tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57385274888606151062024-03-19T00:52:12.778-07:00Beervana BuzzCovering craft beers of the Pacific Northwest and beyondUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger594125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-24700605032647218662022-08-04T20:08:00.008-07:002022-08-05T12:29:31.242-07:00Downsized OBF Lurches Toward Uncertain Future<p>After a two year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Oregon Brewers Festival returned to Waterfront Park this past weekend. This is undoubtedly the most important festival in the history of Oregon craft beer. It's always on my calendar, despite the fact that many of my compadres no longer consider it relevant.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw0PZa3aa0oyuLibs9VRdN_cL8VsOvNykBu6CTIvZNkJMSJXxS3lgOUKbKC3PmJXSYU-p88sWrjaKM9y1iAggXKMgnDMcuzxVXd5ObbbXcF1lk-TPGkklcBr9vox4fGZeFMsbpU96Aey7KsFJyx5X26A7CYiqiGorjQ0Q-XgdNUmaegx1Maw8byQ2y/s2978/46E37E85-7FC1-4F0D-9CAF-3E1257770345.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2978" data-original-width="2978" height="489" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw0PZa3aa0oyuLibs9VRdN_cL8VsOvNykBu6CTIvZNkJMSJXxS3lgOUKbKC3PmJXSYU-p88sWrjaKM9y1iAggXKMgnDMcuzxVXd5ObbbXcF1lk-TPGkklcBr9vox4fGZeFMsbpU96Aey7KsFJyx5X26A7CYiqiGorjQ0Q-XgdNUmaegx1Maw8byQ2y/w489-h489/46E37E85-7FC1-4F0D-9CAF-3E1257770345.jpg" width="489" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Declining attendance in recent years has helped reinforce the notion that the event is, in fact, irrelevant. But OBF remains the largest beer festival in Oregon, one of the largest in the country. Even with declining attendance, an event like that isn't really irrelevant...until numbers drop to the point where the event is simply canceled. </p><p>I was interested to see what changes organizers would make this year, particularly given the two year pandemic hiatus. They implemented some fairly dramatic changes to address drooping attendance in 2019. This year turned out to be more of the same, although the changes weren't all positive in my mind.</p><p><b>Reduced Days</b><br />They cut the festival down to three days this year...Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Many will recall that the fest was four days in 2018 and 2019, after being five for several years. Abandoning Sunday again, as they had done in 2019, was a good call; Sunday had notoriously dreadful attendance for years before it was finally dropped. Wednesday was dropped this year to get the event down to three days, I assume due to attendance woes. No complaints.</p><p><b>The Venue</b><br />One of the big changes in 2019 was switching the southside beer taps to the river side of the park, thus opening up the shaded area on the westside of the park for seating. In past years, trailers were situated in the shaded area. </p><p>The 2019 setup was repeated this year. In fact, organizers liked the arrangement so much they eliminated the northside beer taps altogether and moved the entire beer portion of the event to the southside. Yup. The festival grounds were cut roughly in half this year. </p><p>I suppose it was inevitable that the footprint of the festival grounds would be squeezed, given the issues with attendance. But it felt a little odd walking into what had been the central compound and seeing open space where tents and trailers had always been on the northside. </p><p>I wondered how the vendors in that central area were doing. There was definitely less foot traffic there, with the vast majority of people augured in on the southside under the tents or in the shade. Perhaps those vendors paid less for the privilege of being there this year. One can only hope.</p><p>Moving the entire beer portion of the event to the southside had it's pluses and minuses. The tents in front of the trailers were larger this year, providing more shade. But the extreme heat and number of bodies under those tents made it rather uncomfortable there. You really needed to vacate the tents once you had a beer, though many did not. The lines weren't bad Thursday afternoon. I'm glad I wasn't around to see what it was like in the evening hours.</p><p>When I was looking for a beer at one point, I was surprised to find I couldn't see the beer names until I was close to the taps. As a result, people were often confused about which line to be in. At first I thought the larger tents were responsible, but that wasn't it. In 2019, they had large signs immediately behind each pouring station identifying the beer being poured. Those signs were visible and readable from a good distance. But this year's signs were cheap and small, and they were hung so high that you couldn't see the beer name until you got close. That was not ideal. It's hard to imagine why no one caught it when they were setting up. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Naq3NSAugFjzm46M1mnQVgTfcDTaVqjMz5uFY0Vzv70Lcll1ccbsN7qEP6axG2e4pTYGKAehf92DhUcnhtyHSDMhYAcrc-3AcvPbJQQzb07ADCqaSNDUH9qYfcYBIIyB_x6GY6JJXtlYLwJeOyD7wz_Fj5MtFvL9IFpy00s8boKv1C-SKI_JsNxl/s4032/IMG_7127.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="437" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Naq3NSAugFjzm46M1mnQVgTfcDTaVqjMz5uFY0Vzv70Lcll1ccbsN7qEP6axG2e4pTYGKAehf92DhUcnhtyHSDMhYAcrc-3AcvPbJQQzb07ADCqaSNDUH9qYfcYBIIyB_x6GY6JJXtlYLwJeOyD7wz_Fj5MtFvL9IFpy00s8boKv1C-SKI_JsNxl/w583-h437/IMG_7127.HEIC" width="583" /></a></div><p>Another change this year was no music of any kind. For most its history, OBF had a stage with bands/solo artists playing live music. You could chill with a beer and listen if you pleased. In 2019, they switched to a DJ setup that pumped music around the grounds. That was an annoying change, as the music was often muddled or too loud. Anyway, problem solved this year: No music or stage. </p><p>Finally, I was surprised to find several rows of standup tables in the common area just north of the beer tents. With the heat and direct sunlight, these tables were uninhabitable during afternoon hours. I stood at one to jot down some notes at one point and didn't return. Tables with umbrellas would have been better, given the heatwave everyone knew would be part of the festival.</p><p><b>The Beers</b><br />They were pouring 42 beers and two ciders according to the event program. I saw a bit of bitching and moaning about the beer selection on social media. I looked at the list in advance and didn't think much of it. But I found some pretty good beers in the 15-20 I tasted, along with the usual losers. The list leaned toward light and hoppy, which surely disappointed folks looking for more options.</p><p>After holding the line on cost for many years, they moved to a $2 taster (most beers) this year. No one should have been surprised, as prices on everything have skyrocketed since the pandemic. OBF taster size has varied over the years. In 2019, the taster line was 3 ounces. This year, it was 4. The larger tasting size probably allowed some patrons to feel less aggravated by the price increase. Fifty cents for an ounce of beer is a premium price, but it would have been worse if they'd stayed at a 3 ounce taste.</p><p>You could get a full glass of beer or cider if you were so inclined. That would set you back three tickets or $6. The glass, billed at 12 ounces and exactly the same size and form factor as 2019, overflows at less than 12 ounces. So a full glass of beer or cider with any head at all is going to be 10-11 ounces. Do the math if you wonder how much worse of a deal that is than a 4 ounce taster. </p><p>As was the case in 2019, there was a printed program this year. They had a mobile app in 2018, but reviews were mixed. I was one of those who actually liked the mobile app and was disappointed to see it go away. But the fact that the 2022 beer list was roughly half of what it was in recent years meant the printed program worked fine. I suspect it's here to stay, unless something dramatic happens.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTap6TP3qK1YMkgTzBsmcMiaiZsUsD-qMjINnrygfq0kv7Y9u8chkfIhd-b3E6uczBmmh2TWkMzkM8OIlE_yxrt9bye2f9wb9Y6Zmmj6eqVtsnoi5uN8iT2JwApTicH4Kt7PZoAVcPRb3yryen7Wf-KuFbyr22EGfw_hRt5dVuRaYs6nunyiCvRHMo/s4032/IMG_7130.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTap6TP3qK1YMkgTzBsmcMiaiZsUsD-qMjINnrygfq0kv7Y9u8chkfIhd-b3E6uczBmmh2TWkMzkM8OIlE_yxrt9bye2f9wb9Y6Zmmj6eqVtsnoi5uN8iT2JwApTicH4Kt7PZoAVcPRb3yryen7Wf-KuFbyr22EGfw_hRt5dVuRaYs6nunyiCvRHMo/w528-h395/IMG_7130.HEIC" width="528" /></a></div><br /><p><b>The Glass and Token Switch<br /></b>It's become pretty common for beer fests to charge exorbitant prices for "customized" tasting vessels. These plastic glasses aren't special or fancy. OBF has been charging $10 for the tasting glass in recent years. Unless someone shows me an invoice proving otherwise, I assume these glasses cost much less than a dollar apiece. So the glass is nearly pure profit for this and every event that follows the blueprint. The fact that OBF isn't alone in this fleecing doesn't make it okay. </p><p>After using wooden tokens for virtually the entire history of the event, organizers switched to paper tickets this year. They were $2 each to align with taster cost. Most beer centric events have gone to some kind of paper ticket. They're undoubtedly cheaper and easier to manage than wooden tokens. I always liked the charm of tokens, which I found easy to keep track of in a pocket. Oh, well.</p><p>The transition from tokens to paper tickets presented an opportunity for organizers to make what I consider to be a dumb unforced error. OBF had always honored tokens acquired at past events. You could simply use old tokens as if they were newly purchased. It was a nice policy. But not this year. With the switch to tickets, past tokens had to be exchanged for paper tickets.</p><p>Organizers initially said they would trade tokens for tickets, one to one. That would have been a nice gesture to fans who held onto tokens, getting a $2 ticket for each $1 token. But organizers reneged, saying the initial communication was a mistake. Having botched that communication, doubled the price of a taster and downsized the event across the board, organizers might have been wise to suck up whatever loss they would have incurred in exchange for a little goodwill. No deal.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij0gVZ4Ak61Oqat6P-quRtqP0LI0Fo6Hlo4HgE9l3DClmCr0BhrCXtvUBoYSDpsZQnvt4uiqqwjIYCHs3ENMuSaJcb1ZZV_z7-yqcv_2MJgGS1E20zTKt1089k5YyjYC0ZiVr51UqdaWR4-x-fO0G5YR_VnLia-uyg-_LMDJ7_WcfsW1t7SeQ0FsGt/s4032/IMG_7129.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij0gVZ4Ak61Oqat6P-quRtqP0LI0Fo6Hlo4HgE9l3DClmCr0BhrCXtvUBoYSDpsZQnvt4uiqqwjIYCHs3ENMuSaJcb1ZZV_z7-yqcv_2MJgGS1E20zTKt1089k5YyjYC0ZiVr51UqdaWR4-x-fO0G5YR_VnLia-uyg-_LMDJ7_WcfsW1t7SeQ0FsGt/w563-h422/IMG_7129.HEIC" width="563" /></a></div><br /><p>One thing to keep in mind with respect to tickets: I'm guessing the ones from 2022 won't be honored at any future event, as was the case with tokens. There's a financial benefit to not honoring tickets from past events and it mirrors the reason retailers like gift certificates, knowing full well some or many will never be redeemed: Pure profit! That probably isn't the only reason tokens are being dumped, but it's almost certainly one of them.</p><p><b>Thoughts</b><br />OBF 22 felt to me like a dumbed down experience at a higher price. For many years I considered the event to be a decent bargain in terms of time and money. But they've altered its character to the extent that, in its current form, it doesn't represent the value it once did. At least in my mind.</p><p>I suppose this year's event could be an aberration. The pandemic created a lot of challenges for beer fests and similar events. Plus, OBF organizers have been struggling for several years to come up with ways to reverse sliding attendance. Maybe this year was a perfect storm. </p><p>My guess, though, is this was a glimpse into the future. OBF once appealed to a wide swath of people. Attendance was growing rapidly for so many years that the event expanded to five days. Some of us thought it would eventually consume an entire week. Instead, the event is imploding, forced to downsize while boosting prices. That isn't a winning strategy.</p><p>Honestly, OBF may be approaching obsolescence. The vision at the outset was to provide a platform for craft brewers to showcase their wares. People didn't know much about craft beer in those days and OBF helped change that. That brought the industry into the mainstream. Today, you can find great beer at an endless number of bars, restaurants, taprooms and breweries. </p><p>You might say OBF is victim of a success story it helped author. With great craft beer available everywhere, people don't get as excited about an oversized, awkward event. And the downsizing and price boosting that occurred this year probably aren't a good omen for the future. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-89364281601386946222022-04-08T20:09:00.006-07:002022-04-11T11:36:01.673-07:00Precious Things Offers Stunning, Welcoming Experience<p>Reliving the quaint past of craft beer can be interesting...and instructive. Cash laden investors and hedge funds hadn’t yet entered the scene. Early craft brewers were stuck cobbling together makeshift breweries with their personal savings and borrowed money. Craft beer hadn’t yet arrived. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju6xrHKFnNuIFz3iek7P2P2ix5xgKy-K5iuBZLoVsXcQuq2sql8JNeUdpbyekjA8ix6l7MsW8echA89U9DxQBc3G2TaBUIOPIpgYBxxqypkmo2ColRKYVsj4srnoZl-QhuGEhMBHQtNLF9HESkmwRbQ7vxay6vltteryVepClOqDQkYSCAcc5Hwyqj/s1229/81610A3B-B2CB-46C8-A436-FAADC9E64B33.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1229" data-original-width="1164" height="563" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju6xrHKFnNuIFz3iek7P2P2ix5xgKy-K5iuBZLoVsXcQuq2sql8JNeUdpbyekjA8ix6l7MsW8echA89U9DxQBc3G2TaBUIOPIpgYBxxqypkmo2ColRKYVsj4srnoZl-QhuGEhMBHQtNLF9HESkmwRbQ7vxay6vltteryVepClOqDQkYSCAcc5Hwyqj/w533-h563/81610A3B-B2CB-46C8-A436-FAADC9E64B33.jpg" width="533" /></a></div><p>On a recent trip to Spokane, I entered a worm hole that took me back to yesteryear. The area is home to a robust craft beer movement that’s probably a decade or so behind Portland in its evolution. There are a lot of small breweries catering to a growing audience of fans. </p><p>My travels took me to Precious Things Fermentation Project, located in rural Spokane on the property of Jeff and Candace Clark. There, the Clarks have fashioned a unique experience with a collection of nice beers and a small taproom that has a ton of charm. You can't make this stuff up.</p><p>“We’ve been fans of craft beer for as long as we’ve been of drinking age…maybe longer,” Jeff said. “We’ve always been attracted to the camaraderie. It’s impossible to count the number of long lasting and close friendships we’ve made because of craft beer.”</p><p>The Clarks got totally hooked on craft beer while they were living in Portland, 2010-2015. Those years were instrumental in what they’re doing now, they say. It was then that they learned how to brew and started collecting the memorabilia that is now featured in their taproom. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglahS8kWtvn3XKTHElzbCOXw298e6vXCulY4zDZjqPHyLRFYhDhaao5bGEbkvcZ2AVkrlRZpExJEwOJMU6u6sFXD8n6ekefi0dFlE_KlOzsiCbg00QO3SjzZwrI6szU-oaGIGBmlu1SegXHDCRAxVlBqZIJDG0OBUfydZTRlw1y4gdO5IqhXqb-Wx4/s4032/IMG_6565.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglahS8kWtvn3XKTHElzbCOXw298e6vXCulY4zDZjqPHyLRFYhDhaao5bGEbkvcZ2AVkrlRZpExJEwOJMU6u6sFXD8n6ekefi0dFlE_KlOzsiCbg00QO3SjzZwrI6szU-oaGIGBmlu1SegXHDCRAxVlBqZIJDG0OBUfydZTRlw1y4gdO5IqhXqb-Wx4/w538-h404/IMG_6565.HEIC" width="538" /></a></div><p>“The vision for what became Precious Things occurred to us about five years ago,” Jeff said. We had a bar set up in our garage, first in Oregon and then in Spokane. People would stop by and drink our homebrew and commercial beers. We had a tip jar, but it always seemed to wind up empty.”</p><p>While they enjoyed the experience of having people over and drinking good beer, the cost became unmanageable. They eventually decided to go into business for real and actually become part of the industry they had come to respect and love. </p><p>“It’s ironic,” Candace said. “Many of the people who used to come to our place and drink for free now come here and pay to drink. And they leave tips. They could've saved money by just putting a little dough in the tip jar in the first place.”</p><p>Precious Things has a nice list of beers, but it operates on a tiny system. Even by the standards of the early craft brewers, it’s amazing that they get by with what they’re using. Of course, there are reasons for everything.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHWi1C1RV01reule0Trmm1bcUG2ANHFR63NYtNTsU5RXQNe29lcv00eiH-PVjHCvYDlgvrDTldmRSlpVH-YPuf63-Pi3ftytPPVQDX3fgL0G-bF0vUcDmh-On_tK33-79aOx4lMawM2GFOWGEIVJdSHS5AVepiBgdBwqNrNiVaAVPb7ZfhYk9UHxcR/s1496/328293E0-FFDE-459E-8C2D-90070E00BAC6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1496" data-original-width="1440" height="553" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHWi1C1RV01reule0Trmm1bcUG2ANHFR63NYtNTsU5RXQNe29lcv00eiH-PVjHCvYDlgvrDTldmRSlpVH-YPuf63-Pi3ftytPPVQDX3fgL0G-bF0vUcDmh-On_tK33-79aOx4lMawM2GFOWGEIVJdSHS5AVepiBgdBwqNrNiVaAVPb7ZfhYk9UHxcR/w532-h553/328293E0-FFDE-459E-8C2D-90070E00BAC6.jpg" width="532" /></a></div><p>“Our system is incredibly small,” Jeff said. “You might say it's stupidly small. We still brew on two Grainfather systems we purchased years ago and brewed on before we moved here. Our plan when we moved here was to build a 2-barrel system. But the property won’t allow it.”</p><p>The issue with the property is it has a septic system and drain field. There’s no sewer in the area. Water disposal isn’t a huge problem, but disposal of solid waste (yeast and trub) is. The tiny system they have now doesn’t present much of a problem. Anything larger is a problem.</p><p>“We continue to use our Grainfathers, and we invested in four small conical fermenters and a glycol chiller to control their temperatures,” said Jeff. “We’ve managed to be open on Saturdays for two years doing this. For the last year, we've had an arrangement with <a href="http://www.bellwetherbrewing.net/">Bellwether Brewing</a> allowing us to brew on their pilot system and enjoy access to dry and cold storage.”</p><p>They do plan to expand the brewing system, though the taproom will stay exactly as it is. </p><p>“We’re hoping to build a 3.5-barrel brewhouse here,” Jeff said. “The new building would allow us to move out of Bellwether and brew everything here. We’d also have more cold storage, as well as room to expand our barrel program." </p><p>That plan hasn’t come to fruition because they haven’t been able to find a builder willing to do the work. Home construction in the Spokane area is off the hook crazy.</p><p>I had not searched out images of the taproom prior to my visit. It’s housed in what was once a garage. I expected a grubby space and was stunned by the aesthetics when I walked in. The place was packed and the visuals transported me to another place. While I enjoyed a few beers, Jeff and Candace poured beer and mingled with patrons. A most welcoming place.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGAdy6X13wbaJP6KTCFRt-2upfar6h4syUOJO6svPAy7Tk4KpXhkRgeMks-nXSSHdAmnMqf7ghYOK56k4uN-x96J5Ad0jGdny8yiSadBrNjqKnGI0oIIO8haDbuKwFTIsmOThc71r-GUy1vcPBDmGNFapHhYKcU5mmoOc3FUfkI7HhrDARL0GxAxE1/s4032/IMG_6547.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGAdy6X13wbaJP6KTCFRt-2upfar6h4syUOJO6svPAy7Tk4KpXhkRgeMks-nXSSHdAmnMqf7ghYOK56k4uN-x96J5Ad0jGdny8yiSadBrNjqKnGI0oIIO8haDbuKwFTIsmOThc71r-GUy1vcPBDmGNFapHhYKcU5mmoOc3FUfkI7HhrDARL0GxAxE1/w518-h388/IMG_6547.HEIC" width="518" /></a></div><p>“The aesthetic of our taproom has been influenced by places we love in Portland and beyond,” Candace said. “Places like Horse Brass Pub, Saraveza and Belmont Station, as well as the Cat's Eye Pub in Baltimore and the Delirium Café in Brussels. We really love to drink beer at places that have a lot of things to look at.”</p><p>For the Clarks, the overriding mission has always been to create a community of craft beer drinkers. That mission appears to have been largely accomplished in the two years they’ve been open. The busy taproom was evidence enough of that. </p><p>“We love learning about beer, talking about beer, brewing beer, and of course drinking beer,” Jeff said. “We make beer for people we like and people we want to meet. If you love any of those things (learning, talking, brewing, drinking), then we make beer for you!”</p><p>If you find yourself in the Spokane area, a trip to Precious Things is definitely recommended. They don't currently have a website, but you can find them on Facebook and Instagram.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0F9e-QwI8pXwoNGQijiZa7oXBAbRAip8K84YIrboDNmhj7Jw-7m_2r8WYs5w5kjPt3V2T2ueIEFI8zXvuSzEtPdKWD3nD4wdDFY5fIY3P_51wEQ4iDtdtEXdw4UKsR6aXbMcKPyd_mAzAFblCgSgvObpK5XJei1_pOQWTdbP2dojQEbub1Ngb3Fc-/s4032/IMG_6546.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="715" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0F9e-QwI8pXwoNGQijiZa7oXBAbRAip8K84YIrboDNmhj7Jw-7m_2r8WYs5w5kjPt3V2T2ueIEFI8zXvuSzEtPdKWD3nD4wdDFY5fIY3P_51wEQ4iDtdtEXdw4UKsR6aXbMcKPyd_mAzAFblCgSgvObpK5XJei1_pOQWTdbP2dojQEbub1Ngb3Fc-/w538-h715/IMG_6546.HEIC" width="538" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-34307127672925003532022-03-07T10:25:00.016-08:002022-05-12T12:19:12.097-07:00Blitz and Me: Life With a Sneaky, Hungry Dog<p>One thing you know or should know when you own a dog is that, sooner or later, they're going to break your heart. They aren't built to last as long as humans, so they leave this life before we do. We suffer that reality because of the loyalty and comradery we get in between. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJ3VSHY8C6igD02S2p08ypRNTioO71sRrOzNXG6mLUoYC4iXT159qVksTbaD4IpIBa2b9kqvGqbWLyQk8O5d3vLKKzCBIWdWBhYtR69cF9km7_3K54zGsn8Fm--lWF9uqF57xLNNhSWQU-EyIJttVL8Dn-575NobB-YSTdKOSxzKljvzbO9kZQDNhr=s1329" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1329" data-original-width="1200" height="465" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJ3VSHY8C6igD02S2p08ypRNTioO71sRrOzNXG6mLUoYC4iXT159qVksTbaD4IpIBa2b9kqvGqbWLyQk8O5d3vLKKzCBIWdWBhYtR69cF9km7_3K54zGsn8Fm--lWF9uqF57xLNNhSWQU-EyIJttVL8Dn-575NobB-YSTdKOSxzKljvzbO9kZQDNhr=w431-h465" width="431" /></a></div><p>Blitz joined us in March 2007, nicknamed Chewy (after the Star Wars character) due to his occasional verbalizations. He was our third Lab, replacing Bert, who passed away at the end of 2006. I'd been around Labs my entire life and never had one live past the age of 12. I had no idea Blitz would wind up being the genetic champion of them all, living to the ripe old age of 15. </p><p>Just because he lived a long life doesn't mean he was an ideal dog. In fact, Blitz was very often a bad dog. As a puppy, he was prone to mischief and destruction. If left unattended, he would chew up shoes, shred toiler paper rolls and otherwise dismantle almost anything that was left out and fit in his mouth. He had to be crated when left unattended until he was more than 2 years of age.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfOLbQo4_gUi1813yd0GdfgRrjJe0mbAvjY1F64arI8YoGo1yHU2Hei2zxtvdNCayr0QeEFhD-kLuUiPbG76NwuYsA9_e0vN0-UmeCfOvJnzFxGQI81afvpWxv3SwxZ4Rxg54sdiaZS8qrI3n9ospLIIrWMAxy_LaXdXb3XqSbKHi81A3N4sgsRuu-=s1400" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="935" data-original-width="1400" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfOLbQo4_gUi1813yd0GdfgRrjJe0mbAvjY1F64arI8YoGo1yHU2Hei2zxtvdNCayr0QeEFhD-kLuUiPbG76NwuYsA9_e0vN0-UmeCfOvJnzFxGQI81afvpWxv3SwxZ4Rxg54sdiaZS8qrI3n9ospLIIrWMAxy_LaXdXb3XqSbKHi81A3N4sgsRuu-=w400-h268" width="400" /></a></div><br />Later on, Blitz became a sneaky, stealthy and refined counter surfer. He swiped slices of pizza, hamburgers, pastries and all kinds of other things. In one instance, Laura had baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies. They were cooling on the counter when Blitz passed by. He somehow managed to gobble up all but one or two cookies from the sheet. <p></p><p>Then there was the time we were having dinner out and he scoped out a bar of baking chocolate on the counter. There was nothing left but tiny flakes of wrapper when we returned. But Blitz suffered no ill-effects. Research suggested it would have taken 10 or more similar bars of the chocolate to do any harm. Iron gut on a large dog.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjx6HiO_4ElrA9Tn8867Mysjn6e2jeLGucXL5qZYpBD4v5Vr5c792RGTVgPebTkM_zaJNV0a4XksGqoasK18CpRGQSiNvg6in2Tdw_pNQ1OIdh6EWGtKX9Ly5szchjdlVFSl4icqnmgvK8IWeVXGSDfZpfuBatRuTcfQRI4iKoOwmSPIyrWxOiamOW1=s1200" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="832" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjx6HiO_4ElrA9Tn8867Mysjn6e2jeLGucXL5qZYpBD4v5Vr5c792RGTVgPebTkM_zaJNV0a4XksGqoasK18CpRGQSiNvg6in2Tdw_pNQ1OIdh6EWGtKX9Ly5szchjdlVFSl4icqnmgvK8IWeVXGSDfZpfuBatRuTcfQRI4iKoOwmSPIyrWxOiamOW1=w278-h400" width="278" /></a></div><p>A lot of Blitz' missteps were surely driven by food. He was always hungry, even when he had just been fed. There was something in his DNA that commanded him to eat and then eat some more. It's quite possible he lived as long as he did because he was driven to eat and hadn't yet eaten enough. </p><p>One of the most disastrous Blitz events occurred in 2008. We were on a ski weekend in Sunriver. Blitz convinced me he needed to go outside at 1:00 a.m. His much older stablemate, Bruno, followed. They did not return. We then spent the early morning hours hunting for them, without success. Eventually, they turned up at the condo. Blitz had led Bruno on a marauding spree, hunting for garbage. Later that morning, on short sleep, Laura tore an ACL on the mountain.