HOT TRUB@BEER
BASICS.COM
Vol. 03
No. 07 --- 27 February 2002
A
newsletter of special interest to brewers,
members of
the brewing community, chefs, restaurateurs,
and
members of the media that cover the beverage alcohol business.
If
you wish to be dropped from this list please respond to this posting to peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com
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===========================================
Editor: Claire
Zuckerman
==================================================
LATEST NEWS:
============================
ASK THE BREWERS:
"How important are Brewer Dinners in maintaining
your presence
in the market?"
============================
SPECIAL
REPORT:
Interview: Horst D. Dornbusch – Dornbusch
Brewing Co.
By
Peter LaFrance
NEXT
WEEK: A Chat With Conrad Seidl – The Only German-Speaking Member of the
British Guild of Beer Writers
================================
NEW PRODUCTS:
===========================
PROMOTIONS – EVENTS – DINNERS:
(All are invited to send events to be included: date,
event name, brief description, contact name & phone/web address.)
Published
by: Peter LaFrance peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com
Journalist,
covering the beverage alcohol industry since 1985.
Author
of:
Beer
Basics (ISBN 0-471-11936-9)
Cooking
& Eating with Beer (ISBN 0-471-31879-5)
visit www.beerbasics.com
=============================
Coors Likes Carling and Looks at
Zima… Again?
The just-drinks.com editorial team reports that Adolph
Coors has said that its acquisition of the UK's leading lager brand, Carling,
will add more to earnings than first expected.
“In a meeting with analysts and investors Coors Brewing CEO
Leo Kiely told the meeting that Carling Brewers will add 40% to the company's
volume, over 50% to its revenue, and over 60% to its operating profits. He also
said Coors got the business for a reasonable price because there were no
synergies that it offered for any of the competing bidders.”
Adolph Coors Co, the third biggest US brewer, is also
considering a joint venture with another company to market spirits-based drinks
as well as planning to reintroduce Zima, its flavored malt drink.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Reuters reports that Interbrew, the world's second largest
brewer, entered the Spanish beer market when it announced on Thursday that it
would take a 12.6 percent stake in Damm, Spain's third largest brewer. Damm,
which produces Estrella Damm and Voll Damm, has a 16.6 percent market share in
Spain. Interbrew bought the stake from Spain's second largest brewer, the
family-owned Mahou/San Miguel.
Interbrew spokesman Corneel Maes declined to comment on the
price. According to the report, “Maes said the acquisition fitted with
Interbrew's strategy of being present in major beer markets throughout the world.
Spain is the third largest beer producing country in Europe after Germany and
Britain.”
The report noted that, “Interbrew has been on an acquisition
spree since going public in 2000. Most recently it bought nearly 40 percent of
Slovenia's second biggest brewer Pivovarna Union. In December it ended its
wrangle with British anti-trust authorities with the sale of the UK business of
Bass Brewers to U.S. brewer Adolph Coors.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Teens Drink
Quarter of All Alcohol Consumed in US?
Maybe Not….
Claire Soares, of the Washington, DC office of Reuters,
reported earlier this week on a study released by Columbia University's
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.
It stated that underage drinkers consume a quarter of all
alcohol consumed in the United States.
The report went on to say that Columbia University's
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that 31 percent of high
school students binge drink, defined as five drinks in a row, at least once a
month.
“Underage drinking has reached epidemic proportions in
America ... and parents are too often unwitting co-conspirators who tend to see
drinking and occasional bingeing as a rite of passage," said Joseph
Califano, the group's president and a former U.S. secretary of health,
education and welfare.”
The rest of the report looks impressive . . .
“The Columbia report highlighted the under-15s as an
alcoholic trouble spot. Califano said since 1975, the number of children who
begin drinking at 15 or under had jumped by almost a third, from 27 percent to
36 percent.”
"And those who begin drinking before age 15 are four
times likelier to become alcoholics than those who do not drink before age
21," he added.”
“Researchers reanalyzed data from the 1998 National
Household Survey on Drug Abuse to calculate the total number of drinks consumed
by 12- to 20-year-olds as a proportion of all adults.”
“The report found those under 20 drank 63,230 alcoholic
beverages a month, an average of 0.9 a day, and slightly more than 25 percent
of the 251,194 alcoholic drinks consumed monthly by the sample as a whole.”
