Modern Times Sells Out - To Its Employees

Modern Times Beer, in big press release this morning, announced that it is now employee owned.  Its Employee Stock Option Plan owns 30% of its stock, with a goal of 100% ownership.  Modern Times has been buying back its shares from its outside investors.  This is good news, as a great brewery is laying plans to remain independent and solidify its future.  MarketWatch has a good article on the employee purchase and an interview with Jacob McKean, Modern Times' CEO and majority owner.  

Modern Times is celebrating its fourth anniversary this weekend.  In 2016, it was the fourth largest craft brewery in San Diego based on barrels produced, behind only Stone Brewing, Green Flash, and Karl Strauss, according to this Peter Rowe Union Tribune article from February.  This puts Modern Times ahead of Coronado Brewing, AleSmith, and Pizza Port.  Yeah, I did not know that either. 

The mega breweries, led by Anheuser-Busch, are buying craft brands and obscuring the difference between an independent enterprise and a division of a beverage conglomerate.  Modern Times is staking its future on remaining distinct and independent, and I plan to spend my beer money at independent brewers like Modern Times.  In fact, I may have to stop by Modern Times this evening.

Make sure to read the comments in the Modern Times' press release linked to above.  The strong words of encouragement will put you in a good mood.

Cloudy Before It Was Cool

Late last spring I found myself in Alpine with growler in hand and stopped at the Alpine Beer Company tasting room.  What a nice spot.  It was small, but airy with its exposed beams, rolltop open windows, and skylights.  Two guys were working the taps and there was a fridge filled with bottled beer.   It was crowded and the taps were a heavy mix of Alpine Beers along with a handful of Green Flash beers.  I saw Nelson IPA on tap and ordered a growler fill.   This beer was never widely distributed, and it seems to me it has become more rare.  It may not be the San Diego beer icon like Ballast Point's billion dollar Sculpin, but to me, it is every bit as legendary. 

Memory is tricky, and trying a beer you have not had in a few years usually results in a beer that does not match the image in your mind.  Not so with Nelson.  Too me, it was even better than I remember.  Alpine Nelson was my first exposure to Nelson Sauvin hops, and it left an impression, and is why I am such a fan of Societe's Pupil IPA.  The Nelson hops give Alpine Nelson a sharp, clean taste, with the bitterness toned down and its citrus and grassy tastes accentuated.  I had never noticed this before, but Nelson is a cloudy beer.  Why would I have paid attention to this ten years ago?  Alpine's Nelson was a hazy beer pioneer.  So much for New England's claim to a style.  I am glad that a classic beer has held its own in a beer environment where taste preferences change fast.

Why No Golden Ales?

I went to a grocery store with a well-stocked beer section yesterday afternoon after posting about Belgian golden ales and tripels.  I found that these ales are about as rare in a beer store as they have been in my beer drinking rotation.  There was a St Bernardus tripel, but that was about all.  I thought one of the half dozen Allagash selections might have been a tripel or golden ale, but no, they were saisons, sours, and barrel-aged beers.  The yeast dominant golden ales and triples are slipping into obscurity.  In their place are multiple types of sours and dark, high abv barrel-aged stouts and barelywines.   I have several barrel-aged beers and a handful of sours, but I never think of drinking them. The occasion never seems right, and at this point, I am not sure what occasion warrants cracking a barrel-aged stout.  I have nothing against sours or barrel-aged beers, I just wish their ascendance did not come at the expense of golden ales and tripels.

Good Beer / Bad Beer

I noted in my previous post that I have been drinking various IPAs.  Two are worth noting, starting with the standout Mikkeller's Wave IPA.  This San Diego-brewed IPA separates itself from a saturated market.  Its hops impart distinct citrus and floral flavors.  It is light but not thin.  I have another bottle in the cooler and plan a proper review.  On the other side, drinking Culture's Rye IPA is a slog.  Rye in a beer should provide a spicy kick, and Nelson hops should provide a unique dose of pungent floral flavors.  This beer has no spice, rendering the weighty rye pointless, and even bullet proof Nelson hops, which too me were nonexistent, can't save this beer from being anything but a pint of tough to swallow murk.

Forgotten Styles

My beer drinking has become a loop of hoppy pale ales, citrus-infused IPAs, and hazy IPAs.  On trend, but not interesting to post about.  It hit me yesterday, the Fourth of July, a day I usually reserve for a special beer, that I have not had a Belgian tripel or golden ale in a long time, maybe years.  I used to love these styles, but I just don't buy them any more.  I am not exactly sure why, although I think the opening of so many tasting rooms near my house and the ease of a quick growler of crowler fill is the main reason.  Most of the nearby breweries don't have tripels or golden ales on draft, and I am not sure I'd trust them with this style even if given the choice.  Another factor is price.  A good bottle of tripel or golden ale used to cost $7 to $10, but this price has doubled, making them event beer styles rather than anytime styles.  Finally, the tripels and golden ales I have seen on draft all flirt with or exceed 10% abv, which about 3% more than I want in a beer.  I like a good New England IPA as much as anyone, but it is time rediscover tripels and golden ales, the heck with my negative factors.  They taste too good to avoid.

A Good Listen

Last Friday's Voice of San Diego podcast included an excellent interview with San Diego Brewer's Guild President Jill Davidson.  The interview discussed the variety of brewers in San Diego and how the Brewer's Guild is more vital than ever, as large international brewers continue to buy craft breweries and blur the distinction between what is a real, locally owned brewery, and what is a subsidiary of a giant brewer.  This week's news that Anheuser-Busch InBev is buying yet another craft brewery, this time Wicked Weed, reinforces Davidson's message and the San Diego Brewer's Guild's mission to "promote awareness and increase the visibility of fresh, locally brewed beer through education and participation in community events."   The interview with Jill Davidson starts about twenty-six minutes into the podcast, but the entire podcast is worth a listen and a subscription.