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiBO3IbibufYkVm-z96g5zGtjz0Ua_Q9KaJCDTf2AGgaOcfvmTLCtl-um7rz0IrVnwUQ_JIQF8ZU0-byZMiGnpewxblyqCCxQruTok-FZ9gipIH1l0iu-zQuMz5BOBHDVUNxvPIY02uwvsjF9Jgd2sRNHiHf9bbEjj5b0XhoLy7BPLdPXCB9ZOrnZJW=s1275" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1275" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiBO3IbibufYkVm-z96g5zGtjz0Ua_Q9KaJCDTf2AGgaOcfvmTLCtl-um7rz0IrVnwUQ_JIQF8ZU0-byZMiGnpewxblyqCCxQruTok-FZ9gipIH1l0iu-zQuMz5BOBHDVUNxvPIY02uwvsjF9Jgd2sRNHiHf9bbEjj5b0XhoLy7BPLdPXCB9ZOrnZJW=w446-h280" width="446" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">With Biscuit, 2010</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Years later, we had another trip to Sunriver planned. The night before we were to leave, Blitz disappeared on our walk in Rose City Park. That wasn't unusual. He often ran away to chase coyotes or go for a swim in the water hazard at Rose City Golf Course. He also frequented nearby homeless camps looking for food. Normally, he would come back or I would corral him. Not this time. He finally turned up 18 hours later, seeking shelter from a passing thunderstorm in a garage more than a mile from the park. How he made it there we didn't want to know. We picked him up.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">After that little excursion, Blitz was leashed on his evening walks so he couldn't run away. It wasn't until he turned 13 and no longer had the ability to get away that I let him off leash during those outings. He could still get around just fine at that point, just didn't have the footspeed needed to easily escape. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSwSt0qJ1sa0f1_rbUq4zHTZ8B2AFZoVPVDu78AUmTsbKQJeR6yc9CFvskYVKd6JBCE7OnLkf54IWrxgAzV1P0T3aJWQRUFRHfv7INCD9F2tWLs8Y0-JMBuEac_73ui0RyoQcawKyX4cULzhhjBz7I1JRpfq9M8-PpHGv0llOnxnLCE-tWANRAOMyL=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSwSt0qJ1sa0f1_rbUq4zHTZ8B2AFZoVPVDu78AUmTsbKQJeR6yc9CFvskYVKd6JBCE7OnLkf54IWrxgAzV1P0T3aJWQRUFRHfv7INCD9F2tWLs8Y0-JMBuEac_73ui0RyoQcawKyX4cULzhhjBz7I1JRpfq9M8-PpHGv0llOnxnLCE-tWANRAOMyL=w318-h424" width="318" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Bunk and Blitz, 2020</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="text-align: left;">Blitz wasn't the most athletic Lab we've had, but he was undoubtedly the healthiest. He rarely had physical issues and his trips to the vet were sporadic and routine. Even in his old age, he continued to demand regular walks and ate his meals enthusiastically. People often asked what we were doing to enhance his longevity. Nothing. Blitz got the same treatment as all the other dogs. He simply had better genetic luck.</span></div></span></div><p>He was also pretty lucky when it came to stablemates. The first was Bruno, a kind and patient boy Blitz knew during the first two years of his life. Bruno tolerated Blitz, that's about it. Then came Biscuit, Blitz' younger sister. Despite occasional spats, they got along well during her 10 years. Finally, Bunk showed up not long after Blitz turned 13. He never liked crazy Bunk, although she liked and leaned on him. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgtxROB1EsT6Sd5bFe4KaIlDkM5iuwSn3oW1v6KgEP2Czq5IfhBScnmHyAhUaA3sFnFac-vxEXYCjgF0u0OaycG_6nD688_dv09layzD34TuBQKm5jKkrYrRD9_XZlc8XmrbQHJM01L_YwA0nAGxNB8mdwZ_oTgxJhAhrnTPO9OrMCfYkXjJz4eCmnb=s1200" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="1200" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgtxROB1EsT6Sd5bFe4KaIlDkM5iuwSn3oW1v6KgEP2Czq5IfhBScnmHyAhUaA3sFnFac-vxEXYCjgF0u0OaycG_6nD688_dv09layzD34TuBQKm5jKkrYrRD9_XZlc8XmrbQHJM01L_YwA0nAGxNB8mdwZ_oTgxJhAhrnTPO9OrMCfYkXjJz4eCmnb=w400-h279" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Young Blitz with Bruno, 2007</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Blitz passed away last week. His decline was slow and long, and we knew he was nearing the end. We miss him dearly, even though caring for him had become arduous. Frankly speaking, I never had the kind of relationship with Blitz that I had with <a href="http://www.beervanabuzz.com/2019/08/biskie-and-me-life-with-best-dog-ever.html">Biscuit</a>. She wantonly hung out with me constantly. Blitz was always aloof and cool to close contact. But he was a good boy in his own way.</p><p>Godspeed, sweet boy. You will be missed by many. 💔</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiuWUbAVQa_UksAPZVTO5bEqsfh8rMcLF6PJG0ZLdvrMp-MuKd7iqkyFeyHb2tdIEWQmWcvLzxMFdm2iaDhk5onSh9AkORq7jdzdGIAfIzcZZKo1ifMKMOKzIApigOX4jidsYDshfWTkr_EUIMxqgrbR5QHdyZD3JRiUDIPAX99riVcaznY9Jd3m7wj=s520" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="450" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiuWUbAVQa_UksAPZVTO5bEqsfh8rMcLF6PJG0ZLdvrMp-MuKd7iqkyFeyHb2tdIEWQmWcvLzxMFdm2iaDhk5onSh9AkORq7jdzdGIAfIzcZZKo1ifMKMOKzIApigOX4jidsYDshfWTkr_EUIMxqgrbR5QHdyZD3JRiUDIPAX99riVcaznY9Jd3m7wj=w345-h400" width="345" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-12504496192523879252022-02-15T20:51:00.011-08:002022-02-20T08:12:33.410-08:00Iconic Hair of the Dog Will Close Next Summer<p>The first time we poured beer at the Oregon Brewers Festival in the mid-1990s, my wife and I hoped to pour Hair of the Dog. We didn't get the gig and I don't recall why we wanted to pour Hair of the Dog beer. We surely had it somewhere, but I don't remember the details.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbR5LGAnOUxP7IRGYupJmH7gxMCCh8vwkx9TVlfWp4rBdmvfavEXGtEAOBwfzgCSJFAE00IpIDyO-9CaeB3fYcYyy7uYhuJtNg3L8ePwrxKWzepIK308zjtLMB73YXCyDY53UweEIwe5QEJHBRrbA2YYbI20c7zHzqXIsgr5-MH3HaGz7ojTnMYcee=s3888" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2593" data-original-width="3888" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbR5LGAnOUxP7IRGYupJmH7gxMCCh8vwkx9TVlfWp4rBdmvfavEXGtEAOBwfzgCSJFAE00IpIDyO-9CaeB3fYcYyy7uYhuJtNg3L8ePwrxKWzepIK308zjtLMB73YXCyDY53UweEIwe5QEJHBRrbA2YYbI20c7zHzqXIsgr5-MH3HaGz7ojTnMYcee=w503-h326" width="503" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Fred Eckhardt shares a moment with Sprints. (Matt Wiater photo)</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Hair of the Dog beers were always different. Even in the early days when Alan Sprints wasn't yet making the barrel-aged monsters he would become internationally famous for, the beers were unique. I suspect that was largely because they were made by hand on a small system. <p></p><p>Sprints founded Hair of the Dog Brewing in late 1993. He had come to Portland years earlier to study at the Western Culinary Institute. He got hooked on brewing and honed his craft via the Oregon Brew Crew, an organization he led for a time. He also worked at Widmer for several years prior to launching Hair of the Dog. </p><p>For 17 years, Sprints operated Hair of the Dog out of a warehouse in Southeast Portland. It was far off the beaten path and perhaps somewhat difficult to find for some. Sprints finally decided to upgrade. The result is the brewery and pub that opened on Southeast Yamhill in 2010.</p><p>Despite his time at Widmer, Sprints is essentially a home brewer who started a brewery. He steadfastly held onto the notion of brewing beer in small batches. He has used a tiny 4-bbl brewing system to produce his beers since the beginning. </p><p>When I interviewed him for Portland Beer in 2013, Sprints told me his goal had always been simple: "l try to make beers I like, hoping others will enjoy them." His primary influences, he said, were the imports from Europe, especially Belgium, he drank as a young man. His second inspiration was provided by the early west coast craft brewers...Mendocino, Anchor and Sierra Nevada. </p><p>Of course, Sprints would come to be heavily influenced and inspired by iconic beer historian and writer, Fred Eckhardt. An early Hair of the Dog beer, Adam (originally called Adambier), is a style that had ceased to exist until it was resurrected by Sprints. The idea for Adam occurred to Sprints when he heard Eckhardt speaking about beer styles that had fallen into extinction. </p><p>Sprints and Eckhardt developed a cordial friendship and Sprints subsequently honored Eckhardt's contributions by adding Fred to his beer list. Then there was Fred Fest, a popular celebration of craft beer held yearly at Hair of the Dog on Eckhardt's birthday. That was generally a tough ticket. The future of Fred Fest would appear to be uncertain with HOD closing, though the 2022 event is set for May. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhkgbPhwRZMgvHg96MNbt6BuO7Qby9SrE2noKpfGwUNidZQaCBWCPJES3Q47S1j6wa_irEnajzc3ZgiAMOvFFahiJreRE_dvBJkCQz-Loi7zvHnpEILav5QsK2ouYv46veRupSMEXWTD-zTv91UNmBSKRfsyc6m9WNfM32NG0y5_xIktTb8iriGU6r7=s1784" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1505" data-original-width="1784" height="451" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhkgbPhwRZMgvHg96MNbt6BuO7Qby9SrE2noKpfGwUNidZQaCBWCPJES3Q47S1j6wa_irEnajzc3ZgiAMOvFFahiJreRE_dvBJkCQz-Loi7zvHnpEILav5QsK2ouYv46veRupSMEXWTD-zTv91UNmBSKRfsyc6m9WNfM32NG0y5_xIktTb8iriGU6r7=w534-h451" width="534" /></a></div><p>Beyond the old world beers he resurrected, Sprints was a pioneer of barrel-aged beers and also of using local fruit in barrels. The idea of aging beer in spirit and wine barrels has become standard practice in modern craft brewing, but that wasn't always the case. Sprints was at the forefront of that movement.</p><p>“It’s nice to know my head was in the right place with barrel aging and that I was ahead of the curve,” Sprints said in 2013. “Aging Beers in wood is a challenge and can be good for your image.”</p><p>Hair of the Dog beers, because they have always been handmade, have had a tendency to vary in quality. A well-known flaw is under-carbonation, although there are others. Once upon a time, I bought a case of "bald" Fred, billed as a flat beer that would carbonate in time. But the beer failed to acquire any significant level of carbonation after years of cellaring. So it was used in stews and chilis with terrific results. </p><p>Despite occasionally uneven beers. Hair of the Dog has been a beacon that attracted craft beer fans from around the world. When the brewery moved to inner Southeast, the appeal grew and it was regularly mentioned as a required destination for beer tourists visiting Portland. And it isn't uncommon to meet people from around the country and world while enjoying beers there. </p><p>The impending closure of the brewery and pub is a blow to the local craft beer scene. Not because Hair of the Dog is an essential part of the current scene, but because of it's standing for so many years and because of the fact that Sprints influenced so many who came after him. Portland's beer scene was inoculated with Sprints' idealism long ago...and those ideals have spread.</p><p>When he closes up shop next summer, Sprints will retain the Hair of the Dog brand. That makes sense mostly because he IS the brand. Sprints will be officially retired, but he'll have control over what he decides to do with the brand. It will be interesting to see what that is. The pub and brewery will be sold, once he finds a buyer.</p><p>Godspeed, Alan Sprints. Your contributions to craft beer won't be forgotten.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-15948959351287841462022-01-13T13:48:00.006-08:002022-01-19T08:22:43.370-08:00Henry's Private Reserve: The Final PDX Bottling at 22<p>When Miller closed the old Blitz-Weinhard brewery in 1999, many of the brands that had been brewed in Portland moved to the Miller-owned plant in Olympia. That included Henry's Private Reserve, which was launched in 1976 and was arguably Oregon's first craft or near-craft beer.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1EsOD4XugE51HoaVnZyUn0kecem8XCEzFLzbBYl6AdJ8CBEHXO3gqkOBodVJCpjvLV4T1Hq0a-b2HWuwG40p81Eby7HuJ6r61o3H5z2FMQl1sj2qM4w33YJOurbLvHCIh2PwOG68jpZ-TEKXQWqNw0cxDRR0DLuJi2IPv2btAOAbXf5DIt4n1FWVR=s4032" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1EsOD4XugE51HoaVnZyUn0kecem8XCEzFLzbBYl6AdJ8CBEHXO3gqkOBodVJCpjvLV4T1Hq0a-b2HWuwG40p81Eby7HuJ6r61o3H5z2FMQl1sj2qM4w33YJOurbLvHCIh2PwOG68jpZ-TEKXQWqNw0cxDRR0DLuJi2IPv2btAOAbXf5DIt4n1FWVR=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><p>Private Reserve had become legendary long before production moved out of state. As I've said before, I don't think the quality of the beer suffered when it was brewed in Olympia starting in 1999 or when it moved to Hood River in 2003. Quality did go to hell when production moved to Colorado in 2013. It's a common theme with acquired brands.</p><p>Fans of the beer here in Portland were sad to see the old brewery close. Some of them stocked up on that last bottling of Private Reserve, brewed at the end of August 1999. One of the loons who collected some of that final bottling is a dog friend of mine. It turns out the pandemic and a puppy have shifted my friends list from beer bars and breweries to dog parks. That's where I met Brian. </p><p>When the brewery closed in 1999, Brian bought a six pack of Private Reserve. He stashed the beer in his basement, where it sat on a shelf at cellar temperature for the last 22 years and change. When he mentioned that he had the beer, I asked if he'd be willing to share a bottle. He hedged. Then, on New Year's Eve, a small bag showed up at my door. Inside, a bottle of Private Reserve bottling #140. </p><p>I knew the bottle came from the final run of Private Reserve because that information was published at the time in The Oregonian. My research for Portland Beer turned up that tidbit. Another not-so-well known fact is that Private Reserve was not the final beer packaged in Portland. It turns out 40-ounce bottles of Mickey's Malt Liquor made up the last production run here. </p><p>As discussed earlier, Private Reserve vintages started with #1. The initial beer was packaged in longneck bottles and shipped in wooden crates. The crates were gone quickly, replaced with cardboard. The longneck bottles stuck around for a time, but were eventually replaced with a standard bottle such as we see with #140 and #13. Also, vintage #13 included only a few cases...for the same reason that many buildings don't have 13th floors, I suppose. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbtzaxEjwEaRn3kZm4cTcPG4kZ1k-NPAAGe7geGcCaPyl0DPzQRBhL5-cNY8MSEq0KaxKv16wovu4HkNLB1Dxw0cMKoW1HriO_yqUzof88AxmTzjnJ7OAXd_vSVnrbUziXUpXF-7KSymA_phDf_pf5JaJlwMzEFfZglhZ_VvmdKtfU9tuJ3k6R4b15=s1507" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1507" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbtzaxEjwEaRn3kZm4cTcPG4kZ1k-NPAAGe7geGcCaPyl0DPzQRBhL5-cNY8MSEq0KaxKv16wovu4HkNLB1Dxw0cMKoW1HriO_yqUzof88AxmTzjnJ7OAXd_vSVnrbUziXUpXF-7KSymA_phDf_pf5JaJlwMzEFfZglhZ_VvmdKtfU9tuJ3k6R4b15=w509-h640" width="509" /></a></div><br /><p>It occurs to me that Blitz-Weinhard used the batch numbers for a time and then dropped them. They were making a lot of the stuff and constantly changing the label became a pain. That's intel I gathered during the book project, but I can't find a reference to back it up. It may have been something someone told me and I didn't record. </p><p>I don't know what constituted a batch of Private Reserve. Could there have been 140 batches brewed during the 23 years the beer was produced at the Portland brewery? Maybe, probably. And even it they weren't using batch numbers on labels for a period of time, I suppose it's possible they were tracking batches and that the final batch was, in fact, #140. If there's another explanation, I don't know what it is. Please contact me if you do.</p><p>The bottle I was given had a twist-off cap. I recall that the Private Reserve I was drinking in the eighties and nineties came in bottles with twist caps. I know the early vintages had standard crown caps because I've seen and handed some of those bottles. There are also pictures on the internet showing bottles without the threads needed for a twist-off cap. </p><p>I suspected the twist-off cap was a bad omen in terms of what I would find inside the bottle. I used twist-off caps a few times when I was a home brewer, with dreadful results. I also had the experience of tasting old vintages of Sierra Nevada Celebration several years ago. The beer in the twist-off bottles was invariably damaged. The beer housed under standard crown caps fared better.</p><p>There was no pressure released when I removed the cap. In fact, the cap was seemingly welded to the bottle and I had to grip it with a towel to get it off. The bottle had been refrigerated for a week or so before I opened it, so it poured cold and clear. But there was no carbonation. And the color was off, significantly darker than it should have been. I instantly knew the beer was gone.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5lk3I__U0C4ziPgsggGqNumQkVX-9p4HIeDMkgnQwTRNjo1rLx3rnqgZ7gub-4naVyU0Dujam_bGICswbbH4Ns3UQ_J1ABVHlW17uCnzr8f_YXlenYLgsm7iKLd-qXN9WVP-zOziC7sEKY0_r6y_46VDI4niSiYr0SEUTck-oDayRxE1E-jQ2oYgR=s4032" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5lk3I__U0C4ziPgsggGqNumQkVX-9p4HIeDMkgnQwTRNjo1rLx3rnqgZ7gub-4naVyU0Dujam_bGICswbbH4Ns3UQ_J1ABVHlW17uCnzr8f_YXlenYLgsm7iKLd-qXN9WVP-zOziC7sEKY0_r6y_46VDI4niSiYr0SEUTck-oDayRxE1E-jQ2oYgR=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Most who have homebrewed know the flavor of malt extract syrup. My bottle of Private Reserve tasted like watered down malt extract syrup. No hops character at all, which I anticipated. Oxidation had destroyed this beer, returning it to its base form. The twist-off cap was probably the main culprit, though maybe a standard crown cap wouldn't have made a difference. I don't know.</p><p>Tasting old beer vintages can be fun. But it's seldom rewarding in my experience. Nonetheless, thanks to Brian for sharing a bottle of Private Reserve from the final production run in Portland. I'll keep the bottle in my collection. I hope to disappear memories of the beer from my palate.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWiWWnu-qpHmpTdnxq9a_KciAaPZq2qQUsfHQUw0T_38QhW5d6t6PTNu_cQ-iSI3JXz4v4lniMAOrd0CJZS17lDx3oHHwb7ofSvE52JDyqXEgXi_qL9caVltw7X1ufSsBTmN2EqvAClJBsugSMP9eWL9eIR2JZSyWpKiBF9fe7xdrywiYRks-oSwUF=s4032" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">I </a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-56266062635513255432021-08-09T21:56:00.013-07:002021-11-10T08:31:43.005-08:00Henry Weinhard Story Comes to a Close<p>Last week's announcement that Molson Coors (MillerCoors in the US) will discontinue production of Blitz-Weinhard brands effectively closes the book on Portland's most iconic brewing entity. The brands being discontinued are Old English 1200 (originally 800) Malt Liquor and Henry's Private Reserve. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuMqRoyOLupzxLUXeANq9Me9OYgn3-_VqIh1-_ZGgA4kykNjj00HTQR8BBYoR4RUbDmnuggEONdGe0a0QAozxs6wAfn5AJkxNu4Mv-OWm5z18Tyy-juB9hxDzFXWeY5OXOXq25enjp3NI/s1175/Bottling+1+crop.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1175" data-original-width="752" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuMqRoyOLupzxLUXeANq9Me9OYgn3-_VqIh1-_ZGgA4kykNjj00HTQR8BBYoR4RUbDmnuggEONdGe0a0QAozxs6wAfn5AJkxNu4Mv-OWm5z18Tyy-juB9hxDzFXWeY5OXOXq25enjp3NI/w257-h400/Bottling+1+crop.jpg" width="257" /></a></div><p>The Blitz-Weinhard story dates to 1856, when Henry Weinhard arrived in the Portland area and began to build a brewing empire. His first stop was Vancouver, but he soon crossed over into Portland and his brewery became a regional power within a decade or so. In fact, the existence of a notable brewing empire created a sort of aura that craft brewers benefited from as Blitz-Weinhard began to fade in the late 20th century. People were ready and willing to try local beers.</p><p>The demise of the Weinhard brands comes as no surprise. Both were launched in the 1970s, a time when BW was losing share to national brands. Fifty years later, the industry is in a completely different place, with craft beers, light beers and seltzers slugging it out for market dominance. Molson Coors simply saw no place for the awkward, ancient brands. </p><p>How the ancient brands came about is an interesting story. Bill and Fred Wessinger, great grandsons of Henry Weinhard, were attempting to lead the company through the challenging seventies, a time when consolidation and pressure from invasive national brands put Blitz-Weinhard in a tenuous spot. Business was decent, but the brothers could see a time when they'd be out of business if they didn't do something. </p><p>The strategy they landed on is one craft brewers would ride to success nearly a decade later. In effect they invented the idea of going after segments of the market that big beer had abandoned or never really entered. Old English 800 and Private Reserve were the result.</p><p>Ironically, it was the success of Old English Malt Liquor that gave them the idea for Private Reserve. Malt liquor was an area that had been entered and largely abandoned by the national brands. The entry of Old English 800 was a big hit in the Northwest and even in a few markets outside it.</p><p>As they looked at the slipping volume of the mainstream Blitz brand, the Wessingers decided against fighting a losing battle for a shrinking share of the industrial lager segment. It would have been impossible to compete with the advertising assault being carried out by the national brands. They opted to enter the super premium market. Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve was the result.</p><div>The super premium market was, in those days, occupied by the likes of Michelob and Lowenbrau, along with imports if you could find them. The Wessingers reasoned that the segment could be exploited with the right product. Private Reserve proved them right.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoz5jZTDAiFYfU_4SIGvN8vQD0Oc0FgNIruKefKGwQTe_BguEczxkgDKeNCzFNRUfAUrhTvQ7HYtlLdJDauSYtPaIx7L8TXkQy7QlAls6sOwNYJiaZKANbk-52UXIGVdA4CiQYezrmRdg/s1200/Box+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1200" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoz5jZTDAiFYfU_4SIGvN8vQD0Oc0FgNIruKefKGwQTe_BguEczxkgDKeNCzFNRUfAUrhTvQ7HYtlLdJDauSYtPaIx7L8TXkQy7QlAls6sOwNYJiaZKANbk-52UXIGVdA4CiQYezrmRdg/w400-h268/Box+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>When launched in 1976, Private Reserve had some unique attributes: First, it was based on a 19th century recipe and (purportedly) brewed strictly with malted barley, hops and water. That was a shot at the adjunct-heavy lagers of the day. Second, it was initially packaged in longneck bottles that were popular in bars and restaurants, but not generally sold in stores. Third, bottle labels carried batch numbers for many years, suggesting limited production. Finally, (cases of) bottles were packaged in wooden crates, a practice that didn't last long, but suggested something special.</div><div><br /></div><div>Make no mistake, Private Reserve was a good beer. It was arguably Oregon's first craft or semi-craft beer. More importantly, it suggested the idea of using quality ingredients to make beer that was cleaner and with more sophisticated flavor profiles than what was being offered by the industrial lagers of the day. </div><div><br /></div><div>Private Reserve built a solid following in the Northwest and eventually in California. Along with Old English 800, it helped revive Blitz' flagging fortunes. By 1977, Private Reserve and Old English Malt Liquor accounted for 40 percent of BW's total sales. Growth of the two brands continued, but it wasn't enough to offset what they were losing in their mainstream brands. </div><div><br /></div><div>By 1978, the Wessingers were looking for a partner to expand their production and distribution footprint beyond the West Coast. That's apparently how the conversations with Pabst commenced. The deal to sell was announced at a press conference on Jan. 31, 1979. The Wessingers continued to manage the Portland facility and the Blitz portfolio, though they had sold to Pabst. </div><div><br /></div><div>On the heels of the success of Private Reserve, the Wessingers planned to launch a second super premium beer, Henry Weinhard's Blue Boar Irish-Style Pale Ale. The beer wasn't an ale, but nevermind. Pabst was cool on the idea. Instead, it wanted to expand the reach of Old English 800 Malt Liquor, which it evidently saw as easy money. And that's what happened. </div><div><br /></div><div>The marriage to Pabst was somewhat dysfunctional and lasted only three years. Anyone who conducted a cursory review of Pabst's situation at the time of the sale should have seen reason for concern. Company profits declined from $21 million to $11 million, 1977-1978. Barrel sales declined by 600,000, more than Blitz produced. Pabst was hemorrhaging cash.</div><div> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjXHnRdgE7ifTkh90qC-kypihedGrK9gaN004csVhktmiy02w0L-l_meFme0pc5FR0uy5XMfW7_acF8Ne6HPqQRtPSPkLfbpQzskLN7zsWE89ULqqd4oseIZhZe8CK0cCEDSvrZNs2RA8/s943/Blue+Boar+Private+Reserve+Dark.