My Favorite Beer: Blanche de Bruxlles
Behold the Blanche!
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Check out that wallpaper! 😍
My Favorite Beer: Old Speckled Hen
My New Favorite Beer Is Something Old
As you all know, I’m very good at picking favorites (proof)(more proof). Well this time around, this beer is a “distinctive” beer “bursting with flavour!”
What’s so great about it?
Look at that guy taking a peek!
This is a great beer, full stop. But until last week, I had always gotten it in glass bottles. When I discovered they were canning it and included a nitro widget, I had to try it. What I found is this beer has gone back to its roots: an English Pub Ale experience. English Ale is a magical thing, packed full of esters (molecules that smell like fruit)(also my Great Aunt’s name), balanced malt and hop profiles, low carbonation, and served cool (not cold). The resulting beers are easy to drink and delicious! While this beer hasn’t been carbonated in a cask, the nitro widget does provide the fun pour made famous by Guinness!
Besides, look at that can! It claims to be “Smooth & Refreshing,” “Distinctive,” “Bursting with flavor,” and is “twin malt and four hops.” There’s just something classic about it, yet the can is bold and iconic. In short, it looks great and tastes great! What more can you want?
The pour
So let’s talk about the pour! Just like Guinness, you get a surge that foams up the whole beer when you crack open the can (or pull the tap handle). You get to see bubbles flow down the side of your glass and watch the beer ‘build’ from the bottom up! What’s really fun with this beer is that since it’s a lighter color, you can see little waves ripple downwards as the surge dies down and the head is setting up. Like a proper gentleman, this beer leaves little rings in your glass as you drink, showing you your progress and tempting you to see what kind of patterns you can make (so it’s beer AND a game!).
And who could forget this beer’s color. Like a ruddy, copper gem, this beer is brilliantly clear. It catches the light and gives you little glints and winks that demand your attention. Just look at it for yourself!
Behold the surge!
And the taste?
Look at those dense bubbles!
The first sip is a bit caramel sweet with some banana (from the English Ale Yeast), balanced with bitterness. To get to that first sip, you have to dive through the foam cap, which provides some fun textural variation. The beer has a bit of effervescence, but it’s not too gassy, which is a nice break from many of the highly carbonated beer we all drink. Returning to the beer for more sips reveals the lacing on the glass and the flavor continues to develop fruity notes (I taste a touch of red apple), breadyness, a bit of a toastyer caramel than the initial punch. The last word on this beer is a bitterness that sits around, but is gentle. Eventually that bitterness subsides and your left with a ever so slightly spicy, slightly toasted linger that I’d let sit if it weren’t for this tempting beer in front of me.
The texture of this beer is fun, it’s a little creamy smooth, but it’s also feels a bit thin. It feels light and healthy! You also notice as you drink the dense head is sticking together like a marshmallow and your brain starts to form this thought… You see, most great beers are wonderful, but the problem is eventually you get to the bottom of the glass and you’re left with one final sip. But this beer offers something special. As a consolation prize, after your last sip, it offers a treat. Overcome with this realization, you turn the cup nearly upside down and you get that glorious little foam cap, that hoppy marshmallow, that final beer snack! One final good bye from your friend, the Old Speckled Hen!
A few more for the road
But just the light of another star
My Favorite Beer: The Dark Side
Remember when I said I was great at favorites? I’m favoriting again!
Roast is something to toast to!
Dark beer is glorious! Dark beer is imbued with complexity, color, and character. The same thing that makes meat tasty (or some seared shitake mushrooms for the veggie friends out there) makes your dark beer real nice too! The Maillard Reactions that happen when you kiln or roast malt provide complexity that is the stuff people dream about. Dark beer can taste like birthday cake, smoky bacon, nuts, coffee, or something else entirely! They can be easy drinking, or challenging. They can balance sweet and spice, or they can give you a (beer-ey) hug. They can be booze bombs, table beers, or milkshakes. For all these reasons, I say
“Give me a dark beer!”