“But the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States
challenged the consumption percentage, saying the Columbia group had not
properly balanced the data.”
"As a result of this fundamental flaw in methodology,
they seriously misstated the facts by a factor of nearly 50 percent. The real
number is probably 11 or 12 percent," the council's spokesman Frank
Coleman said.”
Then came the follow-up.
The New York Times reported the very next morning that
“Teenage Drinking a Problem But Not in Way Study Found – Statistical Sampling
Error Inflated Figure.”
In a story by Tamar Lewin, on page A19 in the Wednesday
February 27, 2002 issue of the New York Times, it was noted that the, …”anti-drinking organization that issued the
finding acknowledged that it has not applied the usual statistical techniques
in deriving that number which would have been far smaller.”
“Indeed,
the government agency on whose data the finding was based said that by its own
analysis, the actual figure for the proportion of alcohol consumed by teenagers
was 11.4 percent.”
It never ceases to amaze me that well-meaning folks with plenty of information to make their case, have to resort to overkill and leave their credibility in serious question.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
=============================
=============================
"How important are Brewer Dinners in maintaining
your presence
in the market?"
=============================
From: Free State Brewing Co. fsb@freestatebrewing.com
I am just wrapping up a series of three brewer's banquets in
conjunction with
our 13th Anniversary. Since we started doing these about 4
years ago, they
never fail to sell out and seem to generate a lot of
interest. They also
allow me some more 'face time' with some of our most
enthusiastic customers.
One thing that I find very effective is mixed seating. We
seat in groups of
6 and this often pairs up different parties with people who
they don't know.
Often this allows the groups to learn from each other's beer
experiences as
well. I think that the most important aspect of these
dinners is education.
I try to select a variety of beer which expose people to a
few parts of the
range of style with which they may not be familiar. The
response from people
has been almost universally positive and they have learned
to expand their
view of beer.
Cheers,
Steve Bradt
Free State Brewing Co. http://www.freestatebrewing.com
636 Massachusetts St. Phone (785) 843-4555
Lawrence, KS 66044 FAX (785) 843-2543
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: Fryorama@aol.com
I think that because you have a captive audience, you can
talk more about the
beer itself. People
can sip and think about the beer. This
is my preferred
method of marketing.
Bar promos and store tastings will get you through to a
handfull of people, but at a Brewmaster Dinner, you get
through to a room full
of people.
John Freyer
3 Floyds
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: Van Potts - Van@westportrivers.com
Peter -
How important are beer dinners to maintain presence in the
market place?
Our answer at Buzzards Bay is very.
While they don't necessarily get to the masses to sell large
quantities
of beer, they do allow us to work at our relationships and
to educate
people not only on our product, but just how nice wine is
with food. And
there are lots of other "intangibles."
In my opinion, the more the wait staffs work with the
product, the more
comfortable they become with the product and then recommend
it. This is
an intangible that is hard to measure. But, if that person
is focused on
our product for 3 hours, we can make a good impression.
Another intangible that is tough to measure is the chef
working with the
product. As the chef works with the product and appreciates
it more, the
more he or she may incorporate the beer in a meal or their
thinking at
the restaurant.
Then there are the obvious things like showing the product
off to the
public, communicating what the product is all about,
interacting with
customers, press, etc. These things are very important as
well, but the
intangibles are equally as important to me.
For those reasons, I think beer dinners are important.
Van Potts
Director - Marketing & Sales
Buzzards Bay Brewing - www.buzzardsbrew.com
Westport Rivers Vineyard & Winery - www.westportrivers.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: Keith Mackie
- keithm@hq.mcmenamin.com
"How important are Brewer Dinners in maintaining your
presence
in the market?"
If done properly, brewers dinners can be an excellent marketing tool and do
help maintain your presence in the market. In my opinion, an event of
this sort not only allows the brewer to debut new and interesting products, but
also affords the customer the opportunity to gain insight into your company's
business philosophy as they meet with brewers and staff in a warm personal
environment. Where I see the greatest mistakes being made are when these
events are offered too frequently, making them commonplace, or when they are
not organized with forethought, decreasing their value.
For what it's worth,
Keith Mackie
McMenamins General Manager
(503) 223-0109 ext. 244
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: D. Gortemiller - dg@pacificcoastbrewing.com
Not Very.
