Perhaps with the idea that no horse is too dead to beat (an unfortunate reverse of the idiom to be sure), an upcoming event (and another debate over at Appellation Beer) has me thinking about the ethics of beer writing. Beyond mere samples and the occasional free meal, the food/beverage/tourism writer’s bread and butter is free travel. Trips paid for by an interested business, be it a brewery, importer, hotelier, or restaurateur, are an effective way of securing coverage of an event or a location. Writers, who otherwise might not be able to afford to visit the location or attend the event, of course welcome the opportunity to attend these events, where they enjoy free airfare, transportation, hotel rooms, and are plied with free drinks and meals. The free trip has long been a part of the marketing arsenal for larger companies seeking to secure coverage. Travel writing has an especially long and seedy history with paid trips, as does the wine writing trade.

In a little over two weeks, America’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch, will again engage in this time honored marketing tactic by ‘inviting’ a dozen or more beer media members from around the country to attend the second annual St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival in Anheuser-Busch’s hometown. Sponsored in part by Anheuser-Busch’s public relations offshoot, Here’s To Beer, this is the second year the brewery has paid for the presence of beer writers. Held May 8-10 at Lindell Pavilion in Forest Park, the event brings together “big and small brewers from the St. Louis area” including Schlafly Beer, Allandale Brewery, Augusta Brewery, Square One Brewery, Anheuser-Busch, O’Fallon Brewery, and Morgan Street Brewery. This year’s VIP media attendees will include magazine publishers and writers, podcasters, website publishers, and a host of freelance writers.

While I applaud with a light golf clap Anheuser-Busch’s efforts with Here’s To Beer and with trying to promote better beer in its hometown (louder applause is reserved for how this signals the continued strength of craft beer), I’m troubled by the free trips the brewery sponsors, the range of which have been written about elsewhere. As part of a continuing series, I’d be interested in soliciting the thoughts of others on the appropriateness of paid travel in beer writing and whether disclosure (or sunshine as it is sometimes called), is enough to overcome the appearance of bias. I have to admit being particularly taken by Ray Daniels’ surprisingly honest preface to this All About Beer Magazine article from maybe a decade ago.

Advanced Warning: While researching this article, the author received from Anheuser-Busch complimentary travel, accommodations, food, drink and general camaraderie with his fellow beer writers. If you think this compromises objectivity, you may be right. If you think that beer writing pays enough for anyone to bring you this kind of information without brewer support then your perception of the beer world is twisted like some M.C. Escher block print. Either that or Mad Cow disease has finally become manifest in America. In either case, you need to have a beer, read the piece and then decide for yourself what you actually think. Jumps to conclusion, knee jerk reactions and other un-pondered perspectives need not apply.

If sunshine is enough to clear the ethical clouds, Ray’s is pretty bright. But is disclosure enough? When a writer acknowledges that a trip is paid, and then says the following, how is a consumer/reader supposed to respond?

Did I just say that Anheuser-Busch is “a stench in the nostrils of the Beer Gods”? I know I did. I went and looked, and sure enough, I actually said it.

I take it all back. Last week, A-B’s beer makers flew me and a dozen other beer writers to their Elk Mountain hop farm in northern Idaho for the hop harvest. (Those are hop flowers in the photo right here. They sure are purty, aren’t they? Like little pine cones filled with beer flavor and aroma.)

I spent two days in the company of the brewers and their beers, where they hit me upside the head with a 20-pound sledgehammer called the Cold, Hard Beer Facts.

I now regret having said such viciously foolish things. These guys are keeping the flame in St. Louis, no matter what the marketing department makes them do with fruit and sugar and horny goat weed. (Just kidding; there is no horny goat weed in Anheuser-Busch products that I know of…I just like saying it.) They trotted out some new specialty beers that are simply fantastic, and they were proud of them.

So were the beers actually that good or were the big portions of the salmon lunch, cooked three ways, that made the writer, Lew Bryson, “moan” the clincher? In this case, it’s assuredly the former in my opinion, but the appearance of bias is clearly a problem (even with proper disclosure).

