New Heineken USA Chief; new strategy?

I get a lot of press releases and see a lot of stories about new people in positions at a variety of booze businesses, and most of them... eh, so what? This one was an exception, and not because it's a major company unit -- Heineken USA -- but because of the way the people formerly in the position were willing to say why they left, rather than simply "to pursue other opportunities." Check it out, then go back and re-read my post about imported beer. This is from the Wall Street Journal. (I've cut a bit from the piece; this is just the nuggets.)

Dutch beer giant Heineken NV tapped company insider Dolf van den Brink as the third chief executive in about three years to run its struggling U.S. division. Mr. van Den Brink, currently commercial director and deputy general manager for Heineken's operating company in the Democratic Republic of Congo, will become president and CEO of Heineken USA effective Thursday. He succeeds Don Blaustein, who resigned in August, citing differences with the company's management in Amsterdam about how to run the unit.
Mr. van Den Brink will try to revive U.S. sales of the company's flagship beer, Heineken, which have dropped sharply amid the weak economy, ineffective marketing campaigns and tough competition from rival imports and domestic brews. Mr. van Den Brink faces a tall order. In April, Heineken said its beer volume fell 16% in the Americas on an organic basis, which strips out results from recently acquired brands, in the first three months of 2009. Heineken USA accounts for about 4% of the U.S. beer market in terms of volume.
Mr. Blaustein's predecessor, Andy Thomas, also resigned because he disagreed with Heineken's top executives over strategy.

They tap the deputy from the Congo to run the U.S.? Wow.

I would love to know what the different outlooks on strategy are. Here's a suggestion on a US strategy: figure out what you're selling, then get Heineken ads that are as good as the "World's Most Interesting Man" Dos Equis ads are (which are actually working, by the way: Dos Equis is doing well). I like John Turturro, but good God..."No destination is the destination of the undestinated... This is not a beer. This is a compass."



What the hell is that shit? If you don't even know what your beer is -- here's a hint; it ain't a compass, you buy them at REI -- what are we supposed to get out of it? What's the most interesting man in the world say? "I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis." Notice: he drinks beer, not a compass, and he admits that there are other drinks, and that he doesn't always drink Dos Equis. I think that's the best part of the commercial.

I'd also point out to craft beer fellow travelers that even after losing that volume, Heineken USA, by itself, does the same volume as all craft beers put together. Food for thought, mobsters.

The Man Full of Trouble...and rye whiskey

Where to begin...

Chris Poh, of the American Public House Review, whose radio show I was on a few weeks ago, contacted me recently with a tempting offer: how would I like to join him and Ed Petersen at A Man Full of Trouble, Philadelphia's last standing original colonial tavern? You mean the place UPenn owns, down near the Olympia, that isn't open to the public? Hell yes, I would!

And that's how last night I found myself sitting in the living room of A Man Full of Trouble, being served a beer (a Tröegs Pale Ale) from a lovingly re-created caged bar by the 'publican,' Patrick Spiro, a recently graduated UPenn doctorate student, who lives there with his wife, Laura, and their newborn daughter (see below). And just after that, we went up to the second floor balcony just in time to catch the last light of the day, pictured below.

The view is striking: where you can see the cobblestones coming in from the left, just past the Stop sign, is the course of the long-gone and covered Little Dock Creek. Straight ahead is the Delaware River -- no I-95, this is one of the rare places where it's covered over -- and that's the stern mast of the Olympia in the distance, starting to glow in the sunset light. A rainbow developed over the next few minutes. We were standing on a balcony that had been reconstructed from pictures of the building from the 1830s. The cobbles, the magical glowing light, and the mast of the ship came together for a breath-taking moment.

Patrick took us down to the basement, where the building's original well is still open to water from the Delaware, showed us how the walls lean inward, and generally made us quite welcome. We chatted about blogging and advertising, of all things, then I broke out a particularly appropriate beverage, given the setting: a sample of Finger Lakes Distilling's soon-to-be-released rye whiskey, a young and brilliantly spicy whiskey, full of rye character at a barrel-strong 110 proof. We sipped, and looked around the place. Then Patrick pulled out another surprise: a growler of Cape Cod Summer, a beautifully accurate hefeweizen, a great way to top off the evening.

I may never get the chance again, but it was quite special. I breathed in a bit of Philadelphia history, American history, booze history. I was a man full of satisfaction. And a little bit of rye.

