Lest there be any misunderstandings, allow me to begin by stressing my bona fides as they pertain to TEN20 Craft Brewery.
I like it, a lot. It’s been a personal favorite of mine since opening in Butchertown in 2020, and the fact that a TEN20 satellite taproom has come to rest in SoIN (Clarksville) within easy Ohio River Greenway bicycling distance from my house in New Albany — not to mention the proximity of Upland Brewing’s nearby restaurant and taproom — conjures visions of dreamy future rehydration stops.
What’s more, I might even be able to pretend, if only for a glorious moment, that the Ohio is the Rhine, or even the Danube. Louisville can’t be Vienna, though it might make the grade as Linz in a pinch.
This being said, let’s discuss the cardstock announcement we received (cover photo) from TEN20 via the U.S. Mail in mid-December, beginning with my wife’s incredulous reaction: “When’s the last time we got a campaign mailer for a brewery?”
Answer: It’s been a long, long time.
Now follow the red arrow to a marketing turn of phrase that fascinates me: “Brewed for flavor and drinkability!”
I’m not being critical; far from it. Likely these five words are an irony-laden inside joke or perhaps a nod to vintage marketing tropes; still, they seem to utterly encapsulate the experience of being a beer enthusiast as we approach the fiftieth anniversary (in 2026) of New Albion Brewing Co. in California, the first DIY outpost of what grew to become microbrewing, and later “craft” beer.
Consider TEN20’s target demographic with this mailer: older people.
This isn’t because young beer drinkers don’t patronize TEN20. I’ve seen ‘em with my own two eyes. There may or my not have been demographic filters deployed here, but in essence the brewery is introducing itself to its new Southern Indiana clientele — with snail mail, and exactly who gives a damn about snail mail?
That’d be older SoIN residents, precisely like me. I’m flattered, to be honest. My demographic is loyal, and we have money to spend. You’d think this would constitute a recommendation.
Back in the 1990s, when the hardy pioneers first undertook to introduce “abnormal” beer to people who were terrified of it, they usually replied “but don’t you have any NORMAL beer?” Invariably it was necessary to reassure them that no, not all “micros” are dark, strongly-flavored or overly alcoholic.
Some were. Others were not.
It all depended on the...Read more
