Category Beer

Entries 11 Total

Half Acre Beer Suprise. #goodbeer. Also, UXUP.

Mar 16, ’09 1:22 PM

Half Acre

If you’ve been following the UXUP thing, I’ve been talking about a beer-related surprise.

Here’s the idea:

  • Problem: Existing tools to find recommendations on beers are kinda lame. You might like Beer Advocate’s rating tool, and you might find what you need on RateBeer, but they’re not exactly shining star examples of interactivity.
  • Solution: Consolidated Twitter beer reviews. Let’s talk about beers we like on Twitter–140 characters at a time–and tag those reviews with #goodbeer … because let’s face it, all we need to hear about is the good stuff. So now, if you want to find a reco of a nice beer to try, just to a query for #goodbeer, and you’ll get some answers from the Cloud. I’ll probably use juitter to pop up a site for #goodbeer, but let’s see if people take to it first.
  • Incentive: Free, excellent beer. I’ve got a couple buddies at Half Acre Beer that have kindly offered to donate some craft brews to folks that participate in this little web adventure. The beer is called a Blonde, and Gabriel at Half Acre described it as “A marriage between an Extra Pale and a Blonde. Good hop nose, very drinkable and ultimately refreshing.” They’ll be available in 22oz bomber format, and they are NOT available to the public in any other way. Rules: try a new beer tonight, and if you like it, tweet the review and tag it with #goodbeer. We’ll pick 24 of the reviews from tonight at random, and you winners can pick up the beer next week at Half Acre.

If someone is already doing this, cool. Play along with me and you’ll have a chance get some free beer.

And for those of you that are thinking, “What is UXUP?”, here’s the background.

UXUP

A couple weeks ago, I noticed that people on Twitter were talking about South by Southwest (SxSW). Seems natural. But then a bunch of people started talking about not being able to go, and how sad they were about it. Because if you’re in the web world, you know that SxSW is pretty much the place to be if you want to connect with cool people, learn new things, and see what the next shiny penny will be. Kinda like TED, but maybe a little less exclusive. And, mind you, these are the things I know about it having never even been.

So knowing that Twitter would be abuzz with #sxsw hashtags and tons of great snippets of presentations…and my good buddy would be presenting his ideas at Phizzpop, I set up a site to promote the idea of getting together with people that couldn’t get to SxSW for one reason or another. I figured it should be a little snarky (based on the tone that I saw in all the tweets, and my own sense of humor, like it or not), and super simple. The name is from You By Your Place, or, U x UR Place. I think it’s cute.

UXUP

Name/domain in hand, started by adapting some code from a site that I liked, and took a stab at Cufon for font replacement, as I wasn’t super high on Georgia. I used Chaparral, which I rather like, and I think the combo of solid colors and quirky serifs looks both classy and a little hipstery. At the behest of @scottfmurphy, I used TwtVite to host the invites, and popped up a Facebook group.

As a social experiment (to see if I could use the tools to get a few people to come out and say hi on short notice), I think it worked quite well. Earlier planning would have been better, but we can’t all be perfect. There were maybe 20 people at the Map Room on Friday, and 12 or so at Schuba’s on Saturday. Nobody showed on Sunday (shoulda figured) so I took off. Sorry if you showed and I wasn’t there. I think there’ll be plenty of folks at Hop Leaf tonight. It should be fun. You should come if you want to have a good time.

Here’s the site: http://uxup.org/chicago/

And here’s the TwtVite: http://twtvite.com/7xxmn3

Comments (1)

The Beer Bistro – Done

Oct 6, ’08 10:56 AM

Beer Bistro Home

Top’o'the mid-morning to y’all. Early Friday AM, my buddies and I launched a site for our favorite bar in the West Loop, The Beer Bistro. The Beer Bistro is one of the mainstays of Madison Street (just on the other, more chill side of the expressway) and offers an incredible selection of beers, most of which we’ve sampled. So about a year ago, we badgered the owner, Bob, into letting us re-do his site (which you can see here) and he finally obliged.

The home page, above, features a compressed view of the bar, as photographed by Mr. Panke. My roomie got it all working in Flash and whipped together some sweet, largely table-less markup, I wrote some copy and made some final dev tweaks, and now we’re live.

Here\'s the about page

About Page… nothing super special here except for the cool gMap wrapper.

And a page for galleries

Galleries page, powered by Flickr of course.

