Well I thought maybe we would be safe with Fosters, but I guess not.


http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork ... 17/451.asp

Check the label: where imported beer really comes from

By Matthew Volz

Beer drinkers picking up a six-pack of imported suds or ordering an exotic-sounding brew in their favorite ethnic restaurant may want to take a closer look at the label. They might be surprised by how close to home their foreign beer is really brewed.

Several foreign beers are actually produced in North America. These include popular brands, such as Foster's from Australia, Sapporo from Japan, Kirin Ichiban from Japan, Guinness from England, Carlsberg from Belgium and Lowenbrau from Germany, as well as several microbrews found in ethnic restaurants.

It is not unusual; large American brewers have licensing agreements with breweries on other continents. Brewers say it is done for cost, freshness and quick delivery to market. But to the drinker, that imported sticker on a bottle of beer that really only made a short hop to the United States from, say, Toronto, sets it off as exotic -- and means a higher price tag.

Federal regulations require brewers to label where their beer is made, but foreign companies that brew in North America may try to play down the origin of the beer.

"I think it's all about selling the beer and giving it a positive image," said Steve Parkes, owner of the American Brewers Guild, a California institution that trains professional brewers. "The public may have a favorable impression of beers from one country to another. They go to great lengths to make a beer according to a standard, and they don't want to undermine their image."

He pointed to Foster's, a popular beer with the slogan, "Foster's: Australian for beer."

"I think a majority of people think Foster's is brewed in Australia," said Parkes. "I don't know how many people read the label that closely."

More than 100 million cases of Foster's are produced each year in nine countries, including Canada, said Molly Reilly, a spokeswoman for Miller Brewing Co., which markets and distributes Foster's in the United States. Roughly 10 million cases of Foster's sold in the U.S. each year, making brewing close by a necessity, she said. The beer is produced in the Molson's Montreal brewery because of a long relationship between the two beers -- Foster's used to own half of Molson -- but the same "Australian" recipe and standards are used wherever Foster's is brewed, Reilly said.

The company conforms to all federal labeling regulations, she added.

Many beer companies charge premium import prices for beer that is actually produced just over the border. At a supermarket in New York City, a six-pack of domestic beer in 12-oz. bottles -- known as longnecks -- cost $5.99. At that same store, a six-pack of Canadian beer, such as Molson or Labatt Blue, costs $6.49. Premium imports shipped from Europe, such as the Czech Republic's Pilsner Urquell, cost $9.99. But European and Asian beer brewed in North America under licensing agreements usually charge at least $2 more than other beer imported from Canada. Foster's and Sapporo, brewed in Canada, cost $9.99 for a six-pack of longnecks. A six-pack of Canadian-brewed Carlsberg or Lowenbrau cost $8.49. That is the same price for Kirin Ichiban, which is brewed in California by Anheuser-Busch.

Foster's costs are higher because it imports ingredients, said Reilly, although she said that was not the only reason the beer was more expensive.

"It is a premium beverage," she said. "It is the quality of the product."

In ethnic restaurants, too, beer touted as being indigenous to a particular country is often produced in America. Such beers can be found, for example, in Korean, Japanese, Indian, Chinese or African restaurants. Many are microbrews produced in limited quantities for very specialized markets.

Addis Beer is a brew sold to about 20 Ethiopian restaurants in the New York metropolitan area and Washington, D.C., and produced in New Jersey. Araya Selassie, the owner of the Saba Tej Co., which makes Addis Beer, said he saw potential in the growing popularity of Ethiopian restaurants four years ago. His company now produces about 100 cases per month and is profitable, he said.

"We don't advertise, we just have word of mouth," said Selassie. "We have no competition whatsoever."

Customers are surprised when they learn the beer is made in New Jersey, but Selassie said he has never had a complaint. All of the ingredients are imported and a traditional recipe is strictly followed, he said.

Addis Beer is made at the High Point Wheat Beer Co. in Butler, New Jersey, which produces Ramstein beer and is co-owned by Greg Zaccardi. In the case of the Ethiopian beer, said Zaccardi, quality would be lost if it were imported.

"It is actually better here than you get in an imported version," he said. "It's very perishable."

The shelf life of a beer without any additives is six months, Zaccardi said. Most larger brewers, especially those who export beer, add chemicals to extend that life, as shipping and warehousing may mean that a year passes from the time a beer is produced to when it appears on a store shelf. Brewing the beer close to the market means having a fresher beer without taste-altering chemicals.

As long as the recipe, ingredients and water are followed, imported and treated to the specifications of the original brew, Parkes sees nothing wrong with brewing foreign beer in North America. For one thing, it gives Americans the opportunity to try a wide variety of beer.

"Offering American consumers a diverse range of beers from around the world is a good thing," he said.