So in the wake of Anheuser-Busch’s upcoming Heritage Festival, expect to see a lot of coverage in the beer press, on blogs, and over the airwaves about how the brewery is up to great things. Keep an eye and an ear out for whether the writer or speaker discloses that he or she received a slew of free stuff before sharing their thoughts with you. The disclosure should be right upfront. And if it’s there, when you’re done reading or listening, ask yourself this question, “Are you absolutely convinced the person wasn’t influenced by the free plane ride, shuttles, hotel room, day trips, beer, meals, and other activities?” If the answer is yes, then worry no more. If the answer is no, we all have some worrying to do. All, that is, except Anheuser-Busch…

Editor’s Note: Lew’s name was added at his request. The article in question appears on former beer writer Kerry Byrne’s football website, Cold Hard Football Facts

Fast on the heels of another highly successful year, the American craft beer industry is gearing up for another profitable year and the challenges that accompany success. As the segment continues its development from a tiny niche to a legitimate force in the beverage alcohol marketplace, craft brewers are increasingly coming to grips with the changing realities of their improved prospects. With the big brewers showing a renewed interest in the category and the recently announced merger of Redhook Ale Brewery and Widmer Brothers Brewing, 2008 is shaping up to be the year when craft brewers, both large and small, solidly enter adulthood.

Anheuser-Busch ‘Crafts’ A Better Beer

In the months of December and January, football fans across the country were introduced to a familiar face, but with a new shtick. The television advertisements showed various Anheuser-Busch employees touting the quality of Michelob and its grand history, tradition, and reputation for quality. The ad’s focus then surprisingly shifted from the standard Michelob lager to the brewery’s less familiar ‘family’ of Michelob brands. The ad featured the Michelob Porter, Pale Ale, and Hefeweizen and again heralded their quality. The ad ends with the campaign’s new tagline, ‘crafting a better beer.’

My initial reaction was admittedly one of mild shock. While I had read the standard industry announcements that routinely precede such television releases, the audacity of this particular ad is something to behold and signals an odd note of acceptance by America’s largest brewer. The television ad, part of Anheuser-Busch’s $30 million campaign to rejuvenate the ailing Michelob brand, was a low key, exploitation free promotion of the flavor and heritage of the Michelob brand. The ad is also the brewery’s latest attempt at fighting back against the gains of brewers in the better beer segment.

Beyond the unmitigated gall that it takes to co-opt the hard fought name and message of the craft brewing movement, the television spot also closely mimics the successful ads released in 2007 by the Boston Beer Company. Those ads, which often feature founder Jim Koch and his team of brewers talking passionately about their beers and smelling baskets of fresh hops, helped the Samuel Adams brand gain tremendous strength last year, which in turn drove greater growth amongst all craft brewers. In Anheuser-Busch’s knock-off spot, a brewer smells the malt and talks about Michelob’s traditions and dedication to brewing flavorful beers. The campaign goes far beyond merely releasing beer after new beer and hoping one sticks. It is a celebration of flavor, quality, and better beer. To stop and think about the ad’s tagline, ‘crafting a better beer,’ leads football fans and other viewing consumers to necessarily inquire, ‘Better than what?’ The only answers a viewer can be left with are Budweiser and Bud Light.

One member of the Michelob brand family that does not appear in the ad is Michelob Ultra, the company’s former low carbohydrate sales golden boy. In response to the news of the new campaign, one company executive told Advertising Age that the disassociation was a conscious decision. “You’re going to see us reduce the reliance on the name Michelob with Ultra, maybe even to the point of taking it off the packaging down the road,” the executive said. Regardless of whether the campaign, which again finds Anheuser-Busch trying to promote Michelob as a connoisseur’s brand, actually increases Michelob’s sales, the overall message is clear. Craft brewers have succeeded in changing the nature of the game and they need to be ready for the effects of greater corporate interest in their profitable category.

A Fight Of A Different Kind

After months of speculation, the Bell’s Brewing Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan, recently confirmed that it intended to return to the Chicago area market with two ‘new’ brands in early December. As part of a small, initial test run, the brewery shipped its ‘new’ Kalamazoo Amber Ale to six bars in the Chicago area. Now I use ‘new’ because Bell’s is using this limited release to test the waters of Illinois distribution and franchising law with these brands. Formerly doing business as the Kalamazoo Brewing Company, the brewery stopped shipping beer to Illinois one year ago because of a dispute with National Wine & Spirits, the company that has the rights to distribute Bell’s Beer in Illinois. The brewery’s brands, long a fixture in Chicago’s better beer taverns, disappeared from the market after owner Larry Bell decided to end his relationship with NWS, which acquired the rights to the brand after Bell’s former distributor was purchased.

