Category: General

Lessons Learned from Opening a Taproom-Focused Brewery

Cyndi
taproom at pike place signage

By: D.C. Reeves, CEO, Perfect Plain Brewing Co., Pensacola, Florida

Blame craft spirits, seltzer or industry saturation, but the reality today is that craft beer is going to face its biggest challenges yet in the coming years. This is a turning point for the industry, and at a micro level, this challenge can present a turning point in your own market.

  Every brewery should be assessing what it does well, what it doesn’t and coming up with a plan to set itself apart. I wanted to share more of the more unique lessons we’ve learned about where we concentrate our time and resources that could help those thousands of taproom-focused breweries around the U.S. build and sustain their niche.

If you have a brewery you understand the value of top-quality product. We don’t need to cover that part. Let’s dive in on things that can separate you from your competition.

  I discuss a multitude of ways to do this in The Microbrewery Handbook. Graciously, Sam Calagione from Dogfish Head, Jeffrey Stuffings from Jester King and other experts shared their thoughts in the book about what they’ve learned along the way.

  Here are three key things that we learned and adapted as we opened and ran Perfect Plain Brewing Co. in Pensacola, Fla. starting in 2017 that helped us grow to one of the busiest taprooms in the state of Florida.

Taproom Vibe Matters (More than equipment sometimes)

  We spent a great deal of time deciding on the marriage in our budget between equipment “nice to have’s” and taproom. We ultimately decided to gear money towards the taproom and the taproom experience, and we’re thankful for that.

I visit breweries all over the nation that have sparkling new brewing systems and a neglected taproom. Imagine if a restaurant hired the most accomplished chef in New York City, built the most expensive kitchen, then left the dining room with bad lighting, plastic tables and old carpet? Would the chef and kitchen be worth the investment? Of course not.

  Don’t overlook the expenses of creating a great taproom. Having good furniture and fixtures. Good doesn’t mean expensive, it just means if you can afford a $300,000 10-barrel turnkey brewing system, you shouldn’t have your taproom look like a mismatched thrift store.

We can always grow into and upgrade equipment. It’s much, much more difficult to pick up and move a taproom or overcome a lacking first impression if your taproom isn’t up to par when you open.

  We are about to expand into a wood-aging program next door – it’s called The Well and will open this fall. This growth is attributed to us focusing on taproom first, and that success allowing us to do even more on the beer equipment side later.

Focus on Programming Your Space

  In the taproom model, the taproom is your sole business engine. We need to fuel it with events and fun to keep it busy, not just sit back and hope people come in.

  This is something we focused on from the start, but we’ve ramped up significantly in the past year or so. We wanted to be proactive about what brings people into our taproom. When we moved from one manager to two managers, we created an events position that would be charged with just one responsibility: Bring people into our taproom.

  So we’ve done all sorts of things: Drag shows, Harry Potter nights, trivia, we decorate the entire taproom for four days for Pensacon (our community’s version of ComicCon), we do pop-up theme bars in Garden & Grain, our cocktail garden behind the brewery.

  There are other things you can do: Synergize and integrate your brewing schedule and batch planning with your programming calendar from the get-go to give your patrons an immersive experience that has fun beer releases tied to it. A shared calendar with reminders set three months in advance can give you enough time to plan a special beer release, prepare a one-off pilot batch, or order seasonal ingredients for use in a beer for an approaching holiday. At Perfect Plain, we’ve found success with this simple reminder system that we check when we sit down to do our batch planning and raw material orders.

  What NOT to do is get desperate and offer deep discounts on your product as an attraction model. While you may see an increase in taproom foot traffic, you slowly devalue your product to the point that customers no longer desire to pay “full price” because they know they can get it somewhere else.

Learning to care about your employee culture, engagement and hiring well

  One distinct advantage I was fortunate enough to have when opening Perfect Plain Brewing Co. was working for Quint Studer, who pioneered customer service and organizational change in healthcare with his company, StuderGroup. They taught hospitals all over the nation about how to treat patients, treat employees and build winning cultures.

I was able to learn from Quint and adapt some of those tools to the beer business. That said, this also made me realize how much of a forgotten piece of the puzzle hiring and employee culture are in our business. We like to talk about how collaborative we are as an industry, but ask yourself, how are we when it comes to focusing on treating our own employees well?

Here are a Few of the Things We Installed at PPBC

  We have a three-interview hiring process for all positions that ultimately ends with peers making the decision on who to hire. I know, sounds like overkill. Maybe a little crazy. But it works. It allows all parts of the organization to have ownership of new hires and it gives employees the sense of ownership that their opinion on employees matters.

  We are one of the only bars or restaurants in North Florida with less than 50 employees to start offering comprehensive health benefits to our employees for 2020. It’s a significant expense, but an important one to send the message that these jobs are important, these people are important, and their work is important. I’m not saying you have to go to that extreme but think about measures you can put in place that build your employees’ sense of ownership.

  Another key piece to caring about your staff and culture – and a must for us each year – is doing an employee engagement survey. This is an assessment of how your employees feel in many different categories. The value of this is to not only know where you and your company stand with your employees, but it lets your staff know that their opinion counts and is heard. We have made some adjustments each year based on this feedback, so it has proven immensely valuable.

Questions Like:

•    Does the organization employ people whom I like to work?

•    Do my coworkers and I share a strong work ethic?

•    Are many of my coworkers performing at an acceptable level or better?

•    Do I feel connected to my coworkers?

•    Is the work I do meaningful?

  In The Microbrewery Handbook I have more details of how we conduct this survey (it’s not hard!) and the complete list of the 34 questions I ask my employees that could help you get started with your own survey.

  These tactics are especially important with a taproom focused staff. Your taproom staff is the face to your entire revenue stream. You want them happy and feeling a sense of ownership about the company.

For more information about The Microbrewery Handbook or brewery consultation email dc@perfectplain.com

Soul of the Beer

Cyndi

Origin Malt’s barley roots in Ohio fosters promising growth for the Midwestern malt market

hand grabbing grains

By: Tracey L. Kelley

It’s taken nearly a century, but barley production for craft beverages in Ohio is making a comeback. Victor Thorne and Ryan Lang, the founders of Origin Malt in Marysville, just north of Columbus, are ready to fulfill brewers’ and distillers’ demand for local products. “From seed to sip” is not only the company’s motto but also a source of intention.

  “In 1900, there were over 4,000 breweries in North America. Four of the largest malt houses in the continent were in Ohio, and over 300,000 acres of malting barley were grown in the state,” Thorne told Beverage Master Magazine. “In 1978, there were fewer than 50 breweries, and no malting barley produced in our region. Now, with over 8,000 breweries in the country, and roughly half of the 27 million barrels produced within a day’s drive, we still have no industrial malting plant within 300 miles.”

  Barley was a viable crop in Ohio and throughout the Midwest before Prohibition. After repeal, beer and spirit makers disappeared, and regional farmers switched to more valuable commodities such as corn, wheat and soybeans, growing barley mostly as animal feed. While producers in the Great Northern Plains and the Pacific Northwest provide some access to quality malting barley, crafters in other regions have to look elsewhere.

  “Our craft brewers import the majority of their malt from Canada and Europe,” Thorne said. “Also, craft brewers require more than three times the amount of malt per barrel that they produce when compared to large industrial brewers, so as the craft segment grows, demand for malt exceeds domestic supply.”

  Thorne, a tech serial entrepreneur but no stranger to the foodservice industry, believes in building relationships from the ground up. One of his first ventures provided a solution for process automation software by partnering with titans such as Cargill, Sysco and Tyson. Origin Malt’s co-creator, Lang, is a fourth-generation distiller and co-founder of Middle West Spirits in Columbus. He understood a crafter’s desire for local products. The two opened the malt house in 2015.

  “I enjoy matching complex challenges with experts who can solve them. In the beer, spirits and specialty foods sectors that procure sprouted and malted grains, we require a range of expertise to tackle each of the delicate steps to provide the highest quality products at competitive prices,” Thorne said. “Before taking steps to build a malt house, Ryan and I spent several years forming trusted relationships with the agricultural community, from seed breeding, seed production, agronomists, university researchers, established global maltsters and the end customer—brewers and distillers. Our equity partners represent all of these key relationships.” 

More Than Malt

  “Malt is the foundation of beer—some people may say the ‘soul’ of craft beer. After working in the industry and learning so much about the brewing process—sensory, fermentation and quality—what struck me was that malt sets us up. It’s the canvas with which wort is created,” said Sara Hagerty, sales and marketing director for Origin Malt.

  “The question we want to answer is, ‘Why isn’t barley grown [in the area], and how can we bring it back to the region in a functional, sustainable and economically-impactful way?’” she said. “Victor and Ryan found a way to truly shorten the barley supply chain. For me personally, I could get behind that and feel confident that the groundwork was laid for a revolution in sourcing, procuring and bringing high-quality malt products for brewers and distillers to market.”

  From her passion as a dedicated homebrewer to her work for a leading liquid yeast provider, and later with a global malt provider, Hagerty’s experience helps her envision an integrated purpose for Origin Malt. “Suppliers should be more than salespeople with a price list and a catalog. Suppliers should be educators, listeners and visionaries. From our work with consumers, our customers, and our directly-contracted growers—every step of our supply chain is highly regarded and valued.”

  Supply starts with seed—in this case, that of LCS Puffin, a two-row winter malting barley. It’s derived from the heirloom variety Maris Otter—a popular grain grown in the United Kingdom and appreciated by brewers worldwide. Puffin was initially identified from 50,000 stock seeds by Eric Stockinger, a molecular biologist at Ohio State University, and now bred by the Miln Marsters Group.

  “In the Midwest/Great Lakes region, Puffin is planted in early fall and harvested in late spring/early summer. As a winter grain, the variety comes with some standard characteristics—a well-adhered husk, low protein and winter hardiness. These attributes and more play a part in how we malt it and the flavors it creates,” Hagerty said.

  Base and specialty malts include Pilsen, Brewers, Light Munich, C40, C60 and C90. “Some of the flavors and appeal that Puffin has can be identified in its classic nutty characteristic, and as more pronounced roasted almond flavor in some of our specialty malts,” she said.

