Using an old line, statistics don’t lie. Light beer sales to June 30 this year (effectively the 2005-06 financial year) was down 10%, compared to a fall of 12.3% during 2004-05. The industry-wide MAT for mid-strength beer was up 4.5%, compared to a rise of 4.8% at the same time last year, while full strength beer was up 1.1%. Queensland and WA remain the best performing interstate markets for midstrength beers in general
So what can we learn from this data. According to Coopers Marketing Director and Chairman, Glenn Cooper,” The continuing fall in light beer sales has a lot to do with younger drinkers in particular being more responsible in their drinking habits. He suggests that they are more likely to appoint a designated driver for a group, allowing the others to drink full strength beer.” He goes on to say “Older generation drinkers tended to be light drinkers as they are more likely to want to drive home after a few drinks and drink light to keep below the prescribed limit. And as far as mid strength superiority in Queensland and Western Australia, I’ll take a punt on the factor of excessive heat and humidity as the driving force for their products. So who are the shining lights, pardon the pun, in the light and midstrength range, let’s have a look.
Light Beers
Hahn Premium Light has continued to grow its share of the light beer market over the last 12 months. Since launching in 1998, this has been a consistent achievement for the brand with Hahn Premium Light still the dominant leader in this market and is nearly 50% bigger than its nearest competitor. Hahn Premium Light continued to engage light beer drinkers through its award winning television campaign both on free-to-air and pay networks.
James Boag’s Premium Light, at 2.9% alc/vol, is the lower alcohol version of J. Boag & Son’s flagship brand, James Boag’s Premium Lager. Launched nationally in February 2002, James Boag’s Premium Light quickly gained a reputation as a top quality light beer. Its first award came the same year at the 2002 Australian Liquor Industry Awards, winning ‘Best New Beer’. Sales in 2006 are reversing the trend of the light beer category in Australia, remaining steady, even with aggressive pricing strategies from its nearest rivals. James Boag’s Premium Light is a full flavoured light beer with a smooth, pleasant bitterness. The aroma is clean and fresh with a malty, fruit character.
Cascade Premium Light helped change Australian’s perception of light beers, that premium tasting, low alcohol beer was achievable. Cascade’s brewer’s source high quality two-row barley, along with Tasmanian and Victorian hops for Cascade Premium Light. Produced using the ultra high gravity brewing method, this creates a full-bodied, flavour-rich beer with a low alcohol content. Cascade’s own yeast strain is also used for the beer. Pride of Ringwood and Hallertau Hersbrucker hops are added to the brew, combining to produce a bitter palate and a delicate, spicy aroma. Cascade Premium Light is smooth, yet full in flavour with a dense head and a clean, refreshing finish with an alcohol content of 2.8%.
Carlton Sterling has a large number of loyal consumers and it has a truly distinctive taste through its unique hops. Fosters Australia is looking for this product to play a role in the mainstream light category, providing consumers with the same great taste at a price point and brand positioning in between Foster’s Light ice and Cascade Premium Light
Microbreweries tend not to produce low alcohol beers; they're very difficult to get right. The reasons are because alcohol contributes a lot to mouthfeel, so light beers are sometimes described as lacking body, or being watery. To compensate for this, the Mildura Brewery’s Sun Light has been generous with hop additions, resulting in a bitter, spicy style of light. The hop variety is Saaz, sourced from Bohemia, north Czech Republic, home of the Pilsener. At five kilograms per batch, that's three times the quantity of our other brews. It shows in the aftertaste and aroma, slightly citric and a bit peppery. This means we can achieve a full flavoured beer taste, without resorting to watering down the finished product.
Midstrength Beers
Carlton MID is a key growth brand for Fosters Australia with the average consumer getting older and making consumptions choices based on specific occasions. As market leader in WA and clear number two brand in QLD the support behind the brand in relation to sponsorship, communication and promotional activity is testament to the importance of the segment. Aided by improved packaging, more impactful signage, point-of-sale and a successful advertising campaign (television and outdoor), Carlton Mid has gained critical mass and continues to grow strongly throughout the Queensland market. Carlton Mid is now the third largest beer brand in Queensland (behind XXXX Gold and VB) with a 10.6% share of the total beer market It has been particularly successful on tap, where it exhibited the highest growth in the entire Midstrength category (Queensland’s biggest beer category), up 3.2% (against category growth of just 1.3%). Nationally Carlton Mid share for the last quarter was 29.4% of the Midstrength market, up 1.1 points on last year. The brand has also benefited from its ‘hearts and minds’ association with sporting sponsorships such as the NRL competition, the Brisbane Lions, the Royal Flying Doctor Service
XXXX GOLD has had an excellent year once again, growing volume in every state. It’s the number one beer in Queensland and three times its nearest rival, and is now the second largest beer brand by volume in the country. In 2006, XXXX GOLD continued to approach beer drinkers through multi layered programs of activity. For the first time, XXXX GOLD’S award winning advertising campaign featuring ‘Jacko and the boys’ and their little mate ‘Marlin’ the dog ran in virtually every market in the country, in both metropolitan and regional areas. XXXX Gold Beach Cricket will be the biggest program of activity XXXX GOLD has ever developed. In October, seven million ‘beach cricket’ themed cartons of XXXX GOLD will start to make their way across the country offering cricket lovers a free XXXX Gold Beach Cricket ‘swing’ ball and the chance to build their own beach cricket kit. XXXX GOLD will also be releasing limited edition cans featuring the seven Australian players, limited edition stubbies featuring a player from the Australian Team and one of the opposing teams as well as a XXXX Gold Beach Cricket television commercial starring the three captains.
Coopers Mild Ale is fully brewed using a selection of barley and wheat malt with no added sugar. It then undergoes secondary fermentation in the bottle or can, the same process used in the production of Pale Ale and Sparkling Ale. Coopers Chairman and Marketing Director, Mr Glenn Cooper, said “It’s a smooth, easy-drinking ale that’s similar in flavour profile to Coopers Pale Ale and Sparkling Ale, but slightly softer. “ It’s an ideal beer for people who enjoy the taste of a full flavoured beer, but wish to limit alcohol consumption. Many people are telling us they are drinking Mild Ale simply because of the taste, not because it is lower in alcohol. ”Coopers Mild Ale’s alcohol content of 3.5%
Little Creatures Rogers Ale continues to impress ale lovers who want a low alcohol alternative .Rogers Ale is a full flavoured amber ale with an intriguing mix of malts combined with the distinctive LC hop character. Hand crafted in small batches, Rogers has a clean crisp flavour with plenty of mouthfeel.
Grand Ridge’s Moonlight is the only light or mid strength beer to win and "Open Ale" category at the National Festival of Beers and it has done it twice. Moonlight has also picked up the Worlds Best low alcohol beer and Australia's best on the way through. This hard to find little Aussie battler beer has a big rich nutty brown ale flavour, and is often picked as a 5.5% - 6.5% beer in blind tastings.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Beers & Stripes
As an ex-pat Yank of some three decades, I’m very aware to the hard sell of American beers here in Oz. It seems that since getting off the boat Aussies have asked me “How do you like the beer?” which was inevitably followed with “better than that Yankee garbage, it’s weak as p….mate.” So please indulge me for a moment as I pursue this issue of weakness. For mind, weakness could be based on three elements in beer; lack of colour, flavour, or alcohol. We praise the light golden appearance and soft sweet taste of German lagers yet dismiss the American versions. Fact is that most USA brewing traditions have a German origin, and the sweetness comes from the infusion of rice as a flavouring agent like Asian beers. And as for alcohol on closer inspection, American beers are equal if not exceeding the alcohol per volume levels of our leading premium beers. So let’s have a look at the American beers on offer here in Australia.
America’s flagship brewing company is Anheuser-Busch/Budweiser. Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch is the world’s largest brewer with sales in more than 80 countries, leading the world market with an 11% share and on the US beer market with 48.8 %. Their quality comes from a dedication taken in every step and unwavering commitment to quality since its founding in 1852. Anheuser-Busch brews Budweiser by using only the very finest hops, barley malt, rice yeast and water. Since 1876, Budweiser’s natural ingredients have made the brand a superior quality beer with no artificial ingredients or preservatives.
Budweiser is brewed using only the choicest hops and two-row and six-row barley malts. Anheuser-Busch uses more malt per barrel than any other major brewer in the United States. They use only the choicest domestic and imported hops, including premium Saaz hops from the Zatec region of South Bohemia, and operate a 178-acre (71.2-hectare) hops farm near the prestigious German Hops Research Institute in Huell, Germany, in the fertile Hallertau region. Their domestic Elk Mountain Hop Farm opened in 1987 in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, is the largest aroma hop farm in the world. The farm yields more than 2 million pounds of hops each fall. Elk Mountain Farm is some 10 miles from the Canadian boarder, located at the same latitude as Europe’s prime hop-growing regions. Rice is used in many Anheuser-Busch brands, producing a pale beer with a clean, crisp taste that tends to enhance the hop flavour in the beer. The brewer’s yeast used in all Anheuser-Busch beers has been perfected over decades, and all the company’s breweries are supplied from one, carefully maintained, pure-culture system. The brewer’s yeast that gives Budweiser its distinctive aroma and taste is the same that was used when Budweiser was introduced back in 1876.
Anheuser-Busch brews its beers with the same methods used by the company's founder, Adolph’s Busch, more than a century ago. “It may appear old-fashioned to brew beer basically the same way we have for more than a century, but it's all part of the time-honoured tradition that we take great pride in maintaining,” says Lee Babb, Sales Manager – Pacific Region, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Anheuser-Busch is the only major brewer in the world still using the traditional beechwood-aging process, the process adds an extra measure of natural clarification and maturation to Anheuser-Busch beers. Many old-world brewers used beechwood chips instead of other types of wood because beechwood is low in phenolic and resins that otherwise would impart woody flavour to the beer. These chips are boiled in water and baking soda-and not soda ash-before use. Having a latticework of beechwood chips on the bottom of our lager tanks allows the lager yeast to settle over the wood instead of creating layers at the bottom of the vessel. This in turn allows a greater amount of yeast contact with aging beer, ensuring complete fermentation, natural carbonation and flavour maturation. They also use a centuries-old European technique called kraeusening, during which a portion of freshly yeasted wort is added to start a secondary fermentation. Most brewers do not use this secondary fermentation, which matures the beer’s flavour and provides natural carbonation. Because a single fermentation does not provide sufficient carbonation, other brewers instead add carbon dioxide to the beer before packaging.
