Portland Winter Ale Festival 2010

On Wednesday night Sara and I met up with a couple that we met here in Portland for the Holiday Ale Festival at Portland’s Pioneer Square. You know, the place that Somalian was trying to blow up with a car bomb a week ago? It cost us $25 to get in and for 10 drink tickets. All in all, it was a pretty good deal.

Fourty-three total brewers had different offerings of their take on Holiday beers. The gamut ranged from Pepper Spiced Belgian Red Ales to the darkest, smokiest imperial stouts. I personally spent most of my time on the darker ales as I’m a pretty big sucker for big porters and stouts.

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Redhook Ale - The Glass Is Half Full

For Redhook in the mid to late 90’s things were looking fantastic. Being the trend setter for the craft beer revolution and having a distribution system setup that could not be matched by anyone, allowed Redhook Ale to expand, and expand rapidly into new markets to capture the trend as it unfolded. The first planned expansion was out to Portsmouth to capture the booming East Coast craft beer drinking market. When asked why, Doug MacNair of Redhook stated,

“So, we’re a West Coast brewery, we always have been, that’s where we always were. We wanted to grow, we wanted to go national. We were absolutely committed that…if you let the bean counters do it, the thing that would make the most sense is to build one big ass brewery in Kansas. Right in the center. The company has always been really dedicated to doing things right. So instead of building a 500 barrel brewery in the middle, we had the two breweries on the West Coast and decided to build one on the East Coast. Obviously the beer scene was there, Boston, New York, those are big markets on the East Coast.”

But, in the late 90’s, the craft beer trend hit a plateau with a ton of new flourishing breweries, Redhook was slowly being pushed out of the lime light as new trendy beers became available. The once Golden Goose of breweries, was now becoming the ugly duckling and not getting the attention it once thrived on. The unimaginable happened…layoffs, closing of one of the west coast breweries and the eventual contraction of production became evident and turned good times into something a bit more bleak.

Breaking Out Of The Rut

Courtesy Redhook

Competition was and still is fierce in the craft beer industry. Redhook Ale was fortunate to get in early and establish themselves as a leader. Today Redhook is brewing about 183,600 barrels of beer with plenty of room to grow as the market continues its minimal annual increase. With breweries on both coasts, Redhook is able to deliver quality, fresh beer to anyone in the lower 48 states. But how does a brewery with as much experience and capabilities as Redhook get their voice heard in the sea of beer bottles in hopes of growing their brand once again?

As I see it, when Redhook Ale delivered their banana brew some 20 years ago there was an excitement that filled the air. The idea of a local, fresh craft beer appealed to their region. In fact, living in Fargo, ND, I wish there was a local brewery/brew pub right here. That essence of something new, something different, something local, is what I personally feel Redhook started with, but is now competing against. With new breweries and selections jumping into the kettle daily how does Redhook keep their piece of the pie and eventually expand it?

Innovation and Community

INNOVATION

When Redhook opened its doors it was bringing something new to the market and people drank it up. But the sea of choice has muted their innovation. Everyone has an IPA, a Pale Ale, a Stout and so on. But, not everyone has special or limited releases. More on my thoughts on this craft beer trend here. These beers are really allowing us craft beer drinkers something of a treat to have with our dinners and special occasions. In fact, I think Redhook’s Marketing department said it best in response to a question about this beer trend.

“Redhook’s limited release series provides a couple opportunities. It’s a way to encourage our brewer’s talent and challenge them to bring new and innovative beers to the market. It’s also a response to the beer community’s desire for big, complex beers.”

I couldn’t agree more. Competition breeds quality and this is a perfect example. With Redhook’s talent I surely expect to see some really innovative and great tasting things to come. I was talking with Greg Duehs the other day and I was really hoping to get some secret information out about any upcoming projects. Unfortunately all he said was,

“I can tell you that the fall release is going to be a beer that you would never think that Redhook would make. It is going to be a classic style of beer that I’ve tasted and it is very true to style and it will hopefully take note of Redhook.”

COMMUNITY

Courtesy Redhook

Beer and homebrewing is really all about community. We love beer, don’t get me wrong, but there is nothing better than sharing a cold one with a friend or brewing up another batch together. And as long as Redhook is brewing beer, community is going to be a big part of their success.

