Can It.

There have been a lot of exciting things going on with craft beer lately, and it’s not just with the beer itself. Since most craft brewers don’t have much in the way of marketing or merchandising, they need to get creative with the ways in which they reach out to potential customers. There are an increasing number of small breweries out there that have turned packaging into an art form, finding innovative and sustainable methods of distributing their beers and engaging with beer lovers on a creative level. This is in contrast to many of the big names in the premium beer world, which tend to go the gimmicky route using specialty packaging (plastic bottles, cold-activated cans, etc.) to draw people in. One symptom of craft brewers’ focus on the total package has been the movement towards using cans for craft beer, and there are several shining examples out there of why that’s an awesome idea.

First of all, there are significant benefits to using cans rather than glass bottles. Cans are better for the environment (made from recycled aluminum), they preserve beer better (no UV light contamination), and they’re much more practical for to carry around than bottles are. Another less tangible benefit of using cans is the potential for better artwork. Take the example of the 21^st Amendment Brewery out of San Francisco. Their boxed-craft-beer-in-a-can approach transcends novelty; it’s just a smart, environmentally-friendly way of doing things, and the artwork on their cans almost overshadows the beer inside (even though their beers are consistently excellent). Around this time every year 21^st Amendment puts out their Fireside Chat, a Winter Warmer at 7.9% abv with a smooth, dark blend of malts and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. The name (and associated artwork) is a reference to the “fireside chats” that Franklin D. Roosevelt used to deliver over the radio during his presidency. Their Monk’s Blood and Back In Black IPA are also excellent winter brews, and the artwork alone is enough of a reason to check them out.

One of the fastest-growing breweries in Maine, the Lewiston-based Baxter Brewing Co. was quick to embrace the craft beer in a can movement, and are currently the only brewery in state to distribute their beers exclusively in cans. You might even say they’re a bit fanatical about it; their glassware is also in the shape of a can. Baxter’s flagship brew is their Pamola Xtra Pale Ale, a session beer at 4.9% abv that starts off with some sweet, bready malts that are backed up by a slight grassiness and some bitter, citrusy hops in the finish. The name, Pamola, comes from Baxter’s mascot: in local Native American folklore, Pamola was a thunder god with the head of a moose, the body of a man, and the wings and talons of an eagle, who was said to be the guardian of Mt. Katahdin (the tallest mountain in Maine, and the endpoint of the Appalachian Trail). Baxter’s latest beer, their Phantom Punch Winter Stout, is a strong, velvety stout at 6.8% abv, brewed with cocoa nibs and vanilla bean.  The name is a reference to the controversial 1965 heavyweight championship rematch between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston (which was held in Baxter’s hometown of Lewiston), where Liston was knocked down by what the press at the time dubbed the “phantom punch.”

Baxter’s “all cans” approach has proved to be ridiculously successful; since opening their doors in early 2011, Baxter is now in the midst of an expansion that will allow them to increase capacity by 400 percent (they currently produce about 8,000 barrels per year, and the expansion will facilitate the production of over 33,000 barrels). For what is essentially a small business, that kind of profitability and rapid expansion is impressive to say the least, and it was all made possible without a single annoying beer commercial or color-changing can.

Call it pretentious, but I think that approaching beer as a work of art is not such a bad idea. The results of this kind of attention to detail have had a huge effect on the overall popularity of the craft beer industry, which as I mentioned before has little to no traditional marketing presence. Maybe it’s a sign that things are changing, and that aggressive, in-your-face marketing is becoming a thing of the past. But probably not. In the meantime, there’s plenty of great beer out there to discover, and reason enough to judge a beer by its cover.

Brewmaster Jack

People in Massachusetts love their beer, especially here in the Pioneer Valley where it seems like every other person is a homebrewer. It’s a crowded market, to say the least, and breaking into that market isn’t always easy. It takes a lot of creativity and effort to build a beer company from the ground up, and there are few people who can manage it single-handedly. Which brings us to Brewmaster Jack.

“Jack was my great-grandfather, he used to brew up in Vermont during Prohibition,”
says Tyler Guilmette, owner, brewer, and distributor of the Northampton-based beer company. “It wasn’t until after I started filing paperwork [to start the Brewmaster Jack beer company] that I found this out, but the name seemed natural.”

Having grown up in East Longmeadow, Tyler didn’t get into brewing until moving to Northampton in 2009. “I would walk by the Beer and Winemaking Supplies shop on King Street every day, and one day I just decided to pick up a homebrewing kit,” says Tyler, sipping a bottle of his most recent batch of Stray Dog Lager at the Paper City Brewery in Holyoke, where he currently brews his beers.

Within a few weeks of getting his first homebrewing kit, Tyler moved from malt extract to all-grain brewing, and within a year had filled an entire notebook with brew notes after nearly forty batches. “They say that brewing is the world’s second-oldest profession, it’s like a tradition,” he says. “I really enjoy the hands-on aspect of it, and figuring out what goes on behind the scenes with making beer.”

After this year of intensive brewing, Tyler sent a lager recipe (which would eventually become his Stray Dog Lager) to the Boston Homebrew Competition, taking second place in one of the lager categories. “My house in Northampton had an old dirt basement, which was perfect for storing lagers,” he says. “My great-grandfather never talked about brewing but he lived in this really old house with a dirt basement, and that’s when I made the connection.” Since then, Tyler has been self-distributing his Brewmaster Jack brand all over Massachusetts, mostly up and down the Pioneer Valley and in the Boston area.

