Baron Turkeys! A Powerful Thanksgiving Idea Whose Time Has Come.

Here’s a great big Happy Thanksgiving wish to all of you…and specially to Jim and Ann Baron of Thatched House Farm, Dutton, Warrington, Cheshire. Which is not around here but 4,705 miles across the sea…as the turkey flies, so to speak.

They produce Baron Turkeys, the kind of thing one discovers surfing the web, searching for this year’s Thanksgiving blog topic. I hope that the Barons of Cheshire don’t mind a modest invasion of their privacy. I think it’s in a good cause.

First, let me point out that the UK mainly doesn’t appear to do Thanksgiving. Turkeys are a Christmas item over there. Baron Turkeys “…specialise in supplying turkey growers to be reared on for Christmas.” That is (as I understand it), the Barons don’t actually sell you oven-ready turkeys, but ones that you can raise yourself to full-fledged…uh…turkeyness and then take care to prepare it – yourself, again – for your feast.

I found Baron Turkeys on the off-chance, Internet-wise. Theirs is a functional website with just four pages; straight enough. Oh – and just two photos of the poults – the young domestic turkeys they offer for raising. The human touch is provided by a single paragraph on the HOME page:

Our business was founded in the '60s by Ted Baron, an experienced poultry farmer and continues in the family today being run by Jim and Ann Baron. The main delivery driver Peter has worked here for 26 years.

I wish I had discovered these Barons earlier, so that I could invite them to join us here in Texas for our family Thanksgiving. The finishing touch: I could have had some Baron Liberator Doppelbock shipped down here from Seattle.

Perhaps if I let them know about this post, though, they’ll send a few snaps over for an American (me) who shares a name if not an actual as-it-were family relationship. Now Barbara Nytes-Baron and I hope the UK Barons will have a great Holiday season. As well as the American Barons, Slaviks, Murphys, Eisenbergs, Bonds, Sabels, Musils, Hoffmans, Nyteses, Kaplans and Yonkas; our friends and colleagues near and far. Starting today.

NOTE OF FOOT: I’m trusting that the roadview photo of Thatched House Farm, from Geolocation.ws, is correct. Wouldn’t I feel like Mr Turkey my own self if I’d got it wrong?

Wichita Ale Tales: The Brewer Polishes Old Snortin' Norton.

In Wichita, Kansas, Dan Norton is the Head Brewer at River City Brewing Company. We've been stopping here every time Barbara and I drive to Minnesota...for years. This time, though, Maria (our server) offered something different: Old Snortin' Norton, a beer created by the brewer to celebrate his 1,000^th beer. It is...fine. Said the same in an email to Norton; asked for details. And you know, sometimes you just can't beat other people's stories. Here's at least three – from the brewer's mouth.

Thank you for the nice comments on my 1,000^th batch. A lot of times for commemorative brews, I’ll brew something very big, add some crazy ingredients, age it in some kind of barrel with tons of dry hops, push the limits a little.

I have been researching my family history quite a bit this year, and I thought for my 1,000^th batch that I’d keep it simple with a straightforward style, but a style that is “all there” when it comes to flavor. My grandpa Bob taught me how to homebrew when I was 18 and stumbled upon his batch of Pale Ale that he brewed in the basement fridge.

Grandpa Bob was a strong-willed, some say stubborn guy that loved his family and grandkids very much! He was an engineer for the Grand Trunk Railroad in Battle Creek, Michigan, and was known at every bar that was on his route home from work, as Old Snortin’ Norton, or sometimes “Snort” for short. He was also on the USS Reid in Pearl Harbor, and when you look at records online of who was on that ship, it lists the crew with a column for nicknames. Sure enough, it says Snortin’ Norton next to my grandpa!

I never got to sit at a brewery with Old Snortin’ since he passed when I was 20, so I wanted to honor him with this beer, and every glass I drink of it, I raise it up for my grandpa!

Since we all hail from England, I decided on an English Old Ale. My version is on the dark end of the spectrum for this style, but within range. The 7.7% alcohol Is also towards the top range, but that’s what I wanted. I used Maris Otter as my base malt for this beer, which adds a little more grainy-biscuit flavor and a little more body than our standard 2-row Pale Malt.  Some Caramel 80, a mid-range Caramel malt adds a little toasted toffee-like flavor, Chocolate Malt and Black Malt add to the complexity by adding their dark color and sweet roast flavor.

But hold it to the light and the deep amber color of the Caramel malt will shine a nice garnet color. East Kent Goldings, and Fuggle Hops add their spicy English Hop character, then I fermented with a English yeast strain, which adds that signature flavor. All in all, I think it turned out really good. It will age nicely, so I am stowing two kegs away for a rainy day, possibly for our 18^th Anniversary Party (which is a can’t-miss event!)

If you and your wife were to only have one day a year to stop into the brewery the first Saturday in March would be it!  We pull out all the stops and release some really nice beers that day.  Plus, they are all $2.50, you can't beat that!

Cheers to you and your exploration of good beer, Richard.