Donald Gortemiller
Brewmaster, Pacific Coast Brewing Co
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
============================
SPECIAL REPORT:
Interview: Horst D.
Dornbusch – Dornbusch Brewing Co.
By Peter LaFrance
================================
Earlier this year I had the pleasure of meeting Horst D.
Dornbusch at the Boston Cooks Gala at the La Meridien in Boston. At the event
he seemed more than pleased to meet a fellow author and asked me to sign one of
the few remaining hardbound copies of Cooking & Eating with Beer.
As it was neither the time nor the place to exchange more
than greetings, I arranged to chat with him at a later date.
Recently I was able to interview Mr. Dornbusch by phone. The following is an interesting look into the story behind a brewery that is neither fully a contract brewed beer - or a “from-scratch” beer. It is a lager product line in the face of a sunami of ales. It is waiting in the wings according to Mr. Dornbusch. However, let me begin at the beginning.
The German born Dornbusch told me that he began homebrewing
in 1972 because he had been yearning for a true beer since his arrival in the
United States in 1969. “I discovered that you had to go back to Europe or make
your own. So I started to make my own in 1972. “ said Dornbusch.
His professional career included a stint as an editor at
Readers Digest and ten years in the technical department of a major
mega-company. After that he decided he wanted to jump on the microbrew
bandwagon. His first move was to go into the contract brewing business because
of the high cost of opening a stand-alone brewery. He chose the Ipswich Brewing
Company, in Ipswich, Massachusetts.
“That was in 1995,” said Dornbusch, “I made my first delivery in May of 1995. I
have been doing that ever since. Now we have seven lines of beer: A German ale,
which is an alt ale that we call Dornbusch Ale, we have seasonal specials such
as Winter Night lager, a German Swartz style black beer. We have an Oktoberfest
and a Bock beer for the spring, called Dornbusch Bock.” The line also includes
a Munich-style Hellis, a pale lager, Dornbusch Lager, and a Dornbusch
unfiltered heffe-weitzen. wheat ale. All are traditional German lager styles:
the Alt, which comes from the Rhineland, and the Gold is a Westphalian lager.
When I asked him why he chose to build his business on the
German lagers he offered the following observations -
“I find it interesting that most American microbreweries
concentrate on British-style ales very few ventures into the realm of
continental or German style of brewing primarily because the process in more
complicated. It takes more time in the brew house so it is more labor-intensive
and it is quite frankly more knowledge-intensive. … I thought that there was a
small market niche for me if I specialized in German style rather than English
beers.”
Dornbusch is the first to admit that he has only home
brewing experience but, “ Since I am totally bilingual - and German is my
native language, I purchased all the textbooks that were in use at the
Weinheinstephan Institute for brewers and beer engineers. And I read them and
internalized them. And so I actually tried, in an autodidactic fashion, to
learn all the things that German University graduates in brewing had to learn.”
A BIKE OR A BREWERY?
Dornbusch went on to tell me exactly why he decided to take
the leap from corporate life to that of a small brewer.
“Well, for ten years I worked for Siemans Medical Systems –
The suit was obligatory as was the stress. My weekends were not my own, my
hours were long, and there was a certain amount of burnout involved on my part.
I wanted to get out of it. You understand that the money was good in that
industry however the sacrifice was also commensurate. Call it my mid-life
crisis. Instead of buying myself a red motorbike I bought myself stainless
steel fermenters. At 45 I started my new business. I like beer and it was
something that knew how to make and I thought that it was a good way to get out
of that corporate rat race.”
NEXT YEAR?
“At this point I would like to retain a foothold in
northeastern Massachusetts because I do not believe that at this point in time
one should try to expand. I think there are still too many players in the microbrew
industry.
“What you want is more penetration in the small local market
so that you have the foundation to widen your appeal or territory when the time
is right. I do not know when that will happen but I think we need two more
years of shakeout.
“I think that in the marketplace, if you want to be
everything to everybody you go down the road of American Motors in the car
industry. They were too small to have one car for every market niche so I would
prefer to focus the resources of my effort on the small niche where I know I
might reign supreme with no one else in that niche rather than go to the niche
were everyone else is trying to compete for the share of the territory.”
