Beers in Review: PRB Goes Hypocrite???

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So, needless to say, I spent a lot of time back in May talking about Wicked Weed Brewing and their assimilation by A-B InBev. Based on my comments, posts, and whatnot, one might think I was against this whole merger thing. And they'd be right! That said, I picked up a couple of bottles of Wicked Weed beers shortly after the merger. Because hypocrisy is how I roll! Really, though, I figured it was best to pick up a few bottles that I knew were made pre-merger, before the whole thing goes to crap. So, let's get to it!

Leading off is Napoleon Complex Hoppy Pale Ale (which, if considered broadly, is a very interesting name for a beer now). It's fairly sessionable at 5% ABV, and brings a nice balance to the table. Pouring a clear pale yellow to straw color, Napoleon's plenty of floral and aromatic hop notes, along with some mild pine. Reflecting the balance, malt notes are also present, with perhaps just a hint of caramel. There is also possibly a bit of citrus present, which may be pushing through more via a slightly juicy mouthfeel.

Next up is Pernicious, Wicked Weed's year-round IPA. Coming in at 7.3% ABV, Pernicious pours a hazy pale gold color. Leading the flavor profile are tropical fruits like mango and papaya. I also detected a small amount of grapefruit in there, as well. The back end has more resinous pine notes. Wicked Weed doesn't list IBU numbers on their website, but there was just a very mild amount of bitterness--typically I expect more bitterness from these flagship-type IPAs, but I'm not complaining. I also noted a highly carbonated and frothy mouthfeel in this particular bottle. Overall, Pernicious continues to be an excellent IPA. I hope it maintains that high level in the future.

South Carolina's Craft Beer Community Taking Advantage of Wicked Weed's Event Issues

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One thing that was affected by the Wicked Weed/ABI fallout from earlier this month was July's Wicked Weed Funkatorium Invitational, a sour beer event that was supposed to feature some 70 breweries from across the country. Once the acquisition news was released, most of the independent craft breweries backed out, and WW announced their intent to postpone, reschedule, and "evolve" the Invitational, which is likely just code for "maybe people will care less about the acquisition in 4 months."

Well, yesterday, some members of the South Carolina craft beer community saw a sour beer-sized hole in the beer festival schedule, and jumped on the opportunity. Greenville's Birds Fly South Ale Project is partnering with Charleston's Revelry Brewing Company and Greenville-based bottle shop and beer curator The Community Tap to put on The Funk Collective, a two-day show featuring funky and sour beers.

Day One of the event will consist of "local artisan food & brews and rare bottles", while Day Two will be the main festival, which will feature funky and sour beers from over 25 breweries. Most importantly, this festival will donate all of its net proceeds to Asheville, North Carolina's Eblen-Kimmel Charities, the original benefiting group of the Funkatorium Invitational, and an unintended victim of Wicked Weed's decision. Since their pullouts from the WW event, many craft breweries have donated to Eblen-Kimmel as a show of support to a charity that should not be forced into hardship because of Wicked Weed's decision. The Funk Collective event will be another way to help that group.

Birds Fly South's Ames Webb released the following statement on the event:

“This gathering of funky brewers isn’t a statement on the WW decision. All of the good in the craft community should be highlighted. We founded the Funk Collective with Revelry Brewing Co. because the funk and sour community is strong and we need to continue to come together and celebrate it.”

The event will be held on July 7 and 8. Participating breweries and more information will be released later this week, and I will keep you apprised of the latest on this festival.

Update Update: Wicked Weed Event NOT Dead, Feels Happy, Thinks It'll Go For a Walk

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On Sunday, I noted the mass exodus of breweries from Wicked Weed's Funkatorium Invitational, in response to WW's recent acquisition information. Well, WW is doing its best "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" impression, because the Invitation is not dead, but it will take a new form.

Earlier today, Wicked Weed released a statement saying the Invitational will continue in an "evolved" form that will take place in September. Roughly 55 breweries (including virtually all independent craft breweries) pulled out of the Invitational, originally scheduled for July. Is Wicked Weed hoping some time will heal wounds and bring some of the exiting breweries back into the fold? Or will Wicked Weed truly be able to "evolve" this event into something else--something that will not need the participation of non-Big Beer brewers?

Update: Could Wicked Weed's Funkatorium Invitational Be Dying? Or Dead?

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Talk about the story that just won't die.

