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1998 » BACK
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December
1998/January 1999
Notes from the Publisher
Tom
Dalldorf |
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| There is a disturbance in
the Force. The beer picture is changing rapidly. Good
beer is to be found almost everywhere, but the makers
of good beer continue to struggle for sales, distribution,
shelf space, tap handles and consumer allegiance. Interestingly,
the larger good-beer producers seem to have more of a
challenge than the smaller ones. The Big-Guy beer picture
is changing constantly, with many foreign alliances
being made and some considerable domestic realignments
taking place. Will Stroh Brewing and its eight breweries
go the way of the Triceratops? Will Pabst and Miller
take over Stroh’s labels? You can be sure that
Anheuser-Busch will continue its push to dominate the
industry. A-B currently has twice the market share of
second-place Miller Brewing and undoubtedly will benefit
from any weakening of fourth-place Stroh.
The import category continues to enjoy the sort of
rapid growth that the domestic craft-segment experienced
in the early ’90s. Domestic craft beer now has
some three percent of total beer sales but hasn’t
exhibited the great demand that drove the category just
a few years ago.
The brewpub industry continues to experience healthy
growth, with some of the larger groups showing respectable
expansion and return on investment. Rock Bottom’s
Frank Day returned this year as CEO to take over that
ailing company and turn the 60-plus-unit business around
to profitability in the third quarter. Gordon Biersch
continues its ambitious expansion in high-profile locations
around the country. Few other brewpub chains have been
as successful. Hospitality, quality food and great beer
continue to be the keys to success in this highly competitive
industry with small profit margins.
Craft-beer lovers are the key to the survival of the
industry. Their commitment to support their local brewery-restaurants
and to be evangelists for good beer will sustain and
grow the category. Ambivalence will translate into more
brewery failures. It might be suggested that we get
the sort of beer industry we deserve. We only deserve
it by our continued commitment to and support of quality
and character in the beers we buy.
As the great philosopher Pogo once observed, “We
has met the enemy... and he is us!” |
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| LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR (Dec 1998/Jan 1999) Dear
Editor:
“What Makes a Great Alehouse?” (CBN,
October/November 1998) brings back fond memories
of the original Lyon’s Brewery. As I sat
in the (at the time) rare pub atmosphere surrounded
by beer (beer, beer, and more beer!), I knew that
this was a home away from home. A belated thank
you to Judy Ashworth, who was at least 10 years
ahead of the times. I’m glad I knew it then
and I wish everyone else could have been as lucky.
Publicans present and future, take note: She
knows what she’s talking about.
Peter Vdovin
Concord, CA
Dear Peter:
Thanks so much for your comments on Judy —
the Publican’s Publican. She’s been
preaching the Gospel of beer longer than most.
Let’s hope the beer industry is listening!
— Ed.
Dear Editor:
Can you help me? I have a Hamm’s 2 1/4 gal.
Tapper draft beer keg. I have the refrigerator
that was built for this. Where can I get it filled?
I miss my draft beer. Can any of your readers
help me? At 74 years old, I would like to get
this keg refilled before I go to the Big Brewery
in the Sky.
Thank you,
Bud Howard
San Francisco, CA
Dear Bud:
Funny name for a Hamm’s guy. Before
you head off for the Land of Sky Blue Waters,
we’ll make sure to get a refill for your
Tapper. Working on it. Hang on! — Ed.
Dear Editor:
The article “Eastern Washington, a Tri-Cities
Update” on page 15 of the August/September
issue of the Celebrator contained excellent information
about the Cirque Brewery. Unfortunately, the information
was based upon an interview conducted over a year
ago. Amber River Distribution, a new and distinctly
independent distributor of craft beverages, introduced
Cirque to the Seattle market in November of 1997
to great success. The brewery’s products
are now widely available throughout the Seattle
/ Tacoma / Everett area on draft and in bottles.
Sincerely,
Bill Sharp
Amber River Distribution
Seattle, WA
Dear Bill:
Sorry for the outdated information on the
Tri-Cities story. Glad to know that Amber River
is on the job! Thanks for bringing more great
beer to the Northwest. — Ed.
Dear Editor:
Thanks for putting it straight on beer versus
wine prices. Many people I know and sell to appreciate
a nice glass of wine as much as a good pint. Unfortunately,
beer has a certain stigma attached to it when
it comes to the comparison with wine and price
points. Why, I'm not sure, unless people feel
a fine wine deserves a tuxedo and a well-made
pint a clean denim shirt. Either beverage has
its own place and time; both earn a spot on the
same shelf.
Cheers,
Tom Calhoun
Portland Brewing Company
Portland, OR
Dear Editor:
The topic you talk about in your October/November
editorial, the consumer’s “willingness
to pay,” is critical to the continued existence
of our segment of the beer business.
