Page 479 - Demo

InvasionBY LINUS GELBERW e%u2019re embroiled in a beer conspiracy. You may have noticed: the old domestic stalwarts and sturdy foreign favorites of the grocer%u2019s locker are edging off to make room for odd new brands from far away spots. Even smallneighborhood stores, once a bastion of American brews, are being visited more and more by cross-continental bottles.Nobody%u2019s loo clear on the roots of this new alcoholic invasion, but it is sure that competition is flying thick in distributing circles. The industry yardstick is Holland%u2019s Hcincken beer, which enjoys such a following that it could just as well be a domestic creation as far as the market is concerned: the lightHcincken, as well as the increasingly popular dark, is sold everywhere, including supermarkets and restaurants. Other importers dream of setting up such a rapport with the American drinking public, and in some cases, that is becoming a reality, as with Germany%u2019s Beck%u2019s beer, England%u2019s Guinness Stout and Canada's Molson%u2019s Ale. Still, slews of smaller and less well-known labels from all over the world arc arriving to glut the American market.%u201c Americans look to imports as true beers,%u201d suggests Leonard Lcvcrich, Sales Manager for Brooklyn%u2019s L. Fatato Brothers Imports. \tradition, and as the cost of domestic beer increases and gels close to the cost of the import, more and more people will give it a try.%u201d Fatato Brothers, in addition to a rounded line of American beers, carries Dortmundcr Hansa beer from Germany, Ringncs from Norway, and Perroni from Italy.COMING OF AGEAs for why there%u2019s such an upsurge of beers around, many importers conjecture that its simply a coming of age of the industry. %u201c This is a very, very profitable business,%u201d asserted one spokesperson from the Original Beer Importing and Distributing Co. in Manhattan who would give her name only as Inga. Original Beer imports Augustiner beer from Germany and two English labels, Watncy%u2019s Red Barrel and Watney%u2019s Stingo Ale. %u201c It%u2019s very competitive also, and what%u2019s happening is just that everybody else is trying to get into the act.%u201d %u201cThat%u2019s right,%u201d Lcvcrich agrees, %u201c people see an opportunity, and they jump in. This is an aggravating business, but profitable.%u201d%u201c People arc just looking to try something new,%u201d estimates Mickey Reiter from Reiter Importers, another Brooklyn firm. %u201c We%u2019re selling more than ever, getting more kinds and brands every day-and they%u2019re all good. It%u2019s just unbelievable.%u201d Reiter said that even as he spoke on the phone he had new brand samples from England, Holland, and Norway, wailing to be sampled, mulled over and, possibly, to be signed on for distribution. Reiter carries a far-flung selection, ranging from China%u2019s light Tsingtao beer to three Mexican brands (Negra Modelo, Dos Equis and Superior), to English brands (W atney%u2019s Red Barrel and Stingo), as weii as Holland%u2019s Grolsch, Norway%u2019s SkolHigh Spirits Specialof Foreign Beers Comes To Local Storesand Canada%u2019s Moosehcad Ale (%u201c a very good beer,%u201d he confides). In the past, Reiter's stock has included as many as 32 labels, at one time or another, which have ceased being profitable or simply faded away.FADING BRANDSApparently, the fading is a big force for importers. %u201c There could be many beers on the market now, but how many will last?%u201d asks Franz Kautt, the National Sales Manager for Dieter Slcinman Importers. %u201c Beers come on the market, then disappear in a year. You can say, %u2018here comes this French beer,%u2019 or %u2018here comes this Austrian beer,%u2019 but will they be around next time you look for them?%u201dKautt, who speaks in a choked German accent, is working now on nationally promoting Dinkcl (read %u2018Doonkcl%u2019) Acker beer, a littleknown German brand, hoping to put it on a par with Beck%u2019s and Guinness, if not Hcincken. None of Stcinman%u2019s labels, which include Foster beer from Australia and DAB beer (short for Dortmunder Actien-Brauerei) from Germany, arc huge sellers, which leaves the company free to devote its resources to putting Dinkcl Acker in more people%u2019s hands as afirst priority.The view from higher up the totem pole in an established niche is a different one, though. %u201c We%u2019re not looking to flood the market or compete with Hcincken,%u201d says Guinness-Harp Importers%u2019 Valerie Hemingway, speaking with an English accent, suited well to the company she works for. %u201c We sell what we bring in, which is good. We don%u2019t want to compete.