Good Beer Hunting

At Rate Beer Best, it became clear that this was the year the British breweries would assert themselves among the best in the world. Many of the best British breweries have followed in the footsteps of their American counterparts and are now evolving at a similar pace — but what really made this the year of the Brits was the shift in Rate Beer’s own audience. According to Joe Tucker, founder of RateBeer.com, London is now the largest metropolitan market for Rate Beer’s user base. Two of the more prominent breweries in the U.K. scene are Beavertown in London and Cloudwater in Manchester, both taking home multiple awards from the festival this year. While it’s a welcome recognition for Beavertown who were early-in in 2011, for Cloudwater, now in their second year, it’s nearly a coup won with hazy IPAs. Both gentlemen were happy to sit down together and discuss some of the factors at work in the UK market, and how their generations of craft brewing are playing out relative to the US zeitgeist.

In the tradition of American Wild Ales, a name like American Solera might sound fundamental—but it's a relative newcomer for brewer/founder Chase Healey. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, far from the hotspots and critical masses of drinkers for such delicacies, Healey has carved out a life and a living that's far different than the way he entered brewing. His first venture, Prairie Artisan Ales, in which he still plays a small supporting role, is quickly growing from one state to the next. And it was his come-to-Jesus moment with the vast potential for Prairie that helped him understand his more personal goals as a brewer. Through that shift in focus, and his curiosity surrounding Wild Ales, an entirely new, unproven chapter of his life opened. But for all the anxiety of venturing into unknown territory, it's his obsession with simplicity that seems to keep him keeled. I caught up with Healey at RateBeer Best in Santa Rosa this year, fresh off his second place win for best new brewery in the world with American Solera, in addition to his legacy wins for top beer and top brewer in Oklahoma for Prairie in 2017.

In the tradition of American Wild Ales, a name like American Solera might sound fundamental — but it’s a relative newcomer for brewer/founder Chase Healey. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, far from the hotspots and critical mass of drinkers for such delicacies, Chase has carved out a life and a living that's far different than the way he entered brewing. His first venture, Prairie Artisan Ales, in which he still plays a small supporting role, is quickly growing from one state to the next. And it was his come-to-Jesus moment with the vast potential for Prairie that helped him understand his more personal goals as a brewer. And through that shift in focus, and his curiosity in wild ales, an entirely new, unproven chapter of his life opened. But for all the anxiety of venturing into unknown territory, it's Chase's obsession with simplicity that seems to keep him keeled.  I caught up with Chase at Rate Beer Best in Santa Rosa this year, fresh off his second place win for best new brewery in the world with American Solera, in addition to his legacy wins for top beer and top brewer in Oklahoma for Prairie in 2017.

Craft beer drinkers are finding better and better beers available in more places than ever before. And a big reason for that is large-format stores like Target, Costco, and, here in Chicago, Jewel-Osco. These big stores are looking for ways to connect with their customers on premium and locally-sourced products. The whole food and beverage industry is shifting local, not just craft beer. But for some longtime craft beer fans, that's an uncomfortable development. I've heard smaller retailers lamenting the competition and criticizing these larger stores as greedy opportunists. I've seen drinkers describe the craft beer they see at the grocery store as corporate sellouts, boldly claiming they won't support breweries they see on those shelves. But let's not kid ourselves: every culture has its self-inflicted know-nothings. For the rest of us, being able to grab a six pack of a super-fresh local beer when we're swinging through for milk and eggs is a godsend. More importantly, the people behind the decisions of who does—and does not—get on those shelves have their own perspective on what's exciting in beer. In this case, it's Sandy Vox, who's been at it for 15 years. And she'd never trade in the current chaos of craft beer proliferation for anything.

Craft beer drinkers are finding better and better beers available in more places than ever before. And a big reason for that is large-format stores like Target, Costco, and here in Chicago Jewel-Osco looking for ways to connect with their customer on premium and locally-sourced products. The whole food and beverage industry is shifting local, not just craft beer. But for some long-time craft beer fans, that’s an uncomfortable development. I’ve heard smaller retailers lamenting the competition and criticizing these larger stores as just greedy opportunists. I’ve seen drinkers describe the craft beer they see at the grocery store as corporate sellouts, boldly claiming they won’t support breweries they see on those shelves. But let’s not kid ourselves — every culture has its self-inflicted no-nothings. For the rest of us, being able to grab a six pack of a super-fresh local beer when we’re swinging through for milk and eggs is a godsend. More importantly, the people behind the decision of who does, and does not get on those shelves has their own perspective on what’s exciting in beer. And in this case, it’s Sandy Vox, who’s been at it for 15 years. And she’d never trade in the current chaos of craft beer proliferation for anything.

