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RBPMail 3.10, October 1997
Real Beer Page Mail (RBPMail) began as a modest update to craft-brew events on the WWW. It evolved into a news digest and sometimes editorial forum. We present its contents here much as they were emailed to subscribers. Often, links you will see are out of date, and businesses referred to may also be long gone.
In this issue:
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In a September 25 announcement, Carlsberg-Tetley announced the details of a
three year plan designed to create a competitive and profitable independent
brewer and wholesaler. The plan is the result of a company wide review which
began in June when a proposed merger with Bass Brewers was blocked by the
government. C-T Chief Executive, Ebbe Dinesen, said, "The initiatives we are
announcing today will put us in excellent shape to compete vigorously as the
UK's largest brewer and wholesaler without a conflict of interest with our retail
customers and with the wholehearted backing of a shareholder, Carlsberg A/S,
which is committed to our future. We have profitable brands which will receive
significantly more investment, as well as our effort to build on our reputation as
an industry leader in customer service. Our major regret is that in order to be
competitive we have had to remove large amounts of cost from the business,
which will mean substantial job losses at or around 1500. However this was
unavoidable if the company and its remaining employees were to have a more
secure future. Michael Luul, Chief Executive, Carlsberg International, which
now owns 100% of Carlsberg-Tetley, added: "This plan will put Carlsberg-
Tetley in a strong competitive position. We are planning to invest L40m in
production over the plan period. With net assets well in excess of our
investments, we have a unique opportunity to shape the company into one of
the most efficient in Europe, which, coupled with the Carlsberg and Tetley
brands, would make it a very competitive British brewing company. Details of
the plan are as follows;
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-- BREWERIES
The company will retain two breweries, at Leeds and Northampton. Both will
receive substantial investment in order to increase efficiency and extend
capacity. Northampton and Leeds together will receive around L40m
investment. Carlsberg-Tetley's remaining three breweries are to be closed
down, or, if possible, the Burton Brewery will close by April 1999 with the loss of
550 jobs. However, Carlsberg-Tetley has announced that the closure of the
Brewery may be avoided if a suitable buyer can be identified. The Alloa
Brewery in Scotland will close by May 1998, with the loss of approx. 85 Brands
brewed at Alloa including Calders and the Arrol's range. These will continue to
be brewed in Scotland under a new contract arrangement with Caledonian
Brewing Company Ltd. of Edinburgh. The Wrexham Brewery will close by
October 1999 with the loss of approx. 35 lobs. Investment and other efficiency
initiatives in Leeds and Northampton will lead to a further reduction of 70 jobs.
Ebbe Dinesen comments: "We looked at every possible option, but focusing on
two modern breweries is the right answer. There is over capacity in the brewing
industry and we cannot compete effectively unless we are more cost effective
than our competitors. Wherever possible we will use early retirements, voluntary
redundancy and re deployment to avoid compulsory redundancies."
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-- DISTRIBUTION
Carlsberg-Tetley's On-Trade Retail Distribution operation is to be streamlined in
order to continue its drive to improved efficiency. The plan envisages the
company reducing its number of stocked depots, but retaining 'in-house'
services it sees as essential to sustaining its leadership in customer service.
Plans include investment in new, modern sites, to which existing operations will
transfer. As well as depot closures, it is anticipated that there will be 280 job
losses in Retail Distribution. The Primary Distribution function, involving the bulk
transfer of beers from breweries to retail distribution sites, will be contracted out
to a third party. which will mean the eventual transfer to new employers for 100
people.
