Laurelwood Sets Fire Recovery Benefit

Sometimes you have really have to tip your hat to the local beer community. And not just because they make great products that make people smile. Nope. Sometimes they go the extra mile.

That's what Laurelwood is doing this week to help out a longtime employee who was the victim of an apartment fire. More on that shortly. Soren Appoldt is the employee. He's been part of the Laurelwood family since 2007. You'll often find him behind the bar weekday evenings at the Sandy pub.

I've kinda-sorta known Soren for a couple of years, but we've had more conversation in recent times because, for better or worse, blogging responsibilities get me out more and Laurelwood is close by. I know...it's a tough job...but someone has to do it.

Soren the artist (from his Facebook page)

When Soren isn't working behind the bar, he enjoys surfing on the Oregon coast. I routinely ask about recent great white sightings...and he has definitely seen some sharkies cruising the break. Sounds exciting, huh? Another of Soren's passions is the guitar, which I'm told he plays well. They also say he's a self-taught painter. 

Back to the fire. A couple of weeks back, Soren and his girlfriend, Lindsay, woke to the sound of fire alarms and the smell of smoke. It turns out there was an electrical fire of (as yet) unknown origin in their apartment building. They were forced to get out quickly, taking very little with them.

The time since has been a nightmare. They have not been able to return to the apartment. Beyond the obvious problem of having no home, they have lost many of their essential possessions. Rebuilding after a serious fire is never easy. Soren told me they did not have renters insurance, which he kicks himself for now.

Enter Mike De Kalb (owner), Micah Loiselle (Soren's close friend and fellow employee) and the Laurelwood family. This Tuesday, July 17, they will donate 20 percent of the day's proceeds to getting Soren and Lindsay back on their feet. So drop by if you can. Buy a burger, buy a beer...hell, buy a keg of beer! Anything you can do helps.

Laurelwood can also take a straight donations by credit card at the pub and they are working on a way to take them remotely, either by phone or web. I'll update this post Tuesday morning if those options come to pass. Meanwhile, here's to a great turnout all day Tuesday!

Update: You can now make a remote donation by credit card here.

Last Call for Chowda Dave

There are a lot of great folks in the Portland beer community. I've always been amazed me that these people, who compete for the hearts, minds and taste buds of the same customers, have developed a friendly camaraderie that seems to transcend business competition.

One of the best people around is Lompoc's Dave Fleming. I first met Dave at a Lompoc tasting last fall, and I've since run into him quite a few times at the Fifth Quadrant/Sidebar and around town. He's always happy to share what's going on with the beers and the brewery. And he doesn't mind taking a little ribbing over the exploits of the Red Sox, Celtics or Patriots. Chowda is just one of his nicknames, based on his Northeast origins, I assume..

Chowda Dave with Lompoc owner, Jerry Fechter

After three years as the head brewer at Lompoc, Dave is leaving the building. It's not so surprising if you look at his bulging travel docier. Dave has bounced around the brewery landscape extensively since 1992, when he started at Bridgeport. He's had portages at the Lucky Lab, Rock Bottom (Bellevue), Caldera (Ashland), Bend Brewing, McMenamin's, Three Creeks and, finally, Lompoc. Some might call it wanderlust. 

It turns out Chowda Dave isn't going far this time. He's going to work for Willamette Valley Hops, one of an increasing number of growers that produce designer-quality hops. This ought to be a nice arrangement for Dave and for Willamette Valley. They have a great product; Dave has the contacts and persona to make sales happen. Perfect.

They are giving Dave a farewell soiree this Friday, July 13, at the Sidebar on North Williams. Stop by between 4 and 10 p.m. to toast Dave one more time. Everyone is welcome. He truly is one of the good guys. Come by and wish him well.

OBF at 25: Premiere, Past and Future

Most readers of this blog are well aware that July is Oregon Craft Beer Month. If you didn't know that, shift your eyes to the top of the left column. See the graphic? Alrighty then. You're on board!

I think I need not mention that July is a packed with beer events. There's barely a free moment for beer lovers. Last year we were talking about event fatigue by mid-July. This year, I think we've gotten used to the idea. Bring on the warm weather and festivals!

Under the tent at the 2011 OBF

The culminating event of Craft Beer Month is the Oregon Brewers Festival, which marks it's 25th year in 2012. This year's event will happen July 26-29 in Waterfront Park. The OBF is the quintessential beer event not only of the month or summer, but of the year. More than 80,000 beer fans will descend on Waterfront Park for this year's event, which showcases craft beer from Oregon and beyond. More than $20 million will be injected into the local economy as a result. There's no better event here. Period.

The Premiere
Last week, I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend the premiere of the movie, My First Oregon Brewers Festival. I'll get to the movie shortly. First, you need to know it was commissioned and presented by Art Larrance, co-founder of the OBF and Portland Brewing back in the day. Besides the festival, Art also operates the Raccoon Lodge in Raleigh Hills and the Cascade Barrel House in Southeast Portland. He is one the founding fathers of the craft beer industry in Portland.

