Alexander Keith's Ad Reveals Their Recipe!

[chalmers]

OK, I've called Brett back, and left her a message. Probably easier if we have one person speaking with her, unless someone else would rather speak with her, maybe it's best if I do.

[jason.loxton]

Cool!

Again, I just emailed to refer them to this thread, figuring that they might see a story here, and if they did, would contact Chalmers directly via the website (following up his post).

Honestly, this seems like a good thing to me: exposure for the Brewnosers and homebrewing, but apologize if I have somehow transgressed a boundary.

[BobbyOK]

They should be looking for Eric Swedberg to comment. Or the guy who was wondering about a Honey Nut Amber.

[chalmers]

I don't disagree, Bobby, though I believe the article might take a different tone from my dealings with Brett.

I emailed Eric at the only email I could find, but it bounced back. I'm not committed enough to look up his phone number, but if the CH wants it, they could probably find it.

[Brewnoser]

Brewnoser: What's with the hostility? I just sent a link to this public discussion thread

Hostility?

Pardong?

I love the story. We just can't afford to have a million dollar legal budget aimed at us. That's all.

And for those newbies out there the fact is that because I kinda started the club, people assume that all things Brewnoser are known to me. Which is no longer (happily) the truth. I am very pleased and proud of how great the club is now.

Normally I'm all about increasing publicity for better beer and home brewing. That is one of our founding policies.

I've had a call from a reporter about stuff on the forum who left Jason's name. If anyone calls them back, let's make sure it's someone who has seen the ad. I don't watch television.

I'm in Bergen. If I was a rate beer Geek I'd have messed my pants at Henrik alehouse last night.

[jason.loxton]

Brewnoser: Guess I misread the tone of you comment! : )

[Dirt Chicken]

Actually come to think of it, with big corporations no publicity is bad publicity, so regardless of this whole thing - it will just end up in free advertising for them.

[BobbyOK]

Actually come to think of it, with big corporations no publicity is bad publicity, so regardless of this whole thing - it will just end up in free advertising for them.

Also - chances are an agency created the ad. So they've got a scapegoat even if they had to approve it in the end.

[mr x]

They should be looking for Eric Swedberg to comment. Or the guy who was wondering about a Honey Nut Amber.

This.

Sent from my Nexus S

[chalmers]

And we're live!

http://thech.ca/ThsKNW" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Beer aficionados bitter over Keith’s ad

By BRETT BUNDALE Business Reporter


When you’re 192 years old, the truth can sometimes get stretched a bit.

The truth in question is the recipe used for Alexander Keith’s India Pale Ale, a beer crafted in the 19th century by a Scottish immigrant in Halifax.

A recent television commercial for the golden suds shows an antique hand-scrawled recipe as the phrase “it began as one man’s personal recipe” flashes across the screen.

Yet after some sleuthing, including scrutinizing high-resolution screen shots of the advertisement, a group of beer aficionados and homebrewers in Halifax say the recipe is a fake.

“What really surprised me is the ingredient list includes a new hop variety that didn’t exist 200 years ago,” Chris McDonald, a member of the Brewnosers, said in an interview Wednesday.

The flowery engineered hop called Amarillo stands out like a bad brush stroke on a forged painting, he said.

“It struck me as odd because that kind of hops is one of the new varieties being developed through cross-breeding and it’s only about 20 years old, if that. It’s definitely not 200 years old so something fishy is going on.”

McDonald jotted down as much of the recipe from the Alexander Keith’s commercial he could and searched it online.

“I stumbled across the exact recipe on a homebrewing recipe board. Homebrewers share recipes with each other all the time because we’re all about sharing the love beer-wise.”

He said the recipe used in the commercial is called Amarillo IPA and can be found at http://www.-" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; beerrecipes.org.

Labatt spokesman Wade Keller said the television commercial was meant to be symbolic.

“First of all we would never share Alexander Keith’s original recipe. We use that recipe to make beer and we don’t want to share that with other people that would perhaps try to make the same beer.

