Folds of Honor

I was in my local Kroger supermarket the other week. As I made my way down the beer aisle, a carefully placed display of beer caught my eye. I usually don’t pay too much attention to the beer selection at Kroger; it does not change much and I pretty much know what they have. But what caught my attention on this particular occasion was a display of a beer named Freedom Reserve Red Lager.

Freedom Reserve Red Lager on sale at my local Kroger

Freedom Reserve Lager is a new beer produced by the brewing giant, AB InBev. Released in May 2018, it is the second beer in AB InBev’s Reserve Collection. The first in the collection, released in October 2017, was the limited-edition 1933 Repeal Reserve Amber Lager. Freedom Reserve Lager is inspired by a 1757 recipe for beer that was hand-penned by George Washington.

As I reached the display, I reached down, grabbed a six-pack, and put it in my cart. Why did I, someone who normally buys beer brewed in small-scale, independently-owned, craft breweries, purchase a beer brewed by a large multinational brewer? It wasn’t because I anticipated that this beer would be particularly good. In fact, I expected to be quite underwhelmed by it. No, I bought it because on the side of the six-pack carton it noted that for every case of this beer purchased, AB InBev donate one dollar to Folds of Honor.

Freedom Reserve Red Lager bottle cap

You see, I am huge supporter of the U.S. military. I am highly appreciative of the men and women who serve our country; and of their families who sacrifice in different ways, but in equal measure.  Folds of Honor is a not-for-profit organization, which provides “educational scholarships to spouses and children of America’s fallen and disabled service-members.” During the calendar year 2016, Folds of Honor scholarships totaled almost twelve million dollars. So knowing that twenty-five cents of my beer purchase was going to such a worthy cause was enough to make me part with some of my money.

The name, Folds of Honor, refers to the process of folding an American flag. It is a process that is ingrained with tradition and respect. A properly-folded American flag has thirteen folds – each one representing the thirteen original colonies. According to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum:

”when the flag is completely folded and tucked in, it takes on the appearance of a cocked hat, representing the soldiers who served under George Washington, the sailors and marines who served under John Paul Jones, and the many who have followed in their footsteps.”

In addition to partnering with Folds of Honor, AB InBev have a number of other initiatives and programs that support our veterans. Since 1987, Anheuser-Busch have donated close to $11 million to military charities including USO, Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, Hispanic War Veterans of America,  and the Korean War and Vietnam War Memorials. They also helped found the U.S. Military Sports Association, an organization that has donated over eighteen thousand pieces of sports equipment to U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A bottle of Freedom Reserve Red Lager

The men and women of Anheuser-Busch have also stepped up and served in the trenches, so to speak. Since World War I, more than 5,500 Anheuser-Busch employees have served in a variety of U.S. military campaigns. After serving their country, many of had the opportunity to return to work with Anheuser-Busch. Indeed, Freedom Reserve Red Lager is brewed by brewers who themselves are veterans. Anhesuer-Busch’s military connections date back to the Civil War, when both of the company’s co-fonders Adolphus Busch  and  Eberhard Anheuser enlisted in the Union Army’s home guard, which was stationed in St. Louis, MO.

As to the ‘quality’ of Freedom Reserve Red Lager, I will not comment. I rarely do. Taste, in my opinion, is such a personal thing. What I, or others for that matter, think of the beer is irrelevant. Taste it for yourself – you decide whether it is ‘good’ beer or not.

Traveling During Ramadan

Recently, I visited Goa in India. It takes a while to reach Goa. To get there, I flew from Detroit to Dallas to Doha (in Qatar), to Goa. I was traveling with a colleague who lives just outside of Dallas, so I broke up the outward journey by overnighting with him and his family in the Dallas area. It is a long way from Dallas to Goa – fourteen-plus hours to Doha, and another three-plus hours from there to Goa. Add to that a four hour layover in Doha, and it is quite a journey. I did manage to sleep for six or seven hours on the Dallas to Doha leg, so that made the flight considerably more pleasant. When flying, I tend not to drink alcohol. If I do, it might be a glass of wine with dinner. Flying dehydrates, and so water is usually my liquid of choice.

