Hops Scotch?

How does one market their product to future generations without targeting a demographic that cannot legally enjoy their product? That's the paradox that breweries face in the United States. Smaller brewers don't worry themselves with this nonsense. It's the big brewers with the largess of advertising dollars that focus on ways to sustain their primary audience. It's the youth that will first get drunk off their product. Let's cite some specific examples of the subconscious youth movement hidden behind farcical comedy.

Coors Light Code Blue - So the mountains on the label of the bottle and the side of the can turn blue when your beer is optimally cold? Really? It's not like your average boozebag carries around a thermometer like they are checking on their Thanksgiving turkey to make sure the beer is ready to consume. If you can't tell that your beer is cold with your hands, you are a dumb ass. They had this fad when I was in middle school called Hypercolor. They were articles of clothing that would change color when the temperature of the fabric changed. So you'd walk up to people and you'd show them this by breathing on your sleeve. This would get boring after awhile and the fabric would lose its cool properties. Sounds like something that would entertain a little kid or a teenager. Kind of like little blue mountains? Exactly.

Bud Light Tailgate Approved - Jimmy Football has some ideas to make the game day experience better and they all include your favorite watered down session beer. A grill/cooler, a beer koozie that is camoflauged by fake grass, beer cans that are different colors, a foam finger that holds your beer, a case of beer that plays mp3s, a dog that is your tailgate companion and a gun that shoots out ketchup, mustard and mayo simultaneously. Clever ideas and they go for the jugular by spoofing infomercials but c'mon. You are targeting youths, the only people that would willingly paint their faces, carry a foam finger and need to hide their koozie in the grass.

Molson Canadian Guy - The Canadiens are clever too. (What is that all aboot?). In one ad, they want you to believe that drink their beer is like drinking in frigid conditions with deer, bears, figure skaters and hockey players. Another ad of note is the one where the Molson higher up walks around shooting a t-shirt gun giving away free t-shirts at things that the gun shouldn't be aimed at. What a way to encourage insubordinance and delinquency.

Other examples - Lower calorie options like MGD 64 and Michelob Ultra that caters to anorexic chicks. Mini 'baby' sized bottles of Miller High Life and Heineken keg cans. These ploys have existed since the dawn of man with the likes of Spuds McKenzie and the Budweiser Frogs.

Now I know what you're gonna say 'Where's your sense of humor?'. The ads range from mildly humorous to hilarious but they send a mixed message. The beer companies will never admit it. Any unsupervised kid under 21 can claim they are of age and visit their websites easily. The ads are commonplace on NFL Sundays. I'm about as pro drinking as they come and I think the whole thing is ridiculous.

I think that they should lower the drinking age to the voting age. If you can defend our country, you should be able to drink. More importantly, parents need to do the best job that they can to help their kids by promoting social responsibility with regards to the consumption of alcohol. Maybe they won't listen but at least they were armed with information that they could have decided to use.

Five For Imbibing

(I had originally started this blog in the summer after I had attended the beer festival, but I had stopped mid blog. I had forgotten about it until now hence the notes about recent beer samplings and tastings. I hope it didn't confuse you too much.)

Big ups to Beer Advocate for bringing the American Craft Beer Fest back to Boston. My girlfriend and I were much the wiser this year as we arrived early, took public transportation and attended the less crowded afternoon session. Sure, we were worse for wear afterwards, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. I shall now list a handful of notable beers amongst the 50 of so I had the pleasure of sampling.

Cisco Brewers (MA) - The Grey Lady - This Belgian wheat beer with chamomile and citrus zest reminded me of a lighter version of Harpoon's UFO. This would be the prototypical summer session beer out of the brews I shall list. (Note: I actually met one of the brewer's of this beer at a spot beer sampling in mid-October at Blanchards Liquors in Marshfield after work. I was purchasing tequila as a gift for a wedding I was attending in the near future and he was sampling their pumpkin flavoured offering along with the their unique array of beers. The brewery based in Cape Cod and guy told me a story of how he doesn't much tequila but tried some in Las Vegas at a high end tequila bar. It hit the spot so well that he went on a roller coaster something that isn't normally is his risk averse wheelhouse).

Woodstock Inn Brewery (NH) - Kanc County Maple Porter - I first discovered this brewer last summer while attending a wedding at the Mt Washington Inn at Bretton Woods. Their Pig's Ear Brown Ale can hold a candle to one of my favorite more widely available brown ale's in Newcastle. We had the delight of sipping on the maple porter at the beer fest. The maple syrup was subtle and served as a nice compliment to the breadth of the porter. The key was that it was definitely not too sweet.

Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery (NC) - Paul's Day Off - A specialty offering from this brewer, this strong style ale seemed legendary. It had limited issue written all over it. Plenty of complex aromas and flavors from this selection which can from oaken bourbon barrels. You could definitely taste the sweetness from the bourbon.

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (DE) - Palo Santo Marron - The signature component of this brown ale is that it comes from a Paraguayan tree. It looked like motor oil but tasted a helluva lot better. It'll warm you up and it won't let you down. Fruity, chocolatey and malty were all the sensabilities I got from this beer. Much better than the summer offering I had recently from them called Festina Peche. This malty brew fermented from peaches was extremely tart. You could probably sip one in an entire evening if you choose. Good for a wine snob, it was a lot like Pinot Grigio.

Southern Tier Brewing Company (NY) - Imperial Cherry Saison - This brewery always tends to go big or go home in my opinion. This farmhouse ale catered to the desire for the harmonious convergence of cherry and spices. Their Pumpking, an imperial Halloween offering lived up to its hype as well when I tried this from a friend's recommendation. I thought I was tasting coconut but it was probably nutmeg, I'm glad it was because I'm not a big fan of coconut.