Category Archive Beerformation

What‘s going to be Hot and What’s Not in 2017.

With the voting well underway to determine the Hottest 100 Australian Craft beers for 2016, it is a good time to reflect on some of the trends of the past year.

The 2015 list  contained a large percentage of Pale Ales and IPA’s including 9 out of the top 10, the other one being a Kolsch. Of the 9, only 2 of those were darker, 1 being Modus Operandi’s Former Red Tennant IPA, and the other being Feral’s Karma Citra Black IPA.

With the exception of a couple of Stouts, the top 40 beers of 2015 were nearly all Pales or IPA’s and you had to get down to position 42 to find something a bit different with a Sirène Brewing – Praline Belgian Specialty Ale.

So what is going to change with the top 100 for 2016? Well probably not a lot actually. We will no doubt see more of the same with some of the popular IPA’s from Pirate Life and Feral continuing to take out top spots, followed by a barrage of contenders from brewers like  PACT, Green Beacon, Bentspoke, Balter, Black Dog, Newstead, Akasha and Modus Operandi.

So that is what HAS been hot in 2016, but what about 2017? Well this is what I am hoping for.

Hopefully we have seen the peak of IPA’s in Australia and we will start to see some more variety from brewers in 2017. Why I hear you ask? Well basically because I am over them. I think we have all had a love affair with a good IPA over the past few years, but every time we found ourselves enjoying one, there was another one on the shelf, waiting to be drunk. After a while, the singles weren’t enough so we started moving to the Double IPA’s and that is where the real fun began. BIG citrusy flavours, smoky texture and hops coming out of our ears. You started with 40 IBU’s, and quickly skipped to 60 or 70, and before you know it, you are looking for 100+ which is basically like sucking on a bud of resin from the hop plant. But once you get to that level, what now? You can’t go back, because the nice sweet IPA with 40 IBU’s just don’t cut it any more. That’s because with these beers, bigger and bolder is the way to go and because HOPS is the only flavour in the beer. They don’t have any other layers, it’s just HOP THE HELL out of it and see how far you can take it.

So what would I like to see on the Hot List for 2017? Well that’s easy. Let’s start with the styles.  Red Ales, Brown Ales, Pilsners, Lagers, Saisons, Sours and Speciality Beers. Why these styles? Well with most of them (except lagers) they have a number of layers going on. They are complex, with multiple flavours attacking your senses. They are often more malt driven, than hop driven and each flavour has something to offer, rather than one BIG hop bill, taking centre stage. Here are just a few beers that fit this bill and I would like to see more of in 2017.

5 Barrels Imperial Stout – Aged in Shiraz Barrels for 4 months, this Stout takes on the flavour of the Shiraz so much, you sometimes forget you are drinking beer and the after taste has you believing you just finished of a glass of red. It’s simply amazing.

Dainton Red Eye Rye – Like a sweet temptress this red head seduces you with her velvet tongue. As she passes your lips she slips down your throat and warms your heart, leaving you entwined in her love, wanting more. Much more.

Hop Dog Beer Works –  A feast of Stevens White Stout. Well it’s not really white, it’s Amber, but it certainly is a feast. A feast on the senses with your mouth and nose convinced your drinking a stout and your eyes telling you that you’re drinking an Amber. It’s not just a novelty beer though, it’s a damn tasty one,

Mornington Brown – This English style Brown Ale has more layers than an eighties punk rock hair do. It’s got toffee, raisins, chocolate and nuts and they all seem to unfold one at a time. The mouthfeel is sublime and you feel like you are eating your way through a meal, rather than drinking it.

Lobethal Crème Brulee – This relatively unknown brewer, punches out some great beers, but this one takes the cake, or the dessert (beer) to be more precise. If you have ever had a Crème Brulee you will remember how you can savour the Vanilla bean flavours for ages after you have finished your sweet, and this beer leaves you feeling the same way. Dessert beers have their place, so they are not a lawnmower beer, but after a nice dinner, they go down a treat.