Eckhardt shares a thought with Larrance

Events like this are great fun. You get to mingle with the legends of craft beer. I spent 20 minutes talking to Fred Eckhardt about his World War II military service as a Marine. Then Art launched into a discussion of his service during the Vietnam era. These guys obviously love great beer, but maybe more than anything else they are great story tellers. You gotta love hanging out with them.

As for the movie, it is not my cup of tea. Or maybe I should say it isn't the movie I, personally, would have made. Art told me point blank he was happy with it...which is cool. The pacing, content and editing suggests it was made mostly for young folks who have yet to attend an Oregon Brewers Festival. As a promotional vehicle, that makes sense. As an historical vehicle, it doesn't work...despite interviews with many key people. Beth Harrington's wonderful OPB documentary, Beervana, is a better place to start if you want some historical perspective on the early days of craft beer in Oregon. Just saying.

The Past
Prior to the movie screening, there was a panel discussion moderated by John Foyston (subbing for Lisa "The Beer Goddess" Morrison, who was ill). Panelists included Larrance, Eckhardt, Kurt and Rob Widmer, and Karl Ockert (with Bridgeport during the first OBF). John got things going with some general questions and eventually took questions from the audience.

It's instructive to consider what these guys were thinking at that first festival in1988. They were desperately looking for a way to promote what they were doing. At the time, there was no calendar of events featuring craft beer. Indeed, there was nothing. These guys had no idea if their fledgling breweries were going to make it or not. An outdoor beer festival in the summertime seemed like a good promotional idea.

There were 22 breweries and a single tent that first year. They planned for 5,000 beer fans over 2 days. When three times that number flooded the grounds, logistical issues cropped up. For starters, they didn't have enough beer. To keep the taps flowing, the co-founding breweries (Bridgeport, Portland Brewing and Widmer) exhausted everything they had, There were evidently quite a few guest taps around town the week after the festival. But a star was born.

The panelists and moderator

Why has the OBF flourished over the years? There are many answers to that question. The event happens in the same location and at the same time every year. It's highly visible. The weather is almost always excellent for beer drinking. Finally, the OBF remains a reasonably affordable event. For $20, you can taste great beers in a terrific spot for an afternoon. Does it get an better?

The Future
The most legitimate question of the evening came from someone behind me, who asked about the future of the OBF. It's a fair question...the elephant in the living room. It's plain to see what the festival has been for its first 25 years, how much its grown and what it has done for craft beer. What do the next 25 years look like?

Larrance answered the question nimbly. He intends to do the festival for another 7-8 years. Although he would like to see it grow, there are obstacles. The permit they have for Waterfront Park is for the space between the Morrison and Burnside bridges. Because of other summer events, he does not believe it will be possible to expand the space. The most readily available option is to add days.

Look, to a great extent, the OBF as it exists today is the vision of Larrance and the team he has assembled. The event isn't going to change much as long as Art sticks around. It may or may not change when he steps away. It all depends on who takes over. If his daughter Alissa or someone on the current team takes over, the OBF is likely to stay much as it has been. If an outsider takes over, all bets are off.

Deschutes' ceremonial first keg, 2010

Looking ahead, you have to assume the OBF will get bigger. You've got a world class event that parks a significant amount of money in the Oregon economy. And it supports a growing industry that brings even more economic benefits to the state. Why wouldn't you want to expand it? Why wouldn't the City of Portland want to get behind expanding it? 

My thoughts? I think slowly expanding the number of days makes great sense. You can't instantly go to five days or you will simply spread your existing attendance out. The key is going to be getting the word out to the world, since that's who you're inviting. Once you fill the park for four days, expand to five. Pretty soon you may have the thing starting on Monday instead of Thursday. Then you can start talking to the city about expanding the space. Could this wind up being an Oktoberfest-like event? You never know.

Anyway, here's to Oregon Craft Beer Month and another great Oregon Brewers Festival. I'll have more to say about his year's event in coming weeks. 

Canning the Myths (About Cans)

There's been plenty of talk in recent times about the growing popularity of cans in craft beer. I've discussed the topic several times here. I was mostly concerned with the viability of cans as an alternative to glass. I continue to believe cans are a great packaging option for craft beer and that they will continue to gain share over the next few years.

Right container, wrong contents

When I wrote those prior posts, I was looking only at the growth factors. The numbers are pretty dramatic, showing off-the-hook increases. The graphs below show what's been happening and which segments are growing fastest, among other things. In case you're wondering, all of these graphs are based on information from the Brewers Association.

Growth Spurt
The two graphs below illustrate the growth of canned craft beer in two ways. First, you're looking at case sales growth. Next you're looking at the stripped down financials. These are fairly scary numbers. We are seeing a near doubling of numbers each year. I suspect these figures are convincing some brewers that moving to cans is a viable option.

Segment Stories
The graphic immediately below shows which packaging types are dominant. The bulk of the market is clearly owned by 12 oz cans, whether in packs of six or 12. I'm trying to recall seeing 12-packs of craft cans. I see lots of 6-packs, as well as 4-packs. But not so many half racks in cans. Oh well.

