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An unapologetically opinionated view of what's brewing across the continent and around the globe. |
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TASTE OF THE MONTH FEEDBACK COMING NEXT MONTH
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Coors Freed From Molson Licence DealOdd alliances and business arrangements are hardly unheard of in the brewing industry. To cite but one example, the Belgian beer giant Interbrew, which owns Canada's number two brewery, Labatt, has Stella Artois, their flagship international brand, brewed for them in Ontario by Sleeman Brewing.As with many of the odder partnerships in the beer world, the Stella-Sleeman situation came about as a result of two independent actions that appear conflictory only in retrospect. In this example, Interbrew purchased Labatt after they had already negotiated the Sleeman deal and so must now accept the fact that a competitor will brew one of their mainstay brands under licence for at least the next ten years. But what happens when such a situation arises through no fault of one of the principal parties? That exact situation came about in the North American brewing industry several years ago when the Miller Brewing Company of the United States purchased a 20% stake in Canada's largest brewing company, Molson Breweries. As a result of this deal, the licence Coors had years earlier given Molson to brew their Coors Banquet and Coors Light brands in Canada now rested at least in part in the hands of one of their major U.S. competitors. It was a situation that definitely did not please Coors. In late October, close to four years after the Miller-Molson deal was closed, an arbitration panel ruled that Coors had been wronged and that Molson no longer had the right to the licence to brew Coors brands in Canada. Further, the panel also ruled that Molson would have to pay Coors all of profit made on the two Coors brands since the deal with Miller was signed, an amount estimated by some to be in the neighbourhood of CN$38 million. At the time of writing, neither Coors nor Molson had made any statement as to what the future will hold for the Coors brands in Canada. Among the options available to the American brewer are renegotiating its arrangement with Molson, signing a new deal with another brewery such as Labatt or exporting the brands directly to Canada itself. Whatever Coors elects to do, it is likely to affect Molson rather dramatically, as Coors Light is the number one selling light beer in the Canadian market, accounting for an estimated 8% of Molson's beer sales. When I contacted Molson's executive vice-president of brewing Walter Hogg for comment, he expressed more frustration that anger, saying that the staff on the production side of Molson love the Coors Light brand and felt that they had done a great job on it. He had no comment as to what the future might hold for Coors Light, save to say that if Molson does lose it, the hole in their product portfolio "wouldn't be there for long." Whatever action Coors does take, I suspect that it will occur sometime in the near future and as soon as such a resolution is found, I will post it with commentary on this page. So check back here regularly for updates on the saga of Coors, Molson and Miller.
Les Bières de MontréalIf you could go anywhere in North America for a beer, where would it be?This question rests at the centre of a minor controversy that has been swirling about the craft brewing industry for years. Specifically, the debate is over which city has the finest craft brewing industry, with the contenders usually listed as Portland, Denver, Seattle and San Francisco. And, as is the case with most worthwhile debates, opinions vary wildly. In the interests of furthering this controversy, allow me to introduce not just another contender, but my choice as the winner-take-all, grand champion of the beer city debate: Montréal, Québec. Montréal's brewing industry may very well be the best-kept secret of the North American beer renaissance. Well-stocked with dynamic, innovative breweries that sell to a customer base which truly appreciates the value of a good beer, Montréal is the picture of what a craft beer market should be. True, other cities have more breweries, both in straight numbers and on a per capita basis, but no city can boast such a high median level of taste, character and quality in their beers. Montréal is simply a beer lover's paradise. Understand, now, that I mean no disrespect to the other contending cities when I single out Montréal for special attention; I have had great beers in each of the above-mentioned locales and admire their respective beer cultures greatly. But when the breadth of the entire beer market is examined, I simply do not believe that any of those four cities, or anywhere else in North America, stands up to what Montréal has to offer. As proof, I offer the following:
And if those qualities are not enough to impress you, well, you will just have to go to Montréal and see...uh, drink for yourself. Thanks to everybody who has emailed to comment on the first two months of SBWoB, your encouragement and kind words are greatly appreciated. As for questions, Kurt Epps was wondering if I accepted guest articles. The answer to that, Kurt, is not yet, but I can see the possibility of doing so in the future. So please keep watching and stay in touch. Also, John Ochwat of Oklahoma City wrote me with some research questions. John, if you're out there, I'd be happy to lend a hand, but the email address you left is not working for me. Please write again and I'll give it another shot. And a question came in late last month asking about U.S. importers for Smithwicks Ale from Ireland. Sorry, but as far as I know, Smithwicks in unavailable for now in the United States. It is available in most Canadian provinces, though, so if can get across the border, you are still in luck. If you have any comments, questions, hints or tips for Stephen Beaumont's World of Beer, we'd love to hear from you. Although we unfortunately can't promise individual replies to everyone who writes, we will present your comments and answer some of your questions in this space each month. Click Here: worldofbeer@worldofbeer.com.