Anyway, after boarding my flight to Goa, I decided that I would indeed like a beer.  As with my flight from Dallas to Doha, I was flying with Qatar Airways. They are the national airline of Qatar.  I had noticed, on the flight flight from Dallas to Doha, that the beer choice was limited to Heineken. It was the same on the flight to Goa. When the cabin attendant (that is what they are called on Qatar Airways) came around and asked me what I would like to drink, I told her, a Heineken. As she reached beneath her cart to get the beer, she turned to me and asked if I minded if she poured it into a glass and not give me the can. As one who prefers their beer decanted anyway, I said that would be fine. “It’s Ramadan” she explained “and we cannot have labeled alcohol containers on display”. She proceeded to pour my beer, carefully out of sight of anyone, and handed me two small glasses of Heineken. Whether this was airline policy, was unique to that particular flight, or reflected the cultural sensitivities of this particular cabin attendant, I am not sure. I did notice on my return flight from Doha to Dallas that bottles of wine and cans of Heineken were on full public display.

My “two” glasses of Heineken on my flight between Doha and Goa

After the cabin attendant moved onto the next row of passengers, I looked around the aircraft, but did not see anyone else drinking beer. I must admit I started to feel a bit self conscious . Was I the only one on the entire aircraft drinking a beer? As I reflected on my layover in Doha, it struck me that I had not seen anything that resembled a bar. The duty free shop had been replete with candy, perfume, and cigarettes – but there was not a drop of alcohol in sight. A little research later revealed that there are a couple of restaurants in the airport, where a glass of wine or beer can be enjoyed with a meal. While it is a Muslim country, Qatar does allow the sale and consumption of alcohol. However, access is limited. It is available in four and five star western hotels. Alcohol is also  available to expatriates through a permit system. Permits are administered by the Qatar Distribution Company, and individuals wishing to obtain one must apply. Once in possession of a permit, there are two outlets in the entire country, from which alcohol can be purchased. The amount of alcohol that an individual can purchase each month is dependent upon their salary. The rules regarding consumption of alcohol in Qatar are quite strict. For example, it is forbidden to drink alcohol in a public place, or to give alcohol to Muslims. Muslims caught drinking alcohol may be subject to corporal punishment.

Other Islamic countries also have highly restrictive laws when it comes to the consumption of alcohol. These include Afghanistan, Libya, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Also, although not a predominantly Muslim country, alcohol is also prohibited in some states in India (fortunately, not in Goa). Of course, the United States had its own doomed experiment with Prohibition between 1920 and 1933. While I fully respect the sovereign right of each country to prohibit the production, sale, and consumption of alcohol as it sees fit, I have to admit that it would be difficult for me to live in a country where having a beer was either impossible or highly restricted. I simply enjoy beer, and the culture surrounding it, too much.

 

 

 

Imagined in India

I just returned from four days in Goa, India. I went there to attend the 12th World Congress of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI). This was my first visit to India. It’s a big country, of course, no matter which measure you use. Its population is 1.3 billion (only China has more). It is 1.2 million square miles (3.2 million square kilometers), making it the seventh largest country in terms of land area. With a nominal GDP of $2.85 trillion, it is the world’s seventh largest economy.

In land area, Goa is India’s smallest state. It is located in the southwest of the country, with the Arabian Sea forming its western border. Despite its small size, it has the highest GDP per capita of any Indian state, while ranking fifth in terms of literacy rates. Being on the Arabian Sea, Goa has some stunning beaches. My hotel, the Park Hyatt Resort and Spa, had direct beach access. Add to that an open air beachside restaurant and bar, and I had the ideal spot to enjoy some Indian beers.

The beachside restaurant/bar at the Park Hyatt was the perfect spot to enjoy some Indian beer

Per capita beer consumption in India is relatively low – 5.1 liters per capita. This compares with per capita beer consumption of 74.9 liters in the United States. Indian per capita consumption even compares unfavorably with its regional neighbors – across Asia, average annual per capita beer consumption is 20.9 liters. Having said that, the Indian beer market is posituined for growth; an average annual growth of 6.9% is forecast for the 2018-2022 period.

Per Capita Beer Consumption in Liters in Selected Asian Countries. Source: BMI

Not surprisingly, beer sales in India are dominated by large multinational brewers – United Breweries (44.1% market share in 2016), AB InBev (24.6%), and Carlsberg (16.9%)  control close to eighty five percent of the Indian beer market. Heineken own a forty-four percent share in United Breweries and, at the time of writing, are poised to increase their share to fifty-eight percent.

Budweiser is becoming increasingly popular among Indian beer drinkers. Budweiser first appeared in the Indian market in 2007. Today, it has a five percent market share; up from one percent in 2011. Budweiser is aggressively marketed as a premium lager, targeted at India’s urban Millennials. AB InBev’s 2016 acquisition of SABMiller will help it expand Budweiser’s reach in India. In acquiring SABMiller, AB InBev acquired ownership of  the extensive brewery and distribution network SABMiller established in India. With the mature markets in North America and Europe offering little prospect for growth, multinationals such as AB InBev and Heineken turn their attention to developing markets such as India.

