The whoredom of "craft": Breckenridge's Todd Usry on authenticity, first in February, then in December.

Back on February 15, Todd Usry of Colorado's Breckenridge Brewery boldly drew a line in the sand.

Could a Colorado craft brewery sell out to big beer?, by Eric Gorski (The Denver Post)

... Todd Usry, the brewmaster and general manager of Denver-based Breckenridge Brewery, which fits the production volume and brewpub profile for acquisition, said the company has not been approached to sell out and has no intentions to do so.

“The big thing to me is, the craft beer industry was built on individuals and their stories,” Usry said.

When craft breweries sell out, “I think there is some serious authenticity that is lost, and that the brand loses,” he said. “We’re not corporate. We are entrepreneurial and individual.”

Usry, like others, is concerned about the business ramifications of big-beer buyouts. “It’s going to be harder and harder to get our voices heard at the wholesale level,” he said. “It’s hard enough for craft beer in general to get meetings with big chain buyers. Now, AB can go in and pitch Elysian.”

Ten months later, with Breckenridge Brewery's decapitated head rolling past Usry's formerly principled stance, who better to read the rote statement of capitulation -- of solemn concurrence with the agenda of his brewery's corporate executioners -- than Usry himself?

Today’s announcement of our acquisition by Anheuser-Busch’s craft and import division may come as a surprise to many of you. We want to share with you how we came to this decision, what it means to Breckenridge Brewery and to those who’ve supported us for so long.

We’ve been in this creative and dynamic industry for over 25 years, loving everything about it. That won’t change. The passion for quality and culture that got us where we are today isn’t going anywhere. We’re proud of the fact that you can find our beers in 35 states; we’ve worked hard to get our beers to as many of you as possible throughout the years. The High End, Anheuser-Busch’s craft and import division, shares the same excitement for our category and commitment to quality. We will join a group of established and innovative craft brewers as part of The High End, and we look forward to what opportunities these relationships will bring to us.

Our brewpub in Breckenridge, our Littleton brewery and its Farm House restaurant are all part of this new entity. Other properties under the Breckenridge-Wynkoop umbrella will continue to be owned and operated by B-W and are not part of this arrangement.

Of course, the same great team who helped build Breckenridge Brewery won’t be going anywhere. We are excited about the opportunity this partnership brings to all of us. We’ll continue to own decisions about the beers we create and the ingredients in them. What people relate to in this industry is authenticity. If there were plans to come in and change our employees, our culture, and our recipes, well, that would completely undermine the reason for the partnership at all. What this new partnership does offer us is access to resources that will help us continue to innovate and bring our beer to more people.

We ultimately owe our success to you, our followers and supporters. I hope you will give us the chance to prove to you over time that we will continue to be Breckenridge Brewery.

Sincerely,

J. Todd Usry

President, Breckenridge Brewery

This is AB-InBev's authenticity.

They're the "High End."

You?

You're bought, paid, humiliated, and your own authenticity sucked from your veins and spat on the floor while you watch. Even if your life's work stands to be unaltered in any way, it remains that it now will be deployed by de facto terrorists as a marketplace weapon aimed at the heads of all those authentic folks of whom you were one, for so very long ...until you weren't any longer.

AB-InBev? It won't hesitate to pull the trigger, will it? Todd Usry and his partners aren't the first, and they won't be the last, but let's be honest.

Craft is dead and buried, not so much because AB-InBev is buying, but because craft is selling ... out.

Wednesday Weekly: Someone's gotta keep non-advertisers in line, right?

Yes, there are a few things about craft beer that you can learn by picking up an issue of this week’s Louisville Eccentric Observer (LEO).

Most importantly, writer Jonathan Meador does what LEO always has done best in a genuinely balanced but cutting examination of the Alcohol Beverage Control’s recent citing of bars in Germantown for alleged zoning law violations.

Are the bars there being targeted? The ABC says “no,” and the crux of the matter is the existence (or not) of non-conforming clauses when the bars in question changed ownership. Since several of these establishments (Nachbar, Swan Dive) are noted for offering craft beer, it’s an article of more than passing interest for enthusiasts.

The bulk of the craft beer references in this week’s LEO come courtesy of paid advertising, and I’m sure there are salutary effects on the bottom line.

