Beer News: 1996 Archive

In general

Beer ads for the big screen?

A leading seller of advertising time in movie theaters is considering accepting beer ads.

But officials of the Screenvision Cinema Network said they have not discussed ending a 13-year voluntary ban on such advertising with brewers or theater owners.

"By the time we finish talking to the beer companies and the exhibitors, it will be well into the first quarter of next year,'' said Dennis Fogarty, president of Screenvision. "If everyone decided it was a good thing, we wouldn't start seeing beer ads until summer at the earliest.''

Screenvision sells ads on about 7,800 of the nation's 26,000-plus movie screens. Fogarty said Screenvision decided to examine its ban on beer ads recently when developing plans for 1997.

The company ran Anheuser-Busch ads from 1979 through 1984 but then decided it wouldn't accept them because of the controversy surrounding the advertising of alcoholic beverages.

The beer ads Screenvision would carry are often seen on both broadcast and cable TV. Fogarty said Screenvision would limit the ads to appearances before R-rated movies, which draw an older audience. Parents groups protested immediately, however, since R-rated movies are shown to those 17 years and older.

Bennigan's turns to flavorful beer

It's early on an August evening. The place is full. At one table, a couple dines with their two towheaded children. All four are deeply tanned, Mom is wearing an "REO Speedwagon" T-shirt, Dad a tank top. He is drinking Lindeman's Framboise with his dinner.

At the bar, a woman drinks from a bottle of Bud Light, explaining to the man next to her that she likes it colder than served here. At home she'll stick her beer in the freezer. He is drinking Chimay Red.

We are, honest to goodness, in Normal, IL. In a Bennigan's. Really.

What is going on here? Bennigan's has become the first large restaurant chain in the United States to make a full commitment to offering flavorful beer. By mid-August, more than 60 of the 223 Bennigan's were part of the "Copper Clover International Beer Quest," and the others were due to be on board by the end of 1996.

Each restaurant that is part of the Copper Clover program offers more than 100 beers, with between 10 and 60 on tap. Guests who sign up for the "beer quest" receive a plastic membership card that looks like a credit card. It allows Bennigan's to track the beers patrons sample. Members receive a variety of rewards along the way to drinking 100 different beers. Such "beer clubs" have long been common at bars, but in this case, members get credit at any Bennigan's where they drink.

Each restaurant offers different regional beers, so nearly 400 different beers were available throughout the chain by the time 60 spots were in the program. That number is sure to grow. Customers may also order a sampler of four 4-ounce glasses of draft beer, receiving credit for four beers on their tour. However, the restaurant won't allow a patron to get credit for more than four beers a day.

"Still, we've had some people complete the tour amazingly fast," said Peggy Marshall-Mims, vice president of corporate communications.

The company began test marketing the program more than a year ago in restaurants across the country, and also conducted a telephone survey this summer. It found, among other things, that more than 40 percent of beer drinkers surveyed had sampled specialty beers in the last two years and that the numbers were even higher for those with incomes of more than $50,000.

Bennigan's has implemented the program in a way that should reassure skeptics. Beer is served in a special "True Pint" glass, which actually holds 20 ounces and has a line at the 16-ounce mark -- allowing the bartender to pour 16 ounces of beer along with a generous head. The program has been phased in because it takes time to train staff on managing and serving beer, and to install more than 6,000 new tap handles plus coolers to display the bottled beer.

MADD about those frogs

Anheuser-Busch says it sees no reason to end its advertising campaign featuring bullfrogs despite demands from Mothers Against Drunk Driving. MADD called the frog the "Joe Camel'' of beer ads and said the ads target teens and young children. And while MADD wants the entire beer industry to modify its marketing, they call the Budweiser ads the worst of the bunch. MADD cited a marketing research survey that found the bullfrog characters were more recognized among youngsters 12-17 than other television characters like the Energizer Bunny and Coca-Cola's polar bears. Among children 6-11, more than half recognized the bullfrogs.

More LongShots come home

Brewing partners triumphed in the World Homebrew Contest and now will have their winning beers distributed by Boston Beer Co. under the LongShot brand name. More than 800 beers were entered in the 1997 contest, and nine finalists were invited to brew their beers at Boston Beer's pilot brewery in Jamaica Plain, MA, in September. The three winning beers were selected from those brews.

The winners are Bob and Debbie Tordash of Fort Lauderdale, FL, for English Strong Bitter; Meleq Kacani and Rock Herbert of Simi Valley, CA, for Traditional German Bock; and Paul and Kari Karasiewicz of Dayton, NJ, for Molasses Coffee Stout. Their Longshot beers will be available in the spring. Plans for the 1998 contest are already being made.

Polly wanna beer?

Corona has released a new line of character steins made by Albert Stahl and Co. The first three figures released were a hip parrot with sunglasses, towel and bottle of Corona Extra in his claw; an iguana decked out in a Corona tank top and shorts and holding a sombrero; and a toucan dressed in grass skirt and a red pepper necklace, carrying a Latin drum. Frank Loevi of Prosit, the newsletter of Stein Collectors International, calls the steins "some of the nicest I've seen, antique or otherwise." The hand-painted steins are produced in limited editions of 5,000 and, if you're lucky enough to find one, run about $170 apiece.