Companies, brands, products (such as RCBC's handmade beers) – they're all burnished by good stories. Big-time thanks, Dan Norton, for sharing these. The photo of the brew pub (top) is from the Wichita Library, thanks very much. In the smaller photo, the glass on the right contained the Old Snortin' Norton. Barbara's Emerald City Stout – same brewer – is on the left.

In Fredericksburg, It’s Not about the Beer – It’s about Marketing and Selling the Beer.

I was in Fredericksburg, TX, this weekend – Barbara and I went for a wedding. It’s been years, maybe decades since I was last in this Hill Country town. It was crowded, a typical summer tourist weekend in F’burg…as with so many towns with their summer festivals.

Thanks to the Internet and the boom in craft-brewed beers, I knew enough to want to stop at the Fredericksburg Brewing Company (est. 1994); have a fresh beer or two. Did that first thing.

Barbara had a pint of the Pioneer Porter – smoked style, good. I coddled a glass of the brewpub’s Maibock which was very tasty. To my mind, it was the weekend’s best beer. The curious part: the same people who own Fredericksburg Brewing Company created the wonderful Hangar Hotel where we stayed overnight, 3.5 miles off Main Street at the airport. Lovely place, great room.

I was saddened to learn the hotel bar does NOT serve the beers from its sister company, the brewpub on Main. Strange oversight; maybe it’s regulatory. Kelly Ayers, Marketing & Events Manager for the associated companies*, confirmed it in a responsive email today:

We would love nothing more than to serve Brewery beers in the hotel bar; unfortunately laws for brewpubs are different than they are for microbreweries.

As a brewpub, we are only able to sell our beer on site; we cannot distribute to other retailers (even our sister businesses). We’ve been crossing our fingers that this law would be changed and have been watching closely Texas HB 660, which would allow brewpubs to distribute their beer.

You can follow updates on the bill on the Texas Legislature website. Right now it looks like it has been left pending in committee. If we can get a bill like this passed rest assured that we will not only have Fredericksburg Brewing Company beer in the Officers’ Club at the Hangar, but also in grocery stores!

By the way, I entirely agree with your review of the Maibock, it is one of my favorite brews!

Now one serious lapse is mine: Why didn’t I leap into the car and speed the 3.5 miles back to Main Street to buy a growler of the Maibock? And get back to the hotel lickety-split with that brew all fresh and cold? Well, I didn’t. My bad.

Passage of Texas House Bill 660, which Ayers mentions, is the consumers’ best hope for allowing craft-focused brewers to more effectively market and cross-sell their beers.

We can all help. It doesn’t even have to include drinking the beer – though that sounds strange. First, get your social media caps on. Go to Texas Beer Freedom on Facebook and sign up. Friend your local microbrewery or brewpub while you’re at it.

If your favorite bar or pub doesn’t carry fresh Texas microbrew, try a few encouraging words to the manager or the bartender. Because this post isn’t just for Fredericksburg and its tourists…it’s for all of us.

Think of this as our summertime “Freedom to Market” mission.

*To complete the set, let me mention that Ayers is also responsible for marketing the third of the sister companies, Fredericksburg Herb Farm. Photo courtesy of TripAdvisor.

Out of Australia: How the Beer There Becomes (Briefly) the Beer Here.

The opening line of Wikipedia’s Beer in Australia entry makes joyful reading: “Beer arrived in Australia at the beginning of Western colonisation.” Kind of reassuring, too. In fact, the first paragraph neatly outlines the relationship of Ozites and their beers, like Australia’s ranked fourth worldwide in per capita beer consumption – though far lower in terms of alcoholic consumption. Like Aussies like lager best.

When Yanks think of Australian beer, it’s likely to be Foster’s because it’s a brand much advertised here, on and off. But the lager is made for this market by SAB Miller, Foster’s US licensee. And even though there are, in Australia, a huge number of different beers, they have all tended to be lagers as well…celebrated in song and story and even Mambo Loud shirts like the Reg Mombasa item above.

New Oz-beers and brands do make it across the Pacific, even though they’re more likely to be available in closer-to-Australia markets such as Portland, Seattle and San Francisco. Harder to come by in Houston although one brewery in Melbourne, Barons, caught my attention for name-related reasons. I’d mentioned it a time or two on Facebook…but no distribution here. I have wondered what its signature beer, Barons Black Wattle Original Ale (an “herbed, spiced beer”), tastes like since Rachel Baron and Alison Bond brought us some wattle seed from their last visit to Australia.

Everything is so connected – as you will see in just a moment.

Comes a ringing at the front door, which I posted to Facebook:

An AMAZING package from Susan Tapper, from Australia: four beers! By mail. Shipped end of February. Susan wrote: “So glad you actually got them — Who? What? Beers from Australia?? You would love it here — beer is the beverage of choice of Aussies young and old! The national ‘water’. (I actually travelled to Melbourne where I found those...)” What a gift - thank you, Susan. I swear to drink them only for good. Watch for reviews...

