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Founders Field Trip

On October 25, 2011, in Field Trip, by Alexandra White
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Alexandra White, Beer Rhetorics Evangelist

East Lansing Beer Rhetoricians may recognize me, but just in case: Oh hey there. My name is Alexandra (some call me Ali), and I am the Beer Rhetorics Evangelist. What does that mean exactly? Evangelists (according to the third definition on Merriam-Webster) are enthusiastic advocates for a brand/product/etc. Beer Rhetorics Evangelism is all about talking to people and spreading the love for our weekly meetups, beer, and rhetoric. I’m happy to be the first person in this position.

As a part of evangelism, I am responsible to reaching out to different venues and subsets of people. After multiple discussions over the summer, it was clear we were hankering for something more than what was being done. We wanted to take Beer Rhetorics on the road. Conveniently, an alumni of the Professional Writing program at MSU, Sarah Aldrich, happens to work as the Marketing Coordinator at one of our favorite Michiagn breweries: Founders Brewing Company, located in Grand Rapids. Thursday nights often feature a Red’s Rye PA or the classic Porter. We got to enjoy the beer in the brewery (rated 2nd in the world for 2011 by RateBeer.com) where it all happens.

Dave Engbers, A founder of Founders

We arrived at Founders on a crisp, Friday afternoon. After enjoying an early beer in the tap room, we were met by Sarah Aldrich… and none other than a founder of Founders (say that five times fast), Dave Engbers. Dave greeted us and proceeded to take us back to where all of the magic happens.

Founders Brewing Company was established by Dave Engbers and Mike Stevens in 1997, after they graduated from Hope College. They both loved brewing and had been home brewing for a number of years. When they started Founders, they were brewing “regular beers.” “We were just like every other craft brewery in Michigan,” said Dave. He recognized they weren’t necessarily doing anything super special, just brewing because they loved it. The market share was small and their backers didn’t feel like there was a lot of success. Realizing they were about to hit bankruptcy, Dave and Mike decided to go big… or go home. They brewed the first batch of Dirty Bastard… and their board thought it was their “goodbye” brew.

Alas, that would not be it for the tale of Founders. Dirty Bastard, a strong scotch ale, became an instant hit. People clamored for it loudly, and the signs were clear: Founders Brewing was back in business.

Dave continued to take us through the history of Founders, including the development of beers that are “complex, in-your-face ales, with huge aromatics, bigger body, and tons of flavor.” They regularly have the Dirty Bastard on tap along with the Centennial IPA, the Porter, and the Red’s Rye PA. They also have exciting seasonal beers, such as their famous Breakfast Stout (which smells of coffee and chocolate), Double Trouble, Cerise, and so many more. The tap room regularly features beers that aren’t bottled for the public and are being tested to their local fans.

Dave showed us the bottling center of their brewery, as well as the bourbon barrels that were aging Canadian Breakfast Stout. It was great to get an insight on how the process worked, as well as meet the people who were working behind the scenes.

When Dave finished showing us the brewery, we got a tour of the offices by Sarah Aldrich. We saw where all of the big hitting decisions were made. All of this was, of course, followed by a long visit to the tap room, where we enjoyed a variety of different beers. The tap room was full of people (particularly bustling because it was, after all, happy hour). It was clearly a friendly place, where loyal visitors knew the bartenders’ names and sat comfortably side by side. The patio was open air, perfect for a September day. We instantly felt comfortable, as if we had been going to the Brewery every Friday afternoon for years. After all, Beer Rhetorics is not just about the history and passion for beer; it’s about making connections and communicating with one another. We learned a lot about brewing, the struggles of being a business, and the excitement of creative marketing that comes with such forward flavors. Even better: we spent time with each other, enriching our Beer Rhetorics community, beyond the walls of East Lansing’s usual hot spot.

I think I speak for the entire group when I say, we couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend a Friday afternoon. Oh, and we have the pictures to prove it. Hopefully, more field trips will be happening in the future to other local breweries. We encourage all of our offshoots to find places near them that are crafting beer for little excursions. We promise, it will be worth it.

