The Audacity of "The Audacity of Hops"

Reading books like this make me feel like I'm an expert.  Of course, it's author Tom Acitelli who's the expert on the history of America's craft beer revolution, not me.  But he tells the story with such clarity and detail in this incredibly researched book that any reader will feel like an expert on the America's craft beer revolution after reading his new book, The Audacity of Hops.

Acitelli pulls off this audacious plan to include so many different actors and stories of craft beer's origins and weave them into a engaging and sweeping narrative using a concise, yet conversational tone providing just enough detail to keep everything connected together.  This book could have easily degenerated into a tedious, linear "checklist" of people and events, collapsing under the shear weight of Acitelli's research.  Instead, Acitelli integrates numerous short, bite-sized chapters into a mosaic from which the story of craft beer emerges, a story where just a couple breweries in the 70's and a few scattered homebrew clubs to somehow coalesced into the 10 billion dollar industry craft beer is today.

Of the many insights I gained from this book, four really stand out.

1) The craft beer industry has always been a chummy collaborative industry
I've always been struck by how chummy "competitive" craft breweries always are.  Arguably, that was integrated into the industry's DNA from the beginning since the late 70's, an example being Anchor's Fritz Maytag letting New Albion's Jack McAuliffe drive his pick-up from Sonoma County to Anchor's Brewery to fill it up with as much malt as he could load in the flatbed.   There was no other way McAuliffe could obtain malt in the low quantities his small brewery could afford, and without Maytag's assistance, New Albion would have ceased operations much sooner than it did.

2) Contract brewing and gypsy brewers are nothing new
From almost the very beginning, new breweries used the trick of short circuiting the need for enormous capital investments to build a brewery by finding breweries to make their beer under contract. Plenty of breweries with excess capacity were only happy to oblige back in the 80's, as they do today.

3) The IPA craze is a pretty recent development
Fritz Maytag's main beer was a Steam, Jack McAuliffe's New Albion Brewery made Stouts, Porters and Pale Ales, Sierra Nevada's Ken Grossman claim to fame was a Pale Ale (albeit a hoppy one), Jim Koch's Boston Beer brewed a Lager, New Belgium and Pete Slosberg's made their names with Amber Ales. The IPA really doesn't arrive on the scene in a big way until the last decade.

4) The craft brewing bubble of the late 90's was mostly fueled by investors seeking to go public or get rich quickly
It's an open question whether we're entering a craft brewing bubble with all the new breweries being founded and increasing capacity of existing breweries.   Most of these recent new breweries are in the classical tradition of home brewers turned businessmen, turning their passion for brewing into their livelihoods.   Whatever happens, it will certainly have a different character than the bubble in the late 90's where a lot of outside investors looking to get rich quickly with public offerings got burned, a product of those go-go times.

Interestingly enough, I started reading "The Audacity of Hops" a few days after finishing "Bitter Brew", William Knoedelseder's  excellent book about the rise and fall of Anhueser-Busch.  From afar, Anhueser-Busch looked like a mighty fortress.   But within, this company run as a virtual Busch-family monarchy struggled mightily since the 70's due to unchecked power and privilege of wealthy Busch family members who became increasingly out of touch and unfit to run the company.    Bitter Brew was a fascinating contrast to the story of people like Fritz Maytag and Ken Grossman who built up their empires from virtually nothing through shear hard work and innovation. 

Which underlies the point that the American craft brewing revolution is about a lot more than simply great beer.  It's very much about the triumph of American entrepreneurial capitalism over stodgy cronyism

Rambles: Slowly Reading Through "The Audacity of Hops" and other new happenings



 

I'm enjoying a slow meander through "The Audacity of Hops" by Tom Acitelli this summer.
  Time being a precious commodity for me this summer, I'm only getting a few minutes here and there for reading.  I've found The Audacity of Hops, Acitelli's  new book on the American Craft Brewing revolution an enriching read, due primarily to the impressive amount of research Acitelli puts forth in an engaging style on each page.  He's really captured the people and events of the movement quite nicely.   Books like this often degenerate into "bus schedule" of one tedious event after another.  Instead, we're given bit sized chapters of a certain place and time in the movement that connect to provide the whole picture.  I'll post full review once I'm finished.


Some Good Beers I've Had Lately
On a recent searing hot day, Bison's Brewing Chocolate Stout was an unlikely choice but it turned out to be good one.  This dry stout has an impressive depth and complexity to its roasty character.  I've also recently enjoyed El Toro's Awesome IPA. It's a little sweet and sticky with plenty of grapefruit peel character in the best tradition of West Coast IPA's.

Headlands Brewing Company Debuts
Headlands Brewing Company, named after the famed Headlands of Marin County, is set to debut in the Bay Area with three beers: Group G Belgian RyePa, Pt. Bonita West Coast Lager and Hill 88 India Pale Ale.  Headlands is co-founded by Patrick Horn of the highly respected Pacific Brewing Laboratories, and Phil Cutti, head brewer at Southpaw BBQ head brewer who is also a well known Bay Area endurance athlete.  (What's this nonsense about "never trust a skinny brewer?")

In a press release announcing their new brewery, Cutti declares "Beer is a social and cultural thing and part of our objective is to bring that concept to life by connecting people and maybe even playing a part in their new adventures. It goes without saying that we also look forward to producing some fantastic and thoughtfully produced beer in the process.”  Patick Horn adds  "We are excited to combine our love for the great outdoors and high quality beers. The craft beer scene has a lot of momentum right now in the Bay Area and we are thrilled to be part of this community."

More information is available on the Headlands website and of course, you can follow them on Twitter.

San Francisco's W. G. Barr Beverage Company Launches T.W. Pitcher's Snake Bite
Formed this year by Wilson Barr and Tommy Hester, San Francisco based W. G. Barr Beverage Company enters the world of beer cocktails with T. W. Pitcher's Snake Bite, based on the traditional British pub mix of lager and cider.  “During my time in the U.K., I saw people at pubs ordering round after round of this mixture of lager and cider called Snake Bite,” says Barr in a press release. “It was flavorful, crisp, and really easy to drink. I quickly realized Snake Bite had the potential to be a successful beverage in the United States.”

An e-mail from W. G. Barr CEO Wilson Barr confirmed Snake Bite is bottled and brewed in the Midwest for eventual distribution on both coasts, adding "Snake Bite is only available in the Bay Area at the moment, and we will focus on building a solid base here in San Francisco before expanding."

Circle the Calendar

The organizers of the 408k Race are expanding into new Bay Area codes beyond the South Bay.  On July 21st is the Marin 415 mile (a five mile race) to benefit Girls on the Run.  And then the series heads to the East Bay for the Let's Go 510k (a 10 k race) October 19th on Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley, with the race finishing on the horse race track. 

This year's debut of the Muscle Milk Woodsy trail race series includes a race this September 7th in Oakland's Joaquin Miller.   It's an 8.5 mile trail race, and you can check out the event website for further details and registration.