Here's to helping the little guys........

 

 

 

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A shortage of a key ingredient in beer has shown that even business competitors can come together over a cold one now and then.

 

That happened last week when the nation's largest craft brewery, Boston Beer Co., the maker of the Samuel Adams brand, agreed to share 20,000 pounds of its hops with craft brewers throughout the country, including two in Iowa.

 

An extended worldwide shortage of hops has left smaller brewers unable to buy the important perennial flower that adds some of the bitterness and aroma to beer.

 

About six weeks ago Boston Beer sent out notifications to small brewers that it wanted to help them by making available some of its hops at cost. The company said it received 352 requests totaling about 100,000 pounds, much more than it could give away.

 

"It shows how great the need is and I felt really bad," said Boston Beer Co. founder Jim Koch. "We even fudged it a little and went over the 20,000 pounds, but we just don't have the capability of filling this hole ourselves."

 

Koch said the company looked at its supply of hops and decided to live up a long established culture among craft brewers.

 

"We view each other as colleagues not as competitors," he said.

 

Koch said the shortage became acute last year when the 2007 hops crop came in below average, the third bad season in a row for hops. In addition, increased beer consumption has increased demand for hops, he said.

 

The shortage has left the smallest craft brewers most vulnerable because they typically don't have the long-term contracts with growers.

 

"We looked at our hops inventories and we said we can take some risk," Koch said. "If the 2008 harvest is OK we'll still be covered."

 

The hops shortage was serious enough that some craft brewers were at the point of going out of business, said Paul Gatza, director of the Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers Association, a nonprofit trade group.

 

"To some degree it kept some people afloat that weren't able to get hops," he said.

 

He said the hops shortage will plague the industry for another year or more.

 

In random drawings, Boston Beer selected 108 brewers to receive the 20,000 pounds of hops it could spare.

 

Among the recipients was Worth Brewing Co., which claims to be the smallest registered brewery in the country. It bought 88 pounds of hops.

 

Peter Ausenhus and his wife, Margaret Bishop, opened Worth Brewing Co. a year ago in Northwood, a town of about 2,000 people near the Iowa-Minnesota state line. The brewery is in an 1887 building in the town's central avenue historic district.

 

They make 40 to 50 gallons of beer a week in 10-gallon batches and sell it on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays in The Tap Room, a storefront room in the same building where the beer is made. Specialty beers and a variety of flavors, aromas, colors and textures are offered for sale.

 

Ausenhus said his 88 pounds of hops will last him a year. He'll pay Boston Beer's volume contracted cost, about $6 a pound, much cheaper than the $25 to $30 a pound he'd have to pay on the open market if he could get the German hops Boston Beer is providing.

 

"It's a great savings, but more than the money, I was not able to get any imported hops this year. I had to reformulate all of my recipes. There's domestic hops but if you're making a German lager you'd prefer to use a German hop rather than an American-grown German variety because there are differences," he said.

 

Ausenhus said the hops sharing illustrates the camaraderie that exists among craft brewers large and small.

 

"It's a fairly friendly open industry," he said. "I don't know if maybe they just feel they're big enough they don't have to worry, but I think that there is a genuine interest and they know that a thriving craft brewing industry probably helps them too, and certainly it's just a generous gesture on their part as well."

 

Craft brewing is a growing segment of the beer industry. Its sales made up only 5.9 percent of the total beer market in retail sales in 2007, but the sector grew by about 12 percent in volume last year and 16 percent in dollars, according to the Brewers Association.

 

The 1,449 U.S. craft breweries last year sold $5.7 billion worth of beer, the association said. U.S. beer sales last year totaled about $97 billion.

 

God Bless Sam Adams.

I love hearing about the nanos and picos and like Worth Brewing Co. trying to make a go of it. That's what I really want to do one day is to start a pico with a 7-barrel capacity and two styles, brewing each style in alternate weeks for on site consumption and extremely local distribution.

 

My wife is certain I'd drink all the profits, and she's probably right.

 

 

Cool move by Jim Koch and Boston Beer Co., though for sure. The hop shortage has been a nightmare for the American micros that like to go heavy alpha on their IPAs.

I love me some Sam Adams.

NOTHING Beats a Nice Cold Sam Adams

I'm going to buy a case of Sam and let them know why. If we want corporations to act in this manner, they need to know that consumers notice, care, and will buy more of their products.

I'm going to buy a case of Sam and let them know why. If we want corporations to act in this manner, they need to know that consumers notice, care, and will buy more of their products.

 

I'm going to drop in on Tex unannounced because I know he's got a case of Sam Adams to share.

 

NOTHING Beats a Nice Cold Sam Adams

 

Nothing????

 

 

 

I'm going to drop in on Tex unannounced because I know he's got a case of Sam Adams to share.

 

Just what we need around here, another old person

Actually, in your honor, I'll pull something from the South Padre Brewing Company

Nothing????

 

Nothing.

 

Though I don't particularly care for their "main" beer, Boston Lager. Aside from that and their cream stout, I love everything of theirs that I've tried.

Nothing????

 

I don't know if I am alone in this or not, but ew. I can't stand dark beers.

NOTHING Beats a Nice Cold Sam Adams

As much as I enjoy Sam Adams, I could probably think of 100 other beers that I would enjoy before it.

Nothing????

 

Thats ok SSI, Bahston can have their Sam Adams, us Micks can enjoy all the guinness we can handle.

