North, South, East, and West

August 5, 2022 The Beer Professor 2 Comments

As a Professor of Geography at the University of Toledo one of the classes that I teach is called People, Places, and Society. Ostensibly it is an introduction to Human Geography course. During the first few weeks of the semester I spend quite a bit of time introducing the students to basic geographic concepts – things like absolute and relative location, spatial distribution, spatial interaction, spatial diffusion, distance-decay, etc. Of all the basic geographic concepts. absolute location is probably the most straightforward and easiest to understand.

Absolute location is the location that something occupies according to some agreed upon system. One of the most common methods that we use to measure the location of a place is by using lines of latitude and longitude. – think of these as “imaginary” lines drawn on the surface of the Earth.

Lines of latitude (also called parallels) run in an East-West direction. The Equator is 0 degrees latitude. All lines of latitude are numbered between 0 degrees and 90 degrees latitude and are designated as either North or South, depending upon how far they are north or south of the Prime Meridian. The North Pole is 90 degrees North, while the South Pole is 90 degrees South.

Each place on the surface of the Earth can be precisely located according to how far (north or south) they are from the Equator. So for example, New York City, NY is 40 degrees north of the Equator, while Sydney, Australia is 33 degrees south of the Equator. Toledo, OH, where I live, is 41 degrees north of the Equator (just a tad further north than New York City).

Lines of longitude (also called meridians) run in a North-South direction and connect the North and South Pole. All meridians designated as either East or West are numbered between 0 degrees and 180 degrees, depending upon how far they are either east or west of the Prime Meridian. The Prime Meridian. The Prime Meridian is the internationally agreed upon starting point for numbering meridians. It runs through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich in the United Kingdom and is labeled 0 degrees longitude. The meridian on the opposite side of the globe from Prime Meridian is 180 degrees longitude.

The Prime Meridian in Greenwich, United Kingdom

Each place on the surface of the Earth can be precisely located according to how far (east or west) they are from the Prime Meridian. The aforementioned New York City, NY is 74 degrees west of the Prime Meridian, while Sydney, Australia is 151 degrees east of the Prime Meridian. Toledo, OH, is 83 degrees west of the Prime Meridian.

So now we have all the information we need to identify the absolute location of these three cities:

New York City, NY – 40 degrees north, 74 degrees west
Sydney, Australia – 33 degrees south, 115 degrees east
Toledo, OH – 41 degrees north, 83 degrees west

The last time that I was teaching this material to my students, I started to wonder about the furthest north, south, east, and west that I had travelled to visit a brewery. So I pulled up a map on my computer screen, and here is what I came up with:

Nya Carnegiebryggeriet (New Carnegie Brewery), Stockholm, Sweden (59 degrees north)

At 59 degrees north, Nya Carnegiebryggeriet (New Carnegie Brewery) in Stockholm, Sweden is the most northerly brewery I have visited. My visit occurred in January 2016. I was in Stockholm attending a conference at the Royal Institute of Technology. Opened in 2014, the brewery is a joint venture between New York’s Brooklyn Brewery and Danish brewing giant Carlsberg. The brewery is housed in an old 1930s lightbulb factory in the Hammarby Sjöstad district of the city. Hammarby Sjöstad (translated as Hammarby Lake City) is an area of Stockholm that has gained fame as an exemplar of eco-friendly urban redevelopment. The brewery has contributed to the redevelopment of the neighborhood. The brewery’s name, Nya Carnegie, is a nod to Carnegie Porter, a classic Swedish beer. Carnegie Porter traces its origins to 1836 when Scottish businessman David Carnegie Jr. (1813-1890) purchased the Lorent sugar refinery and brewery in the Klippan neighborhood of Gothenburg.

Al old lightbulb factory is home to Nya Carnegiebryggeriet

Nya Carnegiebryggeriet has contributed to the redevelopment of the the Hammarby Sjöstad district of Stockholm

A ferry arrives and docks close to Nya Carnegiebryggeriet

Monteith’s Brewery, Greytown, New Zealand (41 degrees south, 175 degrees east)

At 41 degrees south and 175 degrees east, Montheith’s Brewery in Greymouth, New Zealand qualifies as both the most southerly and the most easterly brewery that I have visited. I traveled to Greymouth on December 2014. I had been in Christchurch, New Zealand attending the annual conference of the Australia-New Zealand Regional Science Association. I had a couple of days after the conference was finished, so decided to visit Greymouth. Christchurch and Greymouth are on opposite coasts of New Zealand’s South Island. With a population of ~8,300, it is the largest town on New Zealand’s west coast. Rather than drive or travel by bus, I decided to take the TranzAlpine train. Identified by Lonely Planet as one of the world’s most amazing train journeys I was keen to take it. I was not disappointed. The 139 mile (223 kilometer) journey, which takes four and a half hours one way took me through the fertile Canterbury Plains and the spectacular southern Alps.

Greymouth is the largest city of the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island

Some of the scenery enjoyed from the TranzAlpine Train

Established during the West Coast Gold Rush of the 1860s, Greymouth, transitioned into a major coal mining and forestry center. Most of the jobs in these two sectors have disappeared and for a number of decades the town has been struggling to revitalize its struggling economy .

After checking into my overnight accommodation I headed for Monteith’s Brewery. I would be one of the 35,000 visitors who visit the brewery annually. Founded in 1868, the brewery was originally family-owned, and is named after the founder Stewart Monteith . In 1970, the brewery became part of Dominion Breweries Group, who were acquited by Heineken in 2013.

It is a brewery with something of a tumultuous history. Two times in past, the owners of the brewery have announced the cessation of brewing operations in Greymouth. The first was in 2001, when closure of the brewery was announced. Such was the public outcry, the brewery was re-opened four days later. The second occasion was in November 2020, when, DB Breweries announced that it would cease brewing operations in Greymouth, citing the uncertainty created by COVID-19 as well as the high cost of transporting raw materials to and the finished product from the brewery. The brewery’s onsite restaurant would remain open. Despite the closure, beer drinkers could still buy Monteith’s beer as it is brewed at two other locations (Auckland and Timaru) in New Zealand. Not surprisingly, the local council were not happy when hearing DB’s plans for the brewery. Indeed Mayor Tania Gibson of asked DB to consider handing over the brewery to the people of Grey District. In January of 2021, DB and the local council reached an agreement whereby the brewery’s bottling plant would be given to the district.

Kona Brewing Company, Hawaii, USA (155 degrees west)

At 155 degrees west, Kona Brewing Company in Kailua Kona on Hawaii’s Big Island is the most westerly brewery I have visited. I visited Kona Brewing in February 2016, while in Hawaii attending the annual conference of the Western Regional Science Association. Kona Brewing Company was founded in 1994. When I visited the brewery in 2016, Kona Brewing Company was a member of the Craft Brew Alliance family of craft breweries. Craft Brew Alliance, established in 2008 with the merger of Redhook Ale Brewery and Widmer Brothers, acquired Kona Brewing Company from its original owners (Cameron Healy and Spoon Khalsa) in October 2010. In December 2010, AB InBev purchased a 32.2% share of Craft Brew Alliance . In 2020, AB InBev purchased the outstanding 67.8% share of Craft Brew Alliance. In order to not be in violation of Federal Anti-Trust laws, Kona Brewing had to be sold, with the brewery being purchased by PV Brewing Partners, a Delaware limited liability company headquartered in Kansas.

