Sixpack Sez

June 13, 2008 | Boston Beer's Jim Koch spills it all

PENNSYLVANIA'S newest brewer stopped in town the other day. That would be Jim Koch, chairman of Boston Beer, whose company just completed its purchase of the old Schaefer plant up in Fogelsville, Lehigh County.

Boston Beer has been around for years, of course, brewing everywhere from Cincinnati, Rochester, N.Y., La Crosse, Wis., and Eden, N.C., to, well, Boston. Indeed, its new brewery is a return to the Keystone state; the first Sam Adams beers were brewed at Pittsburgh Brewing (home of Iron City).

Today, it is America's fifth largest brewery, behind Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Coors and Pabst, and just ahead of Yuengling.

Here's a sixpack of questions for the new guy in town (with answers edited slightly for the sake of coherence).

Joe Sixpack: You make 21 different styles - everything from Boston Lager to Utopias, the world's strongest beer. With all that great beer, how come you bother making Sam Adams Light?

Jim Koch: Because I'm really interested in exploring the full range of not only flavors and styles of beer, but also how good beer can fit into people's enjoyment of life. There are times when you want what the English call a session beer, something you can settle in with when you're going to drink three or four of them.

To, me, it's just like a chef making interesting, delicate dishes . . . Getting subtle flavors to add up to a good flavor experience is as much the brewers' art as amping up the hops. There's more challenge in making a light lager than making a 75 ibu [international bittering units] IPA. The last one I can do in my sleep.

J6: So will we ever see a Sam Adams Light Ale?

JK: Perhaps. Yes, it's very possible. There are some interesting things to do with lighter ales, but at that lower level [of alcohol], I wanted the smoothness of a lager.

J6: How about cask-conditioned ale? That's smooth and light.

JK: We can make and we have made cask-conditioned beers . . . The problem is you're basically leaving the last step of production of cask-conditioned beer to the bar. In all of the East Coast, there are probably only a couple dozen bars . . . that have cellarmen who can do that job. There's just no way you can get cask beer through the American beer distribution system. We've tried.

J6: The big news in beer this year has been drastic price increases. What's the story at Boston Beer?

JK: We're public, so it's completely transparent. Our costs are up 12 percent this year; our prices are up 5 percent. That's still a hefty price increase, but it was probably in the range where people would accept it.

Everything in the grocery store is up 5 to 10 percent - even Diet Coke is up 5 percent. But you can't reduce costs by taking ingredients out. People will forgive us for raising the prices 5 percent. They won't forgive us for taking 5 percent of the malt or hops out of the beer.

J6: Have you seen any impact on sales?

JK: It's too early to tell, but I'm hoping that it will be negligible. Once you start drinking a beer like Sam Adams, it's hard to go back. What's 5 percent on a $30 case? That's a buck and a half, that's 6 cents a bottle. For 6 cents on a bottle, are you going to switch to Natty Bo?

I went back and looked at 50 years in data on alcohol costs. This was fascinating: In 1950, when people were drinking cheap beer, bad wine and nasty spirits, the average American spent 3.5 percent of their disposable income on alcoholic beverages. Fast-forward to today, when we're drinking craft and imported beers, fine wines and good liquors, the average American is spending 1.5 percent of their disposable income on alcoholic beverages, and per capita consumption is relatively level.

J6: You designed the ultimate glass for your beer. I just noticed that Budweiser came out with its own glassware. Flattered?

JK: I considered it a compliment that one of the great brewers in the world is following our leadership. There's no point being a leader if no one else follows.

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