Thanks to Chris Poh for the use of the two photos on the left.

20 years of Harpoon Octoberfest celebration

Ah.... 'PoonFest.

Back in the early days of our marriage, Cathy and I lived in Waterbury, Connecticut. We were young(er) and in love, and we took pleasure in simple things. We had to, they were all we could afford. At the time, one of the cheap simple things was gasoline, and we traveled around New England as much as we could. Which is how we wound up in Boston for what was, apparently, the first Harpoon Octoberfest. Who knew?

We had a great, great time, drinking, whooping it up, and grinning like idiots at having found a beer event that was bigger than three brewers standing at tables talking to 50 people. Needless to say, Harpoon Octoberfest has grown to be quite a bit more than that...they expect 14,000 people this year. Well, you know, Harpoon just keeps growing!

Here's what they've got:

Two massive tents will be erected at Harpoon, transforming the brewery’s parking lot into a Bavarian-style beer garden. A wide selection of Harpoon beers will be poured on draft featuring the brewery’s Marzen-style fall seasonal offering, Harpoon Octoberfest Beer. Live oompah bands will entertain with traditional waltzes and lead the crowd in the beloved chicken dance. Sauerkraut-stuffed bratwurst and knockwurst will be served alongside mustard-covered pretzels.

20 years of Harpoon Octoberfest this weekend, October 2 and 3. Get to the website for details.

Has it been a year already? Has it only been a year?

Earth, Bread + Brewery has been open for a year. Can you believe it? After all the crap they had to go through to open...

Hey, that's all behind us (and them)! Next Friday, October 9 is the celebration. It starts at 5 PM and goes till closing; Tom Baker will have eleven house beers on; there will be t-shirts and anniversary pint glasses for sale, and... for the first time ever at EB+B...

They'll be filling growlers.

For real, baby. So hike your butts on over to Mt. Airy and fill up on flatbread and Tom's great beer, fill your growlers with Tom's great beer...but don't overdo it, because I expect to see you at Kennett the next day!

Friends of Philly Beer Week

Are you a friend of Philly Beer Week?

Philly Beer Week had a Facebook problem and lost a lot of their Facebook friends. If you are, or were a friend of the event -- and you oughta be! -- please do them a favor and go 're-friend' them.

There. Now don't you feel all better? Remember, Philly Beer Week 2010 is June 4-13; make your plans now!

Congratulations are in order...

Jack has posted his annual list of Delaware Valley GABF medal winners here (and an impressive list it is); Bil has all the Pennsylvania winners here (we were fifth in number of medals, just behind Washington, about where we usually wind up (actually, according to Uncle Jack, we actually took 14 medals, and so beat Washington and came fourth; check it out, the numbers don't lie); and the whole damned thing is here. Very nice, good beers, and all that.

But while we're puffing up the Delaware Valley, I just got news that the National Beer Wholesalers Association named Origlio Beverage their Craft Beer Distributor of the Year; and Clement Muller received their Craft Beer Distributor Recognition Award. That means we have the #1 and #3 craft beer distributors here in southeast PA. Not in volume or dollar sales, of course; this program recognizes the beer distributor who does the most to market, promote and sell craft beer.

Full disclosure: I do freelance writing for Origlio's newsletters and I've done some consulting and staff training for them. But from the time four years ago when I first met with them -- when their craft portfolio consisted of Samuel Adams...and Yuengling -- to now, the change has been incredible. I like to think the best advice I gave their salespeople was to be sure they actually knew the brands they were selling; because craft beer bar people could tell if they didn't.

But this was all Origlio. They have stepped up, built a huge and high-quality portfolio, trained a specialized sales force, and have encouraged bars that never before sold craft to take it on (and helped them to make it work). The best part of it, though, is why they did it. Origlio was doing fine: they had Coors Light, Corona, Yuengling, Guinness, Heineken, Tecate, and they had Sam Adams. But they saw how things were moving, particularly in Philly, and they wanted part of that future.

Hats off to Muller as well. They saw they needed to step up, and they have. Competition is one hell of a goad. They've expanded their portfolio, reached out to operators, made connections, and got smart.

Best part about this for you? These two wholesalers -- and the other top-notch wholesalers, large and small, in the area who are on their toes in this very competitive, varied, and fast-moving beer market -- get you the stuff, the rarities, the far-aways and small locals, the Belgians and the Danes, the Japanese and the Latvians, Lost Abbey, Founders, Russian River (suck that, rest of the east coast), the best beers around. Next time you trash-talk that Philly Beer Week slogan -- America's Best Beer Drinking City -- remember who brings it in.