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Beer Rhetorics goes to the Ballpark!

On June 1, 2011, in Uncategorized, by John
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Hey team beer rhetorics is on deck. (I plan on using many sports metaphors) Tomorrow at 7pm it is Thirsty Thursday at the Lugnuts. So gear up for $2 drafts and baseball! Unlike last time the weather is looking really good, 70 degrees and sunny, so play ball! Here is the link for tickets, I have already bought mine, so I hope to see you there. I always do lawn seating because it is general admission and only $8. If you have any questions about the game or seating please feel free to email me at johnlauckner@gmail.com.

 

Thirsty Thursday, Beer Rhetorics East Lansing

On May 25, 2011, in Uncategorized, by John
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**Update**

Beer Rhetorics will be at Woody’s Oasis on Grand River on 8pm, due to inclement weather. While their is only a 50% chance of rain tonight it is supposed to be in the low 50s and just bad baseball weather. If anyone has already bought tickets please let me know. Hope to see you at Woody’s at 8!

//

This week, Thursday the 26th, Beer Rhetorics is going to be at the Lansing Lugnuts baseball game for Thirsty Thursday. The game is at 7:05pm and ticketing information can be found on the Lugnuts’ Website: http://www.lansinglugnuts.com/TICKETS/single_game_tix.html. I will be enjoying the $8 lawn seating.

While I plan on attending the game, there is a possible weather issue, with a forecast of 60 degrees with a 70% chance of rain. If the game does get cancelled due to weather then we will move back to Woody’s Island Oasis on Grand River at 8pm. The Lugnuts are very good about giving tickets for cancelled games, so don’t worry about that. I will be regularly tweeting updates tomorrow about the status of the game and location using the #beerrhetorics hashtag. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email me, johnlauckner@gmail.com. Hope to see you at the game tomorrow.

 

Community Blogger, Carolyn LaPlante

On May 12, 2011, in Uncategorized, by John
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Carolyn LaPlante, PhD student and fan of neighborhood living

Today we have a guest blogger, Carolyn LaPlante, who writes about her experiences growing up in a neighborhood that is a prime example of what Beer Rhetorics seeks to promote. This is the first post from a series of community bloggers, who will write about their experiences and impressions of how beer and communities interact.

Have you ever been to a Kentucky Derby party? A Labor day deckwalk, perhaps? What about annual Summer & Winter Olympics competitions, with activities like pool and lawn darts? Chances are some of you have attended the first and second type of events, but I’m pretty sure that many of you haven’t participated in a neighborhood-based competition involving party games. I can say that I am lucky enough to have been a part of all of these types of events (among many others), and that’s because I grew up in what I seriously think is the best neighborhood ever.

Before going off to college, I lived my entire life on the same street in Saginaw, MI. Not the same house, though–when my family started to outgrow our home, we wanted to stay in the neighborhood so we built a house down the street. Within that neighborhood is an awesome community of people who not only have a lot of fun together, but also provide support to each other that comes in many forms, whether it is help with car troubles, getting the mail when someone is on vacation, or coming together to help those who are going through a rough time.

One of the ways in which my neighbors foster this strong community is through their various gatherings and parties, which they partake in enthusiastically and often. Since Beer Rhetorics began, I have seen it as kind of an extension of my many experiences at these neighborhood parties. The weekly meeting of BR is about coming together, forging ties, and learning new things, which is encouraged and facilitated by the whole drinking atmosphere and the culture of openness and relaxation that it entails. Although the focus on learning may not have been as much of a goal in these neighborhood gatherings, they were certainly about spending time with one another, strengthening existing relationships, occasionally meeting new neighbors, and simply enjoying the chance to blow off some steam.