Capella Porter
The Aroma
*Some people think dark beer is “heavy.” Not true! Beer is dark (we’re talking red, brown, and black territory) because the brewer added roasted malt. Beer is “heavy” because the brewer added a lot of malt. “Heavy” is referring to the density of beer, which is mainly affected by sugars in the beer. Heavy beers are often sweet and (generally) higher in alcohol. To prove this point, try a Guinness (a very ‘light’ beer, clocking in at 4.2% ABV) along with a double IPA (often pushing 7 to 9% ABV) #TryThisAtHome
Capella porter is a jet black beer. Even the foam of this beer is a bit caramel colored and edging into the ‘brown’ territory. When you pour it cold, it smells of toasty, brown bread with the slightest whiff of coffee. As this beer warms and opens up, the aroma shifts more into espresso and a hint of boozy. It is the breakfast of champions! The head sticks around for a while and even leaves lacing on your glass (kind of similar to my favorite beer, Guinness). The beer is not overly heavy and full* and hits with roasty astringency right up front. This roast gives way to a slight sweetness and chocolatey note that guides you to a lingering finish that melds these all into a delightful linger. It’s sorta like the crispy, carnalized edges of a brownie. One of the real treats is breathing the beer up through your nose (called a retro nasal sniff) and getting that espresso fudge brownie experience!
The Finish
The finish sticks around for a while and is pleasant to experience that you don’t need another sip. As you’re contemplating the finish, you think “this is great, I can’t wait to do it again…” It’s at this moment, you’re suddenly struck with the realization that there’s some in your glass and you can do that again. It is this exact thought process that brings you to the bottom of the glass one smile at a time.
This is why it is my favorite beer…
My Favorite Beer: My head? Yeah it’s full of dynomite 🤯
I’m going to try something. I’m going to be someone capable of picking favorites! Watch out!
Ethan, in 2 paragraphs (spoiler alert!)
On the subject of favorites
I have a complicated relationship with the question “what’s your favorite ____?” I never really got it the way other folks did. From “favorite color,” which I always thought was a pointless question (what object am I picking a color for? What’s the context? Can I add metallic flakes?) to “favorite band” (why just have one?), I’ve been incapable of committing to an answer. Why would you want to pick just one favorite? Why box yourself in? Why be on a desert island with just one of anything when you could not be on a desert island and have a lot of many things?!
In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m bad at favorites. But…what if I’m not bad at favorites, but really, I’m too good at favorites?! What if I flipped this particular script and tried something?! You know what? I’m going to try something. I’m going to be someone capable of picking favorites! Watch out!
I’d like to introduce you to my favorite beer. This beer is excellent and let me explain why.
Worst way to split a tree? Dynomite!
Head Full of Dynomite
The Venice Canals are full of dynomite
So let’s start with the easy part…this beer? It’s tasty! It’s a hazy IPA and I’ll get to all about how it tastes in a minute, but first, I need to explain this beer just a little bit. This is a rotating hop series from Fremont. I was at my local bottle shop and they had this little number right next to the cash register (because they’re smart and want to sell beer). What stopped me in my tracks was the way that this beer reminded me of the sort of art my grandma would keep in her house (which I mean in the coolest way possible). My grandmother was a sculptor, painter, and general artist. She had a ton of mid-century modern stuff and always knew how to set a scene. Unlike everyone in Buschwick or Manhattan Beach, this stuff was actually made and purchased in the '50s. I’ve been luck enough to have some of her art in my room going back to my first apartment, so with that running through my mind, how could I not get this 4-pack and bring a bit of her into the world with me?
Tastes that match the look
A beer is sold for many reasons. There are price-conscious consumers who buy a beer because it’s the cheapest on the shelf (me, in college, buying Genesee beer that was $14.50 for 30 of them!), there are consumers who buy a beer because they taste great (me, last week, spending way too much money on a gueuze), there are consumers who buy a beer because there is a man at the supermarket promoting it (me, a few weeks ago, buying some Anchor Pale Ale), and there are (many) consumers buying beer because it randomly hits your deepest memories (also me, at Blackbeard’s, buying some Head Full of Dynomite). So, with that riding on it, let’s jump right in 😬😬
Importantly what flavors match the art? It does (gasp)! I just cracked open the ‘shell’ looking one (V29) and the first thing I noticed is how reminiscent it is of walking into our hop room. (Quick side bar, we have a hop room at work….it’s awesome!) Beyond just smelling like hops I get some orange juice and a wee bit sherbet aromas along with a slight caramel note in the back end. Since I was hit with the aroma right when I cracked the can lid, I circled back to the beer’s appearance, which is a hazy gold that is entirely opaque, even in my fairly small glass. The head is dense white bubbles that subside fairly quickly but leave little spider patterns on the top surface of the beer. The remaining bubbles scream “drink me!” and who am I to object?
