The Session: Elevator Pitch

The Session: Your Elevator Pitch For Beer



I see you are celebrating IPA Day. Well, Do you know why? Because someone told you to drink an IPA? Do you know what this day is about? Apparently it is meant to convert a non-craft drinker to become solely an IPA drinker. Crazy right? I mean, there are so many styles of beer and so many different flavors to experience but they want you to only drink a small handful?

Do you like momma's homebaked Banana Bread? Sour candies & beverages? What about those magnificent dark fruit flavors? You can't get that with an India Pale Ale! No matter how hard they try.

Why not drink this ancient Scottish Ale that uses no hops or this Biere De Garde? I have a few to share and I'd rather you find something you like than force feed you what I like.

If you need anything, go to one of the extremely loud rooms. I'll be there drinking some Westvleteren and Sexual Chocolate. Or if you need something easier drinking, there are some other magnificent ales I can show you. Especially with the holidays coming up. Do you like Pumpkin Pie? Or maybe you do want something nice & strong, yet very aggressive?

Hey, there is more to life than that IPA you are holding.

Cheers!

The Session: IPA: What's the Big Deal?

IPA: What's the Big Deal?



So, I don't really know where all of the other bloggers are going to be going with this one, but I have my very own take on this whole IPA and IPA Day thing. I made a post about it a couple years back, not exactly about it, but kind of close. I did fail in my mission though... Kind of.

I am a very big advocate of "Drink What You Damn Well Please Day", otherwise known as "West Coast Circle Jerk Day", or simply as "IPA Day". Now, don't get me wrong. I do love and thoroughly enjoy IPA's. They are not my favorite style but I do brew a few insane ones. What I do not understand is; Who was the person, (I know the person/people responsible), that decided the India Pale Ale was the best beer style to get non-craft drinkers to make the switch to craft?



Now, I am not saying I have the perfect answer or style to get someone to like beer. Hell, there is so much out there and everyone is different. That makes it very subjective. For me, the magical style of beer was anything Belgian. Granted, that is pretty broad but when I first got into beer I hated every IPA I tried. I used to complain and tell everyone how crappy they were as a style. You would not believe it. Especially knowing me now.

One thing I hate about the India Pale Ale is that everyone brews one and they they think are so good at it. Sure, that might be the beer elitist in me coming out, but after I got into them, you have no idea how many bad IPA's I have tasted. And I don't mean bad as in they are not to my taste, I feel I am able to distinguish between a good one that I do not like and one that is good that I do like. I mean straight up bad IPA's. Commonly bad. Determined bad by people on all of those beer rating sites that I hate. But everyone feels that it is their right to brew one.

When you go to one of those breweries you notice how bad the other beers they serve there are because it seems as if they were hoping the IPA would be their flagship beer. They spent no time on the other styles that they feel define their brewery. I feel this is a bunch of BS. There have been places I went, and spent very little time at because the staff kept pushing the higher ABV and higher IBU beers onto me when I asked about their line up or said I wanted one of the lower ABV or IBU beers on their menu. Then people want to get up into a fit when certain social media/beer bloggers get into a fit about the culture and the demoralization of "craft" beer in America.



It is sad when those breweries do not last long, but they should have been thinking more of their product and not just trying to get into the business. Sure, there are over 2500 breweries in The United States now, but there is still a lot of bad beer out there. And out of those 2500 how many are going to fall off because they cannot turn a profit? I guess those people get into any business that they see growing and believe they can make a quick buck on, beer not being excluded.

Back to the IPA Day thing... I think IPA's, to a non-craft drinker, are pretty offensive and have no place at being the beer of choice to convert the masses. Granted some people will taste an IPA and love beer from then on out, but generally, I find that is not the case. The most simple, in our minds, non-bitter IPA's may be more than some can handle. For me Dogfish Head 120 was the first IPA I truly appreciated. Then followed by Racer 5. Kind of bizarre for someone who hated every single one he tried. It took me a good 2 years before I did get into them and then, that is all I wanted.



It is about finding what the person likes, what fits their taste, and trying different things. There are 70+ recognized styles of beer. Not one single style is going to catch everyone's attention. But that is where education comes in. There are a great number of educated beer people out there and not just certified one, but then again, there are a ton that care nothing about what they are tasting so long as it is good... or it gets them drunk. Now consider those people... continue to preach the glories of the India Pale Ale, or just move on because you know it is a lost cause? Hell, they aren't even listening to you.

