Behind the scenes at Tenth and Blake’s Brewers Unleashed night
If this morning’s piece was a left hook, consider this the uppercut. A great batch of photos and writing to go with it on what Tenth and Blake is doing with its Brewers Unleashed events.
But the biggest surprise of the night had nothing to do with the beer. Behind the bar stood one of Chicago’s newest craft brew kings, Pete Crowley from Haymarket brewery in the west loop. Alongside representatives from Pilsner Urquell, Sandlot and AC Golden, Pete presided over the tapping of his entry into the Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beers — Indignant — an imperial stout aged in an 8 year-old Woodford Reserve barrel. While the crowd was clearly psyched to see him, he was reluctant to be seen. “I feel like Luke Skywalker standing in the middle of the Death Star,” he said, “but the point is that there’s some really great beers here tonight from some really great brewers.”
via Good Beer Hunting.
Breweries: Tenth and Blake Beer Co.
As I see it, there’s room for all shapes and sizes of breweries. We will undoubtedly see more acquisitions of craft breweries like Goose Island, Terrapin, etc. by the big guys. Some of these types of acquisitions might result in the watering down of brands, and that will be the big test: Can AB-InBev, SABMiller, etc., acquire a craft brewery, strip it to its biggest money-makers, possibly alter the recipes to hit their numbers, and find success? I doubt they would. Too many new local breweries are popping up all over that will take their dissatisfied customers away by providing a higher quality of product. Likewise, regional breweries that have grown organically, always with an eye toward maintaining quality, will outpace bastardized pseudo-craft breweries as consumer awareness increases. The trend I’m most interested in is start-up breweries with regional or national aspirations. Will they be patient enough to follow the model of the more successful regional breweries, focusing on quality and organic growth? Or will they try to jump steps, cut corners, be cynical, and create a sort of shadow segment of craft beer focusing more on style than substance?