In addition to Budweiser, Indians are acquiring a taste for craft beer. Unlike the United States, however, where IPAs are the most popular style of craft beer, the Indian craft beer consumers prefers lighter, less bitter styles; wheat based ales, particularly German-style Hefeweizens and Belgian Wits, are especially popular. One of the craft beers that is making big headlines in India is Bira 91. The brand was launched in 2015, by Indian entrepreneur Ankur Jain. Jain had become familiar with craft beer while living in New York for ten years. When he returned to his native New Delhi, he started Bira 91. Unable to find a brewery in India which could meet his exacting brewing  standards, Jain contracted production to a brewery in Belgium. Because the beer was not brewed in India, the label on the bottle read “Imagined in India”. Such was the success of  Bira 91 that, by 2016, it was being brewed in India. In 2017, Bira 91 opened a second brewery in India, and a third is planned for 2018. Jain is ambitious and in addition to Bira 91’s Indian breweries, he hopes to open one in the United States. The ‘91’ in the name refers to the international dialing code for India. I enjoyed both Bira 91’s Blonde Lager and White Ale several times during my stay in Goa.

Despite now being brewed in India, Bira 91 bottles still carry the “Imagined in India” label

Imported and craft beer are proving popular among India’s growing middle class, particularly those who have traveled internationally. As Indian consumers are exposed to international tastes and trends, they return home and aspire to mimick some of the consumer behaviors they have witnessed.

In addition to the Bira 91, mentioned above, I sampled a number of other beers while in India. I arrived at hotel at 3am. After registering, I had anticipated on going straight to my room, Before I could do so, however, one of the hotel staff members offered me a complimentary welcome beer. I am sure that, after being in airports and on planes for the best part of twenty-four hours, he probably realized that a cold beer was just what I wanted. Surprisingly, the beer he offered me was not a standard Indian lager, such as Kingfisher, but was a Witbier called Jungle Wheat. Jungle Wheat is one of four beers brewed by Simba Beer. Simba is owned by Sona Beverages. Sony Beverages was established in 2006, as a franchisee of SAB Miller. Its brewery is located in the city of Durg, in east-central India. So whether my Jungle Wheat is a craft beer or, because of its connection with SAB Miller, is one of those “crafty” beers I’ll leave that for you to debate. All I will say is that, after a long journey, it tasted damn good.

Jungle Wheat from Simba Beer

Another beer I tried was Goa King’s Pilsner. Up until, 2015 Goa King’s beers (then just called King’s) were only available in Goa. It’s geographic exclusivity was part of its appeal. In 2015, the King’s brand was acquired by Vikiing  Ventures. In addition to changing its name, the new owner expanded distibution of Goa King’s, thus makimg available in cities such as Mumbai and New Dehli.

India’s most popular beer brand is Kingfisher. When I told friends that I would be visiting India, many made mention of Kingfisher. Brewed by United Breweries, Kingfisher has been losing market share recently. Still, it is the country’s most ubiquitous beer brand. Kingfisher premium lager, of which I had quite a few while in Goa, is a standard lager, which proved quite refreshing under the hot Indian sun.

So that was my first visit to India. I was only there for four days and only saw one tiny corner of this vast country. But I saw enough, and was sufficiently captivated by the friendliness of the people I met, that I hope that I have an opportunity to return some day.

My visit also marked something of a milestone in my world travels; as it was the fortieth country/territory that I have visited in my lifetime. Later this  year, I will add two other countries to that list – Switzerland and Liechtenstein. I look forward to seeing what beers those two have to offer.

Further Reading:

Knoth, Michael and Jonas Björn Borrit. 2014. The Indian beer market: The next “China” or a hyped market with little future growth? Scandinavian Brewers’ Review, Volume 72, Number 2, pp. 10-14.

A Pint of Science

Earlier this week, I spent a couple of days in L’Aquila, Italy. I was there as a guest of the Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI), who had invited me to give a couple of talks. This was my second visit to L’Aquila. I had been there in September 2017, also as a guest of GSSI. To get to L’Aquila, you fly into Rome, and then travel by bus for two hours. L’Aquila has a population of approximately seventy thousand people. It is an interesting town for a number of reasons, one of which is the fact that it is earthquake prone. The most recent earthquake, on April 6, 2009, registered a 6.3 on the Richter scale and killed 308 people. Its impact is still visible throughout this picturesque Italian town. Since my last visit in September, however, I noticed visible signs of progress – buildings that had been empty were now inhabited and in use, while others were closer to being so.

