  An unapologetically opinionated view of what's brewing across the continent and around the globe.
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FEATURE ARTICLES
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A-B Specialty Beers Go On-Line(St. Louis, Missouri) Anheuser-Busch launched their new Specialty Brewing Group web site with a flourish on July 25 when they held an on-line beer tasting at http:\\www.hopnotes.com. Of course, there is admittedly nothing new about a beer sampling on the web in this day and age of cyber-beer-tasting, but the relative sophistication of the A-B event was enough to impress even the most jaded Internet taster. Not only did Anheuser-Busch have their actual brewmasters on hand to answer beer drinkers' questions in real time, the truly devout among the Internet audience could even watch the process unfold by clicking and reloading the "live image of our Brewmaster" feature.Unfortunately, my intent to follow along with the tasting was foiled by the ever-cautious folk at Canada Customs, who evidently thought that the beer samples sent to me by A-B were going to cause chaos in the Canadian economy if they got through on time and so chose to delay their shipment for a couple of weeks. Nonetheless, I did catch most of the commentary that night and was quite pleasantly surprised; not by the beers tasted or the reactions to them, but by the candour of Anheuser-Busch. When you have been following the brewing industry for a number of years, as I have, you get used to the closed-mouth policies of the larger breweries. In fact, it got so bad a few years back that I wouldn't even bother asking about ingredients at beer launch press conferences, so certain was I that I would be stonewalled yet again. In the past year or two, however, the big brewers seem to have made a bit of an about-face, and brand specifics have become less and less the "proprietary information" they once were. Nowhere has this been more evident to me than at the A-B on-line tasting. Here, then, are some of the interesting tidbits of information that came out during the course of the two-hour web event:
All in all, it was an impressive amount of disclosure for a major brewery. Now if only they would list the Original Gravities...
World's Biggest Brewpub to Open in Alberta(Edmonton, Alberta) In their April/May '96 issue, the folks at Southern Draft Brew News addressed the question of which brewpub was the largest in world. The contenders were Bardo Rodeo in Virginia, Wynkoop Brewing in Colorado and the River City Brewery in Florida, and the categories addressed were physical size, beer production, seating capacity and number of taps.It was a close contest wittily refereed by Jerry Gengler, who declared Wynkoop the winner on the basis of production and size. Well, Jerry, don't look now, but there's a new contender on the horizon. And just take a look at the stats this one brings to the fray:
Scheduled to open in early September, it is located in Edmonton, Alberta's West Edmonton Mall, which is appropriately enough the world's largest shopping mall. And, yes, I've seen the site and it really is as big as they say. As far as the beer goes, they will be using an Alan Pugsley Ringwood system under the guidance of Larry Popescul, a 15-year veteran of Molson Breweries. As presently configured, I estimate their maximum brewing capacity to be somewhere around 3,400 hectolitres (2,900 barrels) per year, but there is still lots of room for expansion. Seeing as 3,400 hecs works out to just over 1,600 20oz. pints per day, that expansion might well come sooner rather than later. Speaking of expansion, the Brunswick people say that this Red's is the flagship of what might become a chain of operations. If this is successful, they talk of opening ten more similar operations across the United States and Canada, although they are not saying which cities have been targeted as potential sites. If that plan goes ahead, it would result in more than one million square feet of brewpubs operated by a single company.
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Selected Events for September
Thomas Kemper Roggen Rye(Seattle, Washington)From the folks at Pyramid Breweries comes Thomas Kemper Roggen Rye, a tasty lager that proves that complexity and drinkability need not be exclusive of each other. The aroma of Roggen Rye is sweetly spicy with notes of freshly cracked grains, orange and a complicated blend of spices (cumin? coriander? caraway?). The start is softly sweet, with faint notes of figs and nuts, and the body, while retaining a slight residual sweetness, is mostly bitter-sour with a complex blend of grainy, spicy, woody and slightly roasty notes, and perhaps a light fruitiness. Unique and most enjoyable, I'd like to have this with a big sandwich of barbecued chicken, arugula and peppered mayonaise -- on rye, of course.
Now the Shoe is on the Other Foot(Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) After decades of being one of the biggest brewers in Canada, Labatt will now be getting an idea of what it's like to be the small fry in town through their new brewing partnership in the Dominican Republic. In early August, Canada's number two brewery joined with the 34-year-old Dominican brewer, Cerveceria Vegana, to create Cerveceria Dominico-Canadiense, a new brewery that will try to tear away sales from Presidenté, the dominant force in Dominican beer with 98% of the total market.The brew that the Labatt-Vegana partnership hopes to use to make a dent in the vast Presidente majority is called Soberana, a Spanish word meaning "sovereign." According to the press release, the name was selected to suggest that the beer is for people who "are confident and prepared to try something different" and that message will be supported by a marketing campaign featuring a band called "The Illegalis" and a "Soberana Dance" developed by a Dominican choreographer to "reinforce the idea that the beer is a new alternative." But is Soberana really the "alternative" beer the campaign is suggesting? It has been a long time since I last tasted a Presidente, and as I recall, it was somewhat skunky then, so I cannot say for sure whether or not Soberana truly offers something "different" to Dominicans. What I can say, however, is that I found Soberana to have a mild aroma, a lightly bitter-sweet beginning and a somewhat sugary body with notes of hay, cereal and hints of earthy bitterness before a fairly quick and dry finish. In short, it falls neatly into the category of what I refer to as hot climate lagers -- beers with little body that are best enjoyed as cold as humanly tolerable -- although I did note that it was a little more full-bodied that the clear- bottle Mexican lager I sampled subsequently. Only time will tell if there are enough "sovereign" beer drinkers in the Dominican to make this new partnership worth while for both Labatt and their parent company, Interbrew.
Giving "First Draft" a Whole New Meaning(Scottsdale, Arizona) Now there is a whole new way to enjoy your beer -- by writing on it. Bier Paper is the invention of Arizona's Four Corners Papers in partnership with one of the world's oldest paper makers, the German company Gmund, and although it might not quite measure up to Reinheitsgebot standards, it is made of many of the same ingredients that go into beer.Four Corners' Forrest Richardson says that Bier Paper is made from three main ingredients: barley, hops and recycled beer labels. The result, he says, is a paper that "looks just like a freshly poured lager" when held up to the light and has tiny golden brown specks scattered throughout the sheet. Apart from the novelty value of writing on paper made out of beer ingredients and labels, there is another reason to opt for Bier Paper -- environmental friendliness. Not only does the paper contain only 10-20% chlorine-free, virgin wood pulp, says Richardson, but the recycled labels that make up some 60% of its content previously had no commercial value and thus would end up as land-fill. The remaining percentage of Bier Paper is composed of spent hops and malt from the brewing process. The main market for Bier Paper, says Richardson, is the home consumer and desktop publishing markets, served through Four Corners' retailing division, Le Desktop. He quickly adds, however, that commercial accounts can also buy the paper in bulk and that Four Corners have already fielded inquiries from breweries both big and small, as well as other beer-related companies. A 50-sheet box of 8-1/2" x 11" sheets sells for $12.95 and can be ordered through Le Desktop at 1-800-LeDesktop (1-800-533-3758) in the US and Canada or 602-991-7270.
Great Canadian Beer Guide
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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 some comments and answer some questions in a Reader's Forum section in the months to come. Check again soon to e-mail Stephen Beaumont's World of Beer.
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Denver, Colorado
Regina, Saskatchewan Plus other assorted beer-related news and notes from around the World of Beer.
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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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