I had very little information about either of these beers but, as the name would imply, The SourPatch was sour and as for The Honey Badger, that beer was aged in Jack Daniel Barrels and clocked in at 13% ABV. I told the waitress I hated it and to bring me a glass of the SourPatch. She told me The Honey Badger was one of their most popular recently... Yeah, at 13% and from what I know of the people that live in this town, NO SURPRISE!

The choice is yours. I know my stance. And I feel you should make your own decision rather than have it forced fed down your throat.

Cheers.

February In Review

February has been eventful and the past couple of days have actually knocked me off the blog for a bit. Only a few days but I was hoping to fill out everyday this month. Especially since I know May is pretty much not happening at all here. There are some moments I wanted to share, but I guess they will have to wait until March. So, for February, this is what I have done.



I did some Macro Beer Tasting and that was pretty exciting. I mean, who was not making fun of the new Superbowl beer for the ages, Black Crown.

While I was working on that one I finally found everything I needed to do a side by side that I was waiting to do for a very long time, Budweiser vs New Albion. Ever since I heard this beer was being rereleased, I actually knew about the history for years now, I have been wanting to do this.

Though, there was so much misinformation and talk that kind of drove me to the edge and made me go on My Little Rant.



But that is enough about all that. There is a New NC Brewery opening up and I was the first!!!!! I think the official opening date is now set in stone and The Raleigh Brewing Company will be open on March 9th.

I know a few notable beers off of my 1001 list, Sexual Chocolate made heads roll and I went on even more about my New Belgium Obsession.

I had a lot of fun being interviewed by The Cellar Monk this month as well. You should check that out here, A Man In Brewniform.

Top 5 Beers This Month



Dirty Bastard
Hoegaarden
Hop Wallop
Monks Cafe
Ruthless Rye


Look out for a few fun reviews at the beginning of March!

Cheers!

My Rant On The Beer Wars

So, I am one of the people out there that calls myself a Craft Beer Enthusiast. I buy everything released from my favorite breweries and even over priced bombers, collaborations, and the like just because I want to be able to talk about what is new and everything that is going on with the beer world. More often than not the beers are just ok at best. There are some truly amazing beers that come out nowadays, and those are the ones I am hunting for.

Collaboration beers are just something cool to say you have had. You can hold it above other beer drinkers heads like a badge of honor. I also use programs like untappd to show off how many more kinds of beer I have had than you or anyone else looking at my profile. I feel that the wider variety and the more rare beers I have, the cooler I am... Yeah... About that...

Now, I do not go out and buy beers from Bud, Miller, and Coors intentionally or without good reason. I know they own pretty much every company out there collectively so when I pick up a bottle of beer from Malaysia that I have never heard of or had before, I come to terms with the fact that I may have just put a little money into their pockets. Even with domestic brands, without doing research do you really know who is getting your money?

One of the things that really bothers me with these Beer Wars is the fact that there are comments like this.

If only Budweiser would put as much care and passion into their beer as the do their Super Bowl ads.

I don't really think they get the picture of what is going on. Sure, you may not want to drink a flavorless, American adjunct lager but they are doing exactly what they set out to do and nothing more. Make Beer. They never said they were out to be the most flavorful beer or they were going to be the newest and most innovated brewery in the world. No. Again, They Just Make Beer. Granted I do not condone or agree with their practices, but that is another story all together and what I feel the Beer Wars are actually about.

Like I posted yesterday from 1001 Beers,

Surely there are more challenging, rewarding beers? Yes, but Bud never pretends to be something that it isn't: this is a beer about refreshment and drinkability, not for sipping out of a china teacup with a pinkie extended.

Who knows, maybe I got the message wrong and this is actually a fight against flavor and not the multi-billion dollar corporations trying to destroy any "competition" in their way because they are starting to lose more and more money each year to a growing segment of the market.