Once you take a sip, you’ll find the beer hits with those citrus notes and sweetness up front and a bitterness on the back end. This beer is a big beer, clocking in at 16 oz and 6.8% ABV. The bitterness that is present punches through the general sweetness of the beer, and is deceptively subtle. The beer holds balance in exactly the way the hippos from Fantasia could stand on pointe. Just like those hippos (probably), there’s a slight resinous character you’ll find in a traditional West Coast IPA.
The feather version (V30) hits many of the same notes, but instead of intense citrus with a hint of caramel (possible some age on it, if I’m being honest), the latest version is more stone fruit in the hops with just a touch of lemon. In addition, it’s a little dryer, and slightly more bitter at the end. Two smash hits (not to be confused with a SMASH beer; that’s a Single Malt And Single Hop) as far as I’m concerned and this is why this is my favorite (two) beer(s)!
I wonder what’ll be my favorite next! If you’re also curious, there’s a good chance you’ll spot it here! Cheers!
Ethan
Sometimes you just gotta pull over…
Welcome to Field Notes
Welcome to Field Notes!
This post is dedicated to my mom…more on that in a bit
The Journey Begins
Wow: El Camino Real
I’m going to try something new here. (For right now) I’m going to call it “Field Notes.” This will be a documentation of my travels and thoughts while doing said travels. When I travel these days, whether it’s in my own neighborhood, or further afield, I almost always bring my camera, and if I’m taking pictures, I’m usually taking pictures of beer! So what does this have to do with my Mom? Well she recently reminded me of her own beer journey. She went from ordering “the frutiest beer you have” to keeping Torpedo IPA in the fridge. On the face of it, this is going from 3 MPH to 63 MPH all in one go! When you dig a bit deeper, there’s a lot of similarities between the two (cascade hops are very citrus-ey). On my journeys, I often shake loose some thoughts that on the face of it may seem unrelated, but on a closer look are quite natural. Finally, my mom and Google Photos don’t seem to play well together. So it can be hard for me to share pictures with her…so I’m going to post them here! Don’t worry, you can look at them too!
Where are we going?
Meet Peggy! She’s a good car 😍
Tonight is my last evening on vacation. I went up to Pinnacles National Park to camp with my buddy before heading back down then out to Catalina. Both places were spectacular in completely different ways, as was the trip to and from them! I’m still working through a mountain of photos and even more thoughts about the trip, so join me for what I’ve edited so far: the drive out to a national park!
California. Is. Stunning!
Not a ton to say here, just take a look for yourself…
There’s some cool beers in CA
When I travel around, I love to take pictures of beer (or cider, or graff, or beer-wine hybrids, or any interesting beverage for that matter!). I was recently on an island that is the definition of a small marketplace and I was made aware of the wealth of beer options available to me here in LA. I can get an IPA, I can get a double IPA, I can get a sour IPA, I can even get a Double Dry Hopped IPA (plus like 100s of other styles, some of which aren’t IPAs)! Whether I want a traditional German style Helles, a more modern style Sour Peach Ale, or an absolutely bonkers “Ale with Petite Sirah and Zinfandel Grapes” there is a brewery making that in our state….that’s pretty neat!
Let’s take another look at that Cool Zone! 🔥🥶🔥
To quote a famous brewery…”people mumble, beer speaks!”
