Greetings,

After a morning visit to the www stalking brewpubs I can present the following items offering some “good news/bad news” and that’s the way it is…

HOPS IN THE NEWS

“The shortage of hops - that crucial flower that gives beer its spice - has made for tense times at smaller craft brewers. Reconfirming its roots as a craft brewer, the Boston Beer Co. recently freed up a portion of its hop supplies and offered them to brewers in danger of not finding - or not being able to afford - enough of their own.”

“A lottery determined the lucky recipients, including Denver's Bull & Bush. The Cherry Creek brewpub gets two 88-pound boxes of Tettnang Tettnanger hops - enough to go into a year's worth of its pilsner - at Boston Beer's cost, $5.42 a pound. Erik Peterson, Bull & Bush's minister of progress (aka brewery and restaurant manager), recently returned from a trade show in San Diego where the same hops were selling for $29 a pound.”

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/may/06/dedrick-secrets-out-on-brew/

Global warming hitting hops hard

By Matt Ford | Published: May 07, 2008 - 08:58AM CT

“Hops are one of the key ingredients in beers—along with yeast, water, and some sort of grain, they are used to produce the world's oldest alcoholic beverage. For those who love the best type of beer—India Pale Ale, which has a strong, hoppy taste—times may be getting tough. In a Nature news article this week, Nature staff writer Rex Dalton reports on how the warming climate in Northern Europe is adversely affecting the hop crop. According to Peter Darby, a hop grower in the UK, the warm springs and mild winters have caused the hop vines to sprout early, stagnate, and produce little. On Monday a group of plant scientists met at a hop conference at the Hop Museum in Wolnzach, Germany to discuss ways to combat the impact of higher temperatures.”

http://arstechnica.com/journals/science.ars/2008/05/07/global-warming-hitting-hops-hard

Global warming may soon spoil the party for beer lovers

“LONDON: If reports are to be believed, global warming has threatened the production of hop plants, which are used in breweries for making beer.

Hops initially served as a flavouring agent, and then a preservative in unrefrigerated kegs of beer that European colonial powers shipped abroad on sailing vessels.

The weedy plant is grown in lines up trestles, and a fruit-like cone is harvested to make hops for brewing. The plants currently grown in northern climates require moist soil, a hard-winter freeze and a hot summer.

But, according to a report in Nature New”

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Global_warming_may_soon_spoil_the_party_for_beer_lovers/articleshow/3007138.cms

Finally, the following was found on Red Orbit this morning… essentially positing that hops could have a major part in cancer research. It’s not reading for the novice but there are sections that make fascinating reading.

EST Analysis of Hop Glandular Trichomes Identifies an O- Methyltransferase That Catalyzes the Biosynthesis of Xanthohumol(W)(OA)

“The female inflorescences (cones) of hop are rich in terpenoid essential oils and terpenophenolic resins. In addition to the terpenophenolic acylphloroglucinols (e.g., humulone) that give beer its characteristic bitter flavor, hop cones also contain;1%of xanthohumol, a prenylchalcone with potent cancer preventive properties (Stevens and Page, 2004). Xanthohumol has been shown to exert cytoprotective effects through the induction of phase 2 proteins that function to detoxify carcinogens and metabolize oxidative radicals and also shows antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties (Miranda et al., 2000a, 2000b).”

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1367470/est_analysis_of_hop_glandular_trichomes_identifies_an_o_methyltransferase/#

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

( http://www.beerbasics.com )

Salutations,

Two recent news items show that beer is actually good for us in ways that we never fully understood. The first item gives yeast all the credit:

http://www.huliq.com/57211/potential-yeast-selecting-lou-gehrig039s-disease-drugs

What's good for the body is good for the soul eh? A look at how healthy the micro brewing business is in the state of Montana, here in the United States of America…

http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/montana_brewers_taprooms_prosper_in_local_markets_drawing_tourists/C41/L41/

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

(http://www.beerbasics.com )

Greetings,

The news on the net continues to be good for small Brewers at least that’s the way I see it.

For your consideration, I offer the following item about Hanger 24 taking off in Redlands California: http://www2.redlandsdailyfacts.com/news/ci_8811081

The New York Times recently reports that New Jersey brewpubs are also feeling no pain:

Now I’ll get to the name dropping…

A recent news item made note that Fritz Maytag, head of San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing Co., will receive a 2008 lifetime achievement award this June from the James Beard Society.