As a brewery, Kona is probably best known for its Big Wave Golden Ale, Longboard Island Lager, and Firerock Pale Ale. You may have seen a number of Kona Brewing’s beers for sale at your local liquor or grocery store. If you live on the mainland, however, the Kona beer that you purchase was not brewed in Hawaii. Partly to save on the costs of transporting beer from Hawaii, Kona beer is brewed on the mainland United States. I recently enjoyed a bottle of Kona’s Longboard Lager and on the label it indicated that this particular bottle was brewed in one of three locations – Fort Collins, CO, Portland, OR, or Portsmouth, NH. The listing of mainland brewing locations is an outcome of a 2017 class action lawsuit brought against Kona’s then owners, Craft Brew Alliance, for deceiving customers on the mainland into thinking their beer was produced in Hawaii. In 2022, Kona opened a new 30,000-square-foot brewery that can produce 100,000 barrels of beer annually This is ten times the production capacity of the brewery that I visited.

Some of the beers on tap when I visited Kona Brewing in 2016

Further Reading

Walton, Sara, Shane Grice and Bevan Catley. 2003. The Monteith’s affair: Bitter to the loyal end. Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management, Voulme 9, Issue 2, pages 69-74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5172/jmo.2003.9.2.69

Community, Culture, Diversity, Food, International, Pubs

Britain’s Desi Pubs

July 8, 2022 The Beer Professor Leave a comment

Last month I participated in an online webinar on “Public House: The Culture and Society of the London Pub“. It was organized and hosted by the The Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain, an organization which brings together academics, architects, heritage experts, and others with an interest in the history of the built environment. The presentation on London pubs was made by Dr David Knight of the Royal College of Art in London. During his presentation, Dr Knight identified over a dozen different types of London pub. Some types, such as Coaching Inns, no longer exist, while others such as the Community Pub are alive and well. Of the different types of pub that Dr Knight mentioned during his presentation, one in particular peaked my curiosity – Desi Pubs. When I first saw the term I thought that perhaps “Desi” was short for “Destination” and that a Desi Pub was a type of pub that was a destination for visitors to a city – for example, The Temple Bar in Dublin, Ireland. As it turns out, I was wrong in my assumption. A Desi Pub is, in fact, a colloquial term for a pub which is owned or managed by a landlord of Indian origin. In a Desi Pub, along with traditional English Ale, you can enjoy a lunch comprising traditional Indian cuisine. This got me curious, so I thought I’d do some research into the origins and current status of Britain’s Desi pubs.

Desi Pubs have their origins in the 1960s, and were primarily a response to racism experienced by British Asians. Desi Pubs provided a “safe space” where British Asians could enjoy a couple of pints of beer, and some traditional (primarily Punjabi) cuisine, without fear of harassment. This harassment was experienced first hand by the American civil rights activist, Malcom X, who visited the Blue Gate pub in Smeth

The term “Desi” means “local“, “home”, or “from the country” and is geographically linked to the south Asian countries of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. There are over 4.3 million individuals of Asian ancestry living in the UK. This constitutes 7% of the U.K. population, making them the second largest ethnic/racial group after Whites. Most of Britain’s Asian residents have their family roots in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. British residents of Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi origin constitute 2.3%, 1.9%, and 0.7% of Britain’s population respectively. India’s Punjab region, Pakistan’s Mirpur District, and Bangladesh’s Sylhet region, in particular, were the main sources of Asian migrants to Britain in the post-1947 period. Britain, of course, developed strong ties with the Indian sub-continent as a result of both trading and its colonial exploits. Post World War II labor shortages in the United Kingdom provided an opportunity for Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis who sought a better life outside of their country of birth.

As a student at the University of Glasgow, Scotland between 1981 and 1985, I was well aware of the presence of the city’s Pakistani and Indian populations. Indian restaurants were (and still are) numerous and hugely popular and were often my restaurant of choice before heading our for an evening of drinking beer with friends. Newsagents and convenience stores, many owned by Pakistanis, were equally ubiquitous. Every Wednesday, I’d pop into the same one and purchase a copy of The Celtic View, the weekly newspaper of the soccer team I supported. It was only after doing this for a couple of months that I discovered that the owner of the store, Hassan, supported Celtic’s arch enemies, Rangers. After that discovery there was a lot of friendly banter back and forth between myself and Hassan every time I frequented his store. But I digress.

Curry is an enormously popular dish in the United Kingdom, so much so that so that it has been dubbed the “UK’s adopted national dish”. In 2001, the then British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, referred to Chicken Tikka Massala (chunks of chicken in a spiced curry sauce) as “a true British national dish“. There are an estimated 12,000 curry restaurants (often referred to as curry houses) in the United Kingdom, employing somewhere in the region of 100,000 people. Such is the importance of curry to British culture that in 2015, the British Parliament established a British Curry Catering Industry All-Party Parliamentary Group, whose purpose is to “provide a forum for parliamentarians to consider and discuss the role and contribution of the British curry catering industry”.

While many curry houses are branded as “Indian” restaurants, most are in fact owned by immigrants and/or their descendants from Bangladesh. Indeed, between 80% and 90% of British curry-house owners can trace their roots back to the Bangladeshi city of Sylhet. The Red Lion is one example of a Desi Pub. Located in Birmingham, England it has been in the hands of the Purewal family since 1997. The Red Lion website emphasize the quality of their food, noting that “the standard of food matches that of high end Indian restaurants”. The Red Lion also boasts that “our chefs are well experienced, coming from some of the top restaurants in India”.

While the clientele of Britain’s original Desi Pubs were primarily from Britain’s Asian community, today they function as integrated, multi-ethnic, spaces. One observer notes that Desi Pubs are “a celebration of multiculturalism . . . offering Indian food to white and brown customers alike”, while another suggests that they are an “East meets West story, where the classic English pub with its ale, darts and dominoes meets Punjabi food and Bhangra”. According to Bera Mahli, who runs the Red Cow and Grill in Smethwick (just outside Birmingham) with his brother Gamy, “the curries served up in old boozers are now bringing people together in a positive way – rather than be used as a negative marker to highlight racial differences.”

Some Desi Pubs have become what are termed Third Places (community gathering places). The aforementioned Bera Mahli observes that, “the pub is more a community centre than anything else – for everyone. One of the big changes is seeing Asian families in the pubs. Back when I was younger, pubs in the Indian community were just for men only. These days as they are no longer places just to drink, we have Asian girls, aunties and grandmas”. The aforementioned Red Lion pub in Birmingham promotes itself as “an easy going and family friendly pub“

For several decades, the United Kingdom has seen a decrease in the number of pubs, as closures have outnumbered openings. A 2014 report showed that the United Kingdom had lost around 21,000 pubs since 1980, with most closures having occurred since 2006. Reasons for this decline include the smoking ban, increased taxation on alcohol, and a reduction in alcohol consumption. Many of Britain’s Desi Pubs are former pubs that had closed and have, in fact, been resurrected by their Asian owners. In addition to saving some old British pubs, the owners of the Desi Pubs may become one of the last bastions of authentic Indian cuisine. The authenticity of the great British curry is under attack.

