Beer Tastings ‘08

Wow, has the liquor industry taken a hiding this year or what! Welcome to our new Federal government with their knee jerk reactions to social issues by slugging on taxes to heal society’s wounds. They seem to pander to ‘special interest groups’ in an effort to correct parental and police problems and in the meantime make the law abiding citizens wear their legislative solutions. So I’m looking for some ‘stand–up guys’, at least in the beer industry, to will demonstrate that we are not the demon drink. I suggest the support of beer tastings at your local bottle shop.

Beer Tastings provide three major benefits; it provides a community based common sense environment to responsible behaviour when consuming alcohol, it gives the taster an opportunity to connect with brewers about their beer, and it’s profitable for bottle shops by an average 10 to 15% increase in over the counter sales.

Adam Thomas from Purvis Wine Cellars in Surrey Hills, Melbourne talks up their beer tastings. “It offers the consumers the ability to go outside their comfort zone and try beers that would normally be beyond their economic reach or product knowledge. With the price of imported and local craft beers what they are, they’re getting a taste and we get a chance to sway them. You need to have the brewers there on the night. The punter spends more time when speaking to a brewer rather than a rep and we get a customer friendly relationship with new found respect for our increasing product knowledge. As a result of beer tastings, beer makes up a third of our business and growing immensely.”

On advertising “Don’t really need to. A few signs in the shop maybe, but it’s word of mouth and building a good database of customers then letting them know it’s on. Many locals have bonded and now carpool down to the shop and also organise designated driver options for transport. We’re lucky to have a tram stop just outside our door, but it’s important the customers know about public transport availability.”

About set-up issues, “Access for unloading stock, plenty of ice, and always use glass over plastic. We’ll need 400 glasses for our next beer tasting and build into the cost s of losing up to 15% of stock. It’s nothing really and the benefit for a beer lover in appreciating beer in glass is enormous.”
In relation to the importance of glassware Chuck Hahn of Malt Shovel Brewery told me recently “Two years ago, we released a special glass that went through the basics of Pouring properly, inspecting the presentation, savouring the visual experience, smelling the hop and malt aromas - enjoying them. The glass compliments tasting properly by swirling around in the mouth before swallowing, and swallowing - not spitting - savouring the flavour and enjoying the expectations that are created by this craft experience. “

On the night advice, “Be adventurous, don’t do what you did before and vary the type of event. We do large tasting 2 or 3 times a year for 250-300 people and a smaller one of 50 beers for 50 people every couple of months. Sometimes we go with the local craft beers and at others we do a European day for example. You can vary the times held say rather than an evening session have one for the after work crowd.”

“The days of free beer tastings are long gone. Oh sure, we still get the individual breweries offering customers a taste, but our organised beer tastings are when we can really make an impact on our consumers. We charge $30.00 for 20 tasting tickets that they hand over to the brewer. At the end of the night, the tickets are counted by each brewery and are paid for their beer. Everyone walks away happy”

Eric Walters, brewer and owner of the Grand Ridge Brewery in Gippsland, Victoria is tireless when it comes to getting the word out about his range of beers. He and his band of ‘beer warriors’ can be found at local bottle shops, regional farmers markets and major food and beverage expos to get the public to try his beers.. Last year he earned the pouring rights at the Royal Melbourne Show.

“The progress of beer tastings in the past 3 – 5 years has been massive. I started 2 decades ago this Christmas flogging my beers at local bottle shops and thought of as weird, but the wine tastings started a palate change in customer appreciation of taste. People now appreciate quality at a higher level and are more willing to expand their education of taste. Their thirst for knowledge has expanded to bottle conditioning, dark ales, strong Belgians, thirst quenching wheat beers, the list is getting longer. It sounds corny but the actual tasting is a celebration for me. After all the hard work that’s gone into that swallow and to have the bloke turn around and say ‘that beer is awesome’ is inspiring.”

Walter went on to say “Face to Face contact now makes up 20% of our total business. From new products like out Natural Blonde Wheat Beer, to our gift pack 6 packs, and guesthouse accommodation and Restaurant at the brewery, all have come about by the punter telling us what they wanted. Every tasting is further market research and branding awareness; it’s very motivating to teach in the forefront of quality beers.

Small breweries have little to no money for advertising, and it’s vital that through beer tastings the beer lovers get an opportunity to try our beers. Victoria and Western Australia have led the charge in the resurgence of craft beer interest. We’re now seeing Queensland and New South Wales getting involved with the beer tasting experience. These local tastings have led to lager audience based events like the Microbrewers Showcase in Federation Square in Melbourne, and The Australian Hotel’s Craft Beer Competition in the Rocks in Sydney.

Speaking of Sydney, Richard Adamson, Head Brewer, Barons Brewing Company agrees “Beer tastings have been a great way for us to give many people their first taste of the Barons beers. It also gives us an opportunity to educate the public on quality craft beer, the process, the flavour, and the styles of beer available; and promote the concept that beer can be savoured and enjoyed for its quality rather than just swilled. We do a lot of beer tasting in bottle shops, which allow us to show our commitment to our customers…supporting them whilst they support us. It’s important for our entire team to have a good understanding of what they sell and that they are comfortable talking about Barons to the general public. Also important, and sometimes forgotten, is the instant feedback received from the people who drink our beer. Nothing beats the experience of having a random punter taste Barons with you, then immediately goes to the cold room and buys a case.”

And speaking of Queensland and New South Wales, I had a chat with Matt Coorey manager for the DrinkX Group who own 5 hotels (3 in Qld. and 2 in N.S.W.) including the Grand Central in Brisbane. “I compiled a report for the group including stats from A.C.Neisen, major breweries and overseas trends. The conclusion was that beer is heading ‘crafty’ and we needed to be on board. As a result we are re-configuring our bars to accommodate 30 craft beers on tap, including training and motivation of our staff so everyone in the organisation is right behind it. This will include beer tastings for our patrons on Tuesday nights. In our main bar where 90% of our customers drink, we will slowly introduce these beers and match them with food. We are also in the process of implementing our seal of approval – rubber stamp policy. Five to six ‘certifiers’ will select from submissions 30 beers to be featured at our platform craft bar, and in the bottle shops. Those beers will have a floor stack for the impulse buyer and highlighted in our special frosted white light fridges that get top shelf space. We’ll keep it to 30 beers so that it’ll always be fresh and offer further submissions an equal opportunity. We’re confident that our rubber stamped journey from bar to bottle shop to train stop to home will be very popular.”

As a personal note, after handing out thousands of beer tastings, I understand the significance and acceptance to the responsible serving of beer. Only through adherence to rules can we alter the younger generation. Getting tasters to smell swirl, and swallow with others doing the same with 65 ml tasters will transform that future delinquent to an epicurean cadet. The fraternity of beer tasters will embrace them to a better drinking environment. And maybe, just maybe some bureaucrats will see the light and stop this condemnation of people who enjoy the finer things in life. And lastly to all you bottle shop managers, who’ll come on board, remember to take care of the ‘beer roadies’. We’re the first to arrive and the last to leave, we’ve poured, talked, and listened to them all. It would be nice if there was something to eat before we hit the cold dark road home.