[Rhodes22-list] Bob Weber about 'Beer'

[David Bradley]

Where I grew up in Western New York State we had Utica Club and
Gennesee Cream Ale - but we didn't know to call them microbrews!


On Mon, Aug 4, 2008 at 10:55 AM, John Lock <jlock at relevantarts.com> wrote:
> At 09:08 AM 8/4/2008 -0500, Bob Weber wrote:
>>Ed, Stella is one of their flagship brands.  It has a great
>>following in the US.  I am in the distribution system and it will be
>>interesting to see how it all shakes out.  AB "endowed" private
>>owners with exclusive distribution rights and whether Inbev chooses
>>to honor previous relations is anyones guess.  I believe Fat Tire is
>>a product of Molson/Coors.  All breweries have labels which are
>>portrayed to be "micro".  It fools the counter culture, beer snobs,
>>into thinking they are more refined than the mainstream.  Sam Adams
>>is the most successful of these (SAB-Miller).  Where beer is
>>concerned I have 2 classes.  I like a good stout for a dessert but
>>for mass consumption give me a good old bud or 5.
>
> As someone "in the system", you should really try to get the facts
> straight.  New Belgium Brewing (brewers of Fat Tire and other ales)
> is not owned by Molson/Coors (see
> http://www.newbelgium.com/ownership.php).  Neither is the Boston Beer
> Company (brewers of Sam Adams brand) owned by SAB/Miller.  They are
> both independent breweries.
>
> You may be confused by the fact that many microbreweries (including
> these two) often hire out brewing to other breweries with excess
> capacity.  It's called contract brewing and doesn't alter the recipes
> of the beers produced.  Lately this has become commonplace as the
> large brewers' shrinking market share left breweries expensively
> idle.  Microbreweries, looking to increase capacity to meet their
> growing demand, realized it makes more sense to rent somebody else's
> brewery than build a new one.  Both sides wins (financially anyway).
>
> However, you are correct that the big multinational brewers have spun
> off "micro-looking" brands in an attempt to capture some of the
> growing sales the microbrew market segment enjoys.  Blue Moon, for
> example, was a spin-off from Coors many years ago.  In fact, some of
> those products have even been moderately tasty.
>
> As one of the beer snobs you refer too, I spent a great deal of time
> learning about beer, its ingredients, history, styles, and homebrewed
> my own for a while.  Before I got into sailing, I was into beer.  The
> mass market swill that the big brewers push off on us are vaguely
> "beers" but that's what main-stream America wants - an alcohol
> delivery mechanism.  Not that that is a bad thing... but if you care
> about the craft of brewing and the taste of a finely brewed beer
> you'll need to look to the micro brands.
>
> FYI, Stella (like most imports in green bottles) is a pretty crappy
> beer and a far cry from the fresh product available in
> Europe.  Beside being brewed for the "lighter" American palette, the
> green bottles hasten its deterioration on store shelves under bright
> lights.  Bright light = bad beer.  They call Rolling Rock "Green
> Death" for a reason!  Heineken lovers have even made a cult following
> out of savoring the skunked aroma of beer gone bad.
>
> The best beer you can get is one brewed locally.  If you have a
> brewpub or microbrewery in your area, enjoy it often and liberally.
>
> Cheers!
>
> John Lock
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> s/v Pandion - '79 Rhodes 22
> Lake Sinclair, GA
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
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-- 
David Bradley
+1.206.234.3977
dwbrad at gmail.com