The next graphic shows where the growth is. The two segments with the smallest share of the can market turned in by far the greatest growth for 2011. The growing popularity of 16 oz cans is handily illustrated here. These numbers suggest that some craft brewers may see 16 oz cans as an alternative to 22 oz bottles. I can't run too far with that, but that's what I suspect. Meanwhile, 12 oz cans are competing with 12 oz bottles...which dominate the retail category.

Sobering Perspective
Understanding the place that cans have in craft beer means you have to know the size of the market. The Brewers Association says the retail craft beer market was worth $8.7 billion in 2011...representing a 15 percent increase over 2010. Rapid growth continues...you gotta love that.

Now for the shocking part...if you think cans are about to take over craft beer distribution. The graph below shows what share of the $8.7 billion market is owned by cans. The number is $11.5 million. In other words, barely a blip. Despite monstrous recent growth, which tends to warp perceptions, cans have a very long way to go before they become a serious player in the overall scheme of things. 

Just for fun, consider comparative numbers for 22 oz bottles: They own $44 million of the craft retail market. Bomber market share increased by 35 percent in 2011 and they remain a popular option for breweries and buyers. Yet 22 oz bottles account for only about 5 percent of overall retail sales. And cans represent about a fourth of bomber volume. Yikes!

Note: This post was updated on 9/21/2012 to correct a mistaken data point. 

NAOBF Reviewed and Recycled

I hesitate to write event reviews. They're too personal. My experience at a given event may be completely at odds with the experience of others. But never mind. Let me tell you about the just-completed North American Organic Brewers Festival.

Wither Weather
This festival was victimized by marginal weather for the second straight year. If my recollection is correct, it wasn't as wet last year...and Sunday was nicer. I was down there Friday afternoon and it was cloudy and warm. By the time it started raining Friday evening, I had vamoosed out of there. Saturday must have been a quagmire with all the rain and Sunday was cool until late afternoon. Not the best.

The recyclable cup looked good in liquid gold

June is always a sketchy month for outdoor events in Oregon. Festival organizer Craig Nicholls knows that. All of us who have lived here for any length of time know it. I have no idea what attendance was...don't even need to know. What I do know is attendance would have been better if the weather had been warmer and drier.

I suppose Craig has a several options: First, he could try to shoehorn the NAOBF into July or August. That could prove difficult due to the packed summer calendar. Second, as insurance against unkind weather, he could cover more of the festival area with large tents. I suppose he'd have to weigh the cost of doing that against the benefit of better attendance. The other option is to move the event indoors...and let's face it, that isn't going to happen.

Ladies and gents, get ready to start your engines...

Unforced Errors
People on the outside generally have no idea how much coordination it takes to run a festival like this one smoothly. A lot of things have to come together for things to come off the way they're supposed to. By the way, I didn't coin the phrase unforced errors...Jeff Alworth over at Beervana did. Credit due.


I have no idea what kinds of issues occurred during the weekend. I wasn't there. They likely ran out of some of the more popular beers before closing time. That's par for the festival course.  If they avoided this scenario at the NAOBF, terrific. If you want the best beer selection, arrive early.

Possible ride home...for the overindulgent

What did happen was truly stupid, though it affected mostly those of us who showed up for the media tour Friday morning. The tour, a first at the NAOBF, was to be led by Lisa Morrison, who most of us know as the Beer Goddess and host of Beer O'clock Radio. Lisa was ready to lead the tour on cue at 11:00 a.m. It was fortuitous that some members of the media did not arrive on time.

When we did get over to the taps, we discovered the beer was warm. This was unfortunate. Here you have a bunch of people who have come to sample the beers so they can write or talk about them. And the beer is warm. As well, some of the beers hadn't arrived or hadn't been tapped. This threw a monkey wrench into Lisa's plan, which was well-organized. The good news is that paying customers weren't affected. Still, not the best. 

Faithful tasters...Alex Ganum (Upright) and Angelo De Ieso

By the way, this problem was well on its way to being solved by the time the gates opened at noon. By 1:00 p.m., they had iced down the jockey boxes and all the beer was flowing cold. I can assure you that members of the media did their best to find a warm beer...and failed.

The Layout
They changed the layout this year, to mixed reactions. The beer taps were located to the right of the courtyard as you entered, as opposed to straight back, which was the case last year. I saw the possible reason when I took a gander at the area where the beer was located last year: it's quite uneven. The area where they had the beer this time appeared to be flatter.

This may have been a nice logistical change, but it created a couple of issues: First, the beer taps were a long ways from the restrooms, located on the opposite side of the festival green. I heard a few people bitching about that. Oh well. Take a walk. Second, the beer was a long ways from the stage, where they had live music playing pretty much continuously. I can't say how big of an issue this was. To me, the music seemed remote and muted this year...I paid little attention to it. Last year was different.

The Friday afternoon crowd

The Beers
It's a little late to talk about the beers, since the festival is over. But you will be able to find some of these beers around town on draft or in a bottle. I used my original tasting list as a guide (find it here) and was pleased with most of what I found. A few notes:

Alameda Brewing - Thai Yellow Wolf Imperial IPA - ABV 8.2% IBU 100
This variation on standard Yellow Wolf is made with 100 percent organic malts. The addition of dried mangoes, flaked coconut, Thai basil and ginger softened up the normal bite. I thought it was terrific. 