There’s a nifty full-page ad for Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, which won a silver medal at the 2010 World Beer Cup. Congratulations to Alltech. The new Falls City has a 1/8 page insert, too, and it’s tasteful. You can see the NABC logo in an ad for the Black Keys show at Iroquois on August 11, and Old Chicago name drops New Albanian in its half-page ad, along with BBC and Browning’s, although not Cumberland.

Ask them, not me.

Schlafly’s own half-pager urges readers to “raise some Helles.” Come to think of it, I might just do that, because Browning’s also brews a superb Helles, and it’s been on tap at the portable concession stand (Section 115) during Louisville Bats games for much of the season. Accordingly, looking through LEO, I see there’s advertising from the Bats, apparently putting in a belated bid for the craft beer market with a bright quarter-page paean to “$2 craft beer,” which … which … what’s that loud noise … could you hold just a minute while I see what’s causing Dr. Goebbel’s to thrash so violently in his grave?

Okay, now I understand. Those particular “craft” beers touted by the Bats in LEO are the same ones that Anheuser-Busch itself describes as “craft” beer, which in terms of objective reality is tantamount to my observing what a brilliant lavender color my Schlafly Helles beer has today.

Which is to say: It is utter propaganda, lacking any quality capable of being linked to truth, and as the originator of 20th-century mass-market propaganda, Joe has reason to be highly annoyed that Anheuser-Busch treats his legacy so shabbily.

Wait -- there’s even more! Specifically, a full-page LEO Weekly blurb for itself, which skillfully lampoons Sarah Palin-speak as a prelude to more Goebbels grave spinning:

Also too the mainstream media does suck also ... at LEO Weekly, in-depth analysis isn’t limited to the hoppiness of locally brewed beers. We also analyze the bitterness of locally brewed politics. The way we see it, there are thousands of papers to scrutinize the Obamas and Palins of the world, but someone’s got to keep Katie King in line, too. We volunteer.

Actually, apart from Meador’s Germantown expose, today’s LEO contains no analysis whatever of the hoppiness of local beers, and that’s because Mr. Mug Shot (yours truly) was given his walking papers for wondering why LEO seeks to keep politicians like Katie King in line, but not breweries like Anheuser-Busch, and even though it appears that LEO will not publicly explain my absence, the juxtaposition of A-B “craft” beer in one ad and King’s name in another serves to compel me to at least publish a letter to the LEO editor sent by my friend and research assistant, Paul Mick.

Three weeks later, and to no one’s surprise, it remains unpublished. Appreciate the gesture, Paul. Did you mail it to Possibility City, or LEO’s local corporate office in Nashville, Tennessee?

“For the past 7 years, I've lauded LEO as a bastion of uncompromising journalism and discerning taste to countless new students at U of L. I'd tell them to consult your paper if they ever had any questions about local events, politics, or dining and I'd warn them to steer clear of the pitiful simulacrum that is Velocity. I would even take tour groups past your stands so they could pick up a copy and see all that Louisville has to offer as a city.

“However, your recent decision to terminate Roger Baylor's Mug Shots column in order to placate macrobreweries has wounded me deeply. For all of the grief you (often rightly) give Mayor Abramson for his dealings with Cordish, you certainly seem eager to hop InBed with InBev and sell out your columnists for thirty pieces of silver.“

In the recent 20th anniversary issue of LEO, BIlly Reed commented, "Since day one, there have been no sacred cows at LEO." Apparently that doesn't apply to big business advertisers, to whom you are more than willing to kowtow. Roger, an icon of the Louisville craft beer revolution, has always been dedicated to telling the public the truth in an undistilled and undiluted form. If honesty on the rocks is a bit hard for you all to swallow, then I suggest you crack open a Bud Light with Lime, cease pretending to be truth purists, and openly embrace the company that has clearly bought your opinion.”

Paul Mick, The HIghlands

A tale of two columns.

21 June update: This round goes to the Liteweights, as Mr. Mug Shot is no more.

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“You do not change what I write!"
-- John Reed, played by Warren Beatty, in the 1981 movie "Reds"

I write a weekly general interest column for the New Albany Tribune, a fortnightly beer column for Louisville Eccentric Observer (LEO), and a quarterly beer column for Food & Dining magazine.

To greater or lesser extent, I maintain two blogs: NA Confidential (life in New Albany) and Potable Curmudgeon (life in the beer business).

Generally speaking, I’ll provide a link to the Tribune column each week on Thursday at NA Confidential, and a link to the LEO column every other week on Wednesday at Potable Curmudgeon. Since Food & Dining does not maintain an active web archive, those articles are published in their entirety at Potable Curmudgeon on a delayed basis.