Beer scholarship honors Jackson

The New York Chapter of the American Institute of Wine & Food has inaugurated the Michael Jackson Beer Education Scholarship Fund. The fund will be used to support area brewmasters. The first award will be presented Jan. 8, along with AIWF/NY's wine and culinary education scholarships.

Moms-to-be reassured

A recent study in Australia questions the customary advice given by physicians to pregnant women that low-to-moderate alcohol consumption may put their babies' health at risk. The three-year study, involving 2,000 pregnant women, acknowledged that "heavy drinking" mothers are more likely to have babies with pre- and post-natal problems, but found that the children of moderate drinkers do not suffer adverse effects as a consequence.

And the winner is ...

For those of you following the debate over which is really the world's biggest brewpub -- make room for the new champion. Red's in Edmonton, AB, covers 105,000 square feet (more than three times the size of River City Brewing Co. in Jacksonville, FL), has 28 bowling lanes, 24 pool tables, a nightclub, a restaurant, a two-level bar, an arcade and a capacity of 2,000.

Austin backs cask breathers

Peter Austin, who pioneered microbrewing in England in the 1970s, has called on the Campaign for Real Ale to accept the use of nitrogen/CO2 gas through a cask breather on cask-conditioned beer. "Not using a cask breather is costing the small brewer very dear," he said. "Without it, every pint of beer drawn means that a pint of ordinary air from the pub cellar is drawn into the cask. You may as well keep the beer in a bucket." Austin, 75, has set up microbreweries around the world, although many no longer follow his admonishment that no beer should travel farther than a horse can walk in a day (about 20 miles).

Visit the ram

Make your spring vacation plans now. Young & Co.'s Brewery in London is planning to open its historic Ram Brewery to the public in the spring of 1997. Plans include converting the Brewery Tap pub into a bar, shop and visitors' center. Young's has hosted regular tours of the brewery for more than 20 years, but they have been restricted mainly to groups. The new tours will include the brewhouse, a brewing museum and the stables.

It's called 'growing up'

A survey released by the University of Michigan showed that by age 24, about 80 percent of high school seniors polled since age 18 had either stopped binge drinking or rarely binged. Nearly two-thirds of the "frequent binge drinkers" in their senior year had stopped bingeing altogether. The study concluded that these young people were "at low risk for adulthood problems with alcohol."

Fat Chance wins BAA contest

Fat Chance turned out to have more than half a chance in Beer Across America's first Homebrewer Competition. Paul Stevens of Shorewood, WI, created the brown ale that was shipped to Beer Across America members in October. He brewed the batch for thousands of BAA subscribers at Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago.

Party with MOM

That's the name of a CD being sold be William & Scott Brewing Co., MOM being "Music for Our Mother Ocean." (So why not MOMO?) The CD features new songs and cover versions of famous surf tunes by groups such as Pearl Jam, Porno for Pyros, the Beastie Boys, No Doubt, Everclear, silverchair, 7 Mary 3, Primus, Sprung Monkey and 12 other bands. The CD costs $16.99, which includes shipping and handling, and is available through the Huntington Beach, CA, brewery's merchandise catalog, which can be found where Rhino Chasers beer is sold. Proceeds benefit the Surfrider Foundation, a non-profit environmental group dedicated to protecting and preserving the world's oceans, waves and beaches.

RETURN TO NEWS INDEX
return to top

Industry news

Smart beer can

The British companies British Steel Tinplate, Decorative Sleeves and Kromacorp have combined to develop a beer can that tells you when it's ready to pour. When the can is cooled, the thermochromic ink on the label changes from white to blue so a drinker can read the words "ready to serve."

Guinness hits the road

Guinness Import Co. has takes its draft quality program on the road. The company -- which put "draft technicians" in the field a year ago -- has sent five vans on the road to demonstrate the benefits of quality draft systems to bar and tavern owners nationwide. Each van is equipped with a bar containing two kegs on a mixed gas, direct-draft system. Each van contains a virtual Irish pub, with an L-shaped oak bar and a leather sofa.

AMBREW plans worldwide push

American Craft Brewing International Limited has plans to open 20 microbreweries around the world in the next two years. AMBREW has already placed an initial $10 million order for new equipment with JV Northwest Inc. The new microbreweries will be located in targeted cities abroad such as Zurich, Dublin, Budapest, Warsaw, Singapore, Shanghai and Tecate (Mexico); and will operate as company-owned subsidiaries or as majority-owned or otherwise controlled joint ventures with strategic local partners.AMBREW International is a division of New Orleans-based The Sazerac Co.

No more smiling fruit

British companies marketing "alcopops," the popular fruit-flavored alcoholic drinks, have agreed to change their marketing image after complaints they target underage drinkers. Bass will remove the smiling fruit image it uses to sell "Hoopers Hooch,'' while Whitbread will change the name of its "Lemon Jag'' and "Vanilla Heist'' brands. Alcohol-concern groups complained the new drinks target drinkers under the legal drinking age of 18 years.