Craft Beer, Craft Breweries, International, Names, Philanthropy

Hello. My Name Is Vladimir

June 17, 2022 The Beer Professor Leave a comment

In a previous blog entry I wrote about Pravda Brewery, a craft brewery in the Ukrainian city of Lviv. Faced with an invasion by the Russian military the brewery transformed at least part of its production space into a Molotov Cocktail factory. It was the brewery’s contribution to local resistance efforts. The bottles that were used in the assembly of the Molotov Cocktails were those that, under normal circumstances, would be filled with a Dry-hopped Golden Ale (ABV 8.0%) called “Putin Huilo”, which translates as “Putin is a Dickhead“. The label has a picture of a naked Putin sitting on a throne.

The label from Putin Huilo beer from Pravda Brewery

Putin is not the only political figure to appear on the label of one of Pravda’s beers. The brewery also produces an American-style Stout called Obama Hope, a Belgian-style Wit called Frau Ribbentrop, and a Mexican Imperial Lager called Trump. The labels of these three beers have pictures of former U.S. President Barack Obama, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and former U.S. President Donald Trump on them respectively. All the labels carry political messages.

The label on Obama Hope refers to President Obama as “a symbol of democracy and a guarantor of the global justice” As such. one of the President’s main tasks is to “safeguard peace and to prevent a new aggressor from starting World War III”. The message on the label goes on to reference Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. Pravda was clearly hoping (the beer is named Obama Hope after all) that the American President would step in and assist Ukraine in its fight against the Russian aggressor. Referencing the aforementioned invasion, the label states, “Obama is still hesitating to provide real help to the Ukrainians in fighting it”. In what could perhaps be interpreted as some words of warning to President Obama, the label concludes its message with the statement that Obama “has all the chances to go down in history as the one who got it all wrong”

The label from Obama Hope beer from Pravda Brewery

The political message on the Frau Ribbentrop label is clear. The brewery is critical on Chancellor Merkel’s stance on the the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine’s Donbas Region, particularly her refusal to supply Ukraine with weapons to fight the Russian invaders and her insistence that the Ukrainian government hold direct talks with Donbas separatists, with a view to a negotiated settlement. Many Ukrainians were irked by Merkel’s position and inundated her Facebook page with comments, including some that suggested she was a modern-day von Ribbentrop. The name Ribbentrop is a reference to Joachim von Ribbentrop who was the German Foreign Minister between 1938 and 1945, and who played a key role in the negotiation, on behalf of Germany, of a number of key treaties. These included the “Pact of Steel” that was signed between Germany and Italy on May 22, 1939 and established a formal alliance between the two countries and linked them politically and militarily. Von Ribbentrop also negotiated the German-Soviet Non-aggression Pact of August 23, 1939, which according to one source “cleared the way for Hitler’s attack on Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, thus beginning World War II”. As far as Pravda is concerned, both Merkel and von Ribbentrop were ut from the same cloth and were complicit in facilitating conflict in Europe.

The label from Frau Ribbentrop beer from Pravda Brewery

Not surprisingly, Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States also has a Pravda beer named after him. The beer is, appropriately, a Mexican Imperial Lager with an ABV of 7.2%. The label refers to Mr. Trump as “President of the Divided States of America” (a characterization borrowed from Time Magazine when they named Mr. Trump as their Person of the Year in 2016). The label calls President Trump “the symbol for the final era of true politicians” (not quite sure what is meant by that), while also labeling him as both a “sexist” and an “ideal family man”. In the background, an individual holds “Free Melania: placard.

The label from Putin Trump beer from Pravda Brewery

Pravda is not the only brewery to have brewed a beer inspired by President Putin. In 2014, the irreverent Scottish brewery, BrewDog brewed a double IPA which it named, Hello, My Name Is Vladimir. 2014 was the year that the Russian city of Sochi hosted the Winter Olympic Games. In 2013, a new Russian law that banned the promotion of “non-traditional sexual relations” to minors came into effect. The passage of this law was the catalyst for a number of gay rights protests across the world. Many of these protests occurred a few before the start of the Sochi Olympics. BrewDog chose to join the protests by brewing a beer. The label on the beer had four images of President Putin, all showing the Russian President wearing lipstick. The messaging on the label pokes further fun at President Putin, with statements such as “I am 100% hetero and will pass laws to prove it”. The bottom of the label contains the warning that the beer is “not for gays”. James Watt, co-owner of BrewDog, sent a case of the beer to President Putin at the Kremlin. No one is quite sure what President Putin thought of the beer.

The label from Hello. My Name is Vladimir beer from BrewDog

BrewDog sent President Putin a case of their Hello. My Name is Vladimir beer to President Putin

In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine a number of American craft breweries produced beers that featured the Russian President. Rogue Ales & Spirits of Newport, OR brewed a Double IPA (ABV 8.4%) called F*#K PUTIN. The one-pint cans were adorned with the colors of the Ukrainian flag, with all the profits going to the Global Giving’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund. Intuition Ale Works of Jacksonville, FL brewed a Belgian-style Tripel (ABV 8%) which it named Hey Putin, Go F*ck Yourself!. Intuition’s beer was brewed as part of a larger global initiative called “Brew for Ukraine“. The money raised by breweries participating in the Brew for Ukraine project supports aid agencies assisting Ukraine refugees displaced by the war.

F*#C Putin, brewed by Rogue Brewing of Newport, OR

Hey Putin, Go F*ck Yourself!, brewed by Intuition Ale Works of Jacksonville, FL

In 2018, the small Finnish craft brewery, Rock Paper Scissors Brewing, produced a beer to coincide with a 2018 meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin in Helsinki, Finland. The beer was called “Let’s Settle This Like Adults”. The beer’s label, which had cartoon versions of Trump and Putin fist-bumping, included the tagline “Making Lager Great Again”. The brewery sent samples of the beer to both the US and Russian Embassies in Helsinki.

Let’s Settle This Like Adults was brewed to coincide with a 2018 meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin in Helsinki , Finland

Politics can be a divisive topic of conversation. Americans are warned not to raise political issues over the dinner table at family gatherings such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. Maybe we should try to take our cue from Rock Paper Scissors Brewing and start to behave like adults when it comes to engaging in political dialog with family and friends (and strangers).

Craft Beer, Craft Breweries, International, Philanthropy

Brew For Ukraine

April 29, 2022 The Beer Professor Leave a comment

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2020 captured the attention of the world. The pictures and videos emerging from Russian aggression are heartbreaking. Excluding Crimea, Ukraine has a population of just over 41 million people. In the first week of the conflict over a million Ukrainians ( mainly women, children, and the elderly) crossed international borders as the fled they horrors. By the end of April, 2022 that number had swelled to over 5.7 million. Most of these went to neighboring Poland. No one knows how many refugees this conflict will ultimately generate.

While looking on in horror, the international community has mobilized in efforts to provide assistance to both those who have fled Ukraine and those who remain. These include the U.S. Government, relief agencies such as the American Red Cross, and churches such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In communities across the United States, individuals and groups are also doing their part to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees. In Portland. OR, The Slavic Community Center of the Northwest held a fundraiser, while Jackson Henning, a 12 year old boy opened a Lemonade Stand in his hometown of Westmont, PA. In addition to these and other fundraising efforts, many craft breweries across the United States have also stepped up and are doing their part to support Ukrainian refugees.

Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee, WI was the first American craft brewery to export their beer to Ukraine. Since 2016, Andy Jungwirth, Export Manager at Lakefront, has visited Ukraine on six occasions. During these visits he got to know the folks at Pravda Brewery pretty well. I wrote about Pravda Brewery in my last blog entry. Located in the city of Lviv, Pravda has shifted from brewing beer to producing Molotov Cocktails which are being used against the Russian invaders.

Such was the warmth of the relationship between Jungwirth and Pravda Brewery that Lakefront and Pravda collaborated on brewing a couple of beers, including an India Pale Lager, which they named Lviv-Milwaukee”. Given this close relationship between the two breweries, it is not surprising that news of the Russian invasion sparked a response from the American brewery. Walk into Lakefront today and purchase a 32 ounce crowler and you will find it wrapped in a specially designed blue label emblazoned with a caricature of Vladimir Putin with the words “Putin is a Dick” across his forehead. Funds raised from sale of these crowlers will be deposited with the National Bank of Ukraine, who will use them to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians impacted by the Russian invasion. Lakefront hopes to raise at least $10,000 from the sale of its crowlers.

Specially wrapped “Putin is a Dick” crowlers from Lakefront Brewery. Source: LakefrontBrewery.com.

As noted above, Pravda Brewery has been very hands-on in its efforts to fight back against the Russian military. In addition to producing Molotov Cocktails, the brewery has made available the recipes for five of their beers. The beer recipes have been released as part of the “Brew for Ukraine Crisis Relief Project“. Participating in the project involves brewing at least one of the five beers and making a voluntary contribution to Pravda’s relief fund. Donations to the fund will be directed to the appropriate non-profits operating in Ukraine. The five beers, for which recipes have been made available are Putin Huylo (Dry Hopped Strong Ale), Syla (Belgian Tripel), Red Eyes (American Red Ale), and Frau Ribbentrtop (Belgian Witbier), and From San to Don (Ukrainian Imperial Stout). The beers are being branded as comprising the Victory Series. To date, breweries in Australasia, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America are participating in the initiative and are brewing at least one of these beers.

Breweries from five continents are participating in the Brew For Ukraine initiative (Source: https://www.brewforukraine.beer/)

Breweries across the United States are participating in the Brew For Ukraine initiative (Source: https://www.brewforukraine.beer/)

Catawba Island Brewing Company in Port Clinton, OH is one of the American breweries participating in the Brew for Ukraine initiative (Source: https://www.facebook.com/CatawbaIslandBrewingCo)

One aspect of the craft brewing industry that has always impressed me is its collaborative nature, and the willingness of breweries to rally around and step up to support a worthy cause. The Brewing for Ukraine initiative is an excellent example of this. But it is not the first. Other examples abound. in 2018, over 1,400 breweries in the United States participated in the Camp Fire initiative. Organized by Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., this effort raised millions of dollars to support those impacted by northern California wildfires. Participating breweries were invited to brew Resilience Butte County Proud IPA. In 2020, Other Half Brewing rallied brewers around the world to raise money for the hospitality industry that had been impacted by COVID-19. They did so by creating a recipe for a beer called All Together IPA. The recipe, as is common in such projects was open source and so was available to all breweries who wanted to participate.

Of course, the Brewing for Ukraine initiative will not change the course of the war in Ukraine. But it will provide vital relief to some Ukrainians who have been impacted the Russian invasion. As individuals, who watch in disgust and horror at the pictures/videos emerging from Ukraine, we can feel helpless. However, there are myriad opportunities to donate some money to help both those who have fled Ukraine and those who remain there. Next time you pop along to your local brewery, you might just find another way in which you can donate.

Community, Craft Breweries, International, Names

Putin Is A Dickhead

March 9, 2022 The Beer Professor 6 Comments

As I write this blog entry the world watches on in horror at the atrocities committed by the Russian military as their invasion of Ukraine continues unabated. The images flashing across our television screen (and the screens of our smart phones and other smart devices) are heart-wrenching. The man behind these atrocities, of course, is the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

All of us follow the events in Ukraine with varying degrees of intensity. For me, I read and see enough to keep up with general contours of the conflict. As The Beer Professor, a lot of my time on the internet is spent looking for interesting stories about the brewing industry. But in one of my recent searches I came across a story where my interest in the brewing industry intersected with events in Ukraine. The headline varied from news outlet to news outlet, but they generally read something like this: “Brewer Swaps Making Craft Beer for Molotov Cocktails”. The brewery in question is Pravda Brewery in western Ukrainian city of Lviv.

For the uninitiated, a Moltotov Cocktail is a handheld petrol bomb that is “emblematic of civil unrest and revolution“. Somewhat ironically, Molotov cocktails take their name from the Russian politician Vyacheslav Molotov, who served as the Soviet Union’s foreign minister during World War II. The name is Finnish in origin (Molotovin Koktaili) and first appeared in our lexicon during the Soviet invasion of Finland in 1939. The actual device, however, pre-dates this event. The first use of Molotov Cocktails dates back to Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), where they were used by Franco’s Nationalists as a weapon to demobilize the Republican’s Soviet-supplied T-26 tanks.

Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Yuriy Zastavny, owner of Pravda Brewery decided to repurpose its production space to supply his fellow Ukrainians with Molotov Cocktails. Molotov Cocktails are very simple to manufacture. All that is needed is a glass bottle, gasoline, kerosene, or alcohol, and a piece of cloth (to function as a wick).

Molotov Cocktails produced by Pravda Brewery in Lviv, Ukraine

This short video tells the story of Pravda Brewery converting its production space to produce Molotov Cocktails

The labels on the bottles used for Pravda’s Molotov Cocktails have a picture of a naked Putin sitting on a throne. Also on the label are the words “Putin Huilo”, which translates as “Putin is a Dickhead“. When I first saw the label on the Molotov Cocktail, I thought that the label had been specially designed with its new function as an incendiary device in mind. I was wrong. Putin Huilo is a Dry-hopped Golden Ale (ABV 8.0%) that is part of the brewery’s regular portfolio of beers, and has been brewed for a number of years. The label provides some additional background about the beer and the surrounding political context. The label, for instance, mentions Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 (which coincidentally was the year that Pravda Brewery was established). The label also notes that “Putin Huilo” is a worldwide nickname for the President Putin and also an “international chant first performed during a common march by FC Metalist and FC Shakhtar in March 30, 2014”. That got me curious – so I did a bit of googling.