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="943" data-original-width="905" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjXHnRdgE7ifTkh90qC-kypihedGrK9gaN004csVhktmiy02w0L-l_meFme0pc5FR0uy5XMfW7_acF8Ne6HPqQRtPSPkLfbpQzskLN7zsWE89ULqqd4oseIZhZe8CK0cCEDSvrZNs2RA8/w307-h320/Blue+Boar+Private+Reserve+Dark.jpg" width="307" /></a></div><br /><div>Nonetheless, Private Reserve continued to do well. After Blitz was acquired by G. Heileman in 1982, the outlook improved. It turned out G. Heileman liked the idea of specialty products that could compete in space vacated by the national brands. It signed off on the idea of a successor to Private Reserve. But it wasn't Blue Boar. Instead, it was Private Reserve Dark. </div><div><br /></div><div>"We've noticed that the discerning beer consumer has displayed a growing interest in various types of beers, particularly imported dark lagers in the last two or three years," Fred Wessinger told The Oregonian. Kurt Widmer, in the midst of launching Widmer with his brother and father, was thinking almost exactly the same thing. </div><div><br /></div><div>Private Reserve Dark was released in 1983 and did reasonably well. The Irish Ale was launched two years later and also did well. By that time, Blitz' standard lager had imploded and accounted for a fraction of sales. The company was almost completely dependent on the premium brands for cash flow at that point. </div><div><br /></div><div>The arrangement with G. Heileman lasted until 1996 and it's a bizarre story. Heileman came under the control of Alan Bond, an Australian businessman who supposedly wanted to build a brewing empire, in 1987. Bond financed the acquisition with junk bonds, thus saddling Heileman with $800 million in debt. The company was forced into bankruptcy in 1991. </div><div><br /></div><div>Three years later, Heileman was purchased by a private equity firm, which sold it to Stroh in 1996. But Stroh itself was soon in financial distress, losing several million dollars per quarter by 1998. The hammer fell in early 1999, when Stroh announced it would sell some of its brands. The Blitz-Weinhard portfolio was sold to Miller.</div><div><br /></div><div>Production of Blitz' super premium brands continued at the Portland brewery until it closed in August, 1999. It then moved to Olympia in Tumwater, which was a larger and more modern brewery. When Miller closed the Olympia brewery in 2003, production of the Private Reserve brands moved to Full Sail in Hood River on a contract basis. Ten years later, production shifted to Colorado. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's no mention of Private Reserve Dark or Blue Boar in the stuff I've seen announcing the end of Private Reserve. But I assume production of the entire family is ending. Private Reserve was surely the best selling of the three brands and MillerCoors has no use to the other two given that reality. </div><div><br /></div><div>As I said earlier, this development is no surprise. These beers had a good run and they provided a sort of bridge to the craft movement that started in the early Eighties. If you weren't quite ready for craft beer during that era, any one of the Henry's beers could help you get there. There's no doubt in my mind that those brands helped lure a lot of beer fans to craft.</div><div><br /></div><div>I drank all of these beers in the early days. For me, the quality remained solid through the Nineties. I think it was even okay after production moved to Olympia and Hood River. But quality slid down a rabbit hole in recent times. The last time I took a chance on Private Reserve, it was a hot mess. That wasn't a surprise. Once big brewers latch onto brands and shift production to giant factory breweries, quality invariably declines. </div><div><br /></div><div>Given the state of the industry and where the Private Reserve family fit into the contemporary scheme of things, these beers aren't going to be missed. They were as irrelevant as any of the various industrial lagers, which is what they had essentially become. But the retirement of these brands does bring closure to the Weinhard story. And what a story it is.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-7247515145164547192021-01-14T21:17:00.007-08:002021-07-18T21:29:13.595-07:00End of the Road for Portland Brewing<p>In the olden days of craft beer, one of the first beers that interested me was Bert Grant's Scottish Ale. It was available in Pullman, where I was in graduate school and also one of the few craft beers you could get in a bottle at the time. There weren't that many around and most were draft only.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzDkbe7IRXNVVCgmEYhlukqHXw1WXJXQ0l_zoi3Q1IhH2s-9JKgIVSx_BEWryjM2DCKIuZsGji7LOFpbcwSgN7MwB3luM4PldhPvJv_Y9u4917h3MJvhtBMbvhUNKGX5Do60CM9bBfX0/s699/McTs+Ale+coaster+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.tif" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="699" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzDkbe7IRXNVVCgmEYhlukqHXw1WXJXQ0l_zoi3Q1IhH2s-9JKgIVSx_BEWryjM2DCKIuZsGji7LOFpbcwSgN7MwB3luM4PldhPvJv_Y9u4917h3MJvhtBMbvhUNKGX5Do60CM9bBfX0/w297-h316/McTs+Ale+coaster+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.tif" width="297" /></a></div><p>Of course, that Scottish Ale was one of the beers Portland Brewing began producing for the Portland market when it opened in March 1986. Contract brewing the Bert Grant beers helped get Portland Brewing off the ground. It gave them a reliable cash flow and, just as important, allowed them to tap into Grant's brewing expertise. </p><p></p><p>When Grant increased the size of his brewery in Yakima, Portland Brewing lost the contract to brew his beers for this market. But the Grant beers lived on under different names with slightly tweaked recipes (note that Grant wasn't so sure about the tweaking). The Scottish Ale later morphed into McTarnahan's (the original spelling) Amber Ale, the brewery's most popular beer. </p><p>If you're keeping track, Portland Brewing was the last of Portland's founding breweries to open. It was preceded by the short-lived Cartwright, Bridgeport, McMenamins and Widmer. Of those, only McMenamin's survives in more or less its original form. Cartwright lasted two years, Bridgeport closed in 2019 and Widmer (part of the Craft Brew Alliance) recently sold to Anheuser-Busch. </p><p>We learned last week that Portland Brewing will cease operations in early February. The reasons apparently have nothing to do with the raging pandemic, which has caused widespread disaster in craft beer. That makes sense. Portland Brewing closed its pub two years ago and they were strictly production brewing here since. So its demise has more to do with the state of the industry than the pandemic.</p><p>High school buddies Art Larrance, Fred Bowman and Jim Goodwin founded Portland Brewing The original pub on Northwest Flanders (most recently occupied by the now defunct Rogue) instantly became a popular watering hole and night spot. The space was too small virtually from the start and the brewery eventually moved to industrial Northwest in 1993. The problems began there. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqNXAp79fwZsylmm905sZKePyiBHl6z8Jcc2t7sgA6DqeVENpVHnIJOdsRFHNjitFCgMGD99MdK8iJnurWXOcz0p3Sy_RRiJdvwLBk0wPPTEOn962DHd0iWkBKNxkFoSLWcGqITcl6hDo/s841/Founders+Card.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="841" data-original-width="693" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqNXAp79fwZsylmm905sZKePyiBHl6z8Jcc2t7sgA6DqeVENpVHnIJOdsRFHNjitFCgMGD99MdK8iJnurWXOcz0p3Sy_RRiJdvwLBk0wPPTEOn962DHd0iWkBKNxkFoSLWcGqITcl6hDo/w341-h400/Founders+Card.jpg" width="341" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">To finance the significantly larger pub and brewery, the founders sold common stock, They had done that since virtually the beginning and there were many smalltime investors who enjoyed owning part of something exciting. Benefits included a free daily pint. But not all investors were small. Local legend Mac MacTarnahan was a major investor. He gained majority ownership soon after the brewery opened in the new place. By 1998, the MacTarnahan name was used on all branding. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A few years later, Mac was in failing health and so was the company. The MacTarnahan family, tired of pumping cash into a sinking proposition, sold Portland Brewing to Seattle-based Pyramid in 2004. Minority shareholders, including the founders, were shocked and disgruntled when they received pennies on the dollar for their shares while the MacTarnahan family sucked up the bulk of the proceeds. All's fair in war and business.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The real fun started in 2008, when Pyramid was acquired by Magic Hat. Magic Hat itself was acquired by North American Breweries in 2010. Then Costa Rica-based Florida Ice and Farm (FIFCO) bought North American Breweries in 2012. Sensing the error of the MacTarnahan's branding, the parent company changed the name back to Portland Brewing in 2013.</div><p>I always assumed the ownership changes and remoteness led to a muddled strategic vision. That judgment may have been incorrect. It's apparent looking at Oregon numbers (<a href="https://www.beervanablog.com/beervana/2021/1/12/portland-brewing-company-1986-2021?fbclid=IwAR3BQnB65lBpAZNnx_MEYEGluUqF-qi9s4D05bOeXF4vIDkPLTrb2MQp2tU">graph courtesy of Jeff Alworth</a>) that Portland/Pyramid was growing its business in the immediate aftermath of the ownership turmoil. During a time when the craft brewery count was escalating rapidly and smaller breweries were beginning to lead the industry, Portland/Pyramid was apparently doing just fine.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xvIvsBegptQAlymeiQg_GCIIT0B7bH6_4RgUWrlvubiCxkZ0y6vKxWLIK9sX1gOtk5JYiGmi_6feVyciLHJFKnuhDRlh2lsgPgOOwmiethhS3vunp6x1CaVQ9Q1cd5ep3380Oh4_7ys/s1258/CHart.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="1258" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xvIvsBegptQAlymeiQg_GCIIT0B7bH6_4RgUWrlvubiCxkZ0y6vKxWLIK9sX1gOtk5JYiGmi_6feVyciLHJFKnuhDRlh2lsgPgOOwmiethhS3vunp6x1CaVQ9Q1cd5ep3380Oh4_7ys/w409-h251/CHart.png" width="409" /></a></div><br />The size of the brewery likely made that possible. When the founders moved to industrial Northwest, they installed a 130-barrel brewery. It was a costly leap of faith. They thought they would be brewing large batches of standards like MacTarnahan's for the pub and for distribution. The brewery could efficiently produce a variety of different beers in large quantities. Indeed, the size of the brewery is likely what attracted Pyramid and the other buyers. <p></p><p>As the brewery count exploded and small batch, experimental beers captured the hearts and minds of craft drinkers in more recent times, Portland Brewing's large brewery became an anchor, not an asset. If they wanted to brew something, they had to make a lot of it. I'm guessing that's why they never really competed for drinkers looking for small batch beers. Instead, they relied on beers that sold well in grocery and c-stores, often at sub premium prices. </p><p>Even though things were going relatively well in 2015, North American Breweries wanted more...or possibly realized what was coming. They hired Robert Rentsch as general manager of Portland Brewing/Pyramid. It was a newly created role and Rentsch seemed like a good fit. He had a solid brand building background at the Craft Brew Alliance, where he worked on the national expansion of Kona and helped launch Omission. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEUKX4NDtKJjnU3gSkAl51dW4iFq_iqiYm0TONvKE-4dRWWpJ3moE2oR7VmCvO7qG3HwIOe-DYNr3AE0ut3c4rXDVH458vJm0VUyUJXIdmzC3w3-AIHMj4DIT3GQwDVUNiqem-ufqZ9H8/s2048/Portland+Ale+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1510" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEUKX4NDtKJjnU3gSkAl51dW4iFq_iqiYm0TONvKE-4dRWWpJ3moE2oR7VmCvO7qG3HwIOe-DYNr3AE0ut3c4rXDVH458vJm0VUyUJXIdmzC3w3-AIHMj4DIT3GQwDVUNiqem-ufqZ9H8/w313-h400/Portland+Ale+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" width="313" /></a></div><p>I talked to Rentsch at the pub one afternoon over a beer. He hadn't been on the job long and wasn't sure or wouldn't say how he was going to attack it. The press release announcing his hiring was vague. It talked about creating a localized, community-based approach and building on the heritage of Portland Brewing and Pyramid. But that kind of approach wasn't really in Rentsch's wheelhouse. He had been successful expanding the reach of brands regionally and nationally. </p><p>But I figured he was a smart guy and he'd find a way to make things work. Things clearly didn't go as he hoped. The brewery saw a decline in barrelage each year after 2014, until it finally hit the skids completely in 2020. When I visited the pub for a corporate event in the summer of 2017, I could tell that things were not going well. It was no surprise when the pub closed in late 2018. </p><p>The impending closure of the brewery evidently means Portland Brewing's brands will soon be history. Production of FIFCO brands will move to New York and shipping beers from there to Oregon probably isn't in the cards. I suspect only MacTarnahan's would have any commercial value and perhaps someone here will gobble it up if and when the trademark lapses. That's what happened when Portland Brewing let the Portland Ale trademark lapse. Art Larrance snapped it up and started brewing it at Cascade. Could that happen with MacTarnahan's? Time will tell.</p><p>The demise of Portland Brewing effectively closes the book on the early craft brewing days here. For sure, McMenamin's carries on. But McMenamin's is known more for its grandiose properties and the events it hosts than it is for its beer. It's somehow fascinating to me that the big three will all have vanished on about the same 35-year timeline. Bridgeport, 1984-2019; Widmer, 1985-2019; Portland Brewing, 1986-2021. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikaf9-RzJJhHlkupMZ43tQCMK3GoY8MaQE8acQocmlF3m4zYiKxwigX0oWSXrUtRjyCDPCV3B0KIaKxQ_-fV1P93m2my5MljPUDtW-YIuIsJVtN4Or0JhCI3W938J6LlNBgvvYui9GPtE/s1793/Grand+Opening+Card.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1246" data-original-width="1793" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikaf9-RzJJhHlkupMZ43tQCMK3GoY8MaQE8acQocmlF3m4zYiKxwigX0oWSXrUtRjyCDPCV3B0KIaKxQ_-fV1P93m2my5MljPUDtW-YIuIsJVtN4Or0JhCI3W938J6LlNBgvvYui9GPtE/w411-h278/Grand+Opening+Card.jpg" width="411" /></a></div><br /><p>My memories of Portland Brewing, outside MacTarnahan's, are vague. I visited the original pub on Flanders only a handful of times after I arrived here in 1989. I spent far more time at Bridgeport during that era. My fondest memories of Portland Brewing include an Octoberfest celebration held in the area around the pub circa 1995-96 and also of going there for lunches and dinners in the 2000s. </p><p>Besides being on the ground floor of the craft beer movement in Portland and Oregon, the most significant contribution of Portland Brewing and the other founding breweries is that they were a learning and proving ground for brewers and others who subsequently contributed to the industry's development in a variety of ways. </p><p>So long, Portland Brewing. Thanks for the memories.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-41923364754347434502020-12-31T13:19:00.005-08:002021-01-03T08:24:11.415-08:00Eyes on a Better Year as 2020 Skulks into History<p>All things considered, the pandemic hasn't been a bad time to raise an intense Labrador puppy. I hate to think what we would have done without all the readily available time, time required to deal with Bunk's incessant need for exercise, attention and supervision. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2goLBnzDnMc7LfVQQpg8aH9AVEZbMLgQbbdWhOHGtgYeHQeTHfDUcIL-5IJwzdXYrRiG-6QuRVCe49TL78Wa7Uzyz8LvvnOkzRdPLgQHKJCMV0BY6h_sGNv08I0hG_1wg3rLZUTvXsw/s4032/IMG_4690.HEIC" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2goLBnzDnMc7LfVQQpg8aH9AVEZbMLgQbbdWhOHGtgYeHQeTHfDUcIL-5IJwzdXYrRiG-6QuRVCe49TL78Wa7Uzyz8LvvnOkzRdPLgQHKJCMV0BY6h_sGNv08I0hG_1wg3rLZUTvXsw/w300-h400/IMG_4690.HEIC" width="300" /></a></div><p>Of the Labs I've had in my life, Bunk is by far the craziest and most difficult to manage. And the competition isn't close. Most Labs calm down and become relatively normal around the age of two. I fear Bunk won't calm down until she's five or six or seven. Wild times ahead.</p><p></p><p>If the pandemic has been a decent time to raise a puppy, it has been a devastating time for craft beer. That's especially true of smaller breweries and related businesses that depend on foot traffic to generate direct to consumer sales. A lot of these folks have implemented creative strategies to stay afloat, but it's been a tough slog. </p><p>Strangely enough, the pandemic has given a boost to larger, typically older breweries who were seeing catastrophic volume declines prior to 2020. They got new life because their beers have placement in retail, which is where most consumers have been forced to purchase their beer fix during the Covid mess due to the nearly complete collapse of draft.</p><p>We don't know for sure what lies ahead. A year ago, people were bitching and moaning about how bad 2019 was and looking forward to 2020. We know how that turned out. But there does appear to be a shard of light at the end of the tunnel. Vaccines are becoming available, though the process of getting people vaccinated is creeping along so slowly that it will take years at the current pace.</p><p>In a perfect world, we'd all like to see things return to a semblance of normalcy soon. But we're probably looking at late spring or summer, at the earliest, as the point at which most restrictions will be lifted and people can return to normal activities. Even that timetable may be overly optimistic due to the complications connected with vaccine production, distribution and inoculation. </p><p>As far as the craft beer world goes, there are a lot of challenges that may impact a return to normalcy. Honestly, I'm not sure there can be a return to the old normal. Not in the short run, anyway. Among the challenges facing the industry:</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Craft beer was losing momentum prior to the pandemic. That was a product of consolidation, market saturation and distribution challenges, but consumer tastes were also evolving toward seltzers and various alternatives to craft beer. While the craft bubble may not have been bursting, <a href="http://www.beervanabuzz.com/2019/12/all-kings-horses.html">it was certainly losing its shape</a>. Then came the pandemic. <br /><br /></li><li>The overall economy has been propped up by federal and, in some cases, state help, but it's a mess. The federal response has been so woefully inadequate that there will likely be a lot of pubic sector job losses at the state and local level due to revenue shortfalls and budget cuts. That isn't going to be good news for an industry hoping to regain its mojo.<br /><br /></li><li>We don't know how many restaurants, bars and taprooms will survive to the other side, but the industry has been hobbled. There are going to be fewer places buying beer from suppliers in the new world. Also keep in mind that the likely surge in patrons when things initially open up probably won't last. Why? The unstable economy. <br /><br /></li><li>One big unknown is how much longstanding damage the pandemic did to beer consumption patterns. In my experience, regular beer outings were usually wrapped around my workout schedule. Both of those activities have been completely disrupted by the pandemic. Will I be able to return to that kind of arrangement? Do I even want to? Lifestyles have been skewed for millions and it remains to be seen what that means going forward.<br /><br /></li><li>Work itself is going to be changed when we emerge from the pandemic. Many who once worked in offices are going to be working remotely because business discovered technology allows it to do so efficiently. That dynamic will alter human movements. How will that impact restaurants, bars and pubs? We don't know. Maybe not much. Maybe a lot.<br /><br /></li><li>Finally, breweries, beer bars and some restaurants have made it easy for consumers by packaging their beer, offering easy ordering, free delivery, etc. Doing that was a matter of survival. It's low margin business compared to selling draft. Will consumers continue to seek the comfort of online ordering and delivery? How long will it take for breweries to transition out of the desperation model? We shall see.<br /><br /></li></ul>Notwithstanding the challenges, we're all hoping for a brighter 2021. The experiences of the past year have been unprecedented on many fronts. On the occasion of seeing 2020 in the rearview mirror, I want to extend best wishes to my friends in beer. Most of you have had a much tougher year than I have, despite my challenges with Bunk. <div><br /></div><div>Time to move onward and upward. Happy New Year!<div><p></p></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Portland, OR, USA45.5051064 -122.675026117.194872563821157 -157.8312761 73.815340236178855 -87.5187761tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-78485592375520757642020-09-17T21:03:00.002-07:002020-10-24T23:10:34.229-07:00In the Clouds: Portland Beer and the Road AheadBecause I am not prone to follow Twitter, I missed a notification (in May!) from Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives relating to the materials I assembled as part of my work on <i>Portland Beer</i>. I donated those materials to the OHBA in 2014 and they finally have the materials catalogued for use. The work was finished up by a graduate student intern and took some time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTscdBgoewL_e2NSBjf_pAmIXii-Ru_lbr3jOVgCPtCoqkdZccA2HXyXknE18M1w4zuh3JX0ZdtL_pKjwUE4yRh2K1JwYMh1KXO_knR59JkWqG5Aa4mTPWaxmDRoql7f6_Xx1vcHZYOOo/s1600/IMG_3952.HEIC" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTscdBgoewL_e2NSBjf_pAmIXii-Ru_lbr3jOVgCPtCoqkdZccA2HXyXknE18M1w4zuh3JX0ZdtL_pKjwUE4yRh2K1JwYMh1KXO_knR59JkWqG5Aa4mTPWaxmDRoql7f6_Xx1vcHZYOOo/s400/IMG_3952.HEIC" width="300" /></a></div>
Why I wasn't notified directly about this I don't know. But never mind. The archived <a href="http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/findingaids/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=2630" target="_blank">materials include</a> transcribed interviews with founding craft brewers and other industry-connected veterans, as well as pertinent newspaper articles and documents. There are also a number of photos, all protected by some form of copyright.<br />
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I had intended to share the recorded interviews, which would provide interesting oral histories down the road. But I eventually realized doing so would require a lot of tedious editing due to the nature of those conversations. So the recordings will stay with me, probably for good.<br />
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These materials may be of interest to folks researching Portland's brewing history at some point in the future. I should note that all of this stuff is digital. Although I have physical artifacts that might be included in an archive like this, I don't believe OHBA has the space to warehouse these kinds of items at this point in time. Perhaps someday.<br />
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<i>Portland Beer</i> was, more than anything, a labor of love. While it may not be perfect, it is the only book to date that traces the development of the brewing industry here. Prior to writing the book, I spent a couple decades observing craft beer as a consumer, homebrewer, festival attendee and volunteer. I launched this blog in 2011 partly as a means of getting further immersed in the industry.<br />
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In fact, I doubt the publisher of my book would have enlisted me to write it without the blog, which (somehow) gave me credibility I would not have otherwise enjoyed. Whether I should have taken on the book project is another matter and one I will debate with myself in the years to come. Being a beer historian and writer is cool and all, but it doesn't pay many bills.<br />
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Regardless, the book is what it is. While I may question the decision to write it, the book is a decent contribution to Portland's story. It will likely remain a part of the historical record for as long as such records are kept. Perhaps one day someone will update the story. My book may be updated at some point, though only the final chapters would need significant changes.<br />
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The blog is another matter entirely. It is a living document, requiring constant attention and effort to stay relevant. The OHBA announcement regarding the book materials mentions the blog. They evidently did a web crawl of the content here and made the results part of the archive. That's fine, but the blog isn't very active at this point. Not compared to what it was a few years ago.<br />
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Why is it less active? You have to go back to the beginning to understand. I had been laid off in the Great Recession of 2008-09. I expected to return to the marketing communications work I had done for 20 years. When there was nothing happening by 2011, I started my beer journey. I probably should have pursued realistic work outside my career path instead of starting the blog or writing the book.<br />
