Lansing Regional Chamber Event
Michigan Craft Beer Update
October 14, 2014
One reason that I’m glad that
my company, T.A. Forsberg, Inc. is a Lansing Regional Chamber member is the
wide variety of networking events offered.
They are usually quite interesting and a great way to meet other
business people in the Lansing Area.
Tonight, I’m at the MSU
Kellogg Center for the Michigan Craft Beer Update. Scott Graham, the president of the Michigan
Brewer’s Guild will present a talk about the Craft Beer Industry along with two
representatives from New Holland Brewing Company, Brett VanderKamp, the President
and Fred Bueltmann, the Beervangelist!
They are serving six beers and pairing them
with suggested foods.
Griffin Claw’s Norm’s Raggedy
Ass IPA and New Holland’s Paleooza are hoppy beers. (Paleooza is a really good Pale Ale and Norm’s
Raggedy Ass is a great IPA!) These will
be paired with a Jerk Pork Slider and Blackened Chicken Tacos.
Dark Horse’s Amber Ale and
Founders Porter will be paired with Grilled Tenderloin Skewers and Smoked
Salmon Rosette.
Brewery Vivant Farm Hand
Farmhouse Ale and New Holland’s White Hatter will be paired with a Mini Caprese
Salad and Soy Marinated Chicken Lollipops.
The food and beers are all
great; I’m a big Porter fan, but had never tried Founders Porter before. People enjoyed the food and conversation for
about an hour and then it was time for the presentation.
Steve Schultz from the law
firm that represents the Michigan Brewer’s Guild made a short presentation
where he mentioned the “Beer is the biggest invention for man since the wheel.”
and introduced Scott Graham from the Brewer’s Guild.
Scott explained that the Beer
Guild aims to unify and promote the Beer Industry in Michigan. They sponsor four large beer festivals each
year.
We learned that Craft Beer
represents 5% of the Michigan Beer Sales and it is a growing market. The breweries are growing and there is a lot
more Brewpub activity. There are more
breweries now than at any time in Michigan’s history.
The brewers have a really
open community with a lot of communication and cooperation between the brewers.
Scott then introduced Fred
Bueltmann and Brett VanderKamp from New Holland. They held a panel discussion with Scott
moderating.
They first discussed how Fred
and Brett became interested in the industry.
They liked beer from a young age, but were disillusioned by how all the
American beers that dominated the market were so bland and similar to each
other.
After he graduated from
college, Fred learned of New Belgium brewing in Colorado and tried some of
their beers. He decided to try to make
them in Michigan.
Fred saw that the culture was
ready to accept improved beers. He
compared it to how the Bread, Coffee and Cheese industries were creatively
improving and diversifying their products.
The original plan was to be a
Brewpub. While the local religious
community gave them some resistance, they overcame that with respectful, open
communication. Eventually, they grew to the company that distributes their beer and distilled liquors widely.
Scott then led a discussion
about decision making and the introduction of new beers. They both believed that the best decisions
involve doing things simply and avoiding overthinking. Things work best with natural evolution. When one beer idea leads naturally to
another, creative new beers can arise.
When they deliberately try to manufacture a beer to fit a perceived
market niche, they might “force” a beer that is not up to their quality
standards.
Brett specifically mentioned
an orange wheat beer that did not work (with an obvious shudder!) Fred remembered a “Red Tulip” beer that also
was developed for the wrong reasons.
They have learned from these and are usually able to avoid these
mistakes now.
They also mentioned how
important it is to really listen to customers, employees and other participants
in the industry so that you understand what they are saying, not what you want
to hear.
They also talked of their
distilled liquors and cited how that was an outgrowth of using grains to
produce beer.
Brett let us know that they
want to grow about 20 to 25% per year.
Any more of that risks bringing a lot of stress into their successful
company culture and could prove to be counterproductive.
They finished up their
presentation with a video where they emphasize the importance of stopping and
tasting. This is as opposed to rushing
through things and not truly experiencing things (like their wonderful New
Holland Beers.)
I’m a big fan of the New
Holland Beers; my personal favorite is their White Hatter (Belgian IPA), but
they have many other fine beers. The
Hatter series is a number of IPAs all with a unique twist. Another personal favorite of mine is their
Belgian Beer, Monkey King. (I’m a huge
Belgian fan.)
Thanks to Scott, Fred and
Brett for a fine presentation and thanks to the Regional Chamber for putting
this on for us.
The Craft Beer Industry is
growing strong, providing a lot of jobs and providing a lot of great beer to
the people of Michigan. They truly
deserve our support!!!