AWARDS:
“To be totally honest with you, from a commercial
perspective, it really is not that important. It is something that I did as
almost an ego gratification, as a test. Since I wrote a book on Alt beer and
another book on Hellis for the Classic Beer Style Series, I figured that if I
wrote about it I couldn’t be a smart aleck and not take the test. The idea of
presenting your product to a panel of peers, and, if they give you the nod – It
was like the retroactive legitimacy for having taught others how to brew an Alt
beer.
“I find it a rather expensive endeavor to enter. The AOB has
virtually doubled the financial threshold for entering. As I said, for me, in
my tiny market, it is not a commercially significant gain to get another medal.
So I find it personally not that important.“
BEER & FOOD:
Looking forward to spring menus, I asked Dornbusch for his
suggested beer pairings to go with roasted spring lamb, pan roasted potatoes
and sautéed green beans.
“I could go one of two ways. Either I would create a
contrast or I would go for an unobtrusive accompaniment. For contrast I would
go with a Porter. For an accompaniment I would go with a Czech Pilsner.”
“I would go for a porter that is not too chocolaty you don’t
want a porter that tastes like a stout imitation. Rather I would go to a porter
that is more true to the traditional style of a porter. Which means it has
relatively low hop not very roasted where the darkness comes form a lot of
caramel malt and not necessarily from patent malt. It would be a great palette
cleanser for the unique flavor of the lamb. The grease in the lamb has a very
particular note. I think you can either combat it, and I think a porter would
combat it sufficiently without killing the delicacy and subtlety of the lamb as
a meat flavor.”
“Or you just go with the lamb with all the flavors but then
you want something to wash it down as a sort of under laying, nonintrusive beer
but it must be a good one and that would be a pilsner.
“It has that nice soft hop aroma that is lingering but not
overpowering. It has its own personality but it is one that does not conflict
with the lamb flavor. This is also subjective of course.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW
PRODUCTS:
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AMERICAN DISTILLER
American Distiller
will promote distilling and discussion concerning Whisky,
Malt Whisky, Blended Scotch Whisky, Bourbon, Rye Whisky, Vodka, Gin, Grappa,
Eau de Vie, Schnapps, Calvados, Apple Brandy, Apple Jack, Liqueur, Cognac,
Armagnac, Rum, Tequila, Cordials, Perfumes, Tinctures, Distillation, Pot
Stills, Column Stills, Coffey Stills, and Aroma Therapy. American Distiller is
the journal of the American Distilling Institute.
It is published bi-weekly as an electronic
newsletter in PDF file format, and emailed to all ADI members and A-D
subscribers. A printed and mailed version of the newsletter is available for an
additional fee. The ADI is the collective voice of the new generation of
progressive beverage, medical and aromatic distillers, and is dedicated to the
mission of disseminating professional information on the distilling process.
The ADI has filed for a designation as a 501(c) Non Profit Corporation. Please
visit our Web site at www.americandistiller.com
.
Chairman
Bill Owens
Board of Directors
Stephen McCarthy
Clear Creek Distillery
Lance Winter
St. George Distillery
Lewis Harsanyi
Euroholding, Inc.
The American Distilling Institute
Box 510, Hayward, CA94541, USA
510-538-9500 • 510-538-7644 fax
To join: (800) 646-2701
Bill Owens, President
Karen Dolan, Vice-President
Steve Costello, Secretary/Treasurer
Alan Moen, Editor
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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EVENTS:
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2002
1 – 2 - Harpoon St. Patrick's Day Festival, Boston, MA. Call: 888-427-7666 ext. 3;
Contact: www.harpoonbrewery.com
2 - 28th Annual Chapter Breweriana Show, Toledo OH. Call: 419-472-1691;
Contact: http://home.fuse.net/mries/qcc.htm
2 - 4th Annual Main Line Brew Fest, Malvern, PA. Call: 610-296-9800 ext.2222;
Contact: www.desmondgv.com
2 - Santa Anita Microbrew Festival, Arcadia, CA; Call: 626-574-RACE;
Contact: www.santaanita.com
2 – 5 - BierExpo 2001, Lille, France.
Call: 00-33 3 21122988;
Contact: sunexpos@nordnet.fr, or j.balistaire@package.fr
5 – 8 - PIVEX 2002 International Brewing and Malting Fair, Brno, Czech Republic.
