Baileys Harbor, WI (August 31, 2015) – Door County Brewing Company is thrilled to announce our new Farmhouse Ale, L’automne, will be available tomorrow. It’s no surprise we love a good farmhouse ale and we know our newest is sure to impress. Motivated by Bière de Garde, L’automne is a 7% ABV fall seasonal that will be available September through November in Wisconsin and Minnesota. A tribute to our Belgian roots, in many ways this beer has been 100 years in the making.
Over a century ago, the first Belgian settlers arrived in Southern Door County and quickly became the largest Belgian population in the nation. In our blood, our land and our beer, The Door County Brewing Farmhouse Ales pay homage to the history and the hops of our Belgian ancestors. A compliment to the pioneers of beer, every farmhouse ale resonates a seasonal sensation and familiar flavor of our Belgian roots.
With a malty backbone and brewed with our Belgian saison yeast, white and dark wheat, caramel malts and rye, our fall release, L’automne, has just the right amount of warm spice, bright citrus and a dry finish. A twist on a classic, we believe you should revere the past and enjoy the present.
For more information about L’automne and Door County Brewing Co. check out our Media Kit.
LONE TREE, CO — Lone Tree Brewing Company is excited to announce the 4th annual Lone Tree Brewing Company’s Oktoberfest. This year’s event will be held Saturday, September 19 at the brewery taproom in Lone Tree, Colorado.
September 19 is the official opening day for Oktoberfest in Munich— can’t make it to Germany? Lone Tree is the next best place to celebrate.
An authentic Oktoberfest celebration Lone Tree-style will include a Fest Halle tent with added beer stations. Activities will include beer stein racing, stein hoisting, chicken dancing, live music, assorted German fare, more food, and of course: BEER, BEER, and more BEER.
“Every year this event brings in more and more wonderful people,” says Lone Tree Co-Owner John Winter. “This year we wanted to make sure everyone had plenty of room to hoist their mass’s.”
Lone Tree will tap its Oktoberfest beer at this event, which according to Co-Owner and Head Brewer Jason Wiedmaier is “one of the tastiest Oktoberfest beers Lone Tree has ever brewed.”
This event is open to all ages and well-behaved dogs. A barrel tapping will take place at 11am. Once the barrel has been tapped there will be plenty of glass mass’s and beer for all. Watch for event updates on the band, food and contest times on Lone Tree’s Facebook page. Parking is limited and alternate modes of transportation are encouraged.
Grab your dirndls and head on down to the Lone Tree Brewery Oktoberfest extravaganza! It’s sure to be the talk of South Denver Suburbia.
For more information about this event, photos, or with any other media inquiries, feel free to contact Emily Hutto at coop@radcraftbeer.com.
ABOUT LONE TREE BREWING COMPANY
Lone Tree Brewing Company is a European-style craft brewery and tasting room located in Lone Tree, Colorado near Park Meadows Mall. Opening Lone Tree Brewing Company in 2011 meant much more to partners John Winter and Jason Wiedmaier than just serving beer. To them the brewery is about creating a community atmosphere where people who share their excitement in the science, experimentation, and development of a handcrafted beer can feel right at home.
Lone Tree Brewing Company is located at 8200 Park Meadows Drive, Suite 8222. Visit the brewery online at lonetreebrewingco.com. Like the brewery on Facebook at http://ift.tt/1Ql5xIN, follow the brewery on Instagram @lonetreebrewingco, or tweet to the brewery on Twitter @lonetreebrewing.
The Brewers Association will again hold export presentations with lunch and a reception at this year’s Great American Beer Festival® (GABF). USDA representatives will speak on the beer markets in Brazil, Chile, Peru and Vietnam, and trade members from these and other markets will be in attendance. Following the presentations, there will be a reception […]
Having a beer in hand is the only way to go on a quest.
Lucky dragons are good too.
Galaxy hops are the driving force in this complex aroma of this White IPA, which also includes notes of grapefruit, lemon, passion fruit, and pine. The body is smooth with a touch of residual sweetness from honey malt, while orange peel and coriander round out a quite other worldy drinking experience.
Upland Brewing Co. announced today that Side Trail Series #6, Falkor, will be released September 15th on draught at select craft beer bars throughout our distribution territory and on tap at all Upland retail locations September 18th.
Beer Description: This beer is all about late addition hops, allowing us to create big hop aroma and flavor, without being overly bitter. The aroma is complex; floral, spicy and tropical, with notes of grapefruit, lemon, passion fruit, and pine. Pleasant spicy bitterness is quickly followed by flavors of tropical and stone fruits. The body is smooth and drinkable with a touch of residual sweetness from honey malt. Orange peel and coriander provide delicate spice complexity to round out this IPA. American ale yeast helps create a smooth, low ester flavor profile.
The American homebrewing community lost one of its pioneers with the passing of Byron Burch on August 20th. Byron authored one of the original modern American books on homebrewing, Brewing Quality Beers, first published in 1974. Byron founded The Beverage People homebrew supply shop along with Nancy Vineyard, in Santa Rosa, CA in 1980.
The homebrew club that Byron helped found, the Sonoma Beerocrats, held a lock on the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) National Homebrew Competition (NHC) Homebrew Club of the Year Award for ten straight years, from 1986 to 1995—the most wins of any club in the competition’s history. In that first year of the Beerocrats’ reign, Byron won the NHC Homebrewer of the Year title with his best of show homebrew entry. Byron is also the only three-time NHC Meadmaker of the Year, submitting the best of show mead entry in the 1992, 1994, and 2001 competitions. In 1990, Byron was honored with the AHA’s annual Recognition Award.
The cause of death was organ failure brought on by circulation problems in his legs. Byron was 75.
It is no understatement to say that the current US homebrewing community would not be what it is today were it not for the contributions of Byron Burch. Cheers to you, Byron!
The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) has members all across the globe, with five of the six continents (all but Antarctica) represented by the membership. There are bustling homebrewing and beer scenes in every corner of the world and if you find yourself immersed in a new culture with some new drinking buddies, here’s a list of toasts to get you in with the locals.