This week, the LEO and Tribune links are running together, following this explanation. If you follow my periodic ranting on Facebook, you already know the reason, and therein lies a story.

Basically, the top brass at LEO proposed to censor the column I wrote for publication this week, citing my reference to my own business (necessary to tell the story, and also offered to readers sans the establishment’s actual name) and my mention of Miller Lite (even when humorously altered, and even when it was the specific product mentioned by my on-line critic).

This presumably happened because roughly two years ago, the Louisville branch of Anheuser-Busch Thin-Skinned 800-lb Multinational complained about something I wrote; former LEO editor Cary Stemle thought so little of it that he didn’t even tell me until much later, but those who've subsequently occupying his chair evidently have established a new policy, paraphrased:

One mustn’t tout feel-good real beer and craft beer culture by harmful and factual comparison to bad beer and the excesses of macro beer culture, and one mustn’t offend any potential advertisers, because even though we at LEO egregiously attack errant nitwit politicians, mountaintop removal companies and wretched taste in popular culture, those entities probably weren’t planning on advertising with us, anyway, and after all, beer’s amusing, but not really important enough to waste anyone’s personal integrity defending.

I’m exaggerating just a bit -- a wee bit -- although that’s the gist of it.

I spent about five minutes pondering the blatant hypocrisy, shrugged, withdrew the column, added a few words to bring it to 900, and resubmitted it as the weekly Tribune column, where it appears today, entirely uncensored, courtesy of a local newspaper that in this case possesses far bigger balls than LEO’s, which will continue to term Jim Bunning a son-of-a-bitch while prohibiting (for example) earnest and revealing commentary on a nefarious corporation (A-B InBev) that currently seeks legal changes to deny craft brewers self-distribution in Illinois.

But what the hey: You want someone to take down Justin Bieber or Rand Paul, you know exactly where to look.

Meanwhile, I wrote a completely different LEO column, and within it cleverly insulted a LEO advertiser (the carpetbagging Top of the Hops beer festival) without anyone at the office catching it. As Steely Dan once noted, "Throw out the little ones/And pan fry the big ones/Use tact, poise and reason/And gently squeeze them."

Because so many people have told me that they read and enjoy the LEO column, I’ll continue to submit whatever emasculated Pablum the staff desires, make it as relevant as I can to a real world denied my scrutiny by the Man/Woman, and go on cashing my checks -- even if I have to take a shower after each cha-ching.

As for the Tribune: Thanks, guys. In the year and a half I’ve been submitting columns, only once in my memory has Steve "Coach K" Kozarovich overruled me, and that was in May of 2009 when I proposed to run four consecutive East German travel epics. He was right that time, and the Tribune is far better than it used to be.

In the Tribune, June 17: BAYLOR: Still killing: The scourge of L.I.D.S.

In LEO, June 16: Mug Shots: It’s Christmas in July

Photo credit

Madison's Ohio River Valley Folk Festival veers off course, will pander to swill in 2009.

For the past three years, New Albanian Brewing Company and Upland Brewing Company have happily vended craft beer at the Ohio River Valley Folk Festival along the Ohio River in Madison, Indiana, and I have enjoyed touting the fest as an example of something positive in a world inundated by cookie cutters.

It has been a rare experience, indeed, because there aren’t many such musical events organized under a principle, one expressed at the ORVFF website.

In keeping with the Ohio River Valley's artisan tradition, we proudly offer hand-crafted Beer and Wine from the people who make it. Like the folks who select their wood for a fine musical instrument, these small-production, high-quality vintners and brewers are engaged in the entire process, from the selection of the grain and fruit, to pouring your glass! They are fine examples of regional brewing and winemaking. We're sure you'll agree. Cheers!

The festival takes place next week, on May 15 and 16, and last week we learned that North Vernon Beverage Company has been invited by the organizing committee to sell draft Bud, Bud Light, and a small assortment of other international, mass-market bottled lagers (Corona, Michelob Ultra).

Apparently the decision was made just two weeks ago. The website text quoted above and other information on the Internet remain unchanged.

Upland was notified of the change. NABC was not, and the appropriate apologies have been issued, which I appreciate. Upland asked that no A-B mockrobrews (Shock Top, et al) be brought, and North Vernon agreed. What North Vernon didn’t tell Upland, and what wasn’t known until NABC called North Vernon, was that the wholesaler was planning on permitting Upland and NABC only one tap each, meaning that the festival that bills itself as being about “artisan” traditions would be taking place with two craft beers on tap instead of eight, which was the case last year.

