Winter Beers ae Back Again
It’s the first of November, and that means two things. One, you sold your last bottle of Oktoberfest yesterday; hope you didn’t overstock, and two, it’s now winter beer season, and all the breweries are going to be selling you theirs. But before you buy into the turbo-charged, spice-burning action,... Read More
Working With Barbiere
Valerio Barbieri. He has not been on the cover of The Wine Spectator, nor even in the fine print. Robert M. Parker, Jr. has not anointed him the rising star of the wine firmament. No importer has bragged that such-and-such an estate is now “working with Valerio Barbieri”. Yet Barbieri... Read More
Beer Geeks Online
The Internet has fundamentally changed the operation of the brewing industry. From breweries to beer bars to package stores, the internet has had remarkable effects. One of the its most noteworthy achievements has been the empowerment of the online beer geek. For the brewing industry, the Internet has given birth... Read More
Questioning Mark Stutrud
QUESTIONING MARK STUTRUD To hear Mark Stutrud tell it, the Summit Brewing Company is just a little Minnesota brewery carrying on the great brewing history of the city of Saint Paul. He notes that the brewery sells almost 9O percent of its beer in its home state, with consumers in... Read More
Boutique Merchandising
Passion and customer service are the by-words of the proprietors of three different Massachusetts boutique wine stores when asked what the single most important part of their businesses is. These words are what the owners claim is the reason customers turn to them, in their smaller spaces, with less big... Read More
Locals Breaking-Out!
There are two small Massachusetts breweries that are edging up toward a break-out point – Berkshire Brewing, in South Deerfield, and Wachusett Brewing, in Westminster, passed the 1O,OOO bottle a year mark in 2OO3, and both are sustaining steady growth. Interestingly, both have reached that mark largely within the state... Read More
ABCC from A to Z
Between undercover stings, budget cuts, layoffs, department transfers, and agency overhauls, the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission has certainly been busy over the last year. In June of 2OO3 the agency was moved, after actually being temporarily eliminated in March, from its longtime home of the Office of Consumer &... Read More
Long Trail’s Pherson
Long Trail Brewing recently re-entered the Massachusetts market. At about that same time, I got a press package from Long Trail. That may not seem significant – my desk is six inches deep in brewery press releases – but I can count on the fingers of one foot how many... Read More
Beer Geeks Revisited
Who do these people think they are anyways? Do they really think they can simply waltz in here, saddle up to the bar, sip a pint, and decree their verdict on the quality of the beer? In the Internet Age, the beer geeks not only believes in their power to... Read More
Old School Warmth
As winter is upon us again it’s time to revisit drinks that ward off the chill. And for this article its time to go back to the near-forgotten originals. The oldies are goodies for a reason and this certainly goes beyond my beloved Side Car. Recently I found some very... Read More