The Commons - Havier Bier/Oat Saison - ABV 5.6% IBU 15
Typically on-style and refreshing. Any beer by The Commons is worth a try. 

Fort George Brewing - Spruce Budd Ale - ABV 5.2% IBU 0
They use spruce tips in place of hops for aroma and some flavor in this beer. I didn't care for it. The other Fort George offering, a barrel-aged fruit beer called South, was good.

Laht Neppur Brewing Co.- Peach Hefeweizen Fruit Beer - ABV 5.2% IBU 15
This is Laht Neppur's Hefeweizen with peaches and puree added. I found it crisp and tasty.

Laurelwood Brewing - Organic Green Elephant IPA - ABV 6.9% IBU 80
Both of the Laurelwood beers were quite nice, but I knew already knew that. Organic Green Elephant and Organic Deranger IRA are on tap at the Sandy pub and should continue to be for a while. Update: I stopped in last night (7/3) and discovered they are not pouring Deranger. Bartender said they won't put it on until the Green Elephant is gone. I swear they had Deranger on last week. Oh well.

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales - Kili Wit Beer = ABV 5.5% IBU 20
I may have ingested more than my fair share of this stuff during a visit to the brewers tent. Brilliant.

Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing - Love Potion Fruit Beer ABV 4.5% IBU 36
This one was not pouring at the outset. It's a pale ale brewed with cherries, oranges, rose hips and hibiscus. I thought it offered a nice mix of lightness and complexity.

So there you have it...my version of the 2012 NAOBF. It was a decent event all in all. Of course, the weather could have cooperated. Maybe next year.

Update: Check out the Brewpublic blog for Angelo's version of the NAOBF. Nice write-up.

The Other Side of the Brewpub Coin

When I first started thinking about the brewpub vs. production brewery question, I had no intention of turning it into a series of posts. You can find the earlier ones here and here. I'm addressing the question again because I stumbled onto something that generated some additional thoughts..

What happened is I visited one of the Blitz Sports Pubs...in this case Blitz Ladd down on Southeast 11th Avenue. I did not venture there to further research the brewpub question. Nope. I stopped in because I wanted to check out the space, the beer list and the food. Just another adventure.

Hard to miss the Blitz logo

In case you aren't aware, there are currently four of these joints in or near Portland. Besides the one I visited, there are two in Northwest (Blitz Pearl and Blitz 21)and another one in Tigard (Blitz 99W). Blitz Ladd is the second location. Blitz Pearl is the original. 

I initially thought the Blitz chain was headquartered outside Oregon. These are large spaces, (Blitz 21 is evidently smaller than the others) and they've made a substantial investment in the brand identity. But the Blitz chain is locally owned. And they are expanding. Someone I know in the biz tells me Blitz has plans to open in Beaverton and in the Hollywood District. I'll get back to that shortly.

On the big board: 23 standard beers, 13 rotating taps

These places offer plenty of distractions. They've got gaming galore (ping-pong, shuffleboard, Foosball, video games and more). Large, wall-mounted TVs dominate the visual decor. The menu is standard pub fare and, more importantly, the beer list is damn good. Blitz Ladd has 36 taps pouring mostly great beers.

The Counter Argument

These Blitz pubs may offer the perfect platform on which to mount the argument that production breweries may, indeed, be the wave of the future in craft beer. Over the course of the last few years, we have seen an increasing number of places large and small that feature great beers. Now we have the Blitz chain and Buffalo Wild Wings, both enormous operations, hawking great beer. 

The proliferation of places that serve craft beer not brewed in-house has implications for the industry. It will potentially help production breweries and hurt brewpubs. How so, you may rightfully ask.

The $6 Blitz burger with fries.

First, places like Blitz add to the plethora of opportunities for production breweries to sell their stuff. They are jumping into space already occupied by bottleshops, dive bars, bowling alleys and taprooms. This is to say nothing of the grocery and convenience store channel, which is growing exponentially in Oregon and elsewhere. Today's production breweries have nearly unlimited markets. Of course, brewpubs have the same access...but many don't have the brewing capacity to fully tap it.

Second, and more importantly, large pubs like Blitz may sap business away from brewpubs. They offer a greater variety of beers in the company of a comparable menu. There's also the fact that Blitz, (Buffalo Wild Wings, too) offers gaming and entertainment amenities you aren't going to find in your average brewpub. These folks are offering a seriously viable alternative to the brewpub.

Off-street parking at Blitz' rumored future location

Blitzkrieg

Consider this. The rumor mill says Blitz is working a plan to take over the former Poor Richards in Hollywood. This area is bursting with positive energy. The nearby Hollywood theater will soon get a new marquee and there's construction happening next door. It's a hot strip. Sweetening the pot for Blitz is that the Poor Richards location has plentiful off-street parking.

There are brewpubs in the area. Columbia River Brewing is to the east across the street on 40th Avenue. The Laurelwood flagship is up the street on Sandy. Alameda Brewing and Fire on the Mountain are a short distance away on Fremont. Does anyone think a Blitz Sports Pub in the area isn't going to have an impact on those businesses? 