One of my favorite things to do with beer photography is tell a joke using the beer can, Just take that “Cool Zone” can…next to a fire…😐😐😑😐🤣
Well I find that funny…
Simply put, people have to pick some IPA to drink (I think there’s a law mandating it given how many of these there are), and how different can they really be? Sure you could probably tell the difference side by side. There’s a lot of cool process differences that yield a different experience. I’m sure there are even some folks out there who are also happy they can get the optimal IPA experience with the right about of IBUs, the proper mouthfeel, the correct floral (or piney, dank, fruity, earthy, minty, or even woody) hop character, and their ideal ABV…but let’s be honest, many people are getting a beer they like enough because it speaks to them. That witchey IPA, that disco and Italian-ey IPA, or that IPA that’s named after the place they’re in…they’re cool! When you’re staring at a shelf, you probably don’t have a perfect, or even good memory of what that exact beer tastes like; you’re lucky if you remember how much you like it. My research shows a lot of folks just do a thumbs up/down ranking system. So, if the beer is bad, that’s a problem. If the beer is good, you still need something else to bump you up to a “👍+”
CA has some cool animals
As I wrap up my first field notes, it seems wise to end on a warm and fuzzy note…and the most literal way I know how to do that is with animal pictures! CA has some cool ones and I’m barely scratching the surface with these…enjoy and stay tuned for the next installment! In case you need a cliff hanger, I saw a condor (!!), a harbor seal, cool birds, and dolphins!
Sunrise And Change
It’s a new day, with new beers!
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Graffiti Getaway
Boomtown has a beer that inspired an entire hike…that’s good imagery!
Check out my trip to Murphy Ranch armed with some hazy IPAs
Beer Pics: A day at the beach
A jog, a camera, and a few beers is a great way to spend a morning in Malibu!
Let Me Tell You About the Beers and the Bees
No ‘the talk’ here, just some beautiful shots of beers and a bee!
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Duffman - Can he save you from the 5-POD? Photo Source
Word on the Street: The 5-Pack of Disappointment
A monster lurks inside of every 6-pack…
In honor of Halloween, I’m going to tell you a beer horror story. This isn’t about exploding bottles, contaminated tanks, or even Duffman’s impending rampage, but something more common. We’re going to learn about the 6-pack boogieman, a creature I call “The 5-Pack of Disappointment” (5-POD). This monster haunts a consumer’s mind, and their fridge. Often you need a hero to rescue you from this monster. I’m talking about the 5 beers you’re left with if you bought the wrong 6-pack.
How a 5-POD is born
Yesterday, while leading a tasting, one of my guests asked how to navigate buying beer. She knows what she’s enjoyed in the past, but not hot to find what she’ll enjoy in the future. Moreover, the scary 5-POD was actively preventing her from exploring or buying 6-packs. In keeping with the Halloween theme, let’s look at the 5-POD’s origin story.
A 5-POD is born out of three main factors: uncertainty, unfamiliarity, and high costs.
Uncertainty
Put yourself in the mind of a consumer. You’re looking for a beer and something catches your eye. It’s a beautiful off-white can with a psychedelic swirl and a bunch of body parts. Wow that looks cool, but what is it? What does it taste like? Most importantly, will I like it?
This isn’t a knock on minimalist packaging, which can be quite effective if done properly. These issues can persist on more detailed packages too. Florida Cracker, one of my favorite witbiers, has a fairly good description on their packaging and an even more detailed description on their website. Even this good description (below) doesn’t address how sweet the beer is, the yeast forward notes, the fact that it contains wheat and coriander, or other dimensions that may be important to a consumer. While many of these issues are resolved with beer/style education or trial, a 5-POD can easily be born from this fantastic beer.
“Citrus aromas of oranges and lime leaves mingle with bubblegum and dried flowers on the nose of this hazy and refreshing Belgian-style White Ale. High carbonation and herbaceous bitterness quench the thirst while lemon-lime esters and flavors of Valencia orange add unique depth of flavor and complexity.”
Beer is a highly experiential product. While some consumers can describe specifically why they like a beer (i.e. deeply roasted malt, dry body, astringent bitterness linger reminiscent of coffee, and a killer aroma featuring notes of chocolate), my research shows many consumers simply use a thumbs up/down system. When looking at 6-pack, they’re trying to figure out “will I like this?”