This week's conversation is potentially one of the most enjoyable and insightful conversations I've had since I started working in beer. I spend a lot of my time chatting to brewers and bar owners, but never have I taken the time to pose questions to someone who works in the world of beer distribution. I've known Pete Brissenden from back when he worked for London's Meantime brewery, way before SAB Miller and subsequently Asahi bought it out. Pete's worked for a range of breweries over the years, from the very traditional Hopdaemon in Kent to Camden Town Brewery in its formative years. These days he works for The Bottle Shop, a London based distributor and retailer that specializes in wholesaling craft beer. What differentiates The Bottle Shop from other British beer distributors is that 50% of its business is based on imports. In the UK The Bottle Shop is working with cutting edge breweries such as Beavertown and Cloudwater. While at the same time bringing in beers to the UK from the likes of Green Flash, Crooked Stave, Alpine and many more. During this discussion Pete and I cover topics ranging from pricing, to the viability of imports in a post-Brexit UK economy to the health of the cask ale market here in the UK. We also dig into his history at Camden and Meantime a little, including Pete's reaction to the latters sale to SAB Miller while he was still working there.

This week’s conversation is potentially one of the most enjoyable and insightful conversations I’ve had since I started working in beer. I spend a lot of my time chatting to brewers and bar owners, but never have I taken the time to pose questions to someone who works in the world of beer distribution. I’ve known Pete Brissenden from back when he worked for London’s Meantime brewery, way before SAB Miller and subsequently Asahi bought it out. Pete’s worked for a range of breweries over the years, from the very traditional Hopdaemon in Kent to Camden Town Brewery in its formative years. These days he works for The Bottle Shop, a London based distributor and retailer that specializes in wholesaling craft beer. What differentiates The Bottle Shop from other British beer distributors is that 50% of its business is based on imports. In the UK The Bottle Shop is working with cutting edge breweries such as Beavertown and Cloudwater. While at the same time bringing in beers to the UK from the likes of Green Flash, Crooked Stave, Alpine and many more. During this discussion Pete and I cover topics ranging from pricing, to the viability of imports in a post-Brexit UK economy to the health of the cask ale market here in the UK. We also dig into his history at Camden and Meantime a little, including Pete’s reaction to the latters sale to SAB Miller while he was still working there.

BJ Pichman is the head brewer at Forbidden Root brewpub, Chicago's "botanic beer" producer. As a homebrewer, he found a niche brewing pilot batches for recipe development consultants, and that eventually that got him a gig brewing the earliest batches of Forbidden Root's first trials for their namesake root beer-inspired concoction designed by Randy Mosher and Robert Finkel. Eventually that concept would develop into a full-fledged craft beer brand and brewpub, and while botanics are still at the heart of the operation, BJ has also developed a strong portfolio of hoppy beers, most recently of the New England variety. And they're really good. This week, he also launched his collaboration with Fernet-Branca, a bitter, herbal liquor that posed a perfect challenge for the team. The result, called Frenetic, might be the beer that finally puts this crew on the national map.

BJ Pichman is the head brewer at the Forbidden Root brewpub, Chicago’s “botanic beer” producer. As a home brewer he found a niche brewing pilot batches for recipe development consultants, and eventually that got him a gig brewing the earliest batches of Forbidden Root’s first trials for their namesake root beer-inspired concoction designed by Randy Mosher and Robert Finkel. Eventually that concept would develop into a full-fledged craft beer brand and brewpub, and while botanics are still at the heart of the operation, BJ has also developed a strong portfolio of hoppy beers, most recently of the New England variety. And they’re really, really good. This week, he also launched his collaboration with Fernet-Branca, a bitter, herbal liquor that posed a perfect challenge for the team. The result, called Frenetic, might be the beer that finally puts this crew on the national map.

This week's guest is an artist and commercial screenprinter here in Chicago. We've worked with him numerous times through GBH making posters and hosting workshop events. He's well-known but depending on how you discovered his work, you know him for very different reasons. Myself, I knew him as the guy who did the Dark Lord Day posters, and Apocalypse Cow from Three Floyds. For others, he's an artist working with bands like the Alabama Shakes. And most recently he took his first gig with a brewery making illustrations for the new cans coming out of Chicago's Hop Butcher for the World. He's also a small business entrepreneur, a dad of two great kids, and he works to balance all that with his creative ambitions, which are so similar to my own. So it was a great conversation, and I'm glad to share it with you all.