We lobbied our friends at North Vernon (rest assured, they’re far too unambitious to be the “bad” guys in this story) to sell from cold plates, and we expect to be doing so next weekend.

We’ll be bringing non-golden beers so as to offer an alternative, including a special IPA brewed just for the event.

We’ll remember that last year, both NABC and Upland brought pilsners, because we’d been listening to what the consumers had to say, and we planned accordingly.

We’ll be there because we keep our word, remain true to our principles, and wouldn’t let down those who expect us … those who get it.

But know this: I can no longer in good conscience endorse the Ohio River Valley Folk Festival. The committee has made me look bad, and doesn’t seem to get the connection. For me, the banner that appears on the front of the web site unfortunately says it all:

Music, Art, Story Telling, & Food that celebrate our roots and traditions.

Note the absence of the word beer. What would Woody Guthrie say?

Now it’s just another festival, just like all the rest, with integrity reduced to the lowest denominator capable, and all because a very small number of people out there can’t see the relationship between the music they prefer and the liquid in the cup they hold. That’s ridiculous, pandering to indulge it, and if not form my determination to actually keep the promises NABC makes, I'd have no part of it.

For more, go here and read the correspondence between the committee chairman and me.

That's all I have to say. The sadness has nothing to do with money. It has to do with principle. Perhaps someone in Madison eventually can be convinced to grasp it.

The climbdown: Correspondence between the Curmudgeon and the Ohio River Valley Folk Festival, as the latter prepares to welcome megaswill.

When I learned about the Ohio River Valley Folk Festival’s climbdown in permitting megaswill to contradict the stated aim of “artisan” traditions and, by tragic extension, push craft beer vending at the fest to a decidedly lower tier, I wrote to the Madison, Indiana tourist office, which forwarded my comments (somewhat condescendingly, I might add) to the committee chairman, who's a good man apparently beset by powers in the local apparatus that are too great to resist, i.e., someone of importance had to have Bud Light, and conceptual integrity be damned as a result.

Following are the texts of our exchange last week. I believe readers will find it instructive.

For context, go here: Madison's Ohio River Valley Folk Festival veers off course, will pander to swill in 2009.

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Greetings

I’m Roger A. Baylor, owner of the New Albanian Brewing Company.

I noticed two significant things about the website for the 2009 Ohio River Valley Folk Festival.

One was this description of principle from past years, unchanged this year:

“In keeping with the Ohio River Valley's artisan tradition, we proudly offer hand-crafted Beer and Wine from the people who make it. Like the folks who select their wood for a fine musical instrument, these small-production, high-quality vintners and brewers are engaged in the entire process, from the selection of the grain and fruit, to pouring your glass! They are fine examples of regional brewing and winemaking. We're sure you'll agree. Cheers!”

The second was this: I did not see the Anheuser-Busch logo on the list of sponsors, and yet, I just learned that mass market beer will be vended this year.

I’m curious about this contradiction, since last year I remarked to several festival committee members and fest sponsors that my company, the New Albanian Brewing Company, was sufficiently impressed with, and invested in, the future of the folk festival that we would appreciate the opportunity not only to continue participating, but also would be open to the notion of assisting in terms of sponsorship.

All I asked was that we be kept in the loop so that we could attend organizational meetings and be allowed to present our case, namely, that the conceptual nature of the fest as outlined in the passage above – a passage that still appears on the web site and in promotional materials on MySpace – embraces the notion of handcrafted beer for handcrafted music.

To my knowledge, no effort was made to contact us.

None.

Consequently, I am extremely disappointed to learn that Budweiser and Budweiser will be vended at the festival this year.

Need I point out to you that permitting a mass marketing entity to take part in this manner contradicts the stated aim of the gathering? And, that even if you elected to make this change democratically, your web site in effect perpetuates a falsehood?

I operate in the assumption that this decision was made owing to A-B (or North Vernon Beverage) sponsorship. But please note that I relayed a willingness to at least discuss the same last year.

Might we have at least been permitted to tender a bid for this?

Perhaps we couldn’t afford it, perhaps not, but you’d not know without asking.

They ARE contributing, right?