“There’s literally a new brewery opening in Massachusetts every week, so how do I break in?” he says, talking about self-distribution. “It’s great to be able to meet the people who are selling my beer, it gives me insight into the customer and the people who handle that day to day.” That kind of hands-on, locally-focused approach has made Brewmaster Jack a standout in a new generation of brewers, and Tyler has been working steadily to create new recipes that play on traditional beer styles.

“The craft beer market is saturated with gimmicky beers, like people will see them on the shelf and think ‘oh, that’s a funny name,’ and that’s why they buy it,” he says. “I just want to make interesting, traditional beers with a local focus, using as many different grains as I can.”

Although Brewmaster Jack beers are available in many locations across the state, Tyler prefers to focus his efforts on the Pioneer Valley, a place that is rapidly becoming a craft beer destination. “The Valley is awesome, I love that there’s a community feeling here, and people generally seem more relaxed and laid back,” he says when talking about his home base of Northampton. “There’s also an excellent music scene, and I can walk to like twenty bars from my house [laughs].”

Most of the malted grains that go into Brewmaster Jack beers come from Valley Malt in Hadley, the only independent malt house currently operating in New England. “From start to finish, the malt isn’t moving more than thirty miles,” he says, referring to Valley Malt. “[The grain] is grown behind the malt house, so it’s grown in Hadley, malted in Hadley, brewed in Holyoke, and sold locally.” About 25 percent of the grain used for his Stray Dog Lager comes from Valley Malt, as well as all of the grain for his Ambrewsia Imperial IPA. Within the next month, Tyler plans to release his Total Eclipse Porter, which gets 70 percent of its malted grain from Valley Malt.

In the meantime, Tyler will continue to travel around western Massachusetts and the Boston area doing tastings for Brewmaster Jack, and he’ll be at Spirit Haus this Thursday (11/29). So come check it out, and the next time you find yourself at a bar in the Valley, remember to ask your bartender for a BJ.

The Case for Craft Beer

On the surface, beer is a simple thing. Mix together some water, malted grains, hops, and yeast, play around with the temperature, and eventually you’ll have beer. It might even taste good. With the right equipment and a little know-how, anyone can do it. So what’s the big deal about craft beer?

The American Brewer’s Association, an organization of craft brewers dedicated to promoting and protecting small, independent American brewers, defines a craft brewery as being small, independent, and traditional. A craft brewery is one that produces less than 8 million barrels of beer, in which less than 25% of the brewery is owned or controlled by someone who is not themselves a craft brewer, and which uses mostly traditional ingredients like malted barley or other adjuncts to enhance flavor. It’s seems like a broad definition, but defining the industry this way ensures several important things. Making a conscious decision to remain relatively small means that craft brewers are not constantly looking to expand, and can focus on the quality and variety of their products and their engagement with their respective communities. Being largely employee-owned means that craft breweries must consider the well-being of their employees while creating taxable revenue. The use of traditional and often locally-sourced materials and ingredients means that craft brewers are better able to create distinctive and region-specific beers.

Last year, craft breweries in the U.S. collectively grew 13% in volume and 15% in sales, making craft brewing one of the few rapidly growing industries in a stagnant economy. Considering the fact that the beverage market is still dominated by corporate giants like Anheuser-Busch InBev and Miller-Coors that have the global reach and marketing budgets to put small breweries to shame, this kind of growth is no small feat. This is good not only for small brewers and the people who enjoy the beers they make, it’s good for the communities in which these breweries are located as well. A production brewery with a tap room can create jobs and badly needed revenue for states through existing sales and excise taxes, and can promote beer tourism. Also, the lack of automation and the need for skilled, creative people in the craft brewing industry means that small breweries collectively employ more people than larger corporate entities. According to Brewer’s Association figures, the craft beer industry employs 103,585 people in the U.S. exclusively, and turned out 11,486,152 barrels of beer in 2011. For comparison, a global corporation like Anheuser-Busch InBev (makers of Bud Light, Busch, etc.) employs only 116,000 people worldwide, and produced 340,014,995 barrels last year. What this means is that the craft brewing industry employs more people per barrel than larger organizations, with taxable revenue that directly benefits the American economy.

Numbers aside, the reason why craft beer is so popular today is simple: it’s a craft, where ordinary people do extraordinary things with simple ingredients. It’s about inspiration and collaboration, and sharing a certain creative enthusiasm. By definition, craft breweries are purposely un-corporate, and they are able to focus on more than just how many units they sell. It says a lot about brewers and the people who enjoy good beer, and it also speaks volumes about the shift in attitude that seems to be taking hold these days. Low prices and convenience are well and good, but there’s something more to strive for. Brewing is a business just like any other, but craft breweries are setting the example that a business should be about more than profit and market dominance; it should give back to the local community and engage customers in a way that isn’t merely commercial.

But at the end of the day, it is just beer. Everyone has their own tastes, and people are going to like what they like. There’s a whole wide world of beverage choices out there, and who’s to say that any one is better than the other? It’s important to remember that behind every beer is a business, and every business has its guiding principles. And for all intents and purposes, craft beer is on our side.