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At the time, I thought the blog would help keep my writing, research and technical skills sharp and make me employable. Plus, I was interested in beer and knew I would be okay spending significant time around it. I was right about the latter, wrong about the former. It became evident soon enough that I wasn't employable, not doing the work I had done before, anyway.<br />
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Oh, the blog (and to some extent the book) did open up paid writing opportunities, another objective. I've been able to write about beer for a variety of outlets. That's fun work and it can be pretty interesting. But, as with the book, it doesn't provide much of an income stream for most who pursue it. Changes in the media landscape have made that path increasingly sketchy of late.<br />
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I actually kept rolling with the blog well beyond the point where I knew it had no upside. I enjoyed it. While a lot of the early posts were fluffy and promotional, the coverage improved as my perceptions and knowledge of the industry sharpened. Part of that evolution meant the approach became more analytical and critical. That became problematic down the road.<br />
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My vision for the blog was always that it would provide thoughtful, objective coverage. I didn't want to find myself regurgitating press releases or providing promotional coverage in exchange for beers or schwag. It became increasingly clear over the years that my vision was out of step with the industry, which mostly prefers promotion to objectivity.<br />
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While my output had declined over the last couple of years, it went off the deep end at the end of 2019. First <a href="http://www.beervanabuzz.com/2019/08/biskie-and-me-life-with-best-dog-ever.html" target="_blank">Biscuit passed away</a> in August. Then came <a href="http://www.beervanabuzz.com/2020/05/life-chronicles-case-of-artificial-knee.html" target="_blank">knee replacement surgery</a> in late October and the recovery. Then came the pandemic. Then we acquired Bunk, a dog who has required constant supervision and attention since we brought her home at the end of March.<br />
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There's no clear path back to what I was doing before. That work requires a lot of time and effort for not much return and no upside. I don't exactly know what the future holds. I'll probably write on topics that are of interest to me in and out of beer. I've actually done some of that already with posts that are wholly personal. How much of what I do going forward will focus on beer I can't say.<br />
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Of course, I will continue to observe the industry. I've contributed to Willamette Week's Beer Guide for five or six years and will continue to do that sort of work when possible. I wish there were more opportunities for paid beer writing, but the nature of the industry and state of the media landscape have made those prospects fleeting.<br />
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So there you have it. If you were wondering why things have slowed down here, now you know. As the puppy grows up and I have more time to focus on what's going on in beer and other things, I expect to spend more time thinking and writing. But there's no timetable and really no restrictions on content.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-91982123448017061392020-07-19T20:49:00.002-07:002020-07-20T11:52:58.955-07:00AB/CBA Suit Alleges Conspiracy, Collusion, Dereliction of DutyGiven the players involved and the result, a lawsuit was probably inevitable. The suit filed last week in Multnomah County court alleges that Anheuser-Busch conspired to drive down the value of the Craft Brew Alliance, allowing it to acquire the company for less than fair value. Further, the suit charges that AB was aided and abetted by CBA leadership that sherked its fiduciary duties.<br />
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The lawsuit was filed by shareholder Tim Malloy, represented by Portland law firm, Motschenbacher and Blattner. Malloy seeks class action status and a jury trial. He seeks damages of $107 million on behalf of CBA shareholders. essentially the amount shareholders were shorted when the company sold for $16.50, not $24.50.<br />
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I've followed this story for several years. I anticipated that AB would purchase the CBA for the required offer price in 2017 or 2018. They didn't. I then expected them to buy the CBA for the obligatory $24.50/share prior to the expiration of the contract last August. That didn't happen. Instead, AB jilted the CBA, opting to pay $20 million for holding the option open. About two months later, the parties announced that the sale would move forward at $16.50 per share.<br />
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The suit is a double-edged sword and worth reading if you can find it and have time...it isn't a quick read. Malloy alleges that AB, whose distribution network is responsible for 90+ percent of CBA sales, "systematically and purposefully" used its control of that network to slow the sale of CBA products as the buyout approached, artificially lowering the company’s results and stock price.<br />
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There's some interesting detail. Keep in mind that Kona is the only CBA brand AB wants. It's a unicorn brand with wide appeal. Kona sales were increasing rapidly year-over-year (+13% in 2014, +16% in 2015, +17% in 2016). But the gains reversed (+10% in 2017, +8% in 2018, +4% in 2019) as the deadline for the buyout approached.<br />
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The suit references Kona stock outs in hot markets that allegedly occurred due to AB's dictatorial focus on its fully owned brands...10 Barrel, Goose Island, Elysian, etc. That strategy isn't news. Anheuser-Busch, which owns distributors in states that allow it, has gotten into regulatory trouble for incentifying the sale of its own brands over others sold via those distributors and independents they work with. Nonetheless, it would be fairly damning if they were treating Kona like a redheaded stepchild in the runup to the CBA buyout.<br />
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The flipside of the complaint involves CBA leadership. The suit names CEO Andy Thomas and other board members and managers as defendants. Malloy alleges that they negotiated the merger on the basis of a personal financial gain rather than for the benefit of common shareholders. In effect, he believes CBA leaders insulated themselves from non-controlling shareholders and had little or no incentive to maximize the sale price.<br />
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There's more, of course. Malloy claims that the CBA's sole objective in recent years was acquisition by Anheuser-Busch. An accurate appraisal, I think. CBA leadership, he says, failed to pursue strategies that might have produced organic growth because its only plan was to offload the company to AB. When the expected buyout at what would have been a good price failed to materialize, the defendants scrambled to sell the company to AB at any price. They never considered another buyer because, again, they had always intended to sell to Anheuser-Busch.<br />
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The plaintiff acknowledges that the CBA had no choice but to negotiate with Anheuser-Busch once a deal at the contracted price didn't happen. That was the reality of AB's partial ownership (around 31 percent), its two seats on the board of directors and its control of CBA distribution. Those things made it impossible to sell to anyone but Anheuser-Busch.<br />
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Nonetheless, the suit charges that "defendants acted disloyally and in bad faith by knowingly and intentionally abdicating their fiduciary obligations to the company’s non-controlling shareholders, declining to take all reasonable steps to maximize value for all shareholders, favoring a deal with Anheuser Busch, and placing their own personal interests ahead of the Company’s shareholders."<br />
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It's hard to know where this is headed. Anheuser-Busch's acquisition of the CBA has been under regulatory review since it was announced in November. Regulators appear troubled by aspects of the deal and have asked for further documentation at least twice. In response, the Hawaii portion of Kona's business is to be sold to a (supposedly) independent group. The deal remains in limbo.<br />
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As for Malloy's suit, the defendants have not responded publicly that I'm aware of. Whether the case will go to a jury trial, as requested, remains to be seen. The text of the suit suggests that Malloy has documents supporting his allegations. The form of that evidence is not revealed in the suit. If it turns out that he has substantive proof of his charges, the suit may have traction.<br />
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If it does have traction and it does wind up in a trial situation, I suspect AB/CBA will simply settle out of court. They would have no desire to air dirty laundry connected with what is turning out to be a toxic public relations deal. And $107 million is pocket change to Anheuser-Busch.<br />
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Could the lawsuit scuttle the acquisition? Doubtful. Anheuser-Busch has wanted to add to Kona to its portfolio for many years. They got it on the cheap and won't grumble too much if they have to pay a little more to make the court case go away...particularly if it looks like they will lose.<br />
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If the deal isn't finalized for whatever reason, the CBA is in trouble. They've been burning through cash and have a maxed out credit line. They don't have the cash to do much of anything. Without the buyout or a credit line extension, the company may be bankrupt.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-3252212779470889342020-05-13T11:06:00.000-07:002020-05-15T22:58:19.579-07:00LIfe Chronicles: The Case of the Artificial KneeLong before I started thinking about craft beer, I was playing sports or enjoying some form of active recreation. You think you're indestructible. It never occurred to me that I might one day have knee problems or, perish the thought, need to have knee replacement surgery. How naive I was.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Pre-surgery: Bone-on-bone</span></i></td></tr>
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A year ago this time, I was taking steps to deal with an arthritic left knee. Both knees had been problematic for a decade or so, the result of too much racquetball for the last 30 years; too much tennis, football and related high impact activities dating back to boyhood. Meniscus tears in both knees were repaired arthroscopically in 2006.<br />
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By 2013 or so, the left one was bothering me again. It was a different pain. X-rays showed narrowing space between the bones on the medial (inner) side. I was nearly bone-on-bone. The orthopedist told me I'd eventually need to have the knee replaced. I did what I could to extend the life of my natural joint, but it had gotten so bad by late 2018 that I had trouble walking my Labradors or doing much of anything.<br />
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Getting a knee replaced in American healthcare is a process. You jump through a lot of hoops along the way. When I saw my primary care doc for another issue, I mentioned the knee. She suggested I get x-rays while I was there. I don't suppose she was all that surprised when the films showed severe osteoarthritis in the knee.<br />
<br />
The first thing they ask you in that situation is what your goal is. Are you going to be okay with limited activity and a lot of TV watching or do you want to be active? That info helps them formulate a treatment plan. In my case, I hoped to stay active. I wasn't interested in wearing a brace or being significantly limited in what I could do.<br />
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My primary care doc gave me a prescription for an anti-inflammatory medicine, a drug that had helped quite a bit when the arthritis first appeared. It was ineffective at this point. She also referred me to orthopedics, but first I got a cortisone shot. That's one of the hoops you have to jump through before they consider more invasive treatment. Some people respond well to cortisone. In my case, the shot reduced my static (sitting) pain, but did little to reduce the pain during activity.<br />
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Not responding well to the cortisone shot put me in line for more aggressive therapy. When I saw an orthopedic doc, he reviewed my films, considered my general health and told me I looked like a good candidate for partial knee replacement. That was the case because my knee appeared to be in relatively good shape, except on the thin medial side.<br />
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If you do a little research, you'll discover partial knee replacements aren't as common as total replacements. There are a variety of reasons for that. Age is one factor. Some people wait until they're quite old and their knees are completely shot. The medial side of my knee was ruined by activity, not age, which meant the less invasive partial replacement was an option for me.<br />
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Why did I prefer a partial replacement? A number of my friends and work associates asked that question. The answer is that a partial replacement is far less invasive. You keep your ligaments, tendons and knee cap. With a total replacement, all that stuff is gone. Recovery from a partial replacement also tends to be faster. And you can always replace a partial with a total someday.<br />
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Although I was a candidate for the surgery, the orthopedic folks had to (again) remind me of less invasive options (like wearing a brace) and walk me through the risks of surgery. One of those risks is that some patients don't derive much benefit. They get the surgery and don't get the results they were hoping for. It's not a huge percentage, but it is one of the risks.<br />
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My next stop was an MRI tunnel. An MRI, they told me, would confirm for the surgeon that my knee was what they were seeing on the x-rays. What they evidently don't want to do is go into surgery without seeing the entire picture and discover problems that didn't show up on the x-rays. Surprises like that aren't very welcome in the operating room, I guess.<br />
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The MRI was fine, supporting what they were seeing in the x-rays. They felt comfortable about the surgery. This was last summer. I found they were scheduling several months out, which meant my surgery would likely happen in the fall. In the end, it was scheduled for October 30, just a few days after I was set to return from a trip to Kauai.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGmzn7Txvgbcxx9Tih9M4NxWgrMzo2v5BfD2PXqyFrBz5jJO3_oAkD8t3IR2Sm1w1YGwvaiKXJjYgxJ5TG7sKsAJPxPIWvsc1ROFZueIxJ3B4kLpHMFQcwaDS7JPYHeUy_GOIshM0cPww/s1600/KneeDay1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1158" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGmzn7Txvgbcxx9Tih9M4NxWgrMzo2v5BfD2PXqyFrBz5jJO3_oAkD8t3IR2Sm1w1YGwvaiKXJjYgxJ5TG7sKsAJPxPIWvsc1ROFZueIxJ3B4kLpHMFQcwaDS7JPYHeUy_GOIshM0cPww/s400/KneeDay1.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">One day post-surgery</span></i></td></tr>
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<br />
I had to be careful with my legs on that trip. Why? Because one of the concerns with a surgery like this is infection. All of the medical people I interacted with warbled on and on about that. They don't want you showing up for surgery with a bunch of cuts or scratches on your legs. That meant I had to be careful when I was mingling with the ocean and rocks.<br />
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The surgery itself was quick. I arrived in the morning and was quickly put into the prep area. My left leg got the sanitation treatment. Again. I got a spinal block and they gave me some medications to help post-surgery. With a partial replacement, they expect to send you home the day of the surgery. They don't want you hanging around sucking up hospital space and staff time.<br />
<br />
My surgery took less than an hour and I woke about 45 minutes later. A nurse was massaging my feet. The spinal block hadn't worn off and my legs were fairly numb. I guess massaging the feet gets blood moving and helps bring the feeling back. They gave me some food, Pretty soon, the feeling in my legs returned and I was able to get up. They want you up and around quickly with a surgery like this to help prevent clotting. I probably overdid it. They worry about patients falling. I didn't.<br />
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The medical people expect you to have some pain after knee replacement, though they admit everyone is different. I was given over-the-counter meds and told to take them for several weeks. For pain, they game me Oxycodone and told me to take it as needed. They advise you to stay ahead of the pain. I never had much pain, but I took the Oxy for a couple of days, then stopped.<br />
<br />
I slept in a bedroom on the main floor of the house for the first week or so. That first night, the smoke alarm in that room started chirping a low battery warning. Perfect. Rather than wake up my wife who was sleeping upstairs, I ambled downstairs (cane-assisted) and got a new battery, then stood on a chair and replaced the offender. Maybe I should have handled it another way. No harm done.<br />
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They had given me an ice machine and advised me to use it and elevate my left leg several times a day. The idea is to keep swelling down and speed healing. I followed that advice faithfully. I was given exercises I could do in or out of bed. Those exercises were similar to the ones I had done years earlier following arthroscopic surgeries and I did them as directed.<br />
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The medical people pushed me into attending physical therapy sessions. I hadn't done formal PT after my scope surgeries and was skeptical about it following knee replacement. Most people who have knee replacement need PT. No doubt about it. But I had learned to do my own and I'm disciplined enough to do the exercises religiously. The people in the PT clinic were terrific, but they didn't offer much of anything I couldn't do on my own.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8RKtBXMgdg3chBv7I-DS-iiFZIWOqrefuulvL0d5pIkkAJxyx-oTzrB2-CMz4z6GnVRuWMlRKKy731u2omRWzZeueObyenOcsJMdJXbeBpOSVTzj0BSaLeDnKaR5YOdpqq1Z-EmOeq7g/s1600/KneePostSurg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1304" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8RKtBXMgdg3chBv7I-DS-iiFZIWOqrefuulvL0d5pIkkAJxyx-oTzrB2-CMz4z6GnVRuWMlRKKy731u2omRWzZeueObyenOcsJMdJXbeBpOSVTzj0BSaLeDnKaR5YOdpqq1Z-EmOeq7g/s320/KneePostSurg.jpg" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Post-surgery: No bone-on-bone.</span></i></td></tr>
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In fact, their approach was so conservative that I didn't have the desired range of motion in my new knee when I visited my orthopedic office for a follow-up two weeks post-surgery. My PA (physician assistant in orthopedics) was mystified. He gave me an exercise to remedy the issue, which worked well. The PT folks were contacted. Honestly, I don't think they knew what to do with me. Most of the people I met in PT were significantly older than me and had gotten total knee replacements. Totally different bag. I quit formal PT soon after my follow-up appointment. My PA green-lighted that.<br />
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My early recovery was fast, maybe too fast. I was driving and walking the dog within a week. I probably did too much. Then I started having odd pains in the repaired joint about six weeks out. I wondered if something had gone wrong. My PA advised me that many patients have strange pains during the recovery process, which can take six months or more. He would have been happy to see me, but I begged off, realizing what I was feeling was probably normal.<br />
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Four months after surgery, the odd pains began to fade. I passed through six months a few weeks ago and can confidently say I'll have a full recovery. I walk without pain, can even run if I want to. I know I'll ski again. Golf won't be a problem. Keep in mind that I could never have done those things again without the surgery. No chance. I don't know about racquet sports. Pickleball I will definitely play. After the pandemic ends, I'll hit the racquetball around and see how it feels. Maybe I'll play again occasionally, maybe not.<br />
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How does the knee feel? The orthopedic folks will tell you that a replaced knee will not feel like the real thing. That's definitely the case. There's a plastic spacer/pad between the two metal pieces, invisible in the x-rays. That pad simply can't mimic the natural joint cushioning. It gets a little clunky at times, but feels a whole lot better than bone-on-bone. Trust me.<br />
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Some of the people I played racquetball and tennis with over the years either have considered or will contemplate having this surgery. It's not a big deal. It was an easy decision for me because my knee hurt every minute, regardless of what I was doing. I was absolutely unable to do normal things, like go on any kind of significant walk. Now those things aren't a problem. Even an ill-mannered Labrador puppy is okay.<br />
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My thanks to Dr. Eric Bosworth and the folks at Kaiser Permanente, particularly the team at the Westside Medical Office in Hillsboro. They made my journey relatively painless and positioned me for a good outcome. Thanks also to my wife, Laura, who took care of me during my recovery and encouraged me to follow the advice of medical people. I actually complied with some of it.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-506864686033795052020-04-23T13:38:00.001-07:002020-05-09T20:15:03.124-07:00Pandemic 2020: The Great DisrupterIt goes without saying that the pandemic we are currently passing through has been a catastrophic disruptor in myriad ways. By the time we exit the other side, whenever that is, this will be the greatest deflationary event since the Great Depression.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQRizdN9KoeGXJG9HSf4CeQ8SfJ3PGFUnChSx1_DM20UgPAMti9ZX_I_0RIPLLqVjixT11zUeXuMIEJtAz1tB2hOjv7sQp0oFZ4Nh6-biZrRiW4U3PBQ1cyyGZCb7If0vbpGZAF7bpuOY/s1600/Pallet+Jack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="650" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQRizdN9KoeGXJG9HSf4CeQ8SfJ3PGFUnChSx1_DM20UgPAMti9ZX_I_0RIPLLqVjixT11zUeXuMIEJtAz1tB2hOjv7sQp0oFZ4Nh6-biZrRiW4U3PBQ1cyyGZCb7If0vbpGZAF7bpuOY/s400/Pallet+Jack.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
There will be no return to anything approximating normal in the near term. Supply chains are broken and too many are or will be unemployed. The government response has been wholly insufficient. A recent column in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/nyregion/new-york-economy-coronavirus.html?searchResultPosition=1" target="_blank">the New York times</a> predicted a very slow return to what the city was prior to the pandemic. Regardless of how and when stay home orders are lifted around the country, recovery will surely be long everywhere.<br />
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Mucking up the works is the fact that a vaccine for the coronavirus is probably a year or more away. This bug isn't going away quietly and infection rates are likely to spool upward once restrictions are lifted. That means there will be some risk involved in going to public places and a pretty good chance a lot of people will limit that risk when things begin to open. Once there's a vaccine, attitudes will moderate. But that's not happening soon.<br />
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Even when it's risk-free to go out again, will people go? Keep in mind that many small businesses, including breweries, pubs and taprooms, won't reopen when this shitstorm subsides. Or they'll have limited payrolls. The pandemic is delivering a monstrous hit to the economy and a lot of people aren't going to have jobs or disposable cash in the immediate aftermath of this thing.<br />
