driving the motorcycle (without a motorcycle license) and is now sitting in jail facing charges for DUI and vehicular homicide, not to mention operating a vehicle without a license. You can read the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's article here.

You want to hear the good news? Free beer at the fundraiser.

Seriously. You can't make this stuff up.

Mad props to Midwest Microbrews for pointing this out.

Malt House Liquor License Suspended [Update: Malt House is Open]

2009-07-02T16:13:00.001-05:00

-----------UPDATE----------

THE MALT HOUSE IS OPEN. They didn't miss a beat and are still serving great beer, scotch, whiskey, bourbon and rye. Apparently there was a slip-up that has been remedied. So, no worries, the Malt House is, in fact, open.

-----------END UPDATE----------

Looks like they forgot to pay city hall to keep the lights on. It looks like it's been suspended for failure to pay a license fee. Should be a pretty simple fix.

The memo was released today by city hall.

Anyone know the score and want to comment?

Thanks to @in_tent_city and Kristin Czubkowski of The Capital Times for the heads up.

Press Release Thursday - New Glarus Organic Revolution Re-Certified

2009-07-02T16:00:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the slow posting this week. It's the lazy days of summer when everyone is entirely too busy doing nothing at all to get anything done. Next week will probably be equally sporadic, but we'll have some good stuff. Promise.

In the meantime, a press release from New Glarus about the re-certification of the underrated Organic Revolution. In fact both BeerAdvocate and RateBeer put the Organic Revolution squarely in the middle of the pack: B and 50, respectively. When we reviewed it, we noted its dual personality as both an American and Belgian-ish pale ale.

ps. If it's any consolation, we agree with Deb that the USDA seal is kinda corporate looking. Necessary evils and all that jazz.

-------------START PRESS RELEASE-----------------

New Glarus Brewing Company's 'Organic Revolution' Supports the Organic Movement
New Glarus, WI
June 16, 2009:

All of the beers at New Glarus Brewing Company are brewed to be pure and natural, but 'Organic Revolution' goes a step further. Those looking for a refreshing way to support the Organic Farming Movement will delight in this complex and assertively hoppy golden ale. But now 'Organic Revolution' will have a little something extra.

'Organic Revolution Ale', one of New Glarus Brewing Company's eight year-round offerings, is as pure as beer can get. Made with organic Pilsner and Caramel malt, organic German Hallertau Hops, and absolutely nothing else. 'Organic Revolution' is even 100% naturally carbonated in the bottle, which is an uncommon practice. The barley is grown organically, then is malted organically in Wisconsin at Briess Malting of Chilton. Another unusual aspect of this beer is the use of 100% organic hops as this is, surprisingly, not required by the USDA. New Glarus Brewing Company believes the inclusion of all natural organic ingredients is the best way to support the Organic Farming Movement. "This is important to us", Dan says, "This is the best way to protect our food chain, and a great way to support small, local farmers".

On May 14, 2009 Robert Caldwell, the Midwest inspector for Oregon Tilth, re-certified 'Organic Revolution Ale' after a complete brewery inspection. Oregon Tilth works for the USDA to certify both producers and brewers. 'Organic Revolution Ale' has been certified wholly organic since 2008, and the 'Oregon Tilth' name appears on newer bottles. Perhaps some wonder why the USDA stamp has not appeared on the label. "We have the option to write it out or use the seal" Deborah Carey says, "We thought wrongly that the USDA seal was rather corporate looking and not keeping with our message. This omission has confused some people, so we will start utilizing both the USDA and Oregon Tilth stamps on our future labels".

So you can look forward to the same great flavor celebration in 'Organic Revolution' that you have come to know and love, with the small addition of a USDA stamp on the label from now on. Dan and Deb Carey have always believed that the only way for the Organic Movement to succeed is for all of us to support it. So raise your glass and toast to Wisconsin's common sense Revolution!

Same Old Song And Dance

2009-07-01T05:30:00.000-05:00

It looks like AB-InBev is taking another running shot at "consolidating" it's distributors. What does this mean? This means that Anheuser-Busch will make certain of its distributors, but not all of its distributors an offer it can't refuse. Why can't the distributor refuse the offer? Because then it won't be able to distribute Budweiser (or Stella Artois) and someone else in the territory will.