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-- CORPORATE SERVICES MARKETING AND SALES
The existing Carlsberg-Tetley headquarters building at Birmingham Business
Park will be vacated, with all head office functions transferring to offices at
Northampton Brewery. The Marketing Department, currently based at Burton,
will also move to Northampton. Similarly, Carlsberg-Tetley Take Home Sales
will be based at Northampton, transferring from its current rented offices at
Godalming, Surrey. Telesales will consolidate at three locations, Leeds, Alloa
and Romford. Existing operations at Torquay and Warrington will close. In
addition, sales support staff levels will be reduced. Other corporate functions,
such as Finance and Human Resources, will be largely concentrated in
Northampton and Leeds. These changes are expected to result in a loss of a
further 380 jobs. Ebbe Dinesen adds: "It is never easy to announce the loss of a
significant number of jobs. However, once the merger with Bass Brewers was
blocked, we had no alternative, as we made clear in our submissions to the
regulatory authorities. However, this plan will ultimately put Carlsberg-Tetley in
a position to enjoy healthy profits - and enable us to give a good return to our
parent company, Carlsberg NS." (from Peter Haydon, World Editor, breWorld)
http://www.breworld.com
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The Japanese investment bank Nomura became the largest independent pub
company in Great Britain after its $1.9 billion (1.2 billion pounds) purchase of
pub chains Inntrepreneur and Spring Inns. Inntrepreneur's former owners are
Grand Metropolitan Plc and Foster's. The size of the new group, bringing
together 2,900 outlets with 1,400 Spring Inns will allow for a better platform from
which to negotiate beer prices from brewers for its pub tenants. Inntrepreneur
was formed in 1991. Currently its publicans are tied to an exclusive beer supply
agreement with Scottish & Newcastle; the agreement expires in March, 1998.
The new organization makes up the largest supply agreement for S&N outside
its own pubs. Currently, Inntrepreneur's pubs are centered in Manchester and
the Midlands across to Bristol and London. The prime base for Spring Inns is in
East Anglia.
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The troubled Nor'Wester Brewing group was nearly dealt a death blow with the
withdrawal of prospective business partner United Breweries of America.
Nor'Wester, along with Aviator Brewing of Seattle, Bayhawk Brewing of Irvine,
California, North Country Brewing of Saratoga Springs, New York, the already-
shuttered Mile High Brewing of Denver, and Willamette Valley, Inc. a holding
company, comprised a nation-wide chain of microbreweries, each of which was
funded by local public stock offerings. UBA Chair Vijay Mallya (see Celebrator
Beer News June/July 1997 @ http://www.celebrator.com) cited Nor'Wester's
failure to meet minimum net worth stipulations and its failure to re-negotiate
terms of repayment with major creditors to be the reason for its withdrawal from
the deal. First announced on September 26 of 1996, the deal would have
traded $9 million in cash, $2 million in stock, and another million dollars in
licenses and management services for a 26% stake in the consolidated
companies. The industry consensus was that Nor'Wester CEO Jim Bernau had,
in the words of one brewery president, "caught himself a big fish." As the year
progressed, however, the fish turned out to be more of a boa constrictor, with
the terms of the deal changing first to $8.6 million for 45% of the company, then
to $5.5 million cash, plus $2.75 million in bridge loans for a 40% stake. By the
time Mallya called off the deal, the $2.75 million credit line extended by the
Indian entrepreneur had been completely tapped. This line of credit was
secured against the Saratoga Springs brewery, and Mallya has secured his
credit well, holding position as the superior lien holder on the makers of North
Country. "They're going to be coming back to me and proposing what assets
they want me to have," Mallya said. "I may get a brewery or two in the process,
and I'd be quite interested in looking at their assets." The lien supersedes all
other claims, including Chapters VII and XI bankruptcy. For $2.75 million, Mallya
bought himself a new, well-situated brewery on the East Coast. Investors in
Nor'Wester are looking ever-closer to S.O.L., creditors can get in line, and Mr.
Bernau appears to have some explaining to do. (Source: William Abernathy)
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According to an article by Mike Francis in the Portland Oregonian, Saxer
Brewing Company has purchased the Nor'Wester brand after Nor'Wester shut
down operations earlier in the month (BeerWeek 7/15; 7/22). Saxer, which until
now has been exclusively a lager producer, will now double its output, shelf
facing and tap handle potential.
Kirin Brewery Ltd., has lost market share after years of leadership in the
Japanese beer industry, and has announced major shifts: 1) It will enter the
low-malt beer market 2) It will cut costs by 30 billion yen ($247 million) 3) It will
reduce the number of employees (9000) by 20% over a three-year period,
through natural attrition and slowing down of re-hiring. 4) It will renovate
facilities at two of its 15 plants and close three of them. Kirin has indicated that it
believes that Japan's beer market has leveled off to only one percent annual
growth. It hopes to expand by looking to the foreign market, especially China. It
intends to develop new facilities in China and strengthen its sales network there
as well. Currently, it is the number one imported beer in Taiwan. Currently, Kirin
is losing market share to rivals Asahi Breweries Ltd., and Sapporo Breweries
Ltd. Asahi and Suntory both increased shipments in August, while Kirin posted
declines. Asahi reported a year-on-year increase in its August shipments, and
that its January-August period was up 10.6 percent from the same period a year
earlier.