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Another factor that hasn't been widely discussed is that people are experiencing new things. They're doing things at home that they've never done. I saw my neighbor cutting her son's hair. I see people gardening and cooking and doing things around the house that they haven't been doing forever. It's fair to wonder how much of that carries over when things reopen.<br />
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In beer, it's been interesting to watch the creative responses to the closure of bars, restaurants, pubs and taprooms. Draft died a quick death in the wake of stay at home directives. Places that were never interested in packaging beer for retail sale have been forced to do just that. Boneyard, Barley Brown's and Rosenstadt, for example. It was package or perish. Beer-to-go and by delivery are part of that,<br />
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These sales models aren't really sustainable for smaller breweries. Selling draft beer direct to consumers is a good business. Kegs in distribution are okay. But packaging and distributing add cost and offer lower margins. Same goes for delivery of packaged product. Aspects of these "revised" models may carry on in some form when we emerge from the pandemic. But these are really emergency measures put into play to keep places afloat.<br />
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Creative strategies won't be enough. There will be brewery failures, lots of them. More than 46 percent of breweries surveyed by the Brewers Association reported they could survive only one to three months. Nearly 13 percent said they would last a month or less. There were more than 8,000 breweries in the United States prior to the pandemic. We may lose a third of them.<br />
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Keep in mind that more than half of the craft breweries we have today opened in the last five years. Also keep in mind that those breweries contributed 94 percent of craft growth in 2019, while breweries that opened in 2014 or earlier contributed just 6 percent. Shocking. That point was made by Bart Watson in his <a href="https://www.craftbrewersconference.com/session#78?session-title=state-of-the-craft-brewing-industry" target="_blank">State of the Industry presentation</a> at the Craft Brewers Conference.<br />
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There's an important point to be made here, which is that newer breweries succeeded primarily by selling directly to consumers in draft, specialty bottles and premium 4-packs. A huge percentage of newer brewers adopted that model, which the pandemic has now laid low. Watson, in his presentation, wondered if perhaps too many have bet on the direct strategy. We shall see.<br />
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While there will be fewer brewers on the other side of the pandemic, there will also be fewer places buying beer. As Watson pointed out in his talk, a huge number of bars and restaurants aren't going to reopen. That number will be significantly larger than the number of breweries that close. So even though there will be fewer breweries, they will be competing for far fewer tap handles in the establishments that do survive. How this plays out is uncertain.<br />
<br />
In some sense, it appears the pandemic has reopened the door for established breweries that rely on large scale production and distribution to grocery and retail chains. <a href="https://www.brewbound.com/news/nielsen-off-premise-beer-sales-increase-in-all-segments-as-consumers-stock-up-amid-coronavirus-concerns" target="_blank">Beer sales in off premise channels are up</a>, which may provide a boost for larger craft breweries that have been losing market share to upstarts who own the direct to consumer market, but can't effectively compete in grocery.<br />
<br />
The only thing we know for sure is that craft beer, like a lot of other industries, will almost certainly look substantially different on the other side of the coronavirus mess. Exactly what it will look like remains uncertain and unpredictable.<br />
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<i>Photo credit: Barley Brown's</i><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-37136877794566056552020-04-06T22:16:00.001-07:002021-12-08T20:44:56.517-08:00Larrance Sells Cascade; Will Carry on with OBF<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px;">The sale of Cascade Brewing to a group of local investors, announced by press release last week, is one of the bigger beer stories of the pandemic. It puts an end to a part of Art Larrance's beer legacy in Oregon. He received a lifetime achievement award from the Oregon Brewers Guild in February, but his final legacy is yet to be written because he'll continue to be part of the industry for now. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZvgpGkibE4rsZhziv2jVkb5y8KvxlTYf8PZDkyrj3FxAZAEEGbmdPoo0bSJnXHB127V2TMIQdcVa6zp42s97en7KYBI0g9_Om9iWQS2bBOWQpwCTyPaz-1UlWqeD9oZDIGfHEhkTBZ0/s1600/Blending+house+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZvgpGkibE4rsZhziv2jVkb5y8KvxlTYf8PZDkyrj3FxAZAEEGbmdPoo0bSJnXHB127V2TMIQdcVa6zp42s97en7KYBI0g9_Om9iWQS2bBOWQpwCTyPaz-1UlWqeD9oZDIGfHEhkTBZ0/s400/Blending+house+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px;">In fact, the terms of the deal, described as a "phased transition sale," will require Larrance to remain involved in Cascade's business in an advisory capacity pending regulatory review, and to provide assistance to the incoming ownership. I'm not sure if there's a contractual time limit or if it depends on how long it takes to jump through regulatory hoops. Anyway, it ought to be an interesting arrangement.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">The sale did not come as a much of a surprise to many who follow the industry. Cascade has been slipping for several years. <a href="https://www.brewbound.com/news/portland-oregon-based-cascade-brewing-sells-to-local-investor-group" target="_blank">A Brewbound</a> story reported that annual barrelage declined 21 percent 2017-2018. Those are the most recent Brewers Association numbers. If you look at Oregon stats, the output of Cascade's blending house, where the lucrative sour beers are produced, was down 27 percent 2018-2019. Even more depressing.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">Why would the business be tanking? Maybe because the </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px;">market for specialty sour beers has become increasingly crowded and competitive. When Cascade launched its sour project in 2002-03, the resulting beers were a novelty. Today, sour beers are widely available. It may be that Cascade didn't keep up with the curve of what others were doing. I don't know if that's an accurate point. I do know my geek friends who currently chase sours have a lot of choices and most prefer beers from breweries other than Cascade. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">Cascade's trajectory is the key to understanding why Larrance decided to sell, though the pandemic may have made the sale more urgent. The curious thing to me, when I read the press release, is how the new owners intend to restore Cascade's status in a crowded market. The incoming team has experience in brewery, restaurant and taproom management, but does not appear to have knowledge of the niche industry Cascade is part of. That makes the sale intriguing.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">When I spoke to Larrance on the phone, he told me it was time for him to step aside and let new owners write the next chapter in the Cascade story. "I'm getting old," he said. "I need to retire and let younger folks take on the challenges of today's industry." That's a pretty standard response in situations like this. If he were a politician, he would have said he wanted to spend more time with family. The deal had evidently been in the works for a while and now was a good time to finalize it. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqfn2h1gBAST3fzuwdybppfLEEhRrYK4L9k0DP3Q1Ws420H1xw8ko5z7at2VuGyMSsE2bBl7ZQv1xmhYGchYftFqX_cFu9Ka6LXt8s3N_w6F8kHFaCLOkZ27LZrCbvpAImKwNcfSEcRzI/s1600/Brian+Art+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="927" data-original-width="1200" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqfn2h1gBAST3fzuwdybppfLEEhRrYK4L9k0DP3Q1Ws420H1xw8ko5z7at2VuGyMSsE2bBl7ZQv1xmhYGchYftFqX_cFu9Ka6LXt8s3N_w6F8kHFaCLOkZ27LZrCbvpAImKwNcfSEcRzI/s320/Brian+Art+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">With Brian Yaeger at the Barrel House, 2013</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">The seeds of Cascade's story go back to Larrance's days at Portland Brewing. Recall that he and high school buddies Fred Bowman and Jim Goodwin co-founded Portland Brewing in 1986. They and the other founding brewers were instrumental in getting Oregon's Brewpub legislation passed in 1985. The Brewpub Bill (aka SB 813) allowed breweries to sell their beer directly to consumers and essentially launched the craft beer revolution here.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Portland Brewing was highly successful in its original location on Northwest Flanders. It later moved to a much larger facility in industrial Northwest Portland. Soon thereafter, Larrance was tossed to the curb when the founders lost control of the company, a story detailed in <a href="http://www.beervanabuzz.com/p/portland-beer.html" target="_blank">Portland Beer</a>. Being forced out unceremoniously provided the motivation that resulted in the founding of Cascade Brewing and, eventually, the opening of the Raccoon Lodge in 1998. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">The Raccoon Lodge has always been an enigma. It failed to ever build much of a following. The beers, which were always branded as Raccoon Lodge products, were serviceable, if not exciting. But the location in Raleigh Hills was problematic from the start. The reason is that beer fans from Beaverton and the westside have no problem traveling to the city core, where the craft beer scene has always been centered. But folks from the core rarely return the favor by traveling to the westside. So the Lodge was not a winner. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">Larrance built the Lodge with help from associate Ron Gansberg, who left Cascade suddenly a couple of years back. Gansberg alone brewed the Raccoon beers for many years. From the start, he and Larrance were determined to come up with what they referred to as a "magic elixir." They did not want to be part of what they called the "hops arms race" that was then underway. That didn't seem like a viable business strategy. Instead, they wanted to develop a product that could be produced on a small scale and sold at a premium price. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">People forget, but the sour program they landed on did not come about by way of an established concept. It was the result of creative experimentation. They saw people like Alan Sprints producing small batch specialty beers. They saw brewers playing around with barrel aging. Gansberg's initial experiments involved putting an English-style IPA in wine barrels. They then tapped a barrel every month over a four month period to see how the beer had evolved next to the same beer from stainless. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;"></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">Those experiments fueled their interest in the idea of barrel aging and bacteria. In the end, they chose to produce Northwest style sour beers featuring Oregon fruit, a style that didn't exist previously. They chose lactobacillus for fermentation because they felt it was a unique option. It took some trial and error to get the beers where they wanted them to be, but eventually Cascade was winning medals in competitions and praise from a variety of publications. Larrance has always claimed that he provided Gansberg with the tools needed to build a successful program and otherwise stayed out of the way. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNBoGr8k4Z30iTZBpQj3XxbrpUzjjyWOvclk3b2qvunOzIrcDMceB3e4l0lzzLZGXmVpbFhFLU9aiXynlECguUEs7IYlD9ipyopBO00UiOmFPCuSgDULb_2DYRnj2viJK4vkzayZ7jqs/s1600/Front+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="1000" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNBoGr8k4Z30iTZBpQj3XxbrpUzjjyWOvclk3b2qvunOzIrcDMceB3e4l0lzzLZGXmVpbFhFLU9aiXynlECguUEs7IYlD9ipyopBO00UiOmFPCuSgDULb_2DYRnj2viJK4vkzayZ7jqs/s320/Front+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The Barrel House in 2011</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Of course, medals and national recognition failed to solve the Raccoon Lodge problem. They needed a location in the city core. Larrance finally found the space on Southeast Belmont, where Cascade Brewing's Barrel House opened in 2010. The area around the pub has morphed considerably since then, with trendy shopping and residential spaces. But the Barrel House was a gigantic hit from the start. It made Cascade beers readily accessible to the crowd that wanted them and would likely not travel to the westside. It also allowed for easy tourist access and the Barrel House in its heyday always attracted visitors from afar.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px;">The success of the beers created a new problem: they did not have enough production space. That's what led to the opening of the Blending House off Highway 217 several years ago. The climate-controlled space quadrupled the available room for blending and aging from 5,000 to over 22,000 square feet. That facility is pretty amazing to behold. Larrance spent a bundle. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px;">In the face of declining business, Cascade did not stand still. They rebranded several years ago, introducing refined labeling appropriate for beer that sells at wine prices. They also moved away from the large format bottles to smaller ones. More recently, the Raccoon Lodge was rebranded as The Lodge at Cascade Brewing, an overdue ploy to leverage the Cascade name. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 13.2px;">It will be interesting to see what the new ownership group does to reverse the downward momentum, given what has already been done. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">Art Larrance, who turned 76 in February, will carry on as director of the Oregon Brewers Festival. an event he helped found in 1988. Once the premier beer event of the year in Portland, OBF has seen declining attendance in recent years. It now runs three days in late July, down from five a few years ago. The coronavirus pandemic may force its cancellation this year. Organizers will make a decision on that in early May, Larrance told me. Industry friends tell me OBF is for sale, has been for a while. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">I met Art Larrance a quarter century ago when I started volunteering at OBF. Our relationship was cordial, but remote until 2010 or so. That's when I first started talking to him about the book I hoped to write on Portland's beer history. He provided gracious assistance, connecting me with people from the old days and sharing his collection of historical materials. The book could not have been written without his help. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">What does the future hold for Art Larrance? I last saw him last summer at the Lodge, where we had arranged to meet to talk about something. I wound up riding along as he delivered a keg to a pub in Hillsboro. Yup, one of the founders of Oregon's craft beer movement was selling and delivering Cascade beer. Retirement, whether full or partial, won't change him that much. He knows a lot of people and likes to jabber about the business. He'll be around.</span></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-27575879712552336642020-03-27T20:55:00.001-07:002020-03-28T00:21:56.652-07:00The Pandemic and BeyondThe past two weeks have been catastrophic for the American economy. Millions of jobs have been lost, at least for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic. We don't yet know when the economy will reopen. But there's a good chance it will never be quite the same.<br />
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Craft beer has, of course, been hard hit by social distancing and shelter in place directives. The closure of bars and pubs has sent owners and employees scrambling. I'm not sure how many people have been laid off in the Oregon beer industry. It's a big number.<br />
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Many of those people had jobs in pubs, bars, taprooms, etc. Deschutes laid off 300; McMenamin's 3,500. Anyone who follows the industry knows someone who was laid off or had their hours and/or pay reduced. Or maybe they weren't paid on schedule for work already done, as in the <a href="https://www.newschoolbeer.com/2020/03/laurelwood-brewing-and-staff-struggle-to-pay-the-bills.html" target="_blank">case of Brandon Easley</a> and <a href="https://www.wweek.com/bars/2020/03/27/mcmenamins-tells-laid-off-employees-their-final-paychecks-are-being-delayed/" target="_blank">laid off McMenamin's employees</a>. The money simply isn't flowing as it was a few weeks ago.<br />
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I've seen people whining about the layoff numbers. What were these companies supposed to do? If the United States had <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/opinion/covid-economy-unemployment-europe.html" target="_blank">job saving programs like some European countries</a>, people might have stayed in jobs, albeit with not much to do. Instead, they're collecting unemployment benefits. At least being laid off allowed for that.<br />
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I suspect the layoffs aren't over. On-premise sales are flat, something we haven't seen since Prohibition. Many breweries are holding onto production staff to keep packaged beer flowing into distribution channels, or to sell on a to-go or delivery basis. But these are stopgap measures designed to keep places afloat, not a shift in how they hope to generate profits going forward.<br />
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As much as everyone is hoping for a fast recovery, it seems unlikely with the economy at large or craft beer. It's become obvious as we've stumbled through the pandemic that American small businesses are leveraged and lack the reserves to weather economic jolts as severe as this one. They need a steady flow of inbound cash to stay viable and it isn't there.<br />
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Craft beer has its own problems. There are too many breweries and markets are saturated in many areas. A colleague told me he believes 20 percent of American craft breweries will fail as a result of the pandemic...roughly 1,600 breweries. I think that estimate is low. The pandemic is going to accentuate overcrowding and saturation issues, accelerating the failure rate.<br />
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We don't know when the social distancing and shelter in place directives will end. That's probably a month or two away. When they do end, everyone will start to dig out. As breweries ramp up production, they won't be doing so for a full complement of patrons. Why? Because people aren't going to immediately have disposable cash. This epidemic is an economic calamity.<br />
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Habits and attitudes are also going to be altered, just as they were by 9/11 and the Great Recession. How long will it take for confidence to return? When will people feel comfortable in group gatherings? Even when they can afford to do so, when will they flock back to bars, pubs and taprooms? My guess is that's going to take some time.<br />
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In fact, it's difficult to imagine what the post-pandemic economy looks like. We won't truly begin to assess the event's downstream impact until we reach the other side. But it's going to be a tough slog for everyone when restrictions end. And craft beer is far from immune to that reality.<br />
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All anyone can do is make the best of things and hope for better days.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-82323124677798581132020-02-14T08:38:00.000-08:002020-02-14T09:20:50.412-08:00Grains of Wrath to Open in Former Side Bar SpaceGrains of Wrath is coming to Portland. Naturally, this isn't the first place you're hearing about that. It was splashed across social media and various beer sites after the press release hit inboxes Wednesday. But there's more to the story than most realize.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Camas Patio</span></i></td></tr>
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As almost everyone knows, Grains of Wrath (GoW) has been operating in downtown Camas for about two years. The business there has been an unqualified success, attracting patrons from all around. It's packed during peak hours, often busy in between.<br />
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Brewmaster Mike Hunsaker established a solid reputation in Portland via his time at Fat Heads. Hunsaker is surely best-known for his IPAs, but he has extensive brewing chops. He's won a number of awards at GoW, including medals for his Vienna Lager at GABF in 2018 and 2019. Hunsaker's beers are good enough that people cross the bridge to enjoy them.<br />
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Wednesday's press release announced plans to open on North Williams. I assumed that meant they would be taking over the old 5th Quadrant space. That was based on the fact that GoW operates a highly successful pub business in Camas and would be replicating that model here.<br />
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Not the case.<br />
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In fact, GoW will occupy only the relatively small space that was previously Lompoc's Side Bar. The place, expected to open this spring, will comprise a brewery and some 50 seats. It'll be a 21 and over establishment that features Hunsaker's beer, light food, liquor, wine and cider.<br />
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"The expansion is limited by design," co-owner and general manager Brendan Greenen told me via email. "We like the retail aspect of a taproom, but don't have a lot of interest in another restaurant unless it's the perfect storm of location and opportunity. We have a large restaurant as it is, and intend to keep that as our home base for now."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The Team (courtesy Grains of Wrath)</span></i></td></tr>
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There's more to unpack. Greenen and partners, Hunsaker, Shawn Parker and Brendan Ford, see a lot of great restaurants in the North Williams area. They don't really want or need to compete with those places. Instead, they feel like they can supplement the texture or the area with a focus on great beer, liquor and limited food.<br />
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"The 21+ focus is really just a factor of the tiny space," Greenen said. "What we've seen in our Camas location, especially during the summer with our large patio, is that kids get restless and want to get up and move around. In a large space like our brewpub, that’s generally not an issue. In a small space like in PDX, it would present multiple issues."<br />
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They aren't exactly sure what 'light food" means. Part of the problem, as they renovate the recently leased spaced, is figuring out where to put the food prep area. And what to offer in a limited menu.<br />
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"We're still kind of fleshing the menu ideas out," Greenen said. "We're looking at a couple of spots within the leased space to figure out where it would be best to place that part of our operation."<br />
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They're leaning toward a quality sausage/meat/small plate menu in which they would partner with local purveyors to have quality product, yet a small menu. The reason they want food is they want to be able to offer liquor to customers, in addition to beer, wine and cider. Makes sense.<br />
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So what we'll have is a Grains of Wrath outpost in the old Side Bar space. They hope to launch the brewing part of the operation there by late summer. Until then, all of the beer will come from Camas. That hardly matters. Hunsaker's beers have fans. When GoW builds it, people will come.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-38025685681994907382020-02-04T15:10:00.001-08:002020-02-05T13:30:20.768-08:00At pFriem, Business Symmetry Drives SuccessThe business of America is business. Cool Calvin Coolidge said something like that nearly a century ago. It was in the middle of Prohibition. He certainly wasn't thinking about beer. But the folks who formed pFriem Family Brewers have taken that notion to heart.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Head brewer Gavin Lord in the new warm room.</span></i></td></tr>