The following list is based on the countries with the most AHA membership representation at the time of publishing. Check out our sources below for even more translations.
If you know of other ways to cheers in other languages, share them in the comments below!
Victory’s commitment to the environment runs deep. It was the nearly pristine water that led Bill and Ron to establish the first brewery in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. This water source, the East Branch of the Brandywine Creek, is a large part of the great flavor of Victory beer that our fans have come to love. When we outgrew the Downingtown brewery, it was a simple decision that our next location would need to have the same water source, which is why our state-of-the-art Parkesburg, Pennsylvania brewery is located just 17 miles away and receives its water from the West Branch of the Brandywine Creek. In order to continue delivering consistently delicious, flavorful beer, it is critical that we keep the water clean, not just in our local Chester County, but across the country.
Five years ago, Bill and Ron established the Headwaters Grant, named for the beer which pays homage to the importance of clean water. For every bottle of Headwaters purchased, a portion has been donated to the Grant. Victory has been able to donate nearly $35,000 to local water advocacy groups and make a great difference. With your help, we can make an even larger impact. Please join us in our September events (river clean-up, fundraising party and 5K) as we relaunch Headwaters Ale, which is now available in cans, and help protect the local water sources that are partly responsible for the great beer you enjoy. More info on Headwaters Ale and our events here.
Show your support of both great beer and conservation by unlocking the brand new “Drink Headwaters & #TasteVictory!” badge! Check-in to one (1) Headwaters Ale during the month of September and it’s all yours. It’s a no-brainer – drink Headwaters and save the planet!
Be sure to follow Victory Brewing Company on Untappd to unlock your badge and get the latest form their Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
from Untappd - Drink Socially http://ift.tt/1fRfYrW
via IFTTT
What’s your current position at your brewery, and how did you get started in the craft brewing industry? I’m a brewer [at Benchmark Brewing Co. in San Diego, Calif.]. I started in craft brewing by homebrewing in my apartment in San Diego. What’s new at Benchmark? What’s new and cool for me is the opportunity […]
Two Roads is proud to be from Connecticut, a state that has contributed vastly to America and the world. In 1939, Igor Sikorsky flew the first helicopter just down the street from our brewery. New Haven defined the way we eat food with the inventions of the hamburger and the lollipop. Bridgeport made the first submarine for the Navy and Danbury hats and Connecticut River Valley clocks were the height of sophistication. The list could go on for pages about what Connecticut has contributed to our society.
To celebrate the Nutmeg State, we are proud to announce the return of our “CONNartist” contest. Artists 21+ can create art in any form (watercolors to sculpture, etc.) celebrating Connecticut. Whether it’s Connecticut’s beautiful geography, its people, the state’s creative ingenuity or anything else, there should be plenty to inspire artistic creativity! The contest is limited to residents of MA, CT, RI, NJ, PA, VT and NY.
Rules and submission guidelines are on the Two Roads website: http://ift.tt/1flgDBM. Artists will have until October 2, 2015 to submit their art digitally (no physical art will be accepted). The winner will have their art displayed on a 30’ high fermenter inside the brewery and win $1000. Also, five first place finalists will receive $250. The unveiling will take place at the brewery in November.
Wit’s End is celebrating its 4th anniversary!!! Come join us on Saturday, August 29th, 12-8pm as we celebrate 4 amazing years! This last year was quite active for us, we expanded into our 7 BBL system and have been distributing in and around Denver, with bottling or canning plans in our future. As always, we would like to thank our friends, family, and supporters. You are why we love to do this, and the reason we get to!
There will be giveaways, laughter, and great food & beer all day! On the food front, we are really excited this year to welcome for the very first time Basic Kneads Pizza to the brewery. We are also fortunate enough to have our favorite gastrodynamic duo with The Cluck Truck! We are going to have some pretty unique beers on the menu—including our first Firkins!
The Core:
Jean-Claude Van Blond – Award winning Belgian blond ale
Green Man Ale – Our beloved reddish IPA
Super FL-IPA – Hop-forward black IPA
Kitchen Sink – Rye Porter
Wilford – Belgian oatmeal IPA
The Returning:
Miami Berliner Vice – Berliner weisse
Killing Me Smalls – Session-session IPA
Dubbel Impact – Belgian dubbel
Banana Hammock – Amber rye hefeweizen
Mai the Forth – Maibock (and force) inspired ale
2015 Scotchy, Scotch, Scotch – Peat-forward strong scotch ale
2014 Scotchy, Scotch, Scotch – Peat-forward strong scotch ale…aged!
The Newbies:
Laws Whiskey House Barrel-Aged Kitchen Sink – Experience what these barrels did to our porter!
Superfluous IPA – Imperial Super FL IPA!
Hop Tub Dream Machine – Imperial Hop Tub Time Machine!
The Firkins:
Greene Man Ale – Dry-hopped with East Kent Goldings!
Jean-Claude Framboise – Jean-Claude Van Blond with raspberries and cacao nibs!
The Beerslinger Series:
Radio Flyer – Session red ale made by beerslinger extraordinaire Tyler Bies!
Alt Skool – Dusseldorf-style Altbier made by the infamous taproom manager Matt Boehm!
Designed for O’Fallon’s “Everyday Beers” and “Seasonal Beers,” the Traditional-style bottle manufactured by Ardagh Group has O’Fallon’s signature “O’” and “We Love Beer” slogan embossed in the neck of the bottle. Inspired by form and design, the iconic bottle offers unique brand differentiation in a world of classic long-neck bottles.
“Craft brewers are increasingly focusing on innovations in package design, and the new bottle from O’Fallon Brewery is the perfect example of this advancement,” said John Orr, Vice President of Craft Beer Sales for Ardagh Group’s North American Glass division. “Ardagh Group appreciates O’Fallon’s commitment to sustainable packaging, while utilizing a bottle design to influence craft beer drinkers and build on the foundation of a great beer brand.”