The damage caused by the 2009 earthquake is still visible in L’Aquila

The purpose of my visit this time was to give two lectures – one to this year’s cohort of GSSI doctoral students in Regional Science and Urban Studies, and one to members of the general public as part of the Pint of Science Festival that was taking place in town.

My presentation to the GSSI students focused on the theme of consolidation and fragmentation in the global brewing industry. Both processes are impacting the industry simultaneously. For example, the October 2016, $106 billion acquisition of SABMiller by AB InBev resulted in an industry that is considerably more consolidated at the global scale. At the same time, at the local scale, the industry becomes more fragmented every time a new craft brewery opens it doors.

My presentation at GSSI was in the afternoon. In the evening, I was back at the podium again. This time the audience took on a very different composition – it was the good citizens of L’Aquila. The town had been chosen as one of the venues for the three-day Pint of Science Festival; a festival at which that scientists present their research to members of the general public in the informal setting of a bar/pub.

Pint of Science was started in 2012 by Dr. Praveen Paul and Dr. Michael Motskin, two research scientists at Imperial College in London, UK. At the time, Paul and Motskin were post doctoral researchers working on motor neuron and Parkinson’s disease respectively. While working in London, Paul and Motskin organized a “Meet the Researchers” event, in which they invited individuals impacted by the disease (both those with the disease and their families) to their laboratories to see, first hand, the research in which they were engaged. It was a huge success, and very quickly the idea of taking scientific research to the people emerged – hence, a Pint of Science was born.

According to the Pint of Science website:

“The Pint of Science festival aims to deliver interesting and relevant talks on the latest science research in an accessible format to the public – mainly across bars and pubs. We want to provide a platform which allows people to discuss research with the people who carry it out and no prior knowledge of the subject is required.”

In 2018, Pint of Science Festivals were held in over 260 cities, across twenty-one countries. In Italy, twenty cities hosted Pint of Science events. All Pint of Science events across the world were held on the same three days – May 14-16.  Three venues hosted the events in L’Aquila. Over the three days, in L’Aquila, a total of sixteen lectures were presented. The topics were wide ranging, and included Chasing Gravitational Waves, Who’s Afraid of Social Media, and Living Together: From Municipalities to Cohousing and Beyond. My own lecture was titled Making Your Beer Great Again.

The Pint of Science Festival in L’Aquila covered a wide range of topics

The venue for my lecture was Fratelli Il Bacaro, which describes itself as:

”a Venetian tavern with a wide selection of wines by the glass and small snacks, a few seats and . . .  a place where dishes from the local and Italian culinary tradition are also served . . . a place to make culture, where young singers and musicians, who want to express themselves and grow through music, alternate with great artists.”

My lecture started at 9:30pm. The venue was cozy, and comfortably full with somewhere between thirty-five and forty people. Recognizing that the audience’s knowledge of English was probably highly variable, my colleague Giulia Pezzi had translated my entire Power Point presentation into Italian. I covered five themes in my lecture:

  • The rise of large breweries and the homogenization of beer
  • The emergence of home brewing and the rise of craft breweries
  • The craft beer drinker and what attracts him/her to craft beer
  • The craft brewery as a unique drinking space
  • The geography of craft breweries

While most of my material came from the United States, I did incorporate some examples from Europe. The talk seemed to go well, and the audience appeared engaged. After I had finished, audience members were invited to ask questions. There were six or seven questions, and I was really impressed with their overall thoughtfulness and insightfulness.

My participation in L’Aquila’s Pint of Science Festival did garner some attention in the Italian press, including a mention in La Repubblica, one of the country’s most influential daily newspapers. The local L’Aquila website, NewsTown, also covered my visit.  I was also interviewed by Fabio Iuliano, who runs the website virtuquotidiane.it.  Fabio’s interview touched on a number of interesting issues, including the reasons behind the success of craft brewing in the United States, and status of craft beer in Italy. He also noted that Bob Dylan was a recent co-investor in a craft whiskey distiller, Heaven’s Door. Fabio was interested in the similarities behind craft distilling and craft brewing industries. Fabio’s final question had to do with the President of the United States, Donald Trump. He wanted to know if the title of my lecture, “Making Your Beer Great Again” had been inspired by President Trump”s slogan “Make America Great Again”. I explained that while my presentation’s title was a clear nod to the President’s slogan, it was not intended as a political statement; I was simply having a little fun with my title. As I reflected on my interview with Fabio, I must admit that I had not anticipated being asked about Bob Dylan and President Trump in an interview about craft beer.

