Welcome to “Last Week in Beer,” a recurring column about the latest happenings in the world of beer.
The biggest news this week is the lawsuit filed by 3rd Sign against its former distributor that has the ability to set precedent in Wisconsin beer laws. Read more about it in my article from yesterday.
Beer of the Week: The Wolf by 3 Sheeps Brewing Company
3 Sheeps is killing it. That’s the only way I can describe the recent outpouring of beers from up in Sheboygan. Whether it is barrel-aged anniversary beers, seasonals, blending beers for their Cuvee, an entire revamping of their brand, or this “simple” barrel-aged imperial stout, 3 Sheeps is knocking it out of the park. (Their pilsner would have made my Best Lawnmower Beer list if only they were located in Madison.)
For The Wolf, the brewers wanted to pull back on some of their boundary-pushing complexity and brew a simple, straight forward bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout, according to James Owen, partner at 3 Sheeps. The resulting brew is anything but simple. The Wolf is a complex but drinkable brew with just enough barrel character to balance the underlying imperial stout. When it was first introduced at 13.5% ABV, I feared a cloying sweetness or hot alcohol flavor. Such fears were quickly alleviated as this one has a dangerously smooth finish that lends itself to another sip. And another. And another. (Careful now, 13.5% is no joke.)
Watch for: WarPigs
WarPigs Brewing, a collaborative effort between 3 Floyds Brewing and Mikkeller Brewing, has operated as a brewpub out of Copenhagen since 2015. They recently announced that they would begin distributing the brand in the United States, and some of it is going to be brewed at Verona’s Wisconsin Brewing Company. Distribution launched in the Chicago area June 12 and they’ve stated their intention to include Wisconsin in their market. Consistent with the apparent modus operandi for launching your brewery’s distribution, WarPigs is initially offering two IPAs and a lager.
AB-InBev has ownership stake in RateBeer, and that’s a problem
I never really trusted the ratings issued by RateBeer. They always seemed inflated. If everything scores between 95 and 100, then nothing is 95 to 100. Therefore, I wasn’t terribly surprised by the news that there was some shadiness going on.
News broke (by Good Beer Hunting) in early June that Anheuser-Busch InBev has owned a minority stake in RateBeer since October 2016. Less than a week later, it was discovered (by Paste) that one of their ratings systems, the overall “Brewer Rating,” was significantly flawed. Big breweries with many offerings got a huge bump in their brewer rating, and A-B InBev magically went from a 74/100 in September to a 90/100 in October. Color me shocked. If you were a smaller brewery with fewer products to offer, your brewer rating suffered regardless of the quality of the products.
Conflict of interests are something I’m acutely familiar with and frequently encounter in my day job as an attorney. Where a conflict of interest exists, a presumption of bias follows, though that presumption can be waived and/or rebutted. There’s no denying that a brewery owning one of the few established systems to rate the brewery’s products presents an inherent conflict of interest. That’d be like a bank using their size to influence the agencies that rate their mortgage-backed securities… I doubt we’re going to see the same kind of meltdown of the craft beer industry as a result of this conflict, at least.
Social Media Pints
Shift in congressional attitudes toward big beer? This would further justify my, admittedly recent, personal boycott of all things Ballast Point:
At least we don’t live in Texas?For those hoping the DOJ will regulate AB’s “monopoly,” this is the view you’re up against. Basically, not seen as even close to a monopoly. pic.twitter.com/hrQMnrgKPI
— Good Beer Hunting (@goodbeerhunting) June 20, 2017
“But boy, for all the fun and excitement our niche passions may bring, they can really fuck shit up.”The Texas Craft Brewers Guild is disappointed to announce that HB 3287 has been filed into law. Full statement below. pic.twitter.com/4qK4mlp91D
— TX Craft Brewers (@TXCraftBrewers) June 15, 2017
One of my favorites from a recent trip up to the Twin Cities. Hopefully distribution sees some of Wisconsin:“For all the fun and excitement our niche passions may bring, they can really fuck shit up.”https://t.co/TCbOdbiyzE pic.twitter.com/41Q5OODLbU
— Good Beer Hunting (@goodbeerhunting) June 20, 2017
Did someone say “Hopstar”? @citypages https://t.co/CmyDgKeo7j pic.twitter.com/2vp82IZQuf
— Fulton Beer (@fultonbeer) June 20, 2017
Comments