Premium Beverages announced the launch of Michelob ULTRA in Australia, effective in November. Michelob ULTRA is a premium imported full strength beer which has the lowest carbohydrates and the lowest calories currently in the Australian market. Mark Gouley, General Manager-Marketing, claims that ‘Australian adult’s live active lifestyles and a growing number are looking for a low-carbohydrate, low-calorie beer. With this in mind, it seemed ideal to launch the world’s leading low carb/low cal beer into the Australian market.”
Michelob ULTRA is brewed using the finest pale two-row and Munich malts, select grains, European hops and pure cultured yeast strain. By extending the mashing time, long chains of carbohydrates in the beer can be broken down into smaller simple sugars thus creating a low carbohydrate beer. The result is a great-tasting premium lager with fewer carbohydrates and calories. Michelob ULTRA has only 2.6 grams of carbohydrates and 95 calories per 355 ml bottle.
Goulmy states “Michelob ULTRA has achieved enormous success in the US and the UK. The prominence of the low carb category globally has provided a great foundation for Michelob ULTRA to establish itself and build the category further in the Australian market.’
Miller Genuine Draft is the pride of Milwaukee, traditionally considered the capital city of brewing in America (remember Laverne & Shirley?). Its origins began when Frederick Miller migrated from Germany to establish a small family operated brewery producing 300 barrels a year. SAB Miller is now the second largest brewer which operates in all 5 continents, 60 countries and a whopping 117 breweries .SAB Miller entered into a 50:50 agreement this year with Coca-Cola Amatil, now known as Pacific Beverages Pty. Ltd., to import SAB Miller products Miller Genuine Draft, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell into Australia. It is envisioned that combining SAB Miller‘s world class marketing and CCA’s strength in customer relations and their vast distribution network, they will have a solid platform to expand their products in the Australian premium beer category.
Miller Genuine Draft is more in the keeping to the common American lager style, with emphasis on light body and refreshment value. MGD has a Sparkling bright golden appearance with excellent head retention, medium intensity, sweet aroma with a toasted/toffee hint, and average carbonation with a mild bitterness, but lacking the body and hoppy bitterness of Australian beers. Available in 335 ml long neck bottle at 4.7% AV.
Samuel Adams
Boston patriot and brewer Samuel Adams was architect of the historic Boston Tea Party and signed the Declaration of Independence. He was passionate about independence, freedom, and beer. Jim Koch a sixth generation brewer in Boston found his great-great grandfather’s beer recipe in the attic and decided to set up the Boston Beer Company in 1984 using the “olde word process” of brewing which includes dry-hopping and extended lagering. Today, Samuel Adams Boston Lager is served in the White House and been awarded more than 70 international awards in the last two years.
Any non-lager struggles for consumer demand and I’ve heard many times that Sam Adams Boston Lager is to big, to filling and can’t get through more than a couple. But that criticism should be tempered with the fact that this is truly a five star beer with a powerful nutty, faintly roasted essence in both the nose and palate and then a grassy, dry, hoppy undertones, almost bread-like tenor in the finish.The slightly sweet aroma and taste, malty caramel notes and spicy,. Full bodied with a good dose of hop bitterness that kicks in at the finish. The qualities of ingredients shine through to the last drop. Sam Adams Boston Lager is an American craft beer classic. with 4.8% A/V.
America’s flagship brewing company is Anheuser-Busch/Budweiser. Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch is the world’s largest brewer with sales in more than 80 countries, leading the world market with an 11% share and on the US beer market with 48.8 %. Their quality comes from a dedication taken in every step and unwavering commitment to quality since its founding in 1852. Anheuser-Busch brews Budweiser by using only the very finest hops, barley malt, rice yeast and water. Since 1876, Budweiser’s natural ingredients have made the brand a superior quality beer with no artificial ingredients or preservatives.
Budweiser is brewed using only the choicest hops and two-row and six-row barley malts. Anheuser-Busch uses more malt per barrel than any other major brewer in the United States. They use only the choicest domestic and imported hops, including premium Saaz hops from the Zatec region of South Bohemia, and operate a 178-acre (71.2-hectare) hops farm near the prestigious German Hops Research Institute in Huell, Germany, in the fertile Hallertau region. Their domestic Elk Mountain Hop Farm opened in 1987 in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, is the largest aroma hop farm in the world. The farm yields more than 2 million pounds of hops each fall. Elk Mountain Farm is some 10 miles from the Canadian boarder, located at the same latitude as Europe’s prime hop-growing regions. Rice is used in many Anheuser-Busch brands, producing a pale beer with a clean, crisp taste that tends to enhance the hop flavour in the beer. The brewer’s yeast used in all Anheuser-Busch beers has been perfected over decades, and all the company’s breweries are supplied from one, carefully maintained, pure-culture system. The brewer’s yeast that gives Budweiser its distinctive aroma and taste is the same that was used when Budweiser was introduced back in 1876.
Anheuser-Busch brews its beers with the same methods used by the company's founder, Adolph’s Busch, more than a century ago. “It may appear old-fashioned to brew beer basically the same way we have for more than a century, but it's all part of the time-honoured tradition that we take great pride in maintaining,” says Lee Babb, Sales Manager – Pacific Region, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Anheuser-Busch is the only major brewer in the world still using the traditional beechwood-aging process, the process adds an extra measure of natural clarification and maturation to Anheuser-Busch beers. Many old-world brewers used beechwood chips instead of other types of wood because beechwood is low in phenolic and resins that otherwise would impart woody flavour to the beer. These chips are boiled in water and baking soda-and not soda ash-before use. Having a latticework of beechwood chips on the bottom of our lager tanks allows the lager yeast to settle over the wood instead of creating layers at the bottom of the vessel. This in turn allows a greater amount of yeast contact with aging beer, ensuring complete fermentation, natural carbonation and flavour maturation. They also use a centuries-old European technique called kraeusening, during which a portion of freshly yeasted wort is added to start a secondary fermentation. Most brewers do not use this secondary fermentation, which matures the beer’s flavour and provides natural carbonation. Because a single fermentation does not provide sufficient carbonation, other brewers instead add carbon dioxide to the beer before packaging.
Premium Beverages announced the launch of Michelob ULTRA in Australia, effective in November. Michelob ULTRA is a premium imported full strength beer which has the lowest carbohydrates and the lowest calories currently in the Australian market. Mark Gouley, General Manager-Marketing, claims that ‘Australian adult’s live active lifestyles and a growing number are looking for a low-carbohydrate, low-calorie beer. With this in mind, it seemed ideal to launch the world’s leading low carb/low cal beer into the Australian market.”
Michelob ULTRA is brewed using the finest pale two-row and Munich malts, select grains, European hops and pure cultured yeast strain. By extending the mashing time, long chains of carbohydrates in the beer can be broken down into smaller simple sugars thus creating a low carbohydrate beer. The result is a great-tasting premium lager with fewer carbohydrates and calories. Michelob ULTRA has only 2.6 grams of carbohydrates and 95 calories per 355 ml bottle.
Goulmy states “Michelob ULTRA has achieved enormous success in the US and the UK. The prominence of the low carb category globally has provided a great foundation for Michelob ULTRA to establish itself and build the category further in the Australian market.’
Miller Genuine Draft is the pride of Milwaukee, traditionally considered the capital city of brewing in America (remember Laverne & Shirley?). Its origins began when Frederick Miller migrated from Germany to establish a small family operated brewery producing 300 barrels a year. SAB Miller is now the second largest brewer which operates in all 5 continents, 60 countries and a whopping 117 breweries .SAB Miller entered into a 50:50 agreement this year with Coca-Cola Amatil, now known as Pacific Beverages Pty. Ltd., to import SAB Miller products Miller Genuine Draft, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell into Australia. It is envisioned that combining SAB Miller‘s world class marketing and CCA’s strength in customer relations and their vast distribution network, they will have a solid platform to expand their products in the Australian premium beer category.
Miller Genuine Draft is more in the keeping to the common American lager style, with emphasis on light body and refreshment value. MGD has a Sparkling bright golden appearance with excellent head retention, medium intensity, sweet aroma with a toasted/toffee hint, and average carbonation with a mild bitterness, but lacking the body and hoppy bitterness of Australian beers. Available in 335 ml long neck bottle at 4.7% AV.
Samuel Adams
Boston patriot and brewer Samuel Adams was architect of the historic Boston Tea Party and signed the Declaration of Independence. He was passionate about independence, freedom, and beer. Jim Koch a sixth generation brewer in Boston found his great-great grandfather’s beer recipe in the attic and decided to set up the Boston Beer Company in 1984 using the “olde word process” of brewing which includes dry-hopping and extended lagering. Today, Samuel Adams Boston Lager is served in the White House and been awarded more than 70 international awards in the last two years.
Any non-lager struggles for consumer demand and I’ve heard many times that Sam Adams Boston Lager is to big, to filling and can’t get through more than a couple. But that criticism should be tempered with the fact that this is truly a five star beer with a powerful nutty, faintly roasted essence in both the nose and palate and then a grassy, dry, hoppy undertones, almost bread-like tenor in the finish.The slightly sweet aroma and taste, malty caramel notes and spicy,. Full bodied with a good dose of hop bitterness that kicks in at the finish. The qualities of ingredients shine through to the last drop. Sam Adams Boston Lager is an American craft beer classic. with 4.8% A/V.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Primed for Premium
An easy trot into the spring racing carnival season will turn to a full scale gallop for the ‘Premium Beer Cup’ in the next few weeks. The track report is good with a growth rate for the premium beers in value terms from 13.9% of the total beer market (MAT to June 2005) to 15.22% (MAT to June 2006), a growth of approximately 10%. The international contenders are also displaying good form of around 18% by value on an MAT basis to June 2006 when compared with a year ago, and the young colts of the craft beer sector have remained steady. Let’s have a look at The National Liquor News racing guide to see who’s in form and possible contenders for the 2006 season.
