November 7th, 2009 - 9.50.am § in Beer

Beer Wars: A Brief Review

PostScript: That mysterious voice you hear is an interview with Anat where she discusses the film [embedded at the bottom of the page].

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Laid low by a cold, I finally had the time to screen the Beer Wars preview DVD that was sent my way.

Over all I liked the concept of the documentary, but it had many flaws which could not be dismissed.

The biggest flaw, was the insistence of Anat Baron (Writer, Producer, Director) of including herself in the movie – both as a person of interest and as the narrator. Her brief stint at the head of Mike’s Lemonade was reason for her to time and time again remind the viewer that she was formerly “in the beer industry”. Worse, her shrill nasal tones were totally inappropriate as the narrator. Anat has definitely taken a page from the pseudo-documentary style of Michael Moore – to the detriment of her film.

The film is only 90 minutes, but drags on as she revists several topics and an extended history of beer in America before getting to the focus of the film (almost by accident) focusing on 2 protagonists: Sam Calagione (Founder of Dogfish Head) and Rhonda Kallman, (Co-founder of Sam Adams beer and founder of MoonShot). Yes, other brewers of renown make appearances (Greg Koch of Stone, Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn) but the film focuses on these two as they toil, David & Goliath style) against the big boys.

The problem with these protagonists and their stories is that after 10 years, Dogfish Head is doing pretty well – despite the Goliaths of the world eating up all of Kroger’s display space.

The story of Kallman’s Moonshot has all sorts of problems. Baron focuses on Kallman’s success in establishing Sam Adams – and how she has created a “category making beer”.
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