Chapter 9
[1] Which is not to say that yeast is unimportant. It most decidedly is; however, it is readily controlled if brewers pursue their storage, propagation, and yeast management strategies properly. Yeast is not subject to the same seasonal and geographic vagaries as cereals and hops.
[2] As I wrote in Brewer and Distiller International, 5(6), 28-29:
Would it be naïve for me to suggest that people should be regarded as an opportunity rather than as a major line item? When a company is founded on the basis of its people we have robustness and stability. When a company per se forms the basis, then people issues become a precarious balance and instability ensues. To my mind the workforce needs to be considered as living individuals rather than as assets. They have needs, both physical and emotional. And if these wants are satisfied and an individual relates to the company for having nurtured those desires, then both the individual and the company benefit. And when we are talking people I am being all-inclusive. Every single employee of a company matters—and so I am filled with distress to read recently of one chief executive saying that only a handful of employees really make a difference. At risk of being accused of naiivete I would suggest an ideal scenario: A company celebrates the fact that its product— beer—is a unique and special component of society and embraces that fully in striving for excellence of quality, responsibly and genuinely positioning their brands from a proposition of a wholesome and fulfilling lifestyle for the consumer (people again!). The company is staffed from top to bottom by individuals with, sure, appropriate technical qualifications in their various fields, but who are also recruited on the basis of their qualities as human beings. In particular, people who not only can lead and be members of teams but who are enlightened (or enlighten-able) in matters spiritual. Relax, I am not going to get heavy on you here, but I would draw attention to companies (such as AOL Time Warner, Sony, Toshiba and Google) who have embraced tools such as meditation, recognizing the benefits this has for interpersonal relationships and understanding, as well as clearing the mind. By spiritual I am not talking religion; I am talking peaceful co-existence and core values of empathy and goodwill. And so we have a management and a workforce in which people are at the heart. They are motivated. They interact with mutual respect. They are minded to deliver the product to the best of their ability. And quality product means market share and profitability.
[3] The calculated value was 3,188.8g CO2 per six-pack. It seems that the major contributors are the cost of supplying malt and bottles to the brewery and the cost of refrigerating beer in trade.
[4] A certain amount of thought needs to go into this. For example, the Mail Tribune in Southern Oregon in describing the issue of bikes to one pub brewery's staff said, “The bikes will reduce the restaurant's carbon footprint by getting workers out of cars; enhance workers' health and fitness; and free up parking spaces for tourist-oriented Ashland.” A strange concept, to lessen local traffic to encourage traffic coming much greater distances.
[5] In Japan, if a product contains less than 25 percent malt, it attracts far less taxation—so-called happoshu products that contain high levels of adjunct. If a drink is made from a grist with zero malt, then the tax is even lower. These are so-called “third way” beer products. None of these products can be called beer, but they are packaged like beers and have the same imagery. Their cheapness means that they are growing substantially in volume, at the expense of beer.