So that was my trip to L’Aquila. I had a wonderful visit and was, yet again, overwhelmed by the generosity of my Italian hosts. Fortunately, it will not be long before I am back in L’Aquila. I will be there in early July to participate in a workshop on “The Geography of Craft Beer Brewing and Consumption: Local Entrepreneurialism and Tourism Development”, an event that I am co-organizing with my Italian colleagues, Alessandra Faggian and Giulia Pezzi.

Until then, Saluti!

My colleague, Giulia Pezzi, introducing my lecture at A Pint of Science
There was a nice sized crowd at my Pint of Science lecture

Further Reading:

Paul, Praveen and Michael Motskin. Engaging the Public with Your Research. Trends In Immunology, Volume 37, Number 4, pp. 268-271.

Craft Beer And Millennial Values

It has been pretty well established that it is the Millenial cohort who are driving consumer demand for craft beer. According to Michael Dimock of the Pew Research Center, Millennials are those individuals born 1981 and 1996; making them between the ages of twenty-two and thirty-seven. We know quite a lot about Millennials. Thanks to market research firms,  public opinion researchers, and fact tanks such as Nielsen, Gallup, and the Pew Research Center, we have a lot of data and information about Millennials as citizens, voters, and consumers. Research on Millennials often compares them to preceding generations – Generation X (born 1965-80), Baby Boomers (1946-64), and the Silent Generation (1928-1945). And what we have learnt is that each generation has unique values and perspectives.

Different generations defined. Source: Dimock 2018

One study that I read recently, was published by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). It was titled, How Millennials Are Changing the Face of Marketing Forever. The study report included a number of interesting graphics, including the one below (Exhibit 1). The graphic shows the relative importance that Millennials and non-Millennials attach to a number of different factors. These include patriotism, professional success, spirituality, and working out.

Source: Barton et al. 2014.

As I perused the findings of BCG’s research, I tried to identify connections between craft beer and Millennial values. Here is what I think I identified.

Status

BCG identify status as a value that is important to Millennials. A number of scholars have suggested that craft beer is a high status product. These include my good friend Tom Bell and his colleague James Baginski who, in a 2011 paper published in the Southeastern Geographer, refer to craft beer as a “high order prestige good”. Similarly, in a book chapter published in the same year, Victor and Carol Tremblay talk about the  “prestige factor” of drinking craft beer. In a 2012 paper published in British Food Journal, Douglas Murray and Martin A. O’Neill, published in the British Food Journal, suggest that the craft beer drinker is “sophisticated” and “discerning”. The same observations have been made with regard to real ale drinkers in England, where Karl Spracklen, Jon Laurencic and Alex Kenyon, in a 2013 paper in Tourist Studies, note that drinking “real ale is seen as a marker of good taste and distinction”.

Millennials enjoying a beer at Basecamp Brewing Company in Portland, OR

Luxury

According to BCG, luxury is another characteristic valued by Millennials. Craft beer, I would argue, is a luxury product. More specifically, it is an affordable luxury. To the French-American author, Mireille Giuliano, luxury means ”premium quality and that doesn’t always equate to known brands or mascs marketing”. Speaking specifically about the Millenial cohort, Max Montgomery defines affordable luxury as “achieving quality, tailored to our taste, at a price we can afford.” Craft beer, it would seem, qualifies as an affordable luxury. Compared to mass produced beer,  craft beer is relatively expensive. Of course, the price you pay for beer depends upon where you live. In 2017, the cost of a case of Bud Light or Miller Lite varied from $14.62 in Michigan to $21.98 in Pennsylvania.  In comparison, the average cost of a case of craft beer, nationwide, in 2017 was $32 – that’s $1.33 a bottle – definitely what I’d call an affordable luxury.

Craft beer is an affordable luxury (Backcountry Brewing, Squamish, BC, Canada)

