AB InBev's Golden Road to Open a Brewery in Oakland - Can they successfully transplant into the Bay Area?

The East Bay Express article seemed ominous enough. Under the headline "Corporate Beer Overlords AB InBev to Open Golden Road 'Craft' Beer Garden in North Oakland", readers were warned  Golden Road Brewing filed permits with the city of Oakland to open a beer garden on 40th Street between Broadway and Manila Avenue. Golden Road became part of the growing empire of A-B InBev brands late 2015 when they were acquired by the multi-national brewing giant.  The short article ends with a quote from Tom McCormick of the California Craft Brewers Association claiming A-B InBev's takeover of breweries like Golden Road is the biggest threat to the craft beer industry. The article seems little more than a call to arms to be spread on social media to rally the masses against big evil corporate beer.

Fair enough. People should be informed what companies are behind beer brands like Golden Road to make informed choices. But the "big beer evil, local beer good" vibe to the article seems rather dated, especially given the tremendous transformation in the brewing industry in just the past few years and the triumphs of "craft" over large corporate breweries. Still, the message still has a lot of resonance given AB InBev is no longer a lumbering giant resorting to using talking frogs to sell tasteless lagers. In just the past couple years, AB InBev co-opted the craft beer playbook, buying up craft breweries to create a local presence in major markets, acquiring Seattle's Elysian, Oregon's 10 Barrel, and LA's Golden Road as part of that strategy on the West Coast.

Notice there are no Northern California breweries on that list. Over the past couple years, Elysian, 10 Barrel and Golden Road six-packs and tap handles popped up all over the Bay Area, and AB InBev has demonstrably built up a following in the Bay Area with their craft brands. But what's going on in Oakland is a step further than that. By building an actual Golden Road brewery in the Oakland, AB InBev is effectively attempting to establish themselves as a local Bay Area brewery, a plan as diabolical as it is smart. Of course, most people are in favor of things like new beer gardens to go to and new businesses which increase employment, raising these sort of positives about AB InBev's investment in Oakland makes sense, but seems like missing the point.

Of course, the big questions are: "Can AB InBev pull this off?" and "Could they be planning to create breweries in other Bay Area neighborhoods?"  Well, looking at some of the social media comments on the East Bay Express article, success for AB InBev seems like a good bet. While there's plenty of dissent like "Nope, not stepping foot on the premises", I noticed a surprisingly number of counterpoints. "I agree that this seems a great development for North Oakland" wrote one commentor.  AB InBev is muscling into the Bay Area to become a "local" brewery under their craft brand Golden Road, and the questions is not so much can they pull off this audacious feat, but how successful they'll be at it.

Cooking with Beer for the Holidays with Chef Ian Knauer of the TakePart Tastemakers



Smoked IPA_Braised Duck Legs with Cherry Gravey
(Image provided by TakePart Tastemakers)

Looking for a good beer recipe for your holiday dinner?  Even if you aren't, you might be intrigued by a recent video of the TakePart Tastemakers series.  It's devoted to spotlighting leading local businesses committed to bringing their communities food produced in more environmentally sustainable ways.  As part of this campaign, TakePart is also launching key social initiatives designed to help people make better food choices and improve America’s food system as a whole.

On an recently released episode, the intrepid Tastemaker's Chef Ian Knauer visits Golden Road Brewing in Los Angeles to find ingredients to add to his Thanksgiving meal.  It's a solid, well produced video serving as a reminder how craft beer is at the forefront of a new consciousness of how food can be better delivered to our tables. You can view the episode at www.takepart.com/tastemakers/video and check out a couple of Chef Knauer's recipes below.  If you'd like .pdf copies of these recipes, drop me an e-mail you'll using the e-mail form you'll find at this link and I'll send them to you.  Enjoy!

 

Smoked IPA-Braised Duck Legs with Cherry Gravy

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 carrots

2 celery sticks

1 onion, halved

1 head garlic, halved

6 parsley sprigs

6 fresh duck legs

1 cup smoked IPA

2 cups duck or chicken stock

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon water

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1⁄2 cup cherry preserves

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and parsley in a deep roasting pan. Season duck with salt and pepper, then place on top of vegetables in pan. Add stock and beer to pan and cover with foil. Braise duck until very tender, about 21⁄2 hours. Transfer duck to a broiler pan, skin side up. Strain braising liquid and separate fat. Save fat for another use.

Bring 3 cups of braising liquid to a boil in a medium heavy pot and boil until reduced by about half, about 10 minutes. Stir together water and cornstarch, then stir into braising liquid. Boil until thickened, about 1 minute. Stir in preserves and transfer to a serving boat.

Preheat broiler. Broil duck about 3 inches from heat until skin is browned and crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer duck to a serving platter and serve with cherry gravy.

 

 

 

 

Crispy Beer-Roasted Duck

Ingredients

1 (6-lb) duck

1 small orange, quartered

5 or 6 thyme sprigs

2 rosemary sprigs

1 sage sprig

2 cups boiling Smoked IPA

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.

If necessary, cut off wing tips with poultry shears or a sharp knife. Remove and discard excess fat from body cavity and neck, then rinse duck inside and out. Season cavity with salt and pepper, then fill cavity with orange, thyme, rosemary, and sage. Tie legs together with kitchen string. Fold neck skin under body, then put duck, breast side up, on a rack in a 13- by 9- by 3-inch roasting pan and pour hot beer over duck (to tighten skin). Pour out any beer from cavity into pan. Pat duck dry inside and out, reserving water in pan, then rub duck inside and out with kosher salt and pepper.

Roast duck, breast side up, 45 minutes, then remove from oven. Turn duck over and roast 45 minutes more. Turn duck over again (breast side up), tilting duck to drain any liquid from cavity into pan. Continue to roast duck until skin is brown and crisp, about 45 minutes more (total roasting time: about 21⁄4 hours). Tilt duck to drain any more liquid from cavity into pan. Transfer duck to a cutting board and let stand 15 minutes before carving.