In our ten years in the industry, we have witnessed
the industry move along the classic life-cycle
curve from the phase of infancy to the current
phase of maturity. Throughout our industry’s
development, our existence has been predicated
on the consumer’s willingness to buy up
or pay up. The pioneers of the craft beer segment
based their reason for existence on the fact that
they were producing beers that were different
from the established standards of the day. With
the marketing of pioneers like Fritz Maytag, the
consumers came to accept the fact that these beers
were worth more and were willing to pay more.
That has not changed, in my mind. What has changed
is the way we brewers are behaving in the marketplace.
I believe a number of us have lost touch with
our roots — the high-end consumer and the
gourmet nature of our products.
What I see here in Colorado are different types
of craft beer consumers: the craft beer die-hard,
brand- and segment-loyal. They seek a brand and
pay the price for it. The second type is the marginal
craft beer consumer. This individual looks for
the “best beer on sale.” This customer’s
loyalty is to the price, not the product.
From our experience, the mass-appeal game is
a very difficult game to win for the small producer.
When all the dealing and discounting is done,
there is little left to continue to build the
business.
Ultimately, I feel that if the craft beer market
is relegated to $5.99 everyday pricing as the
standard, or worse yet, the ceiling, we will see
a lot of small brewers fall by the wayside. Only
if we are able to continue to perpetuate our niche
image, partly through pricing, will we be able
to maintain a healthy segment of the industry.
One thing for sure: Our industry provides a magnificent
study of “free market” enterprise
and the forces that impact our industry as it
moves along its life cycle.
Thanks for making this topic available for discussion.
It is an important topic for all of us.
Tastefully yours,
Jeff Mendel
Left Hand and Tabernash Brewing Companies
Longmont, CO
(The above is only an excerpt from Jeff Mendel’s
excellent, thoughtful letter to us. If you would
like a copy of the full text, please send an SASE
to Mendel on Beer Pricing, c/o Celebrator, Box
375, Hayward, CA 94543.) |
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October/November
1998
Pricing the Perfect Pint — Will Consumers
Pay Up?
Tom
Dalldorf |
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| A recent letter bemoaning
the high cost of a pint of microbrewed beer and another
letter chastising a local alehouse for no longer serving
pitchers begs the question “What is a craft beer
worth?” The price of a pint is predicated on the
manufacturing costs of the beer and the investment in
the brewing facility PLUS the needs of the retailer to
cover the overhead and make a reasonable living. The price-point
for beer is pretty much established by the mainstream
industrial brewers that provide the preferred choice of
90 percent of American beer drinkers. The disparity in
price between a generic brew and a microbrew can be large
or, depending on location (like midtown Manhattan), even
huge. The price of a six-pack is also a formidable
barrier to sales for some breweries. No matter the cost
of production, the price-point is usually established
by region, and to try to get a little more for an exotic
brew is deemed foolish by some marketing experts. “The
beer consumer won’t pay more than $5.99,”
some will say. They unfortunately are right. Beer drinkers
are price-sensitive beyond their appreciation of the
genre.
Our wine-loving brethren have no problem distinguishing
between the generic jug wine, the low-end and mid-level
varietal and the high-end to super-premium specialty
wine. Our educated and knowledgeable beer lover has
a real problem with beer purchases that exceed a certain
preconceived “beer” price level. This is
unfortunate and is causing our industry a great deal
of harm as too many labels compete for sales by cutting
prices, leaving little margin for survival.
The wine enthusiast will gladly pop $8 to $10 a bottle
for midweek meals. A $15 to $25 bottle for weekend dining
is not unusual. The beer lover, on the other hand, often
balks at a “sixer” of anything that exceeds
the usual discount price level, going the extra measure
for an exotic English or Belgian ale for special occasions.
Even then, the most one might pay is $7 to $9 dollars
a 750 ml bottle or a little more for a six-pack of something
truly sublime. Beer lovers are spoiled.
Most knowledgeable beer fans have some homebrewing
background and know what it costs to make a bottle of
beer. To apply that notion to commercial microbrewed
beer is misguided and foolish. A great home cook might
say, “I know what it costs to make a great dinner
for four. How can that restaurant charge $30 a person?”
Try owning a restaurant and running it six nights a
week.
Our industry needs knowledgeable enthusiasts willing
to put their educated palates on the line and spend
the extra money to support the breweries they love.
Without them, the industry will degenerate to a “generic”
level of brewing targeting a lowest-common-denominator
beer that will be as unfulfilling to the maker as it
is to the consumer. Consider that a $6.99 six-pack yields
72 ounces of glorious nectar (10 cents an ounce). An
$8 bottle of wine yields 24 ounces, or 33 cents per
ounce. Do the math.
Support your local brewery while you still have the
opportunity. The consequences of failure in our industry
are much too bleak to contemplate. |
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| LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR (Oct/Nov 1998) Dear
Editor:
For the last few days I felt really strange, like
something was missing from my life. I was restless,
uneasy, out-of-sorts. Then, while attending to
business in my favorite local brewpub, The Fishtail,
in Olympia, Washington, I realized what was wrong.
