Trends in Beer

Today as I was driving down the road I began to think about beer in general and quickly progressed onto beer fads or beer trends.  Regardless of calling it a trend or fad, what I was thinking about was how quickly beer styles come into favor and then disappear.  At first I was thinking of the current beer trends within the last 10-20 years and mainly dealing with brewpubs, micro and craft breweries.  I then realized that beers trends, in the United States, can go back to the at least the mid 1800s.  At that time there was an influx of German immigrants to the United States and with them they brought their beer.  For the most part that beer was a Pilsner style beer.  As the German immigrants became brewers at first on a local scale, then a regional scale and then a national scale, they kept tweaking their beer to appeal to the widest audience.  As they did that they also realized they could use cheaper ingredients to make the now mass appealing American Lager.  From that start the major breweries of Miller, Schlitz, Coors and Anheuser Busch grew and eventually dominated beer brewing into the 20th century. So a beer trend built several empires in beer. 

Now, to my original thoughts.

Today and over the last 20 years craft and micro breweries have been through phases of the "hot" beer trends.  When craft beer was beginning to grow in the 1980s and 1990s it seemed like every brewery had core or flagship beers in their portfolio.  Those core beers usually were a blonde or American wheat, a pale ale, an amber or brown ale and a stout. These were the beer that everyone brewed and were complemented by a hefeweizen, a fruit beer or even a lager or two.  It seemed like every brewery had these and sometimes it was hard to separate beer from one brewery to beer from another brewery.  Then an earth shaking beer began to hit the market and spread across the United States…Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale.  This was a unique hoppy and malty beer. 

 With the advent of Sierra Nevada a trend of hoppy west coast beers began.  Eventually it evolved into the trend of the West Coast Style IPA. For hopheads like me, this is a heaven sent beer.  Every brewery then began to make this style of beer and it became an addition to every breweries core beers.

 Beer trends can come and go as well.  Some beers have had popularity in earlier times and then fall out of favor.  If they fall out of favor long enough these beers disappear and sometimes are resurrected centuries later.  A couple of examples of this are Porters, Belgian Wits and a German Gose.  As craft brewers search for new flavors they sometimes revive a beer style.  Sometimes these revived beers become the latest beer trend.

 Also beer trends can be a new "style" of beer as well.  Like the Black IPA, Bourbon Barrel Stouts and Belgian IPAs.  These beer trends have yet to be officially recognized by the BJCP at styles, but many craft brewers contest have these beers broke out into their own "style" category.  If these beers have the staying power they may become their own beer style category.  Only time will tell.

Beer trends usually come from the need to experiment and add new tastes and aromas to beer.  This is usually done for a couple of reasons.  One to just prove that an unusual taste or aroma fits into a beer and people will drink it.  A second reason is that the brewer is just trying to outdo his/her contemporary brewers, in other words just to prove that they can brew something no one else can. 

As long as there are craft brewers there will always be beer trends.  Some beers will take off others will fall by the wayside.  So as you travel around keep on the lookout for the next beer trend.  Most of all do not worry about if a beer you like is a trend or not; if you like it keep drinking. 

QC Beerguy

QC Tasting rooms

As I have previously noted both Bent River and Front Street have their tasting rooms open and over the weekend my wife and I had a chance to visit both of them.  Saturday morning we went to the downtown Davenport Farmer's Market and after walking around a while we made our way to Front Street's tasting room.  It is in the Freight House building and looks like your average tasting room.  The main feature is the brewing equipment along the back wall behind the bar, there is lots of room between the bar and brewery so neither will conflict with the other.  The room itself has well placed tables and chairs as well as the bar stools at the bar.  The other main attraction will be the view of the Mississippi River. This is a great place to sit and enjoy a beer or two.

The beer has made a marked improvement over that previously made at the original location in the cellar.  The Raging River Pale Ale is now a very enjoyable beer and easy to drink.  The Hefe is improved as well.  Their brewmaster's special was a vanilla porter, which I enjoyed very much.  They are still feeling out their hours, but the info I have received is that they will open at 9AM on Farmer's Market Saturday.  Otherwise they are looking at being open at 4 PM on other days.  Go check this place out and enjoy the view.

Saturday afternoon my wife and I and another couple met up at Bent River's tasting room in Rock Island.  The tasting room looks and feels much different than the original location of Bent River.  They did a great job of turning an old car wash into a production facility and tasting room.  They also have tables and chairs outside so you can enjoy the beer and smell the ribs cooking across the street at Jim's Rib Haven.  The interior of the tasting room is dark, but still comforting in a way.  Currently they are still assembling the brewery and plan to have it completed by the end of next week.  We received a brief  walk through and learned that they have a four barrel system, which will supply both Bent locations, their keg accounts and in the future their bottled beer.  I am looking forward to the continued evolution of Bent River's production facility and tasting room.

