Hope every continues to have a good holiday season. For those whose season has been less-than-stellar, here's to hoping that 2011 is leaps and bounds better than 2010.
-Aaron
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Christmas brewing thoughts
I've been trying to get time to brew - but more and more it's seeming like that won't be a possibility till some time after christmas. I'm hoping to brew a lighter ale and get a good springtime lager going. For the ale, it would likely be either an IPA or a milder EPA. Currently, my hops selection is nobles + Amarillo + Cluster.
My plan is for the lager to be a riff on the SA noble pils and will use 4 styles of noble: mittelfruh, true hersbrucker (for which I paid a premium), tettnanger, and saaz. I technically could add the spalt, since I have some available for use - but I'm worried about bumping the IBUs too high (original Noble Pils is roughly 35 IBUs). As-is, with the quantities I'm using, I'm looking at 38 IBUs, but I'm using german pilsner malt, and american pale malt. My original desire was to use honey malt for a sweeter flavor to balance the bitterness, but this change will give a nice distinct characteristic to set me apart from the SA. I'll likely dry-hop with more Saaz than any other noble since Saaz is absolutely beautiful as an aroma hop.
My ale will likely be a "truer" form of an IPA. No - not a DIPA. Not an Imperial IPA. Not "I threw every hop I had in here" IPA - just a good 2-row + pale malt IPA. I might use carafoam/dextrin for head retention. All Amarillo, likely with some older Cluster I have at the end and dry hopped to give a good hoppy nose. I wanted to save the cluster until I got some fuggles and could make a beer called "ClusterFuggles," but flavor and time trumps humor.
My plan is for the lager to be a riff on the SA noble pils and will use 4 styles of noble: mittelfruh, true hersbrucker (for which I paid a premium), tettnanger, and saaz. I technically could add the spalt, since I have some available for use - but I'm worried about bumping the IBUs too high (original Noble Pils is roughly 35 IBUs). As-is, with the quantities I'm using, I'm looking at 38 IBUs, but I'm using german pilsner malt, and american pale malt. My original desire was to use honey malt for a sweeter flavor to balance the bitterness, but this change will give a nice distinct characteristic to set me apart from the SA. I'll likely dry-hop with more Saaz than any other noble since Saaz is absolutely beautiful as an aroma hop.
My ale will likely be a "truer" form of an IPA. No - not a DIPA. Not an Imperial IPA. Not "I threw every hop I had in here" IPA - just a good 2-row + pale malt IPA. I might use carafoam/dextrin for head retention. All Amarillo, likely with some older Cluster I have at the end and dry hopped to give a good hoppy nose. I wanted to save the cluster until I got some fuggles and could make a beer called "ClusterFuggles," but flavor and time trumps humor.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Success can be measured by weight
Success of a product is generally directly tied to the weight of it's brand. A well branded product, which easily identifies it's "values" to the consumer, and delivers on that implicit promise, will succeed. It's two parts - convey values; deliver on the value promise. You can see a lot of products which failed because they missed the target on one or both of those propositions. Look at the breweries which are wildly successful - you'll see that they all generally have an easily conveyed value proposition and all deliver on the promise they make to generate that value.
Let's pick on Sam Calagione's brand and company Dogfish Head, first. The name is an interesting, and strange image. Let me explain, in case someone out there doesn't think so. A dogfish is a generic term used to describe certain families of shark which hunt in packs. So-called, because, well.. they appear to be dog-like (hunting in packs) even though they're fish. The name itself implies a somewhat familiar, although peculiar, merger of animals - most people have HEARD of 'dogfish'. The addition of the second name, 'head' is a play on the already strange play of words. Literally, stringing the three together, 'dog' 'fish' 'head' - you can make two familiar, and related words: 'dogfish' and 'fish head'. That one might ascribe this to their beer company, an implicit value proposition might be:
- Strange
- Creative
- Unique
- Playful
The brewery reinforces these value propositions with the tagline: 'Off-centered ales, for off-centered people'. Again, we can take the words and the values can plug right in. For instance, 'Off-centered' = out of the ordinary; strange; creative. 'ales' = a promise not to deliver lagers ('duh'!). See if there are other values you can ascribe to the taglines, and title 'Dogfish Head' and 'Off-centered ales ...'
