Photo by flickr user pearmax.
Thursday, 3 July 2008
A-B to Stop Selling Caffienated Beer
I'm not sure I agree with the reasoning at work here, but I doubt A-B's Tilt or Bud Extra will be mourned by many...
"Drinking is not a sport, a race, or an endurance test. Adding alcohol to energy drinks sends exactly the wrong message about responsible drinking, most especially to young people," [New York Attorney General Andrew] Cuomo said in a statement.
The agreement calls for Anheuser-Busch to no longer produce caffeinated alcoholic energy drinks nationwide. The company will also pay $200,000 to be distributed among the participating states to cover costs of the investigation and to be used for public programs.
Anheuser-Busch said in a statement that it will begin to reformulate Tilt and Bud Extra to remove caffeine and guarana, a stimulant, from the drinks.
Let's just hope Andrew Cuomo doesn't apply the same reasoning to the many fine coffee flavored craft beers out there. Link via the BeerAdvocate forums.
Review: Greene King Ale Fresco
Greene King Ale Fresco from Greene King / Morland Brewery
Rating: C
Sampled at The Granta in Cambridge.
Appearance: honey in color, quite bright. Minimal carbonation and head retention, some lacing.
Smell: light, English hops with some slight citrus notes. Ale fruitiness, and an odd chlorine note reminiscent of a swimming pool. Some graininess as well.
Taste: Light in flavor, even for the style. Moderate bitterness. Somewhat surprised that it's 4.5%, tastes lower. Some residual sugar. Ale fruitiness is subtly present. Hops are earthy but non-descript.
Mouthfeel: somehwhat watery, and a little too flat and warm, even for a British real ale.
Drinkability: mediocre, not enough flavor to be served so warm and flat.
Rating: C
Sampled at The Granta in Cambridge.
Appearance: honey in color, quite bright. Minimal carbonation and head retention, some lacing.
Smell: light, English hops with some slight citrus notes. Ale fruitiness, and an odd chlorine note reminiscent of a swimming pool. Some graininess as well.
Taste: Light in flavor, even for the style. Moderate bitterness. Somewhat surprised that it's 4.5%, tastes lower. Some residual sugar. Ale fruitiness is subtly present. Hops are earthy but non-descript.
Mouthfeel: somehwhat watery, and a little too flat and warm, even for a British real ale.
Drinkability: mediocre, not enough flavor to be served so warm and flat.
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
PBR "Guerilla Marketing" Gone Wrong
Someone at Pabst's ad agency might lose their job over this one:
In a city famous for murals, some recent paintings on the sides of businesses and abandoned buildings seem to blend with Philadelphia's urban landscape.The catch is, the murals violate neighborhood zoning laws. Of course, I wouldn't have even heard of the ads had they not been busted and featured in the news... maybe Pabst's agency is in fact cleverer by half. Link via the BeerAdvocate forums.
But a closer inspection shows them to be advertisements for Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and Colt 45 malt liquor, which are brands sold by Pabst Brewing Company. They appear to be part of a national marketing campaign by the Illinois-based company.
Beer's Four Ingredients, Under Review by Stella
Every enthusiast knows that beer is traditionally made with four ingredients, but do you really know what they are? I was in London yesterday and saw this ad in the tube for Stella Artois:
Stella's brewers have accomplished something previously thought impossible: beer can now be produced without yeast! You simply have to substitute corn, what will they think of next?
Not all brewers are so innovative. Upon my return to Cambridge, I noticed a very similar ad at The Granta for Beck's Vier, which while not a great beer is apparently still brewed according to more traditional methods:
Is this the result of ignorance, or has Stella's advertising agency made a conscious decision that mentioning "yeast" conjures bad associations among their target consumers, and should therefore be avoided in advertising materials?
UPDATE:
Anonymous posted an informative comment on this subject, pointing out that Beck's and Stella are both brewed by InBev, something I should have checked before posting. I recognize that the addition of yeast can be considered a "process" rather than an ingredient, like the addition of isinglass for fining, although I would personally consider it an ingredient (which my sarcasm in the post reflected). What I find interesting, however, is that the same company would have two different advertising campaigns emphasizing there are only "four ingredients" in their beer, with one recognizing yeast as an ingredient while the other implicitly calls it a "process" instead. Is this a conscious marketing decision, differentiating the two brands, focusing Beck's on consumers who would value "tradition" and Stella on those who would rather not think about the yeast that went into their beer?
Stella's brewers have accomplished something previously thought impossible: beer can now be produced without yeast! You simply have to substitute corn, what will they think of next?Not all brewers are so innovative. Upon my return to Cambridge, I noticed a very similar ad at The Granta for Beck's Vier, which while not a great beer is apparently still brewed according to more traditional methods:
Is this the result of ignorance, or has Stella's advertising agency made a conscious decision that mentioning "yeast" conjures bad associations among their target consumers, and should therefore be avoided in advertising materials?
