"Die frühere Herborner Bärenbräu, jetzt Herborner Brauhaus, steht wieder einmal vor dem Aus: Nach Berichten der regionalen Dill-Zeitung hat der zwischenzeitliche Betreiber Maximilian Hösl das Handtuch geworfen und bestätigt, dass das zuletzt maximal 30.000 hl große Haus (das er 2010 gekauft hatte) geschlossen wird." The former Herborner Bärenbräu now Herborner Brewery is once again faced with disaster: After reports from the regional Dill-Zeitung, the interim operator of Maximilian Hösl thrown in the towel and confirmed that the last maximum of 30,000 hectoliters house (which he had bought in 2010) is closing. Brutal business in Germany, lots of capacity and prices are still as low as they ever have been. The on-going result of lack of creativity? Discuss.
I would bet that it's more an uphill battle against big-name marketing than any sort of cry for "creativity" in Germany. Germans tend to like their traditional styles and don't give a rip for any sort of "new trends." Just my perception.
While I agree with you to a certain degree, you have to think about how the US craft beer segment started - in an industry owned to 98% by big brands. Now it's down to 94% market share, with dollar sales at only 90%. How else should a 30,000 HL brewery complete against the big brands? By making a "better" pilsner? We saw in an earlier post that they are (flavor-wise) interchangeable. Fodder for the German-loving BAs... (it's been quiet around here...)
But, wouldn't a Pilsner from Herborner (probably) have been "better" than the Pils from HB or Paulaner -- let alone Warsteiner? I pointed this out in the thread on Helles in that the Weltenburger Helles is so much more flavorful than a Spaten or even HB Helles -- small brewery vs. industrial breweries. Adding "extra" ingredients to a beer style doesn't necessarily make it "better," let alone creative. One of the current states of German culture I remembered in regard to this thread is that beer drinking is down overall. I imagine the smaller breweries suffer first.
Older generations of Germans do, but many younger ones don't want to be seen drinking dad or grand dad's beer.
So, now, why is beer drinking down among the young? Edit: When that demographic is part of what drives craft beer consumption increases in the US? Edit: Among the brewers I've met or read I've never heard one claim that "adding extra ingredients" made any one creative. They don't do those things at random regardless of how it may appear to us.
That was my point, but it seems most beer geeks think brewing "creative beer" is like screwing with a chemistry set -- then again, isn't that Calagione's method? This sounds like what I heard from the English a few years ago.
Actually, no, that is not Calagione's method. :-) (See the Snithsonian article about McGovern's work with DFH and the Ancient Ales.) And what we have also heard from the English is that there is major growth in the cask ales and new beers and new breweries in recent years. Not so in Germany.
Recent years, yes -- but it's been a turnaround, of sorts from a decade ago. Look at the reports of pub-closings in England too -- drinking is down there as well. I spent an evening in Munich, somewhere in the early '90s, debating the goodness of cask ales over light lagers... with a group of English youths who didn't want to drink their father's beer. So, maybe we can get those same kids to jump-start the German brewing world! And no matter what the Smithsonian says (hell, they have a P-40 airplane they're calling a Flying Tiger and it was flown by a pilot who joined the AAF after the actual Tigers were disbanded), Calagione is a mad scientist!* *Yes, this is all in jest.
I've said it before, it bears mentioning again - being able to use adjuncts expands the possibilities, but one can be creative without going outside of the RHG. And as far as drinking your dad's or grandfather's beer, there aren't a lot of other choices in the beer world, as most breweries are 100's if not 1000's of years old. The demographics are changing in general, population is shrinking, but the "winners" in the alcohol world are in the spirits industry, as they have been able to be more modern than the brewers, of which 95% market themselves as "traditional".
German kids drink Vodka / Red Bull and other rocket fuel. Beer (in whatever configuration) usually isn't even on the menu. Small breweries that have a local following and openly want to stay small usually are supported. Small breweries who go out to play with the big boys get crushed there and lose their local following for selling out to the corporate world.