It’s a miracle, this gift from this long-ago Quest colleague who went off to Australia, married and raised a wonderful family while keeping in touch from time to time. Email, and then Facebook, made it even easier…especially in the shipping-of-the-beers department. Susan’s card also noted:

I so enjoy your beer reviews! I hope this (shipment – ed.) encourages you to look at some Aussie brews! A country filled with beer drinkers!

The miracle: four glass bottles of beer came regular post, all the way from Australia, without losing a precious ounce of beer through breakage. Susan used bubble-wrap (wonder what that’s called in Oz?) and foam rubber – even our postal person was amazed that the beers arrived intact.

What did Susan send thisaway? Not one but two bottles of Barons, one the Black Wattle Ale; the other the brewery’s Lemon Myrtle Witbier, 5.8% and 4.5% respectively. There’s a single bottle of Pale Ale – 4.7% ABV – from Kooinda Boutique Brewery (Kooinda means “happy place”) also in Melbourne. And one bottle of 6% Temptress Chocolate Porter from Holgate Brewhouse (think “brewpub”), out of a beautifully maintained 19^th Century commercial hotel in Woodend, Victoria.

In the past year, we have heard from a lot of people who would like us to visit Australia. Susan Tapper’s tempting us with actual beers is the best offer we’ve had so far. Note the use of the word “briefly” in the headline: the Oz-beers won't last very long here in Spring Branch.  

NOTE: Thank you so much, Susan. Thanks as well to Australia Post and the US Post Office for getting these beers to Houston.

Walgreens is Back in Beer – Big Flats 1901 Priced to Move.

America’s largest liquor retailer? Used to be Walgreens. Its alcoholic beverage sections accounted for close to 10% of the chain’s sales and the inventory included beer. Then, in the mid-1990s, booze was phased out, mainly for inventory reasons: too many SKUs for the retailers’ managers and employees to handle.

Starting about a year ago, though, Walgreens’ second thoughts began to resolve themselves. And this past June Fox News (among others) reported:

The nation's largest retail drugstore by store count has reintroduced a limited beer and wine selection in about 3,100 of its roughly 7,500 stores. The drugstore has plans to stock the alcohol in about 5,000 stores by the end of 2010.

Wine began to show up on the Walgreens shelves in this part of the country. Maybe the move was also driven by increased competition from CVS, which offered wines from that chain’s appearance in Houston.

Now there’s…beer. Here! And there and everywhere.

The displays went up here right after New Year’s and what’s being sold is a private label brew called Big Flats 1901. It appears to be a national rollout; blogger Jake Parillo, for example, spotted it in downtown Elmhurst, IL.

From Houston, let me offer a closer look. The beer’s trip to market is modestly complex but that’s not so unusual today. Winery Exchange out of California created the brand for Walgreens. The packager describes itself as the “leading corporate brand beer supplier for premium quality beers from the USA, Latin America, and Holland.” It is, in fact, a creator for retailers; some of its beers have been award-winners.

Next comes Winery Exchange’s partner in creation: Genesee Brewing Company in New York, a long-lived brewer with 400+ employees. Not only does Genesee brew its own brands, including its famous Cream Ale; it contract-brews like crazy. Maryland’s Hook and Ladder Brewing company and Dundee Brewing in New York have their beer recipes executed by Genesee.

I’ve already purchased the “premium American lager” and posted a RateBeer.com review. The price point/taste combo can’t be beat. But it is merely okay beer, not great beer. The brand story is weak: “big flats” supposedly describe river flatboats which don’t appear on the label.

At this time, it’s all price. The wines and (now) beers don’t appear on the Walgreens website but they are in this week’s sale flyer, and that includes the Big Flats 1901.

I can’t see “America’s drugstore” making a big push for its new brew. Maybe the drugstore chain will report on how it goes. I hope so. Marketers learn their world one brand at a time – at least I often do. Following the progress of Walgreens, Winery Exchange and Genesee could be instructive and tasty, too.

NOTE: Thank you to Walgreens Store 5536 in Houston.

Speaking of Beer, Product Sampling Is a Time-Tested Way to Market.

Today’s post is driven by several elements, not least of which is an article in this morning’s Houston Chronicle business section. You’ll see it offers important facts on which I have based this…argument.

Then there’s the well-recognized technique of product sampling, a long-honored method of capturing the attention of would-be consumers.

Finally, there’s the note from an anonymous Facebook correspondent (alright, it was Donna Collum) which said, “Dang, u drink a lotta beer, dude!”

Starting from back to front: Frequency, yes. Recency, yes. Quantity, no. I have undertaken the consumption of beers out of a pure desire for marketing efficiency. I’m completely focused on sampling beers I haven’t tried before, on the theory that I am [a] determining which brands and styles of beer are…worthy…of future drinking; and [b] supporting the growth of an industry which is important locally, regionally and nationally.