If they don’t like it, a 5-POD is born.
Unfamiliarity
Again, jump into the mind of a consumer. Do you know what a ‘kettle sour’ is? How about a ‘barrel sour?’ Why are coolship beers so expensive? Are they made on a ship? How can a ‘Belgian’ beer be made in in the US?
There’s a lot of complexity in beer, and while that’s part of makes beer so amazing, it can also be daunting to consumers. Compound unfamiliarity with minimalist packaging, hundreds of options, and time pressure and daunting can become overwhelming. In my research, I’ve heard from consumers who have strolled the aisles, looking for something new, only to flee to the safety of something they’ve had before. Simply put, consumers might not know much about their beer, they may not be familiar with the terms brewers or marketers use, and even if the information is “right on the packaging,” a consumer may not see it, or the information may not be as clear as the marketer thinks. Unfamiliarity can result in surprises and disappointment.
“We thought the wonderful sweet, jam-like, berry flavors of raspberries could only benefit in the light, tart backbone of a slightly salty gose. We chose dried raspberries and made sure the gose extracted all the berry goodness it could before packaging. Pucker up to this refreshing gose that finishes with a nice raspberry touch.”
As an example, the ‘Gose’ style is defined by the BJCP as “a highly-carbonated, tart and fruity wheat ale with a restrained coriander and salt character and low bitterness.” Angel City Raspberry Gose’s description mentions sourness once (“tart backbone”) and sweetness or berries 7 times in the description. A consumer can read this is lightly tart or as light and also tart and without familiarity with the style a consumer could be surprised by this beer, creating a 5-POD.
Cost
Multi-packs in LA cost about $10-15+. It will come at no surprise that this is more than a single beer at a bar, which can be found for as little as $3 with a typical beer clocking in around $5-8. While the unit economics of off-premise beers are much more favorable than on-premise consumption ($1-3/beer), the total cost is higher. More than the actual dollar costs is the perceived cost that looms large in all the other decision factors: disposal. If a 5-POD is a ‘monster’ then the disposal cost is what makes the monster so scary!
We’ve all bought something we thought would be cool, but didn’t live up to the hype. If you search for “kitchen gadget” on Amazon, you can get some (possibly) useful items for the cost of a 6-pack including 5 bladed scissors, a grumpy looking fridge deodorizer, a ravioli maker press, an “onion holder,” or even an egg separator that looks like an egg/bird hybrid (which is worth a look). Any of these items can be an amazing or regrettable purchase, but if it falls into the latter category, it languishes in a drawer to be forgotten about. The key difference between 5 bladed scissors and a 5-POD is the beer sits in your fridge taunting you. You’re reminded of your poor decision every time you grab the milk, every time you have a snack, every time you have a (different) beer, and every time you play ‘fridge Tetris’ to fit all the groceries. You have lots of options to banish the 5-POD from your fridge, but nearly all are perceived costs.
Fighting the 5-POD
The hero your fridge needs
The best case scenario is that you’ve picked up a good beer that doesn’t suit your taste. If this is the case, you may have a friend you can call in to help. This friend likes these sorts of beers, and is happy to ride to your rescue, no judgement, no questions, just happy to help you out and drink some free beer! Everyone wins!
The other way this can play out is your friend isn’t so noble and chides you for your purchase or is suspicious of this beer. They want to know what’s wrong with the beer that you want to get rid of it; why they’re the person you’re pawning off sub-par beer to; what does that say about me; and, seriously, what’s wrong with it?
While most people are happy to have free beer, the anxiety of this scenario is real and the 5-POD feasts off of it. So why don’t I just dump the beer?
Why you don’t ‘just dump the beer’
If we were all perfectly rational people, we’d try to find someone who wanted the beer, or just get rid of it. Beer you don’t want is a ‘bad’ (an item with negative value), and just as rational individuals want more ‘goods,’ rational individual want fewer ‘bads.’ Dumping the beer down the sink takes 2 minutes, you can recycle the bottles/cans, and the problem goes away. Or does it?