What will that offer look like? Well, if AB InBev is anything like MillerCoors, it won't be pretty. We talked a few weeks back about MillerCoors' most recent "consolidation." Distributors ended up with such awesome contract clauses as: MillerCoors gets to control who you sell your business to; MillerCoors gets to control which brands you sell; MillerCoors might be able to set up another distributor in your "exclusive" territory; and, MillerCoors gets to go through your accounting books with a fine-toothed comb. All kinds of fun stuff.

And don't forget that awesome extended payment window that AB-InBev has been pushing out to 120 days.

This news is actually pretty good for craft brewers. Distributors don't like these games that the big breweries play. So to mitigate the loss and increase the distributor's ability to say "no" to AB or MillerCoors when these deals get too onerous, the distributors take on more profitable and more rapidly growing craft brands. In fact, this consolidation is one of the biggest reasons for the increase for craft growth - the distributors are finally on board.

The only catch for distributors is that they have to be more knowledgeable about the brands and the craft breweries need to work with the distributors. When the distributor's account is deciding between Craft A and Craft B, the distributor needs to be able to tell the retailer the difference - not only so the retailer can make an informed decision, but so the distributor can educate its consumers. So, the breweries that work with distributors rather than just hand over kegs at the dock, will be the ones that get the most shelf space.

A Patent For An Integrated Substantially Thermally Sealed Insulated Keg

2009-06-29T11:00:00.006-05:00

Apparently Nathan Mhyrvold, former Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft, Bill Gates, you all know who Bill Gates is, have invented a "temperature stabilized storage container." These two articles are big on gossip and "haha beer" kind of stuff, but are light on the actual technology (a pet peeve of non-beer writers that write about beer and technology writers in general).

The Patent Application basically says it's an insulated keg.

Systems described herein include integrally sealed containers. An integrally sealed container may include one or more segments of a first ultra efficient insulation material having one or more surface regions, the one or more segments principally defining at least one storage region; and one or more regions of substantially thermally sealed connections between at least one of the one or more surface regions of the one or more segments wherein the one or more regions of substantially thermally sealed connections and the one or more segments form an integrally thermally sealed storage region.

I love that a keg is a "system" - but that's patent-ese for you. "Integrally sealed" means the seal is part of the keg itself and integrated into the keg. In this case, basically, an insulation sleeve is welded to the outside of the keg.

They have welded a can koozy on to their keg.

Good idea. But, keep in mind that you are now on notice that if you decide to weld some insulation to your kegs, you are now infringing Bill Gates' patent.

What Kind Of Story Are You Telling?

2009-06-26T05:30:00.017-05:00

AdAge has a rather confusing, but ultimately spot-on, article about marketing. Ignoring all of the confusing stuff, there's two basic points to be taken out of it that I think are important.

Point 1. Sometimes there's no need to spend a gazillion dollars marketing a product that everyone's going to use anyway.
Corollary to Point 1: If you know your product sucks but you spent a lot of money on it and want to re-capture as much of that money as possible, try not to show it to anyone until you actually launch the product and hope to grab as much money as humanly possible until the word-of-mouth catches up to it.

In support of Point 1, the author points to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. First, the author points to Michael Bay's incessant whining about the lack of marketing support of his movie; then, AdAge notes (via EW.com) that, despite the lack of a huge marketing spend, Transformers still "raked in a record $16 million last night, the most ever for a Wednesday midnight run." AdAge pointed out that while Paramount may not have spent a lot of money, it spend it in the right places to make sure its core audience knew it was coming out (e.g., KMart, Burger King, and Candy Bars)

Point 2: Successful marketing is less about the product and more about telling the product's story.

"Optimus Prime is one badass character, sure, but the novelty of seeing characters develop and being able to essentially market that is far more enticing than trying to just market how awesome shape-shifting cars (and Megan Fox) look in the sand. ... Sony [ed note: Harry Potter] was able to flog a summertime blockbuster and compelling characters not played by the annoyingly twitchy, one-note ham Shia LaBeouf."