I have to hand it to Redhook for their commitment to that community. They love their tried and true fans and it must be noted that in all my conversations with Redhook, the words “We love our fans” came up more often than not. They support their local communities by having homebrewing classes, Redhook Fest and a whole sleuth of other charitable events to help build a stronger community. I think its a true testament to how important their fans and community are to them by the fact that Redhook is the first brewery to agree to do Mike’s Brew Review’s Brewery Highlight. There was no questions asked. They sent me some beer to introduce and put me on the phone with 3 of their most talented brewmasters. It is all about spreading the word and sharing in the brewing/beer community and my hat is off to Redhook Ale for their commitment to quality, community and great beer!

I hope you have enjoyed this mini-tour through Redhook’s past, present and future. Please let me know what you think and when your at the store picking up some tasty brews, just remember when you pick up a Redhook, your part of that historic revolution.

The Big Boys Are Taking Over

Over the past two weeks a number of blogs and news sites have been discussing beer trends of 2010. Some listed trends include InBev’s percentage of the market dropping, the constant ABV % battles that are going on and a seemingly increase in sour ale consumption and many others. However, one of the beer trends that I have noticed, at least in my area, is the increase in “Specialty Beers” or “Limited Releases” from brewers all around the country.

What is a “Specialty Beer”?

For simplicity sake, let’s group all the limited edition, specialty beers, anniversary beers, experimental batches, etc etc into one big category, Specialty Beer. The distinguishing factors though are, these beers are special recipes formulated by brewers for a limited release. The recipe either stands on its own or can be part of a series much like the Boulevard Smokestack series. These beers are not the same as your typical tasty ales or luscious lagers. Often times they are infused with much more flavor and characteristics than their 12 ounce counterparts. The Special Release, which I’ll be calling it through out, comes in a larger bottle, have increased flavor profiles, have higher ABV and are in short supply as they are part of a single run, brewed batch or series of brews. Done.

The Trend

Over the past 9 months I’ve watched, hungrily, as my specialty beer section populated with new bomber and Belgian Style cork top bottles. This idea isn’t completely new, but my social media feeds flood with Twitpics and Facebook updates along with the occasional pic message with these beers front and center. I was getting pics of Redhook’s 8-4-1, Breckenridge Small Batch 471, and the Boulevard Smokestack series sent left and right. I’m merely stating that I believe these beers are gaining more and more popularity, therefore calling for more releases from more breweries. These breweries are becoming more sophisticated and creative in the recipe formulation which turns an avid craft beer drinker, like me, into a kid in a candy store. What is causing this apparent expansion in product lines for some of these larger craft breweries?

Why?

Of course this boils down to money with a side of celebration of creativity. I believe there are three contributing factors to this trend.

1. There is a market out there for people who drink craft beer, but still think wine is the drink of choice for special occasions and dinners for two. Look at wine compared to these new releases…I see a few similarities. The first is price and size. The amount of wine for the price is very comparable to the amount of beer and price for these specialty brews. Not only that, wine has always had this “special” feeling surrounding it. If you drink wine with a meal or occasion, you get this feeling of sophistication that you just don’t get with beer. However, by mimicking a product and marketing strategy, that same feeling can be had by the craft beer drinker. Going one step further, the recipes are usually pretty darn amazing. They are creative, complex and employ ingredients or techniques that you will not drink up anywhere along the way. All of these factors contribute to an almost doppelganger effect between beer and wine. A gap that has yet to be bridged. The drink that was once reserved for peasants and serfs is now rivaling the drinks of royalty.
2. In the early to mid 80’s craft beer was starting to boom. During that time it was not hard to stand out because the market was so thin. A funny name, weird label, different style, the list goes on and on. As the market expanded it become flooded with replica’s. How many IPA’s are there out there? Pale Ale’s, Stout’s, etc. With as many brewers as there are, how do any of them grab your monetary vote? They must distinguish themselves from the pack. What better way to do that than with a “Special Release.” A “first come first serve” mentality can do wonders for a product and brand.
3. Last but not least, I believe there is a better profit margin on these recipes as well. With most big breweries not brewing at capacity and the factors listed above, it only makes sense to fire up those kettles and make a special batch. These special beers can cost more, are easier to sell to us craft beer people and rarely have any return product due to shelf life because of their limited supply, making them more profitable.

It is always about the money, but I believe there is a certain sense of creativity that most brewers don’t get to have on a daily basis that helps to fill these bottles up. It takes brewing back to the beginning a little bit. Where you use your tools and education to just try new things and I appreciate what the market is forcing breweries to do because it brings all of us better product.

Just on a side note, I don’t think these special releases are doing anything for expanding the craft beer market. They are just trying to take more of the already existing pie. If they are trying to make a bigger pie, they must look elsewhere.

So, I’m curious, what’s your take on this trend? Am I an idiot or do you agree that these special releases seem to be taking the store by storm? Let me know!

