Interesting article
http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-belgium-battle-builds-between-1420153585
Sounds like anybody can contract brew and sell easily there.
I was surprised that the laws didn’t make them disclose the name of the brewery it was brewed in. In the states contract breweries must specifically state where the beer was brewed and bottled at.
True, the name of the brewery does not need to be disclosed. But here’s a reply from the chief of De Struise Brouwers: https://www.facebook.com/pages/De-Struise-Brouwers/58796459632?fref=nf
“The sun shines for everybody”.
Not sure what are the economics of it out there. In here contract brew = short time solution.
Looks like Brew Dog 2.0.
As a consumer, I want to know where its brewed. I’ll still try it, but don’t try to trick me. And BTW they lost me at Ayn Rand. Selfish Crybabies. Make good beer and say where its brewed and I’m happy to drink it. Don’t cry “big governmemt” every time a common sense law is proposed.
Why does it matter? Unless I’m missing something, house brand and contract produced food doesn’t need to be labeled with where it was made. What makes beer different?
If it doesn’t matter than why fight labeling? Because they think more people will buy it if they think its made in house. So they want to be deceptive.
I do think beer is different because its something a lot of people do choose based on where its made.
It’s a fair question though. And I can tell you that there is a contract “brewery” in the same city as my brewery is in and they are definitely a competing brewery. They take taps I want and vise versa. And while they are brewed in state via contract they are not brewed locally, but they bill themselves as a “local beer”. This is clearly deceptive - because they are not a local beer.
We used to contract brew for a “brewpub” who never brewed a drop of their own beer. Most people would belly up to the bar and think they were drinking beer brewed on site. I guess it shouldn’t matter but wouldn’t you really like to know if the beer is brewed there or a mile down the road? I sure would.
How would you know at a bar? The tap labels are tiny. Why are they not a local beer? The money that guy makes is spent locally, I’m sure he employs a few people locally. The money people spend on his beer is spent locally.
It’s all pure snobbery. Change is happening and the old guard in Belgium doesn’t want it. I’m not saying the old world breweries need to change, they just need to stop being crybabies.
Maybe, but how much does it really play into day to day beer drinkers.
Me: “I’ve never seen this, I’ll ask for a taste or try a bottle.”
Not me: Oh, this guy can’t afford to build his own joint and didn’t have the ability to write a witty kickstarter campaign. His beer must be crap."
Probably close to why food has nutritional information and ingredients on the label, not true for beer.
Beer is under TTB regulations, food is the FDA.
But that doesn’t answer why the labeling is needed. I don’t care where Trader Joes has their orange chicken made, why should I car where they have their beer made.
Good question, the answer maybe something from a long time ago.
I don’t think “why does it matter?” is the right question. The fact is that given a lot of choices many people DO choose based on what they think is made in house or locally. Given 5 saisons that all sound good I certainly would try the in house one first. Would I be harmed? Not really, but this would happen hundreds of time and the brewer who is honest would be hurt.
What makes it disingenuous?
I know a burger place that has private label beer, the owners and an employee came up with the recipes and through trial batches dialed it in. Once set the contracted with a local to brew it. Is it disingenuous to call it joes burger place ipa?
Now they don’t call themselves a brewpub, and I’m sure that can vary from state to state, but generally I would agree that a brewpub implies on premises.
Its fine to call it that. I don’t think anyone is proposing that its not OK so long as they don’t state or imply that its made there. Not stating on the label that “Joes Burger Place IPA” is made by “Sally’s Brewery” might imply that. And beer lovers who hear Joe makes his own beer might choose it over Tim’s Burger Joint even though Tim actually has a better selection of local brews, hurting Tim’s Burger Joint and Hometown Brewery Inc. And this dynamic probably happens a lot in Belgium with its beer tourism. BTW its fun to make up fake business names.
But tap handles aren’t labeled with contract info as far as I have seen (not CA or TX). I’m sure the keg collar is labeled, but how would a person at the bar know. I’ve never seen “Lone Star, brewed locally by Miller in Fort Worth, owned by Russians” on a menu or tap handle.
It doesn’t matter if the seller busted his back making it or not. Do you think Jim Koch gets down and dirty on thousand barrel batches? Hell no, he has employees. In my opinion, contracts can be seen the same way.
Chimay, Westy, duvel and the like are not going away anytime soon. They shouldn’t be so scared.
I’ve seen that kind of info on menus and bottles.