If Fosters Australia’s Crown Lager were a race horse the stewards would be screaming for a swab test after five decades in the winners circle. One in every four domestic premium sales is a ‘crownie’ but there not sitting back on their haunches. The National Liquor news is honoured to be given exclusive rights to announce Fosters Australia’s newest family member Crown Pilsener. According to Melanie Powell Premium Brand Communications Manager; “Over the last two years we have invested in the Crown Lager brand to remain competitive and grow in the Premium beer market. After exhaustive research with Crown Lager drinkers, new Crown Lager varieties received a favourable response. Described as a smmoth, crisp European lager with spicy bitterness and herbal aroma derived from Wenceslaus hops grown exclusively for this beer in the Derwent Valley of Tasmania. We will release only 10,000 cases in late October nationwide for the first three months until the new harvest in March 2007.”
According to Marketing Manager for J. Boag & Son Anthea Pritchard, preparation for the summer season is well under way.” We have also just completed our new Boag's St George advertising campaign. The campaign extends the "Gallantry is back" message by this time asking the question "What is Gallantry?" and offering some alternative answers. Some gallant acts may be small, whilst others are large and courageous and this updated campaign concentrates on the courageous gestures. A radio campaign will be launched on Nova nationally in October and fully wrapped trams and buses and interior panels will appear in the market by September. Boag's St George has captured 1.5% share of the premium beer market in its first year and is still showing strong signs of growth.
“We are also working on a new James Boag's Premium advertising campaign inspired by another of Helmut Newton's photographs and continues to be in the top three of premium and imported beers. Finally, we released 13,000 cases of Boag Honey Porter into the market in late August.” Back by popular demand, this limited edition seasonal beer features locally made leatherwood honey and has a big following amongst dark ale lovers.
Down in Hobart, three hop varieties have been used for the first time in Cascade Brewery’s First Harvest Ale 2006. A unique Cascade beer has been crafted each hop harvest since 2002, with each year’s beer showcasing different aromas and flavours due to the use of fresh, green hops. Hop varieties Ember, Nova and Galaxy are the product of years of development, and Cascade master brewer Max Burslem has been closely involved in their cultivation. “Each year Cascade First Harvest has an opportunity for the team at Cascade to experiment. In 2006, we have taken delivery of these new varieties and are pleased with the results of their first brew,” said Max.
The young colts out in Fremantle, West Australia are showing great form for the summer season. Little Creatures is the Champion Australasian Brewery for 2006 and their passion for hop driven beers continues, with their latest yearling, LC Bright. As the name suggests, Bright is a filtered beer with a striking golden clarity in the glass. Little Creatures uses 4 luscious malts including Pale, Carapils, Wheat and Vienna. The beer is full flavoured whilst soft and easy on the palate, bitterness is slightly lower than the highly charged pale ale and is accentuated enough to balance the smooth, malty character. The hope characteristics in Bright are derived from the use of highly aromatic New Zealand B Saaz Flowers as well as varieties from the North West of USA.
Matilda Bay has been the ‘Phar Lap’ of the wheat beer category in Australia since the launch of Redback Original in the late 80's. There are two big changes in the pipeline. The first is cosmetic, with the packaging changing on Redback Mild and Redback Original in late October, designed to better reflect the product’s light crisp and refreshing taste. There will also be a new beer on the market, Redback Cristal. Redback Cristal is slightly different from Redback Original in that although the recipe is the same 50/50 malted wheat and barley, it is brewed with lager yeast instead of the German ale yeast used in Redback Original. It is just as light and refreshing as Redback Original but will not have the spicy yeast characteristics so distinctive of Original. The aroma is fruity with a distinct citrus note and the palate is light and fresh with some refreshing tartness derived from the wheat malt.
Matilda Bay is also releasing a series of way "out-there" beers. Following the great response to Barking Duck, Matilda Bay will release its second "out-there" beer in the form of Crema, a beer with coffee. Matilda Bay Crema Coffee Beer is hand crafted with malted wheat and barley as well as Australian Arabica coffee beans to produce a soft, smooth, creamy beer. This special blend of grains and coffee beans gives Crema a real aromatic toasted, nutty, coffee character. Matilda Bay’s “Malt, Hops and Water Guy”, Brad Rogers has been roasting his own coffee and working on all kind of blends “just for fun. Coffee originally grew wild in the mountainous forests of the Kaffa region of Ethiopia and Archaeologists claim that people have been eating coffee cherries for the last 4,000 years or so. Alcoholic coffee and coffee beers have been made before but they’re usually very dark or black in colour. Our Crema is much paler - more like a latte rather than an espresso. Crema has a pale light straw colour, striking due to being unfiltered.
Things have been happening on the east coast as well in the Premium beer scene. The Malt Shovel Brewery is a unique craft experience by introducing the limited edition, ‘James Squire Rum Rebellion Porter’. By utilising the rum barrel aging process, the innovative team of Malt Shovel brewers have created a distinct flavour profile for their 2nd James Squire limited edition this year. The ‘James Squire Rum Rebellion Porter’ holds an earthy vanilla undertone of oak and is rich in flavour and dark in appearance, while the residual rum flavour from the barrels creates a smooth, satisfying finish. According to Master Brewer, Dr. Chuck Hahn, the ‘James Squire Rum Rebellion Porter’ gives Australians the opportunity to taste a beer which has adopted a historical brewing process and originated from a legendary story. Porter developed as a beer style in London in the late 1700's. Empty rum barrels were abundant and were often used for additional beer storage. “In 1808 Australia was overrun by a group of renegade soldiers in protest of the government rum taxation,” said Dr. Hahn. “Nearly two hundred years later a band of rebel brewers have created a small batch of the Rum Rebellion Porter to celebrate mischief and victory over tyranny.
Following the hugely successful launch of James Squire Limited Release Golden Ale in summer 2004, Malt Shovel Brewery has permanently added the beer to its unique range of craft brews; the ultimate thirst-quencher for the warmer months, James Squire Golden Ale is an English-style summer beer that has been created for enjoyment, taste and refreshment. James Squire Golden Ale uses fresh roasted grains of barley and wheat to give it a rich orange-amber colour, and new season Amarillo hops to provide a tropical stone fruit aroma and a restrained bitter finish.
Up in Newcastle, Bluetongue brewery has been hard at work creating a world class facility. Their new brewhouse will double their capacity but the big news is a recently signed a deal with the Outback Steakhouse chains in America, where Bluetongue have been earmarked for 454 stores across America by October 1. According to Ty Burford, Business Development Manager “We have sent our first container of Bluetongue Draught to America in our newly developed 30 litre ecokeg, a plastic non returnable keg recently developed for export markets. Bluetongue Draught, alongside with Tooheys New, have been selected as the two Australian beers to be served on tap. Bluetongue Traditional Pilsener in packaged form has also been included in the new range for Outback Steakhouses. It has been confirmed that they would like all 800+ stores to stock both Bluetongue products by January 01, 2007.We are also negotiating distribution with a number of major key accounts including a leading airline company. Bluetongues now have over 160 venues with our beer on tap within Sydney and the Hunter region.
If Fosters Australia’s Crown Lager were a race horse the stewards would be screaming for a swab test after five decades in the winners circle. One in every four domestic premium sales is a ‘crownie’ but there not sitting back on their haunches. The National Liquor news is honoured to be given exclusive rights to announce Fosters Australia’s newest family member Crown Pilsener. According to Melanie Powell Premium Brand Communications Manager; “Over the last two years we have invested in the Crown Lager brand to remain competitive and grow in the Premium beer market. After exhaustive research with Crown Lager drinkers, new Crown Lager varieties received a favourable response. Described as a smmoth, crisp European lager with spicy bitterness and herbal aroma derived from Wenceslaus hops grown exclusively for this beer in the Derwent Valley of Tasmania. We will release only 10,000 cases in late October nationwide for the first three months until the new harvest in March 2007.”
According to Marketing Manager for J. Boag & Son Anthea Pritchard, preparation for the summer season is well under way.” We have also just completed our new Boag's St George advertising campaign. The campaign extends the "Gallantry is back" message by this time asking the question "What is Gallantry?" and offering some alternative answers. Some gallant acts may be small, whilst others are large and courageous and this updated campaign concentrates on the courageous gestures. A radio campaign will be launched on Nova nationally in October and fully wrapped trams and buses and interior panels will appear in the market by September. Boag's St George has captured 1.5% share of the premium beer market in its first year and is still showing strong signs of growth.
“We are also working on a new James Boag's Premium advertising campaign inspired by another of Helmut Newton's photographs and continues to be in the top three of premium and imported beers. Finally, we released 13,000 cases of Boag Honey Porter into the market in late August.” Back by popular demand, this limited edition seasonal beer features locally made leatherwood honey and has a big following amongst dark ale lovers.
Down in Hobart, three hop varieties have been used for the first time in Cascade Brewery’s First Harvest Ale 2006. A unique Cascade beer has been crafted each hop harvest since 2002, with each year’s beer showcasing different aromas and flavours due to the use of fresh, green hops. Hop varieties Ember, Nova and Galaxy are the product of years of development, and Cascade master brewer Max Burslem has been closely involved in their cultivation. “Each year Cascade First Harvest has an opportunity for the team at Cascade to experiment. In 2006, we have taken delivery of these new varieties and are pleased with the results of their first brew,” said Max.
