Alexander Keith's Ad Reveals Their Recipe!

[Tim Gregory]

Nice detective work Sherlock Chalmers! On a somewhat related note, my wife just found an article in the current NSLC Occasions magazine that stated that Nova Scotia's favourite beer style is india pale ale. It also goes into a reasonably accurate historical description of IPA. Makes me proud to be a Nova Scotian, although I'm guessing most of the Nova Scotia's they talked to were actually drinking an IPA of the fizzy yellow variety.

[BobbyOK]

The name Eric Swedberg sounds familiar to me. I wonder if he's on Ratebeer or Beer Advocate. In any case I bet he'd love to know InBev is using his recipe in their commercial.

[BobbyOK]

I'm not sure about now but they were in the archives a few years ago. The coast had a article about it and I think that the dal student paper did as well.

You'll have to talk to Nash about that one

HAD an article: http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/beer-doc ... id=1557947" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A few additional details here: http://www.bartowel.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=5235" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I keep those on hand for occasions such as this. Or when the Coast claims a bit too loudly about the wall between editorial and advertising.

[Dirt Chicken]

I'm not sure about now but they were in the archives a few years ago. The coast had a article about it and I think that the dal student paper did as well.

You'll have to talk to Nash about that one

HAD an article: http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/beer-doc ... id=1557947" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A few additional details here: http://www.bartowel.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=5235" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I keep those on hand for occasions such as this. Or when the Coast claims a bit too loudly about the wall between editorial and advertising.

The link for the Coast Article, is broken, or they don't keep things online for that long in their archive.

[chalmers]

The link for the Coast Article, is broken, or they don't keep things online for that long in their archive.

That was the point: the article used to be found there, but The Coast pulled it. The bartowel link should have the full text. I forget if we got Craig Pinhey's (the article's author) opinion on that. I can't imagine it was very favourable.

[Jimmy]

The Coast article is quoted in the bartowel link

[mr x]

I think I saved the original Coast webpage somewhere too.

[jason.loxton]

I contacted the Chronicle Herald's newsroom with this. It is hilarious!

Followed up with the Globe and Mail and CBC!

[BobbyOK]

I think I saved the original Coast webpage somewhere too.

Pretty sure I still have the paper copy.

[BobbyOK]

The link for the Coast Article, is broken, or they don't keep things online for that long in their archive.

That was the point: the article used to be found there, but The Coast pulled it. The bartowel link should have the full text. I forget if we got Craig Pinhey's (the article's author) opinion on that. I can't imagine it was very favourable.

Precisely.

[Brewnoser]

FWIW The Coast has a minuscule legal budget. And they need to save that for shooting down mayors.

[Brewnoser]

Ok boys. Chronicle Herald calling me about an ad I have not seen.

Reporter Brett Bundale
426-2811 ext 3798

Jason Lockstone? Can you call her. And try to leave the BrewNosers out of it. We don't have Joel Pink on retainer.

[mr x]

I don't see much issue with it. Inbev ran the ad, chalmers just pointed out what they did.

[Dirt Chicken]

I don't see much issue with it. Inbev ran the ad, chalmers just pointed out what they did.

Totally!! Just pointing out corporate plagiarism and guess what, its still plagiarism. You can clearly read where the screen cuts off the quote describing different honeys available

" I have found that to be Amber Honey (buckwheat honey is stronger but smells like a pig farm). It is a bit darker than most honey as well. It is available from..."

I figured the honey would be from the annapolis valley or cape breton, but the rest of the sentence tells where the honey was from "...Wholesome Sweeteners (various stores) and also Whole Foods 365 brand (which I expect is sourced from Wholesome)."

plagiarism

[jason.loxton]

Brewnoser: What's with the hostility? I just sent a link to this public discussion thread, about an amusing but overall meaningless PR snafu, to the local newspaper. I didn't start the discussion. Why not just forward any media calls to Chalmers and be happy that the Brewnosers might get some local media attention?

I could call them, but I have nothing really to say (and shouldn't take credit). I wasn't the one who noted the funny commercial. Chalmers, do you want to do it?

[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)