Blue Moon Founder Retires From MillerCoors

As much as I don't really care for the big guys I have to give him credit for developing blue moon. The growth of that beer has been crazy and has turned a lot of people on to better beer, and honestly it's not too bad of a beer.

 

Woah now, let's not get too carried away there! The 2 times I year I'm at a party and end up being handed one, I'm always optimistic and then immediately let down. Some serious corners are cut to make this beer at the macro level.

Interesting that he studied in Belgium. I have always been curious the various profit margins of beers made by the big macros... despite the cost of lagering, I imagine the material costs of Budweiser are much lower beers that are not fermented with adjuncts, not to mention hops, wheat, etc.

---
Good for him though, I'd do the same in a heat beat!

 

I rated it a 3.5 which to me is squarely in the happily drink it if it's free, but not buy it range of beers. I really don't see how you could think its terrible. It's not great by any means, but a wit by coors could be much worse.

 

That sounds like it might be a less than amicable separation - Coors, after all, used to maintain a relationship with an heir to the Killian brewery in Ireland (which was sold off in the 1950s, long before Coors licensed the name) who used to do US promo appearances for their bastardized version of Killian Irish Red Ale.



I wonder if either they or Villa will eventually drop this fiction that Villa "founded" Blue Moon Brewing Co. He was employed by Coors (even grew up in the area) predating his schooling in Belgium - which some sources have implied that Coors paid for.

While he obviously created the Blue Moon White recipe and also did work designing that Sandlot brewery in the Denver baseball stadium that eventually changed its name to "Blue Moon" over a decade later, its really difficult to claim that an employee "founded" a brewery that was originally just another 'dba' name owned by Coors. Here's how the New York Times reported the new beer "...meant to compete against microbrewery products..." at the time:


After F X Matt, Coors moved the contract to the Hudepohl-Schoenling brewery that Boston Beer Co. bought and was operating, and then to Coors' Memphis (the Schlitz plant they bought from Stroh, that is now run by City and the brewery for Sixpoint and several other craft brewers). After closing Memphis, they even brewed it in a Molson brewery to ship to the US.

What also goes unmentioned in most of the stories about Villa and his Belgian White is that Pierre Celis had already opened his Texas brewery and his beer was well-distributed beyond its home state by 1995 - the same year (coincidentally?) Miller Brewing Co. first bought into Celis earlier that spring.

 

I'm curious as to what "serious corners" you think are being cut, and how that plays "at the macro level" as opposed to a smaller level. ??? And what do you mean by "the cost of lagering"? None of what you said really makes any clear sense so I'm curious.

 

This beer was my doorway into craft beer. From blue moon to newcastle, then on to more browns and reds... then ipas and stouts came into the picture for me. Still haven't found a love for too many sours, but my tastes were slowly opened up starting with this one. I wouldn't drink it now, but I'm glad I did then...

 

Thanks for asking. Sometimes I get all excited and I get ahead of myself!

I'll ask you: how is it that Allagash, from a brewery the size of a speck of dust compared to SABMiller, able to produce (by my estimate 50,000 barrels/yr of White) a Witbier that's superior to Blue Moon in every way?
The brewers at Allagash are better (prolly not) or they have a better brewery (hell no)?
Or BM uses cheaper ingredients (possibly because they need so much and can't be as picky), or Allagash uses batches/tanks that are size x and Blue Moon does batches that are 25x? One run of BM might rival a month or more of White (which is 75% of Allagash business). There could be yeast choices to hit a timeframe that SABMiller needs to hit for whatever reason to hit their big company margins, that a brewery like Allagash may simply not need to or care to hit.

Cost of lagering: you have to age the beer in tanks (30 days maybe). You brew an IPA, takes half that time. Vis a vis on the same gear, all other things being equal your output on the same rig is halved for lagered beers.

 

I disagree with this.

Most people here on BA would choose Allagash White over Blue Moon.