  “How we decide on the base and specialty malts we bring to market is based on the general needs of our customers, and also the ability to provide a solid lineup of products that are versatile. Meaning, you could utilize all of them across a set of recipes or pull in one or two for a specific recipe,” Hagerty said. “While our established products exist with industry specifications in mind, we’re always keeping our eye on the opportunity to produce limited-edition specialty and custom products for customers.”

  The company currently uses a partner malting facility, but plans to establish one of its own in central Ohio so, as Thorne puts it, the supply chain shortens to “300 miles from seed-to-sip.”

  At press time, Origin Malt’s products are used in more than 50 beers and spirits, as well as health foods, baked goods and other items. To help producers explore the possibilities, the team frequently hosts beer dinners and “Seed-to-Sip Malt Schools” with brewing and distilling partners using a Hot Steep method to evaluate aroma and flavor.

A Boom for Midwest Agriconomy

  Puffin is sourced from directly-contracted family farms in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. Growers in New York are interested, too. Producers in search of a reliable winter cover cash crop have an advantage with Puffin not only because of its cold heartiness and disease resistance, but also its ability to help reduce soil erosion and runoff, improve terroir and water quality, and provide wildlife habitat.

  “By growing winter malting barley in combination with double-cropping soybeans, farms can reduce soil erosion and phosphorous runoff by as much as 80%. This is significant since we’re growing in the Great Lakes region, and phosphorous is the primary feed for algae blooms,” Thorne said. “I didn’t anticipate this being a major discovery that reinforces our commitment to conservation and sustainability.”

Origin Malt expects a 2019–2020 harvest of 10,000 acres, but the five-year projection is 75,000.

  “Puffin has a rich European heritage, and has had amazing results since we began producing and testing the variety—initially a cup of seed—nearly a decade ago,” Thorne said. “Our process and demonstrated commitment to bringing malting barley varieties to large has inspired more interest in our region from seed breeders who have been more focused on developing varieties suited to grow in other regions around the world.” 

  Reintroducing an integral ingredient in a multi-level supply line isn’t without risk, but Hagerty thinks Origin Malt’s best practices are factors growers and crafters can trust.

  “Every crop year can yield slightly different results, and it’s up to us—the maltster—to manage how we adapt and uphold our specifications and adjust our malting protocols. I’m a big believer in that it comes down to how you’re educating and keeping your customer informed—as that relationship needs to be lock-step to make sure that everyone can do their best,” she said.

  “We’re very focused on risk management, which is why we’re strategic in where we grow and how we develop and diversify our growing region,” Hagerty told Beverage Master Magazine. “That being said, if barley volumes or quality were low, there’s an established global market for high-quality malting barley that Origin Malt could procure. Maintaining those secondary-sourcing relationships is something we already have in place in case of a North American shortage or crop failure.”

  Thorne said weather is the challenge he worries about most, but cannot control. “To mitigate the risk of weather damaging our crops, we’re committed to spreading our seed across a several-hundred-mile range from Illinois to the Atlantic coast.”

  The company’s agriconomy roots will filter even deeper in the coming years. “When our plant is at capacity, we’ll be ‘reshoring’ tens of millions of dollars every year from the local researchers, seed sales, malting barley production, agronomists, local storage and transportation, and our malting facility,” said Thorne. “Total economic impact will exceed $2 billion from seed-to-sip.”

  He said he loves all the people Origin Malt works with, “aligning every day to make this a success. I’m driven by the potential to make a sustaining impact on an important supply chain.”

  Hagerty is always excited by the “amazing products made with our malt and watching consumers learn about our supply chain and the processes and products that come as a collaborative effort between Origin Malt, barley growers and our brewing and distilling customers.”

  “The value that our malt house has is in the ability for our future facility and the agricultural economy to tie in more deeply with the craft beverage movement, and most critically with craft beverage consumers,” she said. “Sustainability isn’t just an outlook for the short term, but a long-term goal that will continue to be challenged and achieved with the efforts of our team, our growers, our brewing and distilling customers, and, most importantly, consumers who seek to support American agriculture.”

How Craft Beer Producers Can Incentivize Distributors and Wholesalers to Help Them Go to Market

Cyndi
lone beer glass in front of a beer stall

By: Nichole Gunn, Vice President of Marketing and Creative Services, Incentive Solutions

As a craft beer producer, competition is fierce. According to the Brewers Association, there were 7,346 craft beer producers in the U.S. last year competing for $27.6 billion in sales. That’s a lot of beer! And, that doesn’t even take into account competition from “The Big Five” or import beer for shares of the overall U.S. beer market.

  For craft beer producers who are looking to scale and increase sales, it might be tempting to start pouring your marketing funds into consumer marketing. But will that really make a splash? Think of the hundreds of millions in media spend by beer companies every year that you’ll be going up against.

  Could there possibly be a more efficient way to use that marketing spend? For craft beers producers who are trying to go to market, it’s important to sit down and ask yourself, “Who has the biggest impact on whether or not end consumers find my beer? And how can I motivate them to prioritize my business?”

Understanding the Craft Beer Sales Channel 

  When it comes to connecting with end consumers, craft beer producers have four options:

•    On-Site: Selling directly to consumers at your brewery.

•    E-Commerce: Selling directly to consumers online.

•    Retail: Selling to consumers through other retailers.

•    On-Premise: Selling to consumers through bars and restaurants.

  However, on-site sales are limited by geography and e-commerce sales require brand familiarity or extremely creative (or very expensive) marketing. For a scalable sales and marketing strategy, craft beer producers have to turn their attention to retail and on-premise sales and the indirect sales force that helps them achieve penetration with these vendors.

Incentivizing Distributor and Wholesaler Sales Reps

  Outside of smaller, highly localized breweries, most craft beer producers rely on distributors, wholesalers and other supply chain trading partners to market to retailers and restaurants. Distributor and wholesaler sales reps are responsible for selling vendors on the value of your beer, negotiating pricing and terms of sale agreements and ultimately getting your craft beer to market.

  There’s one small problem: no matter how awesome your craft beer is, it only a small fraction of your distributor or wholesaler’s supply mix. In this battle for mindshare, it’s up to you to educate reps about your brand, enable them to sell your product and supply them with a value proposition that inspires them to take action on your account.

  This is where an incentive program comes into play. When many people think of incentive programs, they think about rewards. But while rewards play a big role in building relationships with your channel partners and adding to your overall value proposition, modern incentive programs take a more holistic, software-driven approach.

  Today’s incentive programs act as comprehensive sales and marketing platforms that enable craft beer producers to:

•   Build mindshare with distributor and wholesaler sales reps.

•   Target promotions by qualifying participant type, regions or product line.

•   Fill data gaps within their channel.

•   Enable sales reps to sell their product to vendors.

•   Deepen relationships with partners throughout their channel.

Building Mindshare with Distributors and Wholesaler Sales Reps

  Sales reps, for the most part, sell what they know. However, in a crowded supply mix, building this awareness and product knowledge with sales reps can be challenging. While every supplier wants something from these outside sales reps, far fewer supplier focus on offering value and creating memorable brand interactions.

  Inviting these sale reps to enroll in an incentive program where they have the opportunity to earn millions of rewards or exclusive incentive travel opportunities (and perhaps giving them a generous point bonus upfront) is more than a nice gesture. It’s a strategic differentiator and an opportunity to stand out from your competitors.  

  Your rewards program also creates new opportunities for communication and engagement that aren’t strictly business. These brand interactions are an opportunity to improve personalization and build relationship capital, which can be difficult to achieve in supply chain partnerships.

Targeting Promotions to Minimize Cost and Maximize Return

  It’s worth noting that a channel partner program is an investment. When planning an incentive marketing strategy, craft beer producers need to focus on maximizing the return on their marketing spend. This means that they should target first and scale second.

  For instance, would it make more sense financially to target your program to the sales and brand managers at the distributor level or the individual reps who work beneath them? It depends on your go-to-market strategy and the size and number of distributors you work with. If you sell through smaller wholesalers with a handful of reps, who each are responsible for a significant portion of your overall sales volume, then it might make sense to structure your program to reward individual sales reps. On the other hand, if you’re selling through a number of wholesalers and distributors, or an extremely large distributor with thousands of reps, it might make more sense to target your incentive programs to sales and brand managers.

  Additionally, from those managers and sales reps, craft beer producers can set qualification thresholds, based on sales volume or engagement, to ensure that their incentive program spend is allocated toward the participants who are most impactful to their sales growth.

  Another aspect of your targeting strategy is choosing to set incentive promotions by specific regions or product lines, based on strategic initiatives and opportunities for growth.   

Collecting More Complete Data Throughout Your Channel

  Craft beer producers, like many other companies who sell into a channel, often struggle with having inaccurate and incomplete data about their channel. Your incentive program is an opportunity to motivate distributors and wholesalers to provide more complete data. There are several ways craft beer producers can use their incentive program to fill in gaps in channel data:

•   Structuring enrollment forms that capture contact information and firmographic data during program registration.

•   Including automated tools for sales reps to attach invoices or other documents as part of the program’s sales verification process.

•   Offering rewards to participating sales reps for referring other reps within their organization.

•   Rewarding sales reps for completing voluntary surveys that can be used to clean up your existing database or collect more information about your participants’ interests, demographic and lifestyle.

•   Analyzing engagement datapoints the program generates to spot highly engaged accounts that are ripe for upsells and cross-sells.

  All of this information can be used to inform your sales and marketing strategy and increase the level of personalization you offer your supply chain partners.

  However, all the data in the world is useless unless you’re able to act on it. Modern incentive software includes CRM integration, data filters, reporting dashboards and custom reports to streamline this data for optimal use.

Enabling Your Distributor and Wholesaler Sales Reps

  Do you know one of the quickest ways to build brand preference with an indirect sales rep? Provide quality sales enablement. Using proven strategies to educate sales reps on your brand and your products makes it easy for them to sell your products to vendors.

  Integrating interactive quizzes and training videos with your incentive program is a powerful tool for supplying your external sales reps with the knowledge they need to sell your beer. This education can be supplemented by your incentive program’s digital communication platforms. (If you use this kind of strategy, make sure to break things up into bite-sized pieces and focus on the highlights your partners will need to help you go-to-market). Additionally, these quizzes are another opportunity for sales reps to earn rewards, increasing the overall value proposition of your program.