“This was a depiction of a recipe meant to be symbolic of a recipe for illustrated purposes in a television commercial.”

However, Keller said regrettably a contractor working for a creative agency used information he found online and copied it into calligraphy.

“We regret that we didn’t have permission to use this recipe and we’re taking steps to remove the ad. We take this very seriously; it should not have happened.”

But as far as the beer is concerned, Keller is adamant that the brewery continues to follow the traditions of Alexander Keith who began making beer in Halifax in 1820.

“We stand by the quality and we do over 120 checks to make sure the beer is of the highest quality. The ad was meant to sell beer but unfortunately there was a mistake in the ad and we’re taking steps to correct that mistake.”

Regardless, McDonald argued that the ad throws into question the authenticity of Alexander Keith’s beer.

“It seems like a lot of their marketing hinges on the fact that the beer is so close to what was brewed almost 200 years ago. I would say it’s misleading.”

The public relations snafu comes two years after a number of brew books with original recipes for Alexander Keith’s IPA as well as Oland Export Ale were donated to the Dalhousie archives, McDonald said.

The records were donated by Halifax businessman Bruce Oland — Oland and Son Ltd. acquired A. Keith and Son in the late 1920s — but were later sealed, he said.

(bbundale@herald.ca)

[GAM]

Chalmers in the news.

And I'm an aficionado not a nerd.

Sandy

[mr x]

Everybody is still missing the mark and letting inbev spin off the hook. This is the question that needs to be asked :

Is the recipe for today's Alexander Keith's beer exactly the same as brewed by Alexander Keith? Like the statement from inbev (see my signature) . Yes or No.

Sent from my Nexus S

[LeafMan66_67]

But as far as the beer is concerned, Keller is adamant that the brewery continues to follow the traditions of Alexander Keith who began making beer in Halifax in 1820. “We stand by the quality and we do over 120 checks to make sure the beer is of the highest quality.

Notice they stand by the quality and tradition ...

[mr x]

I can now only assume Alexander Keith was a liar (or an idiot) and a crappy brewer.

This story should be posted on some of the major American boards to see if the guy who wrote the recipe can be located.

Sent from my Nexus S

[know1]

I can now only assume Alexander Keith was a liar (or an idiot) and a crappy brewer.

This story should be posted on some of the major American boards to see if the guy who wrote the recipe can be located.

Sent from my Nexus S

As he was a politician this is likely very true.

That sounds like a good ole American IP/defamation lawsuit!

good job Chris on ruffling some feathers and calling their bluff

[chalmers]

Not surprisingly, the author couldn't print everything I said, to keep the article brief. You can see that I mentioned Keith's claims that they are using the same recipe that AK did in 1820, and that clearly that's not happening now.
Maybe someone could write a letter to the editor regarding Keller's claim that they are using it, but they've seen the original brewing logs that say differently?
If someone wants to track down the original authors of the swiped IP, please do.

[GAM]

I think we are in agreement X. I also see the humor of this corporate BS. I'm also glad Chris made the news for good reasons.

Sandy

[jeffsmith]

If someone wants to track down the original authors of the swiped IP, please do.

Working on that now.

[bluenose]

I'm also glad Chris made the news for good reasons.

Yeah, and not for banging a teacher/ex-cheerleader

[mr x]

'Might as well throw the original recipe in here:

Alexander Keith's original recipe

[bluenose]

When was the last time you made that recipe?

[mr x]

Once or twice a year.

[jason.loxton]

Hey X: How does your recipe compare to the historical "clone" that Nash brewed up when this issue first came to light?

Jason

[GAM]

I think I'll put this on my list to brew this month.

SWandy

[TimG]

Nice job Chris! They got caught with their pants down for sure on this one, though unfortunately as somebody said earlier.. any publicity (within reason) is good publicity for a big corp like InBev. They're getting some free advertising here for sure, but so are we! ha