Leinenkugel's doesn't claim it has the best beer in the world, it attaches itself to the idea of the Northwoods and the stories of good times in a location where Leinenkugel's happens to ... ummm ... have an almost complete monopoly. Thus, your good times there were most likely had with Leinenkugel's in hand. But, nonetheless, Leinie's was there and they tie themselves to that story.

And before you say "My story is my quality." Ford had "Quality is Job Number One" and where did that get them? A recall of 10,000 Jaguars. Face it, everyone has made a beer they aren't proud of, or at the very least, has the potential to make a beer that slips through the cracks - Capital "Experimental", Lost Abbey's Angel Share, Bud Chelada, just to name a few. We, consumers, understand that everyone strives for quality and we also understand that everyone screws up - just don't make a habit of it, but you don't need to say "we care about quality" either.

It's the underlying story that consumers connect to. We drink Leinie's because it reminds us of the Northwoods (or, to be more precise, of the loose, come what may attitude of rustic vacations that says "hey, I'll try anything, I'm on an adventure"). And, when I talk about Capital being "confusing", this underlying story is exactly what I'm talking about. Capital's marketing has been very un-focused (are you golfers? are you beer geeks? are you "rustic"? are you arrogant? I've seen advertising that attempts each of these connections.) and scattershot - like they're throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. As a brewery you can't be all of these things. [Ed Note: Personally, I think the golf thing is a good place for them - it is not only upscale, but it's multi-generational and has a strong cultural connection with their suburban location and good natural compliments like boating and other luxury sports.] Sure, you can have some variation within your individual brands, but your underlying message, the house brand, needs to be consistent. And, say what you will about Leinie's, but their underlying message is consistent and we know what they are trying to say as a brand.

Stone's "attitude" works because it is not only honest (which is very hard to pull off when you pose an affront to your consumer), but it is consistent. Sam Adams' Northeast Americana works because it is consistent. Furthermore's quirkiness works because it is consistent. And the sum of the consistency across the brands tells the story that the consumers attach to.

Black pepper. Belgian and American ale. Apple cider and beer. Coffee and Mexican lager. Organic beets. These tell a story. They tell a story not only about the beer, but about the brewery. It's a story that the slogan reinforces: "Ready. Fire. Aim." It's a story that the labeling reinforces. And it's a story that the barn parties and midwest music reinforces. And that's how you tie your product to a story, make it consistent and reinforce it. I don't mean to single out Furthermore, but they do a really good job of this. But there are lots of other breweries that do a really good job of this as well: New Belgium, Three Floyds, and Sierra Nevada, among others.

"Will Harry Potter magically walk away with as much box-office loot as Sam Witwicky will? Probably not. But you're also not going to see seven installments of Transformers, either."

Madison Beer Review Presents Beer Talk Today

2009-06-25T05:30:00.000-05:00

On part two of this week's podcast we continue our discussion with Randy Thiel, the Director of Quality Control for the New Glarus Brewing Company and former Brewery Ommegang brewmaster. We discuss brewing with sugar, the New Glarus grand opening, the new R & D series of beers, the Knights of the Brewers Mashing Fork, some Brussels history, and his go to cheap beer.

Here's the mp3

Cheers!

Heineken Taking It To SABMiller

2009-06-24T12:00:00.000-05:00

In anticipation of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Heineken is about to open a brand new brewery in the home of SABMiller. The new plant will brew Diageo and Heineken products like the pilsner flagship, Amstel Light, and "Ireland"'s Guinness Stout, brands that are much more popular with Europe's soccer crowd than SABMiller's American and South African-focused brands. There are some discussions to also partner with A-BInBev to brew Budweiser at this facility for the Cup. The brewery should open in Q3 or Q4 of this year. Also being added to the plant is a new barley malting facility.

Interestingly, an additional benefit of having a brewery in South Africa is the access to the returnable bottles that we despise here in the US, but are so prevalent throughout the world. "Once constructed, the brewery would allow access to a returnable bottle pool, potentially making it more affordable as well as freeing up money for investment behind the brands."