Deepening Relationships Throughout Your Channel

  Finally, in addition to short-term sales growth and marketing penetration, your incentive program has another benefit that will have a lasting impact on the success of your go-to-market strategy: relationship-building. Non-cash rewards are a social currency that achieve emotional impact and memorability with sales reps at distributors and wholesalers. In addition to motivating sales growth and reinforcing desired behavior, the rewards your program offers create a sense of personalization.

  For craft beer producers, your distributors and wholesalers are more than just conduits to the end consumer. They are your partners – an indispensable part of your go-to-market strategy. Offering your sales reps the opportunity to choose from exciting rewards or treating top performers to unforgettable incentive travel experiences represents the type of brand interactions that will set you apart from the competition. But more than that, these rewards inspire your distributor and wholesaler sales reps to emotionally invest in your brand and take an active interest in your success.

Unsure About Where to Start? Be Smart, Explore Your Options and Focus on Scalability

  An incentive program can be an integral part of a craft beer producer’s go-to-market strategy. However, what about companies who have never used this type of strategy before? If you are interested in creating a channel marketing program for your distributors and wholesalers, do your homework. Identify a goal for your program and the software functionalities you’ll need to achieve that goal.

  Compile a list of incentive program providers who fit your requirements and who have a proven track record, with case studies and testimonials to prove it. From there, begin reaching out to these providers and enlist their help in planning your incentive strategy. Use these conversations to refine your strategy and learn more about what has worked for companies with similar goals and similar distribution channels to yours in the past.

  Once you’ve decided on a provider, you don’t have to go all in. It’s prudent to start small, maybe with a pilot program or highly targeted incentive promotion. You can always scale, once you’ve proven that you can do this successfully.

  However, it’s also important to have a sense of urgency. As craft beer sales continues to grow, so will competition for craft beer dollars. Beating your competitors to building an incentive program for your distributor and wholesale sales reps can be a major competitive advantage. Plus, you owe it to your future customers to help them find their new favorite beer!

  Nichole Gunn is the VP of Marketing and Creative Services at Incentive Solutions (www.incentivesolutions.com), an Atlanta-based incentive company that specializes in helping B2B companies improve their channel sales, build customer loyalty, and motivate their employees. Nichole Gunn can be reached at ngunn@incentivesolutions.com

Distribution Agreements: Negotiate Your “PreNup” Carefully

Cyndi
Business people shaking hands, finishing up a papers signing
Business people shaking hands, finishing up a papers signing. Meeting, contract and lawyer consulting concept.

By: Brian D. Kaider, Esq.

Starting a brewery requires learning a lot of new skills and practices that have nothing to do with making great beer.  One of the most confusing and frustrating is the issue of distribution.  If their state allows, most new breweries initially distribute their own products and, if the brewery is content to be relatively local, that might never change. 

But, in many cases, brewery growth necessitates working with a distributor.  This is not a relationship to be entered into lightly. A distributor becomes an ambassador for the brewery’s brand and, once retained, the supplier may have little control over how its beer is marketed. Further, these relationships can be difficult or financially impossible to break once established.

  Supplier/distributor relationships are governed by franchise laws in most states. In the absence of franchise laws, the relationship is defined entirely by a distribution agreement between the parties. But, even in franchise states, the distribution agreement can play a critical role, particularly in the termination of the distributor relationship.

  Too often, however, breweries accept a distributor’s “standard” agreement and when the relationship sours, the supplier finds that they are stuck with no viable option to terminate. The best practice is to engage an experienced attorney to negotiate the terms of the distribution agreement. While even the best attorney cannot evade state franchise laws (which generally prohibit a distributor from waiving its rights), there are ways an attorney may help bring balance to the supplier/distributor relationship.  Some of the key terms to negotiate include termination, territory, brand scope, and exclusivity.

Termination

  The most critical section of the agreement sets forth the manner and circumstances under which a supplier may terminate the distributor. In a franchise state, the law typically says that a supplier may terminate for “good cause.” If good cause is defined in the law, it is paramount that the distribution agreement mirror the language of the law, because in many cases, a contract that contradicts the law will be held invalid, leaving the supplier in the position of effectively not having an agreement at all.

  For example, the Virginia Beer Franchise Act states that good cause includes “failure by the wholesaler to substantially comply, without reasonable cause or justification, with any reasonable and material requirement imposed upon him in writing by the brewery.”  Further, the Act provides, “good cause shall not be construed to exist without a finding of a material deficiency for which the wholesaler is responsible.”  Tracking that language, a distribution agreement in Virginia should clearly define certain of the distributor’s obligations as “material requirements” and explicitly define certain actions as “material deficiencies.” 

For example, the Virginia law identifies failure to “maintain a sales volume” of a brewery’s brands as being a reasonable and material requirement.  But, the law does not specify what volume is required.  So, the distribution agreement should clearly lay out specific minimum sales volumes (preferably on an escalating scale) and identify the requirement to hit those volumes as a material requirement of the contract. 

  When the law does not define good cause, and in non-franchise states, it is essential for the distribution agreement to do so. The contract should clearly set forth the distributor’s requirements that are critical to the business relationship and for which failure to perform will be grounds for termination.

Examples of common requirements include: meeting specified sales and marketing goals, maintaining appropriate records and reports regarding inventory and sales, transporting and storing the product under specified temperature and lighting conditions, exercising adequate quality control measures to ensure product freshness, and paying invoices within a specified time frame. It is also common to include termination rights if the distributor is declared bankrupt, enters a voluntary’ petition for bankruptcy, enters into a compromise or agreement for the benefit of its creditors, or fails to maintain in good standing all Federal and State licenses and permits necessary for the proper conduct of its business.

  In some cases, sale of the distributor or even a change in the ownership structure may be justification for termination.  In February 2019, Bell’s Brewery of Kalamazoo, Michigan completely pulled all of its distribution in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  The issue was that its distributor in Richmond was sold to a subsidiary of Reyes Beer Division, the largest distributor of beer in the United States.  Per its distribution agreement, the original distributor was to have provided Bell’s with certain information about the sale to Reyes, but it failed to do so and Bell’s believed that because it did not have the opportunity to properly vet the new distributor, termination of the franchise was warranted.  To this day the dispute has not been resolved and Bell’s beer is not available in Virginia.

  In most states, a supplier must compensate the distributor for the lost business even if the supplier is able to terminate for cause.  Sometimes the law simply says the supplier must pay the distributor the “fair market value” of the distribution rights.  There can be an expensive battle just to determine that compensation if fair market value is not defined in the distribution agreement.  Often the value is defined as a percentage of the prior year’s case volume multiplied by some dollar amount per case. The “standard” contracts pushed by some distributors can be very severe in this section. In the beer industry, it is not uncommon to see values set at an entire year’s worth of profits times a multiplier that can range from 1.5 to many times higher. In practice, often a new distributor will buy out the distribution rights from the old distributor, but if the supplier wants to return to self-distribution, this buy-out provision may be cost prohibitive. 

  While the beer franchise laws in most states were written at a time in which large beer manufacturers had significant market power over small distributors, those roles have substantially reversed.  Slowly, state laws are being revised to accommodate this change.  In Maryland, for example, the law changed on January 1, 2020 to eliminate the “for cause” provision of termination for suppliers who manufacture fewer than 20,000 barrels per year and the termination notice was shortened from 180 days to 45.  However, the manufacturer still has to give the terminated distributor fair market value of the franchise.

Territory

  Depending on the size, experience, and reach of the distributor, there may be an opportunity to creatively carve out different territories. Territories are most commonly limited to certain states. However, a supplier may be able to limit a smaller distributor to certain counties or even specific types of establishments (grocery stores, but not restaurants, for example). One of the clearest breaches of the distribution agreement, that may constitute good cause for termination, is for a distributor to make sales outside of its contracted territory. 

Brands

  Generally, when a distributor is hired to carry a brewery’s brand, it has the right to all of the products in that brand. But exactly what constitutes a  ‘brand” is unclear both in the statutory language of most state franchise laws and in many distribution agreements. 

In Maryland’s beer franchise law, for example, “brand” is not explicitly defined, but the law appears to favor the distributor in terms of brand scope. Specifically, section 105 of Maryland ‘s Beer Franchise Fair Dealing Act prohibits a brewery from entering into a beer franchise agreement with more than one distributor for “its brand or brands of beer” in a given territory. One might argue that the language “or brands” means that the first distributor has the right to all brands of the manufacturer in a given territory.

In fact, that very’ issue was litigated in the 1985 case of Erwin and Shafer, Inc. v. Pabst Brewing Co., Inc. and Judge Couch, writing for the panel of The Court of Appeal of Maryland, disagreed. The court held that if a brewery retained a distributor to handle one or more of its brands within a territory, it could not then contract with a second distributor within the territory for those same brands. It could, however, contract with a second distributor to carry a different set of brands.

  How far the court would take its interpretation of what is a “brand” is unclear, however. In the Pabst case, the first distributor was given the right to distribute Pabst brand beers, but Pabst later merged with Olympia Brewing Company and gave the second distributor the right to sell its newly acquired Hamm’s brand beers. Whether the court would have allowed the brewery to contract with one distributor for Pabst and another for Pabst Extra Light it did not say.

Exclusivity

  Even if rights under a distribution agreement cannot be divided by brand (as in the case of the beer franchise law in Maryland), some states may nevertheless allow a supplier to contract with more than one distributor within a territory. If permitted in their state, a brewery should ideally enter into all of its distribution agreements for a given territory simultaneously, providing notice to each distributor. At a minimum, the brewery should ensure that the first agreement entered into is explicitly designated as non-exclusive. Otherwise, the distributor may view the agreement as giving it exclusive rights to the territory and could sue the brewery for diminishing the distributor’s business if it were to engage a second distributor in that territory.

Final Thoughts

  Whether a brewery is in a franchise state or not, it is critical that it review and negotiate its distribution agreements carefully, with the assistance of an experienced attorney. It is also important to remember that the supplier’s diligence does not end when the agreement is signed. No matter how well the terms of the distribution agreement are negotiated and drafted, they are effectively useless if the supplier cannot back up its claims for good cause.