After its recent problems, it is now quite an impressive organization. What makes the award even more interesting is that Fritz Maytag is not only a brewer, he also launched Anchor Distilling Co. and has been in charge of the families dairy farms in Iowa since the 1960s.

The first time I ever met Fritz Maytag was, I believe, in 1992. It was at a beer presentation event held at the Windows on the World. The wine steward there was very excited about beer and here was a chance to show some off.

One of the people present was Fritz Maytag. He and I were discussing what they call their Anchor Special Ale, which is released once a year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I had just posited the following question, “Would you say that this year’s Special Ale was more of a Bordeaux or a Burgundy?”  As Maytag paused for a moment to consider the question one of the other journalists piped up.  “We’re here to talk about beer, not wine.”  At that Maytag took the measure of the man looking, him up and down, and calmly remarked, “We’re all friends and fermentation.”

For more information on the award in Fritz Maytag, you may click on the following link:

http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2008/04/01/food/doc47f16b61dc735223100859.txt

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

( http://www.beerbasics.com )

Greetings,

This time I am glad to offer some hope after the last diatribe on the “death” of the British Public House.

I offer the following as rays of hope…

Comedy star’s serious mission to rescue village pub

“WHEN he opens his pub serving fine food and drink later this year, actor Neil Morrissey, will be hoping there will be no men behaving badly at the prestigious event.”

“The voice of Bob The Builder, along with friend Richard Fox, is buying a North Yorkshire village pub and between them they aim to renovate and transform the establishment.”

http://www.thisisyork.co.uk/mostpopular.var.2194691.mostviewed.comedy_stars_serious_mission_to_rescue_village_pub.php



Offering something unique is also a stratagy...

Welcome to the Halal Inn: Britain's first alcohol-free Islamic pub
Last updated at 00:22am on 12.04.08  

“There are bar snacks, quiz nights, snooker tables and blaring music. But if you fancy a beer you've come to the wrong pub.
The Halal Inn is open for non-alcoholic business only. The country's first Islamic pub opened last December in Oldham and although trade is not exactly roaring, it is purring along. “

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23476969-details/Welcome+to+the+Halal+Inn%3A+Britain%27s+first+alcohol-free+Islamic+pub/article.do

The brewing news is good for the fine folks of Scotland as well…

http://www.drinksint.com/articles/59992/Scottish-brewer-Harviestoun-stays-independent.aspx?categoryid=9048&cid=1150181283&ei=i9kESI_2Dafg6APblbz4Dw&usg=AFrqEzd1vJ9hjxDerCoBe2fbKAIlzbDLDw

I hope to post more evidence that the British Pub continues its fight to survive!

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

( http://www.beerbasics.com )

Greetings,

Last Wednesday, in the “Telegraph.co.uk” there was a piece posted titled “Would You Miss Your Local Pub?”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=BLOGDETAIL&grid=F11&blog=yourview&xml=/news/2008/04/09/view09c.xml

The basic premises was that, with four pubs closing every day in the United Kingdome, the survival of that particular institution seems unsure at best and doomed at worst.

The responses, over 100 of them, touched on many of the same problems faced by pub, bar, tavern and restaurant owners in the United States. The government ban on smoking tobacco rides to the head of the column of complainers. This is one clarion call that lacks logic. The increase in sales of food at “the bar” has given many restaurants, pubs, bars and taverns a more profitable margin.

The following particulars however all play a part in the decline in the enjoyment of what has traditionally been a refuge from the trials and tribulations of the everyday world: lack of individuality, inattention to the quality of food and drink, less perceived value for money spent, and an ambiance that is nowhere near tranquil.

I will address each in order.

Lack of individuality is the result of the power of the multi-unit-food-service-outlets… in other words, “chain stores/restaurants.” This has happened because of two things. The first is consumer demand for perceived value for their money spent. In the UK the shock of the 4 pound pint is felt almost nation-wide. In the United States, most major urban areas can support restaurants, pubs, bars and taverns that ask and get over five dollars for a poured pint. Recent increases in the cost of hops and grains will drive the cost of the finished product even higher. As a result, consumers will shop for their beer at package stores and discount stores. Perceived value beats out all other considerations.

Inattention to the quality of food and drink is something that can be blamed on the cookie-cutter mentality of MUFSO (see above) management. The bottom line rules and if half a ton of ground meat can be purchased for $2.00(US)/pound there is absolutely no reason to consider an individual unit request to use premium ground meat if it means a 20% increase in cost. Mass produced food products are easier to order, ship, prepare and profit from. Add to this the high turn-over of kitchen staff and lack of training and the demand for thaw/heat food products increases.

