Quench Your Thirst

I’m feeling a little rant right now and it has nothing to do with beer.

Today, I spent way too long in cyber hell with the ‘good’ customer service department of Hewlett Packard in India.

In all honesty, I really don’t care where your call centre is but can you please make sure they can actually help.  I spent a good deal of time explaining my issues with a laptop and printer only to have this person transfer me to the printer department, who then proceeded to ask me the same questions only to then transfer me to a Canadian department where the guy on the phone was nothing but useless.  Instead of trying to resolve the problem, his massive technological contribution to the call was to suggest that I upgrade to a new printer which could handle the software of the laptop.  NO THANKS!

I was so pissed at the end of the call, that I made up my mind to basically toss out my printer and go get a new one and you can be damn sure that it won’t have the initials HP anywhere on it.

Here’s the thing - I understand the call centres located in foreign lands are often excellent ways of saving cash - Good on you!  However, it is incumbent on every company to ensure that we, the consumer are actually well taken care of.  I teach these concepts to my students at Humber and it still surprises me when I get this kind of treatment.

Sorry for the rant and non beer topic but I needed to get this off my chest

Cheers

This past week, I had the pleasure of hosting two fabulous beer dinners.  The first was at the Irish Harp in Niagara-on-the-Lake and the second was at the Celtic Corner in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

The Irish Harp

My first thoughts on this dinner was to say thank you to the staff - they were very professional and efficient.  Every one of the beers that was served was done perfectly - badge forward.  The owner of the Irish Harp, Kevin also told us that everything in the pub was directly shipped in from Ireland.  The pub itself was warm and inviting and should be a must-see for anyone heading down there.

The meal was outstanding.  We started with Smithwicks as a welcome beer and then:

• Harp with a fabulous Cheddar and Lager soup
• Red Stripe with a soft, creamy and perfectly spiced Chicken Curry
• Guinness with an outstanding beef wellington wrapped in a perfect puff pastry
• Kilkenny with a lamb Osso Bucco
• Dragon Stout with a chocolate layer cake with fresh cream

The Celtic Corner

Once again, I have to give kudos to the owners and staff at this wonderful pub.  Some of the dishes we served were created just for us and it looks like they are going to become part of the regular menu.  This homey pub just across the bridge from Halifax is inviting and warm and the smiles on the faces of the servers are abundant.

This time, we opened with a Harp as the welcome beer and then shifted into

• Red Stripe with a tandoori chicken with a mango yogurt side
• Smithwicks with a Dubliner Cheddar and Ale soup (which just may be one of the best soups I’ve ever had)
• Kilkenny with Beef Wellington and root vegetables and mashed potatoes
• Guinness with a decadent Chocolate cake and fresh cream

It was quite the week and I have to admit that on the flight home, I often wondered if I ever needed to eat again.

Cheers

check this out AMAZING AUTOMATIC BEER POURING MACHINE

Now - let’s think about it. 

This is very cool from my perspective.  I love thinking how some engineer figured this out.  In a society where beer  is not taboo, this is in the Tokyo Internation Airport.

My only concern is the last step - the pour seemed like it was going well anyway, why the switch to the foam only shot at the end?  One of the benefits of naturally occuring foam is the delivery of aroma.  Can’t see how this gets aroma to us.  The other thing to think about is: is there more than one beer in the machine and if so, how can we tell if the foam is coming from the same beer. 

Ah - always the cynic.

Cheers

Let’s take a good hard look at the beer industry.  There has been massive growth in the amount of brewers who have entered the world of beer in Canada.  In BC and Quebec, the brewers there are leading the creative push on style development.  Ontario is getting there but welcome to the world of conservatism.

You’ll notice I said brewers, not breweries.  It is extremely expensive to start a brewery from the ground up.  The easier alternative is to become a brewer who licenses another brewer to create a batch of beer under contract.  Hence ‘contract brewing’.  This is a generally good premise to start a business with - the contract brewer increases the capacity of their own brewery, the new brewer gets an experienced brewer who knows how to make beer consistently good (we hope) and the capital investment is put off to another day.