Tumut River Brewing Co –  Blowering Blonde.  Normally I wouldn’t give much attention to a Blonde (beer that is) but this one is special. It’s an absolutely smashable beer, but one that’s full of flavour and so refreshing, it would be hard to stop at 1 or 7. This Blonde certainly has more fun !

Bacchus Brewing – Anyone that knows Bacchus knows that it would be impossible to single out just one of Ross’s beers, so I won’t even try. All I can say is that we just want to see more of his incredulous creations, pushing the boundaries in every direction. More Bacchus in 2017 !

Two Birds – Taco and Sunset Ale – Both these beers are unique and needed to be included in the same way that Jane and Danielle need to be included. Not because they are women, but because they brew great beer. The Taco delivers exactly on it’s promise and has to be one of the best wheat beers ever produced in this country and the Sunset Ale is another multi layered malt beer, that goes down like a sunset, anytime.

Shenangians Malt Assault – As the description says, Sick of being blown away by hop bombs? Fight back with a Malt Assault.” This is the malt equivalent of a Double IPA and is like dunking Malt biscuits on your beer.

Other brewers to watch out for in 2017,

Cupitt’s in Ulladulla on the NSW South Coast. Known mainly for their wines, Cupitt’s have started brewing some beers and they are surprisingly good. Their Pale Ale (yes I know another Pale) is very tasty and the Belgian is very worthy of it’s heritage.

Bentspoke are expanding their operations and have opened a cannery to support their brewpub in Canberra. Richard has been pushing the boundaries in a number of areas including the Cluster 18 IPA with 18% ABV. Talk about chewing on resin.

PACT – Another Canberra brewer making a name for himself is Kevin Hingston. Now I know I have talked down the IPA’s and Pale Ales but if you are going to make a Pale Ale, make it like the Mount Tennant Pale Ale, one of the most refreshing Pales you could ever set your hands on. His Brown is pretty damn good too.

To be honest, I am only scratching the surface here because there are so many good breweries opening up. I just hope that 2017 brings some more variety and we start to see some of these other styles get the same sort of recognition, that the Pales and IPA’s do. There will always be a place for them, but there should also be some room for the malt driven beers, because they add so much

What happens when a small brewery sells out to a multi-national

There has been a lot of talk recently in the beer industry about when a small brewery sells out to a multi-national company. Just recently Lion has bought out Byron Bay Brewing, last year Asahi bought out Mountain Goat and American favourite Ballast Point was bought out by Constellation Brands for $1 Billion.

Unless you are a shareholder or an economist, you probably don’t care what happens to these businesses too much, BUT if you love craft beer like us, you do will definitely care what happens to the BEER ! So what does happen? Well before we answer that questions, let’s clarify something, this article is an an OPINION, it is not based on any hard core statistical analysis, so just keep that in mind.

Well the first thing that generally happens is that the decision sparks some sort of outrage (or at least fervent discussion) about what this will mean to the beer. The hard core craft enthusiasts will say that that is the end, it’s all down hill from here and may even refuse to buy the once loved beer on principle alone. Whilst we don’t really subscribe to that theory, it does carry some weight because one of the things people love about a craft brewer is that is basically a hand full of local people, working really hard and by supporting this beer, they are supporting that local business and community. Of course when the take over comes in, the money is now going back into a big commercial enterprise which may run their operations off shore, so local money ends up going overseas.

That leads to the next logical argument which is that it becomes all about profit. Many small business owners around the world work countless hours in their business sometimes with no wages for years and when they finally start making a profit, they pour all of that money back into the business. This is common in most small businesses and is in most cases how they can afford to grow. When a big company steps in they are looking for commercial opportunity to expand their range, their brand, their appeal, but most of all to expand their profit making capabilities. One of the main motivations is to impress their shareholders so they can continue to grow. So how does this effect the operation of the business and the beer? Well it could impact on the brewery in a number of ways. Firstly, lets look at the positives. The small brewery now has some serious financial backing which would allow it to invest in to new equipment, increase production, employee more staff and even move into new premises. The down side could be that with a focus on profit, the new owner looks at ways to cut costs, with the real fear being this could be in the ingredients or brewing process which would effect the precious output which is of course the beer we (used) to love. To date, in the takeovers that we have seen there is little evidence to support this although there are plenty of conspiracy theories out there that say the beer has changed since the take over.

