I was watching one of the major news magazine shows a few years back when they were interviewing the owner of a large craft (formerly micro) brewery. Like these shows usually do, they tried to “expose” some deep dark secret known only to the inside players of the brewing community. Many craft brewers don’t brew their own beer.
There’s a “dirty little secret” in the industry called contract brewing. Contract brewing is when one brewer contracts with another to make his beer. To tell you the truth, this really doesn’t bother me. As the owner of this brewery said, they use our ingredients and our process and we our people can visit and inspect the brew process anytime we want.
The one interesting thing I learned during this show was the Genesee Brewing Company in upstate New York was contracting to brew Sam Adams Lager. (Note: I have no way of knowing if they still contract for Sam Adams). Now, I remember Genesee for their ads many years ago for their cream Ale, and really didn’t think they were still around. But, when I was browsing in my local (large chain) liquor store (believe it or not in Rhode Island we still must buy beer at a liquor store) there were pallets of Genesee!
Now, Sam’s cost about $30 a case around here so when I saw Genesee Red Lager for about $18 (a 30 pack!) I thought this was too good not to at least try. I’ll admit, Genesee may brew Sam’s, and this was not Sam’s. It was though, very close to Killian’s Red. In fact we did a blind taste test between Genesee Red and Killian’s and found the taste very similar, body virtually the same, and the Genesee had a much fuller head. It’s really a value.
The moral of the story…
Don’t believe the beer commercials! Just because it says it’s king doesn’t mean it tastes great or it’s less filling (I really do watch to many commercials). I was in Pennsylvania a few months ago and had a Yuengling (pronounced Ying-Ling I think). It was great! Locally produced in PA and the price was right. Actually, it’s something I typically do wherever I am. I always ask if there is a local brew. You got to figure, even if it’s not the best beer in the world, it’s usually the freshest!
Have you got a local beer that’s worth talking about. Here in Rhode Island, we have Newport Storm. It’s a great beer… but more on that later. Contact us and give us the scoop on your local gem!