%u201d The Guincss-Harp company is hardly going to miss out on America%u2019s bear beer market days, though, and Hemingway admits that %u201c we get a further edge on sales every year, on a relatively small scale%u201d by increasing in increments (he bulk of imports. The company additonally has added Bass Alcalso English-some Beck's distribution, Canadian Laban%u2019s beer and Dos Equis to its roster.Hemingway notes that Guinness%u2019 products arc so different and distinctive from most others that only limited promotion is necessary. Interestingly, she points to bad economic news as one of t he root s of good alcoholic news. %u201c We%u2019ve found over the years that as the economy is declining or in jeopardy, our sales increase.%u201d Hard times make hard drinkers? She doesn%u2019t think so. %u201c In limes ofplenty, people go right off for the Johnny Walker Black,%u201d she says. %u201c In a recession, people drink beer rather than whiskey or spirits. Or that%u2019s been the trend, and we%u2019re happy with it.%u201d%u201c Americans are also becoming more taste-conscious,%u201d she continues, blessed with Guinness%u2019 longevity and thus able to note broad trends. %u201c Years ago, Americans automatically didn%u2019t try the new or foreign brands. Now they do, so we fill in that demand.%u201d Kautt from Dieter Steinman vehemently agrees. %u201cToday, the beer drinker has many alternatives that he never had before. He can choose from many different kinds of beer.%u201dLOCAL CHOICESFrankly, beer is everywhere. You%u2019ll be hard pressed to avoid it. Just keeping an eye on the refrigerator racks of your local bodega will probably give rise to a sampling of three or four foreign beers over a month or so, as distributors tend to scatter their wares as far and as wide as possible. Your down-the-block market may turn out to be the best place to essay into the realm of imports, but we%u2019ve compiled some of the local markets that carry heavy mcady selections. HeineThe Best (And Bummers) of BeersBY LINUS GELBERWhen you%u2019re buying an imported beer, you%u2019re paying more than you%u2019d lay out for the American product, so, unless burning the midnight dollar doesn%u2019t bother you, you should set your tastes in line sooner or later. There arc seas of beers flowing in from afar, and the average drinker is going to find it quite an odyssey to try them all. Beer tastes are just that, and tastes in general are personal and never fully shared. Still, let me subject you to mine, which you should try out and take with a grain of salt...or a pretzel, which is a good complement to the malty flavor of most beers.First: some rules. Beer should be cold. Beer should not be flat. Beer should, if at all possible, be drunk from a bottle or glass, as metal leaves a lingering taste and cans aren%u2019t very classy. Good beer should be savored and nursed, not chug-a-luggcd (save that for the cheapo American stuff).Next: 1 should introduce my own bias, which is toward thick, dark beers as opposed to the thinner kinds. If there arc good beers in light and dark, I%u2019ll almost inevitably choose the dark (dark beers arc fabricated with a high percentage of porter, which is a very malty liquid dried quickly at high temperatures before it is mixed with traditional hops and allowed to brew).DARK BEERS AND STOUTSGuinness Stout is the crowned king of stouts-you can nurse a bottle of it for a full hour letting it settle and sit. Because it%u2019s so prcpondcrously thick, it%u2019s sold in convenient smaller sizes. If you%u2019re looking for something less stout but still syrupy, Mackeson Stout'* * %u00ab %u00bb %u00ab*M. M . J A 1. \\\\ u i u w t u u y m e v? m u / a u u m eis a good, palatable alternative thatgoes down a bit freer and quicker. Still thinner but tasting just as musty is Watncy%u2019s Red Barrel beer (my own favorite), which has a slightly bitter taste that%u2019s hard to finger exactly. Watney%u2019s Dark Stingo Ale is so dark and thick that you can almost fork it out of the bottle, which is swathed in appropriate black: Ifind that it pushesits point and takes darkness a ways too far and much too seriously.As far as more standard types go, Hcincken, dark is sweeter and has a nicer aftertaste than Beck%u2019s dark, although you may have to scrounge a bit to find them (they%u2019re shipped in much smaller quantities than their light counterparts). St. Pauli Girl dark,not as good as either of the previous brands, goes down better than St. Pauli light, but leaves an unpleasant feeling at the base of my tongue. Most of the light-and-dark German beers need some hit-or-miss sampling until you hit your iaste, and I find many of them (Wurzburg, Hofbrau, etc.) rather bland and nondescript.LIGHT AND REGULAR BEERSCanada%u2019s contributions here are led far away by Moosehcad Ale, a more full and smooth product than the Molson%u2019s line and considerably less pugnacious than Labatt%u2019s. You have to watch a lot of the English Ales like Whitbread, which tend to\be watery: look for the %u201c lager%u201dmark, which means that the beer has been brewed six weeks to