Lofty goals! I don’t drink a lot of beer – I try a beer a day or every couple of days, usually one I haven’t tried before. I go back and “repeat sample” a beer whose various complexities are not firmly fixed in my mind. Sometimes, this takes two or three tries but you get the point. It’s all about discrimination and moderation.

Then, because mine is a scientific evaluation using this particular marketing tool, I carefully record each sampling on RateBeer.com, one of several on-line beer-rating groups which allow true “crowd-sourcing” of beery experience. I am a minor sipper compared to other RateBeer colleagues. Virginian BeerandBlues2 has 3,700+ beer ratings, for example; the doughty product-tester has been hard at work since 2003.

When possible, product-sampling can play a big role in branding and marketing. Here’s sampling researcher Cindy Johnson:

Product sampling can often work on its own to convert a targeted group of consumers. If the trial experience is strong and consumers are convinced to purchase the brand, no further spending is necessary to win with that target…There’s no advantage to layering marketing tactics and spending more against the same target, if trial alone convinces them to buy your brand.

Micro-breweries and regional craft brewers put product sampling to use because they don’t have the tools (read: buckets o’money) that the national and international brewers do. It’s an underlying factor in “Swimming in Beer” by Chronicle writer/blogger Ronnie Crocker. He reiterates the point that craft-brewed beer business is booming, while the “major producers are hurting and sales of imports are down…”

Generating attention and “drinkership” via product sampling is the best way undercapitalized local brewers can gain sales and market share. Brock Wagner is taking St Arnold Brewing Company to a production capacity to 50,000 barrels a year through missionary marketing and pour promotions, not classic media advertising (which Wagner has historically disdained).

I started out to have some fun with this topic and have ended up more aware of a couple of key marketing points. One, I hope, is reinforcement of the idea that there are very many marketing tools and we – as marketers – ought to be familiar with most of them.

Thanks to friends and colleagues for highlighting and supporting my beer-testing. I doubt I’ll ever get to 3,700 beers. But I expect to enjoy those that I do try and do some brand-marketing good along the way.

PS: Will blog for beer!

Pour Your Way to Event Marketing Success? It Works for Me.

I presume that my enjoyment of Saturday’s 250-beer list at the Brewmasters knees-up in Galveston is evident from the photo above. Now I want to look at the entire event from a marketing perspective.

First of all, what is “it?” Saith one of the early event press releases:

This Labor Day weekend Sep. 3-5, Moody Gardens will host the first annual Brewmasters International Beer Festival – an event that promises to become one of the best and largest beer festivals in the nation.

Second, marketing-wise, who benefits? In this case there’re a lot of “whos.” Clifton and Constance McDerby of Food and Vinetime Productions are the producers – they credit their own enjoyment of food and wine with leading them to do these kinds of events. They conduct them all over the area, often for fund-raising. In this instance, there’s a stated desire to build something for the future, this “world class beer festival in Texas.”

Fair enough. Having attended just part of the festival (the BrewHaHa Grand Tasting), I can now identify anywhere from half-a-dozen to thousands of beneficiaries – a substantial marketing target. Spec’s is a big sponsor; the large-scale liquor/wine/beer chain gets even more “beer props” for its active role in these events. Then there are dozens of breweries large and small, from the international monsters (Budweiser, Heineken, and so on) down through the regional, state and local beer-makers – think Saint Arnold’s and Southern Star.

For smaller brewers, distinctive branding is one element of aggressive marketing – hustling being the other. Some brewers have now-quite-recognizable personalities. One of my favorite pitches comes from California’s Lagunitas Brewing Company:

Hop Stoopid is an American Imperial (or Double) IPA. ‘Give it to Mikey... He’ll drink anything..!’ Up the bomber went in toast, then to his lips, and what happened next could not have been foreseen. Hop Stoopid, a slick re-animator green fluid oozed from the bottle. When it crossed his teeth and came in contact with the bitterness flavor receptors on his tongue, his eyes rolled back in his head, he did a sort of death rattle, a cloud crossed the Sun, and all his hair fell out…Cheers!

Galveston benefits big-time during the final stage of its Hurricane Ike recovery, bless ‘em. The Festival has brought people to the island who might not have come otherwise, like the three young men from Atlanta who looked for a weekend getaway, spotted the Festival online, and flew over to Texas for the long schedule of events. (Enjoy, you guys!)

Finally but never lastly is the people. Beer is intensely democratic. Everyone says so and who am I to differ? Remember, we’re talking about 250-300 different beers here; there were pours for every taste. That means some bottle or can was being served during BrewHaHa that pleased every one of the attendees.

We the people are the ultimate marketing targets. On my way back from the event, I stopped at a Spec’s store and purchased “bombers” (large 22-ounce bottles) of Great Divide Espresso Yeti (a stout) and Lagunitas Hop Stoopid Ale, so it’s obvious the Festival worked its marketing magic on me.

Ronnie Crocker, who writes the Beer, TX, blog, said:

It was a very, very well executed event and I would imagine a revelation to a lot of folks about what beer can be like.

