Beer Marketing

There are many interesting beer marketing ploys by beer companies that entices the consumer to buy their product.  In my research efforts to learn more about beer I have focused on three, probably the big 3, of these ploys.  I will add that, while misleading, the subject of the ploys are used in the brewing process, but have nothing to do with the flavor.  Let's take a look.

"Beechwood aged" - Beechwood chips are added to the fermenters to create more surface area for the yeast to cling to.  This results in an accelerated fermentation process.  It was posted in RealBeer.com's forums that a poster's relative who interned at the brewery said the chips were "boiled / cleaned beforehand to make sure it won't impart any flavor." 

"Triple Hops Brewed" -  This isn't a ground breaking brewing method.  According to Paul Hightower of the Dallas Examiner:

In all beers, hops have three distinct applications (the so-called “triple hops” process):

• Bittering hops. A first hops addition is introduced early in the boil. This allows the volatile (airborne) components of the hops to escape and the stronger flavor oils to break down. Brewers use hops’ bitter nature to offset the sweetness of the malt; without bittering hops, beer would taste too sickly sweet to drink.
   
• Flavor hops. A second hops addition is introduced near the end of the boil. With this addition, more of the natural hops flavor is retained as it doesn’t have the time to boil away or break down. This can add layers of complexity to the flavor, marrying the malted grains with the herbal freshness of the hops.
   
• Aroma hops. A third hop addition is often introduced either just after the boil has stopped or later, during the fermentation or conditioning process (also known as “dry hopping”). This has the same effect as throwing fresh herbs into a dish just before serving. All the volatile compounds are retained, and the fresh hops aroma is captured in the nose of the beer.

"Frost brewed, Ice Brewed, Glacier Brewed, or Cold Brewed" -  Beer must be boiled during the brewing process...period.  The only information that I could find relating to "frost brewing" is from the book How to Brew.  It states, "the colder lagering temperatures (~35 degrees F) seem to produce a smoother beer than the warmer temperatures (45 degrees F)."  To clarify, the lagering occurs during the fermenting process.  The colder the temperature the longer the beer ferments.

As it turns out, these are all common methods used by most, if not all, breweries.  This lead me to research how many people consume beer based on the marketing and came up with zero results. However, I asked some friends of mine if they ever tried beer based on the marketing and all said no.

 Now this leaves me wondering, what part of the brewing process will they market next?... Roasted malt?... Dry hopped?... Spontaneous fermented?

Cheers!

Howdy.

Hi, I'm Elwood.....

I live in eastern NC with my wife, two beautiful children, and our dog.  Being a husband and father are the two greatest things that a man can be.  My wife is the most wonderful woman that I know.  She is strong willed, determined, awesome mother, fantastic wife, caring, and a great friend.  My children are wonderful.  It's so cool watching them grow up.  There is always something going on, which begs the question,  "What did we ever do with our free time?"  I wouldn't trade any of it for anything.

I started this blog because I'm just an average guy who loves beer and have made it my mission to share my experiences from brewery tours, tastings, festivals and other miscellaneous events.  I also hope raise awareness about some of the lesser or unknown brews in our world because I truly believe there are no bad crafted beers.  Yes, I said it, because somebody loves that particular beer that I don't have the taste for.  The same applies to brewers.  There is no such thing as a bad brewer.  Every brewer has a passion and drive for what they do, if they didn't then they wouldn't do what they are doing.  They are always learning new tricks to perfect their craft.

As with anything (say brewers), you must be a sponge, always learning as much as you can.  If I do that, then I can provide the best available information to you.

With all that I said, I hope you can learn something from this blog or better yet, teach me something.

Cheers!

Aviator Brewery

Welcome to the initial installment of the Drunken Boat Chronicles.  Beer has long been an interest of mine as well as many of you.  There’s just something about visiting breweries, and tasting the beer, that I truly enjoy.  Now I have the opportunity share my experiences with you.  The first port of call for the Drunken Boat is Aviator Brewery.

 
Aviator Brewery is nestled away in the Piedmont of NC.  Located near Fuquay-Varina, the brewery has grown from a home brew experimentation site at a local airport hanger to a near full blown production facility.  The owner/brewmaster, Mark Doble, has lived all around the world drinking and making many crafted brews.  It was almost a decade ago that Mark decided to settle down in the small town of Fuquay-Varina.

Here I am on brewery visitation day.  My expectation is to gain a better understanding on beer appreciation, besides “mmmm….that’s a good beer.”  Being a stout beer guy, I’m excited to taste the King Rat Imperial Oatmeal Stout.

I arrive at the brewery, walk in, and am immediately welcomed by the bar keep.  “Hey buddy, you want a beer?”  “Why yes I do.  I will have the King Rat Stout please,” I replied.  He extends his hand and says, “I’m Mark, welcome to the brewery.”   At this point, I can barely stand the excitement.

Mark hands me my beer and I take the long awaited drink.  Wow….that is a great stout.  A full bodied stout with 8% alc/vol.  Chocolate and oatmeal flavors hit right away.  A very smooth beer that would make any stout drinker want more.

Just before the tour starts I get a refill.  Now this is how a tour should be!  So the tour begins:

First stop, the mill.  This is where the malt is ground prior to adding it to the mash tun.  In the mash tun, dechlorinated water is mixed with the ground malt at a certain temperature for a certain amount of time.  Temperature is a very important.  Just a couple of degree variation in the mash will produce a different beer.

The mill.

The mash tun (top left), boil kettle (top right), and a bag of hops.

From here the “sugar water”, called wort, is strained from the mash tun and in some cases, additional water is poured over the grains to extract additional sugars (sparging).  The wort is then transferred to the boil kettle where the wort is boiled with hops or other ingredients.  It is here where the most important chemical reactions take place that gives the beer it’s taste, aroma, and color.  The wort is then cooled and added to the fermentor.

The fermentors.

Once in the fermentor, a yeast strain is selected and is added to the wort and fermentation begins.  It is during this process that the sugars are converted to alcohol, carbon dioxide, and other components.  The fermentation process lasts for 4-7 days.  Following this process the beer is filtered and transferred into the conditioning tanks where the beer ages and the flavor smoothes.  Sometimes the beers are conditioned in different vessels, say Jack Daniels Oak Barrels.

Stout aging in Jack Daniels Oak barrels.

 

After a week or few months, the conditioned beer may be filtered again to polish the color, flavor, and is carbonated.  The beer is now ready to be kegged or bottled.


After a very detailed description of the brewing process, we congregate at the bar for another round.  Here Mark tells us how beer judging is done.  I’m thinking, “This is awesome!”  We are given beer scoring sheets and a choice of two beers.  My choices were the Frostnipper and Hog Wild IPA.  I could go into great detail about the judging, but I’ll refrain and summarize my choices:

The Frostnipper (7.3% alc/vol) is a darker than average brown ale.  It is a good seasonal beer with hints of various spices and tad bit of smokiness.  This beer goes down smooth and is easy on the palate.

The Hog Wild IPA (6.7% alc/vol) is on the other spectrum of the Frostnipper.  It’s a gold cloudy beer that has a very hoppy aroma. The flavor was a long lasting sweet-bitter taste that could be considered fruity at times.

Both beers were good and worthy of another round or two.

To top off the day, I was given a growler of the King Rat and a pint class.  This was definitely an awesome place with a very cool owner.  I was lucky enough to be provided with an abundance of brewing knowledge from someone who is passionate about his craft.

mmmmmmm.... King Rat  Imperial Stout.