Hard to miss the Blitz logo

Evolution

It occurs to me that the Blitz Sports Pubs are merely part of the evolution of the craft beer movement. Ten years ago, people who wanted good beer found it almost exclusively in brewpubs. Today, the ground has shifted. People now know what good beer is...thank the brewpub model for that. They know they don't want Bud or Coors. Instead, they demand good beer wherever they go. Blitz, along with other large and small venues, is simply tapping into the fact that craft beer has an established following.

We'll have to wait and see how this pans out. If you go out to Yelp or any of  the other places where people comment on pubs and restaurants, you'll find Blitz pubs aren't getting the greatest marks for food or service. Some brewpubs are in the same boat, but I suspect Blitz needs to clean up its act if it's going to compete with the better brewpubs for the better customers.

Blitz the dog is interested in the Blitz burger

I'm working up some thoughts on strategies the brewpubs and smaller breweries are using or are likely to use to ensure that customers continue to come through their doors. The brewpub is certainly not dead. Next week.

Outdoor Festival Season Revs Up with NAOBF

Even though there have already been several festivals, the upcoming North American Organic Brewers Festival is nominally the first of the summer. That's a sketchy argument if you go strictly by the weather, which has been, shall we say, uneven. But I can easily make the argument using the calendar, since we just officially entered summer.

Early Friday afternoon features line-free tasting

One of the biggest challenges routinely faced by the NAOBF is the weather. As most Oregonians know, summer often doesn't arrive here until July 5th. June can be dicey. Last year's NAOBF did not enjoy perfect weather. When I was there drinking on Friday, it was fairly cool. I think it warmed up during the weekend, but you never know what you'll get this time of year.


The Beers

The beer list for NAOBF 2012 is fairly impressive. They expect to have around 50 organic beers in a wide range of styles from around the country. Lots of good beer means choices can be tough. Well, unless you can come to the festival for multiple drinking sessions. Then you're set...but your liver may be in trouble.

My own recommendations are based on single visit drinking...most likely Friday afternoon. How do I decide what to taste? I look for beers that I can't find in local stores or pubs, or maybe a variation of something I can find there. I also take ABV into account because I can only taste so many beers. Lower values are going to attract my interest more than higher ones. I know, I know...that runs contrary to the thinking of some festival goers. Oh well. My list:

The bike corral packed in last year

Alameda Brewing - Thai Yellow Wolf Imperial IPA - ABV 8.2% IBU 100

Standard Yellow Wolf is a good IIPA, available in many stores and on draft around town. This is a variation, made with 100 percent organic malts. They also add dried mangoes, flaked coconut, Thai basil and ginger. This could be pretty interesting. Or not. But worth a try. At 100 IBU, it's a pallet buster for sure, so save this for late in your tasting excursion.

The Commons - Havier Bier/Oat Saison - ABV 5.6% IBU 15
Any beer by The Commons is worth a try. Saison is a refreshing style and perfect for a warm weather. Even if the weather fails to cooperate, I suspect this beer will.

Fort George Brewing - Spruce Budd Ale - ABV 5.2% IBU 0
This is one of two beers Fort George is bringing to the festival and the other one (South, a barrel-aged fruit beer) is worth a taste, as well. But Spruce Budd Ale looks interesting. The "O" IBU isn't a typo, so hopheads may wish to move on. Fort George brewers use spruce tips in place of hops for aroma and some flavor in this beer. I suspect it will be great or terrible. Either way, I like the creativity.

Late afternoon lines will be long

Laht Neppur Brewing Co.- Peach Hefeweizen Fruit Beer - ABV 5.2% IBU 15
Laht Neppur is located in Waitsburg, Washington...the heart of wine country. They make wine and beer...the brewing part of the operation was established in 2006. Seriously, Laht Neppur is on my road-trip hit list the next time I go to the homeland (Spokane or Pullman). This beer is their standard Hefeweizen with peaches and puree added. Sounds like a perfect summer pick-me-upper.

Laurelwood Brewing - Organic Green Elephant IPA - ABV 6.9% IBU 80
Laurelwood is bringing two excellent and highly sought-after beers to this festival. I'm listing Organic Green Elephant because it has a lower ABV than Organic Deranger Imperial Red Ale. Both of these are limited edition beers and worth trying. Hopheads will be lined up for both...and rightfully so.

Logsdon Farmhouse Ales - Kili Wit Beer = ABV 5.5% IBU 20
Logsdon is located up the road in Hood River and makes its beers from locally grown ingredients. They have built a strong reputation on their Farmhouse Ales. Kili Wit is brewed with organic barley, wheat and oats. Whole cone Fuggle hops (as opposed to pellets) and Egyptian coriander evidently contribute to a light, refreshing beer.

Recycling is a big part of the program here

McMenamin's Crystal Brewery - Organic Liquid Friend Session Ale - ABV 4.7% IBU 26
I'm not normally going to seek out McMenamin's beers at any event. However, this one looks interesting. They use 2-row barley and wheat malt for the backbone and Centennial and Tettnanger hops for a citrus, floral finish. Beware of the low IBU rating here. Hops may come to the forefront due to the relative lightness of the beer.