And a page for their sweet gear.

And a page for their sweet gear, enabled by everyone’s favorite, Flash.

Hope you like. We’ll be rolling out some improvements over the coming weeks/months.

Comments (0)

Off to the rooftops

May 19, ’07 12:05 PM

Clay off to Beer Bistro Cubs Rooftop

I’m off to the rooftop party. Stoked. This is one of my prizes for spending hundreds of dollars at the Beer Bistro over the last year to complete my Beer Card.

Comments (3)

RFP Evening 3,567

Feb 9, ’07 6:05 PM

I’m working on an RFP.

I will either be late to Beer Evening or not present at all.

I truly apologize for not attending my own event. But RFPs call.

Comments (3)

Beer Evening One

Feb 6, ’07 6:01 PM

flontpng-1.png

That’s right. Come one, come all to the newest beverage-related get-together. Rock Bottom was suggested by Nina. It’s at the corner of State and Grand. I don’t care where we go, but it should be centrally located. We’ll go this Friday, let’s say 6:00 PM? Please add suggestions, RSVP or object to this time and place in the comment area. Thanks!

PS: I suggest that Beer Evening is where the Great Tankard is passed. Lauren: you game?

Comments (9)

Product of the Week: Dogfish Liquor de Malt

Aug 8, ’06 12:18 PM

Malt Likka, yawl

Dogfish Head Brewery understands me. Like ESP. But with beer.

I’m a huge fan of really, really hoppy ales. Never been much of a lager guy, though in true American fashion, I’ve had my fair share. Since I’m from California (by way of many other states), my allegiance is to Sierra Nevada. But a few months back I discovered Dogfish Head Brewery in Delaware. Sierra’s got an approachable, easy hoppiness. The Dogfish lineup of ales takes it to the next level. They have brews that’ve soaked up hop flavor for 60, 90 and 120 minutes, and they’re just delicious. The 120 is even worth aging.

But a few days back, I found “Liquor de Malt“. I was in Binny’s and I noticed the nearly forgotten shape of the 40 oz. Malt Liquor bottle on the shelf next to the craft beers. Surely a mistake, I thought. But no! It’s Dogfish’s take on Malt Likka, and it’s excellent. It maintains the sweetness of Olde English but with less of the guilt. It’s certainly not a fall-back beverage. And get this: it comes with its own Dogfish-branded paper bag. Now that’s authentic. Anyone who’s ever had a 40 knows that it must go in a paper bag. Otherwise you’re trippin.

Anyway, it’s little details like a branded bag that make Dogfish great. They took the time to think about the things that beer lovers would want. Smart cats. Fish. Whatever.

FYI: I dissected a Dogfish in High School.

Comments (3)

Micheladas

Jul 30, ’06 8:23 PM

If you read exitcreative at all, you should know that I love beer.

I’ve got a great new way to enjoy beer. It’s called michelada. The loose translation is “My Cold Beer”.

Here’s the recipe:

1/2 lime, preferably a Key lime
Coarse salt
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
1 dash soy sauce
1 dash Tabasco sauce
1 pinch black pepper
1 dash Maggi seasoning, optional
12 ounces beer, preferably a dark Mexican beer like Negra Modelo.

All this is poured over ice. The beer and the seasonings won’t all fit in a glass with ice, so you have to keep adding & stirring. It’s a nice little process.

I’ve found that you can make a perfectly good facsimile of a michelada by using ReaLime juice and plenty’o'Tabasco. The nice thing is having a beer with ice. Keeps it cold, and the salty, tart flavor provided by the seasoning is fantastic. I’ve seen folks drink hard cider with ice before, but never beer. For the hotter months it’s a fantastic way to keep things refreshing.

Comments (0)

Sierra Nevada

Jul 19, ’06 6:17 PM

I said that we, as adver-bloggers, should give products some more love. So I’m going to follow my recommendation and show some love to one of my favorite products, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I’m a huge fan of beer as a choice of beverage. I’m a huger fan of the Pale Ale.

Go to the North coast of California. Go to a recycling center and peek into the “Brown Glass” receptacle. Guaranteed result? A bunch of brown-and-green bottles. Nothing else. I’m from Northern California (Humboldt County/Arcata, to be exact), where the hoppy goodness of Sierra is everywhere.