Excitement/Adventure/Travel/Fun

MiIlennials like excitement, adventure, travel, and fun. All four can be experienced in the consumption of craft beer.  In 2013, A. J. Carpenter and his fellow students completed a term paper for their Marketing 6069 class (Buyer/Consumer Behavior) at University of Colorado, Denver. In it, they identified four types of craft beer drinker – novice, loyalist, enthusiast, and explorer. According to Carpenter et al’s study, Most craft beer drinkers are either enthusiasts or explorers. While there are some key differences between enthusiasts and explorers, one trait they have in common is their desire to try lots of different craft beers and to visit lots of different craft breweries. In other words, drinking craft beer is an exciting adventure; an adventure that takes the craft beer from tap room to tap room to taste the beer at its point of production. This idea that craft beer drinkers are excitement seeking adventurers is supported by the growing popularity of craft beer tourism. Annually, more than ten million Americans go on a brewery tour. Ale trails are increasingly common and help beer tourists strategically navigate a city or region’s craft breweries. The term ‘beercation’ has entered the lexicon of the craft beer drinker. Craft beer festivals (literally dozens of them occur every year across the United States) attract the craft beer aficionado and allows her to sample a wide variety of beers within the time frame of an afternoon, evening, or weekend. At the same time, the highly popular app Untappd enables the craft beer drinker to log the beers he consumes, while enjoying the fun of earning badges along the way.

Millennial beer tourists at Heist Brewery in Charlotte, NC

Charity

Brew Good Do Good is the motto of Black Cloister Brewing Company in Toledo, OH

With one of two exceptions, craft breweries are owned by people living in the community in which they are located. As a result, craft brewery owners tend to very committed to the well-being of their communities. To this end, they tend to be very supportive of local charities. The media is replete with specific examples of  craft breweries giving to and/or supporting good causes. Brian Yaeger refers to craft brewers as “liquid philanthropists”.  And craft breweries tend to be more generous in their charitable giving than the macro-Brewers. In 2014, craft breweries gave $3.25 for every barrel of beer brewed. In contrast, AB InBev, through its charitable organization, gave only $0.35 per barrel. As the motto of one of my local craft breweries in Toledo, OH (Black Cloister Brewing Company) proudly states – “Brew Good, Do Good”.

Change and Optimism

Change and optimism are Millennial values. Both are abundant in the craft brewing movement. Craft breweries are agents and representatives of change. From a handful of craft breweries in the mid-1980s, the number of craft breweries in the United States now exceeds six thousand. Craft breweries account for 12.7% of the American beer market by volume and 23.3% by dollar sales. These numbers represent change; dramatic change. But the change is not just found in the numbers. The change can be experienced with our eyes, our ears, our noses, and our taste buds. I experience  it ever time I walk into the taproom of a craft brewery and see it filled with young people; men and women, enjoying a beer that has been carefully and lovingly crafted by the brewmaster. I hear it every time I listen to two or more people discussing the finer points of an IPA or debating which craft brewery is producing the most innovative brews. I smell and taste it when I lift that an IPA to my lips and I smell and then taste the aroma and bitterness of the hops. More than anything, I would submit that craft beer’s success happened because its early pioneers had optimism – an optimism that hinged on the belief that there were enough Americans out there who wanted better beer. It is an optimism that resurfaces every time a new craft brewery opens it doors.

Enjoying the taste of optimism at Mad Anthony Brewing Company in Fort Wayne, IN

There are a couple of values that appear in the upper left hand (non-Millennial) quadrant of Exhibit 1 that surprised me. Surprised me in the sense that I would have perhaps expect them to be values that resonated with a Millennials. Two in particular are authenticity and craftsmanship. Authenticity is a particularly slippery concept. And I really don’t want to get into any of the authenticity debates here. Suffice to say, that at the 2017 Craft Brewers Conference, Brewers Association Bob Pease identified the four pillars of the craft brewing  movement – independence, spirit, community-mindedness, and yes, you’ve guessed it, authenticity.  As for craftsmanship, one might have also expected that to be more important to Millennials, than indicated by the BCG study.

Further Reading:

Barton, Christine, Lara Koslow, and Christine Beauchamp. 2014. How Millennials are changing the face of marketing forever. Boston: The Boston Consulting Group.

Dimock, Michael. 2018. Defining generations: Where Millennials end and post-Millennials begin. Pew Research Center FactTank, March 1.

Hop Pickers, Picking Hops

I’ve been reading a lot about the hop industry recently. My interest in hops at this particular point in time stems from the fact that I am working with some colleagues from Rutgers University, Pennsylvania State University, and Simon Fraser University, on a project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The primary goal of the project is to identify which agricultural commodities exhibit knowledge-driven locational clustering and, where such clustering exists to isolate the specific underlying drivers.

Part of the project involves doing case studies of particular specialty crops, with a view to understanding the geography of their production. With my interest in the brewing industry, I volunteered to lead a case study of the American hop industry. I was particularly interested in documenting the impact of the growing popularity of craft beer on hop production – not only changes in which varieties of hops are being grown, but also where these hops are being grown.