There on the counter was the latest issue of the
Celebrator Beer News. That was it! I hadn't gotten
my latest copy in the mail!!! With great relief
I pored through the pages, enjoying every article,
reading every advertisement, checking out the
news. It felt great. Then, it struck me (Whap!),
had my subscription run out? Why didn't I get
a notice? Depression struck again. Can you help
me in my time of need?
Respectfully,
Uncle Steve Hancock
Auburn, WA
Dear Uncle Steve:
You betcha! Have your credit card in hand
and call 1-800-430-BEER. Offering help in a time
of need is our specialty! Glad to be of service.
We live for such moments! —Ed.
Dear Editor:
The study you refer to in the August/September
editorial was not definitive and did NOT report
“no cancer risk” from secondhand smoke.
It said that the link was not at the 95% certainty
level.
Please look at the information at ash.org
to see the non-tobacco company interpretation
of the MANY studies showing the increased risk
of cancer and heart problems from secondhand smoke.
Cheers,
Roger ????
Someplace, CO
Dear Roger:
Thanks so much for the information on secondhand
smoke. Our point was perhaps overstated in our
desire to hold the California law up to ridicule.
It seems the tobacco companies are understating
the data as much as the anti-tobacco zealots are
overstating it. —Ed.
Dear Editor:
I enjoyed the photo of the heir to your throne
in the last issue. (See Thomas Earl Dalldorf III,
or Tre, in the Celebrator's August/September
1998 issue, page 3.) I look forward to his editorial
changes (“More trucks and airplanes!”).
See you in Denver (I hope).
Cheers,
Hank Stewart
New York, NY
Dear Hank:
The new regime of the younger generation could
prove problematical if he makes good on his threat
to cut back on photos of the publisher (and editor!
—Ed.) More trucks and airplanes would be
nice, however. —EdIII. |
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August/September
1998
California, Land of Fruits and Nuts — But
No Smoking, Please!
Tom
Dalldorf |
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| Sun-drenched California, blessed
with mountains, beaches, valleys and vastness, is choking
on its own abundance. Wracked with racial tension, constipated
with its own traffic, wallowing in its effusive effluence,
and teetering on the economic abyss of boom and bust,
its Legislatures chose to focus their energies on... smoking
in bars.
Last March, when the definitive study on passive smoking
sponsored by the World Health Organization reported
no cancer risk at all from second hand smoke, nothing
was done to correct the legislative quagmire created
by California’s smoking ban. The crusade for abstinence
fought by a coalition of health advocates and neo-prohibitionists
(few of whom frequent bars) had been so profound as
to negate any possible findings to the contrary. An
abstract notion of the “public good” ran
rough-shod over individual rights.
Please remember, Celebrator Beer News was
among the first to congratulate pubs and brewpubs (like
Lyon’s Brewery of Dublin) which voluntarily chose
to go non-smoking years ago in the interest of a heightened
appreciation of good beer and food. That, of course,
was their choice — and we applauded their philosophy
and courage. It is hard to exhibit courage, however,
when choice is sublimated by legislative mandate.
The consequences of this statewide action designed
to “save us from ourselves” is just now
being felt. The neo-prohibitionists (tobacco AND alcohol)
are euphoric in their successes. On Wednesday, July
15, one of our industry’s model brewpubs closed
for good. Barley & Hopps in San Mateo, CA, was shuttered,
unable to sustain the enormous success of its early
years as a great restaurant, superb maker of beer, Blues
Club of enormous importance (ask John Lee Hooker) and
a cigar and single-malt emporium of unique proportions.
Some staff members admit that they never recovered from
the anti-smoking ordinance.
We will miss you, Barley & Hopps, even if you couldn’t
spell “hops” correctly. And we will continue
to wonder at the perverse priorities that made you the
target of others’ misguided crusade. |
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| LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR (Aug/Sep 1998) Dear
Editor:
I recently took my wife to San Luis Obispo for
the weekend to enjoy the summer beach weather.
During our stay, we visited a local bar where
I came across a copy of the Celebrator Beer
News June/July 1998 issue. I was impressed
with all of the outstanding information and listings
of different pubs. I noticed that I had patronized
several of your listings in California as well
as out of state.
While reading this issue, I noticed a micro-brewery
called Indian Wells Brewery located in Inyokern,
CA. I had driven through this small community
several times on my way to Mammoth Lakes, CA and
decided to stop on my next trip.
Well, last weekend, I was driving northbound
on Highway 14 and stopped at this brewery. I was
amazed at the quality and selection of beers at
the Indian Wells Lodge. I really enjoyed the “Mojave
Red” as I felt it is one of the finest beers
I’ve ever had. My wife and I wanted to thank
your staff for introducing us to our new favorite
weekend watering hole.
