Say It Ain’T So, Micro-Joe

I’ve always said I would stop writing this column when they started putting microbrews in cans.

Well, OK, I’ve never actually said that, although it sounds like the kind of thing a craft-beer purist such as moi might mutter after one too many Mac and Jack’s.

But in any event, they are indeed beginning to make microbrews in cans. And as for canning this column … well, more on that later.

First, the real news: Portland Brewing has announced it will put its flagship MacTarnahan’s amber ale in cans in an attempt to penetrate such “can-only” markets as airlines, golf courses and marinas. “Essentially, we’re giving golfers, anglers and outdoor enthusiasts a choice between the traditional domestic and import beers that come in cans and a genuine microbrew,” Mark Carver, Portland’s vice president of sales, says in a press release.

The cans haven’t quite hit Spokane yet, and when they do, they’ll likely be limited to recreational locations as opposed to supermarkets.

“At resorts, poolsides, it should do well,” says Columbia Distributing’s Mike Montoya. “We’ll see how it sells, what it tastes like.”

It’s the latest in a series of moves by microbrewers nationwide aimed at increasing their share of a market that may not be shrinking, but certainly isn’t getting any bigger.

Craft beer sales across the country increased by a slim 2 percent last year, according to new figures from the Institute for Brewing Studies. That’s marginally better than the zero-percent growth of 1998, but still a far cry from the 50 percent-plus leaps of the mid-1990s.

So we’ll keep seeing things like MacTarnahan’s in cans, or the classy new labels from Full Sail, or the recently revamped product line - bottles, labels and beer styles - from fellow Oregon brewer Widmer.

But according to controversial Indian brewing billionaire Vijay Mallya, who’s started buying up American micros (including, almost, Full Sail), many of those efforts are doomed to failure.

“At the end of the day, five or six big microbrewers will survive, in my view,” Mallya recently told the Celebrator Beer News. “The rest of them will be the brewpubs. Everybody in between, according to my view, is going to go. They’ll either get bought, or they’ll have to close down, or they’ll have to merge; they’ll have to do something. They cannot stay where they are.”

Which brings us back to this column. We can’t stay where we are, either. Changing job responsibilities, along with the cooling off of the craft-brew trend, are forcing us to rethink our priorities.

What’s likely to emerge is a streamlined column focusing even more on locally brewed beer, as opposed to the Portlands and Full Sails, and possibly appearing in a different part of the paper.

Whatever happens, we don’t want to abandon the beer beat altogether. As renowned British beer writer Michael Jackson said in that same issue of the Celebrator, when asked for his millennial microbrew reflections:

“A great beer can be as individualistic as a human fingerprint or personality. To have a choice of such beers, to enjoy them fresh in their natural habitat - these cannot be put into a time capsule.”

Hopping around

Speaking of local brewpubs, this season’s style seems to be India pale ales (IPAs for short), which are typically a lavishly hoppy, love-it-or-hate-it proposition. (Put us in the “love” boat.)

The Steam Plant Grill is pouring a Smokestack IPA as the second “brewer’s whim” from its satellite Coeur d’Alene Brewing Co. system. The original whim, a malty Spokane Irish Red ale, also remains on tap for a while.

The Bayou is still serving a hopped-up IPA as its spring seasonal, with a spicy rye beer due by the end of May. And at The Ram and C.I. Shenanigan’s, an IPA will be on the way when they’ve finished the justreleased maibock, a strong golden lager that’s a little drier and hoppier than last year’s version.

On the mellower side, Pend Oreille Brewing in Sandpoint has just released its always-popular huckleberry wheat beer for summer. Solicitor’s Corner in Spokane has brought back an old favorite, the easy-drinking Happy Clam Lager.

And in Post Falls, Casey’s is adding an amber lager based on last fall’s Rocktoberfest Marzen to the regular lineup; look for the quaffable Quad Park Pilsner by May 1 at the pub and at the softball complex of the same name.

Bottle stations

In the supermarkets, Deschutes - which bucked the slow sales trend with 15 percent growth last year - is pitching a seasonal Quail Springs IPA. While relatively light-bodied for the style, it gets big bitterness and aroma from a hodgepodge of hops (Chinook, Crystal, Magnum, Styrian and East Kent Goldings).

Missoula’s Big Sky Brewing has come out with three quite drinkable, though rather undistinctive, beers in bottles: the flagship Moose Drool, a dryish brown ale; Scape Goat Pale Ale, fairly tame with a tangy hop accent, and the lightly roasty Slow Elk Oatmeal Stout. (All are being brewed under contract by Portland Brewing, another way that microbreweries with excess production capacity can make money.)

And Budweiser, which doesn’t have to worry about sales, is further tapping the Mexican-themed market with Tequiza Extra, a beer hybrid which has more tequila flavor (and alcohol) than the original Tequiza, without the margarita-like lime flavoring. It’s actually not too bad - sort of a shot-and-a-beer all rolled into one, for time-pressed partiers.

Like I’ve always said, I’ll stop writing this column the day I start saying nice things about Budweiser.