The young colts out in Fremantle, West Australia are showing great form for the summer season. Little Creatures is the Champion Australasian Brewery for 2006 and their passion for hop driven beers continues, with their latest yearling, LC Bright. As the name suggests, Bright is a filtered beer with a striking golden clarity in the glass. Little Creatures uses 4 luscious malts including Pale, Carapils, Wheat and Vienna. The beer is full flavoured whilst soft and easy on the palate, bitterness is slightly lower than the highly charged pale ale and is accentuated enough to balance the smooth, malty character. The hope characteristics in Bright are derived from the use of highly aromatic New Zealand B Saaz Flowers as well as varieties from the North West of USA.
Matilda Bay has been the ‘Phar Lap’ of the wheat beer category in Australia since the launch of Redback Original in the late 80's. There are two big changes in the pipeline. The first is cosmetic, with the packaging changing on Redback Mild and Redback Original in late October, designed to better reflect the product’s light crisp and refreshing taste. There will also be a new beer on the market, Redback Cristal. Redback Cristal is slightly different from Redback Original in that although the recipe is the same 50/50 malted wheat and barley, it is brewed with lager yeast instead of the German ale yeast used in Redback Original. It is just as light and refreshing as Redback Original but will not have the spicy yeast characteristics so distinctive of Original. The aroma is fruity with a distinct citrus note and the palate is light and fresh with some refreshing tartness derived from the wheat malt.
Matilda Bay is also releasing a series of way "out-there" beers. Following the great response to Barking Duck, Matilda Bay will release its second "out-there" beer in the form of Crema, a beer with coffee. Matilda Bay Crema Coffee Beer is hand crafted with malted wheat and barley as well as Australian Arabica coffee beans to produce a soft, smooth, creamy beer. This special blend of grains and coffee beans gives Crema a real aromatic toasted, nutty, coffee character. Matilda Bay’s “Malt, Hops and Water Guy”, Brad Rogers has been roasting his own coffee and working on all kind of blends “just for fun. Coffee originally grew wild in the mountainous forests of the Kaffa region of Ethiopia and Archaeologists claim that people have been eating coffee cherries for the last 4,000 years or so. Alcoholic coffee and coffee beers have been made before but they’re usually very dark or black in colour. Our Crema is much paler - more like a latte rather than an espresso. Crema has a pale light straw colour, striking due to being unfiltered.
Things have been happening on the east coast as well in the Premium beer scene. The Malt Shovel Brewery is a unique craft experience by introducing the limited edition, ‘James Squire Rum Rebellion Porter’. By utilising the rum barrel aging process, the innovative team of Malt Shovel brewers have created a distinct flavour profile for their 2nd James Squire limited edition this year. The ‘James Squire Rum Rebellion Porter’ holds an earthy vanilla undertone of oak and is rich in flavour and dark in appearance, while the residual rum flavour from the barrels creates a smooth, satisfying finish. According to Master Brewer, Dr. Chuck Hahn, the ‘James Squire Rum Rebellion Porter’ gives Australians the opportunity to taste a beer which has adopted a historical brewing process and originated from a legendary story. Porter developed as a beer style in London in the late 1700's. Empty rum barrels were abundant and were often used for additional beer storage. “In 1808 Australia was overrun by a group of renegade soldiers in protest of the government rum taxation,” said Dr. Hahn. “Nearly two hundred years later a band of rebel brewers have created a small batch of the Rum Rebellion Porter to celebrate mischief and victory over tyranny.
Following the hugely successful launch of James Squire Limited Release Golden Ale in summer 2004, Malt Shovel Brewery has permanently added the beer to its unique range of craft brews; the ultimate thirst-quencher for the warmer months, James Squire Golden Ale is an English-style summer beer that has been created for enjoyment, taste and refreshment. James Squire Golden Ale uses fresh roasted grains of barley and wheat to give it a rich orange-amber colour, and new season Amarillo hops to provide a tropical stone fruit aroma and a restrained bitter finish.
Up in Newcastle, Bluetongue brewery has been hard at work creating a world class facility. Their new brewhouse will double their capacity but the big news is a recently signed a deal with the Outback Steakhouse chains in America, where Bluetongue have been earmarked for 454 stores across America by October 1. According to Ty Burford, Business Development Manager “We have sent our first container of Bluetongue Draught to America in our newly developed 30 litre ecokeg, a plastic non returnable keg recently developed for export markets. Bluetongue Draught, alongside with Tooheys New, have been selected as the two Australian beers to be served on tap. Bluetongue Traditional Pilsener in packaged form has also been included in the new range for Outback Steakhouses. It has been confirmed that they would like all 800+ stores to stock both Bluetongue products by January 01, 2007.We are also negotiating distribution with a number of major key accounts including a leading airline company. Bluetongues now have over 160 venues with our beer on tap within Sydney and the Hunter region.
The Pride of South Australia
The history of the Cooper’s Brewery is as rich and colourful as Adelaide itself. The key to their success can be attributed to the 3 P’s – perseverance, purity, and popularity. The brewing dynasty of Yorkshireman Thomas Cooper dates back to 1862, but Thomas never meant to start a brewing business. A tradesman with gained expertise as a stonemason, shoemaker, and dairyman, Thomas was asked by his wife Ann, the daughter of an Innkeeper, to brew up a batch of stout from an old family recipe to help cure an unknown illness. Word quickly got around and Thomas soon found himself brewing the same Sparkling Ale and Extra Stout we still enjoy today for neighbours and friends. As the brewery flourished, Thomas delivered his beer by horse and cart direct to homes of his customers, a Cooper tradition which survived until the 1920’s.
There were many small breweries operating in the 1840’3 on and by 1868 there were 43 breweries in South Australia. All encountered problems including bacterial infections from the higher Aussie temperature than England and inferior malt. The use of sugar in brewing as an adjunct was a way to overcome the malt problem. In a letter to his bother, Thomas Cooper states “There are half a dozen breweries in and about Adelaide but they use a good deal of sugar for brewing, but we use only malt and hops consequently, ours being pure, the Doctors recommend it to all their patients.”
Through the 1880’s South Australia experienced a decline in the economy following the onset of drought and falls in major exports of wheat and copper. The decline was felt in the brewing industry as well with Cooper’s production down to 62 brews a year and remained at that level for the next ten years. In 1881, Thomas Cooper had moved from Norwood to set up a new brewery at suburban Leabrook, then very much an outer suburb of Adelaide. Coopers operated on the Leabrook site for the next 120 years until 2001 when it moved to a new $40 million brewery it built at Regency Park to overcome problems associated with a lack of room at Leabrook, now one of Adelaide’s more prestigious suburbs.
By 1900 there were only 25 breweries left in the colony when Thomas retired leaving all his property to his four sons with instructions to ‘Carry on my business as brewers under the form “Thos Cooper & Sons” as partners and trustees
During the first two decades of the 20th century, the demand for Coopers showed an increase of 300% despite another major drought (1914) and the onset of World War 1. Shortages of brewing materials, manpower and an aged 29 year old brewery hampered Coopers production during the war years., yet in 1923/24 Coopers had 56% of the stout market due to the fact that it contained higher levels of alcohol and considered ‘value for money’
Coopers survived the great depression, continued shortages of materials, and lack of manpower during the war years, so by the mid 1940’s the brewing equipment required desperate upgrades. By 1945 one section of the brewery was in urgent need, wooden fermenting vats needed replacement to avoid infection problems experienced by other local breweries. The continued escalation of costs made it difficult to generate good profits requiring reduced dividends to shareholders including no dividend in 1951.Coopers relied heavily on the stout market and their leading competitor, SA Brewing, reintroduced their product which started a stout war. In Cooper’s centenary year of 1962 the two rival companies met and consulted with shareholders to mutually exchange shares giving SA Brewing 25% interest in Cooper’s. Along with the family share structure, this deal virtually eliminated a buy out of the company. This trust and loyalty is an integral part of Coopers and was seen recently again when in late 2005, Coopers was the subject of a hostile takeover bid by rival NZ-Japanese owned brewer Lion Nathan. That takeover bid was resoundingly defeated just before Christmas when the 118 Coopers shareholders, mostly descendants of Thomas Cooper, voted 93.42% to 6.58% in favour of a motion that effectively ended the bid.
Today, Coopers Brewery is the third largest brewer in Australia and the only one that remains entirely family-owned. The company is now being run by the fifth generation of the same family. As they like to say at Coopers, you can still meet a Cooper, but there is no Mr Lion, Mr Nathan or even a Mr Carlton. Coopers currently has about 3% of the national beer market but is growing rapidly, particularly in the Eastern States where growth in recent years has been in the order of 30% plus each year. In its home state of South Australia, Coopers has about a 25% share of the market. It exports bottled beers to a number of countries, including the UK, USA and countries throughout Europe and Asia. It also recently sent its first shipment of beer to Brazil. Coopers is also the largest producer of home brew concentrates in the world and exports them to most corners of the globe. In Australia, concentrates are sold through supermarkets and specialty home brew stores.
There were many small breweries operating in the 1840’3 on and by 1868 there were 43 breweries in South Australia. All encountered problems including bacterial infections from the higher Aussie temperature than England and inferior malt. The use of sugar in brewing as an adjunct was a way to overcome the malt problem. In a letter to his bother, Thomas Cooper states “There are half a dozen breweries in and about Adelaide but they use a good deal of sugar for brewing, but we use only malt and hops consequently, ours being pure, the Doctors recommend it to all their patients.”
Through the 1880’s South Australia experienced a decline in the economy following the onset of drought and falls in major exports of wheat and copper. The decline was felt in the brewing industry as well with Cooper’s production down to 62 brews a year and remained at that level for the next ten years. In 1881, Thomas Cooper had moved from Norwood to set up a new brewery at suburban Leabrook, then very much an outer suburb of Adelaide. Coopers operated on the Leabrook site for the next 120 years until 2001 when it moved to a new $40 million brewery it built at Regency Park to overcome problems associated with a lack of room at Leabrook, now one of Adelaide’s more prestigious suburbs.