The competitors in the 2010 Dewberry Summer Olympics

Some of my favorite memories of growing up are from neighborhood parties. We had a yearly 4th of July party, at which the adults would mingle and have drinks, and us kids would swim, play games in the backyard, and sometimes be entertained by the stand-up comedy of one of the very entertaining neighborhood boys (my favorite bit: “The Tick that ticks me off,” a rant about the cartoon “The Tick“). We also had New Year’s Eve parties, with us kids hanging out by ourselves all night at one of the houses while the grown-ups ate delicious food that they cooked for one another. We would then all come together at midnight–my friends and I throwing our homemade confetti into the street for our parents to clean up the next day and the adults toasting champagne. For a while, my neighbors even had weekly “Friday Beers” to wind down at the end of a work week–a gathering very similar to the Beer Rhetorics meetings here in East Lansing on Thursday nights.

All of this is to say that I grew up in a culture where drinking was a part of both normal life and of celebrations. There was never any stigma associated with drinking, but there was also never any glorification of it either. It was simply something that occurred when everyone came together, so I have seen firsthand how beer and drinks can aid in fostering a sense of community. Alcohol is certainly not necessary for forming relationships, but it does help to create an atmosphere that is fun, laid-back, and welcoming, which I think contributed a great deal to how our little community has grown over the years. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of a group of people that consistently have gatherings full of good food, good drinks, and laughter?

Because of my time in my neighborhood, I have a strong appreciation of the value of simply having drinks with friends, whether its at a bar, on someone’s deck, or while observing a lawn darts competition. It’s not really about the alcohol or what one is drinking, but moreso about having something that can bring people together and encourage conversation. I can only hope that, in the future, I will have my own friends and my own neighborhood that has as strong of a community as the one I have been a part of my whole life.

The 2010 Labor Day Deckwalk

 

Beer Rhetorics: Atlanta

On April 13, 2011, in Meet Ups, by John
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So last week Beer Rhetoric East Lansing was canceled due to the Conference on College Compostion and Communication, or CCCC. This is the biggest conference of the year in my field. This was my first time attending and presenting at CCCCs and it was a pretty good time. Much of my time was spent preparing for my presentation and attending sessions on videogames, interwebz, and writing. But, like the maxim goes, all work and no play makes for a dull John, so I had to find the fun. Luckily, there was plenty of beer rhetoric to be had.

So every year one of the biggest publishers of text books, Bedford St. Martins, throws a swanky party somewhere near the conference. This year it was Turner Field, home of the Braves. For those that know me, baseball is one of my favorite things right up there with beer, which was also present–for free. So win, win, win. In all truth, I was pretty giddy.

What up Turner Field!

A ballpark was a really cool place to have a party, especially because I never drink at ballparks for many reasons. One, and probably the most relevant, is that beer is far too expensive. $7 for a 16 oz can of bud light? No thanks. Another reason would be that the beer that is served is often domestic beer, which comes from companies that tend to bully smaller craft beer companies. (If you are interested in that line of thought you should check out the Beer Wars movies.) Although, it was interesting to see an in-stadium advertisement for a beer hut that offered 6 different craft brews. In my opinion,  a ball park is an interesting place to see beer because it is so hyper-advertised. But anyways…

So the event had free beer, mostly domestic, but they also had Yuengling, beer from America’s oldest brewery, still family owned. So that was nice. So with a Yuengling in hand I took to exploring the ball park with friends. Another cool reason for having the event at the Turner Field was getting to play the games for the free. So I was able to do the fast pitch and batting cages.

My fastest pitch was only 57 MPH.

So after throwing and hitting some stuff, my friends and I moved up to the Delta Sky Lounge to eat some food and maybe check out some more free beer. Once we got up to the Lounge, it was a completely different experience. Lots of TVs, a full bar, and tables. In fact, to just be a member it costs $500 a year. So it was no surprise that the alcohol selection was different, with liquor and some craft beers on draft. For myself it was a pretty interesting example of how different types of people experience the same event. So, after grabbing some ball park food (hot dogs, chicken tenders, and nachos) and a mixed drink, we went to sit down and eat.

Free food and drinks plus baseball = awesome.

Anyways, all in all the party was a pretty fun time. I was able to hang out with friends and do a few things I wouldn’t normally do. After leaving Turner Field we went to another publishing party and hung out at a brew pub called Max Largers, which was also pretty nice. So, like I have tried to say all along, beer and rhetoric are a natural mix, and CCCCs was a perfect example.