As I documented on May 4th, a casualty of Wicked Weed's acquisition news could have been their upcoming Funkatorium Invitational this July. It appears that this event is, indeed, dying. In the day after Wednesday's acquisition news, a slow trickle of breweries announced their intentions to withdraw from the Invitational, including South Carolina's Birds Fly South Ale Project. Later that Thursday the trickle of exiting breweries turned into a river, and word is over 50 breweries have pulled out of the event. Porch Drinking has a comprehensive list of breweries that have withdrawn.

By some people's estimations, only 13 legitimate craft breweries remain committed to (or at least haven't yet pulled out of) the event. There are a handful of additional breweries still committed, all of which are owned by larger corporations, including a couple of Wicked Weed's new ABI brothers. All told, just 19 of about 70 original breweries remain a part of the event. It is worth noting that Wicked Weed reiterated its commitment to the event on Thursday, but have not commented further after the wave of retractions.

More on this story as it develops.

South Carolina-based Brewery (Among Others) Pulls Out of Wicked Weed Event (UPDATED with additional commentary)

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UPDATE, 9:13PM: In addition to everything below, I would also like to add the following article from the Craft Beer Joe blog. He does a nice job taking on this issue from many different sides.

One of the potentially significant casualties in this Wicked Weed acquisition by ABI is an upcoming Wicked Weed event called the Funkatorium Invitational. To be held this July, the Invitational was an opportunity for brewers from across the country to come together and celebrate one of Wicked Weed's biggest successes: the development of the sour beer.

In light of yesterday's news, outlets are reporting that at least a dozen of the 70 breweries scheduled to appear at this event have now pulled out. Despite the setbacks, which may continue in the coming days, Wicked Weed remains committed to the event, but is offering refunds to those who desire them.

Among the pullouts is the Greenville, South Carolina-based Birds Fly South Ale Project. As a South Carolina-based blogger, I was eager to hear their plans on the Invitational specifically, as well as their thoughts on the matter as a whole. I reached out yesterday, and this afternoon, BFS's Ames Webb responded to me with their public statement, which is now available on their website:

“In the southeast and across the nation small breweries face significant limitations and challenges because of the economic and legislative efforts put forth by large breweries and distributors. These initiatives create an environment that stagnates innovation, collaboration, and creativity. Smaller operations constantly must find ways to work within these damaging state-level policies, and the results are a severe limitation in financial, cultural, and quality-of-product growth.
At the beginning of this Birds Fly South journey we want to take the culture lessons that have been passed down from our craft brewery friends and mentors to establish an identity our Greenville community and our BFS Flock can be proud of for years to come.
As such, Birds Fly South has decided to withdraw our scheduled participation in the upcoming Wicked Weed festival. This decision is not related to the individuals who work in the extensive Wicked Weed family, and does not come without our entire team involved. We are all trying to make the best choices for ourselves and our families. We understand this is a business decision for Wicked Weed, however we simply cannot participate with the direct lobby group that is influencing SC laws that in turn negatively impact our closest friends.
Our choice is to stand strong in unison with small independent craft breweries. To us this means focusing on what we need to do locally in support of smaller, independent brewers. The concepts and spirit of this craft beer fellowship are the foundation of who we are: an alliance of talented makers, united in our passions, ethics, and practices.”

BFS makes an excellent point about ABI's actions that "negatively impact our closest friends". ABI won't only utilize their lobbying resources on state lawmakers all across this country, they use their significant financial resources to strong arm their way into more and more shelf space in grocery stores, gas stations, distributors, and more, ALL at the expense of independent craft brewers and their (in some areas) dwindling commercial footprint. I also love use of the word "fellowship" in the final paragraph.

Anyway, my personal thanks to Birds Fly South for their cooperation. I will post more on this ongoing story as needed.

More Wicked Weed fallout (UPDATED)

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First off, if you are interested, here is the press release straight-up. It was included in Brewbound's article I posted earlier today, but the above presents the release without comment, editorializing, or further information.

One thing I failed to note in my video was the fact that about a week ago, Wicked Weed announced on Facebook that their brewpub would be closed today until 5pm for "staff training". No word on whether this covered the Funkatorium as well, or if this announcement was anticipated and the training was related. But it sure feels that way.

Ben Dofflemyer at the Asheville Blog makes a very good point about the likely all-along intentions of Wicked Weed's investors, and covers some of the local and state craft beer industry reaction to Wicked Weed's decision.