That study is interesting, but only part one of the two part branding equation. We need a second part - they need to deliver on the promise that they hold those values. Looking at their line of products, we see products which continually try to push the envelope, as far as beers can be pushed. 'Chicha', 'Bitches Brew', even their 120, 90, and 60 all use methods, recipes, ingredients, and techniques unique to the beer world. They are "strange" (for the 120-60, continuous hopping is not a traditional method), creative, unique and playful. The beer delivers on this promise, and reinforces the brand at the same time. You can bet, if Dogfish Head came out with 'Generic Pale Ale' people would be quite disappointed with it. It clashes with the brand. It might be a perfect example of the beer, too. But it breaks the promise the brand has with the public.
Take, again just an example, Samuel Adams now. The brand conveys tradition, defiance, rebellion, history, thoughtfulness. When Sam Adams came on the scene they were the rebels. They were defying the major three brewers. Their beers are traditional examples of the styles they brew. They adhere to historic styles, rigidly, while making slight changes to set themselves apart. They promise these things, and deliver on them. If Samuel Adams released, "Oddball Green Beer", no one would want it. If they released, "Traditional Example of Flemish Sour Ale," it would be successful (or at least, more successful than the first).
Stone - "Arrogant Bastard", "Ruination", their flagship beers.
The list can go one. Try it out, yourself. Pick a corporate brand, pick their flagship products. Do the products reinforce the brand?
Heck, the products don't have to be particularly GOOD. BMC type light lagers are not, shall we say, the most flavorful of beers. But they don't promise that. They promise a party in a can. They promise a fun time. And you can certainly have a good time drinking BMC - especially since it's cheap compared to most beers with different promises.
At least, this is my Socratic take on "Building a business 101." Maybe I'm dead wrong.
Let's pick on Sam Calagione's brand and company Dogfish Head, first. The name is an interesting, and strange image. Let me explain, in case someone out there doesn't think so. A dogfish is a generic term used to describe certain families of shark which hunt in packs. So-called, because, well.. they appear to be dog-like (hunting in packs) even though they're fish. The name itself implies a somewhat familiar, although peculiar, merger of animals - most people have HEARD of 'dogfish'. The addition of the second name, 'head' is a play on the already strange play of words. Literally, stringing the three together, 'dog' 'fish' 'head' - you can make two familiar, and related words: 'dogfish' and 'fish head'. That one might ascribe this to their beer company, an implicit value proposition might be:
- Strange
- Creative
- Unique
- Playful
The brewery reinforces these value propositions with the tagline: 'Off-centered ales, for off-centered people'. Again, we can take the words and the values can plug right in. For instance, 'Off-centered' = out of the ordinary; strange; creative. 'ales' = a promise not to deliver lagers ('duh'!). See if there are other values you can ascribe to the taglines, and title 'Dogfish Head' and 'Off-centered ales ...'
That study is interesting, but only part one of the two part branding equation. We need a second part - they need to deliver on the promise that they hold those values. Looking at their line of products, we see products which continually try to push the envelope, as far as beers can be pushed. 'Chicha', 'Bitches Brew', even their 120, 90, and 60 all use methods, recipes, ingredients, and techniques unique to the beer world. They are "strange" (for the 120-60, continuous hopping is not a traditional method), creative, unique and playful. The beer delivers on this promise, and reinforces the brand at the same time. You can bet, if Dogfish Head came out with 'Generic Pale Ale' people would be quite disappointed with it. It clashes with the brand. It might be a perfect example of the beer, too. But it breaks the promise the brand has with the public.
Take, again just an example, Samuel Adams now. The brand conveys tradition, defiance, rebellion, history, thoughtfulness. When Sam Adams came on the scene they were the rebels. They were defying the major three brewers. Their beers are traditional examples of the styles they brew. They adhere to historic styles, rigidly, while making slight changes to set themselves apart. They promise these things, and deliver on them. If Samuel Adams released, "Oddball Green Beer", no one would want it. If they released, "Traditional Example of Flemish Sour Ale," it would be successful (or at least, more successful than the first).
Stone - "Arrogant Bastard", "Ruination", their flagship beers.
The list can go one. Try it out, yourself. Pick a corporate brand, pick their flagship products. Do the products reinforce the brand?
Heck, the products don't have to be particularly GOOD. BMC type light lagers are not, shall we say, the most flavorful of beers. But they don't promise that. They promise a party in a can. They promise a fun time. And you can certainly have a good time drinking BMC - especially since it's cheap compared to most beers with different promises.