After a couple of beers at Bent we went up the hill in Rock Island to take a look at Against the Grain's location.  We easily found it and just walked around looking inside to get a feel of the place.  This also got us thinking more about when they will open.  Well we found out Sunday, when Rich made an announcement at the MUGZ meeting.  He told the group that their scheduled opening day will be Friday July 6th at 4pm, so needless to say we will be there for the opening.  At first Rich and Neil will only be able to sell guest beers, since they do not have their brew system yet.  They have made a decision to go with a larger system, so they have ordered a 2 barrel system that they will receive hopefully in 6-8 weeks.  Also hopefully they will have all of the paperwork completed so they can start brewing right away.

That is the latest I have on the new tasting rooms here in the QC.

QC Beerguy

Beer Fest this Summer

Since I wrote on how to survive a Beerfest I figured I should give you a list of upcoming Beerfests this summer.  Many of these can be found on http://www.midwestmicrobrews.com/index.html underneath the Festivals link.  I have found that this is the most comprehensive list of Midwest Beer Festivals on the web.  I will concentrate on Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin for my list.  Also I mention any local tastings held by Hy-Vee here in the QC Area.

Here goes a list of what I know:
Friday June 22nd: 2nd Annual JDRF Specialty Beer and Wine Tasting http://www.hy-vee.com/stores/calendar/detail.aspx?m=6&y=2012&event=41760&s=15
 
Saturday July 7th:  9th Annual Barrington Brewfest http://www.barringtonbrewfest.com/

Wednesday July 11th:  Beer Club at Milan Hy- Vee http://www.hy-vee.com/stores/calendar/detail.aspx?m=7&y=2012&d=11&s=104

Saturday July 14th:  Cityview's Brewfest http://brewfestdsm.com/

Saturday July 21st: Milwaukee Firkin Craft Beer Festival http://www.milwaukeefirkin.com/main.html

Saturday July 28th: 3rd Annual Milwaukee Brewfest http://www.milwaukeebrewfest.com/welcome.html

Saturday August 4th:  Wheaton Ale Fest http://www.wheatonalefest.com/wheaton-ale-fest.html

Saturday August 11th:  Great Taste of the Midwest  http://www.mhtg.org/great-taste-of-the-midwest.  However tickets are sold out for this event but you can usually find some for sale in the line.  People starting lining up around 10:00 a.m.

Saturday August 18th: 5th Annual Oak Park Micro Beer Review http://www.sevengenerationsahead.org/index.php/events/oak_park_micro_brew_review/

Saturday August 25th:  Midwest Brewers Fest http://www.midwestbrewersfest.com/

Saturday August 25th:  4th Annual Port of Potosi Brewfest http://www.potosibrewery.com/events_detail.cfm?eventID=39

Saturday August 25th:  3rd Annual River City Beer Festiv-Ale http://www.ribco.com/index.aspx?deid=936

Sunday September 2nd:  Festival of Iowa Beers http://millstreambrewing.com/Events.html

Saturday September 8th:  10th Annual Thirsty Troll Brew Fest http://www.trollway.com/EventDetail.asp?ACTION=ShowEvent&EventID=219

Saturday September 8th: Screw City Beer Fest http://www.screwcitybeerfest.com/

Friday. Saturday and Sunday September 28, 29, 30:  Oktoberfest in Amana  http://millstreambrewing.com/Events.html

I am sure that there are many more that are not on this list, but this is a start.  Have a great Fest Session!

QC Beerguy

Surviving Fest Season

As many of you are aware we are at the beginning of Fest season.  From here on out it will seem like there is a beerfest every weekend.  For example this weekend I am aware of four Beerfests, none of which will my wife and I be attending.  So if you love beer and enjoy going to fests, this is your season. 

 Some of you that are reading this may have never had the opportunity to go to a beerfest.  So I will provide a brief synopsis of a beerfest:  a beerfest is usually an event that brings together multiple breweries and distributors to present numerous beers to the people possessing tickets to partake of the beer.  

I hope to help you think of ways to enjoy your day at the fest and still be functioning afterwards.  So in other words: to keep you from looking like you have never been to a beerfest.  First thing is do a bit of research about the fest, where it is, how long it lasts, what you receive with you ticket purchase and what is nearby for afterwards.  Also good facts to know are the breweries represented at the fest, as well what type of pours you will receive from each booth.  All of this will help you lay out your game plan to make it through the fest.  There are a few people that I know that take this prep work very seriously and have color coded laminated sheets for their plan of attack. 

Since almost all beerfests have websites with the above information that is a good place to start.  Usually the fest will have the information available for the fest goers a week or two in advance.  Some even have pdf files that you can print and use to devise you plan of attack.  If you do not feel like doing all of the prep work don't worry you do not have to do it if you don't want to.  Since some events are big enough for a line before the fest, you will have time to look over the book or flyer that they had out to you in line.  Also if you want you can fly by the seat of your pants and not plan, that happens to the best of us.  There are times when I have just forged ahead and just went with the flow. 

The beer available at the fest varies from light easy drinking beers to special barreled aged high alcohol beers.  An interesting way to attack a fest is to stick with one or two styles of beers.  At most fests, just tasting all that are available of a style or two will get you your moneys worth.  At some of the bigger fests like Great Taste of the Midwest, you may not be able to sample every beer of your chosen style.  If you are at a big enough fest you can chose a state or just pick certain breweries that you want to try.

