Wading into the ANBL Selection beer vat, looking for answers.

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Craig Pinhey

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I’ve heard of government cheese, but how would you like to wash it down with some government beer?
Too much media attention has already been paid to the ANBL’s decision to release their “own” beer, but I’ve fielded so many questions about it the past week, and been involved in so many discussions about it over a pint of beer (something with heft, unlike their Selection (Sélection) Lager or Light), that I felt I needed to summarize the lot in what’s hopefully the last article about the subject.
Many have been asking why the ANBL would want to compete with their own customers. Many others have wondered why Molson and Labatt haven’t expressed outrage over Moosehead getting the contract to brew both brands. Most everyone is curious about how they can sell the beer for less money than other mainstream beers and still pay Moosehead enough for it to make it worth their while. And some have even inquired about the taste of the brands.
I tasted it for the first time live on CBC Radio, during The Current, on the beer release day March 12 (you can listen to that show online in the show archives at http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent).
My conclusion was essentially that these are fizzy mass-market beers, slightly vegetal, and hard to tell apart. The initial taste is very bland and soft with no noticeable bitterness. Like their competitors, there’s way too much carbonation. These are very light smelling and tasting beers that would appeal to people who enjoy the lighter tasting Moosehead brands, as well as Budweiser. I re-tasted them blind in a flight alongside Budweiser, Moosehead Green, Coors Light, Moosehead Light and Cold Filtered Light. The only two in the flight that stood out were Moose Green and Coors Light, both of which have more hop flavour. I could have sworn Cold Filtered Light and Selection Light were the same beer. No matter.
The original website for the beer (http://www.selectionlager.ca) had the following statement on the ingredients and process section: “We use only four ingredients to brew Selection Lager and Selection Light: malt (barley), hops, water and yeast.” After tasting the beer, and knowing a bit about how Moosehead makes beer, I e-mailed ANBL and informed them that this brew no doubt used lots of corn, making the website incorrect. Not long after, the website was edited to include corn syrup in the ingredients.
In case you think this is irrelevant, you should know that corn is used to make beer lighter bodied, easier to brew, and cheaper. Most craft beer uses 100 per cent barley as the source of sugar, and this is part of the reason they’re more expensive. Why didn’t they know what their beer was made of?
As for the reason to make these discount beers at all, there’s some confusion. The ANBL initially said it was to stem the flow of beer from across the Quebec border, but everyone quickly pointed out that three or four dollars off the regular price wouldn’t be enough. I asked ANBL’s Manager Nora Lacey, Corporate Services and Communications, about this.
“It was never NB Liquor’s intention that this beer would stem the cross-border issue,” explains Lacey. “The opportunity in launching these beers is to stimulate activity in the domestic beer category which we believe will help stem/reverse the volume loss.” The ANBL met with the four major brewers (Moosehead, Molson, Labatt, Sleeman) about the volume loss issue some time ago, and came up with the plan to make discount beer. They asked for bids from these brewers, without including the smaller Northampton and Pump House breweries. Both Shaun Fraser of Pump House and Sean Dunbar of Northampton had bad reactions to this whole business. I asked Dunbar what it feels like to have his client compete with him.
“They can bring in all the cheap crappy beer in the world and it will not cross over into our tiny sector of the market,” answers Dunbar. “I wish that, instead of pursuing this sort of thing, ANBL would take their beer category more seriously, from a beer perspective. I wish they’d treat it like the wine category and endeavor to create, in our little province, the most interesting and progressive beer jurisdiction in Canada.” That makes sense, but even if it doesn’t affect their sales by direct competition, there might be an impact on Northampton’s presence in the stores. Right now the ANBL brands are front and centre, but what about after this launch? Will the beer take the best spot in the cold room, or will it go to the back of the cooler with other marginal brands? Floor space is very important to breweries.
Shaun Fraser complained in the media about why Pump House was not given a chance to bid on brewing. Lacey explains that “NB Liquor consulted with the four major domestic brewers on the beer volume issue. From those discussions, NB Liquor chose to start with one option, that of launching two everyday low-cost, high quality ‘value’ brands. NB Liquor continues to work with the other three brewers on their proposals to tackle the volume issue. The issue is not a micro/imported beer issue.” When asked why they don’t just open the borders, Lacey has a quick response, saying, “Opening the borders would be a federal decision. NB Liquor and the Nova Scotia Liquor Commission currently have very good bi-lateral relations in place i.e. Maritime Beer Accord.”
Others have speculated that this new beer is a sweetheart deal for Moosehead. It drives their volume preferentially, with the ANBL doing the marketing and putting the beer front and centre in stores, with its lower price. Keeping their brewery at or close to capacity is very important for Moosehead, and any brewery.
Meanwhile Moosehead makes good money on it, as they’re not doing the costly marketing, such as in-store promotions, giveaways, TV and print ads. Why haven’t Molson and Labatt been squawking about unfair treatment in the media? Could it be that they don’t want to damage relations with the ANBL, a huge client? Maybe they have a payback coming of their own.
All these issues and the nebulous answers to the questions point to a mess. Although the new beers were moving quickly on launch day, one wonders how many people will be buying them in the heat of summer, when beer sales peak, other beers take their turns on sale, and the breweries start to think about really making money. If it’s only Moosehead smiling among the breweries at that time, then we’ll know that at least they believe in government beer.