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A group of media nerds had the pleasure of touring pFriem's soon-to-be open production facility in Cascade Locks over the weekend. The new facility is a crucial cog in the strategic plan that the pFriem brain trust has articulated. Without it, they would be unable to support growth moving forward.<br />
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Since it opened in 2012, pFriem has been in an almost constant state of expansion. The Hood River headquarters houses the original 15-barrel brewhouse and they've increased the size of the space several times. This is where they produce the widely popular IPA and Pilsner, the various seasonals, as well as the barrel-aged stuff.<br />
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In fact, everything has been produced in Hood River. Last year, that meant something like 140 different beers, all told. Limited space in Hood River has caused logistical challenges. Producing barrel-aged product is a time consuming, space hogging process. Keeping kegs, bottles and cans of the most popular styles requires production and packaging space. Then you need space to store kegs, bottles, cans, grain, hops, as well as product that is conditioning or ready to ship.<br />
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For the past several years, pFriem has been leasing space where it stores some the materials it uses in the production and packaging process. They've been forced to navigate logistical hoops involving material storage, as well as warm room conditioning and cold storage in Hood River. It's been a drag on progress and something needed to be done.<br />
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Like everything else they do, the 22,000 square foot facility in Cascade Locks was not planned in haste. They started thinking about it three years ago. The idea was that it should be big enough to meet their needs for 4-5 years once open. Besides being obsessed with quality, these guys are meticulous planners. They're well aware of the slowing that's going on in craft beer, also aware that their own numbers continue to grow.<br />
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Perusing the new facility, I tracked down founding partner, Rudy Kellner. I asked him if they think the place is big enough to support pFriem's upward trajectory. I asked because I've seen how fast places like this fill up when a brewery is in high growth mode. He told me the facility is actually a bit bigger than they originally envisioned and they feel comfortable. It figures.<br />
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They're playing it safe, obviously, knowing full well that it's better to have space you don't need than to need space you don't have. If it winds up being too small in a few years, there's a readily available and buildable lot next door, Kellner said. No stone left unturned.<br />
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The new facility will soon house the entire barrel program. There's room for hundreds of barrels and brewers will be able to access and move them fairly easily. A significantly larger warm room (than what they have in Hood River) has garage doors on a long side so stacks of packaged product can be efficiently moved as needed. Ample cold storage, space to stage empty packaging materials and ingredients, as well as a designated Coolship room, complete the picture.<br />
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They put a lot of thought into this place. There won't be an official tasting room or pub in Cascade Locks, though they will host an unknown number of special events in an open area near the barrel stacks. I don't know what the area around the facility is going to look like, but it may lend itself to small outdoor fests down the road.<br />
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Up until now, pFriem's barrel program has been rumbling along in cramped quarters. The space in Hood River was insufficient to support the robust innovation and production goals of that program. The Cascade Locks facility changes the game completely, allowing for the efficient production of a high value product that's a small, but important part of the business.<br />
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Fans who want to tap into those beers may be interested in pFriemsters Union Local 541, which pFriem launched last summer. The club was initially available only to Founding Members, but there are a limited number of spots are available to new members in 2020. Members receive regular allocations of rare pFriem beer, exclusive merchandise, VIP access to events and more. Hubba.<br />
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With the space-intensive barrel program gone from Hood River, pFriem will undertake a renovation and expansion program there. The 15-barrel setup will carry on, to be used mainly for smaller batch beers. They'll install a new state-of-the-art brewhouse that's roughly three times the size of the original, which is where the high volume beers will be brewed. Plus, a canning line.<br />
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Indeed, the introduction of Pilsner and IPA in cans last year was and is a gigantic home run. Cans account for about a third of of total sales, and helped grow brewing volume by 50 percent in 2019. Although IPA edges Pilsner in can sales, Pilsner is pFriem's best selling beer, a development they would never have predicted back in 2012. They are evidently looking at putting additional styles in cans once the new brewery ramps up.<br />
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But beer isn't the only focus at pFriem. Their desire to evolve and expand food offerings at their pub has been thwarted somewhat by the limited size of the kitchen there. That's going to change. The pub will close for several days (Feb. 18-21) to facilitate a kitchen remodel that will grant head chef Justin Congdon and his staff space needed to upgrade their program. The pub will reopen on Feb. 22, just in time for Zwickelmania 2020.<br />
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It's worth mentioning that the Ports of Hood River and Cascade Locks have embraced and supported pFriem's mission. Beer is manufacturing and the Gorge welcomes those jobs, as well as businesses that attract year-round clientele from Portland and beyond. The success of pFriem has confirmed the strategic faith the Port of Hood River had in them from the start.<br />
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There's an instructive note here. As I've said before, pFriem appears to do a lot of things well. In a maturing industry that is increasingly crowded and competitive, it continues to flourish. There's nothing easy or lucky about it. Lots of places have appeared on the scene in recent years. Some have made good beer. Few have been able to maintain their integrity with scaled growth.<br />
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In effect, pFriem is showing us what a successful contemporary craft brewery looks like. They plan and manage for success. The co-founding team of Josh Pfriem, Ken Whiteman and Kellner has navigated a steep growth curve in a challenging industry while maintaining core values of innovation, quality and employee growth. The art of business symmetry.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-77841214009458552812019-12-31T14:06:00.001-08:002020-01-01T10:24:24.655-08:00Memories of a Tumultuous YearIt's been a tumultuous year in beer. There's a chance it was a transitional year, as well, but we'll have to wait and see how what happened in 2019 plays out. The world of craft beer is considerably changed from what it was just a few years ago.<br />
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<b>Stressed Market</b><br />
Although we continued to see brewery openings throughout the land, the market has become overcrowded and stressed. Everyone is trying to figure out how to stay relevant in a saturated market.<br />
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The strategy they've come up with is brewing beers that are somehow unique...the idea being to keep consumers interested and engaged. That theme will surely carry on in 2020, with breweries chasing wild approaches and recipes, hoping something will stick, even if only briefly.<br />
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Beer quality was and is a casualty. I'm amazed at how many poorly executed beers I tasted in 2019. To me, that's the consequence of brewers being more focused on experimental recipes than quality. Plenty of those beers should have been sewered. How embarrassing.<br />
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<b>Shifting Tastes</b><br />
Demographics and lifestyle changes have altered the beer and alcoholic beverage landscape before. We watched it happening again in 2019, as some of the people who drove the growth of craft beer in recent years started looking for lighter choices, craft beer not generally being a light choice.<br />
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The most ominous sign of that shift may be White Claw and other hard seltzers. The volume growth of this stuff was off-the-hook last year and it will probably continue on that path. It isn't just millennials guzzling seltzer, though they were and surely are the primary marks for this junk.<br />
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Craft brewers responded to shifting tastes by offering lower ABV beers, even their own seltzers. On my travels through the year, I regularly came across lower ABV offerings. Some were memorable, some not. But the fact that they existed was a revelation.<br />
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The rise of craft lagers was surely related to the shift, though there may be more at work here. There are some fine lagers being produced by craft brewers, as if to prove that you can make a light-colored beer with aroma, flavor and character. A great trend and one that will likely continue.<br />
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Of course, lagers won't get craft beer out of the funk it's currently in. Why? Because those beers are more likely to be purchased and consumed by hardcore beer fans than by mainstream consumers who don't know or understand why these beers are special.<br />
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If craft lagers ever get as popular as IPAs, big beer will saturate the mainstream market (grocery and c-stores) with well-made industrial lagers selling for less than what good craft lagers sell for. They've already done that with most craft styles and would surely do it with lagers.<br />
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<b>Stratification and Danger</b><br />
One of the more serious developments I see in craft beer is the stratification that's occurring. It involves smaller, typically newer brewers and larger, typically older ones, as well as the crafty stuff produced by big beer. The picture continued to morph last year, and not for the better.<br />
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The little guys, of course, are catering primarily to the demand for local beer in pubs, taprooms and beer bars. They account for most of the growth that's happening across the industry, partially driven by the unending number of new openings. Beer fans love new breweries.<br />
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That trend led to saturation, hypercompetition (see above) and closures...we saw a lot of them in 2019. Closures aren't always related strictly to beer quality, but I expect we'll see more of them in the coming year, as poorly run or highly leveraged operations are forced out.<br />
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Larger (mostly regional) craft brewers can't really compete with the little guys in the local channel. They aren't as nimble or creative. They rose to dominant positions by making a few basic styles well and packaging them for retail distribution. That strategy is becoming increasingly problematic.<br />
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What's happening is that the regional breweries are being gradually squeezed out of that space by big beer, which has acquired enough craft breweries to achieve a dominant position in that channel. It's a tough time to be a regional brewer, which is partly why more of them sold in 2019.<br />
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Big names, like Colorado's New Belgium and Oregon's Craft Brew Alliance sold, the latter for a price that was significantly below what shareholders hoped. Even moderately-sized Laurelwood sold out. Instability in the market is the primary reason in each case.<br />
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This is a worrisome situation. Regional craft breweries formed the backbone of the industry for most of the last 30 years. They are now being assaulted from above and below, the result being declining sales and financial catastrophe. Big beer is the big winner.<br />
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I don't expect this situation to moderate much in 2020. We'll see more closures on the small brewery front and further financial distress among larger craft breweries, probably leading to more consolidation and additional power for big beer. Not ideal.<br />
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<b>My Year</b><br />
For the record, I'm glad 2019 is in the books. I gained a new knee (part of one, actually), but also lost a beloved dog. I'm not yet recovered from either of those events, but I'm hoping the year ahead is a good one. Hope is what keeps us going, I suppose.<br />
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Happy New Year!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-29633918491873589842019-12-04T21:05:00.000-08:002019-12-05T16:13:37.397-08:00All the King's Horses...It's selloff season. Earlier this week, Ballast Point, purchased by Constellation Brands four years ago for a billion dollars, was sold to tiny Chicagoland Brewer Kings & Convicts. We don't know the terms of that deal, but we know the sale price was substantially <i>less </i>than a billion bucks.<br />
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That follows the sale of Portland-based Craft Brew Alliance, which sold out to Anheuser-Busch for significantly <i>less</i> than a contract stipulated after AB simply let that contract expire and paid what it wanted. Then there's Colorado-based New Belgium, which recently sold to Little Lion/Kirin.<br />
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If you're an objective observer, you might conclude that the craft beer bubble is bursting. The problem, of course, is that interested parties typically fail to perceive the existence of a speculative industry or bubble until it's too late. Only in retrospect is reality plain to see.<br />
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There are plenty of examples of bursting bubbles out there, the most recent being the U.S. housing bubble that collapsed in 2008, leading to massive destruction of global wealth. By early 2009, the 12 largest financial institutions in the world had lost half of their value. Not great.<br />
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The craft beer industry isn't on the level of the housing collapse. However, I have characterized craft beer as a bubble industry more than once in these pages. It's a concept that is not generally well-received among industry-connected folks. But never mind. What do we know about bubbles?<br />
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyman_Minsky" target="_blank">Hyman Minsky</a> (1919-1996) was an American economist whose research attempted to provide an understanding of the characteristics of financial crises, which he attributed to swings in a fragile financial system. Minsky identified five stages in a typical credit cycle or bubble:<br />
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<b>Displacement</b>: A displacement occurs when investors get enamored by a new paradigm, such as an innovative new technology or product, at a time when interest rates (or the cost of market entry) are historically low.<br />
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<b>Boom</b>: Prices rise slowly at first, following a displacement, then gain momentum as more participants enter the market, setting the stage for the boom phase. During this phase, the asset in question attracts widespread media coverage. Fear of missing out on what could be an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity spurs more speculation, drawing even more participants into the fold.<br />
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<b>Euphoria</b>: During this phase, caution is thrown to the wind, as asset prices skyrocket. The "greater fool" theory plays out everywhere. Valuations reach extreme levels during this phase. New valuation measures and metrics are touted to justify the relentless rise in asset prices.<br />
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<b>Profit Taking</b>: By this time, the smart money – heeding warning signs – is generally selling out positions and taking profits. But estimating when a bubble will collapse can be difficult because, as John Maynard Keynes put it, "markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent."<br />
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<b>Panic</b>: In the panic stage, asset prices reverse course and descend as rapidly as they ascended. Investors and speculators, faced with margin calls and plunging values of their holdings, now want to liquidate at any price. As supply overwhelms demand, asset prices slide sharply.<br />
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I'm not sure where the various pieces of the craft beer industry belong in the five stages. Newer breweries probably belong in the Boom or Euphoric stage. They're fresh and see the sky as the limit. Profit Taking will come soon enough. But it's clear that elements of the established industry have entered the Panic stage, a point at which they will sell for any reasonable price to avoid the realities of a flat market that is overcrowded and intensely competitive.<br />
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Keep in mind that a bursting bubble isn't strictly defined by a selling spree. The flipside of that is the places who have nothing to sell and simply close. We've seen that here at home with the likes of Alameda, Lompoc and others. The Laurelwood version of the story differs because some of its brands have a regional following and could be sold.<br />
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One thing to note about a bubble: Once it is punctured and losing gas, it's unlikely to inflate again. If what's happening in craft beer is a bursting bubble, all the king's horses and all the king's men won't be able to change that.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-58224797507229934932019-11-13T13:55:00.001-08:002019-11-13T14:01:29.404-08:00Craft Beer's Rabbit HoleWhen interviewed for the film PDX Brew City in 2014, I was asked if I thought a craft beer bubble was forming. It wasn't a hard question to answer. Of course there was a bubble forming. I could see it during my research for Portland Beer.<br />
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Portland's brewery count was around 20 in 1999 and about 30 in 2009. It then began to spike upward, surpassing 50 by the end of 2012. We have something like 75 today. National numbers show a similar upward trajectory beginning in 2007. There are around 7,500 breweries today.</div>
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<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5731762/" target="_blank">PDX Brew City</a> has gone through several iterations. When I saw the film early on, my response to the bubble question produced a fair amount of snickering from the audience of mostly industry folks. Craft beer was still exploding at time and not many wanted to consider the eventual downside. Last time I saw the film, the bubble comment had been edited out. No need to ruffle restless feathers.</div>
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Of course, there's plenty of recent evidence in the form of closures. consolidations and related data that confirm the craft beer bubble is losing its form. We aren't talking about a total implosion, but the upward trajectory of the industry, once considered unlimited by some, perhaps many, has flattened considerably. What happened?</div>
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<b>Saturation</b><br />
Market saturation is the first and most important component in what has come to pass. It happened because the number of operating breweries and the volume of beer produced surpassed growth of the actual consumer market. When craft was growing at 15 percent annually, a thousand or two new breweries a year maybe made sense. In our present circumstance, no.<br />
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Saturation is not monolithic. By that, I mean there are still places that aren't locally or regionally saturated. Rural areas were slow to catch the craft beer bug and are slowly catching up. Most urban areas are fully saturated. That isn't just about breweries, by the way. Saturation includes breweries, pubs, taprooms, growler fill stations, pop-up bars, etc.<br />
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With consumers chasing more local beer in pubs, taprooms and the like, large regional brewers have experienced massive sales declines, particularly in mainstream grocery and retail. Those channels are now largely the domain of mass market lager and "pseudo" craft. Independent brewers, who once bolstered profits via mainstream channels, have been increasingly marginalized.<br />
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<b>Innovation Craze</b><br />
In an increasingly crowded market, brewers have gotten desperate to somehow differentiate themselves from others. You might think that would lead to an intense focus on quality standards as a way to stand out from the crowd. And there's more good beer today than there was 10-15 years ago. But quality has not been the primary focus.<br />
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What happened, instead, is that brewers started fooling around with radical approaches and ingredients, hoping to tweak the interest of fans who want something different every time they sip a beer. The rising power of social media influencers, who hype newness and uniqueness, almost certainly played a role in this transformation, in which craft beer achieved cult status.<br />
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What it means is newness and coolness are king. Breweries strive to produce a continuous stream of fashionable beers, preferably packaged in cans or bottles with glorious artwork designed to catch the eye of dazed consumers. Beer bars, taprooms and bottleshops must keep abreast of the newest beers and trends or be considered out of touch, irrelevant.<br />
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<b>Overload</b></div>
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The logical extension of saturation and innovation craze is the endless onslaught of events intended to create buzz and interest. These take the form of tap takeovers, release parties, tastings, as well as large and small festivals which cram the weekly, monthly and yearly calendar. There was a time, years ago, when we talked about event fatigue. We hadn't a clue what was coming.<br />
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Here again, the rising importance of social media influencers has helped drive what some might regard as event madness. Social media channels are bombarded with event details. The purpose of the madness is that breweries, taprooms, and festivals are able to show that, yes, they are perfectly in sync with market fads, trends and sensibilities. Almost everyone is stuck playing the game.<br />
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The cumulative effect of the cavalcade of events is overexposure and confusion. In practice, you see beers and brands being wildly hawked all over the place on a daily basis. They melt together and fade into the background quickly.<br />
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<b>Rabbit Hole</b><br />
This is the rabbit hole down which craft beer has fallen. You have to wonder where we go from here. Or if there's an upside.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-47740161140527312682019-10-28T09:16:00.000-07:002020-02-24T11:21:54.479-08:00Lompoc and the Legacy Brewery Hex Finishing up a week in Hawaii, I got a message suggesting that Lompoc Brewing was about to close. Two or three inquiries later, I learned it was all a vicious rumor, apparently started by irresponsible, fake news journalists and suspected communists.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWlzlqXv7vzjpJ5ekQPjq1ARbbp6h5x12Vys7uLktqgLj2x8sehKW7S618s99XIR3D-BH-qPt0qkdEpcnX1fxH1V4Ko6Z_DVHpy9Tu45moxB5pHxtDDm-XfyD_d4y7X1APsgVcEG48KsU/s1600/Lompoc+Logo+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="432" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWlzlqXv7vzjpJ5ekQPjq1ARbbp6h5x12Vys7uLktqgLj2x8sehKW7S618s99XIR3D-BH-qPt0qkdEpcnX1fxH1V4Ko6Z_DVHpy9Tu45moxB5pHxtDDm-XfyD_d4y7X1APsgVcEG48KsU/s200/Lompoc+Logo+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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A day later, the vicious rumor turned out to be true. Jerry Fechter was calling it a day and closing the Fifth Quadrant Brewpub, along with Sidebar. The Oaks Bottom Pub will carry on with Fechter at the helm, but it will remain a pub with no brewing and no connection to Lompoc. </div>
