a.k.a. Layover-induced market research.
With three hours before my connection from Philly to O'Hare, I decided to stop in at the airport bar that's right next to my gate. How convenient!
I'm at the Jet Rock Bar and Grill. When visiting cities outside my own, I make it a point to try some of the local craft beers. Today I tried a Rye IPA from the Dock Street brewery. It was tasty--didn't get a lot of the rye, but it did have a bit of that characteristic spiciness. Orangeish-red hue with a slight haze. Nice malty backbone with a big punch of grapefruit from the hops. It's on the bigger side: 6.8% abv. I may try making one of these back at the Brewery.
Next up was the Brawler Pugilist Style Ale (I guess breweries are making up their own styles these days). It's a brown ale. Nice dark copper color--most likely filtered as it's crystal clear. No head. No lacing. Super-light with an all-malt presence. 4.2%abv.
I spoke with my bartender, Alice and asked her what craft beers sell the best. They have about 25 craft beers on tap. Alice said the hoppier ones tend to sell best: Victory Hop Devil, Yard's Pale Ale, Harpoon IPA, etc. I also noticed that many of their beers fall in the <5% area.
Any bar manager or brewery owner (who's NOT the Brewmaster) loves the low abv beers because they're cheaper to make. For me, I like to know I'm drinking a beer. It's not that I purposely brew beers that are higher in alcohol. Rather, I like to brew beer that's higher in flavor. The higher abv just happens to be a pesky by-product.
Unfortunately, these bigger beers tend to be less "sessionable".
So, let me ask you. Would you like to see more lower abv beers at SFB? There are valid arguements on both sides.
Send me an email: brewmaster@stfrancisbrewery.com and let me know. I read all emails and respond to most.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Time To Kill
So, I'm sitting here in the Frankfurt airport. Ahh, the joy of International Air travel.....
Ramstein Air Base is about 90 minutes from Frankfurt. There is a military shuttle bus that departs the base at 0600. Because it's free, I take it regardless of my flight time, which happens to be 1245 today.
Customs and security are much easier and quicker than the States, so you tend to get to your gate faster than in the USA. So, I have about three hours to kill (but only about 20 more minutes of free wi-fi!).
Kelley, Mikey and I took a six-day trip to Rome and got back to Germany on Monday. I'll get some photos up by Saturday. All-in-all, it was a great trip. Not very beer-centric, unfortunately, though the ones I tried were pretty good. Rome is very expensive, however--even more so than Germany. With the current exchange rate, it's easy to drop at least $60 for a light lunch and well over $100 for dinner. More on that later.
I wasn't able to make it to the Bischoff brewery this time around. It's only been about 20 days since I was last in the states. Six of those were spent being Mr. Mom while my wife was in Turkey. Six more were spent in Rome. The remaining eight days just didn't work out schedule-wise, so I'll keep my fingers crossed for early April, when I get back to Germany.
I received a surprisingly high level of response for the "Brewmaster's Reserve" Series about which I previously wrote. That said, it WILL happen. I just have to work out the logistics. I plan on opening the first one up to twenty people, on a first-come, first-served basis. From there, I will adjust the level up or down, depending on what seems to work best. I am also toying with the idea of a separate Ladies Only series. I got this idea from a recent article in "Zymurgy" Magazine about women and the craft beer scene. Our meetings will be dominated by men, and I fear that women may get marginalized a bit. Anyway, I'll float that out there and see if the ladies would prefer a "room of their own", so to speak.
Well, I'm almost out of wi-fi time, so I'll cut this short. See you tomorrow at the Brewery!
Ramstein Air Base is about 90 minutes from Frankfurt. There is a military shuttle bus that departs the base at 0600. Because it's free, I take it regardless of my flight time, which happens to be 1245 today.
Customs and security are much easier and quicker than the States, so you tend to get to your gate faster than in the USA. So, I have about three hours to kill (but only about 20 more minutes of free wi-fi!).
Kelley, Mikey and I took a six-day trip to Rome and got back to Germany on Monday. I'll get some photos up by Saturday. All-in-all, it was a great trip. Not very beer-centric, unfortunately, though the ones I tried were pretty good. Rome is very expensive, however--even more so than Germany. With the current exchange rate, it's easy to drop at least $60 for a light lunch and well over $100 for dinner. More on that later.
I wasn't able to make it to the Bischoff brewery this time around. It's only been about 20 days since I was last in the states. Six of those were spent being Mr. Mom while my wife was in Turkey. Six more were spent in Rome. The remaining eight days just didn't work out schedule-wise, so I'll keep my fingers crossed for early April, when I get back to Germany.
I received a surprisingly high level of response for the "Brewmaster's Reserve" Series about which I previously wrote. That said, it WILL happen. I just have to work out the logistics. I plan on opening the first one up to twenty people, on a first-come, first-served basis. From there, I will adjust the level up or down, depending on what seems to work best. I am also toying with the idea of a separate Ladies Only series. I got this idea from a recent article in "Zymurgy" Magazine about women and the craft beer scene. Our meetings will be dominated by men, and I fear that women may get marginalized a bit. Anyway, I'll float that out there and see if the ladies would prefer a "room of their own", so to speak.
Well, I'm almost out of wi-fi time, so I'll cut this short. See you tomorrow at the Brewery!
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
A New (But Not Novel) Idea...
I'd like to gauge your interest in a new program.
I am considering putting together a "Brewmaster's Reserve" series which would be catered toward craft beer enthusiasts, not unlike our Mug Club tappings, but on a much more intimate scale.
I envision a group of 15-30 folks where we could get together in the banquet room, try a couple of beers and have some Q&A with me along with some fellowship. There would be some light fare. There would be a nominal charge, yet to be determined.
If this series comes to fruition, it would be a monthly event, dates of course to coincide with my trips back to the States. Nights will be themed to particular beer styles. It would be informal, informative and fun.
Reservations would be taken in advance, but this is open to everyone, 21 and older. If friends and family are interested, please share this message.
Anyway, if I get enough takers, I'll get the ball rolling and contact you.
If you'd like to join us, contact me directly at brewmaster@stfrancisbrewery.com.
Naturally, I value your input and patronage and would welcome any suggestions or comments.
Cheers!
Scott
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