Kyle Nabilcy
Just about the last thing any Wisconsinite would call the New Glarus Brewing Company is underappreciated. Not as a reflex answer, anyway. Spotted Cow is everywhere, the brewery is nationally and internationally lauded, as well as the subject of a documentary film — heck, brewery president Deb Carey famously got to sit with First Lady Michelle Obama during the 2013 State of the Union.
News flash, though: Michelle Obama is not a disgruntled Facebook user typing out frustrated diatribes against New Glarus’ latest R&D bottle release.
For each of the last few years, New Glarus has released three or four beers in its R&D series. These beers, packaged in European-style 500 mL bottles, are available only at the Hilltop brewery in New Glarus and generate lines that ring the most scenic parking lot you’ve ever unfolded a camp chair in.
The first R&D beer of 2017 was released over this last weekend. It’s a sour porter in the old English style, and its announcement at the end of May caused...well, a complicated reaction. Certainly more complicated than the usual R&D announcement. The majority of Facebook commenters (Facebook is where New Glarus makes its announcements of R&D beer style style and sale details) were the usual brand of excited. People tag their friends to draw their attention, people generally express anticipation.
But there were a couple unusually grumpy replies. Part of the issue, according to the naysayers, was a price increase implemented with the beginning of the 2017 R&D schedule. These 500 mL bottles had been going for $10 each for some time now, a steal considering their relative scarcity and typical quality. Starting with Sour Porter, however, the price is $15.
Some complained that this beer only spent two months in oak tanks before bottle conditioning for another two months prior to release. (This is not a new concept, this beer having been brewed and packaged as a Thumbprint series beer in 2009. At the time, a lot of people didn’t appreciate the style reference brewer Dan Carey was going for. Apparently, some still don’t.)
Others even complained that it didn’t live up to a 2013 R&D release called VSB (for Very Sour Blackberry). That’s the big one, the capo di tutti capi of the R&D beers. According to Beer Black Book, single bottles of VSB have been sold by collectors for as much as $460. For these sorts, it’s as if every baseball game has to be a no-hitter, or only the Best Picture winners are films worth seeing. And it must be stated, all of these complaints are about a beer heretofore untasted in this iteration.
All of those complaints were met by comments from other fans chiding the complainers, posting that New Glarus and the Careys can do what they want, and don’t need to appease whale hunters, traders, hoarders, or just really picky fans. “Everyone who actually knew anything about the style loved the Old English Porter and thought it was a near-perfect beer,” one commenter replied, “but sweet entitled rant, bro. Dan owes you nothing.”
Reality, I think, is somewhere in the middle. New Glarus can brew, package, price, and release its beers however the Careys want to, yes. They do owe their fans an honest effort at quality first, accessibility second. It would take a real grinch to argue that they don’t deliver both of these, even with unusual historical styles, brewery-only releases and a price increase.
When Dan Carey comes out to the parking lot to explain his approach to the beer, or when Deb Carey comes out to shake hands and personally thank every person in line — and they do this just about every time — that’s a bonus that we should feel fortunate to get from the principals of a world-class, locally-owned brewery.
We’ve got it great with New Glarus Brewing in Wisconsin, and even now, I still don’t think we entirely realize it.