Call: 312-781-5180;
Contact: www.mdna.com
09 - 7th Annual Kona Brewers Festival, Kailua-Kona, HI. Call: 808-936-2009, 808-331-3408; Contact: www.konabrewing.com
09 - 10th Annual International Beer Fest, Peoria, IL. Call: 309-673-1100;
Contact: www.jaycees.com
09 - 12 Hour Belgian Beer Party, Carlsbad, CA.
Contact: brewboy1@aol.com
10 - Milwaukee Beer Festival, Milwaukee, WI.
Contact: www.milwaukeebeerfest.com
13 –16 - 26th Annual Luck O' The Irish Mini-Canvention & Breweriana Show, Fort Mitchell, KY. Call: 859-371-4415;
Contact: http://home.fuse.net/mries/qcc.htm
16 - Schultz and Dooley Spring Breweriana Show, Clifton Park, NY. Call: 518-895-2550
16 - 6th Annual Fairfax Brewfest, Fairfax, CA. Call: 415-453-5928;
Contact: www.fairfaxchamber.org
16 - 3rd Annual Whiskies of the World Expo, San Francisco, CA. Call: 888-748-2400;
Contact: www.celticmalts.com
22 –23 - Beer Advertising and Collectibles Show, Augusta, GA.; Contact: www.bccaatlantic.org .
23 - Northeast Wisconsin Beer Festival, Appleton, WI, 800-261-2337; Contact: www.homebrewmarket.com
23 –24 - 9th Annual Great Arizona Beer Festival, Phoenix, AZ. Call: 602-231-0500;
Contact: www.azbeer.com
29 – 30 - 12th Annual Easter Seals Micorbrew Springfest, Eugene, OR;
Contact: jsprague@oregonseals.org
30 – Seventh Annual York County Micro-Brew Fest, York, PA. Call: 717-600-8933;
Contact: www.ggpromotions.com
30 - Split Thy Brooklyn Skull (barleywine tasting), Brooklyn, NY. Call: 215-765-8765;
Contact: www.beerphiladelphia.com/events
06 – 6th Classic City Brew Fest, Athens, GA. Call: 706-254-BREW;
Contact: http://www.classiccitybrew.com/
10 – 13 -- National Craft Brewers Conference, Cleveland, OH, 303-447-0816;
Contact: http://www.beertown.org/
12 – 13 -- 6th Annual Okanagan Fest-Of-Ale, Penticton, British Columbia, 250-492-4355;
Contact: http://www.fest-of-ale.bc.ca/
13 - Reggae on the Mountain Microbrew Tasting Festival, Bear Valley, CA, 209-753-2301;
Contact: http://www.bearvalley.com/
19 - 21 -- 2002 Spring Beer & Wine Fest, Portland, OR.
27 – 28 -- Tap New York: 4th Annual Hudson Valley Beer & Food Festival at Hunter Mountain, Hunter, NY
518-263-4223; Contact: http://www.tapnewyork.com/
4 -- Zymurgist Borealis National Homebrew Day Celebration - Fairbanks, AK, Scott Stihler - 907- 474-2138. Contact: stihlerunits@mosquitonet.com
26 - 28 -- 2002 Oregon Brewers Festival, Portland, OR.
7 – 8 -- Tavern Days Celebration, Croton-on-Hudson, NY, 800-656-1212;
Contact: http://www.belgianexperts.com/
26 - Beer 2001, Brussels, Belgium, 32 (0) 2 474 85 38;
Contact: http://www.beerexportexhibition.com/
21 - October 6 --2002 Oktoberfest Munich, Munich, - Germany
3 – 5 -- Great American Beer Festival, Denver, CO, 303-447-0816;
Contact: http://www.beertown.org/
18 – 20 -- MBAA Annual Convention, Austin, TX, 414-774-8558;
Contact: http://www.mbaa.com/
8 – 9 -- The 6th Annual Great Northeast Beer & Cider Competition/ 9th Annual Great Northeast International Beer Fest, Providence, RI.
Contact: Competition Director: Gregg Glaser, 203-834-0800;
Contact: gregg@yankeebrew.com
Festivals of America: Maury Ryan, 401-272-0980;
Contact: ryan@lovecraft.com
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