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Fechter's collection of pubs had shrunk from five a few years ago to just three in recent times. Hedge House on Southeast Division closed two years ago and now houses Little Beast. Lompoc Tavern, formerly New Old Lompoc where the adventure started in 1996, closed in September 2018. </div>
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When I was putting the final touches on Portland Beer in 2013, I included Lompoc on my list of the city's significant beer businesses. Laurelwood and Lucky Lab were the other two...the list being focused mainly on the multi-pub footprint of the three entities. </div>
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These are all what we currently refer to as legacy breweries. I'm not exactly sure how to define "legacy brewery." Is that a five-year-old brewery? 10 years old? 20 years old? Or does it just need to be a brewery that has failed to keep up with the twists and turns of the market? You tell me.</div>
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The Lompoc story is fairly well-known. Fechter, a transplant from Ohio and wannabe brewer, worked at Old Lompoc Brewing in Northwest Portland for several years in the early 1990s. When he saw an opening, Fechter inquired about buying the business. During a round of golf.</div>
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Soon enough, the owners came back with a number. Fechter thought he could manage it, but realized he would need an investment partner to pull off the purchase and make needed improvements. That's when legendary Portland publican, Don Younger, entered the picture.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2BoHEudhPtR7HU1y0AjbtU2ivFBAgtsX5CQI3szj23Yz8M-hL7RH1XFsuA-9trwxSfv3PobSZmcyXwzOW2xwIkdbo8uoEjUt8AuaCoFm2au4WMdk3YmfYpWVSLtAO34bt8a69y_ZcQB0/s1600/Old+Tav+Rat+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2BoHEudhPtR7HU1y0AjbtU2ivFBAgtsX5CQI3szj23Yz8M-hL7RH1XFsuA-9trwxSfv3PobSZmcyXwzOW2xwIkdbo8uoEjUt8AuaCoFm2au4WMdk3YmfYpWVSLtAO34bt8a69y_ZcQB0/s400/Old+Tav+Rat+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Don Younger tribute beer in 2013</i></span></td></tr>
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Fechter and Younger mixed blackout drinking with business over a period of several months. They eventually hammered out an agreement whereby Younger became a partner in the business, but stayed mostly in the background while Fechter managed day-to-day operations.</div>
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It turned out to be a good match. Old Lompoc was renamed New Old Lompoc to signify the change in ownership and did well. Fechter and Younger later opened the Fifth Quadrant, Sidebar and Hedge House. Fechter also partnered with the late Jim Parker on Oaks Bottom Public House. After Parker exited and Younger passed away (in 2011), Fechter became sole owner of the businesses. </div>
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As the list of brewery/brewpub failures grew over the past few years, many were left wondering which brewery might be next. After seeing Lompoc Tavern and Hedge House close, I added Lompoc to my "Most Likely to Fail" list. There was nothing diabolical about it. I always liked Jerry, who is one of the more jovial people you'll ever meet.</div>
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In recent years, I had several conversations with Fechter and with Mike De Kalb of Laurelwood about the difficulty faced by older, so-called legacy breweries. Probably the biggest challenge is that the people who follow craft beer tend to be attracted by shiny new breweries and beers.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDqdJyeIY5zFYP5bG2qOq5lFEnbVkfheBCq4d5JHwJIKwW6PifBv7dOjQbMJZCJhwhnO6pLwSLHcuPswJmWZZ6ofTVMYP753qqTDKrCyevEgcmFk-EETVm8-2aK1ipxNxLPFX_EU_D14k/s1600/P1070625+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDqdJyeIY5zFYP5bG2qOq5lFEnbVkfheBCq4d5JHwJIKwW6PifBv7dOjQbMJZCJhwhnO6pLwSLHcuPswJmWZZ6ofTVMYP753qqTDKrCyevEgcmFk-EETVm8-2aK1ipxNxLPFX_EU_D14k/s400/P1070625+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Sidebar entry 2014</i></span></td></tr>
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In the saturated beer market that is Portland, fads and trends are king. Customer loyalty is zero. Drinkers bounce from pub to pub and beer to beer with little thought, seeking the newest thing. That's why you rarely see a non-rotating tap at beer bars and pubs. Bad for business.</div>
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This is surely truer in a place like Portland, which is overrun with breweries and pubs, than it is in a rural setting like, say, Baker City or Yakima. The sheer glut of beer-centric businesses in Portland make it an increasingly difficult place to stay viable and relevant.<br />
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Add to overcrowding and fierce competition the fact that craft beer market growth is static or in gradual decline. That's bad news for everyone, including breweries that opened more recently, as they, too, will get old and be forced to deal with the challenges Fechter and De Kalb faced.</div>
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Laurelwood worked hard over the past decade to build brand recognition outside Portland. That's likely why, as things got tough, De Kalb was able to sell Laurelwood's intellectual property to <a href="https://www.brewbound.com/news/ninkasi-parent-company-legacy-breweries-acquires-aspen-brewing-laurelwood-brewing" target="_blank">Legacy Breweries</a>, parent of Ninkasi. Laurelwood's core brands have value in regional distribution.<br />
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Lompoc was not in a similar situation. Its brands never gained the kind of following that would have attracted Legacy or a similar entity. Fechter had his collection of pubs and that was where he was going to live or die in an increasingly trendy, difficult market. We know things didn't work out.<br />
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I don't think Lompoc failed due to bad beer. Sure, their standards came off as a little flat next to the fancy stuff many breweries are pushing out in wrapped cans. But you could always find more interesting stuff on tap in the Lompoc pubs.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx4fnuq99T0nql2MW128ShE2GNK_hj2gyHi5xvUa0kChIDP1x-PWs1CsR4WO2CPH0mUe7_HtXc46lun4RfDsL2zJj7EJIrMPk5C6qZNZuZG5dYNpuQwB4YAMj0AT2CWlJ5wOTE0Y7IFlM/s1600/C-Note+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="991" data-original-width="1600" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx4fnuq99T0nql2MW128ShE2GNK_hj2gyHi5xvUa0kChIDP1x-PWs1CsR4WO2CPH0mUe7_HtXc46lun4RfDsL2zJj7EJIrMPk5C6qZNZuZG5dYNpuQwB4YAMj0AT2CWlJ5wOTE0Y7IFlM/s400/C-Note+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>C-Note was a favorite of mine</i></span></td></tr>
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What went wrong? It wasn't the food and service, which I always found decent. I suppose the beer could have been more exciting and certainly more visible in beer bars and taprooms, though that would have been difficult as competition stiffened. At the end of the day, I think Lompoc mostly fell victim to being old and less cool in a saturated sea of newness.<br />
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The last day is Tuesday, Oct. 29, when the Fifth Quadrant and Sidebar close for good. Fechter will hold a "garage sale” next Saturday, Nov. 2, at Sidebar from Noon to 5 p.m. Vintage Lompoc bottles, schwag, glassware and more will be for sale.<br />
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Fechter's trajectory? Untied from the Lompoc brand, he'll be free to build the tap list he could never have built at Lompoc. With no brewing, he'll focus strictly on the pub part of the business. Things may work out fine for him, though I doubt he's pleased with how it happened.<br />
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Farewell, Lompoc. Thanks for the memories.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-22726170338085480742019-10-02T22:11:00.000-07:002019-12-04T21:26:49.666-08:00The Long Goodbye After 30 YearsMost of my beer friends don't know it, but my top priority when I arrived in the Portland area back in 1989 was to find a place to play racquetball. I eventually settled on <a href="https://lloydathleticclub.com/" target="_blank">Lloyd Athletic Club</a> (then Lloyd Center Courts), where I've been a member for 30 years. My time ends in late October.<br />
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Racquetball was my passion in those days. I wanted to join a club that had at least a handful of good players. Location was a secondary concern. I scoured both sides of the Columbia River for months before making a decision.<br />
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I chose Lloyd Athletic because it had a large group of active players and was in a reasonable location. Traffic wasn't as much of a mess as it is today. A trip to LAC from my house or office in Vancouver took about 20 minutes most days. That seemed okay.</div>
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By the time I moved to Portland in 1993, I was deeply immersed in the culture at Lloyd Athletic. I played challenge court, in leagues and sanctioned tournaments...literally thousands of matches. It was a fun place and I made a lot of friends...even met my wife there. I continued to play most of my racquetball there even after I became racquetball director at a club in Vancouver. </div>
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If you're looking for a beer angle, there is one. As I've noted before here, the club had three tap handles in the old days. They were occupied by Bud, Bud Light and Widmer Hef. We often wagered pitchers on games. If you were brave, the bet was for Widmer, which was something like $7 a pitcher. Bud and Bud Light were around $5. The club was a great social setting and we drank a lot of beer after playing. There are four taps now and the beer selection has improved considerably.<br />
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I've been thinking of leaving LAC for several years. I joined because of racquetball. My body, primarily my knees, can no longer deal with the game. I'll have partial knee replacement surgery in late October. Playing racquetball again will be possible, but maybe not wise. I probably should have stopped 10 years ago. Playing on increasingly brittle joints wasn't smart.</div>
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As my time on the court faded over the course of the last five or so years, I started using the club primarily as a place to work out with weights. The workout routine I follow can be done pretty much anywhere. For people who want court sports (the club has racquetball and squash courts), LAC is a good option. But I don't really need the courts any more. </div>
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There's more at work, of course. Traffic congestion makes for awkward car trips to the club. Parking is another issue. LAC has a small lot that's full most of the time. That wasn't a big problem in the old days, when membership was capped at around 300. Even if the lot was full, street parking was free. Today, you pay to park on the street. I avoid parking and driving issues during the summer by riding my bike, but that's not practical for much of the year. It's also increasingly dangerous.</div>
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What made the decision more difficult is that new management is doing great things. The club is cleaner and better in many ways than it had been under prior management, which seemed intent on running it into the ground. I doubt LAC will ever be what it once was in a racquetball sense because the game has failed to catch on with millennials. But there's reason to think the place can carry on as a nice fitness club with great social amenities.<br />
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Regardless, it's time for me to go. With racquetball no longer a priority, there are workout options closer to home, places I can get to by bike or car in far less time and with less hassle. Once my knee is recovered from surgery, I'll join one of them and see how it goes. Easier access may encourage me to work out more often. We'll see about that.</div>
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There are things I'll miss about Lloyd Athletic. Almost all of my racquetball contemporaries are gone, but I still have friends and acquaintances there. And I'll miss the familiar feel. It will be impossible for me to replace or replicate the friendships and experiences I acquired there.<br />
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But sometimes you need to move on.<br />
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<b>Postscript</b>: I quit Lloyd Athletic two weeks prior to my surgery. Three weeks later, I rejoined the club. The other potential workout places I considered didn't agree with me. So I'm accepting the traffic and parking hassles that come with membership. Still not sure about my racquetball future, but my repaired knee feels good. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-82720431232357652802019-09-05T09:13:00.001-07:002023-05-22T10:14:15.273-07:00A Sweeping History of Southern Oregon Beer<a href="https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467142441" target="_blank">Southern Oregon Beer: A Pioneering History</a> by Phil Busse<br />
Foreword by Jim Mills (founder of Caldera Brewing)<br />
The History Press/American Palate, 128 pages<br />
$22<br />
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Unlike Portland, Bend or Hood River, Southern Oregon isn't apt to appear high on the list of places beer nerds dream of visiting. The relative remoteness of the area surely figures into that. Regardless, there's good beer and a good story there.<br />
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Phil Busse's new book tracks the Southern Oregon beer story from frontier to contemporary times. It's part of the History Press series focused on American beer cities and regions. Portland Beer shares the same publisher.<br />
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It turns out the Southern Oregon story is quite different than what happened in Portland. The reason is largely the result of geography. While Portland was a bustling port with products moving in and out by the mid-19th century, Southern Oregon was isolated until the arrival of the railroads in the latter part of the century. In that way, it's trajectory more closely parallels Bend than it does Portland.<br />
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As a result of its isolation, Southern Oregon's early breweries were small and self-contained. Unlike Henry Weinhard, who was shipping beer up and down the coast and to the Far East during the second half of the 19th century, Southern Oregon's breweries served a local clientele. They had no access to outside markets.<br />
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Unknown to many today, the dominant town during that time was Jacksonville. Busse recounts Jacksonville's brewing history, led by several German immigrants, against its frontier veneer. There are some fascinating characters involved in that story. Jacksonville's stature faded after it was bypassed by the railroad. which cut a straight line from Grants Pass to Ashland. Medford was born in between, eventually to become the area's largest city.<br />
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The coming of the railroad invited national brands to the table throughout Oregon. That reality had a negative impart on Southern Oregon's small breweries. Busse notes that the brewery count was winding down years before Oregon implemented statewide prohibition (ahead of the country) in 1916. The national brands, particularly Anheuser-Busch, were the primary reason.<br />
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Busse spends a lot of time talking about the people who drove the region's beer industry during the pre-prohibition era...Veit Schutz, Joseph Wetterer and John Gottlieb Mehl, founders of the region's earliest breweries, but largely unknown outside this book. There are also a several women included in the coverage...Fredericka Wetterer, Mary Mehl and Marie Kienlen. All became prominent beer industry icons. There was, in fact, a semblance of equality on the frontier.<br />
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Prohibition all but destroyed brewing in Southern Oregon, as it did across the country. Most of the area's breweries closed. A Weinhard-owned facility in Medford got by making ice. There was a bizarre attempt to keep going on the part of Grants Pass Brewing, which manufactured denatured alcohol (legal for industrial use) and sodas. However, the soda turned out to be a ruse, as the brewery continued to make beer until it ran into trouble.<br />
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During the Prohibition era, Southern Oregon enjoyed great success as a producer of hops. It's an interesting concept, covered nicely here. The market for hops in the United States had collapsed. But World War I had destroyed agriculture in much of Europe. Hops acreage in Southern Oregon increased dramatically and the region joined the rest of the state in selling hops to European customers. There was, of course, no prohibition in Europe.<br />
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Beer was becoming the haven of the national brands by the time Prohibition ended in 1933. The situation got worse with the coming of World War II. By the end of the war, advances in packaging, refrigeration and shipping extended the reach of big beer. Despite increased per capita beer consumption, the brewery count was in steep decline. By 1947, there were only two breweries operating in Oregon: Blitz-Weinhard in Portland and Sick's Brewing in Salem.<br />
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The contemporary story of Southern Oregon beer is essentially focused on Rogue, Caldera and the smaller places that popped up in the area over time. Busse reviews the circumstances that set the stage for the success of the Rogue and Caldera and they helped fuel the beer culture there...things like the legalization of homebrewing in 1978 and passage of Oregon's Brewpub Bill in 1985.<br />
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The Brewpub Bill story is a retelling of what I reported in Portland Beer, which is listed in the brief bibliography. Prior to the publication of my book in 2013, everyone had the story exactly wrong. Even the main players thought the Brewpub legislation passed as part of a bill that let Coors into Oregon. I discovered that was not the case, that brewpubs were made legal as part of legislation that addressed liquor licenses at bed and breakfast establishments. There's no attribution in the text, but it's clear enough that this has become the accepted version of the story. <br />
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There are some silly errors in this book For example, the author describes the Burt Reynolds character in <i>Smokey and the Bandit</i> as a "truck driver trying to smuggle a load of Coors across state lines from Texas to Georgia." In fact, the Bandit <i>was </i>a truck driver. But he was driving interference for the truck carrying the beer in the movie. The truck driver was the Snowman, played to the hilt by Jerry Reed. It's a small, immaterial and amusing misstep.<br />
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A more serious concern is the lack of an index. That's annoying in a book like this because you can't easily access details. Even a rudimentary index would be better than nothing. This may not have been Busse's decision; it's quite possible that the penny pinching publisher didn't want the extra pages. Perhaps some of the non-historical photos could have been dispensed with. Very shoddy.<br />
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In the end, this is pretty good book. Busse does a nice job detailing Southern Oregon's beer past. There's enough detail, in terms of names, dates and places, to make your head spin. In a good way. I think the book will have strong appeal with anyone interested in Southern Oregon history. I'm not so sure about beer fans interested in the history of iconic beer cities. But who knows.<br />
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Finally, I should note that I don't know Phil Busse. I met and spoke to him briefly at a book launch event at Powell's last week. He's a longtime Oregon journalist who has extensive experience with alternative weeklies. He helped found the Rogue Valley Messenger in 2014. Other than the Powell's event, I don't know what plans he has to support the book release.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-8422738028707521302019-08-27T11:43:00.001-07:002019-08-28T14:47:17.004-07:00The Day Anheuser-Busch BlinkedIt turns out I was wrong. For the past couple of years, I had been expecting and predicting that Anheuser-Busch would purchase the Craft Brew Alliance based on contractual terms agreed to in 2016. The final deadline came and went last week with no offer. Blink.<br />
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There are reasons for everything and those of us who expected a deal missed the most important indicator...which is that the last of three escalating offer prices agreed to in 2016 was entirely too high in 2019. That's really what it came down to.<br />
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The escalating contractual prices have been reported here and there over the course of the last three years. During the first two years, AB could have purchased the CBA for less than the $24.50 required by the final 2019 deadline. It failed to act.</div>
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Had AB followed through with a purchase last week, the hefty price would have delivered a veritable financial windfall to CBA shareholders and executives, alike. Those folks are now holding stock that's trading at around $10/share. They were hoping for a gravy train deal that didn't happen. Sucky.</div>
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It was fairly obvious in recent weeks that the chances of a deal were dimming. The stock price was meandering around at under $15. Had anyone sniffed a deal, the price would have rocketed to $20 or more. Even the $15 price was artificial, propped up by looming buyout potential. As soon as it became known that there would be no deal, the price collapsed. And here we are.</div>
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Those of us who believed a deal would happen thought AB would pay the premium price to avoid the possibility of CBA being sold to another interested party. Prior to the deadline passing, the CBA could have sold itself to anyone, but AB had the right to counter. Now that the deadline has passed without a deal, the CBA can sell itself to anyone at any price and AB has no recourse. </div>
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There's a toxic pill attached to that because, as I've noted here before, the 2016 contract requires Anheuser-Busch to fulfill contract brewing and distribution terms through 2026 (2028 for the master distribution portion of the contract), <i>regardless </i>of who owns the CBA. Should the CBA be purchased by say, Heineken, AB would have to honor the terms of the contract. Many of us thought they'd avoid that possibility. We whiffed.</div>
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I need to backtrack for just a minute. One of the things everyone should fully realize is that outside Kona, the CBA has no value to AB. Widmer and Redhook are in steep decline. The other brands, even the ones that are growing, are small and really of no interest to big beer. The only reason they would buy the CBA is Kona, which continues to grow in a tough market. </div>
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Why was Anheuser-Busch willing to risk the possibility of losing Kona and being stuck with some fairly nasty contract terms? Good question. With craft beer flat or growing slowly, AB may fear that even Kona will falter. That notion may have been bolstered by the knowledge that the CBA primed the pump with advertising to help fuel Kona growth in early 2019. </div>
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But the market likely held the real key. Because the CBA has been routinely missing on revenue projections, shareholder return has been poor and the stock price has suffered. AB may have simply concluded it could pass on the buyout deadline and acquire the CBA for significantly <i>less </i>than the required offer price. That could happen in coming weeks.<br />