The new embossed O’ is not only featured on the primary bottle package, but throughout O’Fallon Brewery’s brands, including the new O’Bar, a restaurant and tap room for beer enthusiasts.
Many craft brewers want an original, sustainable package that speaks to the quality of the product. A true innovator in the craft beer industry, O’Fallon takes pride in the quality of its product, evident in the intricacy of its packaging.
“When possible, O’Fallon does its best to source ingredients and packaging material locally, and Ardagh Group was the perfect choice,” said Jim Gorczyca, President & CEO of O’Fallon Brewery. “Consumers want to know that when they choose hand-crafted, locally produced beer that their purchase supports the local economy.”
Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, O’Fallon Brewery is the second-largest and second-oldest craft brewery in the St. Louis area. Located in Maryland Heights, Mo., the O’Fallon bottle is manufactured at Ardagh Group’s Pevely, Mo., facility, located approximately 50 miles from O’Fallon Brewery.
Portland, Maine (August 25, 2015) – Shipyard and Sea Dog Brewing Companies have made an exciting distribution change in the state of Illinois. As of August 15th, Shipyard and Sea Dog partnered with the Chicago MillerCoors Distributor Cluster to distribute their award-winning handcrafted ales.
“We are excited about the opportunity for growth in Illinois,” says Fred Chapman, Shipyard and Sea Dog Regional Sales Manager. While Shipyard and Sea Dog ales have been available in the state in limited quantities over the last several years, Chapman notes that “our new distribution network of experienced and respected distributors will better enable us to reach the craft beer lovers in the state of Illinois.”
This change comes at a great time for the Maine-based breweries as Shipyard prepares to launch its well-known fall seasonal, Pumpkinhead Ale, for the fall 2015 season. Pumpkinhead is Shipyard’s most widely distributed ale and the top selling brand in its portfolio of over 20 styles of beer.
Shipyard Brewing Company evolved from Federal Jack’s brew pub in Kennebunk, Maine and was established on Portland’s working waterfront in 1994. In 2014 Shipyard produced 162,000 bbls of beer, making it the 25th largest craft brewery in the US. Shipyard presently owns and operates 11 brewpubs in Maine, New Hampshire, and Florida.
Shipyard is a family owned company rooted in tradition and brimming with innovation. Its flagship North-American style golden ale, Shipyard Export, is the foundation of the brewery’s diverse portfolio that includes a range of hoppy IPA’s, innovative fruit beers, and classic English ales. The newest addition to the Shipyard lineup, a Rye IPA called Little Horror of Hops, will hit shelves nationwide this September.
Bars, restaurants and off-premise retail accounts can now access Shipyard and Sea Dog beer statewide through the following OneIllinois Cluster distributors:
Baumgarten Distributing Co, Inc., Burke Beverage, Inc., Chas. Herdrich and Son, Inc., Chicago Beverage Systems LLC, Euclid Beverage, George A Mueller Beer Co, Hayes Beer Distributing Company, Hayes Beer Distributing of Rockford, Joseph Mullarkey Distributors, Kloss Distributing Co, Koerner Distributor, Inc., Kozol Brothers, Inc., Mississippi Belle Distributing, Orange & Blue Distributing Co, Ra-Jac Distributing Co, Robert Chick Fritz Distributing and Town & Country Distributors.
On September 24th, Upland Brewing Company will open an online lottery for the release of four of its sour ales: Three Degrees North, Cherry, Raspberry, and Dantalion. The lottery will open at noon EST on Thursday, September 24th and close at noon EST on Thursday, October 1st.
You must specify your preferred pick-up location (Bloomington Brewpub or Indianapolis Tasting Room in Broad Ripple) at the time of entry, and pickup locations cannot be changed after a reservation request has been made.
Lottery winners will be randomly drawn and notified via email on October 5th, and can purchase the sour ale(s) they selected at their preferred pickup location from October 14th through October 28th. Sour Ale Program director, Caleb Staton, will be leading tours Saturday, October 24 at 3 and 4 pm. Reservations will be required for tours and can be made by emailing sours@uplandbeer.com.
If you can’t make the tours October 24th, don’t worry! Our Sour Brewery Tour Guides, will be leading tours Saturday the 17th, Sunday the 18th and Sunday the 25th at 3, 4, and 5pm. Reservations are not required for these tours.
Bottles may be picked up at the Bloomington Brewpub 11am-midnightMonday through Thursday, 11am-1amFriday and Saturday, and noon to midnightSunday, or at the Indianapolis Tasting Room 4pm-10pmMonday through Thursday and noon to midnightFriday and Saturday. Please note the Indianapolis Tasting Room cannot sell carryout on Sunday, in accordance with Indiana state law. Each bottle will cost $25 plus applicable sales tax.
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Upland Brewing Company, Inc. is a Bloomington, Indiana-based brewery established in 1998 that specializes in handcrafted ales and lagers.
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Fruited Lambics – Lambics have been made in Belgium for over 500 years, and we’re honoring this tradition by brewing our own Indiana version. Upland lambic-style sour ales are fermented by wild yeast and aged in oak casks for over a year which creates a tart, complex beer. We then add whole berries, in this case blueberries or blackberries, giving the beer enticing aromas and flavors. Once the fruit has been added, the beer is bottle conditioned, which adds a zesty and refreshing carbonation. Upland lambic-style sour ales are the perfect drink to share with friends over a plate of good cheese and fresh fruit. The peaches this year were sourced from Georgia and the persimmons are from Indiana.
Three Degrees North: Three latitude degrees away, we collaborated with our friends at Yazoo Brewing Company. The result was a beer with polite sour notes by combining a Blonde Sour Ale with Kiwi and Cherry Sour Ales to meld into a fruit filled extravaganza of flavors. This beer is to be enjoyed with sunshine, friends, and a cool breeze. Strings and spokes are welcome.
