Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
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Strong Beer 36 Beverage Dynamics • July/August 2017 www.beveragedynamics.com "Big imperial stouts are an obvious choice because the big malt presence can temper the ethanol a bit. But the obvious choice can also be an easy way out, so the brewers making these huge beers are always looking for something new," Parker says. "A strong rum barrel-aged beer with pumpkin and spices? Sure. A 15% ABV bourbon barrel-aged stout with locally sourced coffee? Why not? Soon we'll be trying a blonde 15% ABV beer and aging it in tequila barrels. We don't know if it will work, but there's only one way to fi nd out." WHO AND WHAT Given their rarity, strength, extreme profi les and higher cost, very strong beers have a smaller consumer audience than lower alcohol, less challenging styles. Some of these beers enter the realm of "whales"—highly sought-after beers that inspire fans to camp outside breweries for the privilege of buying a limited number of bottles, which are then hoarded, traded and bragged about on-line. But the appeal of very strong beers is not limited. As head of the barrel/strong beer program at Avery, Parker initially kept the bottling runs small, thinking that the 15+% beers were the exclusive realm of beer geeks. "But the beer world has evolved quite a bit and now we can easily send out three thousand cases of the best sellers. At this point I'd guess that only a small frac- tion of the people buying these extra strong beers are the hard- core beer geeks," he says. "Now there's a much larger portion of people who simply want something interesting that they ha- ven't had before. As that group of people has grown, so has the popularity of these beers. Exotic beers of all kinds have found their way into the mainstream." Kosmicki sees enthusiasts who are not die-hard geeks who buy the stronger beers for special occasions. He's glad that Founders is releasing its stronger beers in 12-ounce four packs, as well as the 22-ounce or 750-ml format that has become the standard bottle for a "gourmet" beer. "This just seems to make a little more sense to me," he says. "You can drink one now, give one to your friend, and cellar one. It's not such a big commit- ment to crack one open." JUMPING THE SHARK − OR THE SQUIRREL Somewhere above 20% alcohol, between Utopias (which holds its own against fi ne spirits of all kinds) and beers in rodent skins, very-strong beer crosses from art to gimmickry. Serious brew- ers agree that the line has to do with brewing for fl avor versus brewing for strength, as well as quality. Kosmicki faces a challenge brewing commemorative beers for Founders where strength has become part of the concept. "I did a 10% beer for our 10th year anniversary, and a 15% beer for our 15th. And it was diffi cult to get that 15 percenter up there. Now we are on 20 years this year and a lot of people want to know if I'll make a 20% beer. I don't know. Ultimately, it comes back to the quality. High alcohol for the sake of it - I have a hard time getting behind that." Parker also stresses the importance of intention and fi nal result. "Is your goal to make the strongest beer in the world just so you can get more likes on Twitter and maybe a mention on a major news source? Then it's likely a gimmick," he says. "Is your goal to make a beer that stretches the boundaries of people's perception a wee bit and introduces them to new fl avors? Is it to make a beer that will pair well with food, just like a Madeira or dessert wine? While it can be easy to dismiss these beers as gimmicks, a majority of brewers making these high-alcohol beers are in it for the pursuit of beer." After 15 years of production, Samuel Adams founder Jim Koch still relishes the revolutionary nature of Utopias. "Utopias is the lunatic fringe of extreme beer—it's unlike any naturally fermented beer ever brewed in the world and meant for any- one who's interested in experiencing a beer they've never tasted before," he says. "Utopias radicalizes the perception of what a beer can be and is just as experimental today as when we fi rst created it in 2002." BD JULIE JOHNSON was for many years the co-owner and editor of All About Beer Magazine. She has been writing about craft beer for over twenty years. She lives in North Carolina, where she was in- strumental in the Pop the Cap campaign that modernized the state's beer laws. Seventeen states place some kind of restriction on very- strong beer, in the form of alcohol caps or conditions on its sale, such as requir- ing an additional license or restricting the location of sales. Although this is clearly a concern for beer enthusiasts and professionals in those states, it rarely influences the decisions of breweries that choose to make these beers, in part because very-strong beers are generally brewed in smaller volumes. Parker recalls that, for the first decade he worked at Avery, his parents in Ohio had to drive to Kentucky to buy the special beers he made. But these laws generally didn't affect Avery's barrel program. "Despite the random rules of each state, we've always pressed forward with the prime directive of making the beers that we want to make. If a few states have laws preventing their sale, so it goes," he says. "They'll find a home somewhere else. It might not be the objectively best business plan, but it's worked for us." There are exceptions, however. Kosmicki remembers one instance, concerning Founders well-known Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS). "Ohio used to have a 12% cap, and they are neighbors and a pretty big market," he says. "One year KBS clocked in at about 12.4 and we actually brewed a separate batch that came in at 11.9 just for Ohio. It was a lot of hassle to do it, but it was important to us. Maybe going forward we won't have to face that again." LEGAL ISSUES