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Selected Events for November
Pike I.P.A.These past few months have seen a lot of activity in my kitchen as I test and evaluate recipes for my Brewpub Cookbook, which will be hitting the market next spring. On one such occasion, I was having a go at a curry recipe when my bottle of Bajan pepper sauce slipped, leaving me with a seriously HOT curry dinner. Thank goodness I had a bottle of Pike I.P.A. from the Pike Brewing Company of Seattle, Washington to accompany the curry. The impressive hopping of the ale was well up to the task of addressing the curry's peppery fire and even with all of that going on, the I.P.A.'s lovely fruitiness was still able to shine through.What could have been a culinary disaster ended up a wonderful beer and food marriage!
The Basketball Beer DiariesWhat do you get when you cross a southern U.S.-bred basketball player with the Belgian town of Oudenaarde?Give up? The answer, not surprisingly, is found in beer -- damn good beer, in fact! The basketball player in question answers to the name of Kinney Baughman, and as he explained to me at the recent GABF in Denver, trying out for the basketball team in Oudenaarde was one of the best things that ever happened to him. For it was during that time, as a 25-year-old plucked from a free agent camp for a trial with the town's team, that he tasted the great brown ale of Flanders, Liefmans Goudenband. When you talk about transitional experiences, this is one that must surely rank with the all-time greats. According to Kinney, before he participated in the Belgian camp, his experience with beer had been limited to the major brewery lagers known to and consumed by most North Americans. Following his try-out at Oudenaarde, however, Kinney says that a whole new world opened up to him, the world of flavourful Belgian beer. Even though Kinney went on to play that year for Namur (in Wallonia) instead of Oudenaarde, he says that the experience never left him. A couple of years later, as a graduate student enrolled at the University of Georgia, Kinney read an ad for a mail-order home brewing kit in the back of an issue of Mother Earth News. Curious, and buoyed by the fact that the kit offered a money-back guarantee, Kinney bought it, tested it, sent it back and took his money to his local brewing shop where he purchased a much more advanced set-up. The bug that bites so many beer lovers had sunk its teeth deep into Kinney's psyche; he had become a brewer. As the years passed, Kinney became quite an accomplished home brewer, to the point that he was eventually approached about becoming the head brewer at a brewpub in the little town of Boone, North Carolina. With some hesitation, he took the job and set about updating and adjusting the haphazard brewing operation that had already been set up for the Cottonwood Grille & Brewery. As Kinney tells it, he took to the task as a challenge and ended up begging, bartering, borrowing and generally piecing together a good, workable brewery. And then the story of Kinney Baughman gets interesting. Still gripped by the excitement of that first brown ale in Oudenaarde, Kinney began adding a Belgian flair to many of the beers he brewed for the Cottonwood, and perhaps surprisingly, the clientele took to them as if drinking Belgian ale was second nature in North Carolina. Sure enough, the three Cottonwood ales I tasted at the GABF all exhibited a definite northern Belgian influence, and in the case of the Belgian Brown Framboise, had a delightful barnyard character and robust flavour. I was incredulous that this authentically Belgian character came from a little town of 12,000 in northwest North Carolina. Proof, perhaps, that great ales know no geographic boundaries. If you would like to taste Kinney's fine ales, however, you will have to hurry to Boone this month. This is because, according to Kinney, the Cottonwood will close its doors for good at the end of November so that its owner can take a position at another, much larger Boone-area brewpub. As for Kinney, he promises that he is not through with commercial brewing and suggests that he would like to one day find a way to bottle his brews commercially. If you are interested in more information, e-mail Kinney directly at krb@xx.acs.appstate.edu
The Return of CantillonNovember brings good news for American lambic lovers as the great beers of Cantillon have returned to the United States and are well on their way to a quality beer retailer near you. The bearer of these joyous tidings, and the importer of the beer, is Shelton Broers, a new company set up exclusively to handle the importation of the Cantillon family of lambics.When I spoke to Will Shelton, one of the three "Broers," or brothers, importing the beers, he reported that the container-load of Cantillons had arrived safely in New Jersey and should be available at the retail level by mid-November at the latest. States expected to have distribution include MA, NY, NJ, PA, MD, VA, NC, OH, IL, CO, OR and CA, as well as Washington, DC. Particularly strong interest has been coming from New York City, Washington, San Francisco and Los Angeles, says Shelton. In addition to the three Cantillon beers formerly available in the States -- Cantillon Gueuze, Rosé de Gambrinus and Cantillon Kriek -- Shelton tells me that they also have very limited stock of the Gueuze Vigneronne and Bruocsella 1900 Grand Cru brands, the former brewed with Italian muscat grapes and the latter an unblended vintage lambic. Availability will be predominantly limited to the 750ml bottle size, although small quantities of the smaller bottles have also been imported. These are great beers that should be heartily welcomed by all true Belgian beer aficionados. Inquire at your favourite beer store or contact Will Shelton directly at 800-809-7725 or SheltonW@ix.netcom.com.
Great Canadian Beer Guide Gift ideas for the beer lover The first excerpt from my forthcoming brewpub cookbook Plus all sorts of seasonal odds and ends
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Stephen Beaumont is an author and veteran beer writer. His latest realease is the innovative, two-hour audio book, A World of Beer, an all-original and all-encompassing journey through every facet of this drinkable work of art we call beer.
Stephen Beaumont reserves all rights that pertain to the text of his articles, in any form that it appears. |
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