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Sadly, they already have that power. I've looked into the idea of commercially exploiting my brewing experience and it's pretty much a non-starter.
Distribution is pretty much divided into three tiers- brewers, distributors and retailers. A brewer can't retail bottles of beer, they have to sell to distributors who then sell to retailers. You can't just rack your belgian quad into bottles and start selling them out of the back of your pickup, even though it would be a great idea (just illegal). So you go to sell to a distributor and the problem is that a huge portion of the distributors have agreements that restrict them to only distributing product from ab/inbev owned breweries (the rest have agreements with SABMiller and will sometimes do business with you if you're big enough and have an amazing enough product, maybe). So basically you can't sell bottles unless you're huge, which means going the brewery/bar route.
Which means renting a space, building a brewery and then applying for federal and state licenses... Which means waiting 6 months (hahah yeah right) to 2 years for your permits to be approved before you can make your first batch of beer that can be sold to the public. And to actually be profitable, you're going to need to be brewing in (MINIMUM) 250 gallon batches. That equipment isn't cheap. So basically a huge capital outlay plus a few years of rent and then MAYBE you can compete with the other 30 craft brew places in your city.
I originally thought I could go from 10 gallon (standard homebrew size) to 55 gallon (a sort of nano-brewery size) to a 7 barrel system and slowly making more and more sales before even thinking about going full commercial. But you pretty much have to go in ***** deep from the start or you're breaking the law.
It's really sad because homebrewing is the greatest and the cheapest way of having an awesome beer (I just finished aging my belgian christmas stout, which is basically an oak aged belgian quad combined with the grain bill of a stout) but if you want to become the slightest bit commercial, it suddenly becomes the most expensive and painful thing in the world.
Considering the current lay of the land, I'm actually confused as to what sort of buttfuckery ab/inbev has planned for the community.
Btw, it took three tries, but I finally made a drinkable belgian imperial stout. First try was too roasty (I went berserk on the various roast malts). Second try was too boozy/winey (but over 12% abv). Third try is smooth and balanced- a bit roasty, a bit spicey (belgian yeast character) a bit plummy, a bit malty, a bit warm from alcohol... and to this I have added oak aging. It's over 11 percent alcohol but it's completely smooth and drinkable with tons of complexity.
Btw, it took three tries, but I finally made a drinkable belgian imperial stout. First try was too roasty (I went berserk on the various roast malts). Second try was too boozy/winey (but over 12% abv). Third try is smooth and balanced- a bit roasty, a bit spicey (belgian yeast character) a bit plummy, a bit malty, a bit warm from alcohol... and to this I have added oak aging. It's over 11 percent alcohol but it's completely smooth and drinkable with tons of complexity.
My biggest fear is that with their distribution control they can basically pick and choose who will be able to distribute and who will die on the vine.
Meh. As AlwaysBroken said, they've had that power forever, but craft beer has still continued to make headway. The only way they make their craft purchases worthwhile is by allowing them to retain their independence while improving efficiency by providing capital for growth and then providing the distribution to move the increase in production volume. It is the real-world manifestation of "if you can't beat them, join them".
They see the writing on the wall. Craft beer is here to stay, and the best way to get in on that trend is to buy their way in. The best way to make the most of those investments is to provide the independent breweries with capital and distribution, the two hardest things to come across (as AlwaysBroken said). I'm just not worried. If they screw it up, oh well - a hundred more small craft breweries brewing awesome beer on tiny systems will be there to fill their shoes.
I can't have just one. It's in my kegerator. It's so good. My favorite beer. Well, tied with Bridgeport IPA. Which, at this point, is old school. 5%, 35 IBU's. Both of these beers exemplify what I like. it's easy to toss hops into the boil and increase the IBU's. It's much more difficult to make a beer that's got a bitterness balanced to the malt with a big hop finish. The finish hop flavor, you see, boils off quickly. Different aromatics. They don't contribute to the IBU's or anything else measured objectively but they contribute mightily to the finished beer.
So at this point Bridgepoint IPA is hardly an IPA, by Portland standards, at 35 IBU's. But is is a strong structurally sound tasty beer. Good start, good finish. And at 5%, you can have a couple more than the Boneyard and not feel verklempt the next day. You can still feel verklempt the next day, but it takes more of them.
First, avoid TUI. Anything by TUI = trash. Do not drink. My first beer experience in New Zealand was buying a 12pack of TUI East India Pale Ale. "Right, ok, it's an IPA at least. Never heard of an East IPA, but what the hell, I'm in the Southern Hemisphere."
OMG.
a) it was not an IPA
b) it was not even a pale ale
c) it was not an ale
d) IT WAS A LAGER
It was ... less of a beer than Coors Light. The Silver Bullet would have kicked this beer's *** up and down the street. Much disappoint.
So TUI can kiss my ***. They are what a macrobrewery in New Zealand, sponsor stuff everywhere. But their beer is lacking in flavor and quality for those who have had better beer.
On to the beers I liked.
a) Hot Water Brewing.
These guys brewed the best beer I sampled in NZ. It was a seasonal, their "Venetian IPA." It was exactly what I like. 6ish %, nice front, big hop finish, bitterness hops balanced to the malt. A glorious beer, worthy of direct comparison to Boneyard RPM IPA. The best beer I sampled in NZ.
b) Lakeman Brewing
All of their beers that I sampled were worthy of drinking.
c) Panhead Brewing
Their Supercharger APA (American Pale Ale, which for those of you who haven't traveled overseas, means basically a northwest-style pale ale, with extra finish hops. Or an IPA anywhere else) is quite good.
d) Mac's
Mac's is another big brewery for NZ. They had a couple of beers I found tasty - Hop Rocker Pilsner, and Green Beret IPA. Green Beret was my go-to draft beer (at $8 a pop) at the local bars, as it was solid.
Hey guys, any idea for a good fruit addition to a hefeweizen? I'm thinking maybe apricot? Maybe peach?
Gonna add it in the secondary fermenter.
You should use something that is in season at this time of year. Might I suggest Barbados cherries, cape gooseberries, pomegranate, or guava? You would likely need to add a lot of guava to get any real flavor but cherries and gooseberries would probably impart flavor more easily like a raspberry would. A hefeweizen is pretty light so I would use only 2lbs or less to 5 gallons if you use a fruit that imparts a lot of flavor. Otherwise it will completely dominate the beer.
EDIT: Totally spaced on guava. It actually would not take a lot of guava to impart flavor. I was thinking mango for some reason.
I have a feeling like someone here offered to buy me a bottle of something, and I agreed to pay for it, and now I can't remember who it was and I'm too lazy to search.
I have a feeling like someone here offered to buy me a bottle of something, and I agreed to pay for it, and now I can't remember who it was and I'm too lazy to search.
IIRC, a while back . . .(https://www.miataturbo.net/insert-bs...8/#post1350572), you mentioned that you wanted some WootStout, and I offered to provide, but then there was subsequent discussion about the production being substantially larger this year and the possibility of your finding it locally. You never mentioned it again (until now), so I assumed you either found some or lost interest.
Hmm, the apricot hefe is done. Apricot character is definitely noticeable. Perhaps too noticeable. I will see if it mellows out a bit. I drank like three four glasses of it, so it's not bad or anything. Just saying.
Wow raspberries were on sale super cheap (11 bucks for 5 lbs) so the second hefe became a raspberry hefe.
Pureed them about a lb and a half at a time with a little water and then heated them to 160F for about 15-20 minutes and cooled them and pitched them into the secondary. Fermentation has already restarted.
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