German craft beer

It's interesting to look at the beers' specs and consider the flavor profile they went after. The 1873 Pils has an OG of 13 with an abv of 6%, with 25 IBUs. Their Pale Ale has an OG of 15%, with 6.3% abv and 30 IBUs. The Pils looks like it's meant to be a sweet tasting higher abv pale lager. The pale ale looks like it's meant to be an even sweeter beer which might showcase some hop aromatics and flavors besides the malt sweetness. It appears as if sweetness is a common theme with these beers going by the reviews here and their specs, so the target consumer has to be someone who enjoys a sweet beer with more alcohol in it, which was the same type of consumer which ABInbev went for with their Bud Light Platinum, Beck's Saphire and Black Crown as I understand it.

It's becoming more common for the large international brewers to "innovate" by using the same formula in different countries, with slight adjustments for the local market conditions, so this is the formula ABInbev seems to be going with, higher abv and sweetness, which I'm guessing is based on the popularity of mixed drinks and alcopops etc.

 

Interesting hypothesis. And I think the case with Beck's Amber Lager shows that this approach is flawed, because esp. in germany, local markets have local traditions and local taste preferences, which are also reflected in regional cuisine styles. I mean, with classic Schäufele, Becher Original works very well. Beck's Amber not so much.........

 

Eurocrazy, the reaper of all that makes Europe worthwhile

 

ABInbev certainly advertising the heck out of the crafty Beck's on tv

 

This just in: URBAN CHESTNUT’S HALLERTAUER BREWERY BREWS FIRST BATCHES OF BIER

 

... I just saw the Beerhunter bavaria Episode aigan, and in this last part he visits the Hofmark Brauerei and asks the question how, in a changing european market, traditional breweries like this one will survive.


This was off course way before the craft beer market in germany developed. Nowadays, this very same Brewery not only distributes beers from brewdog and Braukunst Keller, they also made a collab with the latter one, so they now also make modern "craft" besides their traditional craft. They still have a Maibockfest, still have their traditional Lager styles, even added new "traditional" ones to their line up,like a Festbier and a Dunkles.
This example got me thinking about something that came up in this discussion a lot: That "craft" vs "traditional craft" does not work for bavaria. That many traditional breweries, besides looking forward and making ales now, are still expanding their classic lager line up.
So, this shows that the fear that the focus on modern ales will take away from the quality and diversity of traditional style beers is, at least in bavaria, unjustified.
In the rest of germany, there, with a few exceptions here and there, weren't many traditional styles left to begin with......

 

There are a number of Bamberg breweries taking this route as well. Similarly, there are a number who are not. I don't think the danger is in producing "craft" styles to complement "traditional" styles; as said, that describes a lot of places, and you could even say that Franconian brewers have been producing "Bavarian" styles to complement their portfolios for decades (think of Schlenkerla and Spezial brewing Weizenbiere and serving Weisswurst). Rather it's the prescriptive thinking that these breweries *must* start brewing "craft" beers if they are to remain relevant -- or even to survive -- that I (still) find problematic.

 

But who says that they MUST brew modern ales in order to survive??
Most regional franconian breweries I adore have only one or two beers in their portfolio, and are doing very well within their local area. And I think most breweries who do craft there aren't the tiny village ones, but the ones who have some recognition in a bigger area(Klosterbrauerei Weissenohe, Rittmayer, Weiherer, or Heck see Brauerei Maisel's),and although I would not mind, I think Barnikel IPA, Büchenbacher Stout or Leupser Wild Ale are nowhere on the horizon...

 

There have been a few people on here who have suggested that traditional breweries must either increase exports and/or brew "craft" beers if they hope to survive.

 

Very relevant article here: https://www.facebook.com/bierorden/...2203161831181/971353699582788/?type=1&theater

"['Craft'] Bier liegt im Moment im Trend. Aber Franken ist von vorneherein ein Craft-Bier-Region. Handwerklich hergestelltes Bier machen unsere kleinen fraenkischen Brauereien seit 500 Jahren. Wir raeumen in unserem Buch deswegen auch ein Bisschen mit den Mythen rund um den Begriff Craft-Beer auf."