At least, this is my Socratic take on "Building a business 101." Maybe I'm dead wrong.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Brewmasters - mixed feelings
I've watched all 3 episodes of the new Discovery Channel show "Brewmasters," which airs on Sundays and Mondays @ 10:00pm. Let me just say, I have some mixed feelings on the show.
First, I would be kidding myself if I didn't say that the premise is somewhat of a let-down. Part of what makes craft beer so interesting is the variety of stories behind the breweries. Dogfish Head actually started on a 10gal SABCO BrewMagic system in 1995. One of their first beers (Punkin' Ale) was actually a homebrew that won at that years Punkin' Chunkin' food contest (being from Delaware, of course Sam would have gone to early Punkin' Chunkin' competitions). I was hoping that the show would be traveling to different breweries and getting to hear those kinds of interesting stories. The struggles, the victories, the one or two crazy beers.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not a huge fan of DFH beers, but they're not awful beers. I like the Punkin' Ale. I like the 90 IPA. But, the beers aren't "Oh My God, WOW!" Sam Calagione seems to be a fun, off-the-wall kind of guy. I guess I'm just not that interested in the DFH brewery, specifically.
However, the show does something that I think is good - namely, educates the public on the Craft Beer Movement. It's a movement that has been building a strong following, one consumer at a time, over the past 25 to 30 years. With the mainstreaming of one of the more mainstream craft breweries, hopefully people move away from the Big Two (AB-InBev, and MC) and get back to local product (and that's what nanobrewers are all about). It's one of the reasons why I avoid stocking anything that traces back to the Big Two (for instance, Blue Moon is an MC brand).
I guess what I'm saying is, the beer geek in me wishes that they spent more time talking about why crystal 60 or 120 gives more body. The 2 billion yeast cells thing from the pilot is laughable (pro-tip: I pitch hundreds of times more than that for my 10 gallon batches).
The craft beer advocate in me wants to hear about the other 1400+ craft breweries that exist - their stories and their beers.
So, I'm disappointed on that front.
On the positive side though, I might now be able to talk about my latest brew with someone and have them be interested in trying it without their first reaction being "Oh, this must be terrible." I might be able to offer them some of the craft beers I keep handy without a "Oh, there's no bud? Nevermind."
So, there you have it. Mixed feelings.
First, I would be kidding myself if I didn't say that the premise is somewhat of a let-down. Part of what makes craft beer so interesting is the variety of stories behind the breweries. Dogfish Head actually started on a 10gal SABCO BrewMagic system in 1995. One of their first beers (Punkin' Ale) was actually a homebrew that won at that years Punkin' Chunkin' food contest (being from Delaware, of course Sam would have gone to early Punkin' Chunkin' competitions). I was hoping that the show would be traveling to different breweries and getting to hear those kinds of interesting stories. The struggles, the victories, the one or two crazy beers.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not a huge fan of DFH beers, but they're not awful beers. I like the Punkin' Ale. I like the 90 IPA. But, the beers aren't "Oh My God, WOW!" Sam Calagione seems to be a fun, off-the-wall kind of guy. I guess I'm just not that interested in the DFH brewery, specifically.
However, the show does something that I think is good - namely, educates the public on the Craft Beer Movement. It's a movement that has been building a strong following, one consumer at a time, over the past 25 to 30 years. With the mainstreaming of one of the more mainstream craft breweries, hopefully people move away from the Big Two (AB-InBev, and MC) and get back to local product (and that's what nanobrewers are all about). It's one of the reasons why I avoid stocking anything that traces back to the Big Two (for instance, Blue Moon is an MC brand).
I guess what I'm saying is, the beer geek in me wishes that they spent more time talking about why crystal 60 or 120 gives more body. The 2 billion yeast cells thing from the pilot is laughable (pro-tip: I pitch hundreds of times more than that for my 10 gallon batches).
The craft beer advocate in me wants to hear about the other 1400+ craft breweries that exist - their stories and their beers.
So, I'm disappointed on that front.
On the positive side though, I might now be able to talk about my latest brew with someone and have them be interested in trying it without their first reaction being "Oh, this must be terrible." I might be able to offer them some of the craft beers I keep handy without a "Oh, there's no bud? Nevermind."
So, there you have it. Mixed feelings.
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