Dantalion: Dantalion is our demonically named sour ale based on the Oud Bruin beer style. Medium brown in color, Dantalion has hints of chocolate, Munich malts, and rye. We also incorporate a spice blend containing ginger, coriander, star anise, grains of paradise, and black pepper to create a gentle halo of spice character. The beer is fermented on the same selection of yeasts and microbes as our base lambic, and aged for up to 8 months or more in white oak barrels.
A Barrel Named Phyllis (Secret Barrel Society Exclusive): This is a very special barrel in our Sour Ale Program donated to us by our friends at the Oliver Winery. The inagural batch in Phyllis is a blend of equal amounts of Orchid and Sour Reserve aged on a polite amount of strawberries from Heartland Family Farms. Enjoy the unique development of Phyllis this year with a healthy serving of elote, grilled trout, and marscapone ice cream. Click here for more information on our Secret Barrel Society.
Beer o’clock: noun: An appropriate time of day to start drinking beer.
Recently, the Oxford Dictionary released a list of over 1,000 words that have earned spots within their pages –none as important to us as beer o’clock. CraftBeer.com is excited to recognize this very important time of day among their 57 other beer-filled terms and thanks Oxford dictionaries for this action.
As the definition implies, beer o’clock is the best time to enjoy a beer. With the vast variety of beers available, here in the United States from the country’s 3,800+ small and independent breweries and around the world, there are plenty of times and occasions that would be deserving of the label “beer o’clock.”
While a facetious term, the inclusion of beer o’clock in the Oxford dictionary is proof that beer is as much a part of human culture as it has ever been, and it’s recent spotlight is thanks, in no small part, to small and independent craft brewers who continue to re-write the definition of this age-old beverage. It makes me wonder what other beer terms will be added to the dictionary in future years? Perhaps randle; or whalez or even crowler may someday grace its pages.
Whether you’ve been aware of it for a while or just recently heard the phrase, I encourage you to raise a glass of craft beer during beer o’clock—whenever that happens to be… for you.
Look to CraftBeer.com’s Brewery Finder to find a brewery near you to toast to the term’s momentous inclusion.
Denver, CO (August 21, 2015) – One hundred eighty-seven (187) individuals passed the American Cheese Society’s fourth Certified Cheese Professional® Exam, which was held on July 29, 2015 in Providence, Rhode Island. This class of ACS Certified Cheese Professionals® (ACS CCPs®) includes individuals from 51 different companies in the United States and Canada. They join an elite group that now totals five hundred ninety-five (595) individuals who have earned the prestigious ACS CCP credential. A complete directory of ACS CCPs is available at http://ift.tt/1MToKCN.
Each ACS CCP receives an official lapel pin, embroidered patch, and a certificate, along with the right to call themselves an ACS Certified Cheese Professional® or ACS CCP®. ACS CCPs are required to demonstrate continued active participation and professional development within the cheese industry to maintain their credentials, and they must recertify every three years.
“We are not only proud of these distinguished individuals and their professional achievement, but also of the industry’s adoption of the ACS CCP designation as the standard for cheese professionals”, says Nora Weiser, Executive Director of the American Cheese Society. “The entire cheese industry – from cheesemaker to consumer – benefits from the understanding, education, and professionalism of ACS CCPs. They are a testament to the growth, quality, and passion of today’s American cheese scene.”
The Certified Cheese Professional Exam encourages high standards of comprehensive cheese knowledge and service for professionals working in all areas of the industry. The exam is based on the knowledge and skills required to successfully perform cheese-related tasks in a range of different jobs. Testing encompasses a broad range of topics including raw ingredients, the cheesemaking process, storing and handling cheese, selecting distributors, marketing and communicating about cheese, nutrition, and regulations and sanitation.
Due to tremendous interest in the exam, ACS is pleased to offer two seatings in 2016: a small seating will be offered on January 16 in San Francisco, California, and a larger seating will take place on July 27 at the 33rd Annual ACS Conference & Competition in Des Moines, Iowa. Cheese professionals who meet the eligibility requirements outlined on the ACS website are encouraged to apply early. Applications will be accepted for the San Francisco exam between September 30 and November 30, 2015. Applications will be accepted for the Des Moines exam between January 1 and March 31, 2016. Space is limited.
To learn more about the ACS Certified Cheese Professional Exam, visit http://ift.tt/1hZi095.
We’re pleased to introduce Amicis Mortis — a farmhouse ale brewed with sweet potatoes, chili peppers, and coconut in collaboration with Brasserie Dunham in Dunham, Quebec. We first tasted beer from Brasserie Dunham at Shelton Bros. The Festival in Los Angeles, California in the fall of 2014 and were completely and utterly impressed. The integration of yeast character, acidity, dryness, bitterness, and effervescence in their farmhouse ales was staggeringly good, and they’re wonderful people to boot. We instantly knew we wanted to work with them.
In March of 2015, Eloi Deit of Brasserie Dunham came to Jester King to brew with us. The inspiration for the beer came from a dish cooked with sweet potatoes, chili peppers, and coconut we had with Eloi at Odd Duck the night before brewing. We felt kinship with Eloi through food. We also share a love for low alcohol, slightly bitter, quenching beers. Thus, we wanted to make a very drinkable, table strength beer. We also decided we would add a relatively large dose of hops to the beer, so as to impede bacterial fermentation in favor of more yeast character and bitterness.
Amicis Mortis was brewed with Hill Country well water, malted barley, raw wheat, hops, sweet potatoes, and chili peppers. Sweet potatoes were added to the mash, and a small dose of chili peppers were added late in the boil. It was fermented in stainless steel with our mixed culture of microorganisms consisting of brewers yeast and native yeast and bacteria harvested from the air and wildflowers around our brewery. A couple of weeks into fermentation we added coconut and more chili peppers to the beer. Amicis Mortis was packaged on May 20th, 2015 and refermented in bottles, kegs, and casks. It is 4.2% alcohol by volume, has a finishing gravity of 0.999 (zero degrees Plato), and is 32 IBU.