But Budweiser's frogs remain

Anheuser-Busch says it sees no reason to end its advertising campaign featuring bullfrogs despite demands from Mothers Against Drunk Driving. MADD called the frog the "Joe Camel'' of beer ads and said the ads target teens and young children. And while MADD wants the entire beer industry to modify its marketing, they call the Budweiser ads the worst of the bunch. MADD cited a marketing research survey that found the bullfrog characters were more recognized among youngsters 12-17 than other television characters like the Energizer Bunny and Coca-Cola's polar bears. Among children 6-11, more than half recognized the bullfrogs.

Saint Arnold doubles capacity

Houston's Saint Arnold Brewing Co. began installing new equipment in October to increase its capacity from 4,500 to 9,000 barrels per year. The expansion will allow St. Arnold to begin distributing its beer in Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio. St. Arnold's Christmas Ale is available in bottles for the first time.

One more for the ... skies?

The Shipyard Brewing Co. is ready to start brewing beer right in the Orlando International Airport. The Portland, ME, brewer planned to have the brewery and two brewpubs open in the airport by December. Host Marriott Service Corp., which runs other airport microbrew pubs across the country, will operate the two pubs. Shipyard's 20-barrel microbrewery will be located in the central corridor between the A and B sides of the terminal. One pub will be adjacent to the brewery, the other in another terminal.

Mendocino Brewing offers more stock

Mendocino Brewing Co. has filed a second public offering of shares of common stock. A total of 600,000 new shares will be available to the public at the purchase price of $8.50 per share. The minimum purchase is 100 shares ($850). The company's stock is traded on the Pacific Stock Exchange (symbol "MBR.P"). Mendocino Brewing Co. operates the Hopland Brewery in Hopland, which was the first brewpub in the state since Prohibition. A new brewery with a capacity of 75,000 barrels is currently under construction in Ukiah, CA.

Boston Beer Co. touts high standard

The Boston Beer Co. has launched a series of radio ads to defend itself from attacks by Anheuser-Busch.

"The Samuel Adams standard remains as high as ever,'' Boston Beer founder Jim Koch says in the ad. "So, fellas, don't worry. You guys at Budweiser still have that Sam Adams standard to keep reaching for.''

Koch said the new ad isn't a counterpunch to the assault from A-B, but an appeal to beer lovers. "This commercial is not intended to engage in or escalate a war with this Goliath,'' Koch said in a statement.

However, it comes just weeks after a barrage of A-B ads that ran in 14 market in the weeks around Halloween. In them, the "ghost" of Samuel Adams admonished Koch to stop tricking beer drinkers. "You don't even brew and bottle your own beer," the spirit said.

No specific A-B products were touted in the radio spots. Instead, the ads were aimed directly at what A-B calls the "deception'' of Boston Beer positioning itself as a small brewery.

Earlier, A-B ran an ad in the Boston Globe and other area newspapers that displayed a bottle of Samuel Adams next to a bottle of Michelob and asked, "Which beer is brewed and bottled in New England?''

The ad went on to point out that Samuel Adams is brewed under contract at the same breweries (outside New England) that produce cheaper brands such as Schlitz and Schaefer, yet Sam Adams is about twice as expensive for the consumer to buy.

The ad pointed out that Michelob is brewed at an A-B facility in Merrimack, N.H.

Great Lakes Brewing expands

Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Cleveland breaks ground on a new brewery that should triple its production to 30,000 barrels annually.

Journey to the center of beer

Tourists at the Samuel Adams brewery in Boston can get a different view of beer in a new tank at the Boston Beer Co.'s pilot brewing plant. The "Jules Verne Tank" resembles a submarine standing on end, complete with portholes and interior lights. The custom-made tank allows the brewers to watch and monitor the behavior of beer during fermentation and dry hopping. When fermentation is beginning, visitors to the brewery may see foam at the top portholes, while those who visit later in the process will look into the lowest porthole to see settled-out yeast with bright, unfiltered beer suspended above it. Midwesterners have long been able to enjoy similar porthole delights at the College of Agriculture at the University of Illinois-Urbana. There a porthole in a cow's stomach reveals the digestive process.

Stroh inquiry based on single incident

Advertising Age reports that the pending Federal Trade Commission investigation of Stroh Brewery Co. stems from an isolated incident and likely does not signal a broader inquiry into malt liquor or beer advertising.

The FTC subpoenaed Stroh, along with spirits marketer Seagram Americas, for detailed creative, placement and target-demographic information on their broadcast ads. The commission wants to determine the reach and possible effects of those alcohol ads on youngsters.

The Stroh investigation specifically focuses on Schlitz Malt Liquor and stems from a placement snafu in which a Schlitz spot mistakenly aired on the July 6 episode of "My So-Called Life," a drama on MTV that targets teen girls, according to George Kuehn, general counsel for Stroh. Kuehn said the incident was isolated and that the ad ran without approval from Schlitz's agency.

The probe concerns all beer marketers, since the decision of hard liquor firms to resume advertising on television has focused more attention on all alcohol advertising. When the investigation was launched, a Stroh spokeswoman said, "Stroh's absolutely does not market its beers to people under 21, and our advertising content and placement is clearly targeted to legal-age consumers.''