Bell founded his brewery as a home-brewing supply shop in 1983, with the first pint going across the bar in 1985. He has grown his brewery from a tiny, one-man operation with a production of 135 barrels in 1986 to more than 90,000 barrels in 2007. After a substantial recent expansion, which now covers 60,000 square feet of space in Comstock, Michigan, the brewery now boasts 140,000 barrels of brewing production.

The case is consequential because it raises several important legal questions about the legitimacy of state franchise laws which appear to restrict a brewery’s rights to switch distributors. Some in Illinois argue that the laws should be interpreted to allow for a brand to return after a year’s absence from the market, while others interpret the dense code to prohibit the transfer of brands to another wholesaler without the agreement of both parties.

With his return, Bell is trying a backdoor approach. He says that he has released three new beers specifically for the Chicago market that are not subject to the prior distribution agreement. The new beers, offered under the Bell’s Brewery name, will include the Kalamazoo Porter, the Kalamazoo IPA, and the Kalamazoo Royal Amber Ale. The labels read, “Brewed especially for the people of the great state of Illinois.” To some, including the distributor’s lawyers, it may appear that these new releases look similar to the Bell’s Porter, IPA (or Two Hearted IPA), and Amber, all products that were once popular in the Chicago market. Whether the new beers and their flavors bear any similarity to the old beers will likely be subject to many glass clinking debates.

The Stakes Are Not Always So High

The husband and wife owners of one of Maine’s oldest microbreweries, the Bar Harbor Brewing Company, recently announced their plans to sell their business to a Florida-based advertising executive. The sale of the brewery, which produces the award-winning Cadillac Mountain Stout and Thunder Hole Ale beers, is expected to close in early 2008. The new owner, Evan Contorakes, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ronin Advertising Group of Miami, Florida, and also owns the Parkside Restaurant in Bar Harbor. Tod and Suzi Foster, present owners of the brewery, will retain a consulting role for one year following the sale in order to aid in the transition of the brewery.

The Fosters founded Bar Harbor Brewing in 1990 from the basement of their area home. While living in California, the couple sat front row center for the early days of the microbrewing movement. Tod took up homebrewing while a student at UC-Santa Barbara and the Fosters traveled throughout the state visiting new breweries as they opened. After moving to Suzi’s hometown of Bar Harbor, the couple would talk about Tod’s idea for opening his own brewery. He knew Bar Harbor had a huge tourist industry and that anything with the town’s name stenciled on it sold quickly as souvenirs. He discussed the idea with his wife so often that one day Suzi just looked at him and asked him whether he was actually going to do anything about it.

From the beginning, Tod knew that he wanted to run a very small operation, called a cottage brewery, where he would handle the brewing and Suzi would run the business. On a return trip to California, the Fosters met with several brewery and pub owners to get a sense of what they’d need to accomplish their goal. The couple almost decided against opening their own place after repeatedly being told they would need nearly $400,000 of startup capital to succeed. After securing a small two-barrel Pierre Rajotte brewing system, Tod created the first batches of his flagship Thunder Hole Ale. When the beer proved popular, the Fosters eventually moved from their cramped, 150-square foot basement a new house on two and a half acres a few miles outside of town. The new owner plans to move the brewery, which presently covers 850-square feet of the Foster’s basement, to a store front in downtown Bar Harbor. The new space will include the brewing facilities and a tasting room for tourists.

Comments by Contorakes to the local newspapers show that he has great plans for the little brewery. While the Fosters had trouble maintaining the brewery’s 325 barrel production, Contorakes plans to catch up with local demand and then expand the brand “up and down the East Coast,” as he told the Mount Desert Islander. Contorakes’s bold plans also include taking the small, little known brand to a national audience. “I guarantee there’s a national pipeline we could put this into,” he told the local newspaper. “People around the country are always looking for these microbrews.” To achieve these goals, Contorakes says that he will likely contract with a larger brewer for off-site production of Bar Harbor Brewing’s brands.

The Rise, Fall, and Possible Rebirth of Another Local Brewery

In its short existence, the Concord Brewery has seen some very tough times, bouncing between four different names, a succession of new owners, and a handful of homes.
The brewery’s accountant, David Asadoorian, purchased the brewery in 2003 from the former brewer, renamed it the Concord Brewery, and relocated operations to the old Brewery Exchange complex in Lowell. Despite the change in environs, the brewery struggled under Asadoorian’s ownership. The brewery’s once-popular Concord and Rapscallion brands never grew beyond their local following in Lowell and the quality of the beer, in the marketplace and at the adjacent pub, also suffered.

