found this in a posting on chowhound, from someone who'd grabbed it from a U.s. beer blog. Damned considerate move by Mr. Koch, even if i'm not always a huge fan of his beers.
"For a couple of months now, we've all been facing the unprecedented hops shortage and it's affected all craft brewers in various ways. The impact is even worse on the small craft brewers--openings delayed, recipes changed, astronomical hops prices being paid and brewers who couldn't make beer.
So we looked at our own hops supplies at Boston Beer and decided we could share some of our hops with other craft brewers who are struggling to get hops this year. We're offering 20,000 pounds at our cost to brewers who need them."
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Nice move by Jim Koch
I can't say I'm a huge fan of the brews either, but Koch has definitely done a lot for the craft beer industry.
Everyone talks about Fritz Maytag like he was the second comming... and although he did revive an old brewery, he really just kept doing what they always did.
Koch has brought craft beer to the masses. I know it was a lot of marketing going after market share (similar to Sleeman).
Everyone talks about Fritz Maytag like he was the second comming... and although he did revive an old brewery, he really just kept doing what they always did.
Koch has brought craft beer to the masses. I know it was a lot of marketing going after market share (similar to Sleeman).
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BrewerDave
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 5:42 pm
Fritz Maytag didn't exactly do "what they always did" but I agree that Jim Koch should be given credit along with Maytag. Has there been a single Ontario based craft brewery owner that has been nearly as innovative or more importantly as hungry as these two?
I'm sure many will pass this off as a marketing ploy and they would probably be right to at least assume that a little. But since when is marketing and wanting to sell your beer a bad thing? Especially with such a gesture. We could use more innovation in this area and by innovation I'm not only referring to recipe formulation but am also referring to effective marketing, business planning and frankly overall desire to compete and thrive.
It's a nice community oriented move by Jim Koch and I join with the rest of you in saluting him.
I'm sure many will pass this off as a marketing ploy and they would probably be right to at least assume that a little. But since when is marketing and wanting to sell your beer a bad thing? Especially with such a gesture. We could use more innovation in this area and by innovation I'm not only referring to recipe formulation but am also referring to effective marketing, business planning and frankly overall desire to compete and thrive.
It's a nice community oriented move by Jim Koch and I join with the rest of you in saluting him.
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Bytowner
- Seasoned Drinker
- Posts: 1318
- Joined: Sun Nov 25, 2007 12:22 pm
- Location: Mechanicsville, Ottawa
I don't think that's really fair. Ontario microbrewers deal with a much smaller market and antique distribution laws. It's alot easier to for microbrewers down there than it is up here in most states.BrewerDave wrote:Has there been a single Ontario based craft brewery owner that has been nearly as innovative or more importantly as hungry as these two?
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BrewerDave
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 5:42 pm
More than a little confused by that response. I'm not talking about measuring innovation by sales volume or reach of distribution. That's a one dimensional approach to a far more complex discussion.
Perhaps because of smaller distribution due to distribution problems an alternative business model should be used. No I'm not talking about selling exclusively out the brewery door with a complete lack of marketing and expecting customers to simply appear. But, I am discussing a smaller approach with appropriate marketing, event creation, event participation, web presence, community involvement and other not so revolutionary but seldom practised ideas. All too often craft breweries in the area (not all) approach this market with a Molson or Labatt ideal. They all know (hopefully) they can't compete with them volume wise or price wise but still approach the market with strikingly similar products, almost identical distribution models (both through The Beer Store AND the LCBO) and with a complete lack of innovative marketing or business preparedness.
I'm not slamming everyone in the Ontario craft brewing scene. There are most definitely some fine places doing some fine things but they are in the minority and this will be an terrifict case of the excellent overcoming the mediocre and/or sedentary.
I apologize for taking this off topic but while praising Jim Koch I thought it necessary to also praise him for the risks and frankly his hungry approach to business. More and more the Ontario craft brewing scene is waking up to this and I'm sure we have some wonderful years ahead of us where some will grow and others will fall with new breweries ready to take their places.
Perhaps because of smaller distribution due to distribution problems an alternative business model should be used. No I'm not talking about selling exclusively out the brewery door with a complete lack of marketing and expecting customers to simply appear. But, I am discussing a smaller approach with appropriate marketing, event creation, event participation, web presence, community involvement and other not so revolutionary but seldom practised ideas. All too often craft breweries in the area (not all) approach this market with a Molson or Labatt ideal. They all know (hopefully) they can't compete with them volume wise or price wise but still approach the market with strikingly similar products, almost identical distribution models (both through The Beer Store AND the LCBO) and with a complete lack of innovative marketing or business preparedness.