Amicis Mortis will be released at Jester King when our tasting room opens on Friday, August 21st at 4pm. It will be available by the glass, as well as to go in 750ml bottles ($12, limit 2 per customer per day). Approximately 2,400 bottles are available. We do not anticipate Amicis Mortis being available beyond Jester King, aside from a few special events.
The beer name and label art for Amicis Mortis was created by our in-house artist Josh Cockrell. Here is Josh’s description of his thought process:
I took visual inspiration from medieval works produced in the aesthetic of memento mori, a practice of focusing on mortality. The term “Amicis Mortis” literally means “remember to die”. The ingredients for this beer all create pause to reflect on death. The word coconut comes from old Spanish for skull. Chili Peppers are in the nightshade family, made famous by the poison created from one of its members atropa belladonna. Sweet Potatoes, which are in the morning glory family, with blooms lasting only one day, have long represented mortality. The crown hanging from the skull comes from the coat of arms of the city of Dunham, Quebec, and represents that none of us are above death. I found it interesting that our friendly collaboration ended up settling on ingredients symbolic of mortality, and so named the beer Amicis Mortis meaning “friends of death”.
The Washington Beer Commission will host its 2nd annual South Sound Craft Beer Festival on Saturday, August 29, at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall. The Commission currently produces six tasting festivals around the state as a means for funding the marketing, promotion, and public relations efforts of the Washington Beer Commission and its more than 275 member breweries.
The South Sound Craft Beer Festival will turn the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall into a haven of hops, featuring some of the best India Pale Ales (IPA’s) to be found anywhere, along with some great late summer seasonal creations. In all, there will be at least 90 delicious craft beers served up by the 31 Washington breweries on hand (see list below). There will also be live music and a great selection of food items to pair with the delicious craft beer.
The event will take place on Saturday, August 29, with a noon – 6pm tasting session. Admission is $20 in advance and $25 at the door and includes a commemorative tasting cup along with six, 5oz. sample tastes. Additional tastes will be available for purchase at $2.00 each (or three for $5). Complete ticket and event information will is available at washingtonbeer.com. This is a 21 and over event.
Here is a list of participating Washington breweries:
$20 advance tickets or $25 at the door. Admission includes a commemorative tasting cup and six 5oz sample tastes.
Must be 21 years old or older and have a valid ID to be admitted.
Designated driver admission is $5 and available at the door only.
Parking is FREE! The Washington Beer Commission encourages designated drivers and that everyone enjoys themselves responsibly. Please do not drink and drive.
There are few styles of beer more flavorful than Imperial Stout. Our thick, rich version is brewed with plenty of caramel and roasted malts and subtly spiced with Cascade and Super Galena hops. We accentuate the natural smokiness of the brew by adding a small amount of beechwood-smoked malt. At 22.5º starting gravity and 9.5% alcohol by volume, this beer boasts flavors of chocolate and coffee, along with raisins and dried fruit soaked in sherry.
Black Cauldron is a strong ale best enjoyed in moderation. Try pairing it with full-flavored grilled or roasted meats. Rich desserts like chocolate cake, truffles, fruit tarts, caramel flan or creme brulee are all excellent matches.
Black Cauldron Imperial Stout will be available August 15 in 1/2 and 1/6 barrel kegs and bottle conditioned 750mL cases.
Summer is quickly coming to an end and Fall is fast approaching, though the heat in some parts of the country beg to differ. One sure sign that the Fall months are coming is the annual release of many amazing Oktoberfest and Märzen style beers. With their rich copper color, toasty, malty flavor profile, they’re a big hit on a cool afternoon - or anytime, depending on who you ask.
This fall, America’s Oldest Brewery, Yuengling will roll out their seasonal take on the Oktoberfest and you will have a chance to unlock a brand new badge. Check-in to at least one (1) Yuengling Oktoberfest during the month of September to earn your badge of the same name.
Keep checking in this October because three (3) check-ins to Yuengling Oktoberfest beers will be entered to win weekly Yuengling gear or the grand prize of a Yuengling football package!
Now don your lederhosen and celebrate Fall with this delicious brew!
New Belgium Brewing is pleased to announce an exclusive partnership agreement with Young’s Market Company, to start selling beer in Hawaii in February, 2016. New Belgium will launch with 6-pack bottles of Fat Tire, Ranger IPA, Rampant Imperial IPA and Seasonal Release as well 12-pk cans of Fat Tire and Ranger. Fat Tire bombers and draft Fat Tire, Ranger, Seasonal, and Lips of Faith will round out the initial portfolio offerings.
“New Belgium is extremely excited to be partnering with Young’s Market Company in the state of Hawaii,” said New Belgium Regional Sales Director, Scotty Prawalsky. “They are a family-owned company with a long history of success on the islands. We are stoked to be working with them to help grow the craft beer scene in the Aloha State.”
Founded in 1888, Young’s Market Company is the premier distributor of fine wines, spirits and selected beverages in the western United States, with operations in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
Regarding the new partnership, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Philana Bouvier said, “Young’s Market Company is so thrilled to be working with New Belgium Brewery. They are the 4th largest Craft Brewer in the United States and soon visitors from all over the world will have the opportunity to enjoy a New Belgium Beer as part of their Hawaii experience.”
New Belgium beers are scheduled to be available throughout the islands as of February 15, 2016.
ABOUT NEW BELGIUM BREWING
New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale and a host of award-winning craft beers, is recognized as one of Outside Magazine’s Best Places to Work and one of the Wall Street Journal’s Best Small Businesses. The 100% employee-owned brewery is a Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Business as designated by the League of American Bicyclists and one of World Blu’s most democratic U.S. businesses. New Belgium is also a Certified B Corp. In addition to Fat Tire, New Belgium brews ten year-round beers; Ranger IPA, Rampant Imperial IPA, Slow Ride Session IPA, Snapshot Wheat, Shift Pale Lager, Sunshine Wheat, 1554 Black Ale, Blue Paddle Pilsener, Abbey Belgian Ale and Trippel. Learn more at www.newbelgium.com.