Natian Brewery - Alphabetically Above Average Organic Amber Ale ABV 5.3% IBU Not listed
The other Natian beer at the festival (La Luz Summer Ale) has a higher ABV than this one. It's a little odd for an amber ale to be lighter than a summer ale...though not unheard of. They evidently use a bit of organic cocoa in this beer for color and flavor.

Pike Brewing - Naughty Nellie/Golden Artisan Ale ABV 4.7% IBU 24
Sometimes a name is all you need. Naughty Nellie sounds pretty good to me. Seriously, Seattle's Pike Brewing has been producing great beers for a long time. Nellie is positioned as a balanced, crisp golden ale. We shall see.

The beer will flow, rain or shine

Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing - Love Potion Fruit Beer ABV 4.5% IBU 36
Love Potion is a seasonal offering at Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing. This is a place I hope to visit someday. Anyway, Love Potion is a pale ale brewed with cherries, oranges, rose hips and hibiscus. How can this beer not be interesting?

So there you have it...my tasting list for the NAOBF. Opinions will certainly differ. There are a lot of high octane beers at this festival and I'm quite sure some of my partners in crime will have tasting lists that are significantly different than mine. And that's cool. It's all about personal preference.

The Festival 
I suppose the most important thing to remember about this event is that it runs THREE DAYS. That's right. This isn't the OBF, which runs four days (and could possibly run a week). The NAOBF is basically a weekend event. If you're keeping in theme, walk, ride your bike or take public transit to the event. Parking is extremely limited. There's a whole lot more info here.

Cheers to summer!

Leaving the Brewpub Model Behind: The Sequel

My original post on craft beer and brewpubs (it's here) drew a number of comments from a variety of places. You know you've struck a nerve of sorts when people are sending you emails about a blog post. There were also comments on the blog and on the blog's Facebook page. I'm not saying the post went viral and I got messages from Russia, but there was definitely some interest in the topic.

Just to summarize that post, I was simply pointing out that we are seeing an increasing number of craft beer production facilities that are not attached to a brewpub. This runs contrary to the business strategy upon which much of the country's craft beer industry is based. My question: Are we really prepared to leave that model behind?

The established, antiquated model

Counter-punch

The most common leverage point in favor of the evolving model is that beer is more profitable than food. The argument goes something like this: If your brewpub revenue is 60/40 in favor of food, more of your net profit is coming from beer because beer is more profitable than food. Using that logic, the new age breweries that have no food and limited tasting room hours will be just fine as long as they have good beer and they sell a lot of it. Hmmmm.

Survey says

I don't own or work in a brewpub, so I have no firsthand knowledge of profit ratios and net profit. So I went to the horse's mouth...someone who has run a successful brewpub for many years. I'm not going to identify this person because that's the way he/she prefers it. I'm simply going to say industry source. Here's what my source says:

You can't take cost/profit percentage to the bank. Beer is probably more profitable than food. But that slight difference in profit won't pay your bills in the long run. When a tasting room sells four customers 2 beers each at $4.00, they put $32 in the till. If those same four people come to my pub, we'll get the same $32, but maybe they each buy a burger for $10 each, and an additional beer each. Now we've put $88 in the till. Sure, there's more overhead, labor, equipment, food cost, etc. But the extra $56 we put in the till more than covers that cost. We also get the added benefit of all the additional business that comes in just to eat, whether breakfast, lunch or dinner. The tasting rooms don't see that business.

The new model...

The importance of daily cash flow has been covered before, notably by Sam Calagione (Dogfish Brewing) in his book Brewing up a Business: Adventures in Beer. In it, he talks about the easy (and daily) cash flow that a pub brings in. My source continues:

Most production breweries rely on wholesales sales to distributors. Distributors pay on a 14 day cycle. In our case, we have several distributors, only one of which pays on time. We typically get paid three weeks after they get the beer, potentially 5-6 weeks after we received the grain and other ingredients to make the beer. Most suppliers give us 30 days to pay bills because we're well-established...newer breweries may have less favorable terms. Anyway, without that extra money in the bank from restaurant sales we'd never have the cash flow to pay our beer ingredient suppliers on time.  

Elephant on the couch
Look, it's hardly a secret that craft beer has been on a growth tear in recent years. Growth seems to be open-ended. These new age, production breweries appear to be based on the premise that they can make a lot of quality beer and sell it for a good profit. Nonetheless, the overwhelming success of the brewpub model and questions about the viability of the brewery-only model ought to make you wonder why this route is being chosen.

Well, one of the reasons is financial. If you want to open a business of any kind today, chances are you're going to need financing. Even if you plan to borrow against your house or other assets, you will probably need help from a bank.

If you go to a bank with the idea of opening a restaurant, you aren't going to get a warm reception. Why? Because restaurants are regarded as one of the riskiest investments out there...they have a high failure rate even in a good economy.

However, if you go in with the idea of opening a brewery, the reception will be much warmer. Why? Because the Federal government regards breweries as manufacturing facilities, which are eligible for SBA (Small Business Administration) guaranteed loans. Here's how my industry source sums it up: 

In the current banking climate, banks don't like restaurants or pubs. But they love breweries. I'm working on two projects at the moment...a new pub and a production brewery. Even though I would create 25-30 jobs with the pub and only 7-8 with a new brewery, the bank would prefer to help me with the brewery due to the SBA guarantee. The pub would create more jobs, but everyone knows restaurants have the highest failure rate of any business, right?

