I ran across an interesting (mildly) piece in BrandWeek about A-B plans to tout their import brands in the near future. While it focused a bit on their ad campaigns, I found it interesting that the import market had such a seemingly big lag in late 2007 – growing only 1.8% versus the 2.4% growth of 2006. The article never factors craft beer’s success in the slowed growth for this segment, and perhaps there’s really more to the story (when you start talking in those volumes I feel less confident I have any idea which way is up). Personally, I can’t help but think that there are so many craft pilsners, hefeweizens and tradition styles on the market now that is has to cut in a bit on the import market selling beers with the same words on the labels.
Perhaps this is why it seems A-B will market “authenticity” this year with it’s import brands. It seems at least two brands will tug the beer heart strings a bit, Bass Ale and Amstel Light. According to BrandWeek Bass will tout themselves as the necessary ingredient for an “authentic Black and Tan”. I suppose this will be a campaign designed to pressure bar-owners to keep Bass on in fear they’ll be blacklisted for serving the fake black and tan made with a fake pale ale. Additionally, you wouldn’t want to be the douche that throws a party and makes a fake B&T now, would you? Yeah, didn’t think so.
On the other hand, Amstel seems to be playing off a different theme: “Spirit of Amsterdam”. I don’t quite have a handle on this one, the only connotations I think of have little to do with beer. Perhaps that’s what they’re hoping for? I mean, it is served in a green bottle. The “Spirit of Amsterdam” slogan sounds a bit like “The Great American Lager”, in which case I’d assume some think-tank/study group identified authenticity as a key selling point for products.
In any case, it seems the big big guys (A-B, InBev, SABMiller, etc.) will be ramping up their ads this year, perhaps making more direct affronts to beer enthusiasts who long to ‘keep it real’. I wonder now, actually, if the whole Hofbräuhaus story Stan had the other day is in line with this, as they claimed to be the only real “double bock” on the market today.
I suspect if the slowed growth really is linked the white-hot success of the craft beer industry all the ads these guys put out won’t do much to address their concerns. Of course, if they start making consumers feel like they’ve sold out by enjoying a fake representation of an old-world style who knows that that’d do. I did read recently that A-B would start playing nice with the craft brewers in their advertising, but we’ll see how long that lasts.
I’ll admit, I’ve never heard of this beer and can’t pretend to tell you the proper pronounciation. However, I know enough to not-so-boldly say this is a fantastic example of a Bavarian Wheat beer, otherwise known as Hefeweizen. Pouring an orangish gold color, with a cloudy haze and a frothy/rocky loose bubbled head, the beer is simply a thing of beauty to look at. The aroma also seems to carry out orders from the historical style guidelines – clove and and a beautifully light fruity character.
The flavor is slightly tart, as you come to expect from the style, with a sweetness up front that is surprisingly caramel-like. The hops in this beer are clearly not the forefront, only intended to buster the character of the yeast and malts. What hops you can detect come through as a moderately peppery and lightly bittering.
The mouthfeel is another strong area of this beer, as it is nearly chewy in it’s texture. Low alcohol warmth and lending to the beers overall refreshing quality.
I won’t say this is the best Hefe I have had, but it is everything you’d want in a traditional hefeweizen. Refreshing. Flavorful. Clean.
Score: 3.9/5
FYI – I picked this beer up at Nugget Market here in Northern California. I suspect you’ll be able to find this beer and others by the same brewer. Suggest you look for these sooner than later. Judging by the date stamps, these are as fresh a beer you’ll find from Germany.