Scientists work on genetically enhanced beer

Australian scientists say they've identified genes in barley that cause beer haze. "The first genetically enhanced beer could be on the market before the end of the century," said Jake Jacobsen of the Commomwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.

"We now have the genes which can control qualities of beer and the barley grain itself,'' Jacobsen said. "We also have a new means of inserting them into barley.'' The genes prevent barley from making tannins, the primary cause of haze in beer.

While Jacobsen said genetically engineered barley will mean better, trouble-free brewing, don't expect the product to be enthusiastically received everywhere. Reinheitsgebot, the German purity law that has been around since 1516, doesn't make room for using genetically altered ingredients in beer -- and a long and loud debate on the subject has taken place in the European Parliament.

"We don't object to genetic engineering in general,'' European Parliament member Willi Goerlach of Germany said. "But the Reinheitsgebot is our culture, our tradition. Allowing genetically engineered ingredients would mean the Reinheitsgebot is no longer what it was.''

Historic distillery lost

The Isle of Islay, which produces some of the world's best single-malt whiskies, has seen its third distillery in eight years closed by a giant drink company. Allied Distiller ended production at Ardbeg distillery earlier this summer, leaving Islay with five distilleries. The multinational companies say that slumping whisky sales have led to the cutback, and 25 Scottish distilleries have been shut down in the last 20 years. Wallace Milroy, author of the Malt Whisky Almanac, said: "Can you imagine French vineyard owners tolerating the closure of so many chateaux? Malt whiskies are Britain's 'grand crus' -- our finest drinks -- and we are destroying them."

More troubles for microbrewery stocks

(This story was posted Oct. 28, 1996, please note the time element.)

This has not been a good year to own microbrewery stocks, and it didn't get any better last week.

Although Boston Beer Co. registered 20 percent higher sales in the third quarter of 1996 than in 1995, the company's stock plunged to its lowest price since going public a year ago. Many other microbrewery stocks were caught in the downdraft. And when the week ended, Barron's financial weekly carried a story headlined: "Brewing Storm: New beer makers gain popularity, but trouble may bubble up."

A crumbled-up can of Budweiser was pictured on the cover of the influential Dow Jones & Co. publication. There the headline read, "Hey, Bud! With its flagship brand badly dented by feisty rivals like Boston Beer and Pete's Wicked Ale, Anheuser-Busch fights back."

First, here are some basic facts. A year ago, microbreweries across the country had heady visions of going public after Redhook Brewery, Pete's Brewing Co. and Boston Beer all floated very successful initial public offerings. Boston Beer's stock soared nearly 50 percent the day trading opened to reach $30, and later traded at $33. It closed at $12.63 on Friday.

Here's a look at some microbrewery stocks:

                   '96 high     10/25     Week change
Boston Beer Co.            33          12 5/8      -3 3/4

Pete's Brewing Co.         27 3/4       7 3/4        -3/4

Redhook Brewery            30 1/2      15 1/8      -1 1/8

Pyramid Brewery            22 1/2       5 1/4        -1/4

Nor'Wester Brewing Co.      9 1/2       4            -1/2 

These breweries' stock have not plunged because they failed to sell beer and make money. Instead, investors have begun to realize growth cannot continue unabated. Microbreweries produced 2 percent of the beer in the United States in 1995, and that share is expected to grow to 6 percent by 2000, but the market is also getting much more crowded.

So while Boston Beer reported good results for the third quarter, it also announced October/November orders were up only 5.5 percent over shipments for the same period last year. That's why its stock lost $3.50 on Wednesday, to close at an all-time low of $12.50.

Pete's reported good news on Thursday. Net sales set a record in the third quarter, increasing 9 percent over the third quarter of 1995, and shipments increased 13 percent.

"Third quarter's results are in line and slightly ahead of our expectations," said Mark Bozzini, president and CEO of Pete's Brewing Co. However, Pete's stock slid considerably earlier this year, when the company predicted growth would slow in the fourth quarter. Even after that plunge, Pete's still has a price-to-earnings ratio of around 35, almost double Anheuser-Busch's.

A-B closed at 38 1/2 on Friday, well up from 30 earlier this year. Last week, the company reported sales volume for the first nine months of 1996 increased 2.8 percent versus the same period last year. This strong performance increased Anheuser-Busch's market share .7 share points to 44.8 percent of industry shipments. Revenue per barrel for the nine months of 1996 is up approximately 3 percent.

In October, the company also initiated the first phase of a planned two-phase nationwide price increase by raising prices about 3 percent in seven states. The company plans to raise prices in the remainder of the country in February 1997.

Those who have followed the microbrewery business will already know many of the facts presented in the Barron's article, from the fact that beer sales have been basically flat since 1990 to the one that some of A-B's public-relations efforts have gone toward discrediting Boston Beer. The story notes that the company has set out to increase its share of the beer market from 45 percent to 52 percent by 2000 and 60 percent by 2005.

A-B expects to gain some of that share by taking business from "third-tier" breweries such as Stroh. Even then the effects may be felt by contract brewers such as Boston Beer and Pete's. Contract brewers have benefited from shopping around for the best deals on unused brewing capacity -- but now those breweries are in danger of closing.

