Holiday 2018 | V.26
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Holiday 2018 | V.26 SAM CALAGIONE DOGFISH HEAD Delivering Excellence Seasonals Rethinking Retail New Products Programs DAN KENARY OF HARPOON | HOLIDAY SELECTIONS | MAXIMIZE FOURTH QUARTER HOLIDAY SALES Letter toTHE TRADE It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year In This for Selling Beer ITH THE HOLIDAYS RIGHT AROUND THE ISSUE corner, it’s not too early to look ahead to W selling strategies, so your business can tap into lucrative fourth-quarter sales. In fact, according to a survey by Campaigner®’s Christmas as reported Delivering the in The New Brewer magazine, those who prepare the Taste of Excellence ...............1 earliest are the most profitable. We all know that drinkers have become flavor seekers. Whether they are Cover Story .........................2 shopping for themselves, purchasing beverages for a gathering or ordering something for themselves across the bar, this is the time of year when people are a bit more interested in finding something new. Brewer Highlight .................4 This edition of Heady Times features the seasonal beers that showcase holiday- specific flavors, many of which are designed to enhance food, while others are Littleton Food Co-op .............5 perfect for chasing away chilly New Hampshire temperatures. Here are some flavors that will put your customers in the mood to celebrate and splurge. Harlow’s Pub ......................6 • Bourbon – Barrel aging involves letting beer sit in a used liquor barrel for months at a time. As a result, the flavor of the liquor is imparted into the beer. Allagash James Bean, a limited release, is blended with cold-brewed New Products .....................7 coffee from a local roaster. Also by Allagash is Curieux, which is made by aging Allagash Tripel in oak bourbon barrels. Seasonal Selections .............8 • Chocolate & Coffee – Stouts and porters already have subtle coffee and chocolate notes, Moat Mountain Imperial Stout pours pitch black, crowned Available Year-Round by a prolific creamy espresso head whileNeighborhood Decadent Eclipse Black Lager is their interpretation of a GIOS (German Imperialized Oatmeal Perfect for the Season ....... 12 Schwarzbier), and features a velvety mouthfeel fused with a hint of chocolaty aroma. Harpoon Dunkin’ Coffee Porter is a rich, roasty porter brewed with Programs ......................... 14 a little help from their friends at Dunkin’. Another great brew to try this season is Great North Aleworks Chocolate Milk Stout. Rethinking Retail .............. 21 • Wine & Beer Hybrids –Baxter Pinot Brune merged the complex reddish- brown sour ales brewed in Flanders with the light and fresh profiles of red wines from the Loire and Burgundy regions. Pinot Noir fans will love it. Dogfish Head Siracusa Nera is an Imperial stout with jammy Syrah wine, which explains the plum & cherry flavors. Woodchuck Bubbly Pearsecco is inspired by sparkling wine, this dry pear cider is full of bubbles, with a clean, crisp finish. Of course, front and center you’ll also have plenty of ciders, seltzers and tasty light lagers (still the bestselling beer style in the country) to round out the options you present your customers. It is truly the most wonderful time of the year to be in retail. Shoppers, many of whom are overwhelmed by too many choices, want you to present them with options to simplify decision-making and save time. We publish Heady Times to give you the information you need to achieve that goal. Lastly, we’d like to thank all our customers and suppliers for making our business possible. We send our very best to you and yours this holiday season and wish you a happy and healthy year ahead. Tom Bullock Ed Murphy Heady Times is published four times a year, courtesy Chairman of the Board President of Amoskeag Beverages. DeliveringTHE TASTE OF EXCELLENCE Find Out More About Amoskeag’s Employees Kayla Pouliot Human Resource Assistant How long have you been with Amoskeag? 2½ years. What does your job entail? In HR, we are a resource for all our employees. We handle employee training, answer questions and concerns, review benefits and much more. However, my main responsibility is payroll. What was your first job? Aside from babysitting, my first job was at Yankee Candle. Do you have any holiday traditions? My family and I make gingerbread houses every year as a way to celebrate my December birthday. If you could enjoy a beer with anyone, past or present, who would it be and what beer would be in your hand? I’d love to be able to sit health deteriorated so I was never able to down and chat with my late grandfather. I have a vivid memory from my enjoy a beer with him. I would offer him a childhood of my Pappy; he would salt his Carling