A new chapter in Concord’s complicated history is presently being written and it looks pretty similar to previous pages, with new owners, a name change, and a change in location. The brewery has been sold to Peter and Cedric Daniel, who plan to change Concord’s name to Rapscallion. The new owners plan to decamp to Milford, New Hampshire, where the company’s brands will be brewed under contract by the Pennichuck Brewing Company.

Developed as a personal artisanal project by former brewer Dann Paquette, the Rapscallion line has perhaps been the brewery’s most visible project and was a pioneering brand that pushed the definitional boundaries of ‘beer.’ Born in the spirit of beers that are intentionally different from batch to batch, the Rapscallion line of beers defied the notion that consistency in flavor profile is the brewer’s only goal. The three early Rapscallion brands, named Blessing, Creation, and Premier, varied in consistency and flavor from batch-to-batch, but were widely lauded by beer enthusiasts.

The new brewery’s first release will be the Concord Extra Pale Honey Ale, rebranded as the Rapscallion Honey Ale. The new owners expect to resurrect other beers from both the Concord and Rapscallion lines.

The brewery’s troubles show that a rising tide in the craft brewing segment does not necessarily translate to an increase in sales. The company’s shift from a local brewery with a solid native customer base to a brewery in Lowell with no ties to the community has wreaked havoc on the brand’s growth prospects. On the rebranded brewery’s website, the new owners joked about the company’s troubled history. “Maybe you never understood why a beer brewed in Lowell, MA went by the name of Concord. Well, we didn’t either.”

In light of the segment’s continued growth and the increased profitability of better beer (craft beer now accounts for more than five-percent of total beer sales in the United States), smaller brewers should expect that their once unnoticed industry will continue to meet with new challenges and the renewed interest of deep-pocketed competitors.

–Article appeared in April 2008 issue of Beverage Business Magazine

So that time of year is upon us once again, the time when imbibing throngs pack into bars, throw on giant, foam hats, and clink mugs of green beer in celebration of, well, something. Perhaps a greater perversion than even the American fascination with and celebration of Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrick’s Day is an opportunity for wild, unabashed revelry among the masses and for big breweries to haul in the cash.

I live in Boston and St. Patrick’s Day is a thing of legend here. As a well-known Irish enclave, Boston plays hosts to more than its fair share of prefabricated, soulless, faux-Irish pubs. These places, with such thoughtful, traditional Gaelic names as The Purple Shamrock, are difficult to appreciate even on a slow weekday. Come the 17th of March, and the bars transform into some of the least hospitable places on the beer drinking planet.

Now I don’t begrudge anyone a day or two a year to let loose but this particular holiday, along with Cinco de Mayo, has always felt pretty forced to me, especially in Boston. Quick, tell me three things you know about the man known as Naomh Pádraig. Admit it, the only thing you could come up with was the snake thing. And when you think of Cinco de Mayo, you think of the day that Mexicans won their freedom. You and millions upon millions of others would be wrong on both counts. But why let a little history, or legend, get in the way of a few pints, right?

St. Patrick’s Day comes early to Boston, with the big brewers’ paper shamrock laden paraphernalia being taped to the walls of bars weeks in advance. And herein lies my real problem with the holiday (and Cinco de Mayo as well), namely its exploitation by big American breweries. Despite its ownership by London-based global behemoth Diageo (which is rumored to be closing Guinness’s historic and famous St. James Gate brewery in Dublin), I’ll give a pass to Guinness, which sells an estimated 13 million pints of the now-rubyish beer every March 17. But because American breweries, with no ties to Ireland or Irish history (the diluted histories of the big guys are all German), see a chance to sell a lot of beer, we get paper shamrocks haphazardly stuck to bar room walls.

So what to do on St. Patrick’s Day? Given the dearth of quality Irish beers (O’Hara’s Stout being a rare example), a few years back I recommended an exploration of Scottish-style ales out of spite. Seeing as Patrick was himself born in Roman Britain, and not Ireland, that recommendation seems sound today. So as I think about how a historic metaphor involving snakes and religion can spawn so wildly out of control, I’ll be drinking beer made by some Scottish descendants at the Dunedin Brewery in Florida.