Here’s where I see the issues -

1. Most of the new breweries are picking the bar arena to focus their distribution.  Why?  It’s relatively less expensive because you are putting your beer into kegs instead of bottles.  The caveat is this: The on-premise sector only accounts for 20% of all beer sold in Canada and then draught beer only accounts for a total of 9% of all beer.  Secondly, this is the one place where competition reigns supreme.  You can lose a tap in a whim.  The wise brewers are starting to get this concept: This is a retail market and true long term success comes if you understand how to get your beer in the hands of a consumer so they can enjoy your beer at home.
2. Contract brewing is relatively easy to get into and therefore relatively easy to get out of.  I suppose my concern is that we need to keep breweries in business - consistency is again at the forefront and people need to get comfortable with the brewers.  If brewers come and go, it does nothing for the long term viability of the industry.

One last thing - there’s an article in All About Beer this month and I must admit was quite refreshing to hear what this brewer said.  New Glarus Brewing, master brewer, Dan Carey said this:

I think I brew beer for people.  I don’t brew beer for beer geeks.  I brew beer for people who don’t know what an IBU is, or ABV.  I brew beer for people that work for a living and come home and just want a beer.  If that’s boring, then I’m boring.”

Amen! I’m not a fan of this extreme beer movement.  Pushing the limits of ingredient use is not something I’m interested in.  Give me a well made, consistently good beer that I can have more than one of, any day and I’ll be happy.

Cheers

We are being inundated with information about beer and brewing industry.  ‘Craft’ beers are growing in leaps and bounds.  New brewers are opening up at a pace we’ve never seen before.  Consumers are getting tired of the same old brands.  Cask beers are all the rage etc, etc, etc.

The issue that I have with all of this is simple.  The information is coming from all directions and there is not one single place we can trust.  Yesterday, I was given a sample of a ‘cask’ beer that was supposed to be a British Pale Ale style.  The beer was cloudy, relatively flat and reeked of American hops.  The poor bartender was only telling me what he was told and I’m sorry….it was wrong.  Cask beers need to sit for a couple of days before being tapped in order to allow the beer to become clear.  Secondly, the natural fermentation and carbonation should create some life to the beer (not flat) and thirdly, if you are making a British Pale Ale, it needs to be very gentle on the presence of hops, have a significant malt presence but still have some nice bitterness to it.

The problem with misinformation is that it does nothing to strengthen beer’s position in the alcohol beverage market.  In the wine world, a Pino Grigio is simply that and nothing can be mistaken about it.

Secondly, growth rates of brewers are by and large difficult to assess.  Most of the statistical information is coming from the Brewers Association of Canada and the volume they show is recorded volume.  The only issue with this measurement is that there is a substantial amount of beer that is not being recorded, which makes it difficult at best to be accurate.  Secondly, what is being measured is import versus domestic – not macro versus micro and for the same reasons.

Check out tomorrow’s Reality Check Part 2 for a look at the market itself and some of the upcoming issues.

Cheers

I was very sad to hear the news of the passing of an old friend and colleague, Richard Culley.

Rich was a wonderful, larger than life personality who I had the pleasure of working with at Oland Specialty Beer Co.  He was one of the 14 inaugural members of OSBC and his wonderful sense of humour always brought a smile to my face.

As sometimes happens, we lost touch afte he left the business but we had the opportunity to get back in touch about a month ago.

Rich’s sudden passing last week leaves a big hole in our hearts.  Let’s hope he has the same fate as those Viking warriors of days gone by - where he gets to spend the rest of his days in Valhalla enjoying beer.

Cheers, Rich - we’ll miss you.

Rog

I’m sure by now, you’ve heard some rumblings about Six Pints Specialty Beer Company.  This is the specialty division that holds the Creemore and Granville Island brands.  They have been building very quickly to something that is stirring some great memories for me personally - Oland Specialty Beer Company.  The naysayers will comment that there is nothing new about this concept but I would argue - OSBC broke the ground and then slowly faded into oblivion.  Six Pints now has the opportunity to take it to another level.

The same concept was recently launched in the U.S with Tenth and Blake (the specialty division of SAB Miller) and I know how they are going to market.  For me, it’s about time.  Ever since, Labatt abandoned OSBC and the concept of selling with knowledge and history, the market has been screaming for something to take its place.  Small, craft brewers have done a decent job filling the void with great innovations.  Moosehead has added Sam Adams and Hop City to its portfolio.