Less perceived value for money spent, as noted above, is a deal breaker and maker. Even I will admit that, when asked which my favorite beer is, I will always answer, “Free beer!”

Finally I get to ambiance. This is where I find the most friction. In my past I can remember visiting many of the restaurants, pubs, bars and taverns that sat on the “Gold Coast” of Manhattan in the late 1970’s (First and Second Avenues from the low 50’s up to 86^th Street.) There were “Old Men” bars, “swinging singles” places, German Bier Gardens, and other permutations. Variety was the essential difference that made for both successful “destination” places and “locals.”

Today there is an insistence on “inclusion.” Where there are dart boards (and semi lethal projectiles) there must also be accommodations for women with children. Where there are huge screen televisions showing major (and minor) sporting events watched by beer chugging recently freed college students there are community boards absolutely “Shocked” that these places get noisy during sport tournaments. Where there are places that have been serving lagers by the small glass and shots of brown booze to men of a certain age there are neuvo riche young people demanding single malts and beer brewed in thirty gallon batches and sold for $15.00(US) a pint.

It never ceases to amaze me when, as I sit in an obviously French Cuisine themed establishment, customers will seat themselves at the bar and ask for a Margarita and a basket of nachos.

There seems to be a sense of obliviousness about many folk these days demanding that things be the way they want them to be or not be at all. I want my way or no way at all. I want it my way and you will have to have it my way too.

What has been lost is identity, the chance to be unique, the opportunity to stand alone. To be one of a kind, to stand for quality and value will cost someone something. As noted above, in most situations, if it is going to cost something more than the consumer believes it should there will be no sale. In the end, it seems to me that the major base of consumers who visit restaurants, pubs, bars and taverns care little for unique, special, or quality experiences. They want it cheep. In the end that’s what they will get.

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

(http://www.beerbasics.com )

Greetings,

Not too long ago I wrote about the new Budweiser Ale, due out in November.

Today I have the responsibility to announce that by the end of September of this year the United States market will include what is being called Miler Lite Brewers Collection. It will include a “blond ale, an amber beer and a wheat beer, each with significantly fewer calories and carbohydrates than a typical beer for that style…” according to published reports quoting a source at Miller.

http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2008/03/31/daily34.html

The vindy.com web site notes that this trio are hunting the market share held by, in the amber category – New Belgium Fat Tire. The ringer is in the wheat style represented by Blue Moon from its own Coors brewery. The blond ale segment is represented by Bass Ale.

The Alstrom brothers have the efforts down set and match.

http://www.weeklydig.com/department-commerce/beeradvocate/200804/last-craft-beer-done-lite

Now I have not tasted the products yet. I’ll be getting touch with the kids at Miller as soon as I can. Just the thought of a “Lite” Fat Tire sends my imagination places it shouldn’t go.

This is news I will need time to assimilate, ingest, digest, assimilate and render…

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

( http://www.beerbasics.com )

Salutations my Friends in Beer,

Here in Brooklyn, NY USA, the packed brown earth has a thin green stubble of new blades of grass and the forsythia bask, already in full bloom, in the warm sunshine. I feel an almost primeval urge to feast on fish and Bavarian style wheat beer. I have read that this seasonal urge is not unique to my psyche or gender. In Bavaria, wheat beer weds with the local fresh spring meats and produce that come on the spring markets. It seems this phenomenon has been going on since the area became known for the style.

I for one relish the seasonal tug on my epicurean strings. It is the same with hot crossed buns, still warm in the box after being carried only a block and a half from an actual bakery, not a posturing, imitation, mass produced confection that can be found year round in Costco. Hot crossed buns are made at only one time of the year and should be consumed only at that time of the year. Check with your local German or Czech bakery and they will tell you what time of the year they bake them.

Here in the United States, particularly in what is called the New York Metropolitan area, the beer calendar is becoming useless. I have seen groups seated in the shade of a warm summer afternoon quaffing Russian Imperial Stouts. On the other hand, there was the more sedate group of beer “geeks” who were “tasting” a selection of Bavarian wheat beers a week after one New Year began. The incredible range of imported beers available to the most astute and tenacious shoppers’ makes “seasonal beers” available the entire year round. There is big profitability driving this increase in what are called in the lingo – “shelf keeping units” – In other words, the brand-facing-forward individual item as it appears on the shelf in the store. The numbers of SKU’s in the “snack” section in a local mega store has driven two folks I know back to the local bodega. There they knew where the "half and half" was and that the Sam Adams was on the bottom left side of the cold box.