I was brought up in a family where we were expected to eat all of the food on our plates; to take care of the things we had, and not to be wasteful. I’ve only had the one upbringing, but I feel this was a pretty normal childhood. I also had friends who were much more frugal (some by extreme necessity), so the idea of literally pouring beer or anything down the drain grates my soul. Each time you crack a can, you’re reminded that you’re pouring money down the drain. Examining this behavior demonstrates the strong power these customs and social norms (frugality and not being wasteful) and how that overcomes the rational decision to dispose of a ‘bad.'
Can you return it?
Sometimes, if the beer is uncharacteristically bad, you can return the beer to the store or inform the brewery. If you’ve identified a quality issue in the beer, you will probably get a full refund and maybe even some SWAG or credit as a gesture of good will. But in all likelihood, you’ll have to explain to a store why you’re returning 5/6th of a 6-pack. While many grocery or liquor stores don’t want to deal with an argument or lose a customer, this is not a conversation most consumers look forward to, and for $10-15, who wants to go through the hassle?
How most 5-PODs are slain
So what happens to these 5-PODs? Just like the ghost stories that inspired this one, 5-PODs have thousands of unique endings that all feel basically the same. We’ve detailed a few of the happier endings above, but another ending is the 5-POD lingers in a fridge until they fade into memory. Some consumers drink the beer begrudgingly, which can result in negative brand perceptions since that beer/brewery caused this negative experience. Other times, a consumer brings the beer to a party where the 5-POD is released into the communal cooler (and may end up in the host’s fridge to languish). The beer may be past its prime by this point, further impacting the perception of the beer. The guest may avoid the question about what they brought because they’re embarrassed to be using their friends to dispose of something they didn’t like. By this point, the consumer is just happy to not be the consumer of the beer, not the happy ending a brewery had in mind.
The monster’s weakness
Looking back to the 5-POD’s origin gives us clues on how to resolve the 5-POD problem. Uncertainty and unfamiliarity are combated with description, experiencing the beer, and general beer education. The simplest way to defeat the 5-POD is to buy single beers, either a la carte, or in a ‘mixed 6-pack.’ Another opportunity is through a curated purchasing experience, led by a store employee, a friend, or crowd sourced. Additional weapons in the 5-POD fighting arsenal include in-store samples, on-premise consumption (i.e. on draft at a bar), a detailed description of the beer, richer advertising that includes reaction/tasting videos, or targeted marketing that suggests a beer to someone likely to enjoy it based on past purchases.
Addressing the psychological costs can be trickier, but looking at other industries provides some useful approaches. When car companies want to project quality, they offer a warranty; if they stand behind their vehicles for 10 years, they must be high quality. In the world of food and beverage, the ‘warranty’ takes the form of a “100% satisfaction guarantee” (example 1; example 2). Breweries have done product recalls or bar/retail buybacks for quality concerns, and could possibly do a product swap for consumers (I’ve emailed Boston Beer Co. to see if they do product swaps).
Do you know of any interesting/innovative ways breweries are addressing this? Send me a note!
Beer Business Basics: Occasional Drinking
Occasional drinking isn’t a ‘once in a while’ thing, but an ‘every time’ thing; here’s why
The English Language is fun. Occasional Drinking doesn’t refer to infrequently drinking, but instead describes drinking in conjunction with a specific occasion. With this definition in mind, being the preferred beer for a given occasion can be critical for success, and also help you define your brand. Some great examples of a single brand owning an occasion are Corona being the beer you drink on the beach and Guinness as the beer for St. Patrick’s Day. Other occasions have strong affiliations with beers, such as marzens during Oktoberfest, pumpkin spice everything in the fall, a beer at the baseball game, or regional traditions like standing in line for the Goose Island Bourbon County stout.
Many of these occasions were built by years of cultural tradition, consumer trends, or millions (sometimes billions) of ad dollars. While performing well for established and widespread drinking occasions is important, so is selecting a few ‘grounded,’ day-to-day occasions to win. Let’s take a look at three ‘daily’ occasions and how breweries/beverage companies try to win these.