The label on Putin Huilo provides the political context for the beer’s name

FC Metalist Kharkiv and FC Shakhtar are Ukranian soccer teams. Of the two, I am most familiar with Shakhtar Donestsk. Shakhtar play in the top flight of Ukranian soccer and in recent recent years have been regular participants in the Champions League – Europe’s premier and most prestigious soccer competition. In contrast, Metalist Kharkiv play in the second tier of Ukrainian soccer. They have an interesting history in that that they ceased operations in 2016, as a result of financial insolvency (they owed their playing staff 32 million Euros in back pay). The club was re-established in 2020. According to Wikipedia, the first recorded public performance of the chant (and the song that grew from it) occurred in March 2014 in Kharkiv when Metalist fans chanted in a march through the city’s streets. The chant was partly in response to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. Several Ukrainian rock bands have included the chant in some of their music. According to journalist Alex Luhn, writing in Britain’s Guardian newspaper, the chant quickly became “a nationwide cultural meme“. Rival soccer fans came together, put their rivalries to one side, and chanted the chant in street marches in various Ukraininan cities. In a soccer match between Belarus and Ukraine in October 2014, fans from both country’s joined together in the chant during the game. A number of fans were arrested. Eight Ukrainian fans were given a jail sentence by a court in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, while some Belarus fans were fined. The video of fans chanting has been removed from the YouTube platform.

The video of soccer fans from Ukraine and Belarus chanting “Putin is a Dickhead” is no longer available on the YouTube platform

As I read about Pravda Brewery and the decision to produce Molotov Cocktails, I could not help but smile and think to myself about how typical this action was. Craft breweries all over the world try to be good citizens and strive to make a positive difference to the vibrancy and quality of life in their respective communities. In doing so, many try to respond to the needs of their patrons and neighbors, whether that be donating some profits to a local charity or transforming part of their space into a temporary yoga studio for a local yoga group. In turning their brewery into a production space for Molotov Cocktails, Pravda Brewery are providing a community service and are responding to the needs of the local community. To Pravda I say Будьмо (Cheers).

Craft Breweries

2021 Year In Review

December 31, 2021 The Beer Professor Leave a comment

As per usual, I end the year with a pictorial review of the breweries and taprooms that I have visited during the previous twelve months. While the situation with respect to COVID-19 did improve during 2020, the virus did hang around, restricting my travel for significant parts of the year. While personal travel was a little easier this year, professional travel to academic conferences continued to be highly restricted. With respect to visiting breweries and taprooms, I did visit 22 in 2021, slightly less than the 26 that I visited in 2020. In a non-COVID 19 year I typically visit over 60 breweries/taprooms.

Before providing more statistics on my 2020 visits, let me explain the difference between a brewery and a taproom. The difference is quite simple. A brewery is an establishment where beer is produced, whereas a taproom is an establishment owned by a brewery that sells but does not produce beer on-site.

Of the 20 breweries that I visited, 10 were in my home state of Ohio and 10 were in other states. Outside of Ohio I visited breweries in Indiana (4 visited), Michigan (3), Colorado (2), and Texas (1). Most of the Ohio breweries that I visited were in the northwest Ohio region, the two exceptions being in Cincinnati. Both of the taprooms that I visited were in northwest Ohio. Of the 12 Ohio establishments that visited, six were ones that I visited for the first time. Of the 10 non-Ohio breweries that I visited, all but one were new visits – the exception being Hop & Sting Brewing Co. in Grapevine, TX. In the lists below, establishments that I had visited before are indicated in italics.

As per usual, I have posted one photograph from each of the breweries/taprooms that I visited during 2021. I hope you enjoy them. At the time of writing, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu , Director-General of the World Health Organization , is optimistic that COVID-19 will be “beaten in 2022“. I hope that his optimism is well-founded and that we can all look forward to a happy and healthy New Year.

Ohio Breweries (10)

60cc Brewing, Toledo, OH
American Brewery, Wauseon, OH
Buffalo Rock Brewing Company, Waterville, OH
Dead Low Brewing, Cincinnati, OH
HEAVY Beer Company, Toledo, OH
Inside The Five Brewing Company, Sylvania, OH
March First Brewing, Cincinnati, OH
Maumee Bay Brewing Company, Toledo, OH
Neon Groundhog Brewery, Grand Rapids, OH
Wild Side Brewing Company, Grand Rapids, OH

Non-Ohio U.S. Breweries (10)

Dead Bear Brewing Co., Grayling, MI
Denver Chop House & Brewery, Denver, CO
Ellison Brewery + Spirits, Indianapolis, IN
HOMES Brewery, Ann Arbor, MI
Hop & Sting Brewing Co., Grapevine, TX
Metazoa Brewing Company, Indianapolis, IN
Paddle Hard Brewing, Grayling, MI
St. Joseph Brewery & Public House, Indianapolis, IN
Sun King Brewing (downtown), Indianapolis, IN
Wynkoop Brewing Company, Denver, CO

Ohio Taprooms (2)

Earnest Brew Works (downtown), Toledo, OH
Inside the Five Brewing Company, Perrysburg, OH

*Buffalo Rock Brewing Company, Waterville, OH*

*Sun King Brewing (downtown), Indianapolis, IN*

*Metazoa Brewing Company, Indianapolis, IN*

*Denver Chop House & Brewery, Denver, CO*

*Wild Side Brewing Company, Grand Rapids, OH*

*Neon Groundhog Brewery, Grand Rapids, OH*

*Hop & Sting Brewing Co., Grapevine, TX*

*Inside The Five Brewing Company, Sylvania, OH*

*Ellison Brewery + Spirits, Indianapolis, IN*

*Maumee Bay Brewing Company, Toledo, OH*

*St. Joseph Brewery & Public House, Indianapolis, IN*

*Inside The Five Brewing Company, Perrysburg, OH*

*Earnest Brew Works (downtown), Toledo, OH*

Adaptive Reuse, Economic Development, Neighborhoods

Wynkoop Brewing Company: A Pioneer Investor

December 14, 2021 The Beer Professor Leave a comment

Last month, I spent a few days in Denver, CO. I was there to attend the North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International – a scholarly organization to which I belong. On my “to-do” list for this trip was a visit to Wynkoop Brewing Company, which is located in Lower Downtown (LoDo) section of the city. So one lunchtime, with some colleagues, I jumped in an Uber and and headed to Wynkoop.

Among craft beer drinkers, Wynkoop is known for its excellent beers, including its Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout, whose ingredients include freshly sliced and roasted bull testicles. As someone who has been studying the American craft brewing industry for a number of years, Wynkoop is a brewery that I often mention in my academic papers. Very often I mention Wynkoop in tandem with Great Lakes Brewing Company which is located in the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland, OH. The two breweries have much in common. Both were established in 1989, and both were what are termed pioneer investors in their respective neighborhoods, playing a key role in their revitalization.

*Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout from Wynkoop Brewing Company*

In 2000, my colleague Stephan Weiler, a Professor of Economics at Colorado State University published a paper in Urban Studies in which he looked at the role that Wynkoop played in the revitalization of the 23-square block LoDo neighborhood. During the 19th century Lower Downtown emerged as a rail hub, mineral processing, manufacturing and warehousing center. The 20th century brought economic changes and the emergence of new transportation technologies that would supplant the railroad, with the result that “the LoDo industrial area went into decline, as companies boarded up their factories and warehouses. Squatting and crime increased, and liquor stores (along with their entrenched customer base) became the area’s most prominent resource” (Weiler 2000, p. 173). Some of the beers brewed by Wynkoop pay homage to the LoDo’s industrial past or the city’s unique geographical location. So you can sit inside Wynkoop’s taproom and enjoy a Hazy Train IPA, a Rail Yard Ale, or Kurt’s Mile High Malt Lager.

