The latest 'Iechyd Da' beer column from brewer Simon Buckley
It was Gertrude Stein the American novelist and poet who said, “In the United States there is more space where nobody is than where anybody is. That is what makes America what it is.”
I am back from my trip to the United States. I return with a new vocabulary and a determination that the land of the free is definitely a place to go and brew beer.
There are several things that make the US so fascinating and why I genuinely believe that we can take Welsh ale to the States and succeed.
A friend of mine said to me just before I left for the States, ‘be careful you don’t get bitten’.
When quizzed as to what that meant, he said, “You’ll know if it happens”.
Well I was bitten, not by anything nasty but by the sheer enthusiasm for the new craft beer industry, the can-do, will-do attitude and the generosity of the people who made me, ‘Lady B’ and Miss Ffion so welcome.
No brewing trip to the States would be complete without a series of tasting sessions and the opportunity to taste beers that represent the market we are about to launch into.
I could not have got to understand the market without the help of Chuck Williamson, the owner of Butternut Brewery.
Chuck is a new generation brewer and a man of great patience, as I bombarded him with questions, trying to understand the complexities of the market that is the craft ale market in the US.
There is little doubt that for those of us in the Principality who are ultra-bitter beer averse, the beers brewed in the states are excessively bitter, almost tonsil cleansing, and the words Hop Bomb take on a whole new significance.
Mouth-blasting bitterness and an ABV that makes UK beers look like water!
The craft brewing industry in the States is not based on subtle flavours of malt and hops, but more about producing beers that have way-out bitterness and the over-bearing strength of between 5.8- 11% abv.
These are beers that sit on the bars of the average New York neighbourhood and compete against the long-established international brands from around the world.
There is little doubt that the Cwrw we brew in up-state New York will be very different to the Cwrw we brew in Llandeilo, but there can be no doubt that our beer range (with a few tweaks) will be well received and will at last put Welsh beers on the shelves of the fine food stores of America.
Gertrude Stein highlighted the size of this great country. A small successful craft brewer will sell 30,000 barrels a year, more than seven million pints a year or three times the size of Felinfoel. A good craft brewer can sell in excess of 100,000 barrels.
That is where I intend being and, with the help of Chuck and the team at Butternut, I have every confidence we will get there.
So, with Jubilee around the corner, don’t forget your local brewer’s five new beers and the return of Cwrw Cayo, simply a must-have beer for the Jubilee weekend!
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