Bud Light Golden Wheat

That, believe it or not, is a Bud Light. The head didn't last too long (though I won't swear it was the beer's fault; I may have gotten a little grease on the inside of the glass), but it's cloudy, and it definitely smells of orange and a hint of fresh grassiness.

Okay, it's a Bud Light Golden Wheat. I got some samples, and I will give it the same shot I did the Miller Lite Craft beers. Gotta admit, I'm impressed with this more than with those already, just on the look and the aroma.

Well...there's not a lot here. Light body -- though not as thin as a Bud Light -- and they certainly didn't overdo the orange like Miller did; it's there, but it's unobtrusive to the point of understatement. It's not sweet, and that's good. It's not thin, it's not cloying, it's not really flawed.

And if that sounds like I'm damning with faint praise, well, I guess I am. BLGW fails in the classic manner of light beers: there's nothing wrong with it, but there's not a lot right, either. A beer's got to be something good, it's not enough to not be something bad. BLGW succeeds in one thing: it is easy to drink. Plain boiled white rice is easy to eat, but I don't often make a meal of it. I suspect I'll be having Bud Light Golden Wheat even less often.

What about the commerical prospects? I mean, I'm hardly the target market, and most of you aren't either, most likely. I think it's going to fall between the rails. It's too cloudy and heavy (too mouthy?) for light beer drinkers. Bud Light Lime has been a big success, but it's light and clear, where this isn't. What's more, this is another summertime kind of beer. Can't see this one working in the wintertime, which means even if it is successful, it's going to cannibalize BLL. And Blue Moon drinkers will kick it aside quickly as watery next to their tipple...though there may be some siphoning off of drinkers who are looking for a Blue Moon light. If that happens, well, how long do you think it's going to take Coors to do a Blue Moon Light, maybe a Half Moon? (I actually believe Coors is smart enough to let that go, and they should; it would deflate the brand's image.) I don't see this one working.

One other thing...it bothers me that the success of Blue Moon has led wannabe competitors to just class these beers as "wheat" beers. Guys, you're working for a brewery, one with world-wide connections and a huge staff of highly-trained brewers, and I've met and talked with some of them: you know damned well that there is more than one type of wheat beer. So why do you let the marketeers be stupid about this? It's not just a wheat beer, it's a --

Oh. My. God. It just hit me. Of course. It's a witbier-inspired beer...a Belgian-inspired beer. Is it that InBud doesn't want people making the Leuven connection, doesn't want to in-their-face American customers with the Belgian-based dark overlords of Budweiser? I don't know, but it is a consideration.

Still irks me.

Is "Craft Beer" a revolution? Is it a success?

Maureen Ogle takes an outsider's view of the beer industry, continuing a process she began in her 2006 book, Ambitious Brew. She looks at it with the dispassionate eye of a historian, and comes up with contrarian viewpoints that make Andy Crouch look like a mainstreaming cheerleader.

Witness her latest blog postings, which are cuts from an essay she wrote on craft beer for All About Beer's 30th anniversary issue (which I'd urge you to buy so you can read what she kept in the piece). There are three of them, and the 2nd and 3rd seem to largely say that contract brewing was controversial but is no big deal -- I got no problems with that thesis at all. I agree, and I regret the amount of money, time, and good feeling that was lost in the industry misunderstandings that revolved around it. I've said for years: it's about the beer, not where or who it's brewed by.

What I do disagree with is her first posting, a more general take, in which she writes:

The problem, [the late Michael Jackson] argued, was that the bottomless “pocketbooks” of the Big Six (at that time A-B, Miller, Stroh, Heileman, Coors, and Pabst) enabled them to “dominate the advertising scene” and thereby obscure consumers’ awareness of brewing’s lager-, porter-, and ale-stuffed nooks and crannies.
This “public ignorance” posed an “acute problem” for craft brewing. “No small brewery is itself an island,” he reminded readers. “None can succeed for long unless the . . . idea of small breweries is understood and appreciated by the consumer.”
He was wrong. Thirty years in, most Americans don’t know about or drink craft beer, and yet craft brewing is alive and well. [emphasis added]

I don't buy that. We got into a small, very civil discussion on her Facebook link to this post, in which I argued that craft beer is now widely known, to which she countered:

I base that on my experience doing beer events for various non-beer groups (I do a lot of paid speaking). Very few people at them have ever heard of the beers on offer, all of them, of course, local craft brews. Also, the term "craft beer" has zero meaning to people outside the craft drinking/brewing niche. Again, that's based on my experience w/people who are NOT connected to or interested in beer.

