From My Mellin - Latest Comments

Re: Craft Beer Bars – Its About More Than Selection

Sjjn — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:07:59 -0000

Love No. 1 - so true. Went to NY Beer Company when they first opened and they tried to pour my beer (Jonas Broncks Pale) into a frozen pint glass. I asked them not to.
C'mon guys. You specifically open a craft beer bar and then try to serve in frozen glasses. Luckily I've been back and it seems they've raised the temp of the glass case significantly.

Re: Contract Brewing, Good or Bad?

Beltway Brewing Co. — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:32:03 -0000

I definitely think it is fair to question the passion put into a beer where the contract-ee may not be involved in the brewing at all. That's why the contract-or (host brewery) should be looked at, as well. Is it a food production facility that cranks out energy drinks, sodas and sometimes beer, all when they're not too busy with their own brands? Turning all control of your beer to someone like that sounds VERY risky.
I just hate to see when a consumer's opinion of a beer immediately turns sour when they find out it's "contract brewed" due to the vast amount of scenarios (mentioned above) that could be going on. People need to not worry about labels so much and 1) consider each beer/brewery on a case by case basis and 2) appreciate what they're drinking on its individual merits. With all the new brands emerging today, if it's not a consistently quality brew, it won't last anyway.

Re: Contract Brewing, Good or Bad?

Seth Mellin — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:17:00 -0000

Those are all valid points. A true distinction does need to be made between "contract" and "partner/tenant" brewing since there are some great "tenant" breweries where their brewmaster is just using another breweries equipment and that is fine with me.

I am not trying to say all "contract" is bad but if you just send a recipe off to another place to be brewed for you by their staff and you don't have a person you picked to be the brewer for it, I question the passion that will be put into that beer.

As for your point about a marketing guy and a homebrewer I have to 100% agree with you on that.

Re: Contract Brewing, Good or Bad?

Beltway Brewing Co. — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:10:02 -0000

There also needs to be a distinction made between "contract" brewing and "partner" brewing. Those terms are often used interchangeably. A partner brewing arrangement is when a "host" brewery allows a "tenant" brewer come and produce their beer on the host's system. A lot of arrangements that we casually refer to as "contract brewers" are often closer to a partnership.
Either way, to issue a blanket statement that contract brewing is "good" or "bad" is not fair since there is a huge range of differing arrangements out there. Some arrangements, like the ones where some marketing guy has an idea for some quirky flavored malt beverage that he just needs some brewery to produce for him, I would categorize as "bad" for the craft beer movement. But the arrangement where a truly brilliant homebrewer, that doesn't happen to have a million bucks in the bank to build their own brewery, contracts an existing brewery with excess capacity to produce his or her beer so he/she can get it to market when they otherwise wouldn't have the means... now that's great!

Re: Growlers: Clear, Brown or Steel

Mike — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:46:02 -0000

I like brown or black. I prefer my black growler from ABC in Mass as it keeps the light out completely. I also have a cobalt blue swing top from ABC and it looks pretty but lets light in

Re: Growlers: Clear, Brown or Steel

Seth Mellin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:09:59 -0000

I can certainly work on that.

Re: Growlers: Clear, Brown or Steel

Laura — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:03:36 -0000

I did NOT know that stainless steel growlers even existed!

How about a post on how to clean a growler? I always struggle...

Re: Norfolk Curling Club Fire

Brian Mirizzi — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:37:40 -0000

Great post Seth! It has been a long time, hope all is well.

Re: Norfolk Curling Club Fire

Seth Mellin — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 09:36:13 -0000

Hi Jon, I look forward to hearing all the details and to
Norfolk rebuilding bigger and better!

Re: Norfolk Curling Club Fire

Jon Barbagallo — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 09:33:43 -0000

Hi Seth, thank for the kind words. Much like you, i grew up curling and the Norfolk Curling Club was my second home. We will be rebuilding! Stay tuned!
Jon Barbagallo, Norfolk

Re: Contract Brewing, Good or Bad?

Alison — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 11:57:02 -0000

Anything that's locally made (whether food or beer) is ALWAYS better than anything contracted out.

Re: Contract Brewing, Good or Bad?