Black Label – or any PBR, and of course salt it and I’d have a beer that was put in front of him. By the time I was of drinking age, his Blue Moon with an orange slice. Tyler Johns Driver How long have you been with Amoskeag Beverages? It’s hard to believe it’s been 9½ years. What do you like most about your job? The people here are great, and I’ve built some nice relationships. What was your first job? I was a cashier at Marshalls. Do you have any holiday traditions? The holidays are busy in the beer business and they’re busy at home with 2 children. I try to slow down and spend quality time with family. One tradition we have is letting the kids each open one present on Christmas Eve. If you could enjoy a beer with anyone, past or present, who would it be and what beer would be in your hand? That’s a tough question. I guess I’d have a Coors Light with Patriots’ Tight End Rob Gronkowski – he looks like a pretty fun guy to have a few beers with. www.amoskeagbeverages.com HeadyTimes v.26 1 CoverSTORY Sam Calagione and Dogfish Head Keep Brewing the Greatest Innovations You’ll Ever Taste As the holiday season approaches, it’s time to reacquaint your customers with this portfolio of beers that are both approachable and groundbreaking. A common beer industry term goes something like this: when imports are up, crafts are down. With Mexican imports like Corona and Modelo reporting huge growth, there is evidence to support this claim. But one craft brewery is saying, “It ain’t necessarily so.” Dogfish Head continues to thrive in a rapidly changing beer industry. How have they been able to buck all trends? What’s new for the holidays and 2019? Heady Times sat down with Dogfish Head founder and CEO Sam Calagione to find out. Namaste White. For a brewery that made e’ve been devoted to consistently delivering the best of the its name creating dozens and dozens best,” says Calagione. “We strategized and laid the groundwork of one-offs and odd styles, this shift in “W for a forward-looking growth plan for this year and beyond.” strategy will attract new consumers who This plan included expanding the don’t necessarily think of themselves as Dogfish footprint across the U.S., beer drinkers. tripling the size of their sales team This High 5 group of beers includes a and redesigning their artwork and diverse range of styles, perfect for every packaging. As an example, 90 consumer. 60 Minute is the beloved flagship Minute IPA is once again available IPA, 90 Minute – its high-octane brother, in six-packs and the brewery has been called “one of the most important debuted a new Off-Center Your American craft beers ever brewed” by Summer variety 12-pack that turns Food & Wine. Flesh & Blood is a stellar into a cooler. “It’s been a busy few IPA brewed with a bevy of real citrus and years,” laughs Calagione.” Namaste White is a Belgian-style white ale Dogfish recently made a big splash with notes of citrus, clove and coriander. with SeaQuench Ale, a session sour mash-up of Kölsch, Gose and Berliner weiss brewed with black limes, sour lime juice and “We’ve been devoted sea salt. “We had the goal, when to consistently we designed it, to make the most objectively thirst-quenching beer delivering the that Dogfish had ever brewed,” says Calagione. “But we also best of the best.” built it around a flavor profile that would appeal to margarita drinkers and white wine drinkers as much Another feather in Dogfish Head’s cap is as it would appeal to beer geeks, and that is starting to prove itself.” their big bet on cans. “We see a lot of Indeed, SeaQuench is the #1 selling brand in IRI’s “Wild or Sour Ale” today’s craft drinkers looking for a more category. It also appeals to people who enjoy minerally-tasting white portable, lighter package,” says Calagione. wine. The beer is even getting national recognition for the way it fits into “I can envision a world in five or six years an active lifestyle. Men’s Health magazine proclaimed it the best-tasting, where our can sales eclipse our bottle low-calorie beer around. sales.” While Calagione and his team are In addition to the introduction of SeaQuench, Dogfish Head refocused preparing for the day that happens, he its attention on a few key brands know as their “High 5”: 60 maintains that there will likely always be a Minute IPA, 90 Minute IPA, SeaQuench Ale, Flesh & Blood and demand for both bottle and can formats. 2 HeadyTimes v.26 www.amoskeagbeverages.com CoverSTORY With the holiday season quickly Dogfish Head approaching, Dogfish is getting ready to IPAs For The Holidays roll out their new IPAs For The Holidays 12-pack, a winter seasonal favorite that This Dogfish Head variety pack doesn’t “contains four varieties of Off-Centered feature holiday spiced ales – these are goodness,” says Calagione.