I'm not slamming everyone in the Ontario craft brewing scene. There are most definitely some fine places doing some fine things but they are in the minority and this will be an terrifict case of the excellent overcoming the mediocre and/or sedentary.
I apologize for taking this off topic but while praising Jim Koch I thought it necessary to also praise him for the risks and frankly his hungry approach to business. More and more the Ontario craft brewing scene is waking up to this and I'm sure we have some wonderful years ahead of us where some will grow and others will fall with new breweries ready to take their places.
When it comes to the micro brewer community and even the bars that promote them, I have always been impressed with the way the players in the industry step up to help each other to grow the industry for all. This is not just in Ontario, though I have seen it here too.
I have had many circumstances where a brewer recommends a competitor or a bar owner spreads news of other new taps around town.
Basically I attribute it to a simple detail, pride. If you are good at what you do and proud of it, you do not feel threatened or need to undermine others. Craft brewers can be deservedly proud of their efforts and helping others raise the bar for all is not a problem.
As for creative marketing, yes there is lot's of room for new ideas. That's why it is called creative marketing! Maybe the OCB could be a good vehicle for things like loyalty points (to be shared amongst brewers) or better promotion at taps. Right now, bars who step up and resist the Molbats tap tie up, are mostly on their own to sell patrons on the product. Why not work with these bars to turn the decision into more of an incentive? After all, bars are the proverbial 'schoolyard' where people try new beers.
I have had many circumstances where a brewer recommends a competitor or a bar owner spreads news of other new taps around town.
Basically I attribute it to a simple detail, pride. If you are good at what you do and proud of it, you do not feel threatened or need to undermine others. Craft brewers can be deservedly proud of their efforts and helping others raise the bar for all is not a problem.
As for creative marketing, yes there is lot's of room for new ideas. That's why it is called creative marketing! Maybe the OCB could be a good vehicle for things like loyalty points (to be shared amongst brewers) or better promotion at taps. Right now, bars who step up and resist the Molbats tap tie up, are mostly on their own to sell patrons on the product. Why not work with these bars to turn the decision into more of an incentive? After all, bars are the proverbial 'schoolyard' where people try new beers.
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jesskidden
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:56 am
Maytag bought a name and a hopelessly obsolete brewery. With the name came the "concept" of a unique beer style. Anchor was the last "steam beer" brewery, but Maytag pretty much totally re-designed the beer, keeping the unique open, shallow fermenting at warmer than normal temps with lager yeast and getting rid of just about every other aspect of the beer that it had picked up since Repeal due to the place working on a shoestring budget.Derek wrote:
Everyone talks about Fritz Maytag like he was the second comming... and although he did revive an old brewery, he really just kept doing what they always did.
He introduced dry hopping, krausening, flash pasteurizing for bottles (when he bought Anchor, it was a draught only brewery, and had brewed only 700 bbl. in 1965), whole hops, and an all malt recipe to the beer. (I was just reading an old interview where he mentioned that the "Dark Steam Beer" was just regular beer with caramel coloring added when he bought the place.)
His was the first all-malt porter in the US in many years, the first barleywine ever in the US, the first wheat beer since Prohibition, the only true "small beer" brewed from the second runnings, etc.
Liberty Ale- again all malt- certainly was the hoppiest and most fragrent US ale of it's time (Ballantine IPA may have been higher in IBU's but it didn't have a "nose" like Liberty) - an ale that certainly inspired most of the early craft IPA's that would come 10 years later.
He re-popularized the "Christmas beer", changed the recipe every year, and pioneering the use of herbs in beer in the US.
He built a showcase new brewery and has stayed true to his original ideal of slow growth, staying relatively small, yet is now distributed nationally.
OTOH, Koch, 8 years after the craft beer movement started, took an obsolete "family recipe", brought it to a well-known industrial brewery consultant (A-B, Carling, Fix, Rheingold), best known for developing "Lite Beer", who had to totally rework the recipe since the hops and malt were no longer available, adding dry hopping and krausening. With $400,000 in his pocket, Koch took the recipe to an industrial brewery best known for "Iron City Beer" and had then make "his" beer.Derek wrote:
Koch has brought craft beer to the masses. I know it was a lot of marketing going after market share .
I think I know who I consider a true craft brewing pioneer.
Oh yeah, Koch is certainly more of a marketer than a brewer.
My point is that there's a ton of craft breweries, some of which have been around for hundreds of years (overseas). No disrespect to Fritz or any of the other craft brewers, but I think Koch has done more to mature/evolve the industry.
Koch is the one that saw the market potential & jumped on it. He seems to believe that anything that benefits the craft beer industry will ultimately benefit him. In doing so, he's educated the masses.
My point is that there's a ton of craft breweries, some of which have been around for hundreds of years (overseas). No disrespect to Fritz or any of the other craft brewers, but I think Koch has done more to mature/evolve the industry.