Accordingly, thorough documentation is essential. If a distributor is not meeting sales goals, mishandling product, or failing to provide adequate reports, they must be given written notice of those deficiencies each time they occur.

  There are great distributors out there who become essential partners in a brewery’s business. But, sometimes those relationships can sour and signing an agreement without anticipating complications down the line can make it virtually impossible to sever those ties. A little forethought and planning and a lot of diligence will go a long way toward a successful termination of a bad relationship.

  Brian Kaider is a principal of KaiderLaw, an intellectual property law firm with extensive experience in the craft beverage industry. He has represented clients from the smallest of start-up breweries to Fortune 500 corporations in the navigation of regulatory requirements, drafting and negotiating contracts, prosecuting trademark and patent applications, and complex commercial litigation.

Suds & Soldiers: Beer and World War I, 1914-1919

Cyndi
beer carriage

By: Doran Cart, Senior Curator, National WWI Museum and Memorial

By the time of World War I, which started in 1914, beer was already an ancient beverage made and consumed by most the nations involved in the war. In light of the long history already written about beer, this article will center on the personal, official and period-printed references of beer during World War I held in the archives of the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri.

  Many of the early war photographs show soldiers, especially German, posing for their gone-to-war photographs with beer mugs in hand and often sitting on beer kegs. Ceramic beer tankards were illustrated with scenes of soldiers’ service so they could be reminded of what they had gone through while enjoying their favorite brew. A German/Anglo brewery in Tsingtao, China was in production at the beginning of the war and was there when Japanese forces attacked the German garrison taking control. A graphic illustration of that attack is on exhibition at the museum. The brewery still exists.

  Changes in the opening and closing hours of pubs in England occurred during the war when the situation became dire from many of the war industries’ workers spending more time drinking beer and “other intoxicating liquor” than producing artillery shells and airplanes. The Defense of the Realm (Consolidation) Regulations of 1914 specifically prohibited the sale and consumption “on weekdays 12 noon to 2:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on Sundays [the same hours].”

  British soldiers wrote in their diaries about beer:

“Hallowe’en was celebrated in our billets – beer, soup, roast beef, plum duff.” A. Stuart Dolden, 1st Battalion, London Scottish Regiment

  October 1916 – “I was amazed to get two bottles of Guiness to drink.” George Coppard, British Machine Gun Corps, after being wounded.

  C.H. Williams, 5th Battalion, the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, British Army, wrote after Christmas of 1916: “We had our Christmas dinner in Albert, France in an old sewing-machine factory.  We had beer for our dinner – plenty of it – and a good tuck-in to go with it!  Roast pork!  Beautiful after bully beef!” [Bully beef was canned processed beef issued as a ration].

  In England in 1918, the Hart Family Brewers produced a commemorative extra pale ale called the “Flyer.” It was brewed to honor Wellingborough, England’s “Own Flying Ace, Major Mick Mannock.” Major Mannock was a Victoria Cross recipient for his World War I actions in which he recorded 61 aerial victories with the Royal Flying Corps (later the Royal Air Force). He was killed over France on July 26, 1918.

  Although the American Expeditionary Forces were technically “dry,” prior to the US 18th Amendment ratified in 1920, enterprising soldiers soon learned where the beer and wine were. One US Signal Corps photograph is captioned: “American soldiers in a captured German trench drinking beer out of steins and smoking cigars.”

  From the papers of Captain Clarence J. Minick, 361st Infantry, 91st Division the following order was found: “Headquarters 3rd Battalion, 91st Division, Sarrey, France, July 24, 1918. Extract General Order No. XXI. 1. “The following regulations for the government of troops billeted in Sarrey are hereby published for the guidance of all concerned: (a) Cafes will be open to troops for sale of light wines and beers during the following hours: 1:30 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. 6:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. Absolutely no drinking of other intoxicants will be permitted and all cases of intoxication will be summarily dealt with. Wine or beer purchased in cafes will be used on the premises and not carried away in bottles or other receptables.”

  At the Battle of St. Mihiel, France, September 1918, this report of the 353rd Infantry Regiment, 89th Division Intelligence Section related:

  “In the evening of September 13, the Regimental observers established an O.P. [observation post] on the high ground south of Xammes. While occupying this O.P. the observers lived on the fat of the land. An abandoned German commissary in Xammes furnished bread, honey, butter, jam, gold-tipped cigarettes and cigars – from the well-kept German gardens in the vicinity came a variety of vegetables – and crowning all, German beer, wine and schnapps were on tap in former Boche (German) bars (for the ‘dry’ All-Kansas regiment).”

  During the American occupation of Germany in 1919 when the rules regarding consumption of beer and wine had been unofficially loosened, Charles MacArthur, 149th Field Artillery Regiment, related that in his [cannon] battery’s stop in Bittenburg, “we ran into real German beer, a little watery for the famine in grain.”  Another discovery was made in Bittenburg:  eierkuchen, or German waffles.  “With a helmet full of flour and a little corn syrup any hausfrau could produce an elegant set of waffles.”  Evidently, the waffles reached such an esteemed place that “the very name of eierkuchen was transferred to anything that looked appetizing, especially young women.”

  A Captain Biggs related that the clothing worn by German civilians seemed serviceable, but that the “shapeless, heavy shoes” was a noticeable feature.  Much of the material was ersatz [substitute], made of paper products.  Beer was plentiful at 20 to 30 pfennings a glass, but “of a poor grade,” as was the wine.

  As part of the agreement for the occupation of Germany after the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918 was one unpopular requirement that all dram shops be closed except during a few hours of the afternoon and early evening.  The sale of any intoxicant except beer and light wines was prohibited.

  A printed announcement of a “Reunion and Smoker” party for the 77th Division’s MP Company on October 25, 1919 at the 77th Division Association Club House in New York City. states that “they will organize an American Legion Post and there will be a keg. Organized by Francis N. Bangs.” Captain Bangs was in the MP Company, 77th Division, AEF.

  A postcard with an inscription, described the outdoor tables in Bourges where the French would gather to drink and socialize, as pictured. Inscription on the back: “the French people like to have this little beer table outside. This is very typical.”

  On a printed card from the YMCA, “The Y.M.C.A accepts no responsibility for money or valuables kept by soldiers during the night. These should be handed for safe keeping to the Leader in charge of the Hut. Overcoats, rifles, or other equipment should be stored in the cloak room. You are urged to leave no articles of clothing or equipment in the cubicle after dressing or about the Hut at any time. By order of the Police, Beer and Spirits must not be brought into the Institute.”

  From the service of Private Walter G. Shaw, 18th Infantry Band, 1st Division. He died at Charpentry in the Argonne in 1918:

  Oct 31, 1917 “I like France fairly Well don’t think I would like to live here always [sic] they have fine roads here. white and red wine can be bought for 1.50F a bottle (30c) some of the soldiers get tanked up on it I don’t like it because it is so sour French people have it with every meal. Champagne can be bought for 9.00F a bottle $1.75 this is extra dry costs about $7.00 in the U.S. Beer costs .30 centimes a bottle 10c….”

 From the service of Corporal Reid Disman Fields, Ordnance Detachment, 13th Field Artillery, AEF:

“Feb. 23/19

Dear Clara:

  No doubt you will be surprised to hear I am going down into Germany. Left Mehnin today 11AM. Am going to the Third army. So far as I know somewhere near Coblenz. So don’t expect I will be back very soon. Tell your mother I will drink her share of beer. Ha! All for the time so Bye Bye, Reid.”

  The roster and menu for Christmas dinner, 1915 from the 133rd Company, US Coastal Artillery Corps, Fort Terry, New York listed that the dinner included oyster stew and crackers, roast turkey, oyster dressing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, creamed peas, stuffed olives, tomato catsup, celery, pumpkin pie, mince pie, cocoanut layer cake, chocolate cake, bananas, oranges, apples, grapes, figs, cigars, cigarettes, apple cider, and bottled beer.

  From US volunteer truck driver, Ned Henschel, December 8, 1918, Verdun, France:

  “…a rumour floated around that there was beer to found in a neighboring village. Another lieutenant and I walked eight kilometres to investigate – and found that it was all wrong; there wasn’t even Pinard!” Pinard was a red French table wine.

  During the Easter Uprising in Dublin of 1916 of Irish citizens against British rule, the British Illustrated War News of May 10, 1916 reported that British troops took cover behind a barricade of beer barrels.

  One postcard shows a “German concrete cellar used as cooler for beer, in woods, Meuse, France.” A British humorous postcard shows a tent surrounded by flood waters with a downcast soldier poking his head out lamenting “‘Ah! If it were only beer.” A German postcard that a Karl Rosendahl in writing to Frieda Rosendahl of Riemsloh, Germany related: “My dear Freidelchen, We are sitting in the Train with a nice glass of beer and send you greetings.” [translated to English].

  A letter from F. Thunhorst of Riemsloh Germany to Carl Rosendahl, June 3, 1915, related that one of their acquaintances “Old [illegible] is still the same and he just keeps going. The beer still tastes excellent, and he still drinks a few pints daily. He sends his greetings.” [Translated from German to English].

  American Dale E. Girton, Base Hosp. #78 wrote on May 8, 1919,

“Hello Rummy:

  I guess that is a fitting salutation for one who has told me in a – past letter he has started drinking Rum, BEER, Wine & Cognac. How about it? Haven’t heard from you for some time and we are expecting to leave Toul for a port of embarkation at any day now, so I thot [sic] I would write you a word so that if I am quite a while.”

  Beer was universal in WWI. It was used to quench thirst, to enjoy in comradeship, to relax and possibly, to help for a moment, to forget about the horror of war.

  From the Archives of the National WWI Museum and Memorial.

Profiling Software: Used by the Breweries, Cideries, and Distilleries

Cyndi
map seen in an iphone

By: Becky Garrison

As we enter into a new decade, an increasing number of breweries, cideries and distilleries are moving from recording their finances, employee logs and other data from offline pen and pencil accounting methods to online software systems. Here’s a sampling of some of the latest techno-logical developments that are specifically geared towards helping these outfits better manage their businesses.  