So if you want to understand why so many production breweries are opening, it may be helpful to understand the realities of the financial climate. It's a good deal easier to get funding for the brewery-only arrangement, despite the historical success of the brewpub model. Manufacturing is king. Who knew?

Organic Festival Highlights Sustainable Values

The onslaught of the summer festival season is upon is. Get ready for crazy. For the next three months, beer fans get to enjoy the best of the best mostly in outdoor settings around town. The highlight, in my mind, is always the Oregon Brewers Festival, which happens in late July...a sort of exclamation point on Oregon Craft Beer Month.

What event kicks off high season in Portland? It's hard to say. Maybe it was last weekend's Fruit Beer Festival, which attracted good crowds in an expanded venue in and around Burnside Brewing. That festival is going to continue to grow and will likely need an even larger space next year.

From the 2011 event...early Friday afternoon

The next big event is the North American Organic Beer Festival, now in its eighth year and set for June 29-July 1 in Overlook Park. They are expecting 18,000 beer fans for what is thought to be the nation's most environmentally friendly festival. More on that shortly.

They will be serving up 60 or so organic beers and ciders from 39 breweries this year. The tap list is out there to review if you're so inclined...I'll wait to make any suggestions until the week of the festival.

Craig Nicholls, who is arguably Portland's first organic brewer, launched the NAOBF and continues to run the show today. Craig was the brewmaster at Alameda Brewing for many years and subsequently opened Roots Brewing. He folded up Roots a couple of years ago and has been doing consulting work since, helping folks like Fire on the Mountain organize their brewing systems and operations.

There will be plenty of great beers at this event. But its values transcend beer. The NAOBF is all about promoting sustainability and does so in a variety of ways:

• Beer is sampled from reusable, compostable corn starch cups.
• Strategically placed onsite stations collect compostable and recyclable items
• Food vendors must use organic ingredients, as well as compostable plates and utensils
• Solar and biodiesel generators provide festival electricity
• A gigantic bike corral packs in hundreds of bikes

As a direct result of the efforts made here, 90 percent of the 2,300 pounds of waste generated by the NAOBF last year avoided landfills via recycling and composting. Craig had hoped the festival would be trash neutral this year...meaning nothing would wind up in in landfills. Even if that goal is not quite attainable for now, he is focused on getting there and eventually will.

As I said in an article I wrote for an actual publication last year, the NAOBF essentially uses good beer to showcase what you can do with sustainable principles if you put your mind to it. Most of the festivals around town generate mountains of waste that goes to landfills. This one does not. You have to respect that.

There's plenty of information on event times and costs here. It should be another good year for the event. Mark it, dudes.

Cheers to Portland Beers, Round Two

Part of the reason I started writing this blog about a year ago is I thought it would be a nice companion for a book I was working on at the time. The book, Beervana Rising: A Guide to Portland's Craft Beer Scene, was published as an eBook last fall. It is essentially an overview of the Portland beer scene, with coverage of the brewpubs, pubs, bottleshops and significant events, along with historical references, stories, etc.

Beervana Rising has been available on Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble and several other sites where you can buy such things. I thought an eBook might be a nice way to present this information. I realized there are plenty of places you can go on the web (blogs, Yelp, etc) to find the same kind of information. But I thought the book might be useful because it provides a lot all in one place.

In the with new...

I didn't do much to promote Beervana Rising, beyond mentioning it to friends and family. Why? I was never quite satisfied with it. I wasn't completely sure it covered everything it should and I thought maybe it needed to be published as a print book to gain a following....an idea I didn't pursue.

Fast forward to April 2012. I was working on getting a formal book contract for a different project. During those talks, it occurred to me that Beervana Rising is exactly what it should be: an eBook. Things change so fast on the local beer scene that print makes no sense at all. A book like this needs to be updated on a regular basis to stay relevant. I had always intended to update and republish the book, so I put it in motion.

The newly published book is called Portland Beer 2012: A Guide to the Best of Beervana. It's an improvement over the first book. The content has been expanded and updated to include some of the newer spots around town...places like Gigantic, The Commons and Pints. Some of the content is re-purposed from blog posts, but a lot of what's here is specific to the book.

Why the new title? I hope it will make the book easier for search engines to find and for potential buyers to identify with. The cover is also new. I designed the cover of Beervana Rising myself. It wasn't bad and I'll continue to use that artwork in various places. But cover art is pretty important with an eBook because it's the first thing buyers see when they're scanning book titles. I decided I needed a beer photo on the cover.

...and out with the old.

When you want a great beer photo in this town there's an obvious go-to person: Matt Wiater (aka Portlandbeer.org). I've known Matt for many years via work not related to beer. I talked to him about what I was looking for and he was kind enough to help me find a photo I think works well. If you're wondering, the photo was taken several years ago at the old Laurelwood Brewery on 40th Avenue...Columbia River Brewing occupies that space (and brewing equipment) today.