Well...my response was that people who aren't interested in American football may not realize that the forward pass revolutionized the game, but that doesn't make it any less of a revolution. In short, does the knowledge or opinion of people who don't drink beer, who are not "interested in beer," really have any meaning in this? I don't feel that it does.

Another point: is it the knowledge of the term "craft beer" that we're talking about? Because I don't like the term (even though I use it every day), and I don't think that most people who are aware of these beers use the term. They either know their local craft (like, for example, the thousands in Boston who drink Sam Adams or Harpoon and don't give a damn about anything else), or they call them "microbrews," a term just used today in the Wall Street Journal to refer to beers from small American and Italian breweries.

Microbrews (or 'mircobrews,' as I've seen it misspelled so many times on teh Interwebs that it's hardly funny anymore; likewise, "Rouge" and "nector") is the term a lot of people "still" use. I put "stupid quotes" around the word "still" because I don't really know why the beer police felt they had to change it, except to de-link it from the old definition as a brewery that made less than 15,000 bbls. a year, a size that Sierra and Anchor blew by decades ago. It's a perfectly good word -- by virtue of public acceptance -- if you want to distinguish the (practically) uniform light lager output of the major established breweries from the more varied output of the not-so-major...er, 'micro' breweries.

So I'd argue that we should disregard the awareness level of the specific term "craft beer" and instead find out if these non-beer people -- or more importantly, and validly, people who do drink beer -- are aware of any beers other than the majors; Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, Fat Tire? How about non-mainstream types of beers from mainstream brewers, like Blue Moon? How about mainstream beers from non-mainstream breweries, like Yuengling?

Because while there are certainly still people out there who know nothing at all about these beers (or at least profess to know nothing about them for political purposes...), it seems less and less likely that their existence remains a mystery to the majority. I recognize the pitfalls of sampling a pre-selected audience -- I lecture the geekerie about it often -- but the buoyant growth of the segment, the assumption of knowledge in a growing number of news stories like the one noted above, and the continued introduction of beers like Bud Light Golden Wheat all are evidence of a wider knowledge...at least, among beer drinkers in general, and people interested in beer.

If people aren't interested in beer...well, really, who cares what they think about beer? I don't say that to be cavalier, I just point out that it's kind of like asking the average American citizen about...Austrian elections. If they don't care about beer -- as long as they're not one of that group who is trying to take beer away from us! -- why should beer care about them?

Discuss. Or discuss. Or discuss.

Got a package...

InBud sent me two packages recently. I got the same one Uncle Jack did (and I ask the same question), and I also got some bottles of the new Bud Light Golden Wheat. I shall approach it with an open mind, as I always try to do. But as I tore my way through armor-plate level bubblewrap and tape, cursing and yanking, I couldn't help thinking...guys, come on. It's Bud Light. If it breaks, you'll just make more, right? When I get a sample of really great whiskey (and I've got a 25 year old Rittenhouse Rye I'm getting to real soon here), okay, seal it in steel lined with gel-packs. There is no more of it. But this is overkill.

God, I'm bitchy today. I need a Guinness.

Happy Birthday, Mister Jack

September, the folks at Jack Daniel's tell me, is the month of Jack Daniel's -- Mister Jack Daniel's birthday, celebrating 159 years since their founder was born. And since he founded the distillery and made the whiskey that would become the very bestselling American whiskey, they're celebrating with a cake...a cake cocktail.

It's made with Jack Daniel's, Tuaca, marshmallow syrup, and Sprite. They sent me a kit with small amounts of all those things (really, a half-assed can of Sprite) and a glass, with a marshmallow and a candle for a birthday garnish. That's what theirs looks like, down below; mine, er, doesn't look that good, because I'm a kocktail klutz. But it does kinda smell like a cake...a marshmallow and orange yellow cake. It's sweet, but damn, Sam, if they're garnishing it with a marshmallow, whatta ya expect? Wow, it's sweet. Oh, well. Happy Birthday, Mister Jack!