ShiftNote

  ShiftNote is an online manager logbook and employee scheduling software. The program, re-leased in 2002, gives owners, managers and employees the ability to communicate in one place. Employees can change their shifts and request time off in a few easy clicks. Then managers can approve or deny these changes and requests.

  The scheduling feature allows users to create and publish schedules and shift notes that can be viewed on any mobile device. Additionally, the manager log book can track key daily sales, re-pair and maintenance schedules, upcoming events and labor stats. As this logbook is entirely cus-tomizable, business owners can add custom categories and stats contingent on their particular needs.

  Help articles, tutorials and free screen share trainings are available for those who need assistance in setting up and using ShiftNote. A major software update slated for 2020 will offer new and enhanced features.

Whiskey Systems Online

  Whiskey Systems Online is a complete production tracking and TTB reporting system tailored to the unique needs of American craft distillers. Launched in 2014, this software offers complete distillery operations tracking, from raw materials to cases shipped out. Features include invento-ry and barrel management, cost of goods sold, manufacturing cost accounting, forecasting and planning, batch tracing, auto-generated TTB monthly reporting and federal excise tax returns, QuickBooks integration, employee task management, TTB audit preparation, success metrics dashboards and much more.

  Whiskey Systems’ propriety hardware interface allows distillers to track the temperature and humidity of their warehouse during a barrel’s entire aging lifecycle. By tying the aging history to their Whiskey Systems barrel inventory, the software can both optimize aging conditions and eliminate manual data entry from a third-party monitoring system.

  In 2020, the company plans on launching a brand new interface to improve the user experience and navigation. The update will include more production planning and forecasting tools and more success metrics and dashboards. As Whiskey Systems is a “subscription as a service,” there are no required downloads, and eve-rything is available via a browser. Users just activate their subscription online for immediate ac-cess. Whiskey Systems has extensive online resources such as training videos and help pages, as well as one-on-one support and set up for no additional charge.

Daruma Tech

  Since 2015, Daruma Tech has been developing mobile loyalty applications for beer guilds. For the more significant guilds and associations, it has a customizable solution that can be tailored to suit their marketing needs. For smaller guilds, the “lite” version can help them get started with their digital loyalty program.

  This loyalty program software rewards consumers for visiting participating locations. App users can keep track of the breweries they’ve been and the places they want to visit next. Users collect stamps at each brewery and claim prizes based on the number of stamps they’ve collected.

  Brewers who participate can access a portal where they manage their content, including location-specific information, beers, events and deals. The app also provides a marketing channel where brewers can communicate directly with their target audience, as well as a social component where users can share their thoughts on different breweries and beers.

  The mobile app is powered by a cloud-based mobile content management system. Participating locations can update the content in real-time through their MCM. There is nothing to maintain, download and install, as it’s also a subscription-based service. A knowledge library where users can access help documents is available online.

  Current guild users of the app are New York State Brewers Association, Ohio Craft Brewers As-sociation, Brewers of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Brewers Guild, Rhode Island Brewers Guild, Connecticut Brewers Guild and the Washington Beer Commission.

  In 2020, Daruma Tech will begin offering these services for other craft beverages and related craft foods.

KegID

  KegID is a cloud-based asset scanning and tracking application that’s been available to brewers since 2001. The software allows brewers to track how many kegs they currently have in use by providing visibility and insight. This application can create accountability by pinpointing the lo-cation of a barrel, its contents and dwell time.  

  Scanning can be done with a variety of equipment, from Android or iOS mobile devices to fixed in-line scanners. In addition to scanning kegs at the brewery, they can be scanned in the field and marked for special handling if any part of it is found to be damaged or malfunctioning. It can al-so identify kegs that are due for routine maintenance.

  Also, KegID is automatically included on any kegs leased through its lease-to-own solution, KegFleet, at no extra charge. Each brand new European keg comes laser-etched with the scan codes and the ID numbers pre-loaded into the application. They are ready to scan and track upon delivery. 

  In addition to online resources, a team of people located in KegID’s Houston-based office are available to provide personal assistance to new users during business hours.

  The app can also be used to manage other reusable assets like pallets and tap handles.    

Kegshoe

  For the past four years, cideries, breweries, distilleries and other craft beverage producers worldwide have been using Kegshoe tracking software. Using either an iOS or Android app alongside Kegshoe’s barcode stickers, producers can track their keg fleets throughout the entire production, storage and distribution cycle.

  The application then offers insights into the status, location and development of a keg fleet, ensuring that turnover cycles are kept in check and kegs are not being lost. Having the reporting and logging tools available to show the contents, location and details of each barrel allows customers to manage their fleet inventory better.

  To make setup and operation as convenient and affordable as possible, the company eliminated the need for additional hardware. Producers can download the Kegshoe app on their devices and start scanning. Other features include rental customer logging and tracking, and production batch assignment and monitoring 

  Kegshoe is currently in the process of releasing a craft beverage-focused customer relationship management software. The CRM will help to provide an industry-tailored system for sales reps and managers to log and manage their customers, sales cycles and productivity. With both desk-top and mobile functionality, it is meant to make the sales process for craft beverage producers as efficient and affordable as possible.

  All new customers receive a series of onboarding materials, including detailed product tours that walk them through the app and desktop software, as well as a support article library. Additional-ly, Kegshoe offers around-the-clock support, ensuring all issues and questions are addressed promptly and don’t interrupt brewing operations.

Small-Batch Maps

  Released in 2019, Small-Batch Maps is designed to help breweries and distilleries better manage their distribution and sales. The company wants to lessen the challenges of market forecasting by helping producers determine if they should market one product or concentrate on all of their of-ferings.

  The software allows potential customers to search for products on a website, and for beverage companies to gain marketing insights, estimate product needs and discover new distri-bution regions. Producers can then use this data to market the products most in-demand, or those with less traction.

  Breweries and distilleries can easily add Small-Batch Maps to their websites and other online properties. Once they’ve added the feature, they can head over to their website, log in, and add new locations as their distribution networks grow.

Keeping Off Flavors Out of Beer

Cyndi

By: Jessica Spengler

When consumers reach out for a craft beer, they have an expectation of how that beer should taste. When an off flavor sneaks in, it can lose the brewery customers and hurt their reputation. Keeping off-flavors out of beer is not as difficult as it may seem, as long as brewers have the tools and know-how to do so.

An off flavor is a defect in beer that does not adhere to the style or ruins its taste. Some of the most common are diacetyl, which takes the form of butter or theater popcorn; oxidation, which comes across as papery; dimethyl sulfide, a sweet corn taste; and acetaldehyde, often taking the shape of green apples.

Causes

Many different factors cause off flavors, but it often boils down to the same basic concept: a fault in the brewing process.

Raw ingredients

To make good beer, you have to start with good raw ingredients. Malt, hops and yeast should be stored correctly; monitored for defects, mold, and pests; and used as fresh as possible. However, it all begins at the source. Brewers should know what to look out for when buying raw ingredients, starting with the vendor.

“[When it comes to] raw ingredients, you have to see who you’re buying it from. Are they reputable suppliers? We buy a lot of malt from the Czech Republic, I’ve been over their twice visiting the malt house and the hop house. One important thing for the brewers is to be auditing their vendors, making sure they know you’re watching, put a face to who they’re shipping ingredients to,” said Scott Hovey, owner and brewmaster at Adelbert’s Brewing in Austin, Texas.

If an ingredient isn’t good on its own, it won’t be good in the beer, so don’t be afraid of sensory analysis, Hovey said. “It’s like going to the supermarket. You should smell it, look at it, check the taste, the flavor. Every bag of malt, I usually pop a couple of grains in my mouth just to see what it tastes like, what it feels like. It’s surveying the quality of the ingredients.”

Water should be free from chlorine, taste fresh, and be clear.

“With water, smelling it and tasting it is as easy and effective as any test. You can have the best yeast, and the best malt, and go through the process, but if your water has chlorine in it, that can ruin the beer,” said Jim Matt, Chief Scientific Officer at Rhinegeist in Cincinnati.

Cory Hebert, brewer at Adelbert’s, agrees. “If you can’t drink your water because it’s so chlorinated, or any number of factors, then it’s definitely not going to be good to brew with. If you brew with chlorinated water, then you’ll get what’s called chlorophenol in the final beer which will leave the beer tasting like you’re drinking a plastic bag or bucket,” he said.

Fermentation

The most common time for off flavors to develop during brewing is fermentation. The reason for this typically comes down to problems with yeast.

“An overwhelming number of off flavors can be created during fermentation,” said Matt. “A lot of the time, people don’t pitch enough yeast, or they pitch too much yeast, and they’ll get off flavors. If the yeast is contaminated with something else, you can definitely get off flavors from it. That’s where you need to use the greatest amount of care. Yeast needs to be handled in an aseptic environment, so we want to make sure that we handle that yeast free from any other contamination.”

The good news is that, often, when yeast is the problem, it’s also the solution. Keeping beer on yeast a little longer, whether in the tank or through a second fermentation in the bottle, will get off flavors like diacetyl out of the end product.

“I’d say that a good 30 to 40 percent of the bad flavors I’ve tasted in beers are just the beer was rushed through the process. They just didn’t give the yeast long enough to work on, or didn’t let it settle long enough. Time would have fixed it,” said Hovey.

Cleaning, Sanitation and Maintenance

As the old saying goes, brewing is 90 percent cleaning, and one of the reasons for that is to keep the beer as clean as possible.

“The number one prerequisite to being a brewer is an obsession about cleaning. It’s true. You’ve got to keep your plant clean,” said Phil Leinhart, Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Manager at Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, New York.

Rhinegeist’s Matt agrees and recommends using tools to ensure tanks are thoroughly wiped of contaminants. “Cleaning and sanitation is everything. If a tank is not clean, then by definition it’s not sanitary, so there are several different ways to determine the cleanliness of a tank. My favorite way is a thorough visual inspection, and that’s usually sufficient. We have a device here called an ATP meter. ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) is a compound contained within all living organisms. The brewers will swab a tank looking for ATP, and, if its in there, then the tank is not clean,” he said.

