Back to Warbird: The OGC and his brewing concept.

Recently I tasted four beers brewed by Warbird Brewing Company (Ft. Wayne, Indiana) and commented on what I considered an odd juxtaposition between “most drinkable” sloganeering and warplane label imagery. I was relieved to note that the beers are brewed to style and worthy in their own right, with the possible exception of a very light bodied Mustang Gold that (as noted below) wasn't intended for beer drinkers like me in the first place.

Warbird: Fortunately, not "wet air" superiority.

Thanks to intermediary Todd Antz of Keg Liquors in Clarksville, here’s a note in response, written by Warbird's owner, Dave Holmes. It's a fine statement of his business plan, and worthy of your consideration. I'm hoping to meet Dave and chat during the forthcoming Brewers of Indiana Guild fest in Indianapolis on July 21.

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Hi Roger:

Todd Antz at Keg Liquors sent me the link to your blog. I read it with interest. Thanks for taking the time to feature us. We just started selling beer through Cavalier down in Southern Indiana and we hope to be able to build some fans there.

You seem like a man of clear ideas, so I won’t try to change your mind on your objections. However, I would like to at least offer some explanations. That way, when we have a beer together some day, there are no hard feelings or misunderstandings.

The Warbird brand is often mis-perceived as male and militaristic. Closer scrutiny will show that the brand honors the men and women who have served our country flying these airplanes. As far as fascism goes, Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo were pretty good examples. The airplanes depicted on our label and package were flown by men and women who dropped what they were doing in the late 1930’s and early ‘40s, beat hell out of those guys, and then went back their normal lives. We are not trying at all to market militarism to you. We are reminding people of the history that allows you and I to be free to pick and choose what we want to drink. Adolf wouldn’t have given us a choice.

Secondly, I know “beer guys” like yourself don’t find joy in Gold Ales. No, the Mustang Gold isn’t even a Kolsch. The only thing great about this beer is that it is made with 100% varietal Metcalf malt. No blended malts from multiple sources. No rice, no corn, just beautiful special pale malt. One hop, California Ale yeast, and charcoal filtered water. This beer is the most minimalist beer one can make. The basic 4 ingredients. Nothing fancy. Just great quality in a bottle. Why would a microbrewery make a beer like this? Because 99% of the other micros out there are already bombarding the market with specialty malts, immense IBUs, fruit and other adjuncts. Our position within the craft sector is drinkability. We want people to be able to enter the category of craft beers, get their feet wet, enjoy a hand-made beer, and be able to work in to bigger, more complex beers. Mustang Gold Ale is a perfect entry point. I think the T-6 Red Ale does pretty well with that too.

My wife is our index customer. 4 years ago, she did not enjoy beer. She was not beer averse, but she would drink Bud Light. I made the Red Ale for her and she said we could sell it “because it didn’t have any aftertaste.” When we made the Thunderbolt, she had enough confidence to try it and found that she really enjoyed a traditional hefeweizen. Last Christmas, when we bottled Warhawk Pale Ale for the first time, she had one and said, “that’s actually pretty good.” Two weeks later, she was asking me to bring her a six of the Warhawk so she could have one “when she was in the mood for a little more flavor.” That’s a 45 IBU 7.3% alcohol beer. She is now a craft beer drinker and she wasn’t before.

My favorite sale is to a woman who says she doesn’t like beer, tries our Red or Gold and then buys a six pack or two. That is category growth. Long term, we all need that.

So, I hope you can appreciate that there is some thought and plan behind this. We don’t aspire to be the next Stone or Dogfish. I am happy with our position. I just hope we can build the sales enough to stay in business. You know the beer business is not flush with cash. Still, I’m in for the long haul, as long as the cash holds out.

I hope to meet you in person some day. In the mean time, thanks for doing what you do.

Cheers,

Dave

Dave Holmes
Operations Group Commander
194th Brewing Wing, 1st Brew Force
Warbird Brewing Company
http://www.warbirdbeer.com/

Warbird: Fortunately, not "wet air" superiority.

I am eternally amused by the disparities between macho culture (musky – very musky) and beer flavor (fine as long as there isn’t any), and merrily refer to these incongruities from time to time.

… the funniest of all are the gargantuan, tattooed, macho, leather-encased motorcycle riders who are the bar-none toughest guys around – but can’t manage to choke down a beer that tastes any stronger than the Silver Bullet and its color-coded coldness gauge.

So you can imagine my trepidation when given four sample bottles of beer from Warbird Brewing in Ft. Wayne, Indiana – each with an American military airplane on the label, and the lot of them described on the brewery's web site by M*A*S*H-style stenciling as the “world’s most drinkable craft beer.”

Nothing against my brewing brethren up north -- please read all the way to the end before accusing me of negativity – but militarism (ours or another's) simply isn’t a marketing strategy designed to attract my loyalty. After all, I’m the card-carrying contrarian who feels that the military air show at Louisville’s annual “Thunder over Louisville” fireworks display is fascistic in nature.

Furthermore, “drinkable” is a notorious code word in craft brewing circles, and generally implies “tasteless” by another name.

It turns out that my low expectations were unmerited. I drank Warbird’s beers, and as they say in sports when a heavy underdog beats the overwhelming favorite, that’s why they bother playing the games.

Only one, Gold Ale, can truly be referred to as “drinkable” to the point of insipid. Why bother apart from the cute airplane? Mass-market beers are less expensive, although in fairness, there was a note or two that suggested Kolsch without the fruitiness native to the style.

But two others, Pale Ale and Red Ale, fit comfortably within stylistic parameters, with a touch of pleasant hop bitterness intruding into the former, and a toasty sweetness characterizing the latter. Clean, with adequate flavor. Good sessions stuff.

The biggest surprise is Warbird’s Wheat, which (Hallelujah!) actually is brewed with Bavarian yeast rather than house ale yeast, and boasts the expected bananas and cloves. Quite tasty, actually. I notice that Bluegrass Brewing (Main and Clay) in Louisville also is brewing a German-style Hefeweizen as a seasonal. Let’s hope these two developments constitute a trend, because there’s nothing more “drinkable” (i.e., tasteless) than microbrewed American-style wheat.

Me? I’m waiting for Warbird’s B-52 seasonal barley wine.