Though, either way I feel that if you want to bash a beer because it does not taste the way you think a beer should, speak with your wallet not your mouth. There are a ton of other beers out there and even a ton of bad craft beers. There is no denying that. Care and Passion mean nothing if your idea of a good beer is to make a sub par base beer and add more alcohol or a whole harvest worth of hop growth plus whatever kind of oak and any other random ingredient you can get your hands on. That does not make you craft beer. That does not make your product better or even good.

Though, there are people out there that do understand the real situation. Even if people that make comments like the ones prior understand it, they do not go about showing it in the right ways. Even when it comes down to things like the Craft vs Crafty debate, but I will not be getting into that. Here is a response from Randy on my review of Budweiser Black Crown.

Good review. I'd like to be "beerlitically correct" and say something like, "I love beer and I will not turn down any beer that is good", but I will not try this. Even though your description appears as if this beer is pretty decent, I will not buy it for three reasons: 1. Beer Wars opened my eyes to how this company (and other macros) try to destroy other smaller mom & pop companies who are passionate about beer. 2. They seem to want to go about innovation by stealing ideas of the innovative. 3. There are way too many other awesome beers out there for me to settle for their feeble attempt to get in on the growing craft beer market.

IMO, as far as I am concerned they have dammed themselves. I will not knowingly (I say that because they are sneaky as snakes and one has to be really careful when buying beer to find out who owns it) support them ever. Maybe my opinion can be changed if they were to just bow down to the craft beer passionates and try to let them be without trying to copy them and force them out. What they do is nothing more than beer gentrification. They can't play in the sandbox because they will not be content with craft beer being probably less than 10% of the industry and they own WELL over a third and closer to 40% of the industry.

Screw ABInbev and every thing they do. I respect them for creating a massively successful business, but I won't be supporting.

Great review tho ;-)

This, to me, sounds like someone who actually gets the real issues we should be fighting. He points out that even though I say the beer is decent, he will not support it for good reasons. He did not come out and say, "Budweiser is crap! It tastes like ass and you would be better off drinking water!", he actually has valid claims and reason as to why he will not support that company and I agree and respect his decision.

Though, what I think does not matter because I am just a lowly craft beer drinker that wants to see change but the things being decided on in our community by the ones who actually have the power are things such as, "Does this brewery use traditional methods? Are they owned xx amount by this company? Do they make more money in house than out of house?" etc.... etc.... etc....

Why don't they spend this time to educate drinkers. Teach them about good beer. Teach them about what actually goes into the process, the business and give them good reasons why they should follow you. I think that would make sense? There are a lot of people out there than run with this stance. Someone even made this cool little map.

Interactive Map Of The Below Image



I borrowed it from Philip H. Howard Associate Professor, Michigan State University. This was all over twitter a while back. He has a lot of cool things on the site linked below. Not only about the beer industry but wine, soda, coffee, etc as well. Check it out. This one may be a little old as things have changed in such a little time but consider that since this was made BMC has acquired more companies.

There are other maps like this out there. A simple form of education that people will look at. Though, there are a ton of craft beer drinkers out there today that will buy and seek beers just because they are labeled rare but they will not know anything about the style, the brewery, or the beer itself. They are just caught up in the movement. Great for business but not for the cause.

There are many beers out there that are very limited that I want but I think the idea of being put into a raffle for a chance to buy the beer is just purely dumb. For other releases the parties and such they throw for them sound like a great idea and great time but then again, I am not the kind of person who will stand in line for 12 hours or so after the event just to buy the beer...

I know there is probably more to it but if you want beer that much I am sure there are comparable beers out there and you would only have to wait for the bartender to pour it for you. And think about how many you could drink in that time as well...

I understand that part of the mission may to be to pull people away from "Crap Beer" and turn them onto "Craft" but sometimes you have to let things take their course. Introduce people to beers based on what you know they like. Don't just throw IPA after IPA or Stout after Stout into their face expecting them to change. They have to find what works for them.

You know one thing that might work? Give them a Pilsner. Crazy, huh? That is what they are used to drinking and they may find your favorite beer offensive and turn them off to the idea of craft beer all together. There is no one magic style of beer that will convert every person. Though, that is another story as well...

I think my rant is over... I guess I will just keep on buying craft beer and writing about it here. I mean, what else can I do?

Tomorrow you can read about how awesome I think Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye is. That company seems as if it can never do wrong...

Cheers!