The Beer Bloggers Conference
resumed at 9:30 Saturday morning but the festivities the night prior made
Nicole and I’s on-time arrival a strong unlikelihood. Thus, we missed the first session—a panel on
the three-tier system of beer distribution—but word on the street is that it
was a bit awkward what with certain panelist skirting tough questions.
The next session was on networking
with breweries, distributors, and retailers.
Here are my main takeaways from the session:
·
Always
tag the brewers in posts and tweets.
Stroke their ego and give credit where credit is due. If bloggers get the brewer’s name out,
they’ll feel more inclined to get our
name out. That is, if you’re not writing
douche-y things about them. When you
need to criticize, do so tastefully—never nastily.
·
Ask
for special treatment. Yes, we as beer
bloggers throw around a little more weight than the general drinking public and
should thus be treated to certain perks.
·
People
in the business of craft beer should
want to work with bloggers and give us special treatment. We are their source of free advertisement; we
are their biggest proponents. In the words
of one of the session’s more outspoken panelists, if somebody in the industry doesn’t want to work with bloggers then
“f**k ‘em.” It’s their loss.
·
Make
friends with store owners. If you get in
good, they might advertise some of their beers with “As recommended by [your
blog name]” or something of that ilk.
·
Be
gracious with beer stores. They can’t
always get what you want so don’t throw a fit when they don’t have that
über-rare specialty beer you’ve been craving.
This was actually a bit incongruent with my personal experiences as one
of my local bottle stores, Mondo Vino, has the opposite problem: they hound you
and keep asking if there’s anything they don’t have that they can put on order
for you. But, I guess that’s just
another reason why Colorado is the best state for beer—over-the-top friendly employees
that want you to try as many different types of beer as possible.
·
Bloggers
do more than support the craft beer industry, we educate the masses thus making
it easier for brewers, bartenders, and store employees to do their jobs. Thanks to bloggers, they can focus more on
selling rather than bringing people up-to-speed on craft beer. Sample questions that make industry people
pull their hair out: “I don’t like dark beers like IPAs” or “I like Hefeweizens
but I don’t like ales.” If these phrases
or phrases similar have ever escaped your lips, allow me to do my part as a
beer blogger and school you so that those who make a living off of beer don’t
have to roll their eyes at you.
Next was a session on international
beers in the U.S. Specifically, Pilsner Urquell since it was their American representatives leading the meeting. First, they talked about Pilsner Urquell in
general—about how it was among the first beers to be served in a clear glass so
as to show-off its clarity and how they wish they had enough clout to convince
the company’s higher-ups to do away with the skunky-beer-inducing green bottles. They then transitioned into the influences
American and non-American beers have on one another. It’s not uncommon to see American breweries
emulate the styles of Belgium but did you know that Belgium breweries have
started making American-style IPAs?
That’s right, folks; American beer is no longer following in the
footsteps of Europe, Europe is taking a cue from us! The only problem, it
seems, is that Europe is a butt-hurt continent; Belgians whine when we call our
beer “Belgian-style” because they’re not technically
Belgian. “We don’t call our
American-style IPAs ‘American-style’,” they say. I say, “cram it, you waffle-munchers.” American brewers are honoring the rich
history of Belgian beer when they label their product “Belgian-style” and we’d
appreciate some reciprocity, Jean-Claude Van Jerkwad.
Samples (i.e. whole bottles) of Pilsner
Urquell came next (plus free Pilsner Urquell glasses to take home) which I will not bore you with as it’s a ubiquitous beer
you’ve almost certainly already had. Petrus Aged Ale (7.3% ABV)—a Belgian sour beer that smells like champagne and finishes
with persevering tartness—is a different story. It’s a fantastic
beer and, while the majority of the beers that splash over my palate are
Coloradoan and the rest mainly from other parts of the U.S., I might consider
letting this foreign interloper get more tongue-time in the future.
It was then time for a much needed lunch
break so we closed our laptops, took the escalator to the upper-level
conference rooms, and found ourselves at the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company-hosted lunch.
We began with a glass of their
Hefeweizen before making our way to the circular tables scattered about the
room. We were served Summer Shandy with
our first course—a salad—all the while being regaled with the history of
Leinenkugel by a brewery rep who some found to be a bit too under-spoken but,
personally, after the previous night’s carousing about town, a subdued,
sedative speech was necessary.
The Hefeweizen and Summer Shandy were
good, certainly, but rather ordinary and best enjoyed without a Y chromosome. Then, however, they brought out the big guns:
the Big Eddy series. As we dined on exceptionally
good chicken (for it being conference food, anyway), we drank Imperial IPA. As we stuffed our faces with
dessert, we drank Wee Heavy Scotch Ale. Leinenkugel
is a subsidiary of corporate giant SABMiller but one cannot deny the exquisiteness of Big Eddy. Monstrously large brewing companies can still produce damn fine beer so long
as they have detail-orientated brewers at their satellite facilities.
 |
| At the Leinenkugel lunch |
Nicole and I snagged a few Big Eddy
tulip glasses and bottles of Russian Imperial Stout, stopped by our room to
drop off our haul, and prepared ourselves for one of the conference events I
was most looking-forward to: the Spiegelau comparative beer and glass tasting
session.
But that will have to wait until the
next post; I’ve said enough for this particular update.
Prost!
Chris
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