Programming Note: This blog has moved and this will be the last post at this location. Please point your blog readers to the new site: ramblings-of-a-beer-runner.blog
For this month's Session, Christopher Barnes at "I Think About Beer" asks American bloggers: "What place do imported beers (traditional European) have in a craft beer market?"
Hmmmm....I'm not quite sure what this Session is supposed to be about. There are plenty of imported beers that aren't from Europe, and a decent number of imported beers from Europe really can't be described as "traditional European". And of course, we could be here all night just debating what the "craft beer market" is.
Anyway, I like imported beers. Mexican food is better with Pacifico Classico. Sapporo is meant for sushi. Imported beers add an extra note to authenticate these cultural experiences. Unfortunately for beer importers, this often creates a rather limited market. Sapporo released their Premium Black Lager last fall in part to extend their reach in the United States beyond sushi bars, going so far as to tout their beer as "well suited for pairing with a variety of hearty and spicy dishes from around the world, including traditional German, Asian, Cajun and Latin cuisines." I learned about Sapporo Premium Black recently from a Sapporo representative pitching Sapporo Premium Black as an alternative to drinking Stout on St. Patrick's day. Marketing a Japanese beer to celebrate St. Patrick's Day or to enjoy with Wienerschnitzel seems incredibly desperate. You'd think they'd have a lot more success saying "Sapporo tastes great with burgers" and leaving it there.
As he tends to do with all things these days, President Trump threatens to turn this whole imported beer thing upside down as he contemplates import tariffs. I would not want to be the Director of US Sales for say, a Chinese or Mexican brewery right now. It's probably not easy being a European importer either.
As for traditional European imports our host wants us to talk about, my opinion is they provide a great avenue to learn beer's long European history. I just wish they weren't so damn expensive. Which underlies another problem with imports. Beer is relatively heavy and often sold in breakable glass bottles, neither of which make the product cost effective to ship long distances. Living in Northern California, I can find lots of great beers from local breweries at lower prices. Why buy imports?
Well, I learned to appreciate how America transformed English Ales by sampling a few English imports. I also learned to appreciate English Ale by taking a short drive to Freewheel Brewing in Redwood City, CA which specializes in cask-conditioned English-style Ales. I've sampled imports from other European countries and think I understand how they taste in their homeland. I use the word "think" because I often wonder how fresh the product is, travelling all that way and sitting on the shelf until the day I buy it. More than I few times I've been intrigued enough to consider buying an import, only to look closer, notice dust all over the bottle and move on. No point in spending a lot of money on what might be old stale beer.
Our Session host is an import beer manager at a speciality beer distributor. He has a hard job.
No comments:
Post a Comment