Barron's also reports that Anheuser-Busch continues to put the squeeze on distributors who carry both A-B products and microbrewery beer. The company recently began rating its independent distributors on a scale of A to E, with A ratings being awarded to those carrying mostly A-B products, E to those carrying other breweries' beers. A-rated distributors are eligible for significant financial benefits, while E-rated distributors get none.

Currently, 40 percent of A-B's beers are sold through exclusive distributors, but the company's goal is to increase that number to 70 percent.

return to top

Around the world

Love that label

Upper Canada Brewing Co.'s Winter Brew Strong Beer was chosen as having the best label of 1995 by the Canadian Brewerianist, Canada's national organization for collectors of breweriana. The label features a group of friends finishing a game of shinny (hockey) on a frozen pond.

Japanese join 'dating' crowd

Kirin Brewery Co. and Sapporo Breweries Ltd. have begun stamping their beer with ''quality assurance dates'' to indicate the dates by which the products should be consumed. The brewers are doing this to keep in step with a new food sanitation law to be enforced beginning in April. Suntory Ltd. and Asahi Breweries Ltd. will do the same soon. The new law mandates that processed foodstuffs be stamped with the consumption date instead of the production date, as at present. Although beer is excepted by the new rules, the brewers decided to stamp both dates on the bottom of canned beer or on the back label of bottled beer.

Fresh glass

When the Chinese talk about "freshness" in bottled beers, they're talking about the bottle, not the beer. Beer bottles must now include information about when they were produced and may be used for only two years before they are withdrawn from the market. The law was imposed to cure the problem of exploding beer bottles. It also prevents the mixed use of beer bottles for other purposes.

Precocious publican

A 16-year-old girl has passed a test that qualifies her to run a pub, although British law doesn't allow her to work behind a bar. Donna Ryder scored a 100 on the exam to gain the National Licensee's Certificate. She has served an apprenticeship with her father at the Hop Pole in Retford, Nottinghamshire, and hopes to run a pub after gaining a university degree in business studies.

Asahi distributes Belgian, British products

Asahi Breweries Ltd. is introducing Japanese beer drinkers to Belgian beers and British "alcopops." The firm will begin distributing Belle-Vue Kriek in Tokyo in December, then to the rest of the nation later. The company hopes to sell a modest 300 19-liter kegs in the first month.

Asahi has begun marketing Hooper's Hooch, an alcoholic soda with lemon juice, made by Bass Brewers. Hooper's Hooch has an alcohol content of 4.7 percent and is about 8 percent lemon juice. Under a deal signed in May this year, Bass is marketing Asahi Super Dry in Britain, while Asahi is selling Bass Ale in Japan.

Worth her weight in beer

Crediting "plenty of speed and strength," Jouni Jussila won the world wife-carrying title in Helsinki in July. He raced over a 258-yard course with his 97-pound wife, Tiina, in 1 minute, 6.2 seconds. The couple won a cellular phone, $240 and Tiina's weight in beer. Four couples were disqualified for swapping roles.

Tax protest

Fifty Yorkshire pubs declared themselves French on Bastille Day. They still offered pints of British beer, but at French prices. The pubs charged 26 pence (about 40 cents) less per pint to illustrate the difference in duty paid in England versus France. Beer drinkers in France pay four pence per pint in taxes, while British drinkers pay 30 pence.

Germans cut beer consumption

Germans are drinking less beer. Yes, you read that correctly. Between 1991 and 1995, yearly consumption of alcoholic drinks fell 9 percent, while consumption of alcohol-free beverages rose 15 percent, according to the health ministry.

"Consumers are changing their habits in the direction of health and fitness, to the detriment of beer and wine,'' said Guenther Guder, executive director of the Beer and Beverage Wholesalers' Association. The average German beer drinker cut back 5 percent from 1991 to 1995, to 35 gallons per year. Despite the number, beer remains the nation's second-favorite drink, behind coffee.

Brewers rush to quench China's thirst

Although per capita beer consumption in China is less than 15 percent of that in the United States, that country is on track to surpass the United States in total beer consumption by the year 2000.

Not surprisingly, brewers around the world are rushing in for a piece of the action. China has more than 800 breweries, and the top 10 producers command only 10 percent of the market -- a stark contrast to the U.S. market. Five percent of the beer sold in China is brewed by overseas-funded enterprises.

For instance, Anheuser-Busch opened a brewery in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province, in 1995. A-B already claims 80 percent of the middle- and upper-end market in Wuhan. The world's other major brewers have all taken a stake in one or more Chinese operations.

Thirsty elephants ravage breweries

Officials in India report that a herd of thirsty elephants in search of a drink destroyed several illegal breweries southwest of Calcutta. The 45-strong herd charged out of the hills in search of water but dropped into the illegal breweries instead.

"The elephants destroyed six illegal breweries in two days,'' said Mahendra Pande, a district forest officer. "They are notoriously famous for their fondness towards liquor and are great guzzlers.''