Sincerely,
Michael Scott
Riverside, CA
Dear Michael:
Glad the Celebrator could be of service in
introducing you to your new favorite brewery!
Keep reading and traveling!!! —Ed.
Dear Editor:
Just wanted to clarify an inaccuracy in your June/July
issue. In the Celebrator Tasting Panel
Report on page 66, under the review of Wolaver’s
Organic Pale Ale, it was noted that Wolaver’s
is a “contract brewed beer” produced
by North Coast Brewing company.
Please allow me to explain industry terms. A
contract brewed beer is an arrangement whereas
one company contracts a brewery to produce their
beer. Although the specifics of this arrangement
vary greatly, the two parties are distinct and
separate entities. The brewing is done on a contract
basis only and can be terminated by either party
within terms of the contract.
“Partnership brewing” is an arrangement
between two companies in which there is shared
equity. The brewing company has an ownership equity
interest in the brand, therefore creating a long
term, permanent relationship.
Partnership brewing offers many distinct advantages
to both parties as well as to the consumer. Although
partnership brewing is not new to the beer industry,
it has not, to my knowledge, previously been implemented
in the craft segment. Wolaver’s Organic
Ales are in fact brewed in partnership with North
Coast Brewing company.
As always, Cheers!
Tom McCormick
Panorama Brewing Company
Via email
Dear Tom:
Thanks for setting us straight on these terms.
—Ed.
Dear Editor:
With great joy have I noticed that recent issues
of Celebrator have come fast on-line.
Gone are the 3-6 months delays between the print
and bit versions. Thank you very much. This really
helps me to follow “the scene” on
the west coast.
Esa Karell
Helsinki, Finland
Dear Esa:
We have to thank Diana Thetford and Bill Roark
of the Celebrator staff for staying on top of
the web page HTML formatting and the Real Beer
Page folks for making it look so good! —Ed.
(Pfft... Whatever, Tom! — Adare, current
and future Celebrator web destroyer... uh, designer!)
Dear Editor:
On a recent business trip to the United Ariline
Maintenance Base in Indianapolis, IN, I discovered
that the company store sold homebrew kits! Rock
on!! Lagunitas IPA rules!
Best regards,
Tony Miller
Seattle, WA
Dear Tony:
So, does the company store that sells homebrew
kits have the Celebrator Beer News? You have your
assignment. —Ed. |
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June/July
1998
The New Beer Snobs
Tom
Dalldorf |
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| It's over! We're done for.
The Wall Street Journal has found out about us. We're
"Beer Snobs". We actually pay attention to what
we are drinking. We gaze at it longingly, knowingly, appraising
its color, relative clarity and effervescence. We smell
its aroma (something that is hard to do if you only drink
it out of the bottle like normal people). We savor the
flavor as we consider the complexities of malt and hops
and the intricacies of the cultivation of yeast. We pay
attention to beer! Obviously, we are snobs!
Or, some entry-level reporter for the Wall Street Journal has spent a little
time with her friends in a bar and was bemused by the
attention some of them paid to their beer. And then
somehow got an editor to play her "story"
on the front page!
If you didn't see it, the esteemed Wall Street Journal
had a front page story on May 25th that skewered what
the reporter called, "The New Beer Snobs".
This article was a new low in shoddy reporting and superficial
journalistic research.
The Celebrator Beer News sent the following
Letter to the Editor.
April 28, 1998
To: Wall Street Journal
Editor:
Your front page story on "The New Beer Snobs"
by Nancy Keates missed the malty mark by a mile! The
Journal's usual standard for accuracy and objectivity
was embarrassingly absent in this ill-considered piece.
There is no "Celis White Luckenbach", beer
fans do "sniff, swirl, taste" but NEVER "spit!",
Lambic Framboise has been served in flutes for hundreds
of years! No wonder a restaurateur wanted to serve it
that way. Would Ms. Keates prefer a pint glass?
The Culinary Institute of America may have just discovered
beer but the California Culinary Academy has had a beer
program since the early days of the microbrewing era.
As to beer being a ≥"two-note samba",
I'll leave Joshua Wesson to his unending parade of me-too
Chardonnays in favor of a cornucopia of ales and lagers
all made from the same four ingredients: malt, hops,
water and yeast. To make a zinfandel you squish some
zinfandel grapes. That's not terribly complex now, is
it?
"Beer connoisseur" IS an oxymoron only because
true "beer geeks" love and understand the
object of their affection well enough not to obsess
about it, making it too exclusive and unreachable for
the unwashed masses (a point the Wine Spectator missed).
Who is this "unlikely breed of connoisseurs taking
beer drinking to a new extreme?" Your reporter
has confused "obsession" with ≥passion≤
and Portland, Ore., is passionate about its beer. Obsession
is when a reporter uses anecdotal data and misinformation
to further a preconceived attitude despite reams of
historical beer literature to the contrary.
