European Beer News (Issue 20)

by Carolyn Smagalski 

The Mercury Rises

Over seventy performers entertained music fans from London to Philadelphia during the simulcasted Live Aid concert in 1985, including British rock legend, Queen. According to Wikipedia, “Queen’s performance on that day [at Wembley Stadium] has since been voted by more than 60 artists, journalists and music industry executives as the greatest live performance in the history of rock music.”

Lead singer Freddie Mercury opened with Bohemian Rhapsody, the unconventional, six-minute single most responsible for Queen’s worldwide success. Forty years since its release in 1975, the ballad/opera/hard rock classic has earned its rightful coronation with the creation of Queen Bohemian Lager, a traditional, hoppy pilsner of 4.7% ABV.

Michael Voldrich, 2014 Czech Brewmaster of the Year, fittingly brews the celebratory beer at the Protivín Brewery in the Kingdom of Bohemia. The brewery, owned by the Lobkowicz Group since 2008, dates back to the mid-sixteenth century, with origins to the Schwarzenberg Dynasty. Voldrich created Queen Bohemian Pils using Moravian barley, soft water, and Saaz hops with decoction mashing and a double fermentation process. It is GMO free and has earned PGI status, registered with Protective Geographical Indication certification.

The beer label bears the original Queen crest designed by Mercury, complete with the members’ zodiac signs and eyes of the Queen. It is further enhanced with Bohemian patterns and color, which accentuate the artistry under which it is brewed. Distribution plans include an initial rollout in the UK this year, followed by release on the international stage.

BrewDog Comes West

With a solid push from their crowdfunding campaign, Equity for Punks, BrewDog of Scotland began installment of a £25 million brewhouse in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, with plans for a February 2016 opening. Capacity is expected to increase to five times current levels in the UK.

By August 2016, Martin Dickie and James Watt will mark their territory in Canal Winchester, establishing a North American Headquarters near Columbus, Ohio. The $30.4 million expansion includes a brewery, restaurant, tap room, and visitors’ center. BrewDog’s new growth will initially add 115 jobs to the region, along with a boost to the manufacturing and tourism sectors. Hiring begins in 2016.

by Carl Kins

Wild beers are on the rise. Duvel’s Antwerp subsidiary De Koninck launched a new beer, Wild Jo. This comes after BOM Brewery’s Triporteur Wild & Funky and Halve Maan (Bruges) re-released Brugse Zot Wild for the second year.

Halve Maan is now launching a sizeable crowdfunding exercise to fund the two-mile pipeline between the brewery and the bottling plant. There are three possibilities, but the “Gold” funder will get a Brugse Zot daily for the rest of his/her life. This comes at a hefty price of 7,500 EUR (approx. 8,300 USD). Plus, they successfully continue to claim the term “Zot” (fool) worldwide, such that Finnish brewers had to recall their beer “Vlaamsche Zot”. 

Sports and beer are getting more and more intertwined.

The Brussels breweries teamed together recently in honor of the local soccer club (Union St. Gillis) winning their championship and being promoted to Second League. For this, Manneken Pis, the famous Brussels/Belgian symbol was dressed in club colors and beer was poured from, amongst others, Cantillon and Brasserie de la Senne. 

Cycling is huge in Belgium and more breweries are trying to hook up somehow. Brouwerij De Bie launched Vélo, a typical tripel, in cooperation with the Etixx-Quick Step team. This follows in the successful footsteps of Kwaremont (a hill in Flanders, famous amongst cyclists) brewed by Brouwerij De Brabandere and Koerseklakse (meaning cycling cap) brewed by Gaverhopke.

A strange limited-edition collaboration recently occurred involving the heavily expanding lambic brewer Lindemans and Mikkeller. They developed SpontanBasil, an old gueuze to which fresh basil was added.

Johan van Dyck, who has Seef beer under contract, is starting his own brewery in Antwerp, and he has also launched a new beer, Bootjesbier, with a link to the Red Star Line Museum. The Red Star Line transported tens of thousands of immigrants to Ellis Island in the U.S. This link to the United States translates into the beer via the use of U.S. hops.

The fourth edition of the successful Brussels Beer Challenge beer competition will take place in Antwerp in November.

by Max Bahnson

 Micro Movement Gains Momentum

The number of microbreweries keeps on growing relentlessly, and it’s now well over 300, making the Czech Republic one of the countries with the most breweries per capita in the world. The word minipivovar (microbrewery) has become as mainstream as craft in other countries.

This hasn’t escaped the attention of the bigger players, who have improved the quality of some of their products and also have put out single hop lagers with new Czech cultivars. But nobody has taken the movement toward craft as seriously as the country’s best-selling brand, Gambrinus, owned by SAB-Miller.

In May, a new micro-brand from a tiny West Bohemian village, “Patron”, started showing up at specialist bars and at a couple of festivals. Its beers, two pale lagers, were well received and got positive reviews at dedicated websites. The brewery, however, was fictitious and the beers were in fact relabelled Gambrinus. It was all part of a marketing stunt by the brand to prove that its beers, much unloved by local enthusiasts, are actually as good as anything from a microbrewery and that the criticism the beers receive is mostly based on prejudice.

The campaign was quite successful and was followed up by posters and other materials at Gambrinus-tied pubs that reassure the drinkers that they are making the right choice, regardless of what the haters say.

Meanwhile, the official industry figures, released by the Czech Brewers and Maltsters association, didn’t show any surprises. As expected, the numbers followed last year’s trend, a negligible growth with falling domestic consumption and growing exports.