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Beer Rhetorics and PW Crunchy’s Night Collaboration

On March 17, 2011, in Uncategorized, by John
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Because of MSU Basketball in the NCAA tournament and St. Patrick’s Day Beer Rhetorics will be postponed til tomorrow night at 8 pm. The meeting will be at Crunchy’s on Grand River, see Google Map below:



View Larger Map


Crunchy’s has perhaps the best craft beer tap selection in all of Lansing. So come join us tomorrow night.

 

Industry Spotlight, Sarah Aldrich

On March 7, 2011, in Industry Spotlight, by John
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This is our first blog attempt that takes an inside and personal look at several aspects of the brewing industry. If you are interested in contributing to this section of the website please contact John Lauckner at johnlauckner@gmail.com.

Sarah Aldrich is the Marketing Assistant for Founders Brewing Company and can be contacted at saldrich32@gmail.com. For more information on Founders Brewing Company visit http://www.foundersbrewing.com/.

Sarah Aldrich, Marketing Assistant at Founders Brewing Company and Professional Writing Alum from Michigan State University.

Background

Founders Brewing Company is a microbrewery based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. We were founded in 1997—12 years after Bell’s Brewery, the biggest microbrewery in Michigan (some of you may be familiar with their popular summer beer Oberon). We’ve been growing quickly in recent years, moving to a new facility in 2007, with a larger production facility and a bigger taproom (aka bar), and completing a sizable expansion just last month.

Also, because of laws that were passed shortly after Prohibition, we have to work through a distributor in order to get our beer to stores, bars, and restaurants. It’s called a “three-tier” system: we sell our beer to our distributors (we have 25 that are spread out geographically—the most being in Michigan because it’s where we sell the most beer), who pick it up at our production facility, bring it to their warehouses, and then sell it and deliver it to retail accounts. This is how it works in most states.

The Job

I work as a marketing assistant. When I started in May of last year, I doubled the size of our marketing department, joining one of our two owners. We have around 80 employees right now, most working in our taproom and deli as bartenders, servers, and cooks. Working in a small company, my job changes quite a bit from day-to-day—flexibility is key.

Founders Brewing Company Tap Room located in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Most mornings I come in and catch up on emails and our Twitter and Facebook accounts. Because most people drink beer in the evenings, they tend to comment about what they’re drinking at night—I can’t always be on, but my research has shown that it’s important to respond as quickly as possible when it comes to social media. We also get quite a few emails to our “info” email account that get routed to me—questions, requests for sponsorships, media requests, etc. This ends up being almost like customer service work because I have to keep in mind that not everyone understands how our business or industry works, even though I’m so close to it, and we all know that the internet can lead to trolling and outbursts. It can be an interesting experience to answer complex questions or put out fires in 140 characters on Twitter; talk about the importance of rhetoric and editing.

The rest of my day is spent updating our website with event listings, headers, polls, blog posts, and the like; responding to media requests; developing ads, banners, and promotional materials; helping coordinate my boss’ schedule; meeting with printers, our web designer, and other people who are interested in partnering with us; choosing what new merchandise we should order; organizing festivals and making sure our beer gets to different places for competitions; coordinating sponsorships; and more.

Founders' Slogan: "We don’t brew beer for the masses. Instead, our beers are crafted for a chosen few, a small cadre of renegades and rebels who enjoy a beer that pushes the limits of what is commonly accepted as taste. In short, we make beer for people like us."

Part of my daily schedule is dependent on the time of the month: at the end of the month, I have a bunch of deadlines that I have to meet. I have to do inventory for the Point of Sale (POS) merchandise that we sell to our distributors; compile reports that assess our web analytics and traditional and new media presences; and plug data into a spreadsheet that documents how much beer our distributors have sold that month. I do an internal newsletter once a month and an external newsletter every other month (you can sign up here, if you’re interested: http://www.foundersbrewing.com/newsletter).

