Hail to ales!

Cheers, March, 2004 by Lew Bryson

Many years ago, things in America's bars and taverns were different. It was an earlier time, primeval days when today's bright golden beers were not the dominant predators on the market. It was the Era of Top Fermentation, the Age of Ale.

Okay, that's over-dramatizing it somewhat; chalk it up to seeing The Return of the King too many times. But most of you--and your customers--would probably be surprised to learn that ales were once a huge part of the American beer market. I remember the long-time brewmaster at Yuengling, Ray Norbert, telling me that his predecessor had left the company in 1961 because he wanted to work for a company that was going places: Ballantine.

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Things change. Ales are still a small slice of the market, but they are a growing one. Imports, like Labatt, Guiness Stout, Bass and Newcastle, are still the biggest sellers, but home-grown ales like Sierra Nevada Pale and New Belgium Fat Tire are rising fast. And Diageo is busy planning the introduction of Smithwick's Irish Ale to the US.

What happened? Why did the ale market turn around? Bill Wetmore, the marketing director for Scottish & Newcastle Importers (the Newcastle Brown people), saw it as a question of quality and patience. "Quality. Consistency," he said. "The ales who made it through the tougher times never over-extended themselves. They never put the quality of the beer in jeopardy. The consumer's expectations are consistently met--and they find that comforting."

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The key might be in splitting your view of ale's fortunes. "One of the things you have to realize," said Steve Ward, Labatt USA's director of European brands, "is that the domestic and import ale markets are different. The older domestic brands, like Ballantine's, are what most people talk about as 'the ale market.' Bass, as an import, is different. I would contend that ales in the import category are doing rather well."

SPECIALTY ALES

Ward's right. "Ale" doesn't mean mass-market anymore, as it did in the old days; ale means competing for taste in the upper reaches of the market. It means good margins and possibly a reputation for beer selection that will draw customers from a larger area. If you can figure out which ones to sell, and how to sell them, ales can become a solid section of your monthly receipts. Interested?

First thing to do is learn how to think about ales in your line-up. Steve Ward has an idea. "You have to think of it like you look at coffee," he said. "A lot of people just want a good strong cup of joe to get ready to go to work. But some people are concerned about the beans, the French press, and so on.

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"It's the same with beer," he explained. "You can approach it at a number of levels, and we're going at all those consumers, the people who are concerned with the hops and the barley and the yeast, and the people who just want a good-tasting beer."

That wide range is your cue to work your customer. Once you've got one who's interested in the beans, as it were, lay out the choices and see what they'd like.

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Jeff Klobucar, bartender at Brit's Pub in Minneapolis, has a pretty broad palate to work with. "We only have one domestic lager," he said, "Bud Light. So people who aren't looking for the standard flavor of a lager can get all kinds of flavors. We have bitters, pale ales, ESB, stout, the whole range. If I recommend one, I have to find out their flavor palate: what are they into? Maybe the nutty-flavored stuff, or maybe a lighter-bodied beer; they might want dark, heavy, whatever. I have to ask to know which way to steer them."

KNOW YOUR TERMS

Don't necessarily expect customers to know what words to use. People have been taught better how to order wine, but we've let them down on beer terminology. Wayne Speamak, who works behind the stick at the Beer Bar at Cafe Centro, NYC, tries to work with the customer.

"Usually people have this idea that something light-colored is light, and dark-colored is heavy, and that's about it," he said. "You have to figure out their vocabulary, then you can figure out what they want. Then you can lead them on to something. I had one guy, drank Guinness sometimes, but mostly wine. I tried him on a doublebock, and he loved it. Some people like the bitter, that Italian note. You can figure that if someone's eating the arugula salad, they'll go for the bitter beer."

You might not even want to ask them if they'd like an ale. Most times the customer doesn't really know what you're talking about. "They probably don't, by the strictest definition," said Chris Parsons, director of Guinness for Diageo North America, "although there are some who are passionate about them. Ales are more complex and perhaps less well understood." That's where staff training comes in. "In the on-premise, bartender knowledge can help drive any brand," Parsons concludes.

Tom Peters has made a huge market for ales at his nationally known Monk's Cafe in Philadelphia, and a lot of it is built off staff training. "That's really important," he said. "Every Tuesday I like to have a beer class for the staff. And they all show up! One week we might taste the wheat beers, Aventinus against Weihenstephan against Paulaner. So when a customer asks, 'what's the difference between this wheat beer and that one,' they know. The waiters and waitresses have their favorite beers of the moment, and we'll sell a lot more of that."