Last week, I had the privilege to judge at the 33rd Great American Beer Festival (GABF). This was the largest competition ever, with nearly 10,000 entries and 330 judges. In three days, all beers were judged and the Brewers Association handed out medals in 107 categories. It was truly an amazing thing to be a part of this year.
At the judging table, there is lots of time to chat in between rounds and flights. A lot of judging is: wait, wait, wait....hurry up…judge, wait, wait, wait…wash, rinse, repeat. As I mentioned above, there are 107 categories, and roughly six of them are IPAs. Five percent of the beer categories are IPAs, yet IPAs make up over 50 percent of craft beer sales. There is a huge disconnect here.
Craft beer started as making old, historic styles that had unique tastes and flavors, but now 50 percent of the market is IPAs. More than one judge lauded the flavors of a brown ale or a Kolsch, but then conceded that it wouldn’t sell in their brewery and would definitely sit on store shelves.
Case in point, we have 20 cases of Padre Ramirez just aging in our cellar. I know of another local brewery who shared with me that they have a lot of bottles of sour beer and saisons just sitting in their cellar.
This week, we found out that Colorado’s oldest craft brewery, Boulder Beer, is shutting down packaging, distribution and is just going to be a brew pub. That is a huge blow to a once-giant in the industry. We all know of Weyerbacher’s struggles with their recent Chapter 11 filing. The craft beer industry has been buoyed by 20 years of consistent growth and that train seemed to stop.
How does this relate to Lansdale? Lansdale has been undergoing a revitalization over the past six years. We’ve seen coffee shops, restaurants, a distillery and more breweries come to Lansdale, and a few more in the North Wales and Hatfield area. What do we need now? More people!
In order to complete our revitalization, we need our citizens to champion what Lansdale has to offer even more.
With the imminent opening of Local Tap and Lansdale Tavern changing hands in December, there are even more amazing options in Lansdale. On First Fridays, Lansdale is booming and we need your help to keep that ball rolling more than just the first Friday of every month. Shop at Love Obsessed, or bring some friends to Scent and Sip. When friends and family visit, bring them to Stove and Tap, or Round Guys. Grab Brunch at Boardroom on a Sunday. Fry’s catering is amazing!
I’m trying to get my 8 year old to want to read, so I bought some books from Comic Zen. It’s all coming together, so put down your Amazon app, delete door dash and help us promote Lansdale for the great town it has become!
Scott Rudich is the head brewer and co-owner of Round Guys Brewing in Lansdale, PA. Rudich is heavily involved in the local beer scene, and was awarded the Brewer Award at the 2013 StarChefs’ Philadelphia Rising Stars Gala. This opinion column is sponsored by Round Guys, and appears every Tuesday on North Penn Now. If you have any questions or comments, please email them to [email protected].
See also:
Round Guys: Social Diversity And The Craft Brewing Scene
Round Guys: Selling Is Not Selling Out
Round Guys: Embracing The Moments
Round Guys: Collaborative Brewing
Round Guys: Welcome To The Party, Pals!