At Rhinegeist they use Peroxyacetic acid to keep their tanks clean, while the crew at Adelbert’s has been known to use a pH swing to purge their brewing vessels.

“Something we do here is cleaning with a high alkaline, and also highly acidic solutions, so we get what you call the pH swing. You use a caustic soda, so you have a very high pH, and then you follow it with acid, so you have very low pH, so then you’re killing pretty much any organic or inorganic compound that would be present,” said Hebert.

Proper, continuous maintenance will keep equipment running well while also ensuring that it won’t harm the beer.

“If your pump is sucking in air because the mechanical seal is bad, it’s gonna cause high oxygen in your beer and your beer is gonna go stale, it becomes oxidized. It’s all related. If you let your equipment get into disrepair, it’s going to affect the product at some point. If refrigerators and cooling aren’t cold enough, you don’t take control of your fermentation temperatures efficiently, and you can’t cool the beer as quickly. It can all eventually affect your beer,” said Ommegang’s Leinhart.

Detecting Off Flavors

There are a multitude of ways to test for off flavors. Breweries equipped with or who employ labs can “plate” samples of beer to test for organisms that may cause the brew to taste off. 

“Plating is [taking] a sample of beer from a tank and putting it on a media where microorganisms are encouraged to grow. Then we put that in an incubator, and we allow things to grow. If we see something growing that shouldn’t be, then we know something’s not right. Plating is a fairly inexpensive, not terribly time consuming, and fairly easy process to do that every brewery, in my opinion, should be doing. It’s pretty easy, and it doesn’t require a lot of technical skill,” said Matt.

More sophisticated technologies can also be implemented by brewery labs, such as a GeneDisc or a headspace gas chromatograph. These technologies require a higher level of skill to use and tend to cost more than many small breweries can afford. However, they aren’t always necessary when testing for off flavors. Nothing beats a good old fashion taste test.

“The analytical capabilities of a brewery can never compensate for the sensory tests that are required in your own sensory taste pallet. The reality is that you can’t go into a laboratory and get a complete understanding of the quality or the consistency of the beer just analytically,” said Christian Riemerschmid Von der Heide, President and CEO of Siebel Institute, the oldest brewery science institution in the United States.

Brewers will typically form a taste panel filled with brewers, servers and salespeople who have been trained to detect and identify specific flavors. Taste panels are used to help determine if an in-process or finished beer has any defects.

Siebel Institute, founded in 1872, offers flavor training kits for this purpose. Brewers can order from over 40 flavors, both wanted and unwanted, to “dose” their beers and hone the palates of their employees. The training has several purposes, most notably to find out who is particularly sensitive to certain smells and tastes, but also to make sure everyone is on the same page.

“You are not only training your people to detect, but also to identify. The difference is ‘Yeah, I can detect that there’s something different, but I cannot name it.’ We need to be able to do both so that everybody uses the same terminology; but also what is important is to know who is better at it than others. Therefore, if somebody that we know is very well trained in diacetyl and can pick it up at lower concentrations, and that person says ‘Yes, I can detect diacetyl,’ then this is the [person] that you pick [to test for it],” said Richard Dube, Director of Online Education at Siebel Institute.

“I would say sensory analysis and the taste panel is at least 50 percent of your quality control. So if 50 percent of your quality control isn’t standardized, using sensory kits, using flavor standards, then it becomes very subjective, and you have a vulnerability,” said Riemerschmid Von der Heide.

Using taste panels is highly recommended by Siebel, which offers on-site classes at their Chicago campus as well as an online curriculum. However, it’s wise to train all employees from the brewmaster to the newest salesperson in case a flavor problem comes about after the beer has reached consumers.

“Outside the plant, not only the brewers but also your sales force needs to be able to respond to a complaint at a bar or wherever that they say, ‘Your beer tastes funny.’ Because they have been trained to identify oxidation or diacetyl or other off flavors, they can pinpoint a little what the problem might be, or further educate the retailer and explain that it is actually part of the flavor profile of this specific beer,” said Dube.

Can off flavors be corrected?

Many off flavors can be corrected once they’re detected. For most, such as diacetyl, acetaldehyde, or sulfuric compound, a few extra days on yeast does the trick. When making certain beers, according to Adelbert’s Hebert, the process may be sped up, if done correctly.

“Many times too, especially back to diacetyl, in lagers and even English Ales, if you’re fermenting at say 68 F, you’ll do what’s called a diacetyl rest. You bring the beer up to 72 F towards the tail end of fermentation to force that yeast to clean up those off flavors and make sure everything gets scrubbed and is nice and neat and ready to drink,” said Hebert.

An unintended sour may work well blended into another beer in the brewery’s sour program. Even in the case of non-sour off flavors, the beer may be successful in a blend.

“When something is not within spec you can rebrand it as something else if the off flavor isn’t too bad. You can blend it. Sometimes we’ll take something that’s just not true to spec, and we’ll take it down in our sour program. Sometimes the secondary organisms can clean up those off flavors,” said Matt.

However, sometimes off flavors are impossible to correct. Butyric acid, often described as “baby sick;” medicinal flavors and hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggs) are examples of off flavors that cannot be corrected, and the batch will be “dumped.” When dumping becomes inevitable, which according to Matt is not that common, don’t let it become a sore point.

“There are times you have to swallow your pride and maybe take a little bit of a hit to keep quality up. Nobody likes dumping beer, but I’d rather dump a batch of beer that is not true to brand than sell it and be subpar and get a bunch of complaints from your customers,” said Matt.

Keeping off flavors out of beer doesn’t have to be complicated. According to our experts, with knowledge, foresight and a little elbow grease, brewers can substantially decrease their chances of bad tasting beer.

“It’s a multi-disciplinary approach. Just knowing your process and knowing where you’re at risk and then controlling those risks. Be knowledgeable of defects and how they’re caused, control your process, especially those critical quality control points, and then test both in the lab and with a taste panel so that you know that you’re okay,” said Leinhart.

“Pay attention to your customers and do the absolute best you can cleaning, sanitizing and using the best ingredients possible. Don’t compromise. The cheapest test that you can do is sensory. Taste everything. Let that guide you to making a quality product.”

“Just keep your brewhouse clean, make sure your ingredients are fresh, keep your yeast happy, and know your process, and you should be 95 percent of the way there,” said Hebert.

Kombucha with a Kick

Cyndi

By: Nan McCreary

Artisanal cheese for sale at artisan market in Ile rousse

Hard Kombucha is one of the latest drinks to make a splash in the “better-for-you” alcoholic beverage market. But what is hard kombucha, you ask? Wait, what is kombucha?

  Kombucha traces its roots to China’s Qin Dynasty (221 BC), where it was known as the “The Tea of Immortality” for its medicinal properties. The drink is made by mixing sweetened black or green tea with a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast called SCOBY and allowing it to ferment. The result is a tart and sour, lightly-carbonated drink that’s naturally gluten-free, low in sugar and chocked full of probiotics. With health-conscious millennials driving today’s beverage industry, it’s no wonder that kombucha is experiencing a revival, and is one of the fastest-growing beverages on the market today.

  Kombucha first went mainstream in the U.S. in 1995 when GT Dave, the man behind GT’s Kombucha, established the first and largest kombucha brand in the industry. Promotion for the drink touted the health benefits of both tea and probiotics, and sales immediately exploded in supermarkets throughout the country.

With an ABV of less than 0.5%, kombucha could be sold legally as an alcohol-free beverage. In 2010, however, a Department of Agriculture inspector discovered a kombucha at a Maine Whole Foods that contained alcohol levels well above 0.5%. It was pulled off the shelves nationwide, and producers were left with three options: keep their kombuchas under 0.5% and follow strict labeling laws, sell them in the beer section at their current ABV, or create an intentionally higher ABV beverage. For those who chose the latter — a “hard” kombucha — the crisis presented a golden opportunity. The low-alcohol beverage with a healthy dose of probiotics caught on quickly, and in just a few short years, became the hot new kid on the beverage-industry block. According to Nielsen, sales of hard kombucha spiked 247% in the 52 weeks leading up to April 20, 2019.

  One of the first to create high-alcohol kombucha was Dr. Hops, based in San Francisco. “I was working in Berkley with the fitness and yoga community, and craft beer was exploding and doing amazing things,” said CEO and founder Joshua Rood. “Non-alcoholic kombucha was also growing rapidly. I’ve always been a food and beverage guy. When I saw this happening, I realized you could make a high-alcohol kombucha that would be authentic to both categories, offering the benefits from the health properties of straight kombucha, and the flavor, complexity and pleasure of a really good craft beer.”

  With only one hard kombucha on the market at the time—Unity Vibration in Ypsilanti, Michigan—Rood approached a brewer who was making both beer and kombucha and asked him to make a prototype that offered the best of both beverage worlds. “The prototype was awesome,” he said.  “At the same time, my wife had an adorable rabbit named Dr. Hops, and I thought, ‘what a perfect name for a health-conscious kombucha that’s all hopped up.’ So that’s why we named our product Dr. Hops.”

  While Rood was developing his product in 2016, another hard kombucha hit the market: Boochcraft, California’s first high-alcohol kombucha, and today’s market leader in sales.

  To make hard kombucha, producers start with a mixture of sugar, tea and water. For his base, Rood selects the highest organic quality and fair trade tea he can obtain. Next, he adds SCOBY—a combination of bacteria and yeast that he’s developed in-house—and adds it to the tea mixture. The concoction ferments for a week, allowing the SCOBY to work and make kombucha what it is: a probiotic, sour and flavorful drink. To raise the alcohol level beyond the 0.5% from the initial fermentation, Rood adds a Belgian Ale yeast that creates a slight beer quality and lets that mixture ferment for another week. This step raises the alcohol level to 0.7 to 1%.  Finally, after the second fermentation is complete, Rood adds hops, fruit, herbs or spices and “lets it rest” to let the flavors develop. 

“This is a very mellow waiting period,” Rood told Beverage Master Magazine. “We gently stir the mixture and let the particulate matter sink to the bottom. Then we add a bit of sugar, which gives the kombucha a touch of sweetness, and finally, we package it.”

