Professor Good Ales

Written by Alicia Wallace for dailycamera.com

As a certified-organic brewery, Boulder-based Asher Brewing Co. is often at the mercy at what the market can bear and has to source ingredients where they’re available.

Asher acquires its grains from Vancouver, Wash., and its hops from Germany, New Zealand and parts of the United States.

“An organic brewery, people look to us for our carbon footprint and our sustainable practices,” said Steven Turner, a co-founder of the not-yet 2-year-old brewery. “We would really love and be excited to someday be able to make an all-Colorado beer.”

Other area craft brewers — many that do not have to rely on landing the more exclusive organic ingredients — share similar sentiments.

Want to read more? Please click…

HERE

A history of the original Acme in captions and pictures by Burrito Justice.

Want to see more? Please click…

HERE

Around the world, more people have taken an interest in American beer – specifically the so-called craft beers or microbrews

(The Professor usually doesn’t editorialize, but “so called?” What is THAT supposed to mean? Some of this is so obvious as to be mundane for anyone with the slightest knowledge of craft beer, but some of the percentages and stats are interesting. Utopia is NOT the world’s strongest beer. There are several a lot stronger, including BrewDog’s “The End of History” and “Tactical Nuclear Penguin” – PGA)

Written by Paul Lin for Voice of America

The brewing industry in the United States has seen an explosion in recent years in what are known as “craft beers” – innovative beer styles produced by small, independent breweries. In fact, the craft brewing industry grew last year by 11 percent in volume, and 12 percent in dollars – compared to the previous year. One of the newest offerings even takes its inspiration from the nation’s founding fathers, including George Washington.

Continue reading “Craft Beer Brewers Turn to American History for Inspiration”

Written by Dan Murphy, Press-Register

Last year, Raise Your Pintshad less than three weeks to put together the inaugural Mississippi Craft Beer Week. The grassroots organization, whose goal is to change the outdated beer laws in the state, managed to host more than a dozen events over the course of the week, and the response was overwhelming.

“It let us know that this was something worth keeping,” said Butch Bailey, president of Raise Your Pints.

Now, with a year of planning behind them, Raise Your Pints is set to kick off the second annual Mississippi Craft Beer Week, and Mississippi’s only brewery will be front and center.
Continue reading “Lazy Magnolia Takes Center Stage for Mississippi Craft Beer Week”

Posted by Chris Furnari at brewbound.com

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Drivers over the age of 21 in Buffalo can now fill up their growlers after they’re done filling up their gas tanks.

Sunoco Inc. rolled out a pilot program at the end of June entitled the “Craft Beer Exchange,” in an attempt to capitalize on the growth of the craft beer market.

“Through looking at market data and evaluating offerings, I think it’s clear that there is an interest in craft beer versus larger national brands, especially with the younger beer drinking demographic,” said company spokesperson Joe McGinn. “We are trying to meet that demand by providing craft beer at our APlus convenience locations.”

The program has installed up to 12 tap lines, operated by Sunoco employees, at 12 APlus accounts in Buffalo. If successful, the company plans to extend the program to other APlus accounts across the state of New York.
Continue reading “Sunoco Gas Stations Serve Craft Beer in Buffalo”

Written by Norman Miller for GateHouse News Service and milforddailynews.com

Like many stateside beer fans, I discovered New Zealand’s Epic Brewing Company through the “Brew Masters” television show.

On an episode featuring Dogfish Head owner Sam Calagione, he and brewers from Epic worked together to brew a beer for the Brewers Guild of New Zealand awards competition.

The beer turned out to be Portamarillo, a smoked porter made with tamarillos, an edible fruit native to the Andes of South America that’s also called a “tree tomato.”

“The theme (of the contest) was, ‘Let’s Go Native,’ so you had to use a native ingredient in the beer,” said Epic founder Luke Nicholas. “Sam asked what fruit we could use. Only fruits available at the time of year we proposed brewing was either kiwi or tamarillos. Tamarillos aren’t native to (New Zealand) so we had to come up with a native ingredient. Sam suggested we smoke it with a (New Zealand) wood, so I picked Pohutakawa as it was a sacred tree.”

Portamarillo became a somewhat sought-after beer after the show, and when it showed up in a couple of stores near me for the first time recently, it sold out quickly.

Thankfully, Epic is not a one-trick pony. The brewery has other great beers, all seemingly brewed with inspiration from the United States. As a matter of fact, Nicholas said his inspiration comes from the West Coast of the U.S.

Want to read more? Please click…

HERE

Interview with a British brewer has some interesting results-PGA

Written by Ben McFarland for thedrinksbusiness.com

Age?

Old enough to have an aching back and wish I could start counting backwards, young enough to still look roguishly handsome

How did you become a brewer?

I got the inspiration to home brew from one of my career advisers at West Point. Up until that point I thought beer just got magically made in the heavens. I never considered I could aspire to more than drinking and appreciating it. When we moved to San Francisco I got into the home brew scene and stuck my nose into some breweries that my friends worked for. One of them told me I should open my own brewery rather than work for someone else as there was no money in being a brewer. What he didn’t realise was that there is less money in owning a brewery than working for one!

When did you have your beer epiphany?

My dad gave me a sip of Paulaner Dunkel and I instantly loved it. Then he introduced me to real ale as a teenager when we visited England. It was in a Samuel Smith’s pub and if memory serves me well was Museum Ale. It’s been all downhill from there.

Who has been your brewing inspiration?
Continue reading “Brewer Q&A: Justin Hawke of The Moor Brewery”

Written by Greg Kitsock for washingtonpost.com

This week is shaping up to be a busy one for beer events. Birch and Barley/ChurchKey will tap beers from two breweries new to the Washington area: Tonight, the Logan Circle establishment will bust out eight ales from Loupe Rouge, a tiny French-Canadian microbrewery, and then on Tuesday, it’ll open five ales from California craft brewer, Black Diamond Brewery. (See the restaurant’s events calendar.)
Continue reading “Craft Beer Drinkers, Start Your Thirsts”