November 10, 2006
Prohibition’s progeny alive and well in the land of Al Capone
After the election surprised me by actually happening as expected with only minimal problems, I’ve heard the same thing from the several people. Now that the Democratic party earned its chance to take the wheel of Congress and possibly apply some checks to Our Fine President what the heck are you going to write about? Well even with Rumsfeld stepping into retirement, I don’t have any worries about thinking of things to spout off about. Today the topic is beer.
I’ve known for about a month that one of my favorite beers was going to be leaving town and in fact the whole state. Bell’s Oberon Ale is probably the beer I most often drink, and I’m a big fan of beer. I even try my hand at brewing, and after learning how it’s all done, I’ve become an even bigger fan of the recipes concocted at the Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Despite the business’ relatively small size, Bell’s had been one of the most common taps around Chicago and Bell’s bottles were plentiful in reputable liquor stores. But then National Wine and Spirits Inc., the company that did their distribution, sold the brewery’s contract to Chicago Beverage Systems. Apparently the people at Bell’s and the new distributor didn’t quite agree on how the product should be marketed and sold in Illinois.
In most industries Bell’s could simply find a different distributor to sell their beer as they want it sold, but Illinois doesn’t let alcohol companies operate like that. Instead the distributors can sell the contracts and the brewers are left to work with whoever owns their rights. It’s a little like professional athletes signed to a team. Instead of accepting a trade to the team that didn’t want to use them to the best of their abilities, Bell’s decided to sit out of Illinois and hope for a better contract.
Now the Bell’s distribution map has a gaping hole in it and I’m going to have to make a point to sample some Bell’s whenever I get out of the state. And as much as I enjoy a good beer, I’m getting more and more upset with the liquor distribution in this state. It’s bad enough that I every winter I’m forced to endure the horrible things beer baron Bill Wirtz has done to the once proud Chicago Blackhawks, but now another distributor is costing me my favorite pint.
It’s not quite enough to make a guy give up beer, but it’s certainly sufficient to set of a search for a new regular drink.