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There's another possibility I haven't seen mentioned. As part of its merger with SABMiller, Anheuser-Busch is required to give the Department of Justice 30-day notice of any brewery acquisition. What if AB gave DOJ notice and DOJ refused to consider the acquisition? I don't have any evidence of that, but I doubt either party would have admitted it. So it is a possibility.<br />
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Where does the CBA go from here? They'll discuss the future in a press conference next week. Some think the CBA can carry on independently (AB owns 31 percent). It will receive a $20 million international distribution incentive payment from AB that kicked in when no buyout materialized. That money could be used to pay down debt or finance marketing efforts for Kona.<br />
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Honestly, though, it's tough to see a way forward for the CBA under its current leadership. For the last three years, that leadership has been focused almost entirely on selling the business to Anheuser-Busch at a premium price. They failed. They also invested in pet brands and programs that failed to deliver value for shareholders. And they don't alone have the ability to help Kona, their only significant growth engine, reach its full potential nationally and internationally.<br />
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My guess is the CBA will soon sell to someone for something less than $20 a share. The buyer may or may not be Anheuser-Busch. In fact, I believe current CBA leadership, having been jilted at the altar, will aggressively try to sell to someone else while AB is stuck holding the 2016 contract bag.<br />
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The weeks and months ahead ought to be interesting. Don't touch that dial. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-43444656755012292002019-08-11T21:51:00.000-07:002019-08-29T10:43:56.043-07:00Biskie and Me: Life With the Best Dog She was born on Valentine's Day in 2009 in rural Oregon City. I don't recall the size of the litter, but I think it was the third for her parents, Lucy and Chester. Biskie would, of course, become my best friend and virtual assistant for much of the next 10 years.<br />
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She wound up with us by good fortune. Her older brother Blitz, born in 2007, replaced Bert, our Lab who passed away in late 2006. We liked Blitz' personna so much that we planned to get a second dog from the same parents the next year. This one, at my wife Laura's request, would be a girl.<br />
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We were in line to get the pick of the 2008 litter. Then Laura suffered a bad knee injury while skiing. Surgery and recovery time would be needed. With me working a crazy schedule, we decided a new puppy maybe wasn't the best idea. So we gave the pick to a friend and work colleague of mine, Tara, who today has Roxy.<br />
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We didn't put ourselves on the list for the next litter because we weren't sure what we wanted to do. We were both working a lot. After I got laid off in February 2009, we changed our tune and decided the time was right for a puppy. Puppies are labor intensive and it looked like I'd be at home for a while. The economy was woefully bad.<br />
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The catch was we weren't on the breeder's pick list. When we contacted her, we learned all the girls in the most recent litter were spoken for. Crap. Laura looked at pups from different parents and decided to pass. A week or so later, the breeder called and told us one of the buyers had backed out because they were moving. A Lucy/Chester pup would be available.<br />
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Which pup we didn't know. We were at the bottom of the list and would have access to the pup that was passed over by other buyers. Laura went out to Oregon City and looked at the pups. But we still didn't know which one would be ours. Of the two females in the mix, the breeder picked the one she thought was right for another buyer. We wound up with Biskie by default. A windfall.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9Sgki-X-TDW6vSBkoOW989QFJq1sM9a6w45STId6J1PKFFCVf1GTUkGW95-lMiwz3T3GtocvhB-I_qeAvlqpAHH1sQ8-S9For4xRw24gxB97eSmNq391YhuTEEik7mO1TjZt1bmpyPw/s1600/Trouble+Child+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1209" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9Sgki-X-TDW6vSBkoOW989QFJq1sM9a6w45STId6J1PKFFCVf1GTUkGW95-lMiwz3T3GtocvhB-I_qeAvlqpAHH1sQ8-S9For4xRw24gxB97eSmNq391YhuTEEik7mO1TjZt1bmpyPw/s400/Trouble+Child+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>With Blitz, April 2009</i></span></td></tr>
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I need to digress for a moment, because 2009 was a dreadful year for us. Early on, Laura's dad passed away. He'd been recovering from a stroke, but his death was unexpected. Then I was laid off, with really no chance of finding comparable work. Before the year was out, my dad would also pass away. Biscuit was the only good thing that happened to us that year. And she was great.<br />
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She was supposed to be Laura's dog, but it didn't stick. I was at home with her every day. I took the two dogs on regular jaunts. For several years, we would get in our beat up Mazda pickup and drive to Fernhill Park, an off leash dog park where they could run and chase squirrels until they were exhausted. Such great times, thinking back.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxiojZjjBoKrDkNAL-NhfTNZVQt_XLCbLGH8QCPr4WihYpdz8mx0yWOdCYQA11ObUXU5RHh8EOct00gag34JkcuFd4sNNFHhFoas9CaLowDtI8tbuWtN8FyL0R8Asb_MN5GPEH46iglQ/s1600/Biscuit+at+3+mos+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1202" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxiojZjjBoKrDkNAL-NhfTNZVQt_XLCbLGH8QCPr4WihYpdz8mx0yWOdCYQA11ObUXU5RHh8EOct00gag34JkcuFd4sNNFHhFoas9CaLowDtI8tbuWtN8FyL0R8Asb_MN5GPEH46iglQ/s400/Biscuit+at+3+mos+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>At 3 months, May 2009</i></span></td></tr>
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Because I was home with her most of the time, Biskie never spent much time in a crate. Her destructive brother did a lot of crate time, but she never destroyed anything. That might have been because I was with her constantly or because she had Blitz to keep her entertained. I tend to think the former. Take your pick.<br />
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About the names, we have chosen B-names for all of our Labs...Bert, Bruno, Blitz and Biscuit. Why? Because all but one of the Labs I grew up with had B-names...Beau, Banana, and Burleson. The only exception to the rule was Angus, a Lab I knew as a child. Laura went along with the naming convention and it stuck.<br />
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Biskie was just a baby when I took her to visit my mom in Liberty Lake (near Spokane) in July 2009. That's where she did her first significant swimming and retrieving. She was a natural who had no problem jumping off a dock or entering the water from the shoreline. I have photos and video of those early retrieves.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDtIxX2IFlBcUO4Yn8mu7NFs51NKd9wexLkaxqzM31fqtleLg05iAH9v9fCO1VHaOEKEz05uGfaYBDjQCazhSllN-RLyKaA5lglz0Ll0Ay29AI5FpBz28E7h0DDMuV-cGsPIA5hJv4YA/s1600/BiscuitRetrieve+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDtIxX2IFlBcUO4Yn8mu7NFs51NKd9wexLkaxqzM31fqtleLg05iAH9v9fCO1VHaOEKEz05uGfaYBDjQCazhSllN-RLyKaA5lglz0Ll0Ay29AI5FpBz28E7h0DDMuV-cGsPIA5hJv4YA/s400/BiscuitRetrieve+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Liberty Lake, July 2009</i></span></td></tr>
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It was evident from the day she arrived home that Biskie was a special girl. She was easy to manage and had a warm and entertaining personna. On that trip to Liberty Lake and on our various travels, she would eagerly follow my lead most of the time. I never worried about her racing off after something. I trusted her and my trust was (almost) never violated.<br />
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Her life was not without drama. She could be awkward at times. On one occasion, she jumped out the back of the truck with the tailgate still up while we were unloading the dogs. She went head over heels and caught a paw between the bumper and the truck body. Miraculously, she wasn't injured, a tribute to youth, flexibility and strength...but not coordination or good sense.<br />
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Whether by DNA or injury, Biskie developed something of an unstable rear end early in life. As a result, she refused to walk on bare wood or tile floors. We solved the problem at home with mats in the kitchen, rugs in the common areas and towels in between. When taking her on trips, we always carried a stack of towels to create a path on unfriendly surfaces we might find. A quaint memory.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7d_s_U0z5n-z8dz6IAF7l5XOXUFb-aJpCsCp1SB8r0nB3ExXVWdSr29Ox44wCzJYcR9mx5Y2zCaMHSYXXl40ALWcmkgi43bixhKVdnsz_HjSx6F8jZJQk6sx67rVsV4wuaVLAHVgjwxM/s1600/IMG_1893.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1413" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7d_s_U0z5n-z8dz6IAF7l5XOXUFb-aJpCsCp1SB8r0nB3ExXVWdSr29Ox44wCzJYcR9mx5Y2zCaMHSYXXl40ALWcmkgi43bixhKVdnsz_HjSx6F8jZJQk6sx67rVsV4wuaVLAHVgjwxM/s400/IMG_1893.HEIC" width="352" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Safe passage</span></i></td></tr>
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Another cute habit was her desire to collect sticks on our run/walks and bring them home. On occasion, she would attempt to carry sticks that more closely resembled small logs. She succeeded from time to time. People who saw her doing this would chuckle and sometimes ask to take photos of our silly girl.<br />
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A less fortunate quirk was her habit of scooping up and swallowing chunks of paper, garbage and other junk while running around in the nearby park. She got extremely ill and had to spend a night in doggie ICU after eating a soccer sock that plugged up her gut and almost killed her. That incident may have contributed to the condition that eventually struck her down.<br />
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Biscuit was not aggressive. There was never any threat of her biting a child or attacking another dog. But she took exception from time to time. If her older, larger brother attempted to co-op her food, she bit him about the ears and cheeks in protest. When a dog rudely stole a stick she was carrying on a walk one day, she looked to me for direction. "Get your stick," I said. She chased him down and bit him on the back of the neck until he dropped it. "Good girl!"I told her.<br />
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As mentioned, she became a sort of work assistant for me. Although not by choice, I never returned to full-time work after being laid off in 2009. No one would hire me. Still true. That led to a lot of freelance and contract work, most of which has been done at home. She was my constant companion, sleeping or chilling quietly on the pad next to my desk.<br />
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That arrangement came in handy when I was working on Portland Beer, essentially a fulltime job without the luxury of pay or benefits. As I toiled through the research and writing, I would occasionally get stuck and need to think something through. I would get down on the floor and cradle her head in my arms while considering the issue at hand. She accepted the contact gladly.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGgLGnxeg_dd2QXuvhOSxlNmYxuNG5EAwsxr45M6sK8qD0x5fdQ3zx8XJfFLkJu_RNZcxHFrgoBUaY4RrRersPS3yJn6hNgXpOFXEJLd203IOrkZp-kzV__kOSti_yjyk3989AMAOAg78/s1600/Biskie+sticks+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGgLGnxeg_dd2QXuvhOSxlNmYxuNG5EAwsxr45M6sK8qD0x5fdQ3zx8XJfFLkJu_RNZcxHFrgoBUaY4RrRersPS3yJn6hNgXpOFXEJLd203IOrkZp-kzV__kOSti_yjyk3989AMAOAg78/s400/Biskie+sticks+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Collecting sticks on the Oregon coast, April 2016</i></span></td></tr>
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There are so many great memories. One of the best is a trip we took in August 2016. We stayed in a house near the Deschutes River outside Sunriver. With easy access to the river, we took the dogs swimming daily. Biskie became expert at leaping off a boat dock to retrieve whatever we'd throw in the river. It was so damned entertaining to watch. Also fleeting.<br />
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We got disturbing news the following August. She had been peeing involuntarily in the house. A trip to the vet revealed high blood sugar. Our sweet girl was losing the function of her pancreas and had to start insulin therapy. The worst thing about that isn't the shots, by the way. The worst thing by far is the knowledge that your pet's life will be shortened.<br />
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For the next two years, we worked diligently to manage her blood sugars and keep her healthy. She immediately lost 10 or so pounds of water weight, not a bad thing. We struggled at times with blood sugars as her pancreas sputtered and produced erratic amounts of its own insulin. Eventually, we started feeding her four small meals a day to balance things out.<br />
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The shift in feedings required us to adjust our schedules. Fortunately, Laura retired shortly after we learned of Biskie's illness. I had started working a regular consulting gig, still doing a good portion of work at home. We had the flexibility to care for her, though it meant someone had to be at home to feed her and give shots. We traveled separately, except on one or two occasions.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ4tyzFyUAM46jkmosPNJlWAKpHj8SJ8XN54k0FZo_5klFiULcoVdSOYjy37BbR5OT9NcZUkMjrUhXsAH_WhbBnKUvhZXHEJJdQp-PfEhqRQaVNR-21IdZ8Z90kd5FXj9O_vpUGsY49K4/s1600/Rush4+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ4tyzFyUAM46jkmosPNJlWAKpHj8SJ8XN54k0FZo_5klFiULcoVdSOYjy37BbR5OT9NcZUkMjrUhXsAH_WhbBnKUvhZXHEJJdQp-PfEhqRQaVNR-21IdZ8Z90kd5FXj9O_vpUGsY49K4/s400/Rush4+%25282017_05_04+16_22_55+UTC%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Sandy River Delta, 2011</i></span></td></tr>
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I think we always knew the diabetes would catch up with her at some point. Certainly Laura knew. She worked in healthcare for 42 years and has expertise in diabetes. Biskie lived a quality life for most of the two years she had left. She lost most of her eyesight over the course of the last six months, but still functioned more or less normally by smell, sound and feel. Dogs are amazing.<br />
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Two of the biggest challenges we faced were occasional bouts of appetite loss and vomiting. Those issues are more significant with a diabetic dog than with a normal one because the result is erratic blood sugars, weight loss and possible death (low blood sugar). Our solution was always to change her food. Her appetite would return and she would rebound.<br />
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We didn't know when we'd run up against a wall. I needed to make a short trip to Liberty Lake in early August. Just before I left, Biskie had a bout of appetite loss and erratic blood sugars. In fact, both dogs had been ill with some sort of gut issue. Once again, changing her food brought back her appetite and she rebounded. She did fine while I was gone.<br />
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When I returned home Monday evening, both dogs greeted me. Biskie ate well and went on her normal walks Monday evening and Tuesday morning. When I arrived home on bike after a workout and a beer that night, she was waiting for me inside our driveway gate. That was normal. I had no idea the walk we were about to take would be our last. Life can be brutal.<br />
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On Wednesday morning, our girl didn't get up to eat her breakfast. Like her brother, she was always food driven, so this was a serious concern. She refused to eat anything. I got some hamburger and she ate a little, but couldn't continue. She was fading badly by Wednesday evening. Thursday afternoon, she slipped away peacefully in our arms at home, with assistance from a caring vet.<br />
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I've not been able to shake her loss. We had such a special connection, I think due to the hundreds of hours I spent with her while she was young and during a time when things were going poorly for me. We became pals. The suddenly severed connection has left me with a deep sense of loss. Laura had a slightly different relationship with our girl, but feels a similar sense of grief.<br />
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I can't help feeling like we were somehow cheated, that the 10 years we had with her weren't enough. But there's nothing to do about it. We don't have a time machine or a way to bring her back with a strand of DNA. So the memories we have are all we're going to have. Damn.<br />
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Godspeed, sweet girl. We loved you so much.💔<br />
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Note: We are not dogless. Blitz survives his sister and is a little confused about how to act as a solo dog because he has always had a stablemate. Biskie was his pal for 10 years and was always the one running things, even during her illness. He's trying hard to work it out...a good boy.<br />
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PS: At three weeks, I realize that our sense of loss is magnified by the fact that, with a brief exception, we've had two dogs in the house for nearly 25 years. Having just one seems strange and has been as hard for us to get use to as it has been for Blitz.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738527488860615106.post-42707235534368541272019-07-24T22:14:00.000-07:002019-07-28T18:57:42.999-07:00Changes Mostly for the Best at OBFSince my first Oregon Brewers Festival in 1991, I've missed only one...I was out of town visiting my mom in 1992. I worked the event as a volunteer for many of those years, but stopped when I started writing this blog. I've seen a lot of things at OBF, including the recent decline in attendance.<br />
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The changes they've implemented this year are by far the most significant I've seen in the 28 years I've been going. My impression is that many of the changes are going over well with festival patrons. Others maybe not so much.<br />
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<b>Wednesday > Sunday</b><br />
Bringing back Wednesday, after dropping it last year, has to be considered a big success. There were a lot of folks in the park today and not just people who work in the industry or the bozos who cover it. It looked to me like there were a lot of mainstream beer fans hanging out, drinking, chatting and staring at their phones. Sunday would have been dead by comparison. Organizers did a good job getting word out.<br />
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<b>The Venue</b><br />
The big change to the venue is, of course, switching the south beer trailers to the river side of the park, opening up the large shaded area for seating. That seemed to work well. Organizers set up a huge number of sitting and standing tables in the shaded area. And patrons were taking full advantage of it.<br />
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I have to say it was a little odd seeing the large walking path on the south side in space where there were tents in prior years. They have some small tents protecting the beer taps from direct sun, but they're quite small. They could have put larger tents there, given the tendency of people to cluster close to the taps. I suppose not putting larger tents there provided some incentive for folks to vacate the area and find shade. Hmmm. Good work.<br />
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<b>The Music</b><br />
For the first time ever, apparently, there is no live music at the festival. Instead, DJs and satellite speakers are spread around. The stated reason is that patrons could only enjoy the music if they were in the stage area. True enough. But I never heard people complain about it. You were either into the music of you didn't particularly care.<br />
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This switch to DJs makes no sense to me. The music was a mix of styles and the sound was often muddled in the common areas. The former stage area is completely wasted, with a small DJ hut and no shade or seating. WTF? I found the sound particularly annoying under the tent at the north end where it interfered with conversations. I hope they bring back live music next year. My advice for now: Bring headphones (and your own playlist) or bring earplugs.<br />
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<b>Fun Times</b><br />
Making the event more fun and user-friendly was a big part of this year's plan. They added a gaming area at the south end, a Meet the Brewer tent and a Brewer Dunk Tank. I didn't notice at the time because I wasn't really paying attention, but the Dunk Tank and the Meet the Brewer tent are positioned in strategic proximity to one another. "Great to meet you, mister soaked brewer."<br />
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The most important addition, to me, is the gaming area. They have more than a few cornhold lanes set up and there were a bunch of people playing. Hey, if Millennials want games, they shall have games. This is the kind of thing that adds a lot to the casual fun of an event. They'll certainly want to bring this back in future years, maybe even expand it.<br />
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<b>Odds and Enz</b><br />
I mentioned the return of the printed program and the end of the mobile app that some of us used last year. There were printed programs all over the place and I saw people looking at them intently. That was fine. I have no idea how many folks used the Untappd app organizers touted as an alternative to the mobile app. There were countless people staring at their phones, but you don't want to pry about what they've looking at. Might be too much info. Not cool.<br />
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That tasting glass is the same form factor as last year, The taste line is at 3 oz and pourers were painfully careful not the exceed it. Maybe a sharper outfit would have helped. On returning home, I checked the actual capacity of the glass, billed at 12 ounces by organizers. The glass overflowed at less than 12 ounces of water, which obviously doesn't include any head/foam. A full glass of beer is probably 10-11 ounces, given the foam. That means a full pour for 4 tokens is a slightly <i>worse </i>deal than a taste for 1 token...unless the beer lines get long and you want to save time.<br />
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<b>The Beer</b><br />
As noted in my previous post, I think the shift to Oregon-only beers is a good change...and long overdue. There was a time when they needed out-of-state beers to fill the lineup. That's not been the case for many years and there are now plenty of Oregon breweries that want to be part of this event. And festival patrons want them here.<br />
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A possible downside to the change is that some of the breweries at this year's event are new and small, and maybe lack the expertise of established places. One of my geek friends offered up that the beer quality is a little off due to the altered reality. I don't know. I tasted around 30 beers and found more winners than losers. Of course, it <i>was </i>my list.<br />
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You might check the <a href="https://www.newschoolbeer.com/" target="_blank">New School</a> site for a list of the best beers. Ezra and Michael were determined to sample every beer before the end of the day and their intel should be posted tonight or early tomorrow. I did my own tasting and didn't taste close to all the beers. Plus, I trust these guys...sorta.<br />
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Some of my favorites were Upright (Flora Fantasia), Migration (Big Hazy Kane), Ecliptic (Key Lime Gose), Ordnance (Lite-Hearted Lager with Lime) and pFriem (Landbier). The worst beer I tasted, by far, was Full Sail's Malted Milkshake IPA. Something went wrong there.<br />
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<b>To Go</b><br />
I suppose you can always find something to bitch about with an event like this. Maybe it's the glass or the venue or the program or the beer. Fine. But I think the changes they've made this year are mostly for the better. Give it a shot.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1