February has come and gone, and with it the inaugural Flagship February. Conceived by Canadian beer writer, Stephen Beaumont, the idea was simple enough – spend the month of February rediscovering and drinking the beers upon which breweries made their reputation – their so-called flagship beers. I must admit that I did not make any conscious effort to drink flagship beers throughout the month – maybe I will next year – but I did enjoy a few such brews during the twenty-eight days of February.

But before getting to the February flagships that I consumed, let’s think about what defines a flagship beer. In other words, what qualifies a beer as a flagship beer? The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines flagship as “the finest, largest, or most important one of a group of things”. So for a brewery, its flagship beer would be the one that the brewer considers to be his or her finest, or it could be the brewery’s best selling beer. To investigate this further I did an internet search and came across this page on the Beeradvocate.com website; where a number of brewers were asked to articulate their understanding of the term “flagship beer”. You can read the answers at the link above, but let me share a sample of them below.

According to Peter Egelston of Smuttynose Brewing Company in Hampton, NH, a brewery’s flagship beer “doesn’t necessarily have to be the biggest seller, but rather is the beer that best defines those qualities that a brewer wishes to be associated with. It is the one that embodies the culture and aspirations of a brewery, as opposed to being a brand that merely pays the bills”. For some breweries, however, paying the bills is key to identifying a flagship beer. For Jim Killeen of the now out-of-business Nutfield Brewing Company of Derry, NH their flagship beer was Nutfield Old Man Ale, for no other reason than it was the brewery’s best seller, accounting for two-thirds of its sales.

For some breweries, year-round availability is a key characteristic of a flagship beer. For example, David Wollner of Willimantic Brewing Co. in Williamantic, CT noted that Certified Gold is their “flagship because we always try to have it on tap. All of our other beers rotate throughout the year.” Finally, some breweries have more than one flagship beer. This is the case for Victory Brewing Company of Downington, PA. Brewer Bill Covaleski notes that Victory has four flagship brands, all of which are available throughout the year.

So the definition of ‘flagship beer’ varies from brewery to brewery. As I reflect on the beers that I enjoyed during the month of February, some were clearly flagships, with at least two of them being what I would term ‘iconic flagship’ beers. These are Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Anchor Steam, from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Anchor Brewing Company respectively. Every craft beer drinker in the United States is surely familiar with these beers. Indeed, in an article about flagship beers in the Post Bulletin (a Rochester, MN newspaper), Josh Noel suggests that Sierra Nevada is “light-years ahead of its time and arguably the most important American beer of the past 50 years.”

Two other flagship beers, not available nationally, that I had in February are Trumer Pils from Trumer Brewery in Berkeley, CA and Spotted Cow from New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, WI. The Trumer Brewery in Berkeley was established in 2004 as a sister brewery to the Trumer Brauerei in Salzburg, Austria. Trumer Pils is the only beer brewed at the brewery – so it has to be its flagship, right? It is one of my all-time favorite pilsners. Despite not distributing their beers outside of Wisconsin, New Glarus Brewing Company are the sixteenth largest craft brewery in the United States. Spotted Cow is New Glarus’s best known and best selling beer. When I flew home from Madison, WI last month, I didn’t check a bag. This meant, of course, I could not bring any beer home with me. Fear not, for there they were, at one of the gift shops in the Dane County Airport – twelve packs of Spotted Cow.

The four beers mentioned above are undoubtedly flagship beers. Others that I had that may be considered flagship beers include Mallet Session IPA from Trade Brewing in Napa, CA. The beer is brewed year-round. Also on that list is Leaping Lemur Cream Ale, which Hillsboro Brewing Company of Hillsboro, WI identify on their website as one of three flagship beers. Likewise, South Shore Brewing Company of Washburn, WI list their WPA:Wisconsin Pale Ale as one of five flagship beers.

Finally, while having dinner at Celadon in Napa, CA last month, I noticed, on the menu, Arctic Pale Ale from Einstok Beer Company in Akureyri, Iceland. I’d never had any Icelandic beer before, so I ordered it. I am glad I did. As I researched it later, I learned that Arctic Pale Ale is part of Einstok’s “core portfolio” of beers.

Of the eight flagship beers I enjoyed during Flagship February, seven were consumed in the state in which they were brewed (the exception being Einstok’s Arctic Pale Ale). Two were actually consumed at the brewery where they were brewed – Anchor Steam at Anchor Brewery and Leaping Lemur Cream Ale at Hillsboro Brewing Co.

As February drew to a close, a story about a new brew from Smartmouth Brewing Company in Norfolk, VA started to appear on my newsfeed. The beer is called Saturday Morning and is an IPA brewed with toasted marshmallows and cereal marshmallows. It was inspired by Lucky Charms breakfast cereal. Now I have no objection to brewers utilizing unsusal and non-traditional ingredients in their recipes. In fact, I think that beers brewed with such ingredients make the world of craft beer more interesting, and they certainly create buzz and get people talking. For breweries producing such a beer, it can generate some media coverage and get a brewery’s name out there. I, for example, had never heard of Smartmouth Brewing before they hit the news over the last few weeks – but I now know who they are. But I doubt such beers will ever attain Flagship status.

As I reflect on the concept behind Flagship February, I have to say that I think it’s a good idea. While I drink my fair share of flagship beers throughout the year, it was good to have an entire month focused on beers which, in my opinion, play a critical role in the world of craft beer.