Comments on: This Bud’s For You http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/14/this-buds-for-you/ Economics of organizations, strategy, entrepreneurship, innovation, and more Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:22:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU By: John Ressler http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/14/this-buds-for-you/#comment-53151 John Ressler Mon, 24 Sep 2007 23:39:56 +0000 http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/14/this-buds-for-you/#comment-53151 To write off pre-industrial beers as "horrible" and unpredictable begs an important issue. Until fairly recently--say up to AD 1100 or so--beer was more food than drink, and remains so in some parts of the world today. Without going into all the recipes employed for brewing through the ages, a great many beers were consumed, and appreciated, as thin, sour gruels with a bit of a kick. It made a fairly nutritious midday meal for someone laboring in the fields. It was distinctly not the refreshing recreational drink that we contemplate, and it didn't matter if the outcome of fermentation was less than predictable--a certain degree of variability in flavor was probably considered to be a good thing. The craft- and micro-brewers searching for authentic old recipes are never going to go back to beer's true roots because no one wants a beer that they have to eat! To write off pre-industrial beers as “horrible” and unpredictable begs an important issue. Until fairly recently–say up to AD 1100 or so–beer was more food than drink, and remains so in some parts of the world today. Without going into all the recipes employed for brewing through the ages, a great many beers were consumed, and appreciated, as thin, sour gruels with a bit of a kick. It made a fairly nutritious midday meal for someone laboring in the fields. It was distinctly not the refreshing recreational drink that we contemplate, and it didn’t matter if the outcome of fermentation was less than predictable–a certain degree of variability in flavor was probably considered to be a good thing. The craft- and micro-brewers searching for authentic old recipes are never going to go back to beer’s true roots because no one wants a beer that they have to eat!

]]> By: Bo http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/14/this-buds-for-you/#comment-22967 Bo Tue, 15 May 2007 19:50:35 +0000 http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/14/this-buds-for-you/#comment-22967 And here is the URL: http://www.ale.dk/ And here is the URL:

http://www.ale.dk/

]]> By: Bo http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/14/this-buds-for-you/#comment-22966 Bo Tue, 15 May 2007 19:49:04 +0000 http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/14/this-buds-for-you/#comment-22966 While your points one and two can be debated (and possibly be right) your point 3 is simply wrong. As one of the early members of the Danish Beer Association (named The Beer Enthusiasts in Danish) and being rather familiar (if not too much so) with American microbrews as well as Danish microbrews - I can tell you that not only are most microbreweries returning to the original way of brewing beer in order to create high quality beer but also the macro-breweries have now been forced to brew micro-brews in a romanticed way, returning to the old ways of brewing. Carlsberg is a prime example of this having opened their own micro-brewery in order to compete in a market that increasingly demands "romantically" brewed microbrews - indeed one of the best things about microbrews is that it is never the same - yet always interesting and brewed from the best ingredients etc. A true beer enthusiast would never be caught with a Budweiser, yet a Carlsberg would do just fine as long as it is from the Semper Arden series or one of their multiple other speciality beers, brewed exactly the way they were 100+ years ago... The Copenhagen Beer Festival this past weekend proved that indeed small batches of brew made at home with only traditional methods and ingredients can compete with macro-brews in both quality, taste, body etc - although arguably not in price... For more information (sorry only in Danish), please see the URL provided. While your points one and two can be debated (and possibly be right) your point 3 is simply wrong. As one of the early members of the Danish Beer Association (named The Beer Enthusiasts in Danish) and being rather familiar (if not too much so) with American microbrews as well as Danish microbrews - I can tell you that not only are most microbreweries returning to the original way of brewing beer in order to create high quality beer but also the macro-breweries have now been forced to brew micro-brews in a romanticed way, returning to the old ways of brewing. Carlsberg is a prime example of this having opened their own micro-brewery in order to compete in a market that increasingly demands “romantically” brewed microbrews - indeed one of the best things about microbrews is that it is never the same - yet always interesting and brewed from the best ingredients etc. A true beer enthusiast would never be caught with a Budweiser, yet a Carlsberg would do just fine as long as it is from the Semper Arden series or one of their multiple other speciality beers, brewed exactly the way they were 100+ years ago…

The Copenhagen Beer Festival this past weekend proved that indeed small batches of brew made at home with only traditional methods and ingredients can compete with macro-brews in both quality, taste, body etc - although arguably not in price…

For more information (sorry only in Danish), please see the URL provided.

]]> By: Marcin Tustin http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/14/this-buds-for-you/#comment-22905 Marcin Tustin Tue, 15 May 2007 10:06:59 +0000 http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/14/this-buds-for-you/#comment-22905 Hmm, as far as can be told a lot of beers are produced in exactly the same manner as they always have, industrialisation notwithstanding. You're just wrong on this one. Hmm, as far as can be told a lot of beers are produced in exactly the same manner as they always have, industrialisation notwithstanding. You’re just wrong on this one.

]]> By: Cliff Grammich http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/14/this-buds-for-you/#comment-22881 Cliff Grammich Tue, 15 May 2007 02:52:16 +0000 http://organizationsandmarkets.com/2007/05/14/this-buds-for-you/#comment-22881 Interesting. A good friend of mine is (as he readily admits) an incurable wine snob (and a very good wine salesman who really knows his stuff), but, to my astonishment, loves Budweiser. I guess he has it right after all. On a loosely related note, Slate discusses at http://www.slate.com/id/2165787?nav=tap3 why Coca Cola cost only five cents per bottle for 73 years. I'm guessing most O&M readers know or have already read this story, but I had not known that Coke's boss had, "in all seriousness," suggested the creation of a 7-and-a-half-cent coin to help boost revenues at vending machines . . . Interesting. A good friend of mine is (as he readily admits) an incurable wine snob (and a very good wine salesman who really knows his stuff), but, to my astonishment, loves Budweiser. I guess he has it right after all.

On a loosely related note, Slate discusses at http://www.slate.com/id/2165787?nav=tap3 why Coca Cola cost only five cents per bottle for 73 years. I’m guessing most O&M readers know or have already read this story, but I had not known that Coke’s boss had, “in all seriousness,” suggested the creation of a 7-and-a-half-cent coin to help boost revenues at vending machines . . .

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