According to the Los Angeles Times, American craft brewers are beginning to export their beers overseas, after years of taking advice from foreign brewers. They are also inviting upstart foreign brewers stateside for lessons in brewing American favorites, such as double IPAs.
“When American craft beer got its start, we were imitating styles from the great brewing nations like Belgium, Germany, and the U.K.,” said Bob Pease, chief operating officer of the Brewers Association, the Boulder, Colorado-based nonprofit craft brewer’s trade organization. “Now 20-25 years later, we’ve come full circle, and they’re looking to us for inspiration, but we’re really just getting started overseas.”
A hurdle that American craft brewers are seeing with this overseas exchange is getting their IPAs to the customers tasting as good as they did when they left the brewery. According to Greg Koch, co-owner of Escondido-based Stone Brewing Co., shipping these hoppy brews can be a big problem.
“The biggest problem is that fresh, big hoppy flavor we’re known for can fade quickly if the beer isn’t stored properly or it sits too long in the distribution chain.” Most craft beers have a short shelf life because they are not pasteurized, so shipping can be an issue.
Rather than export his beers overseas, he has built a brewery abroad in order to cut down on shipping his American craft brews to foreign countries. His reasoning for his foreign brewery comes down to one simple thing.
“We like doing things ourselves,” he said.