Beer-drinking promotion backfires

"Mug Clubs" and "Around the World Tours" have become so commonplace at United States bars that even Bennigan's has joined the crowd. But a British brewery recently learned what can happen when such a promotion backfires.

Bank's Brewery, located in West Midlands, began a campaign in its Tap House pubs in which customers who consumed 72 pints in a month were rewarded with tankards, T-shirts and membership in the Real Ale Society. (Seventy-two Imperial pints amount to more than 11 U.S. gallons, greater than a British firkin and about two-thirds of an American keg.)

The Licensee and Morning Advertiser reported that it took Mohammed Malik just four days to drink 72 pints at the Three Crowns Tap House in Dudley, and that he then had 288 more pints in the next four weeks.

Anti-alcohol groups quickly attacked the promotion, and Bank's suspended it. "Under no circumstances would we condone drinking such volumes over a short period of time, because obviously it could pose health risks and encourages the view that drinking such volumes is a clever achievement, which is not the case," said Bank's retail director Roger Hunt.

Molson offers money-back guarantee

Molson Breweries has launched a Total Satisfaction Guaranteed program on all Molson brands of beer that includes product replacement or a money-back guarantee.

"If, for any reason our beer drinkers are not happy with their purchase, it will be replaced or their money refunded by simply calling our coast-to-coast consumer information line -- 1-800-MOLSON-1 -- which appears on the bottle's neck label,'' according to brewmaster Walter Hogg.

Molson is also launching a new freshness labeling campaign, and all bottles will carry a "Brewed for You on" date.

"Beer drinkers have asked us about our date codings and how to read them, so we've taken the mystery out of those codes by making them easy-to-read," Hogg said. "We produce beer that is of consistently high quality, and we want our drinkers to enjoy it at its best; that means as fresh as possible.

"We have also established that 110 days is the time frame within which your beer is freshest and, although it should be very drinkable for some time after that if properly cared for, your beer is most enjoyable within 110 days.''

Bavarian government says to avoid cans

Although few people drink more beer than the Germans, consumption continues to slip, and the Bavarian government is taking the slide seriously.

Thomas Goppel, the minister for the environment, has called on Bavarian brewers to shun cans and stick with traditional bottles. "Canned beer is an instrument for non-Bavarian brewers to conquer the Bavarian beer market,'' Goppel said. "For ecological reasons as well as the market interests of Bavarian brewers, we need to stay away from canned beer.''

Across Germany, beer sales fell 2.9 percent during the first nine months of this year. Germans, however, continue to drink 140 liters of beer per year and trail only the Czechs in per capita consumption. There are 1,243 breweries still operating in Germany.

Many reasons have been given for the slide -- a cool summer, rising unemployment and increases in beverage taxes.

A-B breaks off trademark talks with Budvar

Anheuser-Busch has terminated negotiations with Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar and the government of the Czech Republic for a Budweiser trademark agreement. The decision came after years of failed talks.

"Due to our success in selling our Budweiser beer in disputed markets in Europe under the Bud brand name, coupled with a number of recent litigation successes with both the Budweiser and Bud names, it is no longer necessary for us to have a trademark settlement to develop our Budweiser business in Europe," said Jack H. Purnell, chairman and chief executive officer of Anheuser-Busch International Inc.

Czech Farm Minister Josef Lux said it was his country that ended the talks, and he now plans to submit a plan to privatize the brewery. He said there was little chance A-B would become a partner in the brewery, seen by many Czechs as a piece of national heritage.

Anheuser-Busch sells Budweiser beer in 20 countries in Europe -- under the "Budweiser" name in 11 European countries and under the "Bud" name in nine additional countries. Both brands have virtually identical labels except for the name.

Sales of Budweiser in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland have been growing at an annual rate of more than 25 percent in the past two years. The combined sales of Budweiser and Bud have been growing at a similar rate on the Continent.

Guest beer debate continues

Although the rhetoric was friendly, a meeting between Britain's Department of Trade and Industry and officials of the European Commission in October did not settle a disagreement over England's "guest beer" law. According to the law, tied houses are obliged to sell one guest beer from an outside brewery, but that beer must be a cask-conditioned ale.

"Most of the opposition to this action from the United Kingdom is based on fundamental misunderstandings," an EC spokesperson said. "The commission does not want at all to see the guest beer rules scrapped. We share the objective of promoting access for smaller breweries to tied pubs." The commission says that the fact that these guest beers have to be cask-conditioned effectively rules out most foreign beers.

Britain's Campaign for Real Ale, which has battled for more than 25 years to keep "real ale" from extinction, supports the government in its stand to keep the law intact.

New law threatens Russian brewers

Russian brewers say that a new law could put them out of business. The law, due to go into effect Jan. 1, puts beer in the same licensing category as vodka and other strong drinks. Breweries are required to acquire a special license, and to attach a special seal for every bottle they produce. The law was passed to slow the illegal production of alcoholic beverages.

Not only will breweries have to invest in new equipment to affix the seals, but they face an increase in excise duties on beer from 15 percent to 45 percent.

Vladimir Ulanov, general director of Moscow's Tryokhgorny brewery, said the legislation would make Russian beer almost as expensive as cheaper imported brands. "At the moment we are only competing with foreign brands because our beer is cheaper," he said. Russian beer imports were up 31 percent in the first half of 1996, but domestic production fell 13 percent.