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In a September 26 press release from the Institute for Brewing Studies, it was
announced that the United States now exceeds Germany in the number of
operating breweries. Germany now has 1,234; the U.S. has 1,273. Germany's
count was surpassed in June, 1997. Of the 1,273 U.S. breweries, 1,250 are craft
breweries.
According to the same report, the largest number of U.S. micros are in
California, Colorado and Washington State; California, Florida and Colorado
have the most brewpubs. Oregon, California and Colorado lead with the most
regional specialty breweries, while Vermont, Wyoming and Colorado have the
most breweries per capita.
Stroh Brewery announced this month that it would close down its St. Paul,
Minnesota, brewery over the next two months. The decision was made owing to
the facility's age. Built in 1865 by Hamm's Brewing Co., it was deteriorating and
was too limited in its production capacity to stay profitable. The St. Paul
production will be shifted to other plants.
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Although the Oktoberfest in Munich is wrapping up, you can look forward to
plenty of festivals available this season. It's the time of the harvest. The Burning
Man. Death and Rebirth. It's a time to celebrate our time here and those who
came before us. Below are our top picks of traditional German Lagers available
in the U.S. with which to enjoy your celebration.
DEGROEN'S BEERS/BALTIMORE BREWING CO.
Theo DeGroen is brewing some of the best German-style Lagers in the U.S.
Hands down. If you can't visit them personally and pick up one of their classic
growlers, surf their website at:
http://www.degroens.com
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OUR TOP TEN LIST OF U.S., GERMAN-STYLE BREWER'S:
1. DeGroen's/Baltimore Brewing Co.
2. Capital Brewing, Madison, WI
3. Bayern Brewing, Missoula, MT
4. Sudwerks, Sacramento, CA
5. Tabernash, Denver, CO
6. Saxer Brewing, Portland, OR
7. Rio Grande Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
8. Gordon Biersch, San Jose, CA
9. Bavarian Brewing Co., Maumee, OH
10. The Weeping Radish, Manteo, NC
OKTOBERFEST EVENTS
We'll try to bring you these event's in September's RBPMail. For more
information, surf our events calendar online by date, topic, location, etc.
http://www.realbeer.com/rbp/rbp.events.php
THE Oktoberfest
September 20 - October 5, 1997 - Munich, Germany
DeGroen's Annual Oktoberfest Celebration
Saturday, September 27th 1997
Mass Bay Brewing Co. 8th Annual Octoberfest
October 2 - 5, 1997 - Boston, MA
Napa's 150th Anniversary Octoberfest
October 5, 1997 - Napa, CA
4th annual Oktoberfest
October 4, 1997 - Sheboygan, Wisconsin
BJ's Brewery Beer Appreciation Night: Oktoberfest & Munich Lagers
October 7, 1997 - Mission Viejo, California
Chicago's 6th Annual Microbrewers Oktoberfest
October 9 - 12, 1997 - Chicago, Illinois
Routh Street Brewery Oktoberfest Brewer's Dinner
October 9, 1997 - Dallas, Texas
Manayunk Brewing Oktoberfest
October 15, 1997 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oktoberfest
October 18 - 19, 1997 - Campbell, California
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Last month we covered breweries online that won 1996 GABF medals.
Conspicuously absent were our friends at brewmoon, to whom we profusely
apologize.
brewmoon restaurant and microbrewery, Saugus, MA
Gold Medal winner
GABF 1996
Munchener Helles
http://www.brewmoon.com
A REASON TO DOWNLOAD MSIE 4.0:
!!! THE REAL BEER CHANNEL !!!