From Dry River Brewing: Link
Brunch
Culture demands we have beverages with our brunch. These beverages are typically bloody marys and mimosas, but rosé, micheladas, even Hennessy are trying to lay claim to this occasion.
Brunch is usually a ‘fancy’ occasion; one where people get dressed up, spend time with friends, and luxuriate in their day. It’s a mini-holiday that can happen every week, and associating your beers with brunch can be a way to suggest that your beverage is a bit of luxury or a way to relax.
Hennessy can also be a brunch beverage: Link
Camping and Hiking
I love camping, hiking, backpacking, canoeing, and outdoor activities. For some people, camping is just going to a wooded area and drinking with friends. Often, when backpacking, people bring spirits, as they’re high in ABV (you need to pack in less weight/volume) and are fine at room temperature. Hiking and casual camping is a bit more forgiving with many rewarding hikes that are only a few hours, so a cold beverage, or even a cooler is possible. Several beers and ciders would like to win this occasion and build their image as part of an active lifestyle. This also helps a brand appear more ‘rugged,’ relatable, or even showcase their regional roots (think of redwoods signaling ‘California’ or cypress trees signaling ‘Florida’)
Sports
One of the biggest occasions is sports. People willingly (even if begrudgingly) pay as much as $19.25 for a beer at a baseball game (source: Sports Illustrated). Notably, some beers are only available at the stadium (Veza Sur in Miami, NY Mets’ on-site Mikkeller brewery, or Barrelman Ale in Milwaukee). Outside of baseball, there’s Saint Archer’s roots in skateboarding, Natural Light sponsoring the Big 12 conference, and Red Bull’s heavy involvement with extreme sports.
Throwing a watch party for the local team, offering discounts based on the outcome of a game, collecting used sporting equipment to benefit local youth teams, or simply putting your product in the hands of athletes or spectators can build the association and shape your brand image.
Mikkeller’s Brooklyn Citi Field beer: Source
Are you in it to win it?
Winning an occasion is great! If you’re someone’s go-to beach beer, every time they go to the beach, you make a sale. If baseball in your town means it’s time for one of your beers, you can move a lot of beer and that can fund growth, pay down debt, or help launch new products. By showcasing occasions that your beers complement, you can ‘teach’ consumers how to enjoy your beers or stay top-of-mind.
Not every occasion will be part of someone’s life, yet the occasions you showcase your product in can still be useful. Very few of us jump out of balloons from record breaking heights, but Red Bull’s sponsorship of this activity strengthens their ‘extreme’ image. Similarly, not all consumers skateboard or surf, but if they want a ‘California beer,’ Saint Archer’s SoCal roots might make them choose their Mexican lager over one of the many available competitors. Lastly, while most of our meals may be more functional than glamorous, a beautifully set table, complete with Funky Buddha beer may elevate their beer to something worthy of high quality foods or your next dining experience.
Site Visit: A Black Cat in the California Sun
What sets The Black Cat apart from its neighbor California Sun? The vibe, the offerings, and the types of customers they attract. Click to learn more!
Read MoreBeer Business Basics: What is Beer Data and Why Should I Care?
What is data?
As a former aerospace engineer, I am no stranger to data. I’ve analyzed stress data for a satellite structure under launch conditions or a jet engine blade on takeoff. This data is great if you enjoy satellite TV or ever fly in an airplane, but data can also help inform what’s the best way to market a brewery or what band to bring in to play tonight.
First, it’s important to understand what data is. Think of a data point like a puzzle piece. Each piece of data offers a little bit; some blue with a touch of green. Put enough of these together, you can see the picture is of a lake. When you have all the pieces in place, you see some fine details, such as the fact that this lake is in the mountains and has a swimming flock of ducks. Looking at a specific data point, you can’t really see much. Knowing there’s 40 people in your taproom at 8:17 PM isn’t very useful, but if you have data on the whole night, you’re putting the puzzle together. With more information you could see that you’re busiest between 8 and 9 and that an individual stays for 45 minutes on average.
Why is data helpful?