I enjoyed a Hazy Train IPA while visiting Wynkoop

In the mid-1980s, two entrepreneurs, John Hickenlooper and Jerry
Williams eyed LoDo as a potential location for a new craft brewery that they were planning. LoDo’s had what lots of craft brewery entrepreneurs seek out when they are looking for potential brewery space – an abundance of inexpensive large vacant buildings. Hickenlooper and Williams finally settled on the historic J. S. Brown Mercantile Building, built in 1899, as the site for their brewery. On the off chance that you follow Colorado politics, the name John Hickenlooper is probably familiar to you. In addition to being an entrepreneur, Hickenlooper served as the Mayor of Denver between 2003 1nd 2011 and then the 42nd Governor of Colorado between 2011 and 2019. He also sought the Democratic nomination for President of the United States 2019 but dropped out before the primaries. In November 2020, he was elected to the United States Senate.

*Patrons enjoying lunch and a pint at Wynkoop Brewing Company*

As noted by Weiler (2000, p. 175), “the first few years of the brewery, though, were indeed a struggle, and were devoted to attracting a regular clientele into the area”. As its reputation grew, however, the number of patrons steadily increased. Not only did the flow of patrons to Wynkoop increase, but so did the flow of other investment dollars into the neighborhood – an antique store, residential lofts and a publishing company soon opened their doors. Additional retail, galleries, and residential properties followed the example set by Wynkoop and other early investors. Today, LoDo is a thriving neighborhood that functions as a mixed-use hub of housing, retail, office, and entertainment spaces. One evening. coming back from dinner, driving through LoDo, my Uber driver said that the neighborhood today was unrecognizable from what it had previously been. The revitalization of LoDo is part of larger planning initiatives being undertaken by the City and County of Denver. Over the years, the City and County have developed a number of plans in their efforts to think strategically about what the city might look like. These include the 1968 Downtown Area Plan, the 2000 Lower Downtown Neighborhood Plan, the 2007 Downtown Area Plan, and the Comprehensive Plan 2040 (adopted in 2019). In 1988 Denver City Council gave LoDo Historic District status, with a view to ” encouraging historic preservation and promoting economic and social vitality ” Today, LoDo’s development is overseen by The LoDo District, Inc., a 501(c)(3) Registered Neighborhood Organization.

A former LoDo flour mill (left) is now residential lofts (right). Source: LoDo

Wynkoop Brewing Company is one of many examples of a brewery that has contributed to the revitalization of an urban neighborhood. Google “breweries revitalizing neighborhoods” and you will plenty of other examples. In some cases, like Wynkoop, a brewery can be the catalyst for neighborhood revitalization. They are the first significant entity to invest in a neighborhood. Such pioneer investors can signal the promise of a neighborhood to other would-be investors. In others cases, a brewery follows other investors and becomes an important piece of the revitalization jigsaw. In contributing to the revitalization of distressed neighborhoods, craft breweries engage in adaptive reuse, thereby breathing new life into abandoned buildings. Thus, all across the United States, we see craft breweries located in what were once were old churches, fire stations, hardware stores, auto dealership etc. Craft brewery entrepreneurs are particularly adept at utilizing what might be thought of as challenging spaces. As noted by Bart Watson, Chief Economist with the Brewers Association, “one of the advantages of breweries is they can go into former industrial buildings or difficult spaces to develop”. Weiler (2000, p. 178) agrees with the assessment. As he notes, “craft breweries are likely to be particularly well-matched with the circumstances of senescent industrial districts, and thus often represent the most promising pioneers”.

My visit to Wynkoop represented another item checked-off on my “breweries-to-visit-list”. I have known about Wynkoop for years and have used it as an example of a neighborhood revitalizer in many of my writings. So it was nice to finally visit and enjoy a taste of their beautifully crafted ale.

Further Reading:

Reid, Neil. 2018. Craft breweries, adaptive reuse, and neighborhood revitalization. Urban Development Issues, Volume 57, pages 5–14.

Reid, Neil, Margaret M. Gripshover, and Thomas L. Bell. 2019. Craft breweries and adaptive reuse in the USA: The use and reuse of space and language. In Brunn S., Kehrein R. (eds.) Handbook of the Changing World Language Map. Springer, Cham, pages 1-19,

Weiler, Stephan. 2000. Pioneers and settlers in Lo-Do Denver: Private
risk and public benefits in urban redevelopment. Urban Studies, Volume 37, Number 1, pages 167-179.

Adaptive Reuse, Community, Craft Breweries, Economic Development

We Want A Brewery

November 30, 2021 The Beer Professor Leave a comment

Vadnais Heights is a city of just over 13,600 people. It is part of the Minneapolis metropolitan area lying about 15 miles northeast of downtown. The city’s website describes the suburban community as “a vibrant community with strong neighborhoods, thriving businesses, beautiful woods, lakes, wetlands, and trails”, In a 2016 Community Survey, 97% of its residents rated its quality of life as either “good” or “excellent”.

Like many American communities, Vadnais Heights has a number of parcels of vacant land. In 2015, the City purchased a three-acre parcel of land that had once been home to a gas station and a hardware store. Once the site was cleaned-up the City had plans to build an apartment complex on it. Some residents in close proximity to the proposed apartment complex balked at the idea , feeling that an apartment complex not an appropriate addition to what was primarily a single-family neighborhood. They voiced their concerns with City leaders, who listened. The result was the creation of a 14-member task force, who were charged with identifying alternative uses for the site. The task force, which included both residents and business leaders, was led by an outside facilitator.

*The 14 member task force included both neighborhood and non-neighborhood residents*

Before a decision was reached the task force did due diligence. They met a total of six times, three of which included listening to experts on a variety of relevant topics including environmental issues,
different financial scenarios, and market conditions. With 14 members, there was no shortage of ideas as to how the parcel of land might be best used. These included park/open space, offices, retail, and a brewery. Yes – a brewery! The suggestion of a brewery came from task force member Ashley Wilke, a neighborhood resident who had purchased her grandparent’s home nearby. Faced with a number of alternatives, the task force conducted a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis for each potential land use. To build consensus and arrive at a decision, three rounds of voting were held, with less popular options being eliminated after each round. At the end of the voting process, the task force had identified a brewery as the preferred option. As noted in the task force’s final report, a brewery represented “a unique opportunity for the city and would build community and social interaction.” The vision of the task force was a destination brewery that would also be a community gathering spot – a so-called Third Place. A brewery would also result in the adaptive reuse of the abandoned hardware store. Once the brewery was identified as the preferred use, letters were sent to over 500 existing brewers and distillers to make them aware of the opportunity.

*The letter sent to prospective breweries included the above* information

As it turned out the site was ideal for Big Wood Brewery who had outgrown their original location in nearby White Bear Lake. Big Wood’s owner Jason Medvec shared the task force’s vision for the new brewery. According to Medvec, “my goal is to create a community-centered venue where there is always something exciting happening and where everyone feels welcome”. Medvec anticipates that Big Wood will move to its new location in Vandais Heights in 2022, with the lot costing them $225,000.