I now live in Chicago. And far, far from home, I can get the stuff almost anywhere. Bars, liquor stores, vagrants… they all have it. And it ain’t cheap, compared to the other alcohol-delivery choices out there. And yet I still buy it, they still own almost all my “mind space” when it comes to beer.

There’s a variety of reasons for this. Not a one of them is related to their brand. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., the makers of the Pale Ale in question, has a variety of ways they interact with their customers. Their most ‘visionary’ method is a series of musical events in their “Big Room” at the brewery in Chico. But it affects a tiny, tiny amount of the population (numbers to come). Their primary method of communication is the stuff they bottle.

I think “The Liquid” (as they say in the ‘biz’) is perfect. It’s accessible but complex and reasonably alcoholic. It just tastes good. And it reminds me of my dad (that’s a little specific, but these are the associations we want people to form), and reminds me of home.

As far as I know, its influence has spread by the virtues of the brew. I’d love to find out that I’m wrong.

In the meantime, are there any products that you love, that you wouldn’t exchange with a reasonably comparable competitor?

How did they make their way into your life?

Do they affect your identity in any way, or are they tied to it somehow?

Let me know. I’m curious about the relationship between product and marketing.

Comments (2)

Being a Boy

Jun 29, ’06 1:09 PM

The “Man Laws” ads can be ridiculous. And the following (banners?) are a bit of a stretch, besides the first. Advergirl writes regarding Man Laws; the fresh reference is hilarious:

Reason: I’m not targeted by nonsense ads like these. (On the other hand, the “do you ever have that not-so-fresh feeling” wasn’t much to be proud of either.)

Manlaw1

Manlaw2_1

Manlaw3

Agency: Oh, guess who. Come on, you know.

(CP&B – where men believe men are the sole purchasers of consumer products.)”

I’m glad to be an adverboy. And while the bottle-top-kissing notion made me cringe (because, come on, who thinks of stuff like that), mostly they make me laugh. And call my dad and laugh with him. So thanks, Miller. I don’t like Miller Lite, so it’s not going to “work” on me (it won’t alter my decision “at the tap”), but it is funny. And that’s worth something.

Comments (0)

Advertising Beer

Jun 28, ’06 3:57 PM

2 of my favorite topics. Beer and advertising.

I had a discussion a couple weeks back with an account person who works in a pretty pivotal role on a large beer account. While I’m not familiar with the nuances of advertising beer, I know the two topics pretty well individually.

We discussed at length the problem with most beer ads: the liquid simply doesn’t live up to the marketing. The recent movement by MGD to target an older, more mature audience, by touting the cereal-like brew as “Beer. Grown Up” is just ridiculous. It actually makes me a little mad. The beer hasn’t changed, and most of the folks in their target demo know what it tastes like. So stop trying to trick us, MGD.

On the other hand, there are the Sierra Nevadas of the world that rely on the beauty of their product to build loyalty. I’ve never seen a Sierra Nevada ad in my life–despite the fact that I’m from Northern California, where recycling centers are filled with the brown bottles–and yet, it’s on tap across the country. It has an intensely loyal following based on the merit of its taste and the visual appeal of the green-on-brown Pale Ale bottle.

And then there’s something in the middle of these two models: the failed attempt to connect with a consumer niche. AdPulp and Vulture Droppings both recently mentioned Pabst’s recent inability to connect to the hipster market in Philly:

“Others say PBR tried to cash in on their hipster status by sponsoring local bands and taking out cheesy ads in alt weeklies. Why couldn’t the brand just sit still, shut up, and allow itself to continue to be discovered generation after generation? They took the short view, tried to cash in, and scared away the flighty trucker-hatted Strokes boys who hate, above all else, to feel like they’re being sold to.” (Vulture)

I don’t know that it’s a bad idea to try to ride what looked like a wave of consumer preference, even if it was small and isolated. I can’t say that I wouldn’t have made the same decision. In the end, though, the appeal of PBR is the price, with a dash of American heritage. The nice thing about trying an idea like this is the instantaneous feedback. If VD’s observations are correct, and PBR has lost its share-of-red-cup, then there was some dissonance in the message. But it’s worth a shot.

Ultimately, when it comes to beer marketing, the key is to be true to the beer. A great product will find its niche. People love certain brands of beer for the taste, not for their “understanding” of the beliefs and feelings of the consumer. That’s not to say that beer marketers shouldn’t advertise. But please, beer people, be true to the stuff in the bottle.

Comments (0)