After working so hard in previous years not only to vend product, but also to publicize and praise the folk festival’s ethical model, shouldn’t we expect to be informed? Isn’t that basic decency given our previous efforts?

In the past, I‘ve put my personal integrity on the line on your behalf. In return, in 2009 I received no contact whatsoever about this year’s fest, and no information about the change to a mass market philosophy.

We had to initiate contact and call you just to find out whether or not we were even welcomed to come back in 2009. Now, learning of the Bud and Bud Light climb-down, I guess we know why. Admittedly, this is a very disheartening rebuke from a community where I have blood ties in terms of family members, and from a group with whom we’ve had such good relations in the past.

Here’s a quote to consider: “One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.”

It is by the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, and appears at the end of “I Am a Craft Brewer,” a four-minute video created by Greg Koch of Stone Brewing Company. It was screened during Koch’s keynote speech in Boston during the recently concluded annual Craft Brewers Conference. It describes the level of commitment in the community of craft brewers. I’m sure many of the artists playing at the folk fest would agree.

View it here: http://www.vimeo.com/4432533.

We’ve already spoken with Upland, our sister craft brewer that was in the dark, too, and we’ve contacted North Vernon (from whom I‘ve been buying craft beer for 17 years) about placement and the new rules of engagement. We will be there next week and do our best to live up to the festival’s credo as you, yourselves, have described it. But this comes entirely from our own sense of fair play. Can you really say that we’ve been dealt with in an above-board manner? If we did something to offend someone, could you at least tell me what it was? All I recall are good vibrations.

Honestly, this has been a crushing and humiliating experience for us as a company, and for me as an individual, and it’s hard for me to fathom why the communication was severed. Sorry, but beer brewed by a multi-national corporation simply isn’t worth the trouble, especially when it puts the lie to your own marketing efforts.

That’s the sad part. You’ve has a unique, original thing going on with the folk fest. Money’s tight … but we didn’t even have a chance to make the case for preserving the goodness. That’s as sorrowful as a dulcimer, don’t you think?

Roger A. Baylor
New Albanian Brewing Company

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(The chairman, J, answered to the bureau and copied me)

L,

There was some confusion and lack of communication with the craft brewers. That I regrettably admit. The decision to add a domestic beer option was a democratic one in terms of our committee- not because of a sponsorship, but because of the continuing hue and cry from festival patrons in the past.

And that decision was only made within the past 2 weeks. I probably should have taken it upon myself to contact and invite the microbrewers, but I didn't. I know Uplands was contacted right after the decision to include domestics was made and we agreed with their request that the domestic distributor not bring any craft-type beers. I also know that I specifically stated to be sure to invite New Albanian because they are "our neighbors".

The Folk Festival committee wanted to look into the matter as much as possible and not make a snap decision. In fact, we've held our position of having only craft beers for 3 years. But, feedback, both written and verbal, indicated that beer options were becoming a material issue in the overall success of the event. The only objective numbers we could look at were total ticket sales and beer sales at Ribberfest which sells only domestic products) compared with the same for Folk Festival. It turns out that we sell 3 times as much beer at Ribberfest. All we're trying to do is function like a good business and offer what our patrons want. We've heard the same feedback for 3 years--that people wanted the domestic option. Those who'll only drink domestic products probably weren't customers of New Albanian and Uplands last year anyway and there are certainly loyal fans of those brewers who turn their nose up at domestics.

Our interest is in maximizing a viable, festival revenue source by providing another option that has been demanded by our patrons. We have never given anybody an exclusive hold on the festival and we do not receive sponsorship money or even special considerations from any vendor. We are happy that New Albanian and Uplands are going to continue supporting our festival with their presence and products. They do help us maintain the theme of our craft heritage. I wish more people were adventuresome and would try the full-flavored, microbrewed products. But we know that many people simply refuse to do so. Even the microbrewers continue to add new products to appeal to different tastes as is evidenced by New Albanian's new Abzug line which has been described as a "less hoppy" truly light beer.

I'm trying to run an event that offers a lot of things of interest to a lot of people and find its own feet and stability. My committee has grown and is made up of very capable individuals who also want the best for the event. We think the "best" can be achieved by responding to the desires of the patrons and potential patrons. In the past, we've had to tweak the Folk Art venue, Storytelling and food vendors to improve the event without damaging its character. We think improvement comes, generally, from more options rather than fewer.

Thanks for sharing Roger's letter. I'm trying to copy him on this. Take care,

J, Chair
ORVFF

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J

If the festival goers began demanding thrash metal, would the folk nature of the music be altered, too?