Monday must have been a slow news day, indeed.
Tom Dalldorf, publisher
Celebrator Beer News
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| LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR (Jun/Jul 1998) Dear
Editor:
Congratulations on your 10th Anniversary. I've
always been a big supporter of your ideas and
your thoughts you have given us over the last
years. Our brewing community should be proud and
honored to call you "one of us."
From all of us in Austin, wishing yourself and
your staff the very best.
Sincerely,
Pierre Celis
Celis Brewery
Austin, TX
Dear Pierre:
Many thanks for your kind words about our
industry. They are most appreciated coming from
you, a brewer who resurrected a style of beer
previously lost to mankind. Congratulations to
you on your 35 years in the brewing business and
for bringing your fabulous beers to America! —
Ed.
Dear Editor:
Congratulations on the first 10 years! Just got
a copy of the latest CBN and it looks
outstanding, as usual. I really do enjoy reading
CBN. It's very informative and always
entertaining. I look forward to being informed
and entertained for another 10 years!
Marty Nachel, author
Beer for Dummies
Dear Marty:
Wow! That's a great review coming from you.
I'm still waiting for your next book, Beer Publishing
for Dummies. — Ed.
Dear Editor:
A Desperate Plea for Help!!! Due to circumstances
beyond our control, we will soon be embarking
on a long and treacherous journey. We are leaving
the Bay Area (which, as everyone knows, is the
beer capitol of the solar system) and trudging
down to purgatory (San Diego County). Now I'm
sure there is a silver lining to this tale of
woe. I just wish it would show itself!!!!
May main question for you folks, o' gurus of
all that is good and right, is WHERE IN BACCHUS'
NAME DO YOU DRINK DOWN THERE???!!??? Most of the
"brewpubs" I've had the, ahem, pleasure
of visiting are not exactly up to my speed.
Now I admit we haven't tried every dang beer
in the Southland, but we have been to quite a
few pubs down that away over the past few years.
So what the heck is this infatuation with blond
beer???? Insipid pale liquid masquerading as beer!!!
And, groan, we just recently saw a brewpub, and
quite famous one at that, that had, shudder, LIGHT
BEER!!!! Sputter sputter cough choke!
What are a couple of beer-happy, vegetarian East
Bayers to do???? Oh, please, you must help us!!!
Somewhere down there is a pub with 150 beers aching
to be savored. How about a brewpub where the patrons
nor waitstaff scowl at you??!!!! Where is the
local version of Toronado? Lagunitas? Triple Rock?
San Andreas? Oh, please, help us.
In the interests of fair play and all that, I
would like to exclaim cheers and fine tidings
on Terrific Pacific in S.D. and the Ocean Avenue
Brewery in Laguna! They made our journey that
much more enjoyable!!!
On a last note, congrats on the 10th Anniversary!!!!!!!!!
That was a great party at Pyramid. Oh, and you'll
be hearing from our lawyers for sticking our mugs
on the cover of the last issue! Hee, hee.
So long!!!!
fraggle and Carla
Oakland, CA
Soon to be of Vista, CA
Dear fraggle and Carla:
Check out our alehouse roundup in this issue
and, in particular, Don Erickson's "Alehouse
Safari in Southern California" article. There
are some great beer places in the Southland and
it's not as bleak as you may think. Was that you
on the cover of our 10th anniversary issue? You
owe US for that! —Ed. |
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April/May
1998
National .08% BAC is Bad Low and Bad Science
Tom Dalldorf |
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| The President of the United
States recently endorsed Federal Legislation that would
criminalize anyone found driving with a 0.08 blood-alcohol
concentrations (BAC) and withhold Federal Highway Funds
to states that did not comply with the new BAC level.
On hand at his press conference was a young mother whose
daughter had recently been killed by a driver with a 0.08
BAC. Her tears were both tragic and compelling. We later
learned that the male driver was in his early 20s and
that the accident occurred at around 8:30 a.m. in the
morning. There was no mention of the extraordinarily-high
accident rate for people in his age group, why he was
drinking so early or whether the 0.08 BAC was a contributory
factor to the fatal accident. This incident became such
a huge “media event” that these questions,
as impolite as they may be, deserve further inquiry.
Science gives us precise, measurable and reproducible
data we can use to formulate policy. The political arena,
however, rarely uses the results of scientific inquiry
to guide their deliberations. Rather, such data are
used to substantiate preconceived beliefs. In this case,
we know that drunk driving is bad and needs to be eliminated
from our highways. Our problem is, at what point do
social drinkers become impaired to the point of being
“drunk drivers.” Where’s the data?