Need a Mule

The Bruery's Offshoot Beer Co. is having its first can release this week.  I wrote about Offshoot here.  The two beers being released are an IPA and a double IPA.  The only problem is that you need to pick up these limited release beers at the brewery, and you only have a week-long window in which to claim your purchase.  Unless you live in Orange County, or are up in the Los Angeles area on a regular basis, it will be tough get these beers, especially since the Placentia brewery is not on a major freeway. 

Sparks Pale Ale

I had a bottle of Mikkeller Brewing's delicious Sparks (Gnister) Pale Ale last night.  This 5.6% abv pale ale is a light on the palate beer that was one of the more earthy tasting beers I can remember.  Its up front, piquant, almost vegetable character smoothed into the finish. This clear, gold, almost orange beer has a rough, shallow foam.  Sparks is not setting any new pale ale standards, and with its dark color feels a bit retro, which is to its credit.  This blog will always appreciate the brewery that can do the basics well, like Mikkeller does with Sparks.  In an age of hazy beers, which I like and which Mikkeller also does well, having a solid, great tasting pale ale is almost a rarity. 

I saw this San Diego Magazine list of the past year's top beers from four San Diego County publicans.  There are many new breweries on this list.  Of the forty beers on the list, Mikkeller only shows up once (and Stone not once).  I know these guys try way more beers than I do, but the beers I have tried from Mikkeller have all been standouts.  I get that a list full of hard-to-find beers is what to expect from a pub owner, but having an accessible beer is alright, too.  Sparks is that beer.

Benchmark In Bay Park

I was recently in the Bay Park area of San Diego, near Napier Street and Ashton Street and thought it would make a good location for a tasting room.  Even though its close to Coronado Brewing, and not far from Bitter Brothers and Ballast Point, or even Modern Times and Bay City, this little pocket of Bay Park, with its restaurants and a coffee house has its own charm.  San Diego Eater is reporting that Benchmark Brewing plans to open a satellite tasting room at 4112 Napier Street by the end of summer, so I guess I am not the only one who thought the area was a good beer location. 

Offshoot Beer Co.

I read a tweet on Saturday morning, April 1, 2017, that The Bruery had formed a new company, Offshoot Beer Co.,  to release IPAs, a style The Bruery had vowed to never release.  I immediately thought this was fantastic, The Bruery finally brewing complex IPAs, but then my saner self realized this was an epic April 1st prank - maybe the best ever.  I tempered my joy.

But on April 2, I still was reading tweets about Offshoot Beer Co.  It had a Facebook page that looked legitimate, a web page on The Bruery's website, a logo, and some cool can designs shown below.  You know, I guess The Bruery figured out a way to stay true to its claim never to brew an IPA, while brewing IPAs. 

Offshoot will "specialize in hoppy beers, primarily IPAs and Double IPAs, in 16 oz cans that will be available directly from our brewery in limited supply and on a monthly basis."  These beers will be hard to find, but that is part of the fun.  The Bruery is no stranger to hoppy beers, and with its Humulus Imperial Lager The Bruery showed it was IPA-curious.  With so many new hops available, and the rise of cloudy IPAs, I can only imagine what kind of creative IPAs Offshoot is going to brew.  Here is information on its first two IPAs:

Fashionably Late™ a juicy, hazy IPA
Hops: Citra, El Dorado, and Mandarina Bavaria
Malts: Two-Row and Pale Wheat malts, rolled oats
Yeast: S-04
ABV: 6.5%

Better Late Than Never™ a juicy, hazy Double IPA
Hops: Mosaic, Vic Secret, Citra
Malts: Golden Promise, Wheat Malt
Yeast: BSI-Barbarian
ABV: 8.5%

These beers are scheduled for a late April release.  I have to admit, part of me still thinks this is some kind of elaborate joke.

Padre Fail

Gee, it is crap on Stone Brewing week (pun intended).  Today's San Diego Union Tribune's buiness section's front page has a headline blaring:  "At Petco, A Loss for Stone, Wins for AleSmith, Resident and Anheuser-Busch."  The headline does not seem to fully match the article.  Padre management decided to replace Stone Brewing's beer garden with some other pub concept.  You can still get Stone beers throughout Petco.   AleSmith's fantastic .394 Pale Ale, a beer brewed with Tony Gwynn, is the key beer in a new place called .394.  Good for AleSmith.  Local brewery Resident, gets a shot at the pub replacing the Stone beer garden, "for now" as the article warns. (If Resident can't keep up the Padres will replace it with that refreshing, kinda crafty Shock Top beer that comes with an orange slice.)  Come on Resident, deliver.

The big story of the article is Aneheuser-Busch dominating Petco's beer sales.  A-B's former craft breweries Elysian and 10 Barrel gets their own stands, and its Grupo Modelo unit is selling Michelada Especiales, in carts around Petco.  How much money did A-B pay the Padres to increase its exposure?  This is comes at the expense of local brewers.  In solidarity with Stone, I will drink Stone beers at home as I watch the triple-A Padres lose to major league teams.  The news about A-B's takeover of Petco's beer and yesterday's embarrassing opening day loss shows the misguided priorities of the Padre's bush league management.

No Sh#t

No, Stone Brewing did not brew a beer with reclaimed sewage.  It brewed a beer called Full Circle IPA to highlight purified reclaimed water with Pure Water San Diego's filtration system.  All breweries use filtered tap water, and a portion of tap water is recycled water.  I recommend listening to the March 31, 2017, Voice of San Diego podcast, where the first five or so minutes are devoted to the Stone Brewing misunderstanding and where San Diego gets its water.