Most people outside BA (which is a much bigger group) would probably choose Blue Moon.

This doesn't have to do with cutting corners, but rather with producing what most people want.

 

My sister is a Blue Moon drinker, and with as many witbiers as I've introduced her to- guess what she still drinks? That beer is designed to fit that niche perfectly, it would seem.

 

I'm curious: do folks think Blue Moon did more to "compete with craft" or to introduce people to new styles and expand the market for craft producers?

 

Going purely on my own experience of working in a liquor store for the last decade I’m gonna say it’s mostly “compete with craft.” Our Blue Moon drinkers strictly drink Blue Moon. I’m sure some people have used it as a springboard to try new things, but I think most people that drink it are having it as their everyday beverage. This is obviously anecdotal and speculative on my part, but that’s all I really have to go by.

 

Below is from the Blue Moon website:

“The Right Blend of Ingredients and Imagination

Blue Moon® Belgian White* was our first year-round release back in 1995.

It started with our brewmaster, Keith Villa, wanting to craft a beer inspired by the flavorful Belgian Wits he enjoyed while studying brewing in Belgium. He brewed his interpretation using Valencia orange peel versus the traditional tart Curaçao orange peel, for a subtle sweetness, and added a touch of coriander to provide balance. Then he added oats and wheat to create a smooth, creamy finish that’s inviting to the palate. As a final touch, he garnished the beer with an orange slice to heighten the citrus aroma and taste. Its natural unfiltered appearance adds to the depth of flavors in Belgian White*.

Available in 12-oz. bottles, 6-pack, 12-pack, 12-oz. can, 16-oz. can, Draft

Profile

Ingredients and Profile

Malts: Pale, White Wheat, Oats
Hops: Blend of Imported and Domestic
Our Twist: Valencia Orange Peel , Coriander
IBUs: 9
Original Gravity: 13º Plato
ABV: 5.4%

Glassware

Pour our Belgian White* into our signature Blue Moon® glass to highlight the depth of the beer. This glass opens wide at the top to make room for the aromatic citrus notes. Cap with a creamy, white head and garnish with an orange slice.

Appearance

Will appear cloudy because it’s unfiltered for more depth of flavor.

Aroma

You’ll notice a zesty orange fruitiness with a light spicy wheat aroma.

Taste

The flavor starts crisp and tangy and ends with a coriander and orange spiciness. The Valencia orange peel gives a subtle sweetness to the beer.

Mouthfeel

The oats give the beer a nice creamy body, so it’s not too thin.

Finish

Our Belgian White* has a slow finish of coriander and orange spiciness.”

https://www.bluemoonbrewingcompany.com/our-beers/belgian-wheat-white-beer

I do not have sufficient insight into the prices that MillerCoors pays for the above ingredients but permit me to further discuss the design choices that Keith Villa made to brew Blue Moon.

Grains

Witbier as it was brewed in Belgium would have grain bill of Continental Pilsner Malt and raw wheat. Some of the breweries may have used a little bit of oats too.

Keith Villa made a decision to used Pale Ale malt vs. Continental Pilsner Malt. It is unclear from the above whether the White Wheat listed is raw wheat or malted wheat. He did decide to use some oats, likely to provide more of a silky mouthfeel as is detailed above.

Hops

Witbier as it was brewed in Belgium would have used European hops (e.g., noble hops). There is insufficient detail provided by Blue Moon to really know what they are using for hops. Needless to say but using American (Domestic) hops would not have been used in Belgium ‘back in the day’ to brew a Witbier.

Spicing

Witbier as it was brewed in Belgium would have classically used a combination of curacao orange peel (bitter orange peel) and coriander. It was not unheard of for some Belgian breweries to utilize other spices such as grains of paradise.

The above write-up seems clear to me on why Keith Villa decided to use Valencia orange peel: “He brewed his interpretation using Valencia orange peel versus the traditional tart Curaçao orange peel, for a subtle sweetness…” He wanted a sweeter expression in this beer which is likely more appealing to the more ‘mainstream’ beer drinker.