By 1900 there were only 25 breweries left in the colony when Thomas retired leaving all his property to his four sons with instructions to ‘Carry on my business as brewers under the form “Thos Cooper & Sons” as partners and trustees
During the first two decades of the 20th century, the demand for Coopers showed an increase of 300% despite another major drought (1914) and the onset of World War 1. Shortages of brewing materials, manpower and an aged 29 year old brewery hampered Coopers production during the war years., yet in 1923/24 Coopers had 56% of the stout market due to the fact that it contained higher levels of alcohol and considered ‘value for money’
Coopers survived the great depression, continued shortages of materials, and lack of manpower during the war years, so by the mid 1940’s the brewing equipment required desperate upgrades. By 1945 one section of the brewery was in urgent need, wooden fermenting vats needed replacement to avoid infection problems experienced by other local breweries. The continued escalation of costs made it difficult to generate good profits requiring reduced dividends to shareholders including no dividend in 1951.Coopers relied heavily on the stout market and their leading competitor, SA Brewing, reintroduced their product which started a stout war. In Cooper’s centenary year of 1962 the two rival companies met and consulted with shareholders to mutually exchange shares giving SA Brewing 25% interest in Cooper’s. Along with the family share structure, this deal virtually eliminated a buy out of the company. This trust and loyalty is an integral part of Coopers and was seen recently again when in late 2005, Coopers was the subject of a hostile takeover bid by rival NZ-Japanese owned brewer Lion Nathan. That takeover bid was resoundingly defeated just before Christmas when the 118 Coopers shareholders, mostly descendants of Thomas Cooper, voted 93.42% to 6.58% in favour of a motion that effectively ended the bid.
Today, Coopers Brewery is the third largest brewer in Australia and the only one that remains entirely family-owned. The company is now being run by the fifth generation of the same family. As they like to say at Coopers, you can still meet a Cooper, but there is no Mr Lion, Mr Nathan or even a Mr Carlton. Coopers currently has about 3% of the national beer market but is growing rapidly, particularly in the Eastern States where growth in recent years has been in the order of 30% plus each year. In its home state of South Australia, Coopers has about a 25% share of the market. It exports bottled beers to a number of countries, including the UK, USA and countries throughout Europe and Asia. It also recently sent its first shipment of beer to Brazil. Coopers is also the largest producer of home brew concentrates in the world and exports them to most corners of the globe. In Australia, concentrates are sold through supermarkets and specialty home brew stores.
Monday, July 17, 2006
The Other World Cup
When he discovered that two of Australia’s premier craft brewers Brad Rogers of Matilda Bay Brewing and Chuck Hahn of Malt Shovel Brewery had been invited as guest judges to the Beer World Cup 20063 in Seattle, Washington USA, CHARLES COLL knew it was an experience he couldn’t miss.
Seattle is best known for three things, the birthplace of Starbucks coffee, Bill Gates Microsoft, and craft breweries. I also found many similarities with my hometown Melbourne - ever changing weather conditions, a vibrant city market, a passion for sports, and of course a love of beer. So it seemed a good fit that both cities are hosting major beer judging events. The Beer World Cup, often referred to as the Beer Olympics is the most diverse competition among brewers worldwide with 2275 beers from 539 breweries in 55 countries being judged by 111 brew masters from 85 categories.
The beer judging is only part of the festivities which also included a craft brewer’s conference with various seminar topics and a Brew Expo with 123 exhibitors of beer related industrial products that ranged from bottle fillers to fresh hops from around the world. These events were not open to the public, but provided vital interchange between fellow brewers and their suppliers. This camaraderie has certainly helped improve the craft beer market in the USA which is presently showing a nine per cent growth. The most startling statistic offered is that due to the popularity of microbreweries, one can be found within a ten mile radius of any home in the country.
So what did our brew masters have to say about their experiences? We asked them to give us an overview of the categories they judged, what styles of beer impressed them the most, and what would they bring back to Australia from the experience.
Chuck Hahn had the following to say: ÒI judged the honey lager beers, some aged in wood barrels that dominated the flavour, but most of the 47 samples we tried were too sweet for my liking. I was impressed with some of the seasonal beers like a rum barrel aged porter and a Dortmund/special bitter. There was also a very nice English styled brown ale at 4.5 per cent ABV that caught my attention. All the pilsners were very competitive, it was tough to pick from all the great European pils in the category. Without a doubt the most unusual category I judged was the fruit and vegetable section. There was watermelon, pumpkin, blackberry and cherry just to a mention a few. I really found the fruit complimented the hops and malt. I don’t think Australia is ready for these just yet, but I’ll be the first to introduce one down in Oz. I asked Chuck what were the differences between the Beer World Cup and the Australian International Beer Awards.
More categories and more beers to be judged for a start, plus they only award one gold, silver, and bronze from each category. The highlights for me has been the ability to catch up with fellow American brewers and find out what they are up to, different hops that are available, different brewing systems. I’ll take home some different concepts of brewing, a new beer cookbook and valuable information collected regarding beer education, beer and food matching plus some great literature.
I caught up with hops, malt, yeast and water guy, Brad Rogers right after the awards to get his impressions on judging and participating in the Beer World Cup. I was judging cellar and unfiltered beer, American-style wheat beer, German-style strong bock, specialty beers, but the categories that impressed me the most were the coffee flavoured beer, smoke-flavoured beer, and the Munich-style Hellas beers. It was a pleasure and an honour to be on the judging panel, but the highlight for me was the social interaction with such amazing people from all over the world. You just try to absorb as much as you can.
At the last World Cup I came back with the Rooftop Red Lager idea, and after the Great American Beer Festival in October, I wanted to make a Saison and here I am getting a bronze for one of our out there beers Barking Duck. For Matilda Bay, it’s a chance to push the envelope, to get things going on and out there for the Australian beer drinking community. We try to fill in the gaps and melt what we think the Aussie beer drinkers will want. I’m proud to be part of this international brewing community. Last night I was out with the Belgian guys from Orval. Duvel, Westmalle, and St Bernard drinking their beers and talking to them on a social level. There is so much diversity in the beer over here and we need to understand these styles. I’m confident we can because now we can get help from the greater beer community; then mould that style with things we enjoy, putting an Aussie slant on things.
During the course of the week I caught up with two terrific young brewers who had recently started up a micro-brewery in Biloxi, Mississippi called the Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company. Biloxi, Mississippi was in the eye of Hurricane (cyclone) Katrina which had devastated the town including their own homes and all their possessions. But under the heading of believe it or not the only building to be left standing was the tiny brewery which only lost its back door. With a brave face, the boys were determined to enter their beers and attend the conference. While in town they went down to the local op shop and each brought an $18 suit, but they insisted the suits at that price come with a shirt and tie.
Early on 5 in the awards ceremony, the boys were elated at wining a bronze medal in Category 6: Rye Beer with their Amberjaque Rye Ale. After going up on stage to receive their award they couldn’t wait to phone their sister with the news knowing that the whole town was at the brewery to show their support and loyalty. While talking to his sister the boys received a second bronze medal in Category 10: Specialty Beer Section with their Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale. The entire ballroom went quiet as the loudest YEEHAW I’ve ever heard was followed by a Holy shit sis, we won again! Who says their aren’t beer gods in heaven.
So how did the Aussies go in the award I hear you ask? Here are our results from 85 categories;
Category 4: American-Style Wheat Beer - Gold Medal Cascade Blonde Lager -Cascade Brewing Co.
Category 11: Specialty Honey Lager/Ale - Gold Medal Redoak Honey Ale - Redoak, Sydney
Category 16: Smoke-Flavoured Beer - Gold Medal Redoak Rauch - Redoak, Sydney
Category 17: European-Style Low Alcohol Lager - Silver Medal Hahn Premium Lager -Hahn Brewing Co-Bronze Medal Cascade Premium Light-Cascade Brewing Co.
Category 31: American-Style Low Carbohydrate Light Lager - Silver Medal Pure Blonde - Fosters Australia.
Category 39: Baltic Porter - Bronze Medal Redoak Baltic Porter - Redoak, Sydney
Category 41: French/Belgian-Sytle Saison - Bronze Medal Barking Duck - Matilda Bay Brewing Co.
Category 49: English-Style Summer Ale - Bronze Medal James Squire Golden Ale - Malt Shovel Brewing Co
Seattle is best known for three things, the birthplace of Starbucks coffee, Bill Gates Microsoft, and craft breweries. I also found many similarities with my hometown Melbourne - ever changing weather conditions, a vibrant city market, a passion for sports, and of course a love of beer. So it seemed a good fit that both cities are hosting major beer judging events. The Beer World Cup, often referred to as the Beer Olympics is the most diverse competition among brewers worldwide with 2275 beers from 539 breweries in 55 countries being judged by 111 brew masters from 85 categories.
The beer judging is only part of the festivities which also included a craft brewer’s conference with various seminar topics and a Brew Expo with 123 exhibitors of beer related industrial products that ranged from bottle fillers to fresh hops from around the world. These events were not open to the public, but provided vital interchange between fellow brewers and their suppliers. This camaraderie has certainly helped improve the craft beer market in the USA which is presently showing a nine per cent growth. The most startling statistic offered is that due to the popularity of microbreweries, one can be found within a ten mile radius of any home in the country.
So what did our brew masters have to say about their experiences? We asked them to give us an overview of the categories they judged, what styles of beer impressed them the most, and what would they bring back to Australia from the experience.
Chuck Hahn had the following to say: ÒI judged the honey lager beers, some aged in wood barrels that dominated the flavour, but most of the 47 samples we tried were too sweet for my liking. I was impressed with some of the seasonal beers like a rum barrel aged porter and a Dortmund/special bitter. There was also a very nice English styled brown ale at 4.5 per cent ABV that caught my attention. All the pilsners were very competitive, it was tough to pick from all the great European pils in the category. Without a doubt the most unusual category I judged was the fruit and vegetable section. There was watermelon, pumpkin, blackberry and cherry just to a mention a few. I really found the fruit complimented the hops and malt. I don’t think Australia is ready for these just yet, but I’ll be the first to introduce one down in Oz. I asked Chuck what were the differences between the Beer World Cup and the Australian International Beer Awards.