So what else can happen? In our opinion, the real change and danger of a takeover occurs when the new owners want to change the direction of the business they by out. Whilst most brewers looking to sell out, would probably try to be true to the brand they worked hard to develop, even after the sell out the fact is that sometime down the track, this can happen. Probably the best example of this is the Western Australian brewer Gage Roads.When this beer lover visited their brewery in Freemantle more than 10 years ago, they were at the epicenter of Craft Brewing in Australia. They were all about the beer with their direct-to-the-drinker brewery, where you could tap one of the freshest beers in the country and although by today’s standard the range was quiet limited, at the time they were well ahead of the game.

So what happened to Gage Roads? Well around 2010 they sold a 23% share of their business to Woolworths, and whilst this does not constitute a total buy out, for the sake of the argument, the case still stands. Woolworths saw the buy-in as an opportunity to buy up a supply line and ensure good access to the brand, as craft beer sales grew. With power to wield over the brewer, it soon become apparent that Gage Roads would become the equivalent of a exclusive brand beer for Woolies and distribution was limited to Woolworths owned stores including Woolworths Liqour, (now defunct), BWS and Dan Murphy’s. For the next few years, things seemed to remain unchanged and in this article written in 2012 things sounded good (at least for investors) with increases in sales for Gage Roads although in the warning to investors about risks, it says “The down side is that Woolworths holds the upper hand in the relationship and can force Gage Roads to sell its products cheaply thereby reducing Gage Roads margins and profits”

At this point of time, we would have probably argued that the BEER was still the same and although the company structure might have changed, the new owners hadn’t had any major impact on the actually beer. But then something DID change, with the continued growth and demand for craft beer, came more competitors, but even that growth shouldn’t have changed Gage Roads direction. What did appear to happen though is with all these new brands fighting for space on a Woolworths shelf, Gage Roads brand positioning seemed to move. They were no longer a unique product and with Woolworths facing competition against their old friends at Coles, they could use the exclusive brand as promotional tool and started to discount the brand. Of course this increased pressure on pricing now starts to impact on the brewing process and inevitably corners get cut and the quality of the BEER gets compromised.

In our opinion the final change  came with the official re-branding of the beers, which came with not just a new look label, but a whole new range designed specifically to fit into this market. At was at this point when the BEER finally became the victim in all of this and the once quality craft beer, became a common mega-swill beer just like the multi-national beers.  If you have tried any of these beers, you will almost certainly agree, that they are no longer “craft beers”.

This article written just this week, looks like it signifys the final nail in the coffin for the brand with a further 16% decline in sales in the past 9 months and negative cash flows. Unfortunately whilst  “The company partly blamed a market-wide decline on mainstream, commercial-style beers for the drop in contract sales” we think the truth is much different. It is clear to us, that the part ownership of Woolworths had a significant effect on the BRAND, and the DIRECTION of the company and this ultimately lead to the BEER not being what it once was.

So whilst there will no doubt be lots of discussion and varying views on these sort of takeovers, we think one thing is pretty clear. At the end of the day, it is the BEER that matters and if the BEER continues to be of a high standard, most drinkers will continue to support the brewer. When that changes, well it’s game over.

Update 10 September 2016.

The Gage Roads story continues with them looking to by back shares from Woolworths. It just goes to show, you should never sell your soul. Read the story here.

Another update 8 February 2017 – Return to Craft.  Maybe you should never have left?

Another update 11 March 2019 – Export Market Grows