I believe there are three kinds of beer in the world. One kind, the least numerous, are the beers I’ve sampled. Two, the beers I’ve yet to try. And three, the beers I’d like to try and market. Given all the stakeholders it reached, the first-ever Brewmasters International Beer Festival is a great example of event marketing. I’m taking notes.

PS: Boulevard Brewing Company is in Kansas City, MO.

TxDOT Labor Day Push is Black and Yellow and Creative All Over.

It’s only taken me a couple of weeks to notice a provocatively fine public advocacy campaign by TxDOT.

Sorry. I suppose it’s a sad state of affairs that I first learned of it on the Houston Chronicle’s Beer, TX blog. (But not too sad – beer is good.) Well, the fully realized “Choose your ride” campaign is worth the wait.

You can read all about the total TxDOT Labor Day effort here. And review its various components here and here. The entire effort gets an “A+” because it is so rich in concept, execution details, components and media mix. I’m really writing to show you some of the stuff, and to underscore the eye-grabbing power that black-and-yellow visual “Choose your ride” concept: the combo Yellow cab and police unit is (pardon me) arresting.

For all the marketers and creative people who are tapped into State of Texas marketing and advertising, you won’t be surprised to discover that this program comes out of the Sherry Matthews agency in Austin. But I was surprised by just how much imaginative work has been done by the Matthews shop since the last time I looked at its website.

Honestly, “Choose your ride” is sharp, interesting creative that fulfills an important advocacy function at the same time. Congratulations.

Now I’m just that much more aware of the need for careful driving to and from Galveston this weekend. And you are too.

PS: Thanks to Tracie Mendez of TxDOT’s Traffic Safety Office for extra information.

At Chipotle, the Wooden Nickel Lives On: These Days It’s Worth 6 Bucks.

At last month’s AMAHouston Interactive SIG event, Chipotle Mexican Grill was not only a sponsor. Iliana Rodriguez, the eatery’s Houston marketing consultant, handed out hefty metal coins – each one good for high-quality burrito.

This promotion has the class I’ve come to associate with the Denver-based fast-food chain which is, at the same time, one of the stars in the world of ethical food producers. The branding thread of Chipotle’s “Food with Integrity” manifesto weaves its way all through the company’s online presence; it’s also clearly marked right on the metal coin (which plays an active role on the landing page). Nice weight in the hand, too.

So I’m standing there at the sponsor’s table with Rodriguez and Freeman-Leonard’s Steven Leeper, who’s on the Interactive SIG’s steering committee, and I point out that there’s really nothing new under the sun: This promo-coin thing’s been around for years and years, starting with the old wooden nickel. I managed to cram that together with a (prayerfully) short tale about the “old days” and the 5-cent lunch offers by bars and taverns.

I screwed it up – though I’m hopeful Rodriguez and Leeper will forgive me. First glance, wooden nickels don’t have anything to do with old-timey bar lunches. It is true that some histories identify the wooden nickel with the bank failures of the 1930s; in ’33, Blaine, WA issued round wooden coins when its bank failed. Commemorative nickels are then supposed to be an outgrowth of these legitimate wooden nickels. More accurately, though, collectible wooden nickels have been mentioned in print since at least 1888.

The famous tracer of lost catchphrases, Eric Partridge, puts “Don’t take any wooden nickels” back at least as far as the early 1900s. It’s a warning to be watchful for shady practices or goods. (And for mature ad guys with faulty memories.)

To add to the confusion, I also mixed up the free-lunch-with-a-5¢-beer and the nickel lunch…two different but historically accurate things. The free lunch helped win the 1890s beer wars for Adolphus Busch: With beer at five cents a glass, it was a luxury within the reach of everyone, however humble. The nickel, moreover, included a free lunch.

The nickel lunch was itself a common saloon promotion and quite a wonderful deal depending, I note, on which bar or café you favored with your custom.

Can you believe it? I’ve come full circle. Mangled history can’t keep a good promotion idea down. Here’s Chipotle putting the “nickel lunch” idea back to work not with a paper coupon (too easy to ignore) but with a weighty coin. It not only weighs more than today’s nickel. It’s worth more* at Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch?

*The “rare” 2001 Chipotle coin is selling for $20 on eBay. Thanks to Chipotle Mexican Grill and Iliana Rodriguez for participating in AMAHouston. “New York Bowery lunch counter c. 1910,” 8x10 glass negative, GG Bain Collection, see Shorpy for all the details.

Beer Summit

Like news features from a celebrity funeral that report what attendees were wearing, it’s been a fascinating week on the beer front – but not so much for advertisers (as far as I know).

The New York Times printed, “Barack Obama, the first black US president, said it was a ‘friendly, thoughtful’ conversation over beer at the White House with prominent Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, who is black, and police Sergeant James Crowley, who is white.” Is there anybody that doesn’t know about this?

The New York Post, among others, reported, “Obama sipped Bud Light served in a frosty mug, sitting in a white shirt with his jacket off. Crowley, in a dark suit and tie, drank a Blue Moon, a Colorado-brewed, Belgian-style wheat beer served with lemon. Gates, who was also in a dark suit, drank a Sam Adams Light. Biden, in a white shirt, sipped a non-alcoholic beer.”