Average annual consumption has fallen to 12 liters per person, half of what it was in 1990 and 15 percent of the average in Western European countries.

return to top

Around the United States

Free beer for life

Yes, it's true. Anchor Brewing Co. founder and president Fritz Maytag is giving free beer for life to all graduates of the Culinary Institute of America. Maytag received the honorary degree of master of humane letters from the CIA, headquartered in Hyde Park, NY, in August, and in honor of the occasion announced the free beer policy.

"I always wanted to offer somebody free beer for life," Maytag said, "and I figure anyone who has earned a degree from the CIA would be honorable enough not to take too much."

Brewery complex revived

What was once the biggest brewery in St. Louis is being brought back to life as a mixed-use entertainment and dining district. The William J. Lemp Brewing Co. was once the largest manufacturing operation west of the Mississippi River, with the two largest brew kettles (500 barrels each) in the West and the largest refrigeration unit in the world (770 tons). The brewery did not survive Prohibition, and the rights to its Falstaff brand were sold when the brewery closed. The complex, with multiple retails stores, restaurants and bars, covers 14 acres and contains 23 brewery buildings constructed between 1887 and 1912. Naturally cooled lagering caverns remain beneath the brewery. Developers are negotiating with several large restaurant brewing concerns about joining the project.

Froggy go home

The frog-giggers have struck again. In late August the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board rejected the registration of Bad Frog Beer in the state on the grounds that the product labels are obscene. "I find this application and the label particularly insulting and inappropriate," said Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board Chairman John E. Jones III. In September the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control followed suit, rejecting the registration of the beer in that state. In October the Bad Frog Brewery Co. filed a civil rights action against the commissioners of the New York State Liquor Authority, which denied label approval for the beer in July. The company claimed violation of its First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Bad Frog, brewed at Evansville Brewing Co., Evansville, IN, is available in MI, IL, WI, MN, CA, IN, RI, ME, VA, FL, GA, KY, MA, DC and CT.

A-B phones home

Anheuser-Busch is making it easier for consumers to "Ring Home for the Holidays" this year. Sprint calling cards with 15 minutes of free long-distance time are packed inside specially market 12-packs of O'Douls.

Environmentally friendly

The Missouri Governor's Pollution Prevention Award honors the Anheuser-Busch St. Louis brewery for pioneering the world's largest system for turning wastewater into energy. The Bio Energy Recovery System works by using anaerobic bacteria to digest the organic material in wastewater left over from brewing beer. The brewing wastewater contains proteins, sugars, starches and other natural ingredients. In the process, the bacteria produce methane, a form of natural gas, which is piped back into the brewery's boilers. The methane provides 10 percent to 15 percent of the boiler fuel used by the brewery, enough energy to heat 4,400 homes in St. Louis. The system benefits the environment in several ways, while Anheuser-Busch gains by reducing the fees that it must pay for treating the brewing wastewater. The new technology has been installed at six Anheuser-Busch breweries.

How many miles to the gallon?

Ken Allen, owner of Anderson Valley Brewing Co. in Boonville, CA, has discovered a new meaning for "one more for the road." According to American Breweriana Journal, Allen was returning home from a trip to Los Angeles to buy some used brewing equipment when the company van's radiator hose blew, and the engine overheated. Traveling companion David Norfleet provided a quick solution. Since there were several kegs of beer in the van, Norfleet filled the radiator with hop-enhanced coolant, and the truck was back on the road.

About those 'Our Special Ale' sitings ...

This is the week that Anchor Brewing Co. officially releases "Our Special Ale," the granddaddy of what have become a legion of American holiday beers.

The San Francisco brewery has released OSA during Thanksgiving week since 1976, and that's when it's still released in the Bay Area. However, for weeks, participants in the Internet newsgroup "rec.food.drink.beer" have been reporting OSA sitings-from Oregon to Georgia to Rhode Island to New York City.

There was no need for more conjecture after Nick Bruels, a Corvallis, OR, resident who was the first to report finding 1996 OSA on the shelves, received a phone call Friday from Anchor president Fritz Maytag.

He reported on the conversation in rec.food.drink.beer:

"Mr. Maytag is very concerned that a long-established tradition (the true holiday release-post-Thanksgiving through Christmas and New Year's-of OSA) has been violated by the apparent mistake of a certain distributor here. Mr. Maytag assured me that the brewery goes to extreme measures to ensure that proper controls are in place to protect the integrity of the holiday-only nature of OSA: Pallets of OSA are wrapped up and clearly labeled with a "DO NOT DISTRIBUTE BEFORE NOV 25" notice, and distributors are contracted to allow the release of OSA to retail shelves only after the approved date.

"Fritz admitted that it has become increasingly difficult over the years to keep track of the hundreds of distributors who bring his beloved products to a thirsty customer base. He assured me (and wanted to make sure that everyone here on rfdb understood) that this will be a one-time mistake, and that he will personally follow up with the distributor(s) involved.

"Talk about proactive management!