More categories and more beers to be judged for a start, plus they only award one gold, silver, and bronze from each category. The highlights for me has been the ability to catch up with fellow American brewers and find out what they are up to, different hops that are available, different brewing systems. I’ll take home some different concepts of brewing, a new beer cookbook and valuable information collected regarding beer education, beer and food matching plus some great literature.
I caught up with hops, malt, yeast and water guy, Brad Rogers right after the awards to get his impressions on judging and participating in the Beer World Cup. I was judging cellar and unfiltered beer, American-style wheat beer, German-style strong bock, specialty beers, but the categories that impressed me the most were the coffee flavoured beer, smoke-flavoured beer, and the Munich-style Hellas beers. It was a pleasure and an honour to be on the judging panel, but the highlight for me was the social interaction with such amazing people from all over the world. You just try to absorb as much as you can.
At the last World Cup I came back with the Rooftop Red Lager idea, and after the Great American Beer Festival in October, I wanted to make a Saison and here I am getting a bronze for one of our out there beers Barking Duck. For Matilda Bay, it’s a chance to push the envelope, to get things going on and out there for the Australian beer drinking community. We try to fill in the gaps and melt what we think the Aussie beer drinkers will want. I’m proud to be part of this international brewing community. Last night I was out with the Belgian guys from Orval. Duvel, Westmalle, and St Bernard drinking their beers and talking to them on a social level. There is so much diversity in the beer over here and we need to understand these styles. I’m confident we can because now we can get help from the greater beer community; then mould that style with things we enjoy, putting an Aussie slant on things.
During the course of the week I caught up with two terrific young brewers who had recently started up a micro-brewery in Biloxi, Mississippi called the Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company. Biloxi, Mississippi was in the eye of Hurricane (cyclone) Katrina which had devastated the town including their own homes and all their possessions. But under the heading of believe it or not the only building to be left standing was the tiny brewery which only lost its back door. With a brave face, the boys were determined to enter their beers and attend the conference. While in town they went down to the local op shop and each brought an $18 suit, but they insisted the suits at that price come with a shirt and tie.
Early on 5 in the awards ceremony, the boys were elated at wining a bronze medal in Category 6: Rye Beer with their Amberjaque Rye Ale. After going up on stage to receive their award they couldn’t wait to phone their sister with the news knowing that the whole town was at the brewery to show their support and loyalty. While talking to his sister the boys received a second bronze medal in Category 10: Specialty Beer Section with their Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale. The entire ballroom went quiet as the loudest YEEHAW I’ve ever heard was followed by a Holy shit sis, we won again! Who says their aren’t beer gods in heaven.
So how did the Aussies go in the award I hear you ask? Here are our results from 85 categories;
Category 4: American-Style Wheat Beer - Gold Medal Cascade Blonde Lager -Cascade Brewing Co.
Category 11: Specialty Honey Lager/Ale - Gold Medal Redoak Honey Ale - Redoak, Sydney
Category 16: Smoke-Flavoured Beer - Gold Medal Redoak Rauch - Redoak, Sydney
Category 17: European-Style Low Alcohol Lager - Silver Medal Hahn Premium Lager -Hahn Brewing Co-Bronze Medal Cascade Premium Light-Cascade Brewing Co.
Category 31: American-Style Low Carbohydrate Light Lager - Silver Medal Pure Blonde - Fosters Australia.
Category 39: Baltic Porter - Bronze Medal Redoak Baltic Porter - Redoak, Sydney
Category 41: French/Belgian-Sytle Saison - Bronze Medal Barking Duck - Matilda Bay Brewing Co.
Category 49: English-Style Summer Ale - Bronze Medal James Squire Golden Ale - Malt Shovel Brewing Co
Saturday, June 17, 2006
International Beers
There just seems to be no stopping the growth of premium international beers in Australia. This year’s statistics show around 18% by value on an MAT basis to June 2006 when compared with a year ago. Granted, discounting by major bottle shop chains has been effective but that doesn’t account for lower income housing developments also showing significant growth, and specialised beer shops also doing a whopping big business with no signs of slowing down. Add to that, any respectable up-market club or neighbourhood bar needs a staple internationally recognised premium to meet their client’s needs, simple as that. The new beer elite are now driven by flavour and aroma to an ever discerning Aussie palate, with the more delicate palates chasing less bitterness and a clean well-rounded taste.
Without doubt Lion Nathan’s flagship brands of Beck’s and Heineken have savoured success with around 20% value growth outstripping the international premium segment to June 2006 when compared with a year ago. Heineken, in a recent in-market activity introduced the Heineken Keg – a 5L portable draught system that stays fresh for up to 30 days after opening and enables people to enjoy a fresh draught beer when entertaining at home. Drink It Live activity in bars and clubs across the country educated bar staff in adding to the premium experience for punters through the correct pour technique for the Heineken brew.
In 2006 Beck’s continued its association with the Sydney and Perth Festivals (with Beck’s Bars at each event) and Adelaide’s Fringe Festival (for the launch of the Garden of Unearthly Delights, the Beck’s CITY BOTTLE was flown out from Belgium. It was a funky buffed silver aluminium bottle with the San Francisco nightscape in black – very in keeping with the brand’s advertising campaign which positions the brand as ‘worldly’ and for urban sophisticates).
The newest member of the Lion Nathan family, Dutch beer Amstel was launched in May of this year, specifically brewed to give Australians more of what they want and less of what they don’t want from a beer. Australia is only the second country in the world to introduce this beer following a launch in Russia earlier this year. Amstel has been successfully brewing worldwide since 1870, and is the third largest beer brand in Europe at 1.12 billion litres a year. Using an extra filtration process, Amstel is Pure Filtered to give a finer, purer full strength lager (4.7% alc/vol) with a refreshingly clean, crisp taste. Amstel’s Marketing Manager, Mai Ling Turner, is confident this new Amstel brew will appeal to Australian premium beer drinkers. “Over the last two years, there has been a huge increase in the consumption of mild-bitterness beers in Australia, with volume almost doubling from 37.5 million litres to 68.4 million litres since 2004 . From this, it’s clear that today’s beer drinkers want, something that tastes and feels less heavy, less bitter, and less bloating yet doesn’t compromise on taste and refreshment” said Ms Turner.
InBev continues to numero uno in worldwide beer sales and their relationship with Fosters Australia remains prosperous for both. Their ever popular Stella Artois has again shown double digit growth in 2006 behind investment in marketing and off premise promotion. According to Jamie Cook, General Manager Premium & Specialty Beer "Foster's Australia has been brewing Stella Artois draught at our Abbottsford brewery in Victoria for over 10 years, and we recently moved to local production of Stella Artois in pack. We moved to local production for two main reasons: First, brewing locally means we can deliver to consumers the best tasting, freshest Stella Artois available. Second, local production enables us to keep up with continued growth in consumer demand. The same brewing recipe is used locally as the imported product, and any noticeable difference in taste between previously imported and locally produced beer is because you are now being delivered fresher beer.”
Pacific Regional Director for InBev Sean Prendergast has more to say on the subject. “We have 4 global brands, Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Leffe Blonde and Leffe Brun. We contribute much of the success in Stella Artois to the great partnership we have with Fosters Australia. Hoegaarden, the most successful specialty International beer in Australia, and our Leffe’s have also drawn success from the creative below the line support from places like the Belgian Beer Café’s. It has created a unique position and relevance in the beer market and we are very pleased with their progress.” 359
A new beer on the market from the InBev-Foster’s team is Star Opraman and Brahma. Star Opraman, a Czech pilsner style was introduced in last month’s Bar & Clubs and would be described as a softer lager style than the famous Pilsner Urquell. The Czech Republic drinks 150 litres per capita compared to us Aussies who down a respectable 85 litres per person so they should know a thing or two about brewing great beer. According to Mr Prendergast “ Star Opramen is not overpowering, a mild bitter but still containing a high 20’s BU (bittering units) which should please a wide range of educated lager drinkers.”
Another Czech beer worth mentioning is Zatec (pronounced ‘Jkatets’). Brewed since 1004 in the Saaz hop region of northwest Czech Republic, Zatec contains no additives or artificial carbonation, with a lovely aroma and well balanced Moravian malt flavour and regional hop bitterness. Still brewed and bottled at the original brewery, the lagered maturation is given over 45 days to achieve perfection. Zatec was awarded ‘Best Beer’ by visitors at the Sydney International Beer Festival (June 2006) held at Bungalow 8. The Melbourne market has embraced Zatec, and in just six months Zatec is now available in over 60 bars and clubs in NSW and Victoria.
Carlsberg has been brewing in Copenhagen since 1847 and remains a popular favorite around the world. Its light hoppiness compliments a dry malty mouthfeel, with a sweet malty finish. Carlgerg’s slogan on the side of a building in Copenhagen’s city hall says it all “Probably the best beer in town”. If Carlsberg Lager is noted for its light refreshing nature, then their Elephant Malt Liquor would be infamous for its unexpected stampede on your brain. Carlsberg Elephant is named for the life-size carved granite elephant that flank the breweries arched entryway. Golden-hued it starts off with a crisp floral character followed by a malty, yeasty aroma. Strong wheat like presence takes over and remains in the background Carlsberg Elephant is technically described as a German styled bock, or strong beer based on the high alcohol level, golden colour, with a sweet malt barley flavour. The smoothness of this delicious drop implies extended lagering for maturation.
Brewing transplanted from the Austrian Alps wasn’t introduced until the nineteenth century. It took the youth and fashionable Italians of the 1960’s to re-launch beer into modern times. Wine was their parents and the peasant to drink; they wanted English-styled pubs and Bavarian Beer halls. Market leader Peroni’s main brand Nastro Azzuro is the ‘Blue Ribbon Italian Pilsner’ which includes 20% corn maize to sweeten the brew and then hopped with Saaz to spice it up. At 5.3% A/V Nastro Azzurro is quite a refreshing well balanced lager for its sweetness.