 

For some reason its all i ever want when I go out to bars anymore. It doesnt sit "heavy" in my stomach like most dark beers do

I don't know if I am alone in this or not, but ew. I can't stand dark beers.

 

Yeah, but that's just because you suck.

 

i just tried their Scotch ale and their Amber Bock (?) and both were very tasty

As much as I enjoy Sam Adams, I could probably think of 100 other beers that I would enjoy before it.

Sam Adams Just does it for me. I have been to many good micro Brews too. I am not just talking boston lager either, I am talking about all the seasonal brews too.

Thats ok SSI, Bahston can have their Sam Adams, us Micks can enjoy all the guinness we can handle.

 

For some reason its all i ever want when I go out to bars anymore. It doesnt sit "heavy" in my stomach like most dark beers do

Shiner Bock is a nice light dark beer. Elliot Ness isnt bad either. Also the "dark" at McSorley's in Manhattan.

Shiner Bock is a nice light dark beer. Elliot Ness isnt bad either. Also the "dark" at McSorley's in Manhattan.

 

Ahhh McSorley's – "Be Good or Be Gone." Sawdust on the floor and cheese and onion plates as pub fare. Gotta love it.

 

The "dark" from McSorley's has actually been a bunch of different contract-brewed beers. Last time i was there in the Waely 90s, the dark was actually Prior Double Double dark contract brewed for McSorley's by Schmidt's of Philadelphia. Before that, Rheinegold had contract brewed their dark ale before them for many years until they folded. Matt's Brewing bought Prior Double Dark and a couple of Schmidt's other brands when they launched the Saranac line several years ago and for a while I think they contract-brewer for McSorley's.

 

Ortlieb, Heileman, Stroh, and Pabst facilities have also all brewed McSorley's beers at some point, so it's very confusing. But yeah, nothing like ordering 2 light, 2 dark, and an onion plate at that venerable old place.

Nothing????

 

guinness is excellent booze

Ahhh McSorley's – "Be Good or Be Gone." Sawdust on the floor and cheese and onion plates as pub fare. Gotta love it.

 

The "dark" from McSorley's has actually been a bunch of different contract-brewed beers. Last time i was there in the Waely 90s, the dark was actually Prior Double Double dark contract brewed for McSorley's by Schmidt's of Philadelphia. Before that, Rheinegold had contract brewed their dark ale before them for many years until they folded. Matt's Brewing bought Prior Double Dark and a couple of Schmidt's other brands when they launched the Saranac line several years ago and for a while I think they contract-brewer for McSorley's.

 

Ortlieb, Heileman, Stroh, and Pabst facilities have also all brewed McSorley's beers at some point, so it's very confusing. But yeah, nothing like ordering 2 light, 2 dark, and an onion plate at that venerable old place.

Ah, I was under the impression they brewed their own "Ale." I know they do not called it beer since its considered Ale. I thought they had been brewing it themselves since its inception.

Sam Adams, nasty. Molson Coors FTW!

Ah, I was under the impression they brewed their own "Ale." I know they do not called it beer since its considered Ale. I thought they had been brewing it themselves since its inception.

 

No, they have never operated a brewery of their own, at least in modern times.

 

The fondly remembered Prior Double Dark was actually a very good beer considering it was being brewed wel before the American craft beer revolution. It didn't travel or keep particularly well so some people's first experience with the bottled version was a negative one if they ran into a skunky bottle, but the late great Beer Hunter Michael Jackson (the other Michael Jackson) gave it a highest rating in the first edition of his good beer guide. At the time, Anchor Steam was the only other American beer to get such a rating, and that is a world-class beer.

Sam Adams Recall

 

BOSTON -- The brewer of Samuel Adams beer is recalling selected bottles of beer that may contain tiny bits of glass.

 

Boston Beer Co. said Monday the recall comes after routine inspections at a company brewery in Cincinnati found defects in 12-ounce beer bottles made by a third-party supplier. Inspectors discovered that bits of glass could break off and possibly fall into the bottle.

 

Fewer than one in 100 of the bottles from the Cincinnati plant are believed to be defective.

 

The Sam Adams beers affected by the recall have a special marking on the base of the bottle. The marking has the letter "N" followed by the number 35, followed by the letters "OI."

 

Boston Beer says there are no reports of any injuries to consumers.

 

Sam Adams Recall

 

BOSTON -- The brewer of Samuel Adams beer is recalling selected bottles of beer that may contain tiny bits of glass.

 

Boston Beer Co. said Monday the recall comes after routine inspections at a company brewery in Cincinnati found defects in 12-ounce beer bottles made by a third-party supplier. Inspectors discovered that bits of glass could break off and possibly fall into the bottle.

 

Fewer than one in 100 of the bottles from the Cincinnati plant are believed to be defective.

 

The Sam Adams beers affected by the recall have a special marking on the base of the bottle. The marking has the letter "N" followed by the number 35, followed by the letters "OI."

 

Boston Beer says there are no reports of any injuries to consumers.

 

This story brings up an interesting but little known fact about beer bottles in general. That row of little pimple bumps down by the bottom of most bottles serves exactly this purpose – they are a code indicating which production line a particular bottle comes from. If defects are found in bottles they use those codes to trace the potential problem back to the point of origin.

 

That's interesting. I've had a couple Sam Adams bottles break at the top for me when using a bottle opener on them. Still drank it though. Strengthens the throat.