Does lowering permissible blood alcohol concentrations
reduce accidents caused by drunk drivers? Verifiable
data remain ambiguous partly because the data are skewed
by the term “alcohol related,” which has
nothing to do with drinking and driving. We do know
that the average BAC for a driver in a fatal accident
is 0.17. Lowering the BAC to 0.08 seems to have the
same logic as lowering the speed limit to 55 mph to
prevent accidents. More arrests, more disrespect for
the law, and the problem (speeding, drunk driving) remains
unresolved.
Some countries have zero-tolerance laws (again, flying
in the face of science which shows that the body produces
0.01 to 0.03 BAC naturally) and a few have the death
penalty for drunk driving. France’s tough 0.05
BAC law failed to save a young Princess’ life.
Who will benefit from 0.08? The 30 states that capitulate
to Federal blackmail and lower their laws to 0.08 BAC
will get their highway funds, the President will have
a popular issue to diffuse attention from his scandal-ridden
administration, and vested interest (lawyers, tow truck
operators, bail bondsmen, etc.) will have newfound wealth
from our criminalizing a new strata of society. Will
fewer people die at the hands of drunk drivers? Since
the vast majority are already covered by existing law,
it is doubtful.
The U.S. Senate has already endorsed the new law. (To
oppose it, given how politically charged this issue
is, could be viewed as an endorsement of drunk driving.)
The House of Representatives will consider it next.
Your voice needs to be heard.
We changed the absurd 55mph law. It’s time we
went back at least to 0.10 BAC for criminalization —
at least until such time as scientifically-verifiable
evidence compels us to do otherwise. |
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| LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR (Apr/May 1998) Dear
Editor:
Congratulations on your 10th Anniversary. I think
being able to do what you love and be successful
at it is one of life’s greatest possible
achievements. Your success is truly inspirational.
Keep up the good work. See you in Atlanta? Baltimore?
Godspeed,
Hank Stewart
New York, NY
Dear Hank:
Thanks for your kind words. As our “prize
winning” writer, we expect you to keep up
the good work too! —Ed.
Dear Editor:
When my good friend Melora Janisch first started
working for you she mailed me one of your magazines.
Today I am looking at the 10th Anniversary issue
with awe! The front cover has more colours than
that other wonder of nature, the rainbow in the
sky. Congratulations over and over again for a
job well done!
Also, many thanks to Georgia Weathers for her
wonderful review of my latest book Son of
a Brewer (CBN, Feb/Mar 98). She pointed out
that Hitler was a vegetarian, which I didn’t
know. But then I wasn’t present when he
consumed his famous meal in our brewery’s
cafeteria. I also forgot to mention that he was
always accompanied by his personal chef who tasted
his food before he ate it. Mea culpa, nobody is
perfect. It was difficult for me to recall exactly
what happened 60 years ago!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my book and please
ask Melora to send me a short fax, even only to
say hello!
Cheers,
A. DeClercq
Woodbridge, Ontario
Dear A. DeClercq:
How kind of you to write on the occasion of
our 10th Anniversary. We continue to view that
wonderful photo of you holding a keg over your
head (now made famous by Miller Brewing) with
awe! Melora has been a wonderful addition to our
publishing family and is copyediting this very
piece. She says hello and she'll write very soon.
We would be delighted to have more input from
you on the beer scene and our progress when you
have the time. —Ed.
Dear Editor:
A Very Happy 10 Years to All at Celebrator!
Wish we could attend the festivities Saturday.
We (Michigan Beer Guide) are co-sponsoring a Mahalo
Luau that day with breweriana and homebrew shop
Things Beer at Michigan Brewing Company. I’ll
offer up a toast to Celebrator’s
10 years at 9:00 p.m., 6:00 your time.
Okole Maluna... (Bottoms up).
Rex and Mary Halfpenny
Michigan Beer Guide
Dear Editor:
Congratulations on your 10-year anniversary! Thanks
for the invitation to your party. Sam just flew
up to San Francisco for the barley wine tasting
at Toronado's, so we will not be able to attend
your party — but have some beer & fun,
fun, fun!
Always
Marlene and Sam Samaniego
Stuffed Sandwich
San Gabriel, CA
Dear Marlene and Sam:
Great to hear from you. You provided us with
an early oasis in Southern California for good
beer. Bret and Julie would have loved to see you
again. Get ready for our 15th! —Ed.
Dear Editor:
In your 10th Anniversary issue, Michael Jackson's
"Glass of `88" article brought back
some memories. There is a story behind that trip
your readers might find interesting.
Back then, some friends and I would regularly
pile into a car and go on "beer safari"
to check out all the new breweries. In 1988, one
of the "must stops" was Klaus Lange's
Seacliff Cafe. Klaus's food was superb but his
beer was the Holy Grail. Since he made it only
in five-gallon batches, his Dutch Brown Ale was
unavailable more often than not.
