If you missed Beer Wars ...

Independent filmmaker Anat Baron has some news regarding the availability of her beer industry documentary in the movie aftermarket.

Anat was kind enough to do an interview with the blog last year, so it's fitting her efforts enjoy some support here.

Here's Anat's email:

I'm thrilled to announce that my feature documentary BEER WARS will finally be available to the mainstream audience for whom it was intended. Anyone in the US and with a TV or a computer (or even a gaming console), will be able to rent or buy the movie beginning Monday, February 1. This was made possible through digital distribution deals with Warner Bros. and Netflix. Please help support this launch by renting or buying the film (if you haven't already done so) or by spreading the word to everyone you know. Feel free to forward this email, post the film's availability on or tweet about it to your followers.

THE SPECIFICS: In the U.S. Beer Wars is available to rent On Demand through Digital Cable and Satellite providers Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Charter, Insight, Bresnan, Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-Verse, Dish Network and DirecTV. It is also available for Download on iTunes, Amazon Video On Demand and Playstation.

The film is also available on Netflix either on DVD or “Watch Instantly” beginning February 2. And the DVD is now available for purchase from Amazon. As well as the movie's website.

Beer Wars: The ongoing discussion

If you missed the one-night screening of Beer Wars last month, then perhaps you’d be interested to know the DVD version is coming soon.

That’s from Anat Baron, the director/writer/producer of the film, which trains a spotlight on how craft brewers ply the choppy waters of the U.S. brewing industry and its three-tier system. Anat graciously gave some of her time for a Q&A conducted via email. Her answers arrived on Sunday.

Q: You said you hoped to set into motion a discussion on the topic of small/craft/artisanal brewers and the muscle tactics used by the mega brewers. Do you feel Beers Wars has accomplished that? And if so, how do we sustain that discussion and steer it toward producing change?
A: I don't think that we've reached a wide enough audience. So far, most of the people who saw the film were already craft beer lovers, and so most of the story was familiar to them. I made the film in the hopes of attracting a more mainstream audience. Not necessarily mainstream beer drinkers but people who care about consumerism, capitalism and the future of this country. I know that sounds very grandiose, but to me what's happening in the beer industry is similar to what's going on in many other industries. How do we get a bigger audience? The old-fashioned way: through word of mouth. People telling other people to watch this film. That it will make them think about the choices that they make. The more people see it and talk about it, the bigger the buzz. And then we can start a meaningful discussion. In the mainstream media.

Q: The film met with some harsh criticism in some circles, and you defended your work on the Web site. Do you think those critics missed the point, getting hung up on presentation, and failed to appreciate that, given the current arrangement with the big brewers and three-tier system, there isn't a remote chance of leveling the playing field without some Herculean efforts/major changes?
A: When you make a film, you expect criticism. What surprised me was that most people missed the point. They wanted me to make THEIR version of Beer Wars. I chose to make this film with the characters I did in order to make a point. If other people want to see brewers like Ken Grossman or Fritz Maytag as central characters, they can make their own film. THIS film is about the challenges that the small brewers face, and it uses two characters to show them. The three-tier system continues to be the biggest obstacle to growth for small brewers. The dependence of most distributors on their big brewer “partners” creates a playing field that is completely lopsided. Yes, things are “better” than they were in late 2005 when I stated filming, but they are in no way closer to level. I think the question is WHEN will we change (not abolish, change) the three-tier system, not IF. And all change begins with a few voices that keep getting louder.

Q: Are you satisfied that Beer Wars is part of the record on this topic, something any individual or group can point to as a reference?
A: I certainly hope so. I made the film so there would be a reference point. Anyone could watch it and understand the issues. And hopefully begin to think about what it means not only to them personally but to American business overall.

Q: Some people have asked when the DVD release will be. Looks like it is indeed in the works, is that correct? And for those who have seen the film already, what can they expect on the DVD?
A: Yes, (the) DVD is in production. I am rushing it out because so many theaters had technical issues on April 16th that I wanted to make things right. The DVD will include the film, the panel discussion and some deleted scenes. We hope to start shipping in early June.

Q: Will the film be screened again? And can you say what it cost to pull off the April 16th presentation?
A: We have a theatrical run in June at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Houston and San Antonio. And more to be announced. As to the cost of the April 16th event, I signed a confidentiality agreement, so all I can say is that there was a significant investment to get the word out.

Q: Michael Moore made Pets or Meat as a short-film follow-up to Roger & Me. Do you plan to revisit Beer Wars with some kind of follow-up down the road?
A: I think that the story is ripe for some sort of “sequel.” I'm not sure if it'll be a film but at least a TV or Web follow-up.

Q: Have you stayed in touch with Rhonda Kallman and Sam Calagione (the two brewers/beer companies spotlighted in Beer Wars) since the film was screened?
A: Yes, we have spoken on several occasions and plan to keep in touch going forward. I actually spoke to both of them this past week.