Ben's post notes Jester King Brewery's decision to no longer offer Wicked Weed beers at their Austin, Texas tasting room. Here is a full statement on the matter as a whole from Jester King. It's also worth noting that Jester King has pulled out of Wicked Weed's Funkatorium Invitational event, currently scheduled for July 8th. It will be interesting to see if other breweries follow suit. As a South Carolina-based blogger, I have reached out to Greenville, SC's Birds Fly South Ale Project for comment on the matter. I believe they are the only brewery on the invitation list. I will update if I get a response.

WRAL's article includes a statement from the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild.

Huntington Beach, California's Beechwood BBQ & Brewing documents the recent time when they inadvertently did an interview for The High End's (A-B InBev's "craft" beer arm) new blogging venture, The Beer Necessities, how that venture shows the duplicitous nature of ABI and other megabeer corporations.

In the interest of some balance, because I admit I've fallen pretty hard on one side of this issue right now, is an Uproxx article from last week (published in response to BrewDog's receipt of capital from Pabst Blue Ribbon's parent company) about the pros and cons of "selling out".

Finally tonight, Chris Furnari at Brewbound has much more on this deal, including comments from Wicked Weed's group and the President of A-B's High End group.

If there is more reporting later in the week, I will make additional blog posts.

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It has been a hell of a day. In over 1 1/2 years of beer blogging, it's easily been my busiest, most prolific day--and this was supposed to be a day off from work! I won't say it was fun--frankly, for me personally, the news was highly disappointing. But I loved the engagement on Twitter and Facebook throughout the day. My great thanks for all of that engagement, AND to everyone who has checked out the website and the livestream video. We should all do this again sometime. Just for a less-crappy reason.

BREAKING: Wicked Weed to be Bought by Anheuser-Busch

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BREAKING NEWS--Asheville, North Carolina's exciting and innovative Wicked Weed Brewery has announced that they will be becoming a part of the High End, Anheuser-Busch's group of assimilated former craft breweries that have tried to utilize A-B InBev's massive resources to improve and increase their beer production, to mixed (at best) results. Wicked Weed has 4 production and taproom facilities in Asheville, including the Funkatorium, the East Coast's only taproom and production facility dedicated to sour beers and similar styles. Many news services are reporting on this story, including Brewbound, who has the official press release and more coverage.

I will have more details and commentary on this story later today.

Video Review: Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Sweet Sunny South

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Today's video review brings us the third in the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across America collaboration series. This is Sweet Sunny South Southern Table Beer, brewed in collaboration with Austin Beerworks, Wicked Weed, Bayou Teche, Creature Comforts, and Funky Buddha. Here it is:

 

Check back tomorrow for the return of the Six-Pack of News!

Beers in Review: Asheville-Wicked Weed Funkatorium and Asheville Brewing

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We continue the tour of Asheville tonight with three different breweries.

Our second-to-last stop on Saturday was at the Wicked Weed Funkatorium. Now, my parents and I had visited and had lunch at the Wicked Weed Brewery earlier in the day, but they have a separate facility a few blocks away known as The Funkatorium, their home for barrel-aged sour ales and other funky beers, serving up to a dozen at any given time. The barrels are quite prominent, as the storage area is right off the tasting room, and you can see rows of aging barrels stacked high full of maturing beer. Here, I had a pre-determined flight, starting with their La Bonte w/ pear. This was a fairly rich and slightly hazy yellow color, and starts as a Belgian-style farmhouse/Saison that is blended with Blonde sour ale and then flavored with French pears and bottle-aged. I found this to be fairly mild overall, and not necessarily my favorite, though I feel this is more a reflection on me: I need to be in the right mood for Saisons, and I'm not much of a pears guy, either.

Also in the flight were 3 of their barrel-aged sours, which were a little more up my alley, as much as my palate held up (again, we'd drank at least 10 different beers prior to this point). The Marina was a more pale yellow color, almost evoking white wine. The peaches and apricots used in the barrel-aging really came to the fore, flavor-wise, though, as expected, we got little to no sweetness out of them. Next was Amorous, which was a nice orange color, with citrusy flavor notes to match. Noted as a Sour IPA, to me, most of the hop characteristics were overtaken by the sour. The final sour was Recurrant, which was aged with Currants in cabernet barrels. I had hoped my parents, who are more winos than beer snobs, might take to this one a little more than the others, owing to the wine-barrel aging. My dad tolerated all of the sour ales, my mom wasn't a fan at all. They did enjoy our split dessert of vanilla ice cream with berry compote made with sour ale--the contrast of sweet ice cream and sour compote was quite delightful. I enjoyed the ales at the Funkatorium (probably the Amorous was my favorite), but, again, my palate was getting fatigued, so we had just one beer at one last stop.