So for one of our beer safaris, I called Klaus
and specifically asked if he would set aside a
couple of bottles for us. Considering we were
driving a few hundred miles to visit and that
he had been out of his beer when we'd visited
before, he agreed. Dinner at the Seacliff looked
to be the highlight of our trip as we crowded
into a car and headed north.
In San Jose, we started crossing paths with Bret
Nickels and Michael Jackson. At every stop, we
got there just before they did or vice versa.
This continued for the rest of the afternoon.
Finally, Bret's group headed for the East Bay
while we headed for the Seacliff.
There, we enjoyed one of Klaus' great dinners.
But we noticed that the Dutch Brown Ale hadn't
accompanied the main course as we expected. Was
it being saved for desert?
"No, " Klaus admitted. He had set aside
his last bottles for us but somebody by the name
of Nickels had claimed them to impress some "big
shot" he was traveling with.
I never did taste that beer, Bret!
Donald Erickson
Belmont, CA
Dear Don:
We’d sue! —Ed.
Dear Editor:
My sincere congratulations to you and the rest
of the staff... You have developed the Celebrator
into a unique blend of fine entertainment and
solid information on the industry. Many thanks
for the first 10 years, and a toast to many decades
more!
Na Zdravi!!
Stephan Weiler
Department of Economics
University of Colorado
Fort Collins, CO.
Dear Editor:
Congratulations on a great 10-year anniversary
party! It was great to meet fellow industry brethren
and take in a decade of stories, ales & lagers.
Best wishes,
Gary Fish
John Bryant
Deschutes Brewery
Bend Oregon
Dear Gary and John:
It was great that we could both celebrate
our 10 years in the business together! —Ed.
Dear Editor:
It was great to meet you and other staff members
at the Berkeley celebration. Lynn and I made the
long trek from Bellingham, WA, because your paper
has had such a profound impact on our lives. From
my first copy of the Celebrator in 1989
(during an Air Force tour in Sacramento) to the
day I sat down with your “Equipment Supplier”
issue and called my current employer — Newlands,
I have been inspired by your paper. As an editor,
I’m sure you can appreciate that run-on
sentence.
Sincerely,
Jay & Lynn Van Horn
Bellingham, WA
(Jay was a runner-up in this year’s
Beer Drinker of the Year Competition, sponsored
by Wynkoop Brewing in Denver, CO.)
Dear Jay & Lynn:
Thanks for being there and sharing your “life
changing” moment with us! —Ed.
Dear Editor:
I’m about to begin my fourth week in Palau,
where I’ve been blessed with the first and
only job in the country’s first and only
brewery. I left Hawaii without a work permit or
contract, so I decided to leave everything else.
I’ve now survived 21 days without my bike,
my music, my brewing supplies, my favorite store-bought
beers, or even my meager library on brewing. Today,
though, an angel appeared.
The parent company’s U.S. consolidator
came to visit and brought some pictures of beer-glass
styles for us to consider. They turned out to
be ads from the Celebrator, which, thankfully,
was still intact.
He left it with me, and I spent an hour reminiscing
over the ads for beer we have been lucky enough
to find in the 50th State. Dreams of dark beers
danced in my head, while memories of this year’s
selection of winter brews Hawaii received made
me homesick for that slightly less tropical paradise:
at least you know when it’s winter there.
As I sit here, tasting the first batch of Red
Rooster Draft, I realize my decision to drop out
of the journalism program at UH to pursue a dream
job at Hawaii’s original microbrewery (Ali’i)
was, to say the very least, a life changer. I
think, now, my parents finally know and understand.
Thank you for the colored print that reminded
me what real beer looks like.
Thank you for the addresses of others I can write
to and bother in hopes of replies.
Thank you for being available to the person who
brought you to me.
Thank you for reading this far and putting up
with this beer babble gone bad.
I’d love to hear from anyone, anyone, anyone
personally, but I understand — a subscription
will suffice. Palau, although its own country,
still remains in U.S. postal zoning, so it’s
like I’m right next door, postage-wise,
but yeah, I know about that aging/maturing thing
they do.
Anyone who personally replies: I’ll send
‘em some sort of proof the brewery exists,
like a coaster or key chain or shirt or hat —
in fact, I’ll match whatever’s sent
to me. No, serious, honest I will, come visit
even! Do a story, or I will... Trust me! What’ve
you got to lose... 32¢... c’mon, I’m
desperate!!! And, well, at this point, quite intoxicated
on Red Rooster. Hey! the scuba diving’s
great, and I’ll even buy lunch.
Patiently... Desperately... Waiting...
Greg Yount
Palau Brewing Co.
P.O. Box 280
Koror, Palau 96940
Dear Greg:
You really need to get out more. We sure hope
our faithful readers will come to your rescue
with a cornucopia of breweriana to fill your days
in the Islands. —Ed.