Know that I appreciate the explanation.

I would also appreciate being provided with contact information for the remainder of the committee, so perhaps I can try to convey to THEM what it feels like to spend three years touting your festival as an example of integrity, only to see it compromised a scant two weeks away from the kickoff.

It is especially disappointing to hear that people wish to compare apples with oranges, in that the Ribberfest is different, older and includes a sanctioned barbecue competition. ORVFF might have progressed into something admired for consistency principle. C'est la vie, I guess.

And: No one called me.

I have used my credibility to sell this fest for three years running. My credibility is respect that has been earned over time. I don't expend it unless merited. Fest materials disseminated all over the place are saying that the fest follows a principle when it comes to beer vending. But now, people will go, see the true state, then ask me why Bud and Bud Light were there. I'm put into a tight spot, ethically ... and no one called me to prepare me for it. No one shared anything for the past year. I told everyone last year that we'd love to participate as neighbors to grow the fest. Nothing was said, no contact was made. Silence, and then the rug pulled out two weeks beforehand. I suspect most of the committee members would be put off by this, too, it their feet were in my shoes.

I understand that it isn't you. However, I confess that I'm personally insulted. I won't raise a stink about it until afterward out of strict loyalty to Steve Thomas, whom I admire tremendously. However, even though the company will be present and vending, I won't be coming this year. They'll watch the corporate big boys contradict the stated aim of the fest, but I cannot. I suppose we'll continue to assist, and sell craft beer, and yet it will be just another vending opportunity, no longer something worth putting my heart into. Too bad. All for Bud Light.

By the way, using the same logic as the committee has used for the folk fest, can we expect a vending opportunity at Ribberfest this August?

I won't be holding my breath on that one. I hope it goes well for you.

Thanks

R

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Roger,

No, we wouldn't alter the nature of the music to that extent. We do listen to our patrons, however, on who they'd like to see. We constantly fight the battle that "folk music" isn't just "Puff the Magic Dragon". It's a lot about compromise. We also wouldn't allow a domestic beer distributor into the event at the exclusion of the craft brewers. We aren't an exhibit, we're a young tourism event that does it's best to maintain what integrity we can while attempting to cater to those things that will allow the event to grow and thrive.

I apologize for the lack of a contact. We are a committee of volunteers and the person who was doing the research on the beer issue had other conflicts that brought this to an 11th hour decision. As I stated in my explanation yesterday, I thought you would be called at the time of the decision—I didn't follow up to assure that had happened, it didn't, and I accept the responsibility for your having felt left out of the loop. When I got the message from Mr. Campbell, I checked on what had actually happened on our end and that's when I found out that you hadn't been called. I returned his call immediately and assured him that we wanted your continued presence in our festival.

Rich O's was the first bar in southern Indiana that I visited (apart from those in Madison). That was about 9 years ago when my office was on Grantline Rd. Bettye Dunham actually introduced us long before I met you again at this festival thru our mutual friend, Mr. Thomas. When I discovered you had become a microbrewery, it seemed logical to include you in this event which had its emergence at about the same time. If I had any say in the matter, you'd certainly be invited to Ribberfest. It seems to me that some of your brews would marry better to the spicy foods than the domestics. I'm only peripherally involved with that event via the music committee, but I'll certainly forward the notion.

I'll be happy to provide you a list of the committee members and I'd be happy to meet with you and discuss this further. I'm the chairperson of this event, not its dictator. The beer issue has been a controversy for this committee since year one. When the committee was smaller and I was closer to being a dictator, we were able to maintain the status quo. As the committee grew and we began exploring those things we needed to do to strengthen the event, the beer issue reappeared. Our event has lost money, broke even and made about $1,500 in its 3 year history. Our continuation has always been a little shaky and we've come under a lot of scrutiny. Therefore, even though we think 2009 will be our "break-out" year, we need to pay close attention to every aspect of this event to ensure that there will be another. As a businessman, I'm certain that you appreciate that principle. I'm sure you don't persist in the expense of brewing a product line that proves to be unpopular and unsellable just on principle.

I wish you'd reconsider and join us this year. I'd enjoy having a pint and talking about this whole matter with you. If you simply can't come or won't, I'll make a trip to Rich O's to meet with you there. Again, I do sincerely apologize for the communication confusion.

Thanks for taking the time to respond to me,

J