ABOUT YOUNG’S MARKET COMPANY
Founded in 1888, Young’s Market Company is the premier distributor of fine wines, spirits and selected beverages in the western United States. With operations in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, we are proud to represent industry-leading brands and supplier partners. Our best-in-class team of wine and spirits professionals represents a collection of unique life experiences, worldviews, and ideas all focused on our core values; Integrity, Family, Quality, and an Entrepreneurial Spirit. We are committed to adding value to our customers, providing exemplary professional representation of our suppliers, reaching the highest standards of respect for our employees, and supporting the communities we serve.
Freshness matters. Distributors, importers, retailers and beer lovers all expect brewers to establish shelf life estimates for each of their brands. Doing so is not only important to the reputation of beer as a beverage, but also safety and sales. So I ask: How is your brewery leading in this arena? As the Brewers Association Technical […]
As homebrewers and beer enthusiasts, we taste quite a bit of beer. Often times increasing waistlines are blamed on our passion for sampling various styles of brews, though you rarely hear of wine and spirits catching such flack.
CraftBeer.com debunked the myth of the beer belly, making it clear that beer has zero fat content and a calorie rate that isn’t much different than other fermented beverages. Consuming an overt amount of calories from any source can lead to weight gain, so don’t be so quick to blame our good friend beer.
But how many calories are in the beers you and your friends are brewing at home?
Where Do Beer Calories Come From?
In beer, the main sources of calories come from carbohydrates and alcohol. Both carbs and alcohol are a derivative of malted grains used in beer making to provide the sugars that will mostly be broken down by yeast to form alcohol and CO2.
During fermentation, the yeast will break down the simple carbohydrates, but the longer chains of carbs that are unable to be broken down by the yeast will remain in the finished beer and contribute to the amount of calories. It’s said that, generally speaking, a beer will have about 60% of the calories from alcohol and the remaining 40% from the residual carbohydrates.
To put this into perspective, a beer like Sam Adams Boston Lager (4.9% alcohol) has about 175 calories per 12-ounce bottle. A good rule of thumb is the higher the alcohol, the more the calories.
Contrary to popular belief, color is not a useful signifier of calories, meaning darker beers don’t equate to high-calorie beverages. That being said, the low-calorie beers you see on television commercials are light in color and thin in body because they minimize the use of grains, often times using adjuncts in its place, to reduce the number of residual carbohydrates while keeping the alcohol level. Both of these equate to lower-calorie beers.
How To Calculate Calories in Beer
So how do you determine how many calories are in homebrewed beer? It’s actually fairly simple to equate if you know the original and final gravities of the beer in question. To do this you will need to perform two separate equations to determine the total number of calories from alcohol and the total number of calories from residual carbohydrates, both of which rely on gravity readings.
So, for example, if you have a pale ale with an original gravity of 1.054 and a final gravity of 1.010, you’d have a total of about 179 calories, 116 from alcohol and 63 from residual carbohydrates.
There you have it! Beer is not some high-calorie devil. As with anything in life, consume beer in moderation while taking into account your caloric intake, and you’ll have no good reason to blame a tighter belt on your love of beer sampling.
Savannah Craft Beer Week kicks off this coming Sunday, August 30th, and brings with it a week long celebration of everyone’s favorite beverage. Events will be held at locations throughout Savannah, GA, ranging from “Meet the Brewer” social outings to a 5k group run to burn off extra calories consumed during the week. Additionally, there will be many brewery tap takeovers for your enjoyment all week long.
To celebrate this year’s festivities, we have a new badge for all you locals to unlock! To get the “Savannah Craft Beer Week (2015)” badge, check-in to any beer within a 14 mile radius of Savannah, GA between August 30th - September 5th. It’s that simple. Plus you’ll be out enjoying all the great events anyway!
To learn more about Savannah Craft Beer Week and get a full list of events, head over to http://savcraftbeer.com.
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Each August in Madison, Wis., the guilds from the 11 states that participate in the Great Taste of the Midwest festival are invited to join a regional gathering. This was the fourth year for this meeting. The gathering began when the Wisconsin and Minnesota craft brewers guilds determined that with so many small brewers in one place for the festival, it would […]
They’re lurking around every corner. The right moment is almost here. Daylight is fading. Nights are getting colder. Soon they’ll come out of the shadows, rise up through a pile of leaves, and cast a broad crooked smile filled with switchblade teeth. Summer will be ambushed by pumpkins.
In preparation for autumn, Speakeasy Ales & Lagers has joined forces with our squash overlords. In the past we’ve dabbled with spiced brown ales and filled a firkin with pumpkin, but we’ve never loaded our mash tun with enough squash and spices to bake 82 pumpkin pies, until just a few weeks ago. The delicious result is Payback Pumpkin Pie Porter.
Payback Pumpkin Pie Porter is rich and complex. Brewed with Chilean chocolate malts, rolled oats, and 112lbs of all-natural pumpkin, this robust beer pours a dark chocolate brown. The aroma and flavor yields a sharp bite of citrus and ginger, with notes of espresso, baker’s cocoa, sweet toasted maltiness, allspice, and nutmeg. The beer finishes with a creamy mouth feel and a touch of sweetness at 7.5% alcohol by volume.
According to Kushal Hall, Director of Brewing Operations, “What sets this beer apart is that Payback Porter is at its core. We didn’t just make an amber ale and add cinnamon and pumpkin. We took one of our favorite beers, that already has tremendous flavor, and made a unique version, which was quite a challenge. It’s something people can have a round of with friends. It’s dessert.”
Payback Pumpkin Pie Porter will only be available on draft, and in very limited quantities, this September and October. It will be distributed in California, New York City and Las Vegas. You can also join us for the release party in our Tap Room on Friday, September 11th.
Forget Christmas in July, these days it’s Thanksgiving in August, as craft beer fall seasonals seem to start hitting store shelves earlier and earlier every year. Plenty of beer enthusiasts protest—and there are few ideas on how to stop it—but seasonal creep just keeps on creepin’ on.