  Dr. Hops makes four standard products: the IPK, similar to a juicy IPA; the Lop, a tart, refreshing pomegranate chai with prominent grapefruit notes; the Jackalope, with prominent ginger, lime and mint flavors; and the Blinky, with hints of basil and lemongrass. All are dry-hopped with hops sourced from the Pacific Northwest. Sugars vary from 4-6%, and ABV runs from 5-9%. Flavors come from fresh, organic fruits rather than flavoring compounds.

  In terms of legal classification, hard kombucha is typically classified as a beer rather than a wine product. The Dr. Hops production facility is similar to a brewery, with stainless steel tanks and temperature, pressure and oxygen controls. To produce optimum results, brewers have to be very meticulous, Rood explained. “The process goes through many different phases, and each phase has the potential to create benefits as well as off-flavors. It’s really an art. We have to check fermentation constantly, as it’s a living process and not an exact formula, although we’re getting pretty good at it.”

  Ultimately, Rood’s goal is to create a product that is “good for your belly” and “good for your buzz.”  Hard kombuchas have less sugar than anything in the alcohol world, he said, except for pure vodka. “As Americans, sugar is one of the worst things we consume, so we keep ours as low as possible.”

  Rood also uses a kombucha strain that’s rich with alcohol-resistant lactobacillus, a health-enhancing probiotic. Because Dr. Hops’ products are unfiltered and unpasteurized (heating from pasteurization destroys enzymes, organics and flavors), the probiotics stay in the beverage, helping the body process not just food, but also alcohol. Another health benefit: Dr. Hops uses only organic fruits, roots and herbs, which provide additional nutrients.

  “Essentially, we’re trying to eliminate the junk people put in their bodies while drinking alcohol,” Rood said. “When you take all of our ingredients together, you have a beverage that’s remarkably distinct and much healthier.”

  As more and more health-conscious imbibers turn to beer/kombucha blends, Dr. Hops is enjoying great success. Currently, the company produces 1,000 barrels a year, with plans to triple—or even quadruple—production within the next year.  Right now, they package their kombucha in bottles, but Rood intends to switch to cans soon. Dr. Hops is available in liquor stores and independent food stores and markets in Northern California and is on tap in several bars in the Oakland, California area. Rood’s goal is to increase distribution to the western third of the country and Florida. 

  “Sales have been amazing,” he said.  “It’s something people want, but most don’t know it until they discover it, and then they get very excited about it.”

  Within the past couple of years, many up-and-coming hard kombucha brands have emerged within the growing industry, including Flying Embers, KYLA, JuneShine and Lambrucha. Established kombucha producers are also getting in on the action. Wild Tonic, originally a regular kombucha brand, created two hard kombucha products: one with 5.6% ABV and one with 7.6% ABV. Kombrewcha, one of the country’s pioneering hard kombucha brands, received backing from AB InBev’s investment arm, ZX Ventures, to produce a new line of hard kombuchas.

  It’s not only AB InBev getting in on the action, however. Craft breweries have also extended their product portfolio to include hard kombucha. For example, New Holland Brewing, a Holland, Michigan craft beer brand that’s been around for over 20 years, now produces a seasonal offering that combines the flavors of an IPA with Kombucha. Boston Beer, maker of Samuel Adams, recently launched Tura Hard Kombucha. And Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon collaborated with Humm Kombucha to create Humm Zinger, “a beer that blends together Humm’s tangy grapefruit kombucha with Cascade hops and Pilsner malt for big citrus flavor with a profound dry hop character.”

  Clearly, hard kombucha is hitting the mainstream. After all, what’s not to like? It’s all-natural, gluten-free, organic and vegan, low in sugar and calories yet contains enough alcohol to be fun. As part of the low-alcohol trend, which includes hard seltzers, hard ciders and low-alcohol spirits, hard kombucha has a lot of opportunities to grow. If you think you might be one of those who want it but don’t know it yet, hustle off to your favorite vegan restaurant, grocery or liquor store and check it out.

“SMART” Brewing: Innovation & New Technology for Craft Breweries

Cyndi

By: Cheryl Gray

man inspecting a machine

Brewers have needed packaging and tools to dispense their products ever since beer was first brewed a millennium ago. Today, innovation and technology that transform a good idea into a great one are driven by industry titans who know how to keep pace with the demands of a highly competitive field, putting craft breweries in a position to stay a step ahead in an increasingly crowded global marketplace.

Print-on-Demand With Abbott Company

  One of those titans is Wisconsin-based Abbott Company, in business for 95 years, specializing in industrial marking and packaging solutions. Tim Stark, Abbott’s president, points to the rise in craft brewing as the catalyst for creating a demand for innovation and new technology aimed at achieving best practices in product identification operations.

  With craft breweries increasing their production capacity and distribution, Stark says there is a correlating trend towards print-on-demand inkjet technology replacing pre-printed boxes and hand-applied labels.

  “Print-on-demand inkjet technology offers many benefits, including a lower cost-per-mark compared to pressure-sensitive labels, as well as more flexibility for managing corrugate stock volumes and case sizes. Our recommended high-resolution inkjet technology, FoxJet ProSeries print heads, has been recently enhanced to print scan-able barcodes on porous cases at higher speeds consistently.”

  Stark says that in automating the printing of product identification on cases, today’s brewers are also looking at improving efficiency by integrating what he calls “scan and select” capabilities into their operation.  

  “This makes product changeovers, and subsequent print message changes effortless and free of human error. A hand scanner is used to scan a barcode from a work order, which selects the correct message to be printed on the case. This is often paired with a barcode vision system which can verify the readability of barcodes before they are palletized and shipped to retailers, allowing a turnkey case coding solution that will scale as breweries continue to grow.”

  Craft breweries are also looking for innovation when it comes to products that solve their primary packaging identification needs, says Stark.

  “We also see a growing desire for high contrast date coding on bottles and cans that are dark in color,” he said. “With a focus on freshness, an increasing number of craft breweries are requesting to use yellow and light blue inks to make the date code and other important product information pop out to consumers. The introduction of the Linx 8900 Plus soft pigment inkjet printer allows brewers to print high contrast codes on their bottles and cans while avoiding the difficulty commonly found with traditional pigmented ink printers. “

Shrink Sleeves With PDC International

  PDC International is another company at the forefront of an industry upon which many craft breweries depend—shrink sleeve labeling. From the moment the business opened in 1968, anticipating customer needs is what the Connecticut-based company has brought to its brewery clients. PDC Founder Anatole Konstantin immigrated to the United States from post-WWII Eastern Europe, building his company out of the den of his home. 

  Through vertical integration and in-house controls, including its own machine shop, PDC is known for quickly solving customers’ production challenges. Neal Konstantin is president of the company his father, Anatole, founded fifty years ago. He says the widespread use of shrink sleeves, a technology allowing a brewery to place its brand name on blank cans rather than having to inventory large quantities of pre-printed cans, saves warehouse space, simplifies logistics and saves money.

  “The recent widespread adoption of shrink labeling by breweries has resulted in machine refinements for labeling [either] full or empty aluminum cans of all sizes,” says Konstantin. “Special product handling ensures that aluminum cans are not dented or marred when processed through the labeler. PDC’s proprietary cutting blades now last millions of cycles between sharpenings, saving downtime and labor and reducing overall costs. We offer the widest range of shrink sleeve label applicators in the industry, ranging from entry-level systems up to 400-500 pm.”

Release the Pressure With

R&S Supply Company

  Don’t be thrown by the Napa Valley location of R&S Supply Company. It also caters to craft breweries, along with wine and other industries in all 50 states and 10 countries around the globe. Founded in 1984, R&S Supply Company is a distributor of products from brands such as Tassalini Valves, Strahman Washdown Products, Definox Valves, Texcel Brewers & Spirits hose assemblies and Dixon Sanitary Pumps & Fittings.

  Company President Paul N. Roberts touts the newest product line that R&S Supply has recently added to its roster. “The newest product line that we have added is Bradley Industrial Products and Keltech Tankless Electric Water Heaters. The Keltech Tankless Water Heaters provide instant hot water anywhere in a production facility when mounted on our cart.”

  Roberts points to the Italian-manufactured line of Tassalini Sanitary Valves as one of his company’s top innovative products. Industry insiders know that the name Tassalini has been around since 1922 when it first produced products for the aeronautics industry. R& S Supply Company is Tassalini’s largest U.S. distributor, Roberts says, stocking all original manufacture replacement seals and repair kits, along with an entire line of Tassalini Valves for every need.

“We stock the complete line including butterfly valves, actuators, check valves, ball valves, tank vents, sight glasses, plug valves and all the accessories and repair parts.”

Pour One Out With Xpressfill Systems

  A relative newcomer to the industry of packaging and tools, XpressFill Systems LLC is led by owner Randy Kingsbury, a mechanical engineer with more than 30 years of experience. Based in San Luis Obispo, California, XpressFill Systems is a global player in the development of affordable, efficient filling equipment for the brewing industry, with customers in the United States as well as Europe, Australia, South America and Asia.  

  “Our equipment is small—tabletop—making it easy to position in smaller brewery operations. It is simple to operate and maintain, requiring only one or two operators to efficiently maintain the quantity and quality of the beverage,” Kingsbury says.

  XpressFill introduced its first filler for brewers in 2014, a tabletop counter pressure filler for bottles with a pair of fill spouts. This product, Kingsbury says, was designed to launch its fill sequence with a carbon dioxide purge, then seal and fill the bottle to a level sensor that automatically stops the fill so the bottle can be removed and capped. XpressFill edged its technology forward, developing its four-spout counter pressure bottle filler, capable of filling 12-ounce bottles at a rate of 400 per hour.  In 2018 the company introduced counter-pressure fillers for cans.  

  “The XF4500C has two fill spouts and is capable of filling 300 12-ounce cans per hour. To further satisfy the demand for filling cans, the XF2200 open fill unit was developed. This provided a faster, less expensive alternative, capable of filling 360 12-ounce cans per hour with two spouts, while still providing quality fills,” says Kingsbury.

  More innovation and technology is in store with the development of XpressFill’s new two-spout filler, the XF280W. “Current quality control of fill volumes is accomplished by craft brewers weighing their filled cans, which is an additional step following the filling,” Kingsbury says. “We set out to explore the possibility of providing a user-friendly and cost-effective filler that would measure the weight of dispensed beer to save the additional weight verification step.”