Q: We watched the film in a sparsely filled theater in southern New Jersey (the scant audience is indicative of craft beer’s struggles in the Garden State, plus we have a Bud brewery in Newark). Do you have attendance figures, either hard counts or anecdotal, to show where the film drew the best crowds?
A: The film and event screened in (most of) the 440 theaters spread out across cities and suburbs in most states. We did better in big cities like Boston, New York (and) San Francisco than suburban multiplexes.

After Beer Wars

Simple observation: All you really need to know about Beer Wars is that it’s an articulation of why you should support your local craft brewery – brewpub or bottler. Because they offer selection and styles relevant to the times. And because the mega brewers would love to crush them all, in the manner of The Godfather (“It’s just business...”) and by any means necessary.

But if you need more …

Synopsis
Beer Wars speeds through the rise of the big brewers after Prohibition and the demise of America’s brewing heritage, and how Bud, Coors and Miller warred with each other even before they met the likes of Samuel Adams and Sam Calagione.

Along parallel tracks, the film highlights Sam C’s success with his Dogfish Head brewery and the struggles of Rhonda Kallman, who spun herself off from the Sam Adams brand she helped build with Boston Beer founder Jim Koch to pursue her vision of Moonshot Beer, a caffeine-jacked brew she developed (and apparently has contract-brewed) as her own brand.

Sam C grows and lands on the behemoth brewers’ anti-competition radar; Rhonda wearily struggles for financing to keep her enterprise afloat, as she chases shelf space and tap handles, trapped in a frustrating cash-strapped cycle that makes attracting investors next to impossible.

From location to location, you follow the protagonists, and you're shown who the friends of the big brewers are (count Congress among them); you witness the National Beer Wholesalers Association preach the Gospel of Middleman and how we must believe that, 76 years on, the layer between brewer and consumer is still a swinging deal for everyone because it earned its stripes in the crucible of Prohibition’s crash. (We’d argue that the middle layer is vestigial.)

While Sam grows in both size and popularity, Rhonda continues to falter. And the mega brewers get more defensive over their market position. And so it goes.

Review
Beer Wars isn’t a seamlessly done film. (Read an unkind, but accurate enough, review here.) It has some dodgy production values (soft-focus images that lost crispness because they were scaled up when they shouldn't have been) and uneven pacing that made you think the film was winding up, only to discover a particular summation was really a transition to another section.

Plus, it pretty much preaches to the choir, i.e. you probably went to see it because you’re into craft beer and didn’t think too much of the mega brewers’ dominance to begin with. (So is the film just a call to arms, a rally for the base?)

But all of that aside, Beer Wars does put under one tent the key elements of the longtime rant about bland beer made by overgrown giants who hold most of the cards. Writer/director Anat Baron deserves credit for committing that to something craft beer folks can point to, and she manages to tie human emotions to it all, even though her first-person documentary style at times comes across as too genial and fluffy. This is, after all, war.

Still, the film will recharge your disdain for the giant brewers who dumb-down beer (triple-hopped Miller Lite anyone?), and the wholesaler system that was forced down everyone’s throats to make the legality of alcohol under the 21st Amendment palatable after a bitter temperance movement that was rife with bootlegging and bootless government policy.

Underdeveloped
One point that the film didn’t even begin to pound nearly enough was the revelation that AB has sued Dogfish Head over the use of the words punkin and chicory in its names for a fall seasonal and a stout. There was no exploration of this, just a passing mention. Sadly, that's a blown opportunity to show how Goliath can throw sand in David’s eyes and make him cry uncle by forcing him to lawyer-up and waste precious capital defending a frivolous legal challenge.

Yet in the long run, we’re not griping about Beer Wars. It may keep the discussion going, even if it is just among the party faithful. Plus, we’re in New Jersey, where there’s a giant brewery in Newark and, in general, an unfriendly climate for craft brewers, à la arcane and arbitrary regulations.

NOTE: The photos are from the live-feed panel discussion moderated by Ben Stein that followed the film.

Beer Wars reminder

It's 8 p.m. Eastern Time this Thursday, at a theater near you, or close enough. A one-night event.

The image below lists the Jersey theaters. FYI, the Hamilton location is the one near Trenton.

Beer Wars

We saw this highlighted on Destination Beer, Tom Eagan's blog. And on the docu's Web site, you'll notice the screenings nationwide on Thursday, April 16.

Some of this message is a broken record, points that have been made over and over. But there's nothing wrong with putting it all under one banner. (Anyone see the news last week that AB InBev's profits were down 95 percent?)

While we're going down this road, why not toss out the beer-themed AT&T commercial that's been airing the past few months:



When you think about it, that's another reason for AB to be concerned, Madison Avenue calling on craft beer to sell phone services. Shows you how deep craft beer has worked itself into popular culture.

Anyway, the screen grab we included here has the New Jersey theater locations for Beer Wars. (Click on it to enlarge. The second column on the left just denotes the metropolitan area.)

So have a party; raise a glass to celebrate and support our side of the fight.






And now, after talk of making beer, how could you not close with the Rolling Stones' "Salt of the Earth?