Gateway Beers
December 27, 2007
One of the biggest selling and most controversial newer beers is Blue Moon. Is Blue Moon (produced by Coors) a good beer to introduce drinkers to the world of craft beer or is it a way for macro-breweries like Coors to capture their share of the craft beer market? I won’t attempt to answer this question because the truth is both sides of the argument are right. Plus it is their right to brew such beers. What I will say is that while we can’t do much about the latter we can do something to introduce Blue Moon drinkers to craft beer produced by smaller more independently owned breweries. This is not a knock at what Coors is doing. They are actually making a good beer and if you read the label they are more open than other breweries about where Blue Moon is made. I would imagine if I was a brew-master there, it would be great to have the opportunity to create different types of beer for the market. Maybe the bigger question is why you prefer to drink craft beer? I drink craft beers for the taste and quality but I also drink it to support small businesses. Michigan has great breweries that make world class beers. Why not drink one made in our home state instead.
A great beer to introduce to Blue Moon drinkers is Michigan Brewing Co.’s Celis White. In fact, without Celis White there might not ever have been a Blue Moon. Celis White was developed by a Belgian dairy farmer who tired of seeing breweries that made his favorite beer, a Belgian Wit, shutting down and almost causing the style to be extinct. Pierre Celis decided he wanted to keep this style alive. The result was a hugely successful beer called Hoegaarden. He sold the brewery to Interbrew and left for the U.S. to start a Micro-brewery in Austin Texas. He put his own name on his new beer and once again sold his beer off to a big brewery in this case Miller. They didn’t realize what they had and stopped brewing the beer in 2001. In 2002 Bobby Mason founder of Michigan Brewing Co. bought the Celis recipe along with all the brewing equipment. He even got Pierre Celis to oversee the relaunch. Today the Belgian Wit is one of the most popular beer styles and yes kudos to Blue Moon for helping with it’s popularity. So, all you Blue Moon fans out there…next time you get to your store’s beer cooler check to see if they have a Celis White. If they do, try it out. I promise you will enjoy it.
What is one of your favorite micro-brewery beer substitutes for a macro-brewery beer?
Posted in Beer Style, Buying Beer
December 27th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
I never understand the glorification of Pierre Celis. He sold out twice to big breweries and yet he’s a saint with beer geeks.
But God forbid that someone hooks up a deal for distribution with A-B. Suddenly they’re no longer considered a “craft brewer” by the Brewers Association.
December 28th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
There are some beer geeks that can think for themselves and don’t need to blindly follow the politics of the Brewers Association.
Some people can love Pierre for the the beer style he brought back from the dead, regardless of the reasons he “sold out”.
And he had damn good reasons to “sell out”. If he hadn’t we wouldn’t have Celis White, Hoegaarden or the derivative Blue Moon today.
December 28th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
As for Kevin’s question above, another favorite micro-brewery beer substitute for a macro-brewery beer would be Big Rock’s Czech Pils.
December 28th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
Bob- I agree that it’s unusual that a guy like Celis is a hero in a brewing community that tends to swing toward the anti-corporate side of the spectrum. That being said, I don’t care who brews the beer so long as it’s good, and so I admire the man for reviving an nearly-extinct style. (On a side note, I just got your book on Chicago’s beer history for Christmas and can’t wait to read it!)
As far as “gateway beers” are concerned, I know two popular beers around here are Goose Island’s 312 Urban Wheat and New Glarus’s Spotted Cow. The funny thing is I think each has a better–and equally accessible–beer: Goose Island brews a refreshing Koelsh (Summertime) and New Glarus has an incredible Kellerbier (Yokel).
December 29th, 2007 at 10:00 am
It’s funny, I tried to be neutral on Pierre Celis as possible because I didn’t want him to over shadow the story of Michigan Brewing Co.’s Celis White. As I wrote about him I realized maybe I praised him too much so I wrote “once again sold his beer off to a big brewery” to balance the post.
I am actually flattered that someone with Bob Skilnik’s resume would read our fledgling beer blog.
December 30th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
“Its pretty good. What do you like about it?”
OR
“I really like that style. My favorites are Celis White and Hoegarden.”
I think that Blue Moon is different than most mass produced lagers and such. It tastes completely different. This is a good thing. It opens up people to something more. Some of those people will jump on a bandwagon and drink stuff that is popular today. Some of those people might look for more of this “interesting and different” taste in a beer. Hopefully they’ll try a “really good” example of a style that appeals to them with little effort or before they give up.
In the end Blue Moon is a good thing. It provides validation that there are “craft beers” out there that taste good. It also becomes a gateway to other interesting beer.
Cheers!
December 31st, 2007 at 8:04 am
Thanks Adam, I agree with you. While I wrote this post I started thinking about when did I become a beer geek. My first step was when I started drinking Guinness. Yes, you can’t get more Macro than them but it got me away from drinking the American lager and soon opened up the world of craft beer for me.