Expand With iStill

  For craft breweries exploring the world of distilling, Netherlands-based iStill offers an automated, robotized distillery unit that promises a simple setup with only a water hose and electrical plug needed to begin.

  “Due to our scientific approach to distilling, we have been able to create an easy to operate, versatile machine that takes the magic out of distilling great spirits, and makes whiskey, vodka, gin and rum production an easy add-on to the already existing brewery,” says Edwin van Eijk, CEO of iStill.

  “The iStills come in sizes ranging from 26 to 1300 gallons. Each and every machine can make every distilled product. If the craft brewer does not want to re-invest in expanding mashing or fermenting capacity, the iStills can mash and ferment as well. Everything takes place in the same unit.”

  iStills offers a broad range of services, Eijk says, to assist its more than 700 clients worldwide, including iStill University, which educates and trains approximately 200 distillers annually in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. 

  Innovation and technology are ever-evolving as leaders in the packaging and tools industry find new ways not only to push themselves but also, push craft breweries into thinking smarter about ways to make their products move quickly in the marketplace.

Finishing and Aging Options Evolve with Booming Secondary Barrel Market

Cyndi

By: Gerald Dlubala

barrels outside a facility

Those barrels hanging out in the distilleries, whether new, used or refurbished, are just getting started. Oak barrels have a full and varied life, complete with occasional travel between distilleries, breweries, wineries and back again, sometimes internationally.

  Just within the Kentucky commonwealth, there is an inventory of over eight million barrels of Bourbon and other spirits in various stages of the aging process. It’s the highest inventory in 40 years and represents almost a two-barrel per person ratio. That’s a lot of barrels coming onto the market, which coincides with a booming secondary barrel market.

Impacting Flavors By Following The Seasons

  One company helping those previously used barrels live their best life is Moe’s Barrels, with locations in Galt, Lodi and Fairfield, California. COO Dean “Deano” Wilson is a winemaker and self-proclaimed foodie, so he found it natural to follow his passion by selling previously used wine and whiskey barrels for secondary, flavor impacting purposes.

  “We source our barrels from both the big and small producers,” said Wilson. “The boutique producers are our preferred source for quality used barrels simply because they tend to take care of them a little better. We buy our barrels in lots, with 99% of them coming in already cleaned and sanitized. But we’ll look at, inspect and grade them, giving them a wine or beer grade. If they don’t qualify for that, we can use them as furniture or décor grade. A trend that has grown recently is to sell the parts of used barrels to the artistic community, selling the individual staves, barrelheads or barrel rings for creative endeavors.”

  Wilson told Beverage Master Magazine that his formula for success is to try and follow the season for selling a certain type of barrels. 

  “We get a lot of first and second use barrels at harvest time, which is very good for cross-utilization. White wine barrels are excellent for reuse with wine, Belgian style beers, Cognacs and more. The barrels we get immediately following the crush are great matches for repeated wine and bourbon use.”

  Wilson gets his used barrels delivered with blue painter’s tape over the bunghole. The tape covers the hole for sanitary reasons but still allows the barrel to breathe. If they sit around too long with the bung in, there’s a chance for mold growth. If the barrels are left with the openings uncovered, they could dry out and start to split. Moe’s does the rest, performing sanitation, rehydration, steam cleaning and hot water rinsing.

  “Communication is key for customers looking to purchase used barrels,” said Wilson. “The buyer needs to be comfortable in the relationship with the supplier. First and foremost, look for quality, but be comfortable enough to ask for what you need. Know what flavor profiles you’re looking to build. Use your nose and trust your smell when inspecting the barrels that you are buying. Some staining and minimal hairline cracks are fine, but larger, deeper cracks around the bunghole can be a sign of a problem, and it’s always best to stay away from any hardened purple stains. Check for holes or damage that could be related to borer beetles. We invite all buyers into our warehouse, where you can completely inspect the barrels you’re looking to purchase. Inspect them from head to head, inside and outside, noting the year on the cooperage. Know the barrel’s origin, exactly what it was used for and how many times it’s been used. A quality supplier will know and willingly share this information about the barrels they’re selling. Cleanliness and smell are your two biggest assets when looking at used barrels, so always follow your nose.”

  Moe’s Barrels keeps all of its inventory inside a warehouse and available for buyer inspection.

  “We want to recycle these barrels and give them another life in the business, whether it’s for additional distilling and brewing, for use as furniture and décor or ultimately selling the parts to the artistic community. It’s a way towards sustainability.”

Kentucky Bourbon Barrel: The Name Says It All

  What better place to source local Bourbon and whiskey barrels than in Kentucky, the birthplace of Bourbon and home to the renowned Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Noah Steingracher is the man to talk to for North American and international craft sales at Kentucky Bourbon Barrel, a full service used barrel cooperage, offering used Bourbon and exotic spirit barrels.

  Being right in the heart of the Bourbon Trail in Louisville, Kentucky, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel primarily sells Bourbon barrels sourced locally from all of the familiar names. When Steingracher joined the company, he brought his international sourcing experience with him, so exotic and international barrels are now in play as well. He has sourced used barrels from spirits distributors, breweries, meaderies and wineries for use in finishing and aging a potential customer’s product.

  “We do it all,” said Steingracher. “We sell the used barrels from barrel to stave, depending on every customer’s unique needs. We have contracts with reputable and well-known distilleries to empty and ship their used barrels directly to us. We inspect them using our stringent guidelines for acceptable and unacceptable issues, including the size of any distinguishable cracks. If needed, our experienced team of coopers repair the barrels and make them fit to fill. We fill the used barrel market for customers that may not have the time, expertise or source to fill it on their own, and our experience and reputation are such that we have customers worldwide. I’ve shipped to islands that I’ve had to find on Google Maps. I’ve delivered barrels to the base of the Himalayas. There’s nowhere we won’t deliver.”

  Steingracher told Beverage Master Magazine that the used barrel market is affected by the same seasonal changes that affect all brewers and distillers, as well as how the barrel will be used.

  “A used barrel can function as either a vessel or an ingredient,” said Steingracher. “As a vessel, used barrels are just the holder for the product. For example, if a brewer wants to offer chocolate, porter or coffee stout, a used bourbon barrel fits the need and will provide the expected stone fruit and vanilla notes. But if you want to put out the best coffee stout, you should use a rye barrel so that the unique flavor from the barrel imparts a distinguishable, peppery infused difference. The right barrel will be a noticeable and valued ingredient in your formula.”

  Steingracher noted that brewers and distillers sometimes become too easily attached to the brand stamped on the barrel rather than going with barrels that fit their actual needs, if for no other reason than to associate their brand with that of a particular distillery. 

  “A mindset of only looking towards a brand name rather than filling your flavor profile defeats the purpose of striving for reliability and availability of your product offerings. Craft distillers and brewers can always run into a situation of not being able to find that particular distiller’s used barrel for the next batch. Frankly, they usually don’t even have the marketing rights to use that particular distiller’s name in their marketing. Jim Beam can release up to ten thousand barrels a week, with Buffalo Trace releasing around six thousand a month, and then others like Pappy are obviously extremely limited.”

  “Relationships matter when discussing that reliability and availability,” said Steingracher. “You need to know the type, origin, and age of the barrel you’re getting. With all the variants and combination spirits being distilled these days, what specific type of Bourbon was the barrel last used for? Was a char put on it? What level? Was it toasted? Repaired? How many years has it been used? Barrels can last a hundred years or more if used and maintained properly. The oldest is probably in Scotland, but I’ve personally seen some from aged before World War II. We do buy some back from the distillers that we know care for them the right way, and having access to our cooperage allows us to be able to make the repairs necessary to keep them in circulation. You can certainly come through and check on barrels yourself, but with our regular buyers, they know that the barrels we send them are fit to fill.”

  The flavor and use options for used barrels are indefinite. With many craft distillers and brewers now openly sharing their barrels between multiple brewing cycles, with proper use and care, barrels can last indefinitely. It’s what you can do with them after extensive uses and fillings that become limited.

  The Barrel Mill’s Infusion Spiral Technology Offers More Flavor Options While Decreasing Aging Time

  Options for those barrels, whether new or extensively used, have gotten much greater due to Infusion Spiral technology from The Barrel Mill, a central Minnesota-based cooperage that specializes in premium new oak barrels.

  Len Napalitano is an infusion spiral expert with The Barrel Mill and told Beverage Master Magazine that their infusion spirals are perfect for creating unique flavor profiles and helping distillers get their product to market faster.

  “Sometimes, you won’t find the right barrels for the flavor profile that you want to build for your customers,” said Napalitano. “With each fill, a wooden barrel loses part of its flavor offering and balance, and after three fills, barrels can be neutral regarding any noticeable flavor profile. These barrels are still obviously good for use, and now they can benefit from infusion spirals to regain that lost flavor profile.

You can achieve new oak flavor without the new oak barrel, which can be in short supply at times. Even when used with a new oak barrel, infusion spirals help get your product to market quicker. Our spirals are cut from premium oak, maximizing end-grain exposure for full extraction in weeks instead of months, saving the distiller money in labor, cost and time. The spirals are formed from barrel stave wood, cut through, then put into a convection oven to get their desired toast or char by way of our proprietary formula.”

  Jeremy Wochnick, Sales Professional for The Barrel Mill, said “The spirals range from a light toast to a #3 char depending what the distillers want, and are available in not only the standard, premium oak, but also in French oak and more exotic species like sugar maple, cypress, cedar and more for experimental and unique small-batch flavor profiles. Barrel quality results are obtained using any type of barrel, carboy or stainless tank. The spirals have proven to be successful in spirits, beers and wines as well as hard ciders and nonalcoholic drinks like ginger ale and regular ciders. Infusion spirals can be used to add a flavor profile to anything. We also have packs with blend options featuring different toast levels. The spirals can be used once, and are inserted into your barrel through the bunghole by way of netting or some sort of daisy chain for making retrieval easy.”

  And those infusion spirals, after being retrieved from their time in the barrel? Well, it turns out that they’re a pretty good addition to your outdoor barbecue.