Don’t read much into those brands – sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar. Still, there’s been much chat about which beers should actually have been served – mainly opinionaters demanding American-made brewskis (and I suspect was a timing issue).

Me? I only suggest, on this summer Saturday morning, that one brewery alone should have been tapped to supply the beer for this important DC meet-up: Summit Brewing, St. Paul, MN.

Let the brand fit the occasion, I say! And maybe Minneapolis-based Rotor Design would create a nice poster (like this one) for the President’s next brew-chew. Golly – look at the clock. It’s time for a cold one. See ya!

Fish “Exits”

The intersection of branding and the ease of taking offense happens a lot more often than you think. So I simply laughed out loud when I read a quote attributed to New Jersey Turnpike Authority spokesman Joe Orlando: “…it’s a bad idea to associate a highway with alcohol. Flying Fish has answered the authority’s concerns with disclaimers that the beer isn't endorsed by the authority.”

See, Flying Fish is naming a limited series of new beers after infamous New Jersey turnpike exits. In fact, the brewery (which was named 2009’s Top Beverage Artisan in the state) has gone so far as to [a] trademark the “Exit Series of beers” and [b] establish a nifty sub-site with an interactive map of the exits themselves. Take a look at this in case you are driving through the Liberty-and-Prosperity State.

The NJ Turnpike people are upset. So are the Mothers Against Drunk Drivers – normally a worthy organization but now a little too strident for its own good. This geographically isolated uproar reminds me of a verse I read years ago:

Hide, hide, Witch,
The good folk come to burn thee.
Their keen enjoyment hid beneath
The gothic mask of duty.

These days, brewers and vintners have more opportunities for “branding fun,” and Flying Fish has managed to stir up a lot of press for a little beer brand. I say, more power to brewery president Gene Muller and his gang – and will some kind Jersey Devil please pick up a few bottles for me before the next Exit SeriesTM beer is sold out?

Schell's Blonde

About 150 years back, Augie Schell started a brewery in New Ulm, Minnesota. It was just one of hundreds of breweries in the state. I recall being told that, as late as 1950, there were more than 200 independent brewers still operating in Minnesota; by the time I moved to Minneapolis in 1972 there were just a handful left.

August Schell Brewing Company was one of them; the outfit keeps on keeping on. Now that I'm 1300 miles away in Texas, it's hard to be certain just why Schell has survived and thrived, but I put it down to good brewing – and hanging on 'til the micro-brew trend caught on. (In this regard, it's acting like Shiner's in Texas.) Today, the New Ulm brewery lists two “original” brews, five year-round craft beers, two Grain Belt brand beers and seven – count 'em – seven “seasonals.”

So here I am in Minnesota on during a gorgeous, completely unseasonal early summer week. Sure enough, the craft-brew culture is alive and well here. I stumbled onto Schell's blonde double-bock, Maifest, and I gotta say it's outstanding. I'd asked about what the restaurant was offering and when Nick-the-Manager said he had this seasonal from Schell so I had to sample it – it's part of my job, right?

Smooth as smooth and malty sweet (a “unique” taste), Maifest is a seasonal specialty beer offered in the spring months. It is brewed with a blend of three different specialty malts and the finest imported and domestic hops. It's a Helles Bock-style beer from Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in Munich, classic “May beer” and ohboyohboy it is tasty!

I hereby report that this is fine beer* on a Monday afternoon at the beginning of June. If you don't believe me, double-check with Barbara who helped me sample it. Years ago, Ranier Brewing in Washington state made a hit of advertising “the beer here.” Today, in rural Central Minnesota, Schell's is still showing why that counts.

As nearly as I can tell, the advertising is word-of-mouth big-time. So here's the word. Try Maifest before its season is over. Ta from the road...

*Served and consumed at The Fishtale Bar and Grill (no “e” on the end, bless 'em), New Prague, MN.

Montgomery Brewpub

On the trip back from Atlanta, it was simple enough to program an address into the Tom-Tom: 12 West Jefferson Street, Montgomery, AL. That GPS thingy took us directly to the door of the Montgomery Brewpub just in time for lunch – with beer.

I don’t want you to think that every time Barbara and I go on the road, we navigate by microbreweries and pubs. Nothing could be further from the truth*. (We actually load the Tom-Tom with the addresses of Starbucks stores – Atlanta and Newnan, GA; Montgomery and Mobile; Slidell, Covington and Baton Rouge, LA…and so on. It’s easy: There’s a mapping function on the Starbucks site.)

Actually, we end up depending on AAA TourBooks more often than not. How come? Well, most microbreweries and brewpubs would rather leverage their “fan base” to build repeat business, rather than use relatively expensive classic advertising. True, this’s a generalization. But word-of-mouth can pay off big over time. Outlasting passing fads is a huge deal; being in the AAA TourBook for Alabama for years does pay off.