For a number of reasons, I found the story of Vandais Heights and the desire on the part of its residents to have a brewery occupy a vacant building on a vacant piece of land to be a fascinating one. First, kudos must be given to the City for listening to its residents and creating a platform and process (the task force) through which a decision reflective of resident desires could be arrived at. As stated by Valdais Heights’ Mayor, Heidi Gunderson, “we heard loud and clear they didn’t want a high density development in that corner . . . I viewed the property as taxpayer-owned, and they should have a say in how the land was developed.” Second, kudos to Ashley Wilke, the resident who suggested a brewery as a possible occupant of the vacant lot. The brewery will be more than just a watering hole for local residents. Both the residents and the brewery owner envision the new brewery to be a community gathering spot or a so-called Third Place. All across the United States, craft breweries have strategically positioned themselves as community assets; as places that are a vital part of a community’s social fabric and which serve as a place for residents to gather. It looks as if Big Wood will continue that trend. Not only will Big Wood occupy a vacant parcel of land, but it will also occupy an abandoned hardware store. Adaptive reuse of abandoned buildings is a common practice within the craft brewing industry and is a practice that breathes new life into vacant buildings.

So well done to the City and the people of Vandais Heights. The people spoke and the City listened. As a result, residents and visitors alike will soon have a cool new place to hang-out, relax, and enjoy a pint of locally-crafted beer.

Marketing, Ownership

Purchasing Authenticity

October 11, 2021 The Beer Professor Leave a comment

Back in May, the Wall Street Journal ran an article about Grimbergen Abbey in Belgium. Like many European abbeys, Grimbergen, located in Brussels’ northern outskirts, has a long and storied history of brewing beer. It is not an unbroken history, however. The abbey’s first beer was brewed by Grimbergen’s Norbentine monks in 1128. Periods of unrest meant that brewing ceased three times during the abbey’s history, with the most recent occurring during the French Revolution (1789-1799). After the Revolution, brewing never returned to the abbey. and, in the middle of the twentieth century, the monks licensed the brand to a local Belgian brewery, Brouwerij Maes . In 2008, such was Grimbergen’s success, the brand name was purchased by the Danish brewing giant Carlsberg. And it was Carlsberg who made the decision that Grimbergen should once again be brewed at the abbey. With Carlsberg money, a new 10,000 square foot state-of-the art brewery has been constructed to bring brewing back to Grimbergen.

As I read the Wall Street Journal article, one sentence stood out and hit me squarely in the eye – “The resurrection has furnished its sponsor, Carlsberg, with its own kind of holy grail: unique and authentic brews.” In particular, it was the adjective authentic that struck me as an interesting choice. Earlier this year, I published a book chapter which I titled “Craft Beer Tourism: The Search for Authenticity, Diversity, and Great Beer“. In researching material for that chapter I read quite a bit about the concepts of authentic/authenticity.

To better understand the meaning of any word, a good place to start is a dictionary. Perusing online dictionaries reveals the following definitions of authentic – “not false or imitation“, “being what it is claimed to be“, and “not false or copied“.

But what about consumers? How do they perceive and define authenticity? In a paper published in the journal Organization Science in 2014, Balazs Kovacs, Glenn Carroll, and David Lehman, explored how the ownership structure of restaurants impacted consumer views of authenticity. Interestingly, the first step in their study was to survey consumers and identify both synonyms and antonyms that consumers associated with the adjective authentic. Consumer-identified synonyms for authentic included genuine, real, and legitimate, while antonyms included false, phony, and scam.

For a growing number of consumers, authenticity appears to be increasingly valued. Indeed, according to B. Joseph Pine and James H. Gilmore, in their 2007 book Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want, “in industry after industry, in customer after customer, authenticity has overtaken quality as the prevailing purchasing criterion.” When it comes to authenticity it seems that ownership of the company producing the product or providing the service matters. Analyzing the language used by restaurant patrons in 1.2 million reviews of over 18,000 restaurants on the Yelp platform in three cities – Los Angeles, New York, and Dallas – Balazs and his colleagues found that consumers perceived independent, family-owned restaurants as being more authentic than chain, non-family-owned restaurants. In other words, when it comes to authenticity, ownership matters.

The relationship between ownership and authenticity has been something of a thorny issue for several decades within the world of brewing. Those of you who are craft beer enthusiasts have probably sampled one of the wonderful beers brewed by Trappist monks in one of their fourteen abbeys in Europe and the United States. Trappist beers are considered among the best in the world. For example, Westvleteren 12 XII, a Belgian Quad brewed at the Sint-Sixtus Abbey in Westvleteren in Belgium was recently rated the third best beer in the world by reviewers at RateBeer.com. Such has been the popularity and high quality of Trappist beers over the decades, other breweries started to brand and market some of their beers as “Abbey Ales”. One example of such an “Abbey Ale” is Leffe, which is brewed by the global behemoth AB InBev. While once brewed by monks at the Abbey of Leffe, today the beer is brewed at the Stella Artois Brewery in Leuven, Belgium. Mass produced “Abbey” Ales attempted to cash in on the popularity of Trappist beers. They did so by utilizing images that suggested a monastic connection, such as an image of an abbey or a monk drinking beer.

The Leffe label includes an image of an abbey

As noted by Michael Beverland and his colleagues in a 2008 paper published in the Journal of Advertising, the breweries who marketed these beers “successfully positioned their products as Trappist-styled products through subtle marketing and use of imagery, color cues, and font styles to suggest authenticity.”

Not surprisingly, the Trappists felt threatened by the growing number of “Abbey Ales” that seemed to be causing confusion among beer drinkers. As a result, they took steps to mitigate the confusion. In 1998, to protect the authenticity of their product, the Trappists established the International Trappist Association (ITA) and trademarked “Trappist”. According to the ITA website, the Association was established to “inform consumers of the origin and authenticity of Trappist products with no ambiguity.” In addition, the intent of the Association is to protect ” the fundamental values associated with every Trappist product” and to ensure that “the Trappist name is not used improperly” and “does not mislead anyone”. Only beers made within the walls of a member abbey may carry the “Authentic Trappist Product” label.

The “Authentic Trappist Product” seal on the label of a bottle of Trappist Ale brewed at Saint Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, MA

In some respects, the “Authentic Trappist Product” label is similar to the “Independent Craft” seal” that was launched by the Brewers Association in 2017. This label can only be used by authentic craft breweries. The creation of the Independent Craft seal was driven by similar developments that had necessitated the creation of the Authentic Trappist Product label. As a result of the emergence of “crafty” beers (think Blue Moon) and the purchase of craft breweries by mega-breweries (think AB InBev’s purchase of Goose Island Beer Co.), there was increasing confusion in the marketplace as to which beers were brewed by an authentic craft brewery and which were made by a brewery owned by AB InBev, Heineken, etc. Between, 2011 and 2017, AB InBev purchased ten craft breweries in the United States, including Goose Island Beer Co. in Chicago, Il (purchased 2011), Four Peaks Brewing Co. of Tempe, AZ (2015), and Wicked Weed Brewing of Asheville, NC (2017). Other former craft breweries purchased by large multinational brewing companies include Lagunitas Brewing Company of Petaluma, CA which was purchased by Heineken in 2015 and Atwater Brewery of Detroit, MI which was purchased by Molson Coors in 2020.

