On My Beerbox #1: Moychendising!

    From time to time, something comes up that doesn't quite fit into my scheduled/planned blog rhythm.  Sometimes, something interesting happens in the beer world and I feel the need to open my stupid mouth about it, because the evil gremlins that live inside of me won't let me not talk about whatever fool thing I have to say.  For these times, I present you with the semi-official, supplementary, gotta-catch-em-all bonus blogs... On My Beerbox.

    I should probably stress now, and probably at numerous times during an entry like this, that these thoughts are purely my own, and do not reflect on the opinions of Bid Red Beard Brewing Company.  That said, let's get into it.

    A funny thing happened recently.  A beer was released with a three-ring circus of hype behind it.  Strangely, it was a beer no one had tasted before.  It was also a style that hasn't, to my knowledge, classically had a lot of weight behind it in terms of anticipated releases.  Most quixotically, it was a licensed property, tied in to a very popular cable TV show.  You bet your sweet bippy I'm talking about Brewery Ommegang's "Game of Thrones" Iron Throne Blonde Ale.  When I first heard about this, I had my reservations... and here, I will examine them and try to come to a conclusion as to the conflicting feelings I have about this.  Stay with me.  You may just be surprised.

     Now, call me a fuddy duddy, but it's hard for me to get excited about a beer that I haven't tasted before.  Sure, there are annual releases of certain things I get just as frothy at the mouth over as the next drinker... even if that speculative behavior is hardly my main mode.  It's rare behavior for me, you see.  I was just talking with two friends recently about Troegs Brewing Company's Nugget Nectar, which every year has people stepping on their own grandmothers to buy a six-pack of, but is (in my opinion, but an opinion that happened to be shared by the friends I was speaking with) merely a pretty good beer.  Even if I thought it was the greatest thing since fermented bread, I doubt I would share in the fervor over it. That is to say, most of the time, when people start going crazy over a beer release, even one I really like, I usually don't try too hard to get in on the action.  Last year, I ended up with a bottle of Founders Brewing Company's Kentucky Breakfast Stout only because I was in the right place at the right time.  I wasn't about to leave work early and stand in line for an hour just to buy a bottle, but from what I saw that kind of behavior was the norm and I was the weird one.  But I digress.

    I've always had a distaste for inflating something before it's proven.  I recall, not too long ago, the absolute venom spewed by some people in the Beer Advocate forums over the "Oncemade" Project.  Without going too much into it, some people had teamed with some local brewers to make some labor-intensive, single-batch beers.  They would be sold in commemorative boxes and all that good stuff, and they went for quite a premium price.  The rub, or rather what seemed to rub a lot of people the wrong way, is that the sale of these beers began before they were even made.  A lot of people could just not get behind paying a substantial price for a beer they not only hadn't tried, but one that didn't even exist yet.  Now, I'm not saying the level to which people attacked the concept was justified.  Clearly, there must have been a market for this kind of thing, and no one was holding a gun to anyone's head to try it.  Still, and I must stress again that this is just my opinion, this whole thing seemed to run contrary to how a market should work.  Something that's available at a high price, or is only made available by jumping through hoops, should be that way because it's proven, and people are willing to go through whatever or pay however much.  Look at Portsmouth Brewing Company's Kate the Great and the hoopla that surrounded it's release for an example of something that was actually built on known factors.  The "Oncemade" thing is the opposite in my eyes and (my opinion my opinion my opinion) something I always pointed to as emblematic of the craft beer bubble.

 

   So, I come built with trepidations about "hyped" releases, as well as speculation on untested products.  I also, as I said, find it hard to get excited about a Blonde Ale, which I've always seen as a rather simple, tasty, but not stand-out, style.  I have less to say about that, even if presenting a Game of Thrones beer as a blonde ale reminds me a little too much of those filthy Lannisters, than my third major point of potential contention (and maybe the most striking part of the story of Iron Throne)... the issue of licensing.

     Here, I must betray yet more bias.  Coming as a fan of both comic books and video games, I tend to consider licensing to usually be a bad thing.  Often, it's something that's sold on the strength of the property tie-in alone rather than, you know, quality.  That said, for every Superman 64, there's a Ducktales (if you don't speak video game nerd, Superman 64 is reviled as one of the worst games ever, while Ducktales on the NES has become a classic and a darling to say the least, and is even about to get an HD update).  Don't even get me started with comic books.  99% of the time, a licensed property is pure trash.  Some companies even stay afloat putting out almost entirely licensed products on the premise that they can get a fan of the movie, TV show or whatever to buy an issue or two... so why put any actual effort into the work?  And yet, again, there are some good ones out there amongst the throng.  Some characters have even crossed over into being better known for the comic iteration than that of their original medium... and actually maintained a level of quality and been able to retain decent creators.  I'm looking at you, Conan.

    Licensing in beer is whole 'nuther thing, though.  While in comic books and video games, licensing is quite common, it's much, much less so in beer.  The one other instance of this I can think of is Dogfish Head Craft Brewery's Pearl Jam Twenty Faithfull Ale that dropped around the same time as band's anniversary rockumentaty.  But even that seemed niche to the strike-while-the-iron-is-hot quality of Brewery Ommegang's Game of Thrones tie-in.

    Now, although my knee-jerk reaction at Iron Throne was, suffice to say, less than impressed, I had to ask myself the critical question:

Is this a good thing for the craft beer movement?

Importantly (maybe most importantly), Brewery Ommegang has a fine pedigree and has put out a slew of excellent beers.  Their Three Philosphers has long been a favorite of mine.  Anyway, there's a good amount of trust that a brewery like this cares about putting out a good product first and making a hot buck with it second.  Then, and this is probably most important to someone that doesn't already know about Brewery Ommegang and its beers, a beer that ties in with something as popular as Game of Thrones is likely to get people who have seldom or even never bought a craft beer before to pony up.  What's more, at a suggested retail of, I believe, $8.99, the entry fee to the world of craft beer isn't too too high.  Maybe it would be better at a buck or two less, but I think we can attribute some of the cost there to the Game of Thrones name itself, and a big enough fan probably wouldn't question the cost, especially if they like the idea of having this beer on hand when the new season of the show starts.  To be sure, the timing of this beer's release is obviously capitalizing on that idea.  Complete with themed glassware, I might add.  Might as well teach a new craft beer drinker that the shape of a glass may just make a difference.

    Here's the clincher, and I honestly didn't come to this realization until I sat down to write this.  The relatively simple style of this beer, being a blonde ale, is actually a good thing and a very shrewd but clever move.  Consider the premise that it's likely inevitable that this beer will attract Game of Thrones fans that aren't necessarily all that big in to craft beer (at least yet).  One should be careful with what you choose to feed such an animal.  If the closest thing someone's had to a craft beer is Bud Platinum, you don't what to blow their heads off with hops or give them something as big as a barrel-aged imperial stout.  You want to give them something drinkable, smooth, but showcasing a good deal more flavor than what they might have experience before.  Hence, blonde ale.  And this doesn't even have to be the Marilyn Monroe of blonde ales (wakka wakka)... it just needs to be a competent, balanced effort to make a newbie think about what other craft beers they might be missing out on.  Funny that... this story may yet be someone's (or many someone's) answer to how they first got in to craft beer.

    So, despite myself, and forgiving the fact that I haven't tried this beer (and considering I didn't seek it out in a timely manner, likely won't try this beer), I have to salute what Brewery Ommegang is trying to do here.  If my analysis is even worth half a damn, this is a good move for craft beer overall, even if I (or you reading this) may not be the target audience.

   But fellas?  Let's not get too crazy with the licensing from here out, ok?