The Montgomery Brewing Company opened in October, 1995, in a building right in the heart of the city’s old Central Business District. The structure itself was built in 1913 by the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad to store heavy equipment. We’re coming up on this pub’s 14th birthday…and it’s hung in there.

We’re glad we showed up because we got to try a rarity: “Velvet Elvis” is a dark lager created by brewer Jamie Ray to bridge the gap ‘til it’s time to produce the next batch of stout. Classically, schwarzbier is a medium-bodied, malt-accented dark brew, colored a deep brown, with a chewy texture and a firm, creamy, long-lasting head. That’s what the German Beer Institute says and I’m sticking with it. The Montgomery Brewpub version was real good and so was the food. The staff seemed a bit distracted but served us well.

Sometimes you’ve got to search out the product – it won’t come searching for you. I know, that’s not supposed to be advertising’s role. But so many marcom roles have already shifted over the past decade. With WOM, you can put your advertisements where your (fans’) mouths are. Earlier this week, ours were in central Alabama. Filled with “Velvet Elvis.”

*Why yes, we did stop in Abita Springs for dinner. Why do you ask? Thanks to AAA (again) for roadtripping aids.

$3 Belgians

This is worth knowing: Blue Moon™ Belgian White is available at the Fox & Hounds restaurant, 11470 Westheimer, every Monday afternoon. Price: Three bucks a pint.

It’s what I was drinking at yesterday’s meeting of the “Selling Circle,” with Brian Bearden, Wes Lichtenstein and Joe Fournet. We don’t do it very often, which makes the get-togethers even more enjoyable.

It’s a casual sort of networking; on a pleasantly warm Monday afternoon like yesterday’s, we could talk and watch the home-bound traffic stack up in the westbound lanes.

For $3, Blue Moon is just fine. The name “Belgian White” refers to the beer’s cloudy white, opaque appearance. It’s a style of beer brewed in Belgium for three centuries. The Blue Moon brew is lightly spiced with fresh coriander and orange peel for a pleasurable and complex taste and a smooth finish.

A slice of orange compliments the Blue Moon witbier; it brings out the natural spices and fruit flavor…and makes it taste more like a fruit juice – you know, healthy. It’s unfiltered as well: Protein and yeast remain suspended in the beer and create the cloudy appearance. This all adds to the smoothness of the beer and appears to aid digestion. That is, it goes down easy on a hot day.

The Blue Moon brewery started in Denver, CO, and is now part of Coors in Golden. I think this is what happens to “good beers in neat niches” – they get bought out by giant brewers. And that’s how a pretty good craft-brewed beer gets onto the table in front of me, at three buckos per Belgian. A votre sante!

Andy’s Pairty*

Inspired by actual events! Sanctioned by law! Well, not our law, but still...

Join us November 30th for what might well be Houston’s best celebration of St. Andrew’s Day, as officially enacted by The Scottish Parliament just last year. A real party – and we’re counting on real Scots (as well as Anglophiles, Beer Lovers and Party Goers) to come down and help us out.

“Us” includes Cameron Wallace of Helix ESG; and Rob Schoenbeck and Richard Laurence Baron (operating under the guise of area51, our strategic marketing consulting firm). We’re setting the stage, you buy your own beer.

Party, party, party. “Scots, wha hae wi’ Wallace bled?” or in this case, “drink?”

We’re gathering at Houston’s Stag’s Head Pub. A wonderful location, Michael Holliday himself has set us up in a nice area of our own – thanks for that. There are ales and stouts, porters and ciders, lagers, even light beers. Rob’s turned Old Speckeld Hen into something of a favorite; Cameron’s likely to start with Stella Artois, the creature.

Now get this: The party’s actually on St. Andrew’s Day, Friday, November 30th, 2007, from 4-8 PM or later. Come on, it’s after Thanksgiving, no excuses and no fooling. Celebrating on Saturday wouldn’t be right.

We invite you to take advantage of your legal rights on the very St. Andrew’s Day honoured by custom and practice: Workers will be allowed to take the day off if they can swap the day for one of their existing public holidays: the most likely option is the autumn holiday in September or October, which varies from region to region.

(However, the day off will not be made statutory and it will be up to employers to decide whether they want to give staff the time off. There has been considerable doubt as to how many private companies will do so.)

But the confusion as to who would benefit from the holiday did nothing to curb the enthusiasm of MSPs [Members of the Scottish Parliament] for the plan – all of whom will get the holiday, with the rest of the public sector.

Do NOT let this opportunity get away from you over some company quibble or more ordinary (mundane) commitment that can be fulfilled on any other day. We’re talking about the majesty of the law here. We anticipate that the beer will flow and the food will be eaten, to honor the Patron Saint of Scotland.

Spouses of all sorts entirely welcome. Scottish National Dress encouraged – sporrans optional. Designated drivers are also, perhaps, a good idea. That address again: 2128 Portsmouth, Houston 77098 – the Stag’s Head Pub, one block south of Richmond Avenue, one block east of Shepherd.

