Beer Radar for TWTW for 30th Sept 2011
By John Krüger
Hold onto your socks, with warm weather and summer on the horizon the beer industry has come out of hibernation and is revving up for big sales. Will Australia finally embrace thirst quenching wheat beers? Unlikely. Will we see yet another low-carb excuse for a beer? We hope not. Is cider taking over valuable refrigerated display-cabinet space and pushing a wide range of brands out? Yes! You wouldn’t believe how many ciders will be available this summer. More details will be released in an upcoming Beer Radar in WBM.
The marketing machine has already hit the big green go button and we’ve already seen a flurry of activity from the PR companies. Press releases and PR events are already ramping up. One corporate event junkie has been spotted at free booze events in the social pages more than five times in as many months. She’s also smart enough to smile and get her photo taken before hitting the complimentary beverages.
The McLaren Vale Beer Company‘s, Salopian Inn just out of McLaren Vale continues to amaze punters with their beer themed dinners. Some of us are still regretting the loss of the Duck & Pinot nights but their beer events are certainly attracting attention. They’re not just serving their own MV Beers and lay on an impressive range of local and imported beers with MV Beer head brewer Jeff Wright searching world wide for the perfect brew. He hinted at the lengths he goes to, to make sure the beer imbibers are kept happy and it’s quite an effort in logistics. How does a pub on the outskirts of McLaren Vale keep their dinners chock full when other regional hotels are struggling? They run their own subsidised bus from a pub in the Adelaide CBD out to the vales and back. No hassles with drink driving and everyone can have a few extra beers before getting back on the bus. Smart thinking.
FYI – the new Vale Dark is a wonderful American dark lager that’s still drinking well as the weather warms up. It’s roasty without being offensive and has an enjoyable hoppy character. We’re still itching to try their new IPA which was first released only in kegs and sold out at an impressive rate. 25 kegs went to Vic. 25 to NSW and 25 around Adelaide, with the remaining 15 kegs going to the Salopian Inn. Each venue pretty well downed a keg a day, including one venue slamming 2 kegs in one evening. The amazing thing is, this was a beer with almost no profile or hype, it almost flew past our radar. 85 more kegs are on the road right now. If Jeff’s first test batch that was revealed late one night at The Salopian was anything to go by, it’ll sell very well in bottle when it’s released late this year or early next year.
