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Posted for our west coast readers- Prof. Goodales
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As the sunny California weather kicks into high gear, so too does festival season. Between the suds celebrations, brew fests and even a beer circus, there’s a craft beer festival nearly every weekend through the beginning of summer.
Here’s just a sampling:
Continue reading “Brooks on Beer: Festival Season”
“While this is a New York State story, the Professor is sure this is going on all over the country. Old story: big brewers attempt to limit, even put out of business, smaller brewers through distributors that often rely on those big brewers for their main bread and butter. Often by getting lawmakers to back them up with rules and regulations.”- The Professor
Small manufacturers push to revamp New York law that can lock them into deals with indifferent wholesalers.
After Brooklyn Brewery entered a contract with an upstate wholesaler to distribute its beer outside of the city, its upstate sales steadily increased for a few years. But the wholesaler began adding more craft breweries to its portfolio, and the Brooklyn company saw its sales slip, even as its wholesaler’s overall sales grew.
When the brewery tried to terminate its contract, the wholesaler sued under New York’s alcoholic beverage control law—which binds brewers to one distributor within a marketing region once an agreement is in place—Brooklyn Brewery shelled out more than $200,000 in legal fees and had to pay the wholesaler an undisclosed sum to get the divorce it wanted.
Brooklyn Brewery survived, but its president, Steve Hindy, said most small breweries in New York cannot afford the litigation required to dump a neglectful distributor.
“That kind of money would sink them,†he said.
Continue reading “Brewers, Distributors Battle Over Beer-Contract Bill”
First-quarter results are due to be presented on May 4, so the company didn’t want to jump the gun, although the so-called “quiet period†before earnings is a cultural choice, not the law.
What the company did want to talk about was its new alcohol-free drink, the Hoegaarden 0.0. The Real Time Brussels team agreed to taste-test a six-pack, as it did for the Jupiler Force.
Continue reading “Anheuser’s New 0%-Alcohol Beer”
Shortly after being diagnosed with celiac disease, a few regular customers of the Old Hat Brewery & Grill approached Brewer and Owner Tommy Fuller to ask for a favor. Having celiac meant they could no longer consume gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. As such, the beers they once enjoyed at Fuller’s Lawton, MI, brewery were now off limits. The favor they were asking was for Fuller to brew up a gluten-free beer.
Continue reading “Gluten-Free Doesn’t Mean Craft Beer-Free”
There’s nothing better than relaxing with a beer after a long day of work, except maybe drinking a beer that helps those in need.
That’s the idea behind 50 Back, The Brew of the Brave, where 50 percent of profits will go to various veteran support organizations.
“Veterans and their families sacrifice so much for the rest of us,” said Kimberly Rogers, co-founder of 50 Back Brewing Company. “If we can create a great-tasting beer that can help make even a small difference in their lives, we will have succeeded.”
The idea began about two years ago with Rogers and co-founder Paige Haley, both of Pepperell, Mass. They both had family members and friends who either had served or were currently in the military.
Both Rogers and Haley said they decided they wanted to do something to help the veterans.
“The idea (of helping) really resonated with other people as well,” Rogers said.
“Everyone knows someone, even if it’s not a family member, who is in the military,” said Haley. “We decided to make a great beer, and give back to our soldiers and veterans.”
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Say this for the Scottish beer maker BrewDog: These guys know how to attract attention.
Last summer BrewDog released a 55-percent-alcohol-by-volume Belgian ale called The End of History. But the extreme alcohol content wasn’t the absurd part. The absurd part was that the bottles were sold inside dead squirrels. For $765 a pop. BrewDog also sells a 41 percent ABV India pale called Sink the Bismarck. I saw a bottle on the shelf at Julio’s Liquors in Westborough last week, priced around $150. (Apparently the beer is nothing special; the users of BeerAdvocate collectively rate it only a B.)
How to top these beers?
Continue reading “Who’s UP for a Beer with Viagra?”
Don’t be surprised if you’ve never heard of a Cascadian Dark Ale. The style—a strong, well-hopped, and robust Brown Ale—is a new one, created in the Pacific Northwest. A group of B.C. brewmasters got together to produce a unique local recipe for the official bevy of the second annual Vancouver Craft Beer Week.
The celebration of artisanal, high-quality beer takes place in dozens of pubs, bars, restaurants, and other venues around town from May 6 to 14, with events from a wacky pub crawl to a tasting festival that incorporates the B.C. Beer Awards. Iain Hill, who helms the pipes and kettles at Yaletown Brewing Company, won three top prizes last year’s VCBW. All three of his champion beers are on the menu at the Yaletown Gold Medal Brewmaster’s Dinner on May 12—a highlight of the nine-day event and one of several food-and-beer pairing events.
Continue reading “Vancouver Craft Beer Week Brews Frothy Fun”
Few craft brewers have arrived in St. Louis with as much anticipation and fanfare as Escondido, California’s Stone Brewing. But they arrive here this week, bringing all the Arrogant Bastard Ale and Stone Ruination IPA we’ve been longing for.
The beer hits store shelves and bar taps on Tuesday, but Thursday’s actually the big day for Stone Brewing events around town. The company’s collaborating with a host of St. Louis’ best beverage locales for events with Stone Brewing Co-Founder and CEO Greg Koch, including a tasting at the Clayton location of the Wine and Cheese Place from 4 to 5 p.m.
Store manager Paul Hayden’s been pushing for Stone Brewing to come here for a long time. In fact, in a blog entry two years ago, Hayden gave St. Louis beer lovers instructions on how to get Stone Brewing to town.
“The customer reaction has been ecstatic,” he says. “I cannot tell you how excited people are, and how excited we are to get the beers. We got tired of people coming into the store and asking if we carry Arrogant Bastard [Ale] or [Stone] Ruination [IPA]. Many people don’t understand beer laws and wonder why we just don’t order [it] and put it on our shelves. They don’t know about the red tape, and that Stone Brewing has to want to come to your state.”
Greg Koch’s coming to town, and he’s bringing beer!
Continue reading “Get Ready, Arrogant Bastards! Stone Week Starts Tomorrow”
CHICAGO, IL (April 7, 2011) – In 1842, Josef Groll brewed the world’s first golden beer and revolutionized an entire industry. Pilsner Urquell, translated as “original source,” remains a revered beer, both for its importance in beer history, as well as its intricate brewing process, including use of soft water, Saaz hops, pale malts and triple decoction.
Pilsner Urquell is inviting home brewers throughout the U.S. to take their shot at brewing a Czech-style pilsner, aiming for the standard Groll first brewed nearly 170 years ago. Three winners have the chance to earn trips for two to Plzen, Czech Republic this fall to tour the historic brewery, as well as attend the International Master Bartender Competition in Prague.
Continue reading “Pilsner Urquell Unveils Master Home Brewer Competition”
We have already covered some cool examples of beer label branding here at FeedGrids and are now offering an interesting follow-up: a great sampling of creative and unique beer label branding by Lost Coast Brewery – a pure source of graphic design inspiration.
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