What is Seasonal Creep?
Seasonal creep refers to the increased lead time that retailers set their merchandise for the impending season. If you’ve ever groaned at the sight of Christmas decorations in October, you know what I’m referring to. Seasonal merchandise traditionally has a finite amount of time to sell. Most people won’t be purchasing holiday merchandise after December unless it’s heavily discounted. Retailers look to stimulate seasonal buying behavior earlier to try to avoid heavy discounts later, thus, ugly sweaters hit the floors earlier and earlier.
But craft brewers don’t buy into this, right? Well, I’m sure no one wants to be brewing pumpkin beers in July, but, “There’s a collective action problem for retailers, wholesalers and brewers, explains Brewers Association Chief Economist, Dr. Bart Watson.
“If everyone waits until September 1, great–everybody splits the benefits. But, if one retailer ‘defects’ and sells them sooner (and this cascades down to wholesalers and brewers), they may reap additional advantages that the other retailers don’t get. So each individual has an incentive to move a week earlier.”
It’s keeping up with the Jonses retail-style, and if you’re a brewer that has created a super popular beer and invested in the production of a beer that has a finite window of time that consumers demand it, aren’t you somewhat locked into the game? I have zero arguments against any brewery making the decisions they need to make to keep the lights on and make sure their employees are taken care of.
The Impact of Pumpkin Beer
So we continue to see pumpkin beers hitting the shelves earlier each year, but are they actually that important in the grand scheme of things for small and independent craft brewers? The short answer is yes! Watson elaborated on the pumpkin beer phenomenon last fall in “The Pumpkin Beers are Coming.”
“Looking at annual data, seasonal beers peak in interest and sales every October, and the only suspect worth considering for this peak is the pumpkin beer. The graph below compares Google searches for all four seasonals (‘winter beer’ + ‘spring beer’ + ‘summer beer’ + ‘fall beer’) vs searches for ‘pumpkin beer’ alone. Come October, pumpkin beer is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the seasonal world.”
We Can’t Go Back…
We like to think of beer as seasonal by nature. Styles like saison, marzen, maibock and lambic all have historical origins connected to seasonal availability and environmental changes, but are they impacted by those changes in today’s world? Brewers are no longer reliant on time and location, thanks to refrigeration, worldwide ingredient sourcing and a catalog of yeast to brew these styles year-round. So why does it matter if a pumpkin beer gets released in July. Beer has been losing its connection to seasonality for much longer than the term seasonal creep has been around, and as we’ve seen, seasonals are big business for brewers.
But we also know that seasonality of beer is important to us as consumers—we don’t want to lose that. For many, a pumpkin beer just doesn’t taste right in August. Seasonal creep messes with our senses, and it feels like we’re being forced to align with an unnatural cue from retailers (not Mother Nature), which is not something I care to support. So how can we avoid the insanity when faced with seasonal beers out of season?
…can we?
The obvious answer for me is to look to classic and sage-like Simpsons episodes for clarity. In this case, Tree House of Horror VI, when giant advertisements come to life and start destroying the city. Lisa solicits the help of Paul Anka to sing a jingle to the townspeople to “Just Don’t Look.” The irony is that they’re using one form of advertising to help destroy another type of advertising.
It’s silly I know, but ignoring seasonal creep is probably the most effective thing you can do if it really bothers you. Fact is, you have control over what you purchase. There is no use complaining about out of season beers if you’re buying them, and if you’re buying them, why are you complaining? It means the “collective action” of others changed your buying habits.
Seasonal creep will keep on creepin’ if it’s proven effective, and some people might not mind an Oktoberfest in August. Heck, the real Oktoberfest isn’t even in October, it’s in September—maybe it’s the original seasonal creeper!
Don’t let a store tell you when it’s time for you to make a purchase, you decide. And, if you choose to resist seasonal creep, then come September or October (or whenever you want), that pumpkin beer is going to be worth the wait.
Can’t stand seasonal creep? Here’s what a few small and independent craft brewers had to say:
“We’re seasonal-only. We don’t have a flagship and we don’t want one. We believe that what people like to drink changes depending on the time of year, the type of foods that are available in the local markets, the weather, and even their moods. Because of that, we’re striving to provide a seasonal selection that’s always fresh and reflects what we think drinkers will be looking for at each time of the year.” Founder, CEO and Head Brewer, Erik Lars Myers has his own thoughts on seasonal creep.
“Our fall seasonal is a wet-hop pale ale we brew using fresh wet hops from two local hop farms. They are looking at harvest the first week of September, so our beer would be available toward the end of September.”
“We have to wait on the local sweet potato from the guy next door. This Sweet potato ale [Miss Betty] is infused with vanilla beans, brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon and clove.”
“This is what happens when a local brewer and a local farmer drink a pint together,” says Founder Matt Cutter. “Mike Munson from Munson Farms came to me in 2009 and asked if we were interested in brewing a pumpkin beer with his organic baby bear pumpkins grown in Boulder County. Malt and hops come from the field. Adding pumpkins to this brew makes this truly a local farm-to-brewhouse collaboration.” The beer described was the 2011 GABF Gold Medal Winner in the Field & Pumpkin Beer category. Learn more about the making of Upslope Pumpkin Ale in this video.
EUGENE, Ore.—Ninkasi Brewing Company, an independent craft brewer based in Eugene, Ore., proudly announces distribution to New York state. In partnership with craft beer wholesaler, Sheehan Family Companies, the craft brewery will begin full-time distribution to New York starting late September.
Founded in 2006 by Jamie Floyd and Nikos Ridge, Ninkasi first entered the craft beer market with its popular Total Domination India Pale Ale. Since then, the brewery’s portfolio of beers has grown to include a diverse offering of styles suitable for any palate. Its year-round Flagship Series includes Total Domination India Pale Ale, Tricerahops Double India Pale Ale, Dawn of the Red India Red Ale, Lux Helles Lager, Oatis Oatmeal Stout, and its counterpart, Vanilla Oatis Oatmeal Stout.
