Monday, January 23, 2012

Connecticut Blue Laws Under Review

After decades of operating under antiquated regulations, Connecticut, the state that the Nor’easter Brewing Company is headquartered in, is currently reviewing their infamous Blue Laws.  Although our state never actually ratified the 18th amendment, calling for prohibition, Connecticut is often referred to as the Blue Law State.   Two examples of this reference include the lack of Sunday liquor sales which have been prohibited since 1933, and the confining serving hours of restaurants and bars only allowing liquor served until 1am Sunday through Thursday (2am on Friday and Saturday).  Accordingly, drinkers are flocking to neighboring states and this results in fewer sales for

Connecticut establishments.



Governor Malloy is currently lobbying to change many of the current regulations to permit liquor sales on Sunday, grant permission to bars and restaurants to remain open until 2am for all 7 days, and ease policies for grocery stores that sell alcohol as well as allow them to market beer until 10pm.  If 100% successful, other revisions to the law would include, small convenience stores being given the option of selling beer, as well as one person, or one LLC, allowed to operate more than only the two package stores now permitted.  One other modification Malloy is seeking includes the minimum bottle and quantity discount law, which the governor is interested in eliminated altogether. Removing regulations such as posted prices, quantity discounts, and depletion allowances could and would hurt the smaller proprietors; this grants regulated price levels allowing them to buy alcohol at competitive pricing to the bigger box stores.  If the removal is successful, this would also create great harm for the smaller craft beer brewers… more on this in another release, but it is NOT good!



The Governor recently reported that Connecticut is behind the times and losing important tax revenue because residents are buying their beer, wine and spirits across the border in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York.  We at Nor’easter Brewing think Gov. Malloy has several good points, and reducing many of these obsolete regulations should certainly assist with our states’ sales.  Why the push back?   It appears the local, smaller liquor stores and restaurant owners believe that sales will not improve, at least not to the extent that the additional sales will cover the extra costs of staying open.  They also believe DUI incidents will increase.  Lastly, but very important, eliminating price posting and promoting quantity discounts is NOT a beneficial idea, and would place the majority of smaller off premise stores at jeopardy as well as smaller breweries and wineries. 



The legislation will be reviewing Governor Malloy’s requests in the current session and we will report results as they occur.   We would enjoy hearing comments from our readers.  These state government discussions are occurring now and we can incorporate your ideas into our presentations to the state.







Thursday, January 19, 2012

More on State of the Beer Market

Earlier this month we reported on the reduction of sales in the USA for the big four world leaders; Anheuser-Bush, Miller, Heineken, and Carlsberg.  More 2011 figures have been confirmed and we thought we would share these with our readers.
-2011 beer shipments were the lowest since 2003
-Worldwide, beer shipments down 2.9Million barrels (nearly 40Million cases) or 1.4% from 2010
-Budweiser shipments fell 2.9Million barrels (2.9%) to less than 100Million barrels (actual 98.8Million).             
This is the first time Anheuser-Busch dropped below 100Million in 10 years!
-MillerCoors shipments fell 3% to less than 60Million barrels
-ABInbev USA market share reduced to 47%, and MillerCoors now at 28.5%
-Heineken USA shipments fell 4%
-Craft beer continues to increase in volume and market share in USA
-Yuengling sales grew 16.9%  (now USA largest brewery)
-Boston Beer (Brews Sam Adams) increased 8%
-2011 ended with over 1800 operating breweries and nearly 700 in planning!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Kolsch Style Beer

The Kolsch styled beer was first brewed in Cologne (Koln), Germany and will be offered as a seasonal beer by Connecticut's  Nor'easter Brewing Company as a summer seasonal selection.  This style is not a widely offered beer here in the United States; however, it is a perfect brew for a warm summer's day or evening.  The light body, pale golden shade, and crisp, dry finish make this a perfect choice.


Although most German brewed beers tend to be bottom fermented Lagers, the Kolsch style is brewed as an Ale.  Typically, the base malt is a Pilsner barley with up to 15% malted Wheat.  In fact, I understand most beer drinkers mistake this for a pilsner, but this style is unique. The special blend of barley, together with the noble hops and two stage fermentation (including over two months in cold storage) yield a soft malt flavor and slight undertone of bitterness.  The Kolsch beer pours out with a delicate, snow white head of foam and boosts a medium to medium high carbonation.  In Germany, Kolsch Beers are served in a tall, cylindrical glassware called 'stange'.

The Kolsch style is generally brewed to an Original Gravity of 1.044-1.050 and a low bitterness of 20-30IBU with a pale golden shade of 3.5-5SRM.  It has a low alcohol rating of 4.4-5.2%ABV.  This beer style is outstanding along side a seafood dinner and will make a salad pop.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

The World Outside Craft Beer

Although the standing in world rankings remain the same with Anheuser-Busch InBev solidly at #1, SAB Miller in second place, followed by Heineken and Carlsberg; the dynamics in the USA are changing. While it is still true that ABInBev (AKA "the king of beers" ) still commands first place for it's Bud Lite brand, as well as over all beer sales, it has recently been nudged and perhaps awoken.  For the first time in recent memory, the flagship brand with the familiar white, red, and blue label which had enjoyed second place, was just passed by Coors Light (18.2Million barrels-over 250Million cases versus the Budweiser label at 17.7Million barrels-nearly 245Million cases).  I might make note of the fact that since 1988, shipments of Budweiser's 'go to' beer has slipped a whopping 60%. AB (now known as the King of Beer - drop the final s for losing market Share) has controlled the number one and two spots for over 20 years. 


Research indicates that Budweiser has witnessed a sales drop of 4.6% overall last year for all brands, and 2009 and 2010 were no picnics for the company.  In fact, all the big beer companies are losing sales. Many of the premium imported beers are down as well. The shining star in the USA is the craft beer breweries - with double digit growth. 


Many forecast that the  Bud-Miller-Coors breweries will begin to focus on the growing craft beer market; however, the reality is they are already playing in this field - note Blue Moon, Goose Island, Leinenkugel, Red Hook, Kona, Rolling Rock, Alexander Keith's, Killian (the list goes on). This strategy does not appear to be working.  Maybe more multi-million dollar Super Bowl advertisements or additional acquisitions in a current successfully operating micro brewery? 
Truly, this is a turn of events. 
Could the Boston Brewing Company, brewer of Sam Adams,  become the next King of Beers?
Comments?