"Mr. Maytag also seemed impressed by the level of discussion this topic has received here on rfdb and how it has propagated to various other online beer forums. He said that while he would love to be able to participate himself, to do so would leave him open to a torrent of correspondence with which he would have a very hard time keeping up."

Belgian-style brewpubs planned

Minneapolis-based importer All-Saint's Brands and the Sterkens Brewery of Belgium have plans to bring Belgian-style brewpubs to the United States, with the first of the St. Sebastian Belgian Microbreweries opening as early as fall of 1997.

"A lot of things are still up in the air," said Scott Benson of All Saint's. "We have contacts from out East, from Chicago and from California, but the most serious is here in Minneapolis. We should know more within a month."

All Saint's began importing Sterkens beers in 1994, and the United States has become one of Sterkens' fastest-growing markets. (In addition to the Sterkens name, the brewery uses the St. Paul and St. Sebastian labels on its beers.) The brewery is already involved with running three brewpubs in Japan.

"We figured if it can work from that distance, it can work for us," Benson said. Brewery equipment and ingredients for the beer will come from Belgium, and brewers will be trained in Belgium. "They also will regularly send back product to Belgium to be evaluated," Benson said.

The pubs will probably produce four to six beers, including a blonde style, an amber and a Belgian brown. No plans are being made for bottling-in fact, Minnesota brewpubs aren't allowed to distribute beer. "If people want bottle beer, they can buy the Sterkens beer," Benson said.

A key ingredient will be the food. "That's why this has been such a challenge," Benson said. "This won't be the kind of brewpub where we're going for pizza and chips. ... Tying food with beer is very important to the Belgian culture, and that's something we'll be teaching Americans."

A few months ago, importer Vanberg & DeWulf announced it would partner with Belgian breweries it represents to build a farmhouse brewery near Cooperstown, NY. Construction is under way, and the brewery hopes to begin distributing beer by spring of 1997.

Long Beach bar installs 250 taps

How wide a selection of draft beer will the Yard House in Long Beach, CA, offer when it opens next month?

Well, if you visit when it opens Dec. 7 and drink 10 beers, then go back the next day and do the same, and the next and the next ... you can do that until Christmas without drinking the same beer twice.

The Yard House claims it has the world's largest draft system -- and it's hard to argue with a place that has 250 tap handles. General manager Otto Turley said the bar plans to offer 180 different beers. The 20 most popular beers will be available on four handles, the 21st through 30th best-sellers on two handles, and then there will be 150 more beers.

The choices will range from Pabst to Piraat Ale from Belgium.

The keg room is bigger than your average corner bar, with 11,000 cubic feet, space for 400 kegs and about 3¸ miles of beer line. The 55-foot-long island bar will have 125 taps on each side.

The 250-seat tap room offers casual dining, while an adjoining martini lounge will serve -- obviously -- martinis as well as single-malt Scotches and single-barrel bourbons. The wine menu includes 85 California wines. A third room offers upscale dining. The tap room overlooks a marina, where those who arrive by boat have 16 slips for parking. The Yard House is at 401 Shoreline Drive, next to Long Beach's convention center.

"We've got several systems set up to assure freshness," Turley said. Sales of each of the beers will be carefully tracked, and each day customers can choose a different six-pack sampler, which includes 5 ounces of each beer. "We don't expect a keg to be on more than 30-45 days."

While some mega-taps will keep a keg online that long, others won't. At the Sunset Grill & Tap in Allston, MA -- which has 110 draft choices and 400 bottled beers -- the menu carries a pledge to pull kegs after 13 days.

The Timberwolf Pub in Tempe, AZ, has offered the most tap choices in the country -- and probably the world -- since it opened early this year. The Timberwolf has 150 handles, although several often go unused. Before that, the Goat Hill Tavern in Costa Mesa, CA, was the champion with 141 handles. In fact, there are now scores of bars across the country that offer more than 50 beers on tap.

How would you answer these questions?

The Coors Brewing Co. conducted an unscientific poll during the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Make what you will of these results:

Do you wait for the foam to disappear before you drink your beer?
Yes 38%
No 62%

Which do you like to drink your beer out of the most:
Beer Mug 65%
Bottle 34%
Can 1%

Which U.S. state brews the best beer?
(remember most the people attending the festival are from Colorado)
Colorado 54%
California 12%
Oregon 9%
Other 25%

Do you peel the label off of your beer bottle?
Yes 56%
No 44 %

Do you take the pop-top off of your canned beer?
Yes 30%
No 70%

Culinary school adds brewing lab

Johnson & Wales University's College of Culinary Arts has added a state-of-the-art brewing laboratory to its program. Students at the Providence, RI, school will brew their own beer as part of the program, using different recipes developed in the brewing lab, and will also study the history of beer, its main ingredients, the different types of beer and aspects in keg and bottled beer service. The lab was endowed by Coors Brewing Co.

"Beer appreciation is considered as complex as the appreciation of fine wine," said Edward Korry, brewmaster of the Coors Brewing Lab at Johnson & Wales. "So, learning the different characteristics of the many beer styles and matching them with complementary foods is an important skill for culinary professionals."

Back to News Index

return to top