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TO THE EDITOR (Feb/Mar 1998) Dear
Editor:
Having recently returned from an extensive tour
of America, during which time I took the opportunity
to visit as many microbreweries and brewpubs as
was possible and having obtained a copy of your
excellent publication, I feel that perhaps I should,
as a purveyor of ales for over 25 years in the
UK, offer to you an observation which I found
rather puzzling to say the least.
Letters in the October/November issue relating
to drink driving and my personal experiences in
sampling many of the individual beers leave me
with the impression that the majority of brewers
and pubs are going to create for themselves legislative
problems in the near future. Why are so many producing
beers of what we in Europe would class as high
gravity? In many establishments I found nothing
under 4.5 percent. I drove my Budget rental car
to each pub and became worried to death with regard
to the consequences of my ILLEGAL activities.
Two pints (even US pints) and I would have been
breaking every drink driving law in Europe. I
found the policy very irresponsible, not to mention
commercial suicide.
Let us look at the policy in a little more depth
and of course my opinions are not without experience.
Strong beers do not sell in high volume, they
are considered here as "Fighting Medicine"
and cannot be consumed in quantity by the average
person without him or her "Falling Over."
A pub full of drunks is not an attractive pub
to visit however much you have spent on the decor
and equipment and, most importantly, you are not
going to take many dollars from the customers
during their time with you. Remember, lower gravity
does not mean less flavour or an inferior product.
Providing you know what you are doing.
I do admire the achievements which the craft-beer
industry has attained in America during such a
short period of time, and of course it will get
even better. You are not monopolized by major
brewers (Yet) and have the advantage over an overtaxed
and tightly controlled individual operator in
Europe. So please give my thoughts a little credibility,
don’t be so egotistical with regard to gravity,
it is a fine balancing act, sell the customer
what is good for him not what you like best. So
come on chaps, get it down to 3.5 percent, we
have wonderful cool hand-pulled beers selling
very well, in high volume.
Brewing beer is not too difficult but brewing
beer which sells in high volumes is an art. Regulate
yourself before Congress does it for you... I
just know you'll sell more! You have created some
wonderful beers, and I am sure they will continue
to prosper and improve. I wish you all every success
and a very good New Year.
David Roberts
The Cross Keys,
Cranfield, Bedfordshire, UK
Dear David:
Thank you so much for your observations and
concern for “high gravity” brewing.
Our country is just now considering national regulations
to bring the BAC permissible down to .08%. Your
words may be prophetic for our industry. —
Ed.
Dear Celebrator:
Had a friend come back from Portland with a free
copy of the December/January issue. I'm still
awaiting my subscription copy. Do I only have
the US Post Office to thank? Or is there a problem
if I haven’t received it by now? Did seem
to have some problem with renewal this time, but
finally got the last issue and thought everything
was working again. I'm awaiting that GABF awards
list. How am I supposed to know what I'm missing
at the end of the road in north east Oregon. I'm
only asking because I care!
Gary Court
Joseph, OR.
Dear Gary:
Thanks for caring! We shipped the December/January
issue of Celebrator Beer News on November 25.
Since I worked for the Post Office before taking
on the publishing chores, I have an idea how the
system works. It's a lot like lagering. Your Celebrator
is being "aged" by the Post Office to
soften and mellow its textures and complexities.
Please let us know when you actually get your
copy. — Ed.
Dear Editor:
I’ve been reading the Celebrator
for seven years and have had a routine that I’ve
been comfortable with. I survey the front page
then go immediately to Hop Caen (Hop Vine). But
in the past six months I’ve changed my order.
Now I go front page and then straight to “Beer,
Food & Cigars.” Sorry Hop, she [Monica
Roseberry] is good! I think she could make aluminum
siding sound stimulating... Monica, ask for a
raise.
Nancy Escalante
Willow Glen, CA
Dear Nancy:
High praise indeed for our “Cigar Goddess.”
Alas, your words of commendation are a little
late as Monica has resigned her post as Cigar
Columnist. Please read her farewell piece in this
issue. Seems the state of California has made
public smoking impossible. In an effort to keep
her on staff, we are launching a new publication:
Celebrator Aluminum Siding News. Check it out!
— Ed.
Dear Editor:
Thank you for the wonderful article on the New
Zealand brewing scene (December 1997/January 1998
issue). Being an expatriate of Kiwi, it was nice
to read about the home country.
I must, however, point out that the photo in
the article was not The Shakespeare Tavern &
Brewery in Auckland but the Dux De Lux brewery
located in Christchurch on the South Island.
A book on New Zealand's breweries Beers Brewed
in New Zealand written by Carol Caldwell is a
good guide to take when touring the country.
Cheers mate!
Mark Phillips
Sacramento, CA
Dear Mark:
We’ll get a copy and forward it to the
author (after we verify that the photo was correctly
identified). Thanks for having a sharp eye, mate!
— Ed.
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| Tom Dalldorf is publisher
and editor of the Celebrator Beer News. |
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