Ok so you are now inside the fest grounds what to do next?  At most fests we set up our base site, this includes chairs, blankets and coolers of food and watern provided that the fest rules allow you to bring these items in, so again check the website before going to find out what is allowable inside.  So with base camp set it is off to try the beer.  Usually my wife and I start off together exploring the beers. Since almost always we are with friends we wind up spending time apart as well.  If you get separated don't worry some times that is the best time to find that one special beer.

As the day proceeds and you have hit you bucket list of beers, begin exploring for others.  The main thing is to pace yourself, if you plan on going somewhere after the event.  There is no way you can try every single beer at a fest unless it is a really small fest, so don't worry about what you are missing out on. 

The important thing is to have fun at the fest.  So if your well laid game plan does not get accomplished don't worry.  Also if possible talk to the brewers at the booths, let them know that you appreciate them being there.  At some events this is possible, but at others it is not since all you are doing is backing up a line of people wanting a sample of beer.  Another thing to do is keep track of the time, even five hours can go by in what seems to be a matter of minutes.

When the fest is over listen to the event staff and do what they say.  They are just trying to make it easy for everyone.  Since most fests are held in public places, the fest has a defined liquor license meaning they can only serve beer during the fest hours.  So do not try to get that one last beer from a booth as you are leaving.  Once outside of the fest grounds make sure your glass is empty, most cities will arrest you for open containers. 

Another good bit of advice is have a hotel within walking distance or have a designated driver.  No one needs the cost and pain of a DUI!  We plan ahead at the fest we attend for a room close by the fest grounds. 

Once back to your room make the decision of crashing or continuing to go.  In my experience if you crash you do not recover to go out later.  Hopefully you paced yourself so you can continue on to enjoy the surrounding area. 

So hopefully these are a few useful pointers to help you survive the fest season.

QC Beerguy

 

Brand Identity

The other day I saw a Facebook post of a friend asking another friend if they had a beer in the area that they live.  I looked at the beer's label and thought I recognized it as one I had had before and wanted to help a friend out.  Upon a quick search I was able to find the beer and where it was distributed, unfortunately not anywhere close to either one of my friends.  Upon finding the beer, I was surprised it was one that I had never had and could not figure out why it looked familiar.

During my wondering about the familiarity of the beer label, I began to think how important it is to a brewery to have an easily recognizable beer brand identity.  I am sure many beer drinkers either consciously or unconsciously chose a beer to drink because of the label or some other part of the beer brand.  To them the brand identity equals a quality beer.

Some of you may be wondering what I am talking about when I say beer brand identity.  It is that special quality that is associated with that particular beer.  Here are a few examples:  the shark (actually a dogfish) on Dogfish head beer, the portrait on a Sam Adams bottle (no that is not actually Sam Adams on the bottle, it is Paul Revere) and the special script Budweiser on a bottle or a can of Budweiser.  These breweries along with many others have taken great time and pride in making their brand recognizable.

Once a beer drinker finds a style of beer or a brand that they like, they become conditioned to look for that familiar label or emblem.  Yes we are just a step above Pavlov's dog when it comes to beer.  That brewery becomes their favorite and they usually remain loyal to that brewery.  This is why breweries are so concerned with trademark infringement and protecting their brand.

A couple breweries that I know will go to litigation to protect their brand are Budweiser and  Pete's Brewing Company.  Budweiser has a continuing court battle on going around the world against Budvar ( the original Budweiser), lately AB InBev has been winning most of the court cases thus in the U.S. we see Budvar.  Pete's is very protective of their Strawberry Blonde, they even have sent a cease and desist letter to a local brewpub that makes a blonde ale with strawberry.  So needless to say they did not get "bent" out of shape and changed the beer's name to Strawberry Ale, a more generic term.

There are other breweries that have taken the route of working things out without lawyers.  A good example is Collaboration not Litigation Ale, brewed by Avery Brewing and Russian River Brewing which they brewed together after they found out that they both had a beer called Salvation.   Since they are friends they decided to work things out over a beer instead of getting ugly about it.

Another big reason that breweries are protective of their labels and brands is that it is a big capital outlay to produce the labels and brands.  Many breweries pay either a marketing company or an artist to develop and produce the labels.  Also once the breweries come up with the labels they then have to have the labels approved by the ABC, both state and federal level in most cases.  The ABC has strict guidelines as to what is acceptable and if it is borderline it will not be approved.  So it is very important to the brewery, since they had a large cash outlay to produce the label.

Once a label or brand is produced the brewery will usually take the steps to at least copyright if not trademark the brand or label.  It is reputed that the oldest registered trademark is the red triangle of Bass Brewery in England, they have been registered since 1875.  A couple other breweries claiming long trademark usage are Lowenbrau and Stella Artois.  As you can see breweries are very protective of their brands and labels.

So next time you grab a beer take a look at the label before you take a drink and ponder what they brewery is trying to say with their label.  Then just try to image how long it took for the brewery to get the label in your hand.

QC Beerguy