For Those Of You In Northwestern Wisconsin

2009-06-24T05:30:00.001-05:00

If you're anywhere near Minneapolis-St. Paul this weekend, make sure to head over to The Muddy Pig or Four Firkens to meet and learn from Father Isaac from La Trappe/Koningshoeven Brewery, the only Dutch Trappist Brewery.

At the seminar you will learn about what it means to be a member of the order, what it takes to make real Trappist ales and what the future holds for these amazing products.

Tickets for the seminar at The Muddy Pig are $30 and apparently are already sold out (I've found just showing up and pretending like you're with the crowd often works). He's at The Four Firkins on Friday from 4-6pm, presumably it's just an appearance and anyone can show up.

So, what's the big deal you say? Well, I promise you that at some point in the future I will talk exhaustively about Trappist Beers. The legal foundation of the Trappist certification mark is one of the most over-looked areas of trademark law and is ideally suited for the growing craft industry. In the meantime, it suffices to say that only a very, very few breweries in the world can call themselves "Trappist".

Madison Beer Review Presents Beer Talk Today

2009-06-23T05:30:00.001-05:00

On this week's podcast we interview Randy Thiel, Director of Quality Control for the New Glarus Brewing Company and former Brewery Ommegang Brewmaster. In part one we discuss his beginnings as a homebrewer right here in Madison, his beginnings with Ommegang, the "slightly pornographic" Three Philosopher's essay contest, what his job and New Glarus entails, his favorite New Glarus beer, and the New Glarus Unplugged Imperial Saison.

Here's the mp3

Cheers!

This Is Something That You Need - The Go Plate

2009-06-22T14:00:00.000-05:00

Here's a little write-up on a new entry in the "Eat-While-You're-Drinking" technology department.

The Go-Plate. I think a picture is worth a thousand words in this case. $50 for a pack of 42 of these bad boys.

Letting Someone Else Do The Work - Top 10 Summer Beers

2009-06-22T12:00:00.000-05:00

A fun article from TMRZoo listing 10 beers you MUST drink this summer. I agree: Saison Dupont, Erdinger, Prima Pils. I disagree: Landshark Lager, Sam Adams Summer Ale. It pains me to remove a recommendation for the Sam Adams Summer - it, and the Pete's Wicked Summer, was one of the first seasonal craft beers I can remember really enjoying. But it's just too darn sweet for my taste these days - it doesn't warm up well at all. And while Summer beers are almost always great cold-drinkers, they warm up quickly so they can't taste BAD when they do get a little warm.

My own Summer Top 10 (in no particular order):

Furthermore Fatty Boombalatty, Lakefront Organic ESB, Saison Dupont, Stone IPA, Erdinger (hefe or dunkel), New Glarus Imperial Saison, Surly Furious, Coors Banquet, Great Lakes Burning River, Bells Oberon

I'll Keep It Brief

2009-06-22T05:30:00.001-05:00

I think I wrote something like 4000 words about beer and the brewing industry last week, so I'll keep it short and let someone else do the talking today.

Gelf Magazine interviewed Garrett Oliver, brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery. Two of Brooklyn's beers were in my 2008 Top 10: The Local 1, a sophisticated 9% ABV Belgian Blonde with a sweet, dry finish and earthy, spicy German hops; and the Brooklyn-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse, a collaboration with Germany's Schneider brewery that birthed a signature Schneider weizenbock with the American-hops twist of Brooklyn's India Pale Ale.

Oliver has become something of a Statesman for the sophistication of the American Craft Beer movement. While he sometimes comes off as stiff and snooty, it's good to see the wine-snob stereotype play out in the beer industry and let people know that a nice hoppy weizenbock can be equally refined as a California pinot noir.

So, check out the article.

Garrett Oliver: ... The more people are exposed to good beer, the more they come to like it. It's becoming a new affordable luxury. It might cost a dollar for a bottle of Budweiser and $1.50 for a Brooklyn Lager, and it's a completely different experience. In the same way that people are willing to pay more for better coffee and better chocolate, we're starting to see that people are willing to pay a little bit more for better beer as well. We're up about 20 percent this year to date, which isn't bad for a 20-year-old company. There is a movement for quality food and beverage in this country, and we're a part of it.