Before we close, a word on Kronenborg 1664, France’s No. 1 selling beer, No. 2 in the UK, and on fire here in Oz. Dating back more than 300 years, Kronenbourg 1664 is a unique blend of aromatic hops from Alsace with a beautiful bouquet and rich well bodied flavour that is hard to resist. Kronenbourg 1664 hit the TV screens with two acclaimed ads based on 1664 being a good year for beer but not much else. The ‘Composer’ and ‘Sculptor’ demonstrate that both professionals featured were driven to distraction through their desire for a pint of Kronenbourg 1664 and subsequently didn’t complete their work. Hopefully that won’t happen to our acclaimed artists.
Tiger beer has also experienced phenomenal value growth (66% off a relatively small base) to June 2006 when compared to a year ago. Sponsored Chinese New Year activity in 2006.
Brahma was first brewed in Brazil in 1888 and remains one of the most popular beers in Brazil to this day. It’s characterised by a slightly fruity character (including tropical fruit such as papaya), distinctive hop aroma with a low bitterness, good body and no aftertaste. The curved bottle design was inspired by the laid back Ginga attitude of the Brazilians and an exotic tropical landscape. The Brahman team are confident that the youthful Australians will embrace the excitement and colour of the Brazilian culture in their beer.
Without doubt Lion Nathan’s flagship brands of Beck’s and Heineken have savoured success with around 20% value growth outstripping the international premium segment to June 2006 when compared with a year ago. Heineken, in a recent in-market activity introduced the Heineken Keg – a 5L portable draught system that stays fresh for up to 30 days after opening and enables people to enjoy a fresh draught beer when entertaining at home. Drink It Live activity in bars and clubs across the country educated bar staff in adding to the premium experience for punters through the correct pour technique for the Heineken brew.
In 2006 Beck’s continued its association with the Sydney and Perth Festivals (with Beck’s Bars at each event) and Adelaide’s Fringe Festival (for the launch of the Garden of Unearthly Delights, the Beck’s CITY BOTTLE was flown out from Belgium. It was a funky buffed silver aluminium bottle with the San Francisco nightscape in black – very in keeping with the brand’s advertising campaign which positions the brand as ‘worldly’ and for urban sophisticates).
The newest member of the Lion Nathan family, Dutch beer Amstel was launched in May of this year, specifically brewed to give Australians more of what they want and less of what they don’t want from a beer. Australia is only the second country in the world to introduce this beer following a launch in Russia earlier this year. Amstel has been successfully brewing worldwide since 1870, and is the third largest beer brand in Europe at 1.12 billion litres a year. Using an extra filtration process, Amstel is Pure Filtered to give a finer, purer full strength lager (4.7% alc/vol) with a refreshingly clean, crisp taste. Amstel’s Marketing Manager, Mai Ling Turner, is confident this new Amstel brew will appeal to Australian premium beer drinkers. “Over the last two years, there has been a huge increase in the consumption of mild-bitterness beers in Australia, with volume almost doubling from 37.5 million litres to 68.4 million litres since 2004 . From this, it’s clear that today’s beer drinkers want, something that tastes and feels less heavy, less bitter, and less bloating yet doesn’t compromise on taste and refreshment” said Ms Turner.
InBev continues to numero uno in worldwide beer sales and their relationship with Fosters Australia remains prosperous for both. Their ever popular Stella Artois has again shown double digit growth in 2006 behind investment in marketing and off premise promotion. According to Jamie Cook, General Manager Premium & Specialty Beer "Foster's Australia has been brewing Stella Artois draught at our Abbottsford brewery in Victoria for over 10 years, and we recently moved to local production of Stella Artois in pack. We moved to local production for two main reasons: First, brewing locally means we can deliver to consumers the best tasting, freshest Stella Artois available. Second, local production enables us to keep up with continued growth in consumer demand. The same brewing recipe is used locally as the imported product, and any noticeable difference in taste between previously imported and locally produced beer is because you are now being delivered fresher beer.”
Pacific Regional Director for InBev Sean Prendergast has more to say on the subject. “We have 4 global brands, Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Leffe Blonde and Leffe Brun. We contribute much of the success in Stella Artois to the great partnership we have with Fosters Australia. Hoegaarden, the most successful specialty International beer in Australia, and our Leffe’s have also drawn success from the creative below the line support from places like the Belgian Beer Café’s. It has created a unique position and relevance in the beer market and we are very pleased with their progress.” 359
A new beer on the market from the InBev-Foster’s team is Star Opraman and Brahma. Star Opraman, a Czech pilsner style was introduced in last month’s Bar & Clubs and would be described as a softer lager style than the famous Pilsner Urquell. The Czech Republic drinks 150 litres per capita compared to us Aussies who down a respectable 85 litres per person so they should know a thing or two about brewing great beer. According to Mr Prendergast “ Star Opramen is not overpowering, a mild bitter but still containing a high 20’s BU (bittering units) which should please a wide range of educated lager drinkers.”
Another Czech beer worth mentioning is Zatec (pronounced ‘Jkatets’). Brewed since 1004 in the Saaz hop region of northwest Czech Republic, Zatec contains no additives or artificial carbonation, with a lovely aroma and well balanced Moravian malt flavour and regional hop bitterness. Still brewed and bottled at the original brewery, the lagered maturation is given over 45 days to achieve perfection. Zatec was awarded ‘Best Beer’ by visitors at the Sydney International Beer Festival (June 2006) held at Bungalow 8. The Melbourne market has embraced Zatec, and in just six months Zatec is now available in over 60 bars and clubs in NSW and Victoria.
Carlsberg has been brewing in Copenhagen since 1847 and remains a popular favorite around the world. Its light hoppiness compliments a dry malty mouthfeel, with a sweet malty finish. Carlgerg’s slogan on the side of a building in Copenhagen’s city hall says it all “Probably the best beer in town”. If Carlsberg Lager is noted for its light refreshing nature, then their Elephant Malt Liquor would be infamous for its unexpected stampede on your brain. Carlsberg Elephant is named for the life-size carved granite elephant that flank the breweries arched entryway. Golden-hued it starts off with a crisp floral character followed by a malty, yeasty aroma. Strong wheat like presence takes over and remains in the background Carlsberg Elephant is technically described as a German styled bock, or strong beer based on the high alcohol level, golden colour, with a sweet malt barley flavour. The smoothness of this delicious drop implies extended lagering for maturation.
Brewing transplanted from the Austrian Alps wasn’t introduced until the nineteenth century. It took the youth and fashionable Italians of the 1960’s to re-launch beer into modern times. Wine was their parents and the peasant to drink; they wanted English-styled pubs and Bavarian Beer halls. Market leader Peroni’s main brand Nastro Azzuro is the ‘Blue Ribbon Italian Pilsner’ which includes 20% corn maize to sweeten the brew and then hopped with Saaz to spice it up. At 5.3% A/V Nastro Azzurro is quite a refreshing well balanced lager for its sweetness.
Before we close, a word on Kronenborg 1664, France’s No. 1 selling beer, No. 2 in the UK, and on fire here in Oz. Dating back more than 300 years, Kronenbourg 1664 is a unique blend of aromatic hops from Alsace with a beautiful bouquet and rich well bodied flavour that is hard to resist. Kronenbourg 1664 hit the TV screens with two acclaimed ads based on 1664 being a good year for beer but not much else. The ‘Composer’ and ‘Sculptor’ demonstrate that both professionals featured were driven to distraction through their desire for a pint of Kronenbourg 1664 and subsequently didn’t complete their work. Hopefully that won’t happen to our acclaimed artists.
Tiger beer has also experienced phenomenal value growth (66% off a relatively small base) to June 2006 when compared to a year ago. Sponsored Chinese New Year activity in 2006.
Brahma was first brewed in Brazil in 1888 and remains one of the most popular beers in Brazil to this day. It’s characterised by a slightly fruity character (including tropical fruit such as papaya), distinctive hop aroma with a low bitterness, good body and no aftertaste. The curved bottle design was inspired by the laid back Ginga attitude of the Brazilians and an exotic tropical landscape. The Brahman team are confident that the youthful Australians will embrace the excitement and colour of the Brazilian culture in their beer.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Small World
In these enlightened times, to discuss beers from overseas shouldn’t be some sort of holiday reverie when stockists are being shirt fronted by customers about the changing taste of their favourite lager from Europe. In fact, I was recently corrected by a brewery head when referring to them as imported beers when the ‘correct tagging’ is international beers. Apart from the bloke who wants to re-live a vacation experience, customers in the bottle shops are a savvy bunch who knows what they like and how they like it. So when the major breweries of Europe start brewing their products here in Australasia, the question of taste is expectantly put under the microscope.
We thought the best way to tackle the issue was asking the brewers themselves about why the likes of Heineken, Becks, Kirin Ichiban, Stella Artois, Tuborg, Carlsberg and Kingfisher are either brewed here or in New Zealand.
All the brewery reps we interviewed showed a straight bat in declaring the freshness of the product angle as the prime reason for brewing in Australia, and followed up with the inevitable ‘globalisation process’ typecast comment. But from the numerous emails I’ve received from loyal punters, the simple fact is that their favourite beer tastes different and they want to know why.
Brewmaster for Lion Nathan Australia Bill Taylor was somewhat bemused stating “I thought we addressed these issues in May of last year when we announced joint ventures with both Heineken and Becks with Lion Australia to bring the companies together in sales and distribution deals, involving the option to brew company brands in existing Lion Nathan Australia breweries by 1 July 2004.
The Heineken brewed in Australia is identical to the Heineken brewed in 90 countries across the world, and is unchanged to what has been brewed since Gerard Heineken perfected it in 1873.