 

I previously posted in this thread within the context of discussing Göller Brewery’s decision to brew some craft beers:

“I don’t have all the facts but I suspect that Schlenkerla will survive for quite some time since they seem to make a lot of money by their export business. This seems akin to Cantillon being successful since they sell a lot (most?) of their beers overseas (e.g., US).

As for the hundreds of other ‘old school’ German breweries, they will indeed have to come up with their own unique strategies if they want to be in business a decade from now. Maybe they could add a significant export business like Schlenkerla? Maybe they could produce ‘alternative’ products like craft beer? etc.

Brewing is a business just like any other business. You have to make profit in order to survive.”

In the Michael Jackson video there was discussion that Hofmark Brauerei made the business decision to export their beers to remain economically viable.

As I posted previously (copied above): “As for the hundreds of other ‘old school’ German breweries, they will indeed have to come up with their own unique strategies if they want to be in business a decade from now.”

Expanding their product portfolio to produce some craft style beers is one option but there are other options as well (e.g., expand exports, etc.).

Cheers!

 

What else would you include in that "etc."?

 

I just reads that article as well, and laughed, because he mentions that under 12 Euros for a crate is not enough to survive for a brewery, but sits in a Keller that serves Krug. Last time I checked, a crate of Krug was still 10 Euros or even less sometimes.
A crate of Büchenbacher Vollbier is usually 14,99, which i myself consider a steal.

But-why?? There are many tiny small-scale breweries in tiny villages that survive by making very good beers for the locals, which is so good that it is known in the next bigger city(Bamberg,Bayreuth or Forchheim).
I think there is one different route, that many winemakers take and brewers now as well: tourism.
Most tiny breweries have a Restaurant and a kind of hostel attached to it as well, and Brauereiwanderwege in the Fränkische Schweiz with different offers(rafting, biking, climbing etc) are very common. And within germany, this region is becoming more and more popular as a holiday destination. See the marketing of Bierland Oberfranken or the Zoigl brewers from the Oberpfalz. Presenting the local brewing landscape as a desireable vacation destination isn't the worst way in my opinion

 

Yea, the beer is still ridiculously cheap. Price pressures in place since Oettinger entered the market in the 1990s -- and the supermarkets promoting specials every week at outrageously low prices -- have driven these local places to try and keep up. I agree 100% that these places need only raise prices from 1,80 Euro to 2,50 a half liter in the taverns (and from 10 Euro to 14 or so per crate) in order to ensure they remain competitive. If some want to brew "craft" beer or export to the ever-more-crowded shelves of the U.S., then by all means let them do so. But to suggest that such strategies alone are the key to survival is more than a little naive.

 

That is an idea and if it gets enough tourists coming to their specific brewery and purchasing lots of beer (and other goods/services) they will make more money. I doubt that this would 'work' for all of the small breweries but it should work for some.

As I posted previously: "...they will indeed have to come up with their own unique strategies...".

Cheers!

 

Exactly, that is why I took Büchenbacher Vollbier as an example. This beer is unique, yet typical for the region. It is relatively low in alcohol and has a very delicate ballance, with a subtle spicy fresh hop aftertaste and a very rounded only slightly sweet malty body. I bet this one would not travel well to the US at all without major quality drops, and maybe would not even be popular because it is very subtle in its flavours.... But to keep the quality high for the regional market seems to work wonders for them, the Gasthof is full most of the time...

 

Well said. You could likely say the same thing about literally 100s such beers -- and Gasthoefe. My in-laws from northern Germany are always astounded at how full the Gasthoefe in Franconia are, since the ones in much of the rest of the country are increasingly less well-visited. You just have to see it for yourself to believe how vibrant and very much alive the traditional beer culture is in Franconia...despite all the (greatly exaggerated) calls of its imminent its death.

That said, a price increase of 50 to 70 Euro cents per beer is definitely going to piss some people off (as absurd as it might sound to us). Maybe a gradual increase of 10-20 cents per year or season would dampen the blow somewhat. Either way, prices need to -- and likely will -- come up sooner rather than later.

 

Afaik, Spezial does not brew a Weizen ....

 

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