UPDATE:
Anonymous posted an informative comment on this subject, pointing out that Beck's and Stella are both brewed by InBev, something I should have checked before posting. I recognize that the addition of yeast can be considered a "process" rather than an ingredient, like the addition of isinglass for fining, although I would personally consider it an ingredient (which my sarcasm in the post reflected). What I find interesting, however, is that the same company would have two different advertising campaigns emphasizing there are only "four ingredients" in their beer, with one recognizing yeast as an ingredient while the other implicitly calls it a "process" instead. Is this a conscious marketing decision, differentiating the two brands, focusing Beck's on consumers who would value "tradition" and Stella on those who would rather not think about the yeast that went into their beer?
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Lileks on American Beer
James Lileks' Bleat is a daily read for me. His banner today shows an abandoned brewery:
While perhaps intended to be simply snarky, Lileks' comments on the photo are a somewhat accurate description of the state of American beer.The picture is from West Seventh in St. Paul – a guy sitting by an abandoned brewery complete with post-apocalyptic shredded ad. You can tell it’s beer, because it says “taste” and “tradition,” two things American beers like to tout. They have one or the other, usually.
Beer Photo of the Day
Some nice contrasts in terms of both color and shape in today's beer photo:
Photo by flickr user aixcracker.
Photo by flickr user aixcracker.
House Small Brewers Caucus
A friend who used to work in Congress sent me this cover story from The Hill on home brewing Congressmen.
I emailed the contacts for the caucus to ask if there is any upcoming legislation the caucus would like profiled, and will update this post with any response I receive.
The lawmakers belong to the 35-member Small Brewers Caucus, which looks after the interests of local microbreweries and celebrates good beer. DeFazio co-chairs with Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.)Tastings of twenty different craft beers have been organized for members, and I can imagine many eyes were opened. Hopefully the enthusiasm will translate into legislation more amenable to small brewers.
The business of their meetings?
“We drink beer together,” said Bilbray.
I emailed the contacts for the caucus to ask if there is any upcoming legislation the caucus would like profiled, and will update this post with any response I receive.
Beer Suggest Reviewed
Lifehacker profiled Beer Suggest a few weeks ago, and I created an account to poke around and share my thoughts on what the new site has to offer.
To be honest, I don't see the value added. It seems like Beer Suggest is trying to be Beer Advocate but more Web 2.0. The primary differences between Beer Suggest and the currently dominant Beer Advocate and Rate Beer seem to be the addition of tags, a wiki and a "related beers" suggestion area. That said, Beer Suggest has many fewer beers in the system, with far fewer reviews. Since the content is all user-generated, I suppose I partly have myself to blame for not adding to it, but it's likely that most prospective users are already active and "invested" in BA or RB, and it is dubious whether tags and suggestions will be enough to convince active users to re-review and re-submit the information and content they have already supplied once. Furthermore, BA is a community, not just a resource, and that would be difficult to duplicate.
Healthy competition for users is good, and will keep feature innovation and responsiveness to user demands strong, but proliferation of different sources runs the risk of reduplicating effort or increasing search costs for the information you need.
I gave the new site the benefit of the doubt for being so young, and decided to wait and see how it developed, but stopped in again today and found that little has changed. Granted, it's still early, but I think I'll stick to BA. I think the real value of this site new site will stem from putting pressure on the big two to upgrade their capabilities, not from drawing away users and becoming a third competitor.
To be honest, I don't see the value added. It seems like Beer Suggest is trying to be Beer Advocate but more Web 2.0. The primary differences between Beer Suggest and the currently dominant Beer Advocate and Rate Beer seem to be the addition of tags, a wiki and a "related beers" suggestion area. That said, Beer Suggest has many fewer beers in the system, with far fewer reviews. Since the content is all user-generated, I suppose I partly have myself to blame for not adding to it, but it's likely that most prospective users are already active and "invested" in BA or RB, and it is dubious whether tags and suggestions will be enough to convince active users to re-review and re-submit the information and content they have already supplied once. Furthermore, BA is a community, not just a resource, and that would be difficult to duplicate.
Healthy competition for users is good, and will keep feature innovation and responsiveness to user demands strong, but proliferation of different sources runs the risk of reduplicating effort or increasing search costs for the information you need.
I gave the new site the benefit of the doubt for being so young, and decided to wait and see how it developed, but stopped in again today and found that little has changed. Granted, it's still early, but I think I'll stick to BA. I think the real value of this site new site will stem from putting pressure on the big two to upgrade their capabilities, not from drawing away users and becoming a third competitor.
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