Big Beer Brew Blog

The Miller Brewing Company has a “Brew blog” — w00t!

AdPulp sees this as “a major advance for blogs emanating from large packaged goods companies” and offers this kind review.

Even though “Brew” is published by the Miller Brewing Co., it is not the site for Miller press releases and the “official” word from the company. On the contrary, Brew looks at moves from Molson Coors, A-B and others in a responsible light, thereby positoning Miller as a thought leader.

The site is run by Jim Arndorfer, a reporter who spent many years covering the beer industry for magazines like Advertising Age. The new blog’s “about” page explains that even though this “Brew blog” is published by the Miller Brewing Company, this is not the site for Miller press releases and the “official” word from the company. Still, this new blog seems very much a “corporate blog” written by an in-house marketing department. Maybe they should have a few beers before they blog.

Compare the Brookston Beer Bulletin blog by beer writer Jay Brooks, who looks at the beer industry from the perspective of the independent craft breweries, but also reports on national beer and beer-related events that affect the industry as a whole. You get the sense that this blogger really loves beer. Big breweries that blog could learn a thing or two from independent beer bloggers.

Beer industry giants appear to lack the creative imagination of the craft brewers for naming and branding, too. ThirstyBear Restaurant and Brewery on Howard Street in San Francisco is a case in point. ThirstyBear takes its name from a news story headlined “Thristy bear bites man for cold beer” in which an escaped circus bear bit the hand of a surprised pub patron and made off with his beer. Hand-crafted beers include Polar Bear Lager and Brown Bear Ale, as well as Howard Street I.P.A., their India Pale Ale style beer.

In the backwoods of Canada, where bears and beers are everywhere, craft brewers do it froggy style. Dead Frog Brewery offers no explanation for its new name. None needed.

Dead Frog Brewery offers a lineup of four refreshing brews ranging from dark to light. We also offer seasonal beers at various times throughout the year. Our name might be funny, but we are very serious when it comes to brewing. All our beers are craft brewed in small batches using two-row barley malt, water, hops and yeast. We use no preservatives and we don’t pasteurize.

What makes Dead Frog better? They say, “There’s more hops in a dead frog.”

Beer industry giants, like Anheuser-Busch, Miller, InBev, and Molson Coors, may have big budgets for advertising, but you can’t beat the craft brewers for creative naming and branding. In the beer business, though, we see that good taste in naming and branding can be acquired.

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