Koch is the one that saw the market potential & jumped on it. He seems to believe that anything that benefits the craft beer industry will ultimately benefit him. In doing so, he's educated the masses.
I like what you just said Derek, but I'm not so sure he's "educated the masses" all that much. People love the Boston Lager, but most of them don't understand why it tastes better than a Bud, nor do they really care as long as it gets them drunk and tastes good. This is a phenomenon that just baffles me. When macro-swill drinkers get a taste of better stuff, like it, praise it, then just go right back to drinking crap. I don't get it. I don't know how many times I've left some good stuff in my fridge at home and my brother drank it, liked it, then the next thing I see him buy is Heineken. I guess it's generally easier to get crap, so the issue is motivating them to change rather than just showing them what's better.
Boston Beer Co. has their whole ad campaign about hops that is decent, but again, from personal experience, the average beer drinker has no idea what the hell hops are, beyond just a plant of some indistinct sort that somehow becomes beer. In fact, a lot of MolBatt drinkers I've known probably don't even know that BARLEY is the main ingredient in beer. One of the "catchy" slogans in a Boston Beer Co's ad says, "Hops are to Beer what grapes are to Wine." That statement to me is a little frightening. I'm pretty sure the active fermenting ingredient in beer is malted barley, just like its of course grapes for wine, right? RIGHT?!??!?!
Anyways, sorry once again for going WAAAAY off topic. I noticed when I was in Florida that American's really love their Sam Adams products, like a LOT, so by giving them a better alternative I guess he is educating them somewhat. But I still got the sense that they'd just as soon drink a Bud or Corona as they would a Sam Adams. Which is depressing
.
Boston Beer Co. has their whole ad campaign about hops that is decent, but again, from personal experience, the average beer drinker has no idea what the hell hops are, beyond just a plant of some indistinct sort that somehow becomes beer. In fact, a lot of MolBatt drinkers I've known probably don't even know that BARLEY is the main ingredient in beer. One of the "catchy" slogans in a Boston Beer Co's ad says, "Hops are to Beer what grapes are to Wine." That statement to me is a little frightening. I'm pretty sure the active fermenting ingredient in beer is malted barley, just like its of course grapes for wine, right? RIGHT?!??!?!
Anyways, sorry once again for going WAAAAY off topic. I noticed when I was in Florida that American's really love their Sam Adams products, like a LOT, so by giving them a better alternative I guess he is educating them somewhat. But I still got the sense that they'd just as soon drink a Bud or Corona as they would a Sam Adams. Which is depressing
.
."Hops are to Beer what grapes are to Wine" bothered me at first as well.
Barley is the prime ingredient (not including water which certainly has it's own regional differences) and the barley sugars are what's fermented. Barley from different regions does have different flavours, but I don't think those differences are nearly as diverse as hops. Hops from different regions (ex. hallertau, saaz, east kent goldings) have very different flavours, which is similar to the terroir of grapes. Derivatives are grown here (like Mt. hood), but they're quite the same.
I always try to drink locally when I travel, but little places in the US that tend to only have macro's will often have Sam Adams as well. It's not the best beer (a little too much residual sugar for my taste), but it's a great alternative & a huge success. While Sleeman has done that here, I've never enjoyed their adjunct brews.
Barley is the prime ingredient (not including water which certainly has it's own regional differences) and the barley sugars are what's fermented. Barley from different regions does have different flavours, but I don't think those differences are nearly as diverse as hops. Hops from different regions (ex. hallertau, saaz, east kent goldings) have very different flavours, which is similar to the terroir of grapes. Derivatives are grown here (like Mt. hood), but they're quite the same.
I always try to drink locally when I travel, but little places in the US that tend to only have macro's will often have Sam Adams as well. It's not the best beer (a little too much residual sugar for my taste), but it's a great alternative & a huge success. While Sleeman has done that here, I've never enjoyed their adjunct brews.
I never got to have anything from Sleeman before it was bought out by Sapporo. So my only impression of their beers is pretty bad. I'd definitely put Sam Adams above Sleeman!
Because of this I don't really understand what people mean when they talk about anything from Sleeman being "the good stuff". I can see where they're coming from, in that it USED to be the good stuff, but do they not notice a difference in taste now from how it used to be? Are they that unperceptive? Or is it still "the good stuff" compared to MolBatt stuff? I wish people weren't so ignorant about beer
.
Because of this I don't really understand what people mean when they talk about anything from Sleeman being "the good stuff". I can see where they're coming from, in that it USED to be the good stuff, but do they not notice a difference in taste now from how it used to be? Are they that unperceptive? Or is it still "the good stuff" compared to MolBatt stuff? I wish people weren't so ignorant about beer
.