As I started searching on Google Scholar for scholarly pieces on the hop industry, I came across a couple of papers that explored the decline of the hop industry in various parts of England during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. One of those pieces, interestingly enough, was by a young Assistant Lecturer of Geography at the University of Bristol, by the name of David Harvey. As my Geographer friends know, Harvey would go on to become one of most influential  geographic thinkers of the twentieth century. It is interesting that one of his early papers examined changing land use patterns in Kent’s hop industry.

Another paper I found was written by Paige Raibmon. It explored the hop picking industry in the Puget Sound area of Washington in the late nineteenth century. It focused, in particular, on indigenous women who worked in the industry. In the northern hemisphere, hop harvesting lasts for approximately six weeks, starting in mid-August. During this period, there is a need for seasonal labor. As a result, thousands of people from the surrounding regions would  migrate to the Puget Sound. These included large numbers of indigenous peoples. Such was the demand for hop pickers in Washington state, that an  estimated twenty-five percent of British Columbia’s indigenous population traveled to the Puget Sound during the hop harvest. Of those who migrated south, the number of women outnumbered men. The indigenous women, it turned out, were particularly hard working and adept at picking hops. Indeed, popular accounts of the time often noted the industriousness of indigenous women. Writing in 1898, Susan Lord Currier, observed that:

“the Indians, on the other hand, gather the hops they pick into woven baskets. They pick with a deftness and skill rarely equaled by the whites. Even old Indian women in their dotage and almost blind, manage to pick their three boxes a day, while the white man or woman who picks two boxes a day is considered an expert”.

While working in the hop fields, the indigenous hop pickers became something of a tourist attraction. Every day, hundreds of visitors traveled to the hop growing regions. They did so for the opportunity to see “authentic Indians”. They traveled by carriage and interurban passenger trains, and stayed in hotels that had been built, by entrepreneurs, near the hop fields. Indigenous hop pickers would often pass through Seattle on their way to and from the hop fields. In Seattle, they would stop-off and sell handmade wares such as baskets from the sidewalk. Locals and tourists alike would also pose for photographs with the indigenous travelers, with the latter receiving payment in return.

Indian hop pickers, Puget Sound, WA, circa 1895-1900. Photograph by Frank La Roche (1853-1934).
George Orwell’s “A Clergyman’s Daughter”

As I was reading Raibmon’s account of indigenous hop pickers in Washington, the name of one of my favorite authors, George Orwell, popped into my head. I have read almost everything that Orwell has written, including his essays. Like most people that have read it, I found Orwell’s 1984 to be a particular haunting piece of work. Another one of Orwell’s novels is A Clergyman’s Daughter.  Published in 1935, it tells the story of Dorothy  Hare (a clergyman’s daughter) who suffers a bout of amnesia, and as a result, ends up wandering the English countryside with three hobos – Nobby, Charlie, and, Flo. The four of them decide to head to Kent (the same part of the country that the aforementioned David Harvey wrote about) in southeastern England to seek employment  picking hops. In telling the story of Dorothy and her three friends, Orwell provides some interesting insights into the life of a hop picker in 1930s England. Most hop pickers fell into one of two broad categories. First, there were the  Gypsies. Second, there were individuals and their families from poorer parts of London, who regarded hop picking as a working holiday. During the hop harvest, they descended on Kent and other hop growing regions of England. Indeed, by the 1870s special trains were laid-on to take families from London to the hop fields.

Pickers worked six days a week. Sunday was a day-off. The work day started at 8am and ended between 5pm and 6pm; this period included two meal breaks. While picking hops was not a particularly difficult task, and was quite mechanical in nature, the tiny thorns that were found on the stem of the plant meant that the pickers’ fingers were soon bleeding in multiple places. “Measurers” would make their rounds twice a day. Their job was to measure the number of bushels each group (often a group comprised a family) had picked. Pickers were paid by the bushel. There were tricks that the pickers learned, which were designed to maximize their income. For example, while “foreign” material such as leaves and stalks in the collecting bins were undesirable, a certain amount was tolerated. The gypsies were particularly adept at knowing how much of the contents of their bins could be foreign material, without jeopardizing their wages.

Pickers lived in tents, barns, and stables. Conditions, from a hygiene  perspective, were generally poor; even being described as “squalid”. The camps became breeding grounds for a variety of diseases. In 1849, cholera took the lives of forty-three hop pickers on a single farm. So poor were the conditions that, in 1866, two priests established the Society for Employment and Improved Lodgings for Hop Pickers. During the second half of the nineteenth century hopper huts became increasingly common. A typical hopper hut was nine feet by nine feet and was made from a variety of materials, including timber (surrounded by corrugated metal), brick, and breeze blocks.