Unfortunately, in the real world, data isn’t exactly like a puzzle. There’s no photo on the box showing you what the completed puzzle should look like. In the example of number of people in the taproom, multiple data points throughout the night helps you build a picture of how long people stay. When you combine this with how many drinks were ordered, you can start to make specific business decisions. For example, if your bar is busiest from 8-9pm as the example above, you can use this to make staffing decisions.
That’s fairly simple, but what if parties of 2+ order more beers per person than single parties? This data can be used to design a promotion that attracts groups such as a cornhole tournament that requires teams of 2. Similarly, knowing that customers find you on online is useful, but finding out if they’re discovering your brewery through Google or Instagram can inform whether you spend money upgrading your website or creating a great photo spot in your taproom.
The goal is to make informed decisions. Every time you change something in your brewery, bar, taproom, recipe, packaging, etc. you’re running an experiment. People are seeing (or not seeing) the change, and making a purchasing decision based off of it. The data gives you a measurement of if the experiment was successful. If bringing in that band increased sales enough to offset their fee, if changing your can art increased sales, if advertising on Facebook actually lead to more young professionals discovering your brewery, etc.
How to get data?
If you’re a small brewery owner, you may be thinking data is too expensive or complicated to get. The good news is you have a ton of data already. If you’re at your taproom regularly, you see who walks through the door. You know how much beer is flowing. You know what kegs are selling, and what isn’t. This is all a great start. Taking some notes on how many people are stopping in on a given night can help you track whether a can release increases the taproom traffic or not.
Similarly, asking multiple customers the same questions can provide a good qualitative view across different groups. When a server asks if it’s anyone’s first time, they can follow up with “how did you hear about us?”
If you have a membership program, you can survey these members or invite them to comment on any changes you’re considering. These members are often your most committed customers and can have some great feedback. These are your unpaid brand ambassadors, and if they’re happy, they’ll carry your brewery’s flag amongst their friends and colleagues.
Finally, if your brewery has even more resources, you could always do some more formal data collection. This collection can include surveys, specific research, taste testing, focus groups, or customer profile tracking. It’s also possible your local brewers guild is collecting data or conducting research, so make sure to get involved with that.
Have questions, comments, or just not sure how this applies to your brewery? Reach out: ethan.siegler.2019@marshall.usc.edu
Word on the Street: How a Nashville Beer Menu is Different from an LA Beer Menu
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What I did see were styles that are almost extinct on LA beer menus; brown ales, dunkels, doppelbaks, and more. When a bar or brewery is trying to figure out how to allocate their taps or brewing equipment, it’s important to consider what your customers want and how much of it they want. If your customers are diverse, you may want to consider a wide selection of offerings, and that third IPA may not be offering as much diversity as your first dunkel or red ale. If your customers are hopheads and want a bitter, piney IPA and would love to wash that down with a juicy New England style or spicy rye IPA, then there’s nothing wrong with giving them what they want.
Read MoreSite Visit: There and (bar)back again
My Trip to Brooklyn and Nashville
How’s beer different on the coast vs. the middle of the country
LAX —> JFK
Putting my game-face on!
I made the trip to NYC to record a podcast (Beer Sessions Radio) with Jimmy Carbone and the Heritage Radio Network. We were discussing my beer research, where I was looking into how consumers select the beers and breweries they support in the LA area. This is an interesting question since these consumers have so many more choices now then even just a few years ago, and the way they choose can have a huge impact on a brewery’s success or failure.
After hopping off the plane and making it into Brooklyn, I fought through the rain to find my way to some Brooklyn Pizza. Eating NYC Pizza spoils the rest of the country’s pizza with its deliciousness. After strolling the neighborhood, it was time to podcast!
The podcast focused on several topics, from how breweries communicate to their customers, what beverage trends are affecting brewers and drinkers, how these trends vary in different parts of the country, and even some business terms such as ‘mobility gap.’ In future posts, I plan to explain business concepts and terms as they relate to breweries, so stay tuned! What I’ll get into in my next post is how the beer menus are different in Nashville vs. NYC and LA
Before hopping over to Nashville, my plane had a long delay. The silver lining was the pilot let us come up and check out the cockpit!