The Independent Craft seal on display at Sun King Brewing in Indianapolis, IN

Multinational giants such as AB InBev purchase craft breweries because it is the most straightforward route to gain a foothold in the lucrative craft beer market. They are, in effect trying, to purchase the authenticity that is associated with craft breweries. This was made quite apparent by Andy Goeler who worked for AB InBev and was assigned to Goose Island after its acquisition. According to Mr. Goeler, “we bought Goose Island for what Goose Island was: authentic, very credible”.

Why do companies value being able to promote their products as authentic. According to Kovacs and his colleagues in the aforementioned article “many modern organization go to great lengths to project an image of authenticity, believing that it will create value” for them. In other words, authenticity, or the appearance of authenticity, sells. With respect to beer, a 2018 study by Jarret Hart in the Journal of Wine Economics found that consumers were willing to pay between $0.72 and $1.04 more for a pint of beer produced by an independently-owned craft brewery than one produced by a “craft brewery” that was owned by corporate breweries such as AB InBev.

Ownership, and transparency regarding ownership, matters. Unfortunately, large multinational brewers are not always transparent when it comes to ownership. This is why labels such as “Authentic Trappist Product” and “Independent Craft” are necessary. They help consumers distinguish the authentic from the inauthentic. As stated by Michael Beverland and his colleagues in the aforementioned 2008 study, “identifying a product as authentic” helps “consumers gain control over their consumption decisions”.

Further Reading:

Beverland, Michael B., Adam Lindgreen, and Michiel W. Vink. 2008. Projecting authenticity through advertising: Consumer judgments of advertisers’ claims. Journal of Advertising, Volume 37, Issue 1, pp. 5–15.

Hart, Jarret. 2018. Drink beer for science: An experiment on consumer preferences for local craft beer. Journal of Wine Economics, Colume13, Issue 4, pp. 429–441.

Kovacs, Balazs, Glenn R. Carroll, and David W. Lehman. 2014. Authenticity and Consumer Value Ratings: Empirical Tests from the Restaurant Domain. Organization Science, Volume 25, Issue 2, pp. 458-478.

Craft Breweries, Dogs, Names

Animal Magic

August 6, 2021 The Beer Professor Leave a comment

When I was a kid growing up in Scotland, one of my favorite television shows was called “Animal Magic“. The show, which ran from 1962 to 1983, was part of the BBC’s children’s programing. It’s host Johnny Morris provided the show’s young viewers with content about the animal kingdom that was both entertaining and educational. As I have visited craft breweries over the years I have come to appreciate the affection that many brewery owners have for the animal kingdom, particularly dogs. This is a topic that I have written about on several occasions – see here and here for example. Dogs seem to be a particular favorite of craft breweries. It is not difficult to find a brewery where dogs seem to be as welcome as their two-legged companions who drink the beer that the brewery produces.

Dogs are welcome at Birdsong Brewing in Charlotte, NC

On a recent trip to Indianapolis, I was reminded of the the love that many brewery owners have for our four legged friends and other animals s well. The trip was the first road trip that I had taken since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. My wife and I travelled there with my oldest daughter and boyfriend (now fiancé) for a couple of days of relaxation and sightseeing. As both my daughter and her boyfriend are craft beer aficionados visits to a couple of craft breweries were included in our itinerary. One of the breweries that I particularly wanted to visit was Metazoa Brewing Company. In February 2020, I had met Metazoa’s owner Dave Worthington at the Beer Marketing and Tourism Conference in St. Petersburg, FL. Being the super nice guy that Dave is, there was a standing invitation to visit Metazoa the next time I was Indianapolis. About a week before we left for Indy I emailed Dave and arranged for a time to drop by the brewery to say “hi” to and catch up. I knew a little bit about Metazoa as a result of my conversations with Dave in St. Petersburg. For example, I knew that Dave is passionate about animal welfare and that 5% of Metazoa’s profits are donated to animal welfare charities. However, as I was to find out, Dave’s commitment to animal welfare extends beyond just donating part of his brewery’s profits.

After arriving at Metazoa, the first thing that Dave did was to make sure that the four of us had a beer in our hands (or a soft drink in the case of my wife). Metazoa has an impressive line-up of beers, some of which have medalled at beer festivals/championships, including the Great American Beer Festival, the U.S Open Beer Championship, and the World Beer Cup. I opted to try Wicked Pawsome, a Hazy IPA, that had won a Bronze Medal at the 2020 Great American Beer Festival. And I have to say – Wicked Pawsome was Wicked Awesome. Not surprisingly, given Dave’s love of animals, there are several of Metazoa’s other beers whose names are inspired by the animal kingdom. These include Puppy Slumber Party (a Peanut Butter Milk Stout), Fast and Furriest (an American IPA), and Gnat King Kölsch (a Kölsch). The name of the brewery, Metazoa, also reflects Dave’s love for animals. The term Metazoa refers to “a major division of the animal kingdom that comprises all animals other than protozoans and sponges. They are multicellular animals with differentiated tissues.”

A sign hanging in Metazoa’s taproom defines the meaning of Metazoa

Enjoying a beer with Metazoa owner Dave Worthington (left)

But Dave’s love for animals goes well beyond the name of his brewery and some its beers. As noted above, Metazoa donates 5% of its profits to a number of different animal welfare organizations. Organizations currently supported by Metazoa include Prison Greyhound s, Save the Chimps, and the Humane Society of Indianapolis (aka IndyHumane). These organizations do amazing work. For example, Prison Greyhounds “fosters retired racing greyhounds and teaches them basic house manners prior to their adoption into permanent loving homes,” while Save the Chimps “offers life-long care for chimpanzees rescued from research laboratories, the pet trade, and entertainment industry.”

Metazoa donate 5% of its profits to a number of animal welfare charities

It is almost impossible to visit Metazoa and not be reminded of the Dave’s passion for animal welfare. Its taproom walls are decorated by chimp art. Each piece of art is the work of a chimpanzee that has been rescued by the Save the Chimps organization. Below each piece of art, the story of the artist is there for you to read and learn from.

After chatting inside Metazoa’s taproom.,Dave took us outside to show us the brewery’s dog park. The dog park is impressive, and is funded by monies from the brewery, institutional sponsors, and individual dog lovers. To say that it is impressive is an understatement.

Institutional sponsors support the Metazoa Dog Park

Bricks purchased by dog lovers helped to finance the Dog Park

My visit to Metazoa was a reminder of the generosity of the craft brewing industry, and the desire of many brewery owners to be an asset to their community and to give back to it. Data from the Brewers Association showed that in 2016 America’s 5,600+ craft breweries raised $73.4 million for various charitable causes. That’s an average of over $12,000 per brewery. Before he established Metazoa, Dave donated to a wide range of animal charities. Like many of us who give to our favorite charities, Dave donated $50 here, $100 there. The brewery has provided him with a platform to expand and extend his generosity. And, for Dave, it’s not just about donating money to animal welfare organizations. It’s also about raising awareness about some of the issues surrounding animal welfare. And, on a more local level it is about making dog owners and their pets welcome. If you are ever in Indianapolis, be sure to drop by Metazoa and enjoy one of their wonderful beers – a small part of every pint consumed go to some very worthy animal causes.

TheBeerProfessor