Keeping Track of Kegs, Pt 2

2009-06-19T05:30:00.039-05:00

On Wednesday we talked about how New Belgium is using RFID (radio frequency identification) to track kegs through their supply chain. Keg loss, which results in millions of dollars of loss per year, is a signification issue to the brewing industry. In the case of RFID, the brewery is able to track the exact location of the keg and thereby reduce loss; the technology also adds some benefits like enabling tracking metrics and increased keg efficiency which reduces the total number of kegs in circulation. But, RFID technologies are expensive and can be prohibitive if the brewery doesn't have cash on hand to pay for it and all of its attendant costs.

Another option that completely eliminates keg loss is the use of PET recyclable kegs. The keg itself is a pressurized PET plastic ball that can fit inside of a an easy-to-transport lightweight box. The ball has a flexible inner liner which contains the beer. The beer is dispensed by forcing a gas into the ball but outside of the bag, like squeezing toothpaste, so it never comes into contact with the beer. Pretty cool, eh?

These kegs are recyclable just like any PET plastic is. Moreover, the use of these kegs reduces the amount of transportation required in the beer supply chain. In this case, the entire return trip from the retailer to the brewery is eliminated. This not only gets rid of the keg loss, but reduces the beer's carbon footprint. The downside is that the brewery needs a new keg every time it needs a keg. Thus, a brewery that produces on 500 barrels per year would need to purchase 1000 of these kegs every year. Although KeyKeg, one manufacturer of recyclable kegs, claims that its kegs hold 25% more beer than traditional kegs.

So, what's preventing the instant adoption of these recyclable kegs? Well, believe it or not, it has nothing to do with the kegs themselves, but rather how the finances of the brewing industry work.

Consider the following example:

Brewery A puts its fancy brown ale into two kegs: one a stainless steel, traditional, keg that we'll call KEG S; the second is a recyclable plastic keg we'll call KEG P. The brown ale sells to the distributor for $90 a half-barrel. The plastic keg costs the brewer $30. In the case of KEG S, the keg sells to the Distributor for $90 plus a $30 deposit to ensure the return of the keg. In the case of KEG P, the keg sells for $90 plus $30 for the plastic keg. The distributor estimates that it requires a 25% markup in order to cover its costs and ensure a tidy profit. So, when the kegs are sold to the retailer, the retailer pays $120 ($90 plus 25% markup) plus a $30 deposit for KEG S. The retailer pays $160 ($120 plus a 25% markup) for KEG P. On the retail side of things, the retailer has calculated that its costs plus profits come out to around a 5x multiplier on the cost per pint for a beer. The retailer estimates that it gets 100 pints out of a keg. So, KEG S has a per pint cost of $1.20, while KEG P has a per pint cost of $1.60. Thus, the retailer will sell beer from KEG S at $6 ($1.20 time 5) while it will sell beer from KEG P at $8. Given that this is exactly the same beer, which price do you think the customer would prefer?

Well, them's the breaks you say. You can't expect these companies not to markup their products to make money; that's how business works right?

Sort of. Let's really look at what's going on here for a second. Does it really cost $40 more dollars for the distributor to transport KEG P as opposed to KEG S? Of course not. It costs exactly the same amount. In fact, it probably costs less to transport KEG P because the distributor does not have to pay for someone to pack, un-pack, re-pack, and re-un-pack empty kegs as the keg goes from the retailer back to the brewery. The same is true of the retailer. Does it really cost $2 more PER PINT to pour out of KEG P than KEG S? Of course not.

Let's reverse-engineer this markup for a minute. This 25% is really a shorthand for the amount that the distributor estimates it will cost to transport (distribute) a keg and receive a nice profit. And that amount is somewhere near $30 ($120, the amount it charges the retailer, minus $90, the amount it pays the brewery). Let's further assume $10 of that $30 is profit (about 10% of the cost of the keg) and $20 is actual costs and overhead (gas, wages, etc.). But it doesn't “magically” cost $40 to markup a plastic keg. It still only costs $20 to move the keg. And, in fact, because it only makes the half the trip, it probably only actually costs $15. Plus profit.