Laura — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:36:15 -0000

Got it, thanks! Told you I drink a lot of beer but don't necessarily know a lot about the brewing process :) I'd love to hear examples of contract breweries, but understand that you don't want to call them out on the blog... so hopefully we'll meet up for drinks sometime soon! Any chance you're working next Thurs night?

Re: Contract Brewing, Good or Bad?

Seth Mellin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:32:58 -0000

Contract brewing means another facility is brewing your beers, with your recipe for you. They have to keep quality to a certain degree but overall the beers are different slightly from when being made at the main facility.

Re: Contract Brewing, Good or Bad?

Laura — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:31:29 -0000

Does contract brewing just mean that the brewery is under contract by someone else to make a certain quantity, and gets paid regardless of the quality?

Re: Contract Brewing, Good or Bad?

Seth Mellin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:01:51 -0000

True it might but I bring up the New Glarus example. If you are truly about the craft then you either remain small and brew at capacity instead of expanding/contracting for increased distribution. I feel when some of these micro/macros start doing that it no longer becomes about the beer and instead the focus is changed to the all mighty dollar.

Re: Contract Brewing, Good or Bad?

Gerard Walen — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:58:25 -0000

That's another sticky point, when a brewer creates beer at another brewery because they no longer have the production capacity at the original site. That's actually quite common among macros and micros alike. Sam Adams has a brewery in Ohio, Yuengling has a plant in Tampa, and Kona is also brewed god knows where.
I would think that, as long as the company maintains production at its original home, it remains of that city i.e. Brooklyn Brewery is still a Brooklyn brewery, even if some of its production happens off premise. Otherwise, it might blow up our heads trying to sort it out.

Re: Contract Brewing, Good or Bad?

Seth Mellin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:51:07 -0000

Interesting points Gerard. I find that a brewery should only be able to brew where they say they are. I am will now make one such brewery known. Sixpoint has recently increased production. They used to contract brew with Greenpoint in Brooklyn to subsidize their own operations in Red Hook, Brooklyn. When they started canning and increased production they moved the contract brewing to some place in Philadelphia (or so that is what I am told by reliable sources) yet the cans and packaging still promote that it is brewed in Brooklyn, NY. Now I am sure they are operating within their legal rights but to me its dishonest.

Re: Contract Brewing, Good or Bad?

Gerard Walen — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:47:55 -0000

Interesting subject. I've been thinking about it lately because of a project I'm working on in Florida. Is a company that is headquartered in Florida but contract brews in another state considered a "Florida brewery?" What about one that contracts its production to another brewery in the same state? Would either be considered a separate brewery in a listing of a state's brewery?

Re: Are Raffles the Solution?

Bill — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:09:16 -0000

I agree with a limitless ticket count to raffle and raise money for a charity. I think you could also do a limited raffle for profit where, if you were going to charge $20 a bottle for a case of a rare beer, you could sell 240 $1 tickets, not gouge people for any more money than you would have brought in otherwise, and give plenty of people a shot to get a great beer for as little as a dollar

Re: Max Lager’s Wood-Fired Grill and Brewery

Max Lager's — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 12:35:37 -0000

Thanks so much for the nice post. We're glad you enjoyed your visit to Max Lager's. Please stop in next time you are in Atlanta for more brew & southern hospitality.

Re: Beer and Baseball

2beerguys — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:16:54 -0000

Fenway Park - Wachusett Green Monsta IPA - 30 kegs around the park

Re: Beer and Baseball

2beerguys — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:13:00 -0000

Fenway Park - Wachusett Green Monsta IPA - 30 kegs around the park

Re: Beer and Baseball

Chris Spradley — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:14:19 -0000

I like this! Two of my passions! Here's what I know from experience:

Minute Maid, Houston Astros-- Saint Arnold served
Petco Park, San Diego Padres-- Stone Brewing served
Nationals Park, Washington Nats-- Dogfish Head & Flying Dog
Wrigley Field, Chicago Cubs-- Goose Island
Yankee Stadium, NY Yankees-- Brooklyn Brewery

And here's a website for some others: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/bl...

Re: Get Real Belgian Festival

Seth Mellin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:14:16 -0000

Except for you!!

Joking! Yes even you!!

Re: Get Real Belgian Festival

Charles Decker — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:12:45 -0000

Even me?!