I understand the economics of mega marketing and the almost unfathomable numbers of choices that tempt the consumer. Nevertheless, I demand four seasons in a year and expect those seasons to come with that which is unique to that season in cuisine and beverages. And that’s the way it is this fine spring day…

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

( http://www.beerbasics.com )

Greetings,

Let me preface this “rant” with the following: I live in Brooklyn, NYC and have spent most of the last thirty five years of my life living north of Staten Island. That said, as my matriarchal side of the family hales from one southern state or another so I have been exposed to that part of the United States. Their ways are familiar to me and I find many a paradox in their society. The most obvious to me is their social stand regarding beverage alcohol. The fact that the county where genuine “bourbon” whisky is distilled is a “dry” county. To me, that about sums up the social attitude regarding beverage alcohol in the southern United States.

And so, it was with great pleasure that I noticed the following in the “News” this morning…

I nearly set a record for clicking my trusty old mouse on that link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23783068/

And there were more!

http://www.wkrg.com/news/article/just_help_yourself/11922/

It seemed a young fellow figured out that the state of Georgia:

“…a state that still bans residents from picking up a six-pack on Sundays… actually allows diners to pull their own beer at the table.”

“"It turns out the law supports it. It's the same as putting a pitcher of beer at the table, and it actually increases monitoring," says Jeff Libby, the 26-year-old who patented the system.”

For more on a twisted logic that might actually make more sense than first expected I suggest you read the entire piece. I raise a glass to Mr. Libby!

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

( http://www.beerbasics.com )

Greetings,

In the news today there is a report on the St. Louis Today web site (http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/0/83D7D33AC2D20BFC862574130006DB00?OpenDocument ) that, in October 2008 a new Budweiser American Ale will be introduced.

I am not surprised. This is a company that can brew a special beer for any one of its distributors who can sell the product. That was demonstrated with the Pacific Coast brand and Spinnaker on the east coast. Once upon a time in Idaho, along with two dozen other journalists and beer-press folks, I had a chance to spend a morning tasting over two dozen different beers brewed by the A-B folks as they set about introducing the "Classic" line of Michelob products. As I remember it, the "Pale Ale" was the first offering.

And now, Budweiser is going to slap its brand on an ale! Well it's about time. The brand itself has seen significant market share and sales losses over the past few years. The "craft" segment of the market has, during the same time, shown double digit increases in profits and production; and so I am not surprised that the good folks at A-B see the writing on the wall and seem to want to meet the challenge of a changing market and fix what ales them.

As one who fondly remembers something delicious once called Ballentine Pail India Ale when it was brewed in Cranston, RI, a fine inexpensive ale, worth seeking out, I only hope that they find a flavor profile that will make the product worthy of the name "Ale."

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

( http://www.beerbasics.com/ )

Greetings,

I just listened to a report from N.P.R. (National Public Radio)  (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88602422 ) that observed there are still communities in the United States of America where the consumption of beer that has more than 5% alcohol by volume is prohibited. That report also presented a 78 year old activist who, seventy five years after the repeal of Prohibition, still dedicates himself to the prohibition of the consumption of beverage alcohol not only in his community but in all others as well. I can understand dedication but delusion is another thing entirely.

I applaud the involvement of people in serving their community in local government. I appreciate that the number of votes cast for a representative or referendum determines who gets elected to office and what laws govern the community. I acknowledge that the community deserves the results of elections and allow that there are found the seeds of discontent. This is almost always the case when a vocal minority marches to the polls while the self-absorbed majority smugly lets it happen. Then, governed by the will of the minority the seeds bear fruit in the increase in citations issued and fines paid.

As I mentioned above, there was a decade in the history of the United States when the consumption of beverage alcohol was banned. The only fruit that grew from that was organized crime. "Prohibition" of any sort is doomed from inception simply because someone, just to do it, will break the commandment.

Mississippi and West Virginia presently have laws restricting the alcohol content of beer to below 6% by volume.

It seems that the folks of Alabama would like to "Free the Hops" is a way similar to the legislation recently passed in North Carolina allowing brewers and retailers to "Pop the Cap" on alcohol content in beer sold in that State.

I wish the good folks of Alabama the best of luck in freeing the hops. And I toast the success of popping the "cap" in North Carolina, and the brave souls who carry on the fight in Mississippi and Vest Virginia.

Salute!

Peter LaFrance

( http://www.beerbasics.com/ )