A hopper hut near Lamberhurst, Kent. This photograph comes from the Oast House Archive.

Orwell’s account of hop picking in his novel was based on actual experience. In 1931 Orwell went hop picking in Kent. He recounted this experience in an essay, titled Hop Picking, published later that year (under Orwell’s real name, Eric Blair) in the New Statesman & Nation. While Orwell bemoaned the low rate of pay received by hop pickers, there is a sense from reading his New Statesman essay that he enjoyed the work:

“One can talk and smoke as one works, and on hot days there is no pleasanter place than the shady lanes of hops, with their bitter scent – an unutterably refreshing scent, like a wind blowing from oceans of cool beer.”

Hop-picking in Yalding, Kent, England, UK, 1944 Mr and Mrs Boulton and their three year old son Billy pick hops on a farm in Yalding, Kent. The Boultons are placing the picked hop cones into a large ‘bin’, which is made from canvas and supported on a wooden frame. This photograph is from the collections of the Imperial War Museums.
W. Somerset Maugham’s “Of Human Bondage”

Another author who describes hop picking in Kent is W. Somerset Maugham. He does so towards the end of his 1915  novel, Of Human Bondage. While providing a less detailed description of hop picking than Orwell, Maugham’s account is consistent with Orwell’s. Here is a passage from Maugham’s work:

“They were all hard at work, talking and laughing as they picked. They sat on chairs, on stools, on boxes, with their baskets by their sides, and some stood by the bin throwing the hops they picked straight into it. There were a lot of children about and a good many babies, some in makeshift cradles, some tucked up in a rug on the soft brown dry earth. The children picked a little and played a great deal. The women worked busily, they had been pickers from childhood, and they could pick twice as fast as foreigners from London. They boasted about the number of bushels they had picked in a day, but they complained you could not make money now as in former times: then they paid you a shilling for five bushels, but now the rate was eight and even nine bushels to the shilling.”

Today, hop harvesting is a highly mechanized process. As is the case with many other industries, the worker had been replaced by technology. I got to witness modern-day hop harvesting and processing first hand in September 2015 when I spent a day in Washington’s Yakima Valley. I watched hops arrive at a processing facility, in trucks, still attached to the bines. The bines were fed into a machine, which then separated out the hops.

Hops arriving at a hop processing facility in Washington’s Yakima Valley
Hop bines are fed into a machine which separates the hops from the bines
Separated hops

For individuals looking to experience manual hop picking, there are modern-day opportunities to do so.  In Essex, northeast of London, it is possible to go hop picking for a day, thanks to an initiative (Company Drinks) started by artist Kathrin Böhm in 2014. Company Drinks is an:

“arts project and community drinks enterprise that links east London’s history of ‘going picking’ with a full drinks production cycle: from picking to bottling, branding to trading and reinvesting”.

The goal is to:

“combine local heritage (‘going picking’ and the area’s agricultural and industrial past) with local resources (spare fruit, growing spaces), local skills (recipe ideas, specialist and localised knowledge, drinks production) and a local economy.” 

During hop harvesting season,  individuals can go to local hop fields and pick hops by hand. The hops are then taken to Kernel Brewery in London, where they are used to brew somewhere in the region of nine thousand bottles of a one-off beer.

So there it is – the humble hop. As I drink a beer, particularly an India Pale Ale,  I never give much thought to the idea that the hop that plays such a critical part in its flavor and aroma has such a fascinating historical underpinning. But it does. And it is a history, of which I have barely scratched the surface here. There is, as my research demonstrated to me, quite a lot written about the history of the hop industry – particularly its economic and social history. It is a fascinating history, and one well worth delving into.

Further Reading:

Blair, Eric. 1931. Hop PickingNew Statesman & Nation, 17th October.

Currier, Susan Lord. 1898. Some aspects of Washington hop-field. Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine, Volume 32, Issue 192, pp. 541-544.

Harvey, David. 1963. Locational change in the Kentish hop industry and the analysis of land use patterns. Transactions and Papers (Institute of British Geographers), Volume 33, December, pp. 123-144.

Maugham, William Somerset. 1915. Of Human Bondage. New York: The Modern Library Publishers (read chapters CXVIII and CCIX).

Orwell, George. 1935. A Clergyman’s Daughter. London: Penguin Books. (read chapter 2).

Raibmon, Paige. 2006.The practice of everyday colonialism: Indigenous women at work in the hop fields and tourist industry of Puget Sound. Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas, Volume 3, Issue 3, pp. 23-56.

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