My vision (if that's what it is) of the book has also changed...I now see it as a series. There will be a a new version with updated content each year, probably in the spring to coincide with the busy summer season. The cover may change from year to year...or not. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. As for 2012 book, I'll be updating it every few months through the fall and loading the revised versions to the various sites.

In case it isn't quite clear, the book is intended for people who want to know more about Portland's beer scene, including the roots of the craft beer movement here. People who travel here to sample the beer, as well as locals who want to know more, will certainly be interested. The beer geek community isn't the main target, although there's probably something here for them, too.

As of today, the book is on Amazon only...it will take a week or two for it to show up on the other sites. There's a link to the Amazon store at the top of the right column. By the way, if you're reading on an iPad, the reading experience is much richer if you buy the book through the iBooks app. Honest.

I don't expect anyone to run out and buy this book. But spread the word.

MillerCoors Hopes to Pull a Rabbit Out of a Hat

I continue to be amused by the tactics of the big boy brands in the face of market share loss to craft beer. It isn't like MillerCoors or Anheuser-Busch are going out of business. But the sustained growth of craft brands has them scratching their heads (and other things) as they struggle to come up with some kind of response.

Inasmuch as I was just beating up on Coors the other day, I hate to do it again. But what am I supposed to do when I find out they are currently launching a trio of beverages designed to compete for the attention of drinkers who normally chase craft brands and liquor? Coors is just a huge target.

The three-pronged offensive is all part of the "innovations' program at MillerCoors. They have an official marketing director and everything, so it must be the real deal. Hard to fathom. What they're hoping to do with this program is win over what Coors calls "millennial consumers"...otherwise identified as folks "who constantly change their drinking habits."

First off, let me say I think the idea of going after a target market which apparently has zero brand loyalty and might drink your product once and never again is ingenious. The execs at MillerCoors must have really put some elbow grease into thinking this up. The bonuses are going to be huge.

Let me take you through the actual products, in case you don't have your Google alerts set to pick up on crap like this. Seriously, you need to spend some time adjusting your news feeds so you don't miss out on great stuff like this.

New Shit has Come to Light
The first of the new products is Coco Breve, a coconut water-infused malt beverage. This thing has about the same alcohol as light beer (4.2%) and intends to capitalize on the mainstream popularity of non-alcoholic coconut water. You don't even need to ask who they are targeting with this drink, right? Women. Specifically, women who want to bring something on girls night out...but won't bring light beer.

Next up is Redd's Apple Ale, which MillerCoors expects to compete with flavored malt drinks like Mike's Hard. Apple Ale comes in at 5% ABV and is supposedly a little on the sweet side. Go figure. They are targeting men and women with this stuff, in case you were wondering. You probably qualify if you constantly change what you drink and have no brand loyalty.

From a craft beer perspective, Coco Breve and Apple Ale have zero appeal. Craft beer fans shouldn't be in the conversation when you're talking about drinks like this. I suspect if one of these is going to be successful it will be Coco Breve. Not with beer fans, though. Coco Breve is far more likely to draw women away from white wine. This runs against standard big boy marketing tactics, by the way. They typically spend their time scheming ways to take market share away from other beer brands, not from wine, flavored water or whatever. I'll be interested to see how it works out. Honest.

The Sandlot Strategy
The third of the new products is Third Shift Amber Lager. This is the first in a series of smaller batch beers invented by Coors brewers (supposedly) during their off time. This beer evidently won a gold medal at the 2012 World Beer Cup....under the code name Flor Hosen by the Sandlot Brewery in Denver. Sandlot is connected to Coors Field, if you were wondering. The beer was developed and is brewed at Coors headquarters in Golden.

Amber Lager, which will be a draft only offering for now, is surely a decent beer...probably at the lower end of the craft spectrum in terms of body and flavor. But MillerCoors won't call it a craft beer. Instead, they say it's an "invitation" beer. They have it their head that this beer will appeal to craft fans who like variety and want something a little less expensive. Indeed, they are going to be selling this beer at a slightly lower price point than typical craft beer. Hmmm.

There's something everyone needs to know: MillerCoors could make great good beer if they wanted to. So could Anheuser-Busch. All they would need to do is buy better ingredients and develop better recipes. They already have the facilities to do it. Instead, they make watered-down sludge, advertise the crap out of it and make money selling it to a mass audience in volume. That's their business model.

I actually like the fact that Coors is producing a series of small batch beers. However, I think they are making a grave error with Amber Lager. They should be marketing this stuff as an award winning beer at a standard craft price. Why? Because price is a huge factor in beer brand identity. If you sell your beer at premium price, people will assume it to be a better product and your brand will be enhanced. Selling Amber Lager for less will instantly undermine the integrity of the brand, even if the beer is damn good. This is beer marketing 101.

It's a pretty good bet that the new MillerCoors products will fail to gain significant market acceptance. They have a pretty good track record in this area and each of these products seems ill-advised in its own way. As craft beer continues to gain market share, it may well turn out that the best place for big beer to look for continued profits is China ...which has enormous untapped potential. Take a look at Jeff Alworth's analysis here. Good stuff.