six months before bottling. Overall, ales lean to the watery, thin side; as an example, Whitbread Ale seems to slip past without actually being meaningful, while Whitbread Beer (hard to find) is considerably fuller, with a clear, defined taste.Japanese beer reaches its peak1 %u2022 r ------------ i____aw i i i i j a p p u i u , n i i i v . i i iii u i o v i i u i u \\ \\ jfind, although Kirin and Asahi areboth fine sqbstitutes. These I brands are a little more gutsy and1 up front than many others, but they leave little in the way of an aftertaste. WARNING: China%u2019s Tsingtao is pretty vile, very thin and bitter, with almost nothing to compliment it in any way. Much of the same to French %u201c 33%u201d beer, which enjoys some nostalgia among people who were stationed in France during World War II.As for German/Austrian beerswhat can you say? There are a lot of them. Tastes vary, but not a lot, and Beck%u2019s is legitimately near the top of the list. Many, St. Pauli Girl among, them, get by on rustic label engravings and war-veteran nostalgia, not on taste or actual merits. Two good exceptions are Lowenbrau Munich-not the American copy, but the imported real thing%u2014 and Dortmunder Hansa. Dinkel Acker, Steinman Importers%u2019 new baby, is legitimately good, smooth and tasty, and a sight better than most others. Korean OB and Taiwanese export beer are pretty cute, but so watery that they%u2019re not really worth pursuing.Grolsch is the next brilliant beer ihat comes to mind: it%u2019s greatsiuff, and is sold in a big macho bottle boot, with a Mason-jar cap and embossed symbols. It%u2019s getting a lot more popular, and dcscrvingly so. Mexico%u2019s Dos Equis is also nice, with a special flavor and soft aftertaste, and it beats out the also-nice Superior beer.From then, a lot of stuff becomes very middle-of-the-road. There%u2019s nothing wrong with Skol and Ringncs from Norway, Perroni from Italy, or DAB beer, for example, but there%u2019s nothing very special about them either. Use-* -------- .i----- *%u2014 ------------:__W U I j u u ^ m e .111 I 1IV.J is- V A ^ V I I U M V .Bottoms up.ken. Beck%u2019s, Guinness%u2019 and Molson%u2019s beers, in a variety of lights, darks, stouts, extra-stouts and goldens have been omitted, as the odds are you%u2019ll have no trouble finding them almost everywhere.AMERICAN BEER DISTREBUting co.; 246 Court St., Kirin(Japanese), Gosser (Austrian), Laban%u2019s (Canadian), Whitbread Ale and Harp (English), DinkelAcker, Carlsberg, Grolsch and DAB (Dortmunder ActienBrauerei). This is a discount place, with prices averaging 70 cents a bottle.THE CHEESE CELLAR: Montague and Henry Sts., Mooschead Ale and Labatt%u2019s (Canadian), Bass Ale (English), Kirin, Dos Equis (Mexican), Eagle (Indian), St. Pauli Girl, Dinkel Acker and Pilsner Urgucll.COBBLE HEIGHTS DISTRIBUTORS: 185 Atlantic Ave.,Whitbread Ale, St. Pauli Girl, Skol and Ringncs (Norwegian) and Spatcn (German). This is also discounted, with bottles at 60 cents each.A. DUREL%u2019S DELICATESSEN: 150 Seventh Ave.,Spatcn, Laban%u2019s, Bass Ale, Kirin, Watney%u2019s Red Barrel (English), St. Pauli Girl and Grolsch.HERZOG%u2019S DELICATESSEN,206 Seventh Ave., Harp, Bass Ale and Kirin.JENSEN%u2019S DELICATESSEN:80 Seventh Ave., Spaten, DAB, Whitbread Ale and San Miguel.LASSEN AND HENNINGSDELICATESSEN: 114 Montague St., Perroni (Italian), Ringnes, MacEwan's (Scottish), Whitbread Ale, Watney%u2019s Red Barrel, Bass Ale, Grolsch, Pilsner Urguell, Skol, Carlsberg, Harp, San Miguel, Foster%u2019s (Australian), Wurzburg, DAB, Hofbrau, Dortmunder Hansa, Dressier, St. Pauli Girl, Augustinerbrau Munchcn, Holsten Lager, Labatt%u2019s, Moosehead Ale, Kirin, and Tsingtao (Chinese).LOU%u2019S FOOD CENTER: 170Court St., Grolsch, Harp, Dos Equis and Superior (Mexican), Skol and Bass Ale.PROSPECT BEVERAGE, 504Fourth Ave., Ringnes, Dortmunder Hansa, Perroni and Grolsch. Prices here vary, but this is also a discount store.RAY%u2019S DELI AND GROCERY:365 State St., Grolsch, Bass Ale, Watney%u2019s Red Barrel and Stingo, Perroni, Superior, Carlsberg, Dos Equis and Moosehead. It%u2019s around the corner from the PHOENIX officcs-that%u2019s where I go.SUPER ACE MARKET:Seventh Ave. and Berkeley Place,Grolsch, Spaten, Augustinerbrau Munchcn, Harp, Whitbread Ale, Superior, Tsingtao, Gosser, Dinkel Acker, St. Pauli Girl, Perroni, Watncy%u2019s Red Barrel and Stingo, Dos Equis, Bass Ale, Mackeson Stout (English), Negra Modelo (Mexican), San Miguel, Foster, Carlsberg, Skol, Dortmunder Hansa, Hacker Pschorr, Kraus, Asahi (Japanese), Putigan (Austrian), Feldschlossen Bier, Wurzburg, Moosehead Ale and OB Export Beer (Korean). All crammed into one refrigerator case, with some brands hidden in back; plus one of the workers there boasted that there more kinds^ c v / n s t ^ r s t h a t u / A iilH n %u2019t fit A ti tVi*%u00bbdisplay shelf.November 22,1979, The PHOENIX, Pag? 13