The consistency of brew is possible because Heineken uses a proprietary brewing process, using special Heineken brewing equipment imported and installed here in Australia, a unique recipe which requires that all ingredients are imported, and are the same as those used in Holland, and of course the patented (and secret) Heineken A-type yeast.
The yeast used in Australia has been grown from exactly the same culture that has been used since 1873. Interestingly, the yeast was discovered by a pupil of the famous Louis Paster. It is the yeast that gives Heineken its flavour, but the yeast itself does not end up in the final product. The only ingredients in Heineken are a blend of four summer variety European grown hops, malted barley and purified water.
To ensure the process is strictly adhered to, a Dutch Mater Brewer works beside the Australian team who themselves have been fully trained in the exacting art of producing perfect Heineken. And to make absolutely certain, every local brew is sent to Holland for testing by Dutch Master Brewers before being released to the market. To date, every brew has exceeded the Dutch Master Brewer’s expectation of the taste of Heineken.
Locally produced Beck’s is brewed according to the German Purity Law of 1516 and using the same Beck’s approved malt, hops from the world famous Bavarian Hallertau region and, most importantly, the original, over 100-year-old cultivated Beck's yeast strain. Local water carbon filtered to the same purity standards that Beck’s use in Germany is also used and Lion Nathan have installed equipment to enable their brewers to faithfully reproduce the Beck’s process requirements.
Every brew of Beck’s made in Australia is dually verified and approved for sale by the Master Brewers in Germany and the Master Brewers here in Australia (who have worked beside their German counterparts to ensure consistency of product).To date, Lion Nathan’s systematic taste profiling systems have ensured all Beck’s brewed locally is absolutely consistent with the ideal Beck’s formulation and taste profile.
So why the beer would taste different? According to Bill Taylor, “Maybe the drinkers aren’t used to drinking fresh European beer. A beer that is a bit older can sometimes have a deeper flavour, less crisp, slightly oxidized taste profile the customer may have become accustomed to. In the end it’s an emotional response based on customer’s desire for authenticity. Beer drinkers have the right to choice and are entitled to buy what they want, but price doesn’t reflect how much it costs to produce.”
The Malt Shovel Brewery has been making Kirin Ichiban for a few years now after their James Squires Amber Ale began to be brewed at the Tooheys Plant in XXXXX, and a ‘gap appeared in the production/bottling run schedule allowing the Japanese dry lager to take up the slack. As Chuck Hahn explains it hasn’t been totally smooth sailing and adjustments have to be made, not a pleasant thought with the summer season upon us. “It takes up all my tanks for a month. The secondary fermentation needs to be held at 8 degrees for 10 days and cuts back our capacity leading to brew house inefficiency. Plus, it costs me a $1000 a month to send back samples!”
We asked Jamie Cook, General Manager Premium & Specialty Beer of Foster Australia about brewing InBev favourite Stella Artois here in the Abbotsford, Victoria brewhouse. "Foster's Australia has been brewing Stella Artois draught for over 10 years, and we recently moved to local production of Stella Artois in pack.” Foster’s Australia moved to local production for two main reasons: First, brewing locally means we can deliver to consumers the best tasting, freshest Stella Artois available. Second, local production enables us to keep up with continued growth in consumer demand." Producing Stella Artois locally delivers to consumers the best tasting, freshest Stella Artois available. Foster's Australia has been producing Stella Artois draught for over 10 years. The same brew that is used in draught beer is used in Stella Artois in pack, so there is guaranteed taste consistency. The same brewing recipe is used locally as the imported product. Any noticeable difference in taste between previously imported and locally produced beer is because you are now being delivered fresher beer. Local production means we can keep up with consumer demand.
To finish up, I think the days are numbered for big breweries around the world to import their beer, and the ones that do will remain expensive and hard to find. A major plus for beer vs. wine debates is the fact you can relocate a brewery with relative ease. Water can be chemically altered to replicate the taste of any city in the world, while malts, hops and yeast can either be shipped cost effectively or reproduced locally.
Michael Comerton, The Words, Pictures and Directions Guy for Matilda Bay Brewing Co., was also a former employee of Guinness in Ireland. He related an interesting situation that arose for imported Guinness to the USA town of Denver which became known as ‘The Denver Effect’. The basic problem was that the atmospheric pressure in Denver is low due to the high altitude causes the stout to come out of the tap differently frothing (foaming) up all over the place. Now the gas in the Guinness kegs is a mix of nitrogen and carbon dioxide to give it that creamy dense head on the beer but because of the frothing, the gas mixed had to be altered. An interesting titbit to help us understand that local conditions can dramatically change your beer
We thought the best way to tackle the issue was asking the brewers themselves about why the likes of Heineken, Becks, Kirin Ichiban, Stella Artois, Tuborg, Carlsberg and Kingfisher are either brewed here or in New Zealand.
All the brewery reps we interviewed showed a straight bat in declaring the freshness of the product angle as the prime reason for brewing in Australia, and followed up with the inevitable ‘globalisation process’ typecast comment. But from the numerous emails I’ve received from loyal punters, the simple fact is that their favourite beer tastes different and they want to know why.
Brewmaster for Lion Nathan Australia Bill Taylor was somewhat bemused stating “I thought we addressed these issues in May of last year when we announced joint ventures with both Heineken and Becks with Lion Australia to bring the companies together in sales and distribution deals, involving the option to brew company brands in existing Lion Nathan Australia breweries by 1 July 2004.
The Heineken brewed in Australia is identical to the Heineken brewed in 90 countries across the world, and is unchanged to what has been brewed since Gerard Heineken perfected it in 1873.
The consistency of brew is possible because Heineken uses a proprietary brewing process, using special Heineken brewing equipment imported and installed here in Australia, a unique recipe which requires that all ingredients are imported, and are the same as those used in Holland, and of course the patented (and secret) Heineken A-type yeast.
The yeast used in Australia has been grown from exactly the same culture that has been used since 1873. Interestingly, the yeast was discovered by a pupil of the famous Louis Paster. It is the yeast that gives Heineken its flavour, but the yeast itself does not end up in the final product. The only ingredients in Heineken are a blend of four summer variety European grown hops, malted barley and purified water.
To ensure the process is strictly adhered to, a Dutch Mater Brewer works beside the Australian team who themselves have been fully trained in the exacting art of producing perfect Heineken. And to make absolutely certain, every local brew is sent to Holland for testing by Dutch Master Brewers before being released to the market. To date, every brew has exceeded the Dutch Master Brewer’s expectation of the taste of Heineken.
Locally produced Beck’s is brewed according to the German Purity Law of 1516 and using the same Beck’s approved malt, hops from the world famous Bavarian Hallertau region and, most importantly, the original, over 100-year-old cultivated Beck's yeast strain. Local water carbon filtered to the same purity standards that Beck’s use in Germany is also used and Lion Nathan have installed equipment to enable their brewers to faithfully reproduce the Beck’s process requirements.
Every brew of Beck’s made in Australia is dually verified and approved for sale by the Master Brewers in Germany and the Master Brewers here in Australia (who have worked beside their German counterparts to ensure consistency of product).To date, Lion Nathan’s systematic taste profiling systems have ensured all Beck’s brewed locally is absolutely consistent with the ideal Beck’s formulation and taste profile.
So why the beer would taste different? According to Bill Taylor, “Maybe the drinkers aren’t used to drinking fresh European beer. A beer that is a bit older can sometimes have a deeper flavour, less crisp, slightly oxidized taste profile the customer may have become accustomed to. In the end it’s an emotional response based on customer’s desire for authenticity. Beer drinkers have the right to choice and are entitled to buy what they want, but price doesn’t reflect how much it costs to produce.”
The Malt Shovel Brewery has been making Kirin Ichiban for a few years now after their James Squires Amber Ale began to be brewed at the Tooheys Plant in XXXXX, and a ‘gap appeared in the production/bottling run schedule allowing the Japanese dry lager to take up the slack. As Chuck Hahn explains it hasn’t been totally smooth sailing and adjustments have to be made, not a pleasant thought with the summer season upon us. “It takes up all my tanks for a month. The secondary fermentation needs to be held at 8 degrees for 10 days and cuts back our capacity leading to brew house inefficiency. Plus, it costs me a $1000 a month to send back samples!”
We asked Jamie Cook, General Manager Premium & Specialty Beer of Foster Australia about brewing InBev favourite Stella Artois here in the Abbotsford, Victoria brewhouse. "Foster's Australia has been brewing Stella Artois draught for over 10 years, and we recently moved to local production of Stella Artois in pack.” Foster’s Australia moved to local production for two main reasons: First, brewing locally means we can deliver to consumers the best tasting, freshest Stella Artois available. Second, local production enables us to keep up with continued growth in consumer demand." Producing Stella Artois locally delivers to consumers the best tasting, freshest Stella Artois available. Foster's Australia has been producing Stella Artois draught for over 10 years. The same brew that is used in draught beer is used in Stella Artois in pack, so there is guaranteed taste consistency. The same brewing recipe is used locally as the imported product. Any noticeable difference in taste between previously imported and locally produced beer is because you are now being delivered fresher beer. Local production means we can keep up with consumer demand.
To finish up, I think the days are numbered for big breweries around the world to import their beer, and the ones that do will remain expensive and hard to find. A major plus for beer vs. wine debates is the fact you can relocate a brewery with relative ease. Water can be chemically altered to replicate the taste of any city in the world, while malts, hops and yeast can either be shipped cost effectively or reproduced locally.
Michael Comerton, The Words, Pictures and Directions Guy for Matilda Bay Brewing Co., was also a former employee of Guinness in Ireland. He related an interesting situation that arose for imported Guinness to the USA town of Denver which became known as ‘The Denver Effect’. The basic problem was that the atmospheric pressure in Denver is low due to the high altitude causes the stout to come out of the tap differently frothing (foaming) up all over the place. Now the gas in the Guinness kegs is a mix of nitrogen and carbon dioxide to give it that creamy dense head on the beer but because of the frothing, the gas mixed had to be altered. An interesting titbit to help us understand that local conditions can dramatically change your beer
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