Dogfish Head caught my attention in the Beer Wars movie. I’d not tried many of their beers in the past, and thought it was about time to aquaint myself. I chose their Raison D’Être, which the bottle describes as being brewed with “Belgian beet sugars, green raisins & a sense of purpose.”

Smell (1.7): This is a fruitier smelling beer with a rich bouquet of  aromas. Their are strong grape notes and a caramel quality to it as well. There is another quality to it which I can only describe as “rusty” but in a good way…

Color (1.8): This ale has an attractive reddish hue when held up to light, but otherwise remains a dull brown. The head dissipates almost instantly.

Drink (4.5): The taste is a little enigmatic. It sits lightly on the tongue, but feels heavy as you drink. What you are left with is a sweet initial taste in which the raisins and sugars are really present, followed by a stronger, fuller ale flavor. The aftertaste can be a bit tinny, and continued sips tend to bring this to prominence. But at 8% ABV, you probably won’t notice by the end of the bottle.

Incidentals (1): The labeling and price of this beer are agreeable. You get what you expect. I enjoyed this beer with a mexicana pizza from Ian’s Pizza, and the lighter mexican seasonings went well with the heavier beer.

Notes on rating: I use a 10 point system. 5 points for drink, 2 for smell and color, and 1 for “incidentals” which include  cost, packaging and my general mood after drinking it.

The same study said that the American economy saw a $200 billion injection of beer money from the industry as a whole, which includes brewers, distributors and retailers.

Now, this triumvirate of the beer industry is a throw back to Prohibition era politics, when a newly beer-tolerant nation still wanted to maintain the illusion of control over alcohol. So, the government created a three-tier system of producers, distributors and retailers as a means to regulate the production of alcohol through distribution.

Beer Wars (the movie), argues that this system prevents smaller brewers from getting a real start. It’s hard to earn space on distributors trucks when Budweiser, Miller and Coors have 70% of the space (and the buying power).

At the same time, the National Beer Wholesalers Association says the system helps keep beer safe for consumption and salmonella free. Though, that’s exactly what the middle-men would say.

However you look at it, the beer business is big money in Illinois, and with craft beer sales on the rise, Chicago brewers are poised to add to that total in 2009.

The very heavy-handed film featured Anat Baron (former CEO of Mike’s Hard Lemonade and the writer, director, producer, star, caterer, goddess, etc.  of the film) stumbling around Boston, New York, D.C. and (briefly) St. Louis to find out why it was just so gosh darn hard to be a craft brewer in America, where AB InBev owns almost 50% of the market share and with MillerCoors included, they own 78% of the US market.

Jim Koch, founder of the Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams, etc.), probably summed the movie up the best when he proudly, but sadly told the cameras that while Boston Beer Co. is the largest craft brewery in the United States, all the beer he produces is about equivalent to the run off from the AB InBev breweries. “My life’s work is their industrial waste,” he said.

To what extent Budweiser is an evil-corporation hell-bent on destroying the little guy and to what extent the little guy is simply a Budweiser waiting to happen was only somewhat probed by Stein in the discussion that followed.

The movie focused on Sam from Dogfish Head Brewery in Deleware and touched base with  Greg Koch from Stone Brewing Co. in California. While these two are very successful craft brewers, the movie’s female lead, Rhonda Kallman, a founder of the Boston Beer Co., was having trouble pushing her new caffinated beer, Moon Shot.

Kallman seemed to have immense trouble getting a foot in the door, even in the after-movie discussion. It’s ironic that even at an event about how hard it is for the little guy to get into the industry, the two larger craft brewers won’t give the time of day to a smaller one.