Come early. Stay late.

*According to The Online Scots Dictionary. Perhaps you would prefer the word “foy?” Our thanks to the owners, managers and staff of the Stag's Head Pub for their enthusiasm.

Baltika WOM

You’re gonna start thinking that Signalwriter is a beer blog – back-to-back posts about the world’s oldest beverage and all. Sue me.

This is really about word-of-mouth, WOM for the uninitiated.

I ran across and sampled Baltika (“The famous beer of Russia”) when Barbara and I had dinner at a new Houston restaurant, Bohemia. Don’t rush, despite the B4-U-EAT reviews; but it had several varieties of this Russian beer. I had the Baltika No. 9. It turns out that [a] the number on the label indicates the alcoholic strength of the beer and [b] the Baltika line includes 2-9. No. 9 was a fine pale beer…and strong like bull. Reminded me of a Bulgarian beer I had in Athens last year, but crisper.

Last week, we attended the birthday party of artist Howard Sherman, at his Commerce Street Art Warehouse studio. We brought some beer along for the party and gifted him with a smuggled-in bottle of He’Brew Monumental Jewbilation beer.

He pulled out a couple of bottles of Baltika No. 4 which is a dark beer with 5.6% alcohol: very tasty. I like a dark beer. He said a friend of his turned him on to it and he’s been drinking it for the past few weeks. There’s a No. 6, a porter that I’d like to try, and No. 8 is Baltika’s wheat beer. (Jewish beer, Russian beer...maybe we can have a progrom.)

Off I went to the website (by Web Design New York), which has a pleasant Flash opening with balalaika music. Along with Baltika Beer history and descriptions, there’s a long segment from CNBC’s “Lunch Break.” Somebody really did a great PR job on this: the talking heads taste-tested Baltika against Heineken and Beck’s on camera and had some fun doing it.

So here’s this broad line of beers from Russia. I get the impression that its US marketing is mostly WOM, backed up with a good website and some decent public relations activity. There’s an opportunity for premium imports here in America, though beer sales are “sluggish” domestically, according last week’s Wall Street Journal. The same article (October 18, 2007) notes that Baltika could end up being owned by the giant Danish brewer Carlsburg, because of consolidation efforts.

How come? Economics. Jean-Francois van Boxmeer, Heineken’s chief executive, said in an interview last month that the beer industry today takes so much capital, it isn’t worth the expense being in many of the world’s markets unless your company is either the No. 1 or No. 2 player.

Baltika is the No. 1 selling beer in Russia. Its website proclaims, “…the OAO Baltika Brewery is in no way inferior to the world’s leaders in beer production.” I suppose the question is, will WOM be enough to make Baltika Nos. 2-9 a bigger player in our market? Likely not. But if the brand gets big-brewer horsepower (and advertising) behind it, there’s no reason why it can’t be right up there with the other premium Euro-imports. Besides, it’s good beer.

Orange Miller?

Signalwriter thought it was a Halloween promotion: the Miller High Life beer can in orange and black. It feels like Halloween, complete with the famous “Girl in the Moon” symbol; she looks somewhat like a witch sitting on the crescent, that age-old symbol of the Old Religion. This is actually a very attractive can in traditional trick-or-treat dress.

It’s really all about this year’s hunting season, part of a special promo for hunters, announced back at the end of August:

Since its introduction in 1903, Miller High Life has joined countless hunting trips throughout the United States, providing high-quality refreshment as hunters swap stories after a day in the woods, field or marsh. This fall, Miller High Life is donning its own blaze orange attire and hunting-themed packaging to make sure consumers are properly equipped for their post-hunt celebrations.

To this day, I’m more familiar with the clear glass bottles (my daddy used to drink Miller High Life, way back before “Miller Time.” Miller Brewing Company of Milwaukee was a house staple in those days, a regular part of the Paul Baron Saturday lunch.)

Any road, Miller intro’d a complete package for hunters – the carton has a hunting motif and the cans are supposed to be blaze orange. Interesting, because the photograph Miller itself released makes the can look golden.

According to High Life senior brand manager Kevin Oglesby, quoted in the company news release, “Miller High Life has been closely associated with the outdoors and hunting for more than 100 years, so this initiative is truly a reflection of many of our consumers, and a way to acknowledge their support of Miller High Life.”

“Plus, now it will be even easier to spot a can of Miller High Life in a hunter’s crowded refrigerator.” That’s one option, though it wouldn’t have occurred to me…I’ve never had any trouble locating the beer on any hunting trip I’ve ever been on.

Better yet, because the orange-and-black cans really do carry the Halloween spirit forward, I’m thinking I’ll get a couple dozen and use them as handouts when the little Britney Spearses and Spider Men come ringing our doorbell on October 31st.

“Trick or treat,” they’ll say. And I’ll deposit a beautifully themed can of Miller High Life in every sack and bag. Conscientious parents, checking their kids’ take for the evening, will appreciate that – for them – it really is Miller Time.