I was lucky enough to get a tour of the new ‘Beer Academy’ of Six Pints the other day.  Aaron Bilyea, their Director of Marketing gave me a quick glimpse of 75 Victoria St (the old Duggan/Denison’s Brewery).  This will be quite something!  Here are but a few of the features.

1. Brewmaster Todd Fowler will be making small batches of a variety of experimental styles and these beers will be open to the public for sampling in the consumer sampling area
2. there will be a ‘Library’ area where comfy chairs and books filled with beer info will be available
3. an ‘L’ shaped wall will feature the history of beer
4. the main floor will house an event space (actually more than one) that will be available for rentals and private events.  This building will have a tied house license which will allow for brands other than Six Pints portfolio to be sampled.
5. The basement will feature a space for demonstration cooking and pairing classes.
6. The building will be largely ‘beer agnostic’ according to Aaron and will feature a concept of beer reverence.  I love the idea because it celebrates beer just for the sake of beer.

I’m also very excited to announce that Level 3 of Prud’homme will find its home at the Beer Academy at 75 Victoria.

It should all be up and running by the beginning of March.

Cheers

These are wonderful times in the world of beer.  Over the past 15 years, I’ve seen massive change - the introduction of decent, style appropriate glassware, the broadening of the category through inventive small brewers, the desire for more beer education by both the industry and the consumer and so on.

What I am currently fascinated by is the newest advertisements by several brewers.  Of course we should also look back to cheeky but brilliant ad campaigns by Dos Equis, Heineken and Corona but I would rather focus on two ads which I just love.

Molson M - this new ad is brilliant.  Not only does it have a very catchy, interesting backdrop of music, it is scattered with fascinating snippets of imagery and art and finishes off with the art and dedication of a brew master.  It draws a wonderful correlation between the art of brewing and other art forms and does not once mention the social aspect of beer.  Well done, Molson!

Guinness - similar in style to the Johnny Walker ads, this ad takes us through a wonderful retrospectiv journey of our life - from the downright silly pursuit of fun and games to the final scene of just enjoying something worth waiting for.  Even the print ads for Guinness these days are about quality.  Each of them ends with a ‘Guinness is Good’ tag - an older concept in the brand history but still a very worth one.  Of course, this Guinness ad wouldn’t be nearly as attractive without the soft Irish lilt by the main character.

I love the way 2012 is starting and I can only hope that other brewers will follow suit with classy, thought provoking advertising.

Cheers

I’ve been thinking for quite some time about the value of social media and thought I would share my personal views on this growing phenomenon.

Twitter - this is a great medium for broadcasting information.  I use it to send my blogs out to anyone who cares.  My issue with this and any other form of communication is that too many posts lead to irrelevancy.  After a while, most tweets don’t have any value.  My suggestion to anyone who is using twitter is to keep your posts to important updates - I, personally, am not interested in 20 different updates throughout the day.  I need those who I follow to update me on important beer industry items - not at all interested in knowing some of the redundant crap that is being posted.  Also, I use email to communicate not twitter so if you want to respond to you, it’s better to email me. (this is more about my lack of technical expertise)

Facebook - not sure at all about this format for me personally.  I do not have a personal facebook page but use it only for the business.  Not really interested in staying in touch with ‘friends’ in this program.

LinkedIn - business facebook by any other name.  For me this is about staying in touch with former business colleagues or with current business partners.  I hope you will all understand that I am going to purge my contacts in LinkedIn today - nothing personal - just looking to simplify my life.

I’m still a big believer in face-to-face communication and hope that society as a whole takes a small step backward.

Cheers

I trust you all had a good holiday season and got the opportunity to celebrate with loved ones, friends and colleagues.

As always, change is inevitable and I’m really looking forward to 2012.

I got some great advice from one of my Prud’homme students recently about my website - so….I made some big changes and tried to make it easier to navigate.  What you will see is that there are two sites now

• www.thirstforknowledge.ca which is the company site and houses beer information, blogs etc
• www.beercertificate.ca which the Prud’homme Beer Certification site

I’ve also removed all of the old beer and food sections which were recipes (poorly formatted) and replaced it with a new blog called Hot & Cold.  This new blog will feature recipes from some of my chef friends and will also show beer pairings with each recipe.

I’ve posted the new programs for Beer School and for Prud’homme with limited seating in an attempt to try to make each session more valuable.

Come and join me as I strive to make beer education better in 2012.

Cheers