The same is true on the retail side. Does it really cost $2 more PER PINT to pour of a plastic keg? Of course not. For the most part (cask and nitrogen might be exceptions), there is some amount that it costs to sell a pint of beer regardless of whether the beer is Miller Lite or South Shore Cream Ale or Palo Santo Marron.

I'm going to make one guess here and the guess is for purposes of illustration, the actual number is somewhat irrelevant. Let's guess that it costs the retailer $2.50 in costs (not including the cost of the beer) and overhead to pour a regular pint of beer. Now, let's re-do the hypothetical.

Brewery A sells its beer in two kegs KEG S and KEG P. The brewery sells KEG S for $90 plus a $30 deposit and KEG P for $120 including the $30 cost of the plastic keg. The distributor adds $20 for the transportation and a 10% profit and so sells to a retailer KEG S for $120 plus a $30 deposit and sells KEG P for $152, let's call it $155 to add some free profit and get a round number. The retailer then adds its profit, say 10%, and arrives at (rounding up) $135 for KEG S and $175 for KEG P. To arrive at a per pint price the retailer estimates that each keg will produce 100 pints for a per pint, plus profit, cost of $1.35 for KEG S and $1.75 for KEG P. If the retailer's cost to pour the pint is $2.50, the retailer would sell beer from KEG S at $3.85 (or, more likely, $4) and beer from KEG P at $4.25. Well, that's certainly not the $2 per pint difference that we saw earlier is it?

The brilliant thing is that pricing like this would make craft beer considerably more competitive against the macros. Sorry for all the numbers, but let's look at Miller Lite real quick. Let's assume the retailer pays $70 for a keg of Miller Lite and $120 for a keg of South Shore Cream Ale. At a simple 5x multiplier you get $.70 times 5 to get a per pint cost of $3.50 for Miller Lite and $1.20 times 5 for a per pint cost to the consumer of $6 for the South Shore. Using the alternative method, you get a $.77 plus $2.50, or $3.27 (round up to $3.50) for Miller Lite and $3.83 (round up to $4) for South Shore. A mere $.50 difference.

Just for kicks, let's do this for a high-end craft like Cantillon. Cantillon sells to retailers for, let's say, $300 per half-barrel (I think it's actually a little higher, but I don't have the number in front of me). $330 covers profit, divided by 100, is $3.30 per pint, plus $2.50 is $5.80, rounded up to a $6 pint. When was the last time you paid $6 for 16 oz of Cantillon? Heck, even if we add a full $1 per pint for a luxury premium we only get a $7 pint.

It's this dogmatic adherence to the markup that is really preventing wide-spread adoption of recyclable kegs. If the industry would look at its true costs and profits instead of blindly marking up, we'd arrive at a much more competitive landscape, have much less transportation of empty kegs, and far happier consumers who buy far more beer. And what's not to like about that?

Press Release Thursday - 12% Imports Tasting at Barriques on PD

2009-06-18T12:30:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of a Beer Talk Today Podcast, it hasn't gotten up yet. In the meantime, here's some info about a tasting tomorrow at Barriques on PD in Fitchburg.

Do you ever have one of those days that you don't have anything going on, so you're excited you can finally do some things that you don't get to do because you're always busy - and then the day fills up and you can't do all of the cool stuff that you wanted to do? Yeah. That's tomorrow for me. It sucks.

---------------START PRESS RELEASE------------------

Barriques Market in Fitchburg is hosting a tasting this Friday, June 19, 2009 from 5pm-7pm. Cost is $5/person and includes beer samples and a few cheese pairings.

Reservations are not required.

We will be tasting through 6 selections from the 12% Imports portfolio. They are a newer importer of Belgian Beers and have found several amazing small breweries with high quality beers that combine the traditions of Belgiun brewing with modern inovation and attitude. 12% Imports has recently expanded their range of beers. This is one of the first chances to try some of these beers which have very limited distribution. It is a great time to be a beer lover in Wisconsin.