“As an NYU alum and legitimate fan of New York, I am excited to bring our beers to the growing number of passionate craft beer drinkers on the East Coast,” explains Nikos Ridge, Ninkasi co-founder and CEO. “I look forward to working with The Sheehan Family Companies to build relationships with craft retailers across the state.”
“Ninkasi and their team embody everything The Sheehan Companies look for in a brewer partner – commitment to quality and craftsmanship, vision, innovation, and the true spirit of partnership,” says Robert Hodson, corporate brand manager for Sheehan Family Companies. “We’re looking forward to a great future with tremendous opportunity for both Ninkasi and The Sheehan Family Companies in New York.”
About Ninkasi Brewing Company Founded in 2006 by Jamie Floyd and Nikos Ridge, Ninkasi Brewing Company continues to grow from its first batch of Total Domination IPA, to two brewhouses, a 55-barrel and a 90-barrel brewhouse, located in Eugene, Ore. Ninkasi’s Flagship beers—Total Domination IPA, Tricerahops Double IPA, Dawn of the Red IRA, Lux Helles Lager, Oatis Oatmeal Stout, and Vanilla Oatis Oatmeal Stout—are sold throughout Alaska; Alberta; Arizona; California; Colorado; Idaho; Nevada; Oregon; Utah; Washington; and Vancouver, British Columbia. The brewery remains privately-owned and is committed to community support and giving. Ninkasi’s Beer Is Love program offers in-kind donations and support for organizations throughout its footprint.
New in 2015, the Great American Beer Festival will dedicate roughly 30,000 square feet of hall space to a new section called Meet the Brewer. Just under 100 breweries will comprise this area, and each brewery’s booth will be staffed entirely, exclusively, by their employees.
“Meet the Brewer is another great opportunity for passionate beer fans to start conversations with brewers, learn more about their beers and talk shop,” said Nancy Johnson, event director at the Brewers Association. “We expect Meet the Brewer to be particularly popular with the homebrewing crowd.”
The new section occupies the heart of Hall B, which is a new addition to the festival. The area will feature a wide promenade between two rows of brewery booths, with lights strung overhead.
“Ever since the first festival, in 1982, one of the best things about GABF has been the personal interactions attendees have with their craft brewing heroes, and Meet the Brewer builds on that long tradition,” said Johnson.
Longwood, Florida, August 27, 2015 – The Hourglass Brewery announces the departure of founding brewer, Sky Conley, and the elevation of Michael Delancett and Matthew Gemmell as co-brewers.
The change in brewers is part of The Hourglass Brewery’s plans to grow the distribution of its beers, first in Central Florida, and then throughout the state. “We’ve always had our sights set on distributing quality beer,” said co-founder, Brett Mason. In July 2015, The Hourglass Brewery began distributing its beer in Seminole and Orange Counties through Republic National Distributing Company. “Today’s personnel change is aimed at meeting the growing demands of our distribution while ensuring that a large variety of Hourglass beer remains available in our taproom,” according co-founder and manager, Lance Butterfield.
Sky Conley, who co-founded The Hourglass Brewery, helped to launch the brewery in 2012 with a three-barrel brewing system in its former Longwood location. Conley established a strong reputation for concocting a wide variety of unique and interesting beers. Said Butterfield: “We could not have launched a brewery without Sky’s brewing talent and creativity. We appreciate all his efforts.”
Taking charge of brewing operations at The Hourglass Brewery are Michael Delancett and Matthew Gemmell. Both Dalancet and Gemmell have been working on the brewery’s ten-barrel system since the new location opened its doors in October 2014. According to Mason: “Matt and Michael have worked hard to learn this system and what it takes to produce high-quality beer. They’re doing a great job.”
For more information about The Hourglass Brewery, contact Lance Butterfield. Lance.Butterfield@gmail.com
407-466-5706
Upland Brewing Company is pleased to announce Bob Kenney as our Vice President of Sales. Most recently Bob was the Senior Director of Anheuser-Busch INBEV’s sales team responsible for selling Goose Island’s specialty, Belgian-inspired beers, such as Sophie, Matilda and Lolita, on a national basis. Previously, Bob served as Vice President of Sales at Goose Island Brewing Company, where he built and led a sales team that doubled sales to 150,000 BBLs in a short number of years.
Doug Dayhoff, Upland’s President, said, “Bob’s experience and acumen are a perfect pairing with Upland. We aim to build strong distributor relationships throughout the Midwest to capitalize on the momentum of our core beers like Dragonfly, Champagne Velvet, Campside and Teddy Bear Kisses. We have a terrific sales team, and Bob’s leadership and training will make us even better.”
Jon Leetz, President of Indiana Beverage, remarked, “Our Upland sales have doubled in two years, and this hire demonstrates their on-going investment in great leadership to support their great beers. We’ve worked with Bob for a long time, and think the world of him.”
Upland recently completed an expansion to its production brewery cellar, which doubled its capacity to 75,000 BBLs. The company is also finalizing plans to expand its original brewery, which now focuses exclusively on artisan Belgian-style sour ales. In the last year alone, Upland has introduced 16 new beers, including new canned and bottled beers. In the coming year fans can expect more innovation and artisanship from the brewing team and a fifth Tap House featuring locally sourced foods and their signature beers.
Bob begins work effective immediately, and he can be reached at Bob@uplandbeer.com.
About Upland
Upland Brewing Co has brewed award-winning ales and lagers in Bloomington, Indiana since 1998. Our brewery name reflects the term geologists gave the area around Bloomington, which was never overrun by the glaciers that flattened much of Indiana’s landscape. The adversity of the land bred independent thinkers who had strong wills, a connection to the land, and a wry sense of humor about life. Upland’s approach to brewing beer honors the spirit of these people and this place. Annually Upland’s brewers release over 30 different beers, which are distributed in Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio and Kentucky. Its nationally recognized sour ales are fermented in wood barrels and tanks for 1-3 years, and blended in different combinations and with whole fruits to achieve unique