Redhook Ale - A Craft Brewer Revolutionary

Yea, I said it, Revolutionary. Revolutionary, by definition is someone who “marked by or resulting in radical change.” Redhook Ale, is just that. You might be saying, “Oh, there are so many other beers out there, why would I drink a Redhook?” What you may not be aware of though, is that Redhook cracked open the the craft beer market and subsequently the boom in craft breweries and selections available to all of us fine craft beer fans.

I know that what I’m proposing is a pretty bold. You may be thinking “But they are partially owned by AB/InBev”. Although, AB/InBev has no control over what Redhook does it is more important that we look at the facts and a bit of history here to understand exactly why this seemingly harmless brand forged new ground for the beer we drink today.

Courtesy Redhook

First off, I am not saying that there were not already craft breweries around. Sierra Nevada, Anchor, Yuenling and a handful of others, all of which make great beer. So good, in fact, it is astonishing that two masterminds with no beer making experience were able to  lay new ground for all brewers.

Reasons Redhook Is A Revolutionary

Imagine yourself, an avid homebrewer making some of your own delicious beers finally hearing that someone was taking the plunge to bring, fresh local, flavorful beer back to production and available for you to drink. I’d be pretty excited. I mean the whole reason a lot of people started homebrewing was because they wanted more options than just light lagers. Imagine the disappointment of the homebrewing community when this off flavor brew hit their lips. Imagine how upsetting it would be to know that the beer isn’t really that good, but for some reason the way it was marketed, allowed it to sustain and gain popularity. In all fairness, this really reminds me of Budweiser. A beer that a lot of people don’t like, but the way it is sold to the masses keeps it popular.

Imagine once again, hanging out with buddies, brewing beer and someone, somewhere has to say. “If these guys making off flavored beer can do it, why can’t we?” The idea isn’t new, it has been happening over and over for years now. How many breweries do you drink beer from, all started with a group of guys saying the exact same thing? Redhook’s marketing scheme and off flavored beer sparked a new generation of breweries to jump in to get their piece of the pie.

AB Deal – Good or Bad?

But this wasn’t the big one. This didn’t bring craft beer to North Dakota, this didn’t ignite the fire and turn it into an out of control blaze. That came in 1995 when Redhook did what no other craft brewer had ever done or would even speak of. They teamed up with Anheuser Busch. The controversial partnership set the town on a blaze.

A lot of people were mad, thought Redhook sold out. Redhook wasn’t local anymore and they were even seen as having sold their operations to A-B. That couldn’t be more further from the truth than anything. Redhook created a partnership with A-B to have access to distribution channels that no one else could possibly dream of. I can’t blame them for that, who really can? A-B holds the 3 tiered system at will and the old addage of “If you can’t beat them, join them” rings true here. However, Redhook still owned the majority, still developed their own recipes, still did things day in and day out as Redhook would do them, they just get to put their beer in AB/InBev’s warehouses.

Courtesy Redhook

The partnership deal went down and Redhook expanded to the east, putting more craft beer and more selection into other people’s hands. In the end, isn’t that what we all want? But there is a silent factor that never gets mentioned in the craft beer revolution in regards to this controversial partnership. When Redhook and A-B signed a deal and went public with stock offerings, the Craft Beer Gold Rush began. Peter Krebs writes in “Redhook Beer Pioneer,”

Redhook’s successful IPO marked a watershed in the specialty beer business, sparking a series of IPOs rom other specialty breweries hoping to follow in the wake of Redhook’s success. Within the same year, three other breweries went public. Two of them were the specialty beer industry’s largest brewers-Boston Beer Company, producers of Samuel Adams, and Pete’s Brewing Company of Palo Art, makers of Pete’s Wicked Ales. The third company, Hart Brewing Company, was the second largest specialty brewery in Washington.

This is not where it ended though. Small breweries were expanding all over the country. Once there was blood in the water, the corporate sharks feed, and these sharks were feeding on beer.

Redhook paved this road. They took a chance, marketed it right and made the right deals to show that making good beer is a viable business model. They busted the craft beer market wide open by not only inspiring avid homebrewers to “one up them” but also by creating one of the most controversial deals that not only brought hype, distribution and money to Redhook, but also lit the fire under investors and other brewers to get on board.

Redhook enjoyed substantial growth after their stock offerings. This would be the high times for Redhook. Life was good. An expansion out east with plans to build in the grain belt, record sales and a general overall good feeling would all begin to crumble. The question though, is it Redhook’s own fault? We’ll see in the next installment.