Yeast

There is no mention of yeast strain selection but I have read where folks have stated that a neutral ale yeast strain is used to ferment Blue Moon. A neutral yeast strain will add little additional yeast derived flavor to Blue Moon.

I have brewed many Witbiers using Wyeast 3944 which is reportedly the Hoegaarden/ Celis White yeast strain. That yeast strain is not neutral. Below is how Wyeast describes this yeast strain on their website:

“This strain produces a complex flavor profile dominated by spicy phenolics with low to moderate ester production. It is a great strain choice when you want a delicate clove profile not to be overshadowed by esters. It will ferment fairly dry with a slightly tart finish that compliments the use of oats, malted and unmalted wheat.”

It is entirely possible that one of Keith Villa’s motivations in designing Blue Moon was to be economically responsible but I would suggest that even more important to him was to craft a beer that would not be too bold and have some sweetness to it. The sort of beer that an AAL beer drinker might enjoy drinking.

Just my thoughts.

Cheers!

 

I would guess that most of the folks who enjoy Blue Moon were previously AAL drinkers that for a variety of reasons decided to try something different (i.e., Blue Moon). If a beer like Blue Moon (or something akin to it) was not on the market those folks would more likely be drinking mainstream beers (e.g., AAL beers) vs. the more bold craft beers.

At a certain level I would think that a Blue Moon drinker is akin to a Yuengling Lager or Fat Tire drinker. They want something different from Bud/Budlight, Coors/Coors Light,... but not a beer like SNPA either.

Cheers!

 

I think they've had more people go from coors and bud to craft beer through trying their beer than craft drinkers who leave their favorites behind to drink blue moon. Of course they're trying to compete with craft. I'm sure at some chain restaurants they're successful in this due to their huge dirstributing footprint. But in the liquor stores, craft is king when you look for wit beers.

 

Man... so not all beers are lagered. Some may be, and some may be bulk conditioned. I doubt blue moon sees 30 days of bulk aging. Also, adjuncts refer to fermentables other than barley used in a beer. Witbiers traditionally use wheat and sometimes oats. Budweiser uses rice. Coors uses corn. I'm assuming you mean flavor adding ingredients like orange peel. Blue moon has more flavored iterations than sculpin. You also mentioned maybe coors isn't picky about their ingredients. Nothing could be further from the truth. Coors uses grains grown locally, and while they may buy from one farmer yhis year, if the barley doesn't pass inspection next year they will pass on it.
I'm not sure what you're getting on about here, but just because you don't like the beer doesn't mean they "cut corners" to make it.

 

Blue Moon Belgian White is the largest selling "craft beer" in the US according to IRI data (which does not use the Brewers Association definition of "craft") and unlike many of the other best-selling craft beers (SNPA, SABL, NBFT) Blue Moon sales are up this year.

The entire Blue Moon line sells over 2m bbl/yr, making it larger than every "craft" brewer other than Yuengling and BBC. As far as "wit" beers go in the US, the only challenger to Blue Moon sales are the 600k bbl of AB's Shock Top sold (and those have been down the last few years).

 

The following two quotes sum up my feeling about what you've said very well:

Blue Moon tastes exactly how it's supposed to taste. As does Allagash White. No corners are cut in the manufacture of either beer. They are simply for two different audiences.

 

Blue Moon isn't bad at all. In fact, I often prefer it over the local IPA options that are on tap at chain restaurants like O'Charleys.

I've have too many stale or off tasting IPA's at chains like that. I'm assuming it's because nobody orders IPA's at those places so the kegs sit on tap forever. I guess it could also be that they don't properly clean the lines...but the Blue Moon always tastes fine.

 

I think it was created to appeal to a wide audience while selling as a premium. They succeeded and in fact compete with both craft and AAL.