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Promising Pints of Profit
Shedding Light on Selling Dark Beer
By Andy Ashby
 Dark beer sometimes gets a bad rap. In a pilsner-driven society, people
sometimes shy away from anything darker than the color of beach sand.
However, there is a growing market of guests who exalt beer they can’t
see through. These mature beer drinkers recognize all that these styles
have to offer. And there are more and more of them every year. After
years of light beers, today’s beer drinkers are no longer afraid of the
dark.
Stepping Up to Dark
Calvin Selvey, floor manager at Montana Ale Works (montanaaleworks.com)
in Bozeman, Mont., knows the power of dark beer. With 40 tap beers and
11 bottles, there is a good selection of ales and stouts sprinkled in.
Among stouts, Beamish sells really well, as an Irish import that is a
good alternative to Guinness, Selvey says. Although the Irish are known
for their stouts, good ones can be found closer to home. Out of Montana
Ale Works selection, 20 of its tap beers are from within the state.
“Bozeman has a real strong local community in which there are a lot of
people who buy local products,” Selvey says.
Montana Ale Works carries a beer called Crankshaft Stout. Brewed by
Blackfoot Brewing Co. in Helena, Mont., this beer is full-bodied
and has a solid alcohol content (6.9 percent) to keep customers warm in
the winter months. As far as porters, Selvey gives the Blackfoot
Brewing Co.’s Organic Porter high marks. It is roasty, and the
discerning beer drinker would find hints of chocolate in this organic
beer. Glacier Brown Ale from Red Lodge, Mont., doesn’t stay around very
long either. “It’s slightly lighter in body and has a good sweet malt
taste,” Selvey said, adding that brown ales are an excellent way to
wean someone away from light beers. “Starting out, you introduce most
people to brown ales. That’s a popular step up.”
Selvey also points to the Blackfoot Brewing Co. Blue Collar ESB, which has a light milk chocolate color, as a proven winner.
Alex Smith, a bar manager at Cato’s Ale House in Oakland, Calif., says
some of Cato’s better selling beers are not terribly well known. Many
of the dark beers from the bar’s 23 taps and nine bottles are from the
Golden State. El Toro Brewing’s Oatmeal Stout is popular with the
locals, and other strong sellers are Hoptown Oatmeal Stout and Coast
Range Maduro Porter. The Maduro Porter is a dark chocolate ale,
described as very robust.
Unique Pours
When you think of Firestone, you probably think of tires. Now you can
think of beer as, well. The Firestone family has added brewing to their
business ventures, and Smith says their dark beers are very good. “They
make a great porter,” he says. “It’s very rich. They’re fairly well
established down south, but they’ve been moving into Northern
California.”
Another dark beer Smith gives mention is a limited release from
Denver-based Flying Dog Brewery. The Gonzo Imperial Porter is made in
honor of the late journalist Hunter S. Thompson, who once said, “I hate
to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity, but they’ve always
worked for me.” Sales of the beer help preserve his memory, as $1 of
every case goes to making a monument in his honor. “It’s a very, very
strong porter,” Smith says.
Smith adds that he has seen dark beers gain noticeable popularity over
recent years, and he also has seen the trend within the trend.
“It seems a lot of beers are going toward stronger. I see that starting
to happen with darker beers,” he says. “More and more of them are
making imperial porters and stouts — very strong dark beers.”
Low Promotion Frills, High Guest Thrills
Cato’s Ale House enjoys having a beer-savvy customer base. They read
beer publications and go to festivals where they can sample the latest
products.
“They know beer well and are passionate about it and do a lot of
personal research,” Smith says. “They see something obscure and
recognize it for what it is and appreciate it.”
At Cato’s, there’s only one real beer special: a pint night once a
month, with refills for 75 cents off. “We’re not too gimmicky here,”
Smith says. “It’s all about the beer being the beer. We’re just an old
school, old fashioned pub.”
Drew Kondik owns The People’s Pub, a German bar and restaurant in
Seattle, Wash., with 15 taps and 25 bottles. Although the Germans are
known for their pilsners, they also make good dark beers. One popular
style is a swartzbier, a black beer with a light body.
“It tastes like a lager, but it comes out like a porter,” Kondik says.
“It’s really a rare beer, but it’s probably our best seller on tap.”
One well-selling swartzbier is Kostrizer. “It’s a fairly new beer
category, but the company has been around since 1543,” Kondik says. For
those looking for dark beers closer to home, Kondik suggests two
offerings from Baron Brewing in Seattle: a swartzbier and a
dunkleweiss, which is a dark wheat beer that is also dark in color but
easy on the casual beer drinker.
“For us, they hold to United States and German laws,” Kondik says.
“They are much more strict about the brewing process. They have a very
interesting taste that is smoother than most microbrews. They’re using
fresh, local ingredients.”
A Return to the Dark Ages?
In Seattle, dark beer dipped down for a little bit, but Kondik thinks
it’s rising again. Pilsners have had their run, and now it’s time for a
return to the Dark Ages, he says.
The People’s Pub plans to add three taps, and one will definitely be a porter, a style which Kondik prefers.
Around the beer scene in general, what seems evident is that more
microbreweries are trying dark beers and accordingly encouraging their
customers to do the same. Kondik says he also has seen larger breweries
going with more high-end dark beer varieties.
“Washington changed their strong beer laws, and those tend to be darker, allowing more flexibility for those styles,” he says.
Who knows what’s on the horizon behind the bar and by the bottle? All
indicators point to increased options across the board. Consider
experimenting and sampling, and loyal patrons are apt to follow the
flavor. NCB
Seeing in the Dark
With so many new dark beers coming out, it can sometimes be hard to
choose. Here are a couple of proven winners that are sure to make your
customers’ journey to the dark side a happy one.
On the lighter side of the dark spectrum, Big Sky Brewing Co.’s Moose
Drool is a popular beer with a catchy name that makes customers want to
try it. Probably the best selling beer in Montana, this beer is
chocolate-colored and has a creamy texture.
When it comes to beer, the Germans are renowned for their
handiwork. Spaten Optimator is a dopplebock beer produced by one
of Munich’s Big Six breweries. Dopplebocks tend to have a higher
alcohol content, and this is no exception.
Another good dark beer is the Spaten Optimator, a German dopplebock
from Munich. This beer has fascinating coppery color to it that
really catches the eye. It has a higher alcohol content but is malty
(sweet), which makes it very drinkable.
One of the most interesting names in the beer game is Death &
Taxes, a black beer produced by Moonlight Brewing Co. in Sonoma County,
Calif. Although it a very dark beer, it is actually a light-bodied
lager that has a crisp and refreshing taste. This beer proves that
looks can be deceiving.
As far as strong dark beer, North Coast Brewing’s Old Rasputin Imperial
Russian Stout is a definite crowd pleaser. This is a great offering
from a very reputable brewing company out of Fort Bragg, Calif. It’s a
very robust beer that customers will find rich and intense.
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