New Projects at Founders

Right now, a bunch of our focus has been on releasing some new beers in 2011. I attempted to coordinate some project management (even downloaded a free Gantt chart software) with our big release, but things fell through (I’ll go into it in a bit). It’s amazing how much goes into a new product launch: naming it, coming up with a workable description, label development (we use an outside design firm for this) and registration with the state and federal governments, development of marketing materials (sell sheets, bottle shots, posters, gear, etc), making sure our brewing and packaging schedule is coordinated with the product release…I’m probably forgetting a couple of things.

I can’t say too much about a few of these new bottled beers, but I can talk about our big planned release because it’s just about public knowledge right now anyway, and it is kind of a cool case study for a crowd interested in rhetoric: we are going to release a new beer that we have been calling Endurance Ale in our taproom for about nine months now. We sent it to the Great American Beer Festival (one of the biggest and most prestigious beer competitions around) and it won a silver medal in the session beer category. Most simply, a session beer is a beer that is 5% ABV or less. Our head brewer has been working on this one for over 2 years, perfecting it, so that it has all of the flavor and aroma of an IPA (India Pale Ale) but a lower ABV—the idea is that you can drink more of them in a single “session” of drinking.

We did some research on the name back in September and found that there was an Endurance Brewing Company in Massachusetts. We contacted our legal team to see if we would have any problems copyrighting the name, and they brought up this company, but said that we would probably be able to copyright the product as “Endurance Ale” without any problems. Then, in January, we ran into problems with this Endurance Brewing Company and are having to rename the beer. We’ve already developed labels and ordered tap handles and tattoos. We’d planned to launch the beer in April, but we are definitely not going to make that deadline anymore. It’s been a bit of a disappointment, but it’s all a part of the business. Our plan now is to develop two more label concepts and have our consumers vote for which one they prefer—and in doing so we will be transparent about why we’re making this change to raise awareness about the renaming organically.

Beer Rhetorics, Community, and People

Mugs for Founders' "Mug Club."

The cool thing about the craft beer industry is that we try to have a personal relationship with the people who drink our beer. We have 1463 people in our Mug Club this year—they pay for a membership to get a mug that we store in our taproom, plus drink deals, especially on Wednesdays, which we call Mug Club Day. Our sales representatives and our directors of sales and marketing travel to festivals, tastings, and beer dinners to interact directly with the people who drink our beer. It gives them the opportunity to tell the story behind the brewery and behind each of the beers. For example, my boss Dave talks about how our head brewer, Jeremy, came up with the basis of the Double Trouble recipe on a day that brewhouse was shut down—he asked if he could bring his dad in and experiment, and they liked what they came up with. After perfecting the recipe, it became our January–April seasonal beer.

With this first blog by Sarah, I hope to start to accomplish a few things. 1) I hope to better understand some of the inner-workings of the beer industry,  2) I hope to get a better understanding of the jobs themselves, and 3) I want to see how people interact with beer and how the beer industry interacts with people. So thanks to Sarah for giving our first spotlight, and once again if you would like to help with this section please email John at johnlauckner@gmail.com.

 

Beer Rhetorics Video

On March 4, 2011, in Uncategorized, by John
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Hello!

At the most recent beer rhetorics, we took the time to shoot a quick video to show what beer rhetorics is like. So here it is:



The video was shot using the 8mm App for iPhone and edited using iMovie for iPhone. The song used in the video is Postcards to Italy by Beirut. I would love to hear what you think of the video.

 

Beer Rhetoric 2.0

On January 12, 2011, in Uncategorized, by John
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Well, it is reboot time. After a very successful 7 months of Beer Rhetoric, I thought it was time to change the scope a bit (and the design).  As before the main focus of BR will always be the weekly in person meetings. Weekly gatherings are at the core of what community is and that needs to continue. And, while the weekly meetings have been going well and growing, BR is going to take a more deliberate approach towards its own online communications. What that means is that there is going to be better attempt to podcast and blog about issues that the BR community finds important. So in the future you can expect to hear about topics such as creative cities, craft brew culture, jobs, networking, and the greater Lansing area.

This is a big project so please come by to our weekly meetings or send us message and help us shape Beer Rhetoric.

Cheers.