At Asheville Brewing Company, I had their flagship IPA, called Shiva. Shiva has nice citrus notes, and a good amount of dank piney hops. There is also a good amount of bitterness. This was a well-executed IPA, and I need to head back here to give them more of a try.

Beers in Review: Asheville-Best of Wicked Weed

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If you've seen the two recent videos I released, you got an overview of my recent trip to Asheville, North Carolina, home of countless craft breweries and beer bars. The next few or several) Beers in Review posts will include more in-depth reviews or descriptions of some of the more notable beers from the trip. We'll start off with three from our first brewery stop, Wicked Weed Brewing.

First is Wicked Weed's flagship IPA, Pernicious. A recent medalist at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival, this beer brings forward a vast array of flavors. There were moderate tropical fruit and perhaps dark fruit notes (which may have all been running together), along with some pine and resin hints as well. There was also maybe just a little bit of dankness. This was a really tasty beer with a wide and wild variety of hop flavor notes.

Next is their beer tribute to Prince, an "experimental ale" called The Artist Formerly Known As. Owing to its experimental style designation, it is an ale brewed using purple rice, which can have a nutty taste, and assorted Indian spices. It pours a "turmeric orange" (their description--I expect turmeric is one of those Indian spices). Admittedly, I don't have an extensive knowledge of Indian cuisine, but the ale left me with an overall impression of curry powder. Some of the flavor notes include spiciness, woodiness, and a slight sweetness. A unique beer, unlike anything I've had before.

Finally from Wicked Weed, Hop Burglar, poured on Nitro. I've tried describing what this means before, but Wicked Weed gives a great description on their website:

“The addition of Nitrogren to a beer gives way to much smaller bubbles, creating a smoother, creamier experience. It also creates a beautiful cascading head that makes our brewers’ mouths water.”

It gets a tad flowery at the end, but the point is well-made. Pouring a pretty orange color, my overall impression of this beer was that it's a hybrid of a Pale Ale and an ESB, an English-style malty, bitter, ale. The Nitrogen use may be playing a role in this--occasionally you will see similar beers to this on Nitro. Fruity notes are present-a result of the use of blood orange and grapefruit. Most notably, this is a well-balanced beer, with both hop and malt notes shining through.

 

Video: Reflections of Asheville, Part 1

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As previously mentioned, I spent the weekend in Asheville, NC, one of the country's craft beer meccas. Here is a brief recap of Saturday's activities:

I will recap Sunday and Monday later this week, and will write about many of the beers of this trip this week and next week!

Beers in Review: Including a Triple Collaboration

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Returning to the realm of the written word (expect the next video review early next week), we'll open with a live tasting of Natty Greene Brewing Company's Red Nose Winter Ale. Having a red ale base, it pours an almost iced tea-like color and a pretty heavy body. The first impression is that of malty sweetness, and gradually, a number of other flavors blend into that sweetness. I'm getting some citrus hints, and a little of what I call the "fall/winter spice blend"--maybe a bit of nutmeg or cinnamon, something in that vein. It's not very strong, which is fine with me. There is a non-hoppy bite at the end from something--I can't quite identify the flavor, but doesn't really feel out of place.

Next up is a triple collaboration from Stone Brewing, Ecliptic Brewing, and Wicked Weed Brewing. Points Unknown IPA is labelled as a "double IPA blended with a barrel-aged Belgian-style Tripel". I typically don't want to quote bottles or websites, but given this beer's complexity, I feel they explaining it best:

“The Tripel was transferred into barrels that originally housed red wine before finding a second life as vessels for aging tequila. Four months later, that beer was excavated, then blended at one-fourth to three-fourths ratio with the freshly brewed double IPA to create...a blend of the traditional and the new, presenting a variety of diverse flavors that coalesce into something more unique than any one beer”

The beer poured cloudy and apricot-colored, and contained a mild hop bitterness. Coming in a 9.5% ABV, and with the use of wine/tequila barrels, boozy notes were pretty prominent, along with even some straight-up alcohol flavors. In addition, lots of fruit and red wine notes were present. I had a 22oz bottle of this, and really enjoyed about the first half, but the second half of the bottle became a bit of chore to drink. That's just me.

As one last note, I also had a draft of Sam Adams' Cold Snap winter seasonal, but I think there might have been something wrong with the keg or the system. I might just need to stop trying to judge drafts from this particular local watering hole. I will try to give it one more chance before the spring beers come in, but we'll see.