Despite the server overloads, 65MB install file and a potential small dilemma
with your personal politics, we think once you install Microsoft's Internet
Explorer 4.0 for Windows you'll be pleased by what you find. In the new
channels format you can find several branded content sites such as ESPN,
Epicurious, Disney and Real Beer. Yep, that's right. Our Real Beer guy will be
smiling while greeting you to our new channel. Real Beer partnered with one of
the nicest guys in the business, Jeff Scott, of beerexpedition.com. Many
thanks to Jeff for pushing the project along as well as to Jenny, his wonderful
wife, who put up with his absence during some late nights. We liked the format
of the Channel: You subscribe. It downloads new content each week. You
browse it off line. What we like about this format is that it comes closer to
"happening to you" like when you turn on your television or radio. And it
integrates into all the tools you've come to trust from the Real Beer Page. Even if
you do not have MSIE 4.0, please go to The Real Beer Channel page to
participate in the survey and influence what format our next content push will
come to you in. The drum roll and url, please:
http://realbeer.com/channels/
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SEND THE REAL BEER GUY TO YOUR FRIEND
We've just launched a new feature for you to spam your friends with -- it's a
virtual postcard program. If you're traveling, consider alerting friends with the
Real Beer Truck. Going on vacation? Try a postcard of Good 'Ol Dad, reaching
in for a cold one. Feeling grateful? Use the "Thanks A Jillion!" card. Or if you're
using The Real Beer Page for the first time, consider sending all your friends the
URL and homepage image. Give the program a whirl at:
http://realbeer.com/rbp/rbp.postcards.php
GREGG GLASER JOINS THE REAL BEER AUTHORS AREA
Glaser is an Associate Editor for "Yankee Brew News," a columnist for "Modern
Brewery Age," and a contributor to "Celebrator Beer News," "Beer & Tavern
Chronicle," "Drink," "Brew" and many other publications. He also speaks at beer
tastings and dinners, teaches beer appreciation classes and serves as a beer
consultant to beer distributors, restaurants, taverns and package stores. Gregg
is a nationally certified beer judge with the Beer Judge Certification Program as
well as a member of the North American Guild of Beer Writers and the American
Homebrewers Association. When not writing or talking about or tasting or
making beer, Gregg seeks out wild edible mushrooms in the woods of New
England with his wife and son. Get to know Gregg's work better by surfing his
site at:
http://realbeer.com/rbp/authors/gregg/glaser.php
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DO YOU LIKE CIGARS?
If you like cigars you'll love the convenience of one of our favorite new sites.
Havana's Fine Cigars, based in Denver, CO has a new online shopping cart in
place. Nice selection, too, carefully handled in their on-premise humidors. Their
line-up includes Bahia Vintage, Davidoff, Fonseca, Macanudo Vintage,
Partagas, Zinos and more. Enjoy:
http://havanascigars.com
************* REAL BEER PICKS *********************
DID SOMEONE SAY MENDO?
Mendocino Brewing Company, one of Northern California's legacy craft
brewers, brings their award-winning artwork and labels to their pages with a
new shopping cart feature. Browse their offerings at:
http://www.mendobrew.com
OLD WEBSITE TANKED, SEE VERSION 2.0
Twenty Tank Brewing Company, a pioneer brewpub in the real world and
online, has been giving its site a facelift. Actually, it's more like a face explosion,
but you'll have to surf the site to see what we mean. Current events, new beers
and brewmaster, newsletters and even tank postcards are now available at
version 2.0 of the Twenty Tank website:
http://www.20tank.com
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QUICKIE EMAIL SURVEY
Thanks to all who have been replying to our Quickie Surveys. We draw one
winner each month for the prize of Michael Jackson's The Great Beers of
Belgium distributed by Vanberg & DeWulf (http://www.BelgianExperts.com).
This month, we're throwing some Spaten Tee Shirts in the mix to make your
chances of winning something even better. Here is this month's question:
RESULTS FROM LAST MONTH'S SURVEY:
We were hungry last month when we asked you what you would prefer: meat,
fish, fowl, pork, vegetarian and none. Here's what we learned:
meat -- 49%
chicken - fish -- 41%
vegetarian - 9%
Last month's winner was the carnivorous Joseph A. Veehoff. Congratulations,
Joseph! Try pairing that red meat with some hearty Belgian beers. Your new
Jackson book should aid in your selection.
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The Real Beer Page announces a diverse group of brew websites to
check out:
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A Coors spokesperson confirmed that the company is divesting Unibev as an
independent entity and bringing the Killian and Blue Moon brands under its
corporate marketing umbrella. Laurie Ciesielski assured BeerWeek that the
move does not affect brand spending, resources or commitment, rather it
represents a realignment of efforts towards core marketing and sales resources.
The former Unibev products will be incorporated into the existing Coors
marketing structures, ultimately reporting to Bill Weintraub, Senior Vice
President of Marketing.
The owner of a Times Square brewpub has been accused of sexual
harassment and racial discrimination. Helen Liftig, owner of Hansen's Time
Square Brewery has been sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission on behalf of at least 20 former employees.
The Post apparently reported employees' allegation in August 1996, one month
after the brewery had opened. A former manager, Pradeep Kawatra, stated he
had been forced to fire employees once Lustig learned that they were
minorities. Kawatra and other employees told the EEOC that she had created a
"hostile work environment," by touching employees inappropriately, refusing to
hire female bartenders, tell female employees to "throw themselves" at male
customers to get them to stick around and insisting that the race and ethnic
origin of applicants be noted. (Source: Gersh Kuntzman, New York Post, April
29)
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The Czech Republic is prepared to transfer rights to the name "Bud" to
Anheuser-Busch, partially ending a dispute that has gone on since the turn of
the century (BeerWeek, June 30). At the time the dispute began, A-B was a local
St. Louis, MO brewery. It is now the best selling beer in the world. Budvar, in
contrast, is still relatively small, brewing approximately 1% of what Anheuser-
Busch does each year. A-B had trademarked the name Budweiser in 1876.
Over the years, both companies have made several agreements as to where
the name Budweiser can be used. Partly to get around that problem, A-B had
begun to use the name Bud as well, especially in areas where the Czech
brewery had Budweiser trademark rights. This agreement has no affect on the
Budweiser brand name, as used by A-B and Budejovicky Budvar NP (Budweis
is German for Ceske Budejovice, where the Czech brewery is located). In return
for releasing the rights to the name "Bud," Anheuser-Busch would commit to buy
Czech hops for ten years. The company had been buying Czech hops -- had in
fact bought nearly 18% of the total Czech hop harvest -- but had discontinued
that practice during the recent negotiations. The new agreement has A-B buying
8% of the Czech hop harvest over the next ten years. The brewery itself holds
any remaining trademarks, but, as it is state-owned, negotiations can be held
without brewery management approval. (Source: David Rocks, Wall Street
Journal, September 5)
The Czech beer industry was on the "brink of a major corporate takeover battle"
as a group led by IPB a.s. announced it would make a buyout offer to minority
shareholders for the country's two largest brewers. IPB, a collection of
investment funds and Nomura Capital, stated it controlled 66% in Plzensky
Prazdoj and 58% of Pivovar Radegast. Czech law requires that such an offer be
made when a shareholder's holdings exceed 50%. Bass Plc, which holds a
third of Radegast, announced on September 22 that it was offering to buy the
IPB group. It holds a 55% stake in Prazske Pivovary, the third biggest Czech
brewery, and is interested in merging its stake in Radegast with Prazske
Pivovary for a market share of 29%. (BeerWeek, 9/8)
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The Czech Republic's two largest beer brewers plan to merge in order to
strengthen their position on world markets. According to the Prague business
daily, Prazdroj and Radegast are planning the merger but their beers would
continue to be sold under their traditional trademarks. Plzensky Prazdroj
currently exports some 12% of its production, Radegast, 10%. Combined, the
two brewers would account for about 40% of the Czech beer market, above the
30% limit set by the country's cartel authority, which would have to approve the
merger. According to a September 3 Reuters dispatch, dateline Prague,
Britain's Bass plc has cautioned Nomura International of Japan that it (Bass)
would "campaign vigorously" against any such merger. Graham Staley, Bass
country manager for the Czech Republic, stated that Bass believes that Nomura
is only interested in short term financial gain with regard to this merger. Bass
holds a majority in Praszke Pivovary, the third largest Czech brewer, and is the
largest single shareholder in Radegast. Bass has stated that its long term goal
is to "create a strong brewing presence" in the Czech Republic with a 25 to 30
percent market share. Prazdroj and Radegast combined control 40 percent of
the domestic beer market.
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"More Homebrew Favorites." Karl F. Lutzen & Mark Stevens. Storey Publishing.
Over 250 recipes, organized by style. "A Year of Beer." Published by Brewers
Publications, a division of Association of Brewers. More than 260 recipes from
American homebrewers. Organized by seasons, then by beer styles, so that
beers suitable for winter, for example, are grouped together. Most of the recipes
are from homebrew competitions. Judges' comments are often included with the
recipe. 346 pages. ISBN 0-937381-53-5. $14.95.
Online, you might know Karl and Mark as the foundation of the world's greatest
homebrew site, The Brewery.
http://www.brewery.org
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As a jaded veteran of ad battles, I caught myself in the middle of an
extraordinary feat the other day: I was reading an ad on the backcover of a beer
newspaper. Granted, I was procrastinating from writing this editorial, which is
motivation enough to count ceiling tiles, let alone read ads. But, I found myself
wanting to read the ad and smiling in recognition while doing so.
The ad was wall-to-wall copy: usually a "no-no" in layout. Ad studies show
people don't mind reading copy, they just don't want to know they're reading
copy. Large blocks of text raise the content-density flags telling our brains to
shut down to avoid being overtaken by existential, contractual and/or academic
sludge. This ad was wall-to-wall copy and I was ready for more.
Littered horizontally across the middle of the page were ten floating faces forced
in various stages of approval or vehement disapproval. (BTW, demographically,
the field of heads includes three women, one black man and the rest white
twentysomething guys). The headline read "Seven out of ten people don't like
our beer. Here's why we're delighted:" Now, I'll give you some of the copy:
"What if you could try a different beer every day? Would you do it? Would you
willingly subject your taste buds to a daily foray into the unfamiliar? ...the world
would be a better place if everyone could try a different beer every day. (and
yes, ... it would be an even better place if someone else was paying).
"Seems like there are an awful lot of beer companies out there saying, 'The best
beer in the country.' Or, 'Voted best beer of 1992.' Stuff like that. C'mon. We're
smarter than that. It's an insult to any real beer lover's intelligence. The truth is,
there are so many great beers out there. And so many different times, places
and situations in which a particular beer might be appropriate.
"Think a second: Do you know anyone who drinks the same beer all the time? If
you answered, 'The whole country,' you're right (sarcastically, anyway). Craft
beers are but a mere speck in the ocean of the total beer consumed in this
country. Why is that? Pretty simple, really. People are creatures of habit. We find
a spot. We get comfortable. We stay there. Why leave?"
Should I keep going? The payoff is that the brand isn't for every situation or
person. But that those who appreciate the craft will understand the value of
great beer. And should the reader's own craft ever be disparaged, they should
look the critic and boldly reply: "I assure you sir, that you indeed, are not alone."
The advertisement was for Pete's Wicked Ales, and like the Sam Adam's
television spots a few years ago that asked the question, "do you love beer?",
this campaign understands its audience: Bright. Articulate. Critical. Too smart to
be sucked into some cliched beer advertisement. Looking for adventure within a
certain range of consumable products. The anti-advertising design turns out to
be an advertising device -- if you take the time to read the copy you are
precisely the person they want to speak to.
I think that these are great ads because they do not just serve the brand, they
serve to elevate AND grow the whole class of the segment. Unlike some of the
advertising for "aspirational" brands (think of Heineken in the 80's), these ads
talk to the common person and do not attempt to infuse the product with an
elitist message. They raise the bar for the others in the class -- "don't get too
wrapped up in medals and marketing hype" this ad says. And for consumers in
the class, it tugs on the emotional hooks that had consumers trying Pete's way
back when alternative craft beers were not available.
Sure, Pete's is contract brewed, but that's really not the point this ad suggests.
The issue is about character, flavor and an attitude of taking your own path.
That's a big part of why we like to support the artisan or crafts-person: the artist
helps us see another (better?) part of ourselves which in this case is the part
that is not over-standardized or industrialized.
Like Miller's "Macrobrew" ads, these ads say to their core consumer, "It's okay to
align with this brand." Pete's Brewing Company will go through some
challenging times over the next couple of years, as will any brewer in the middle
of the specialty segment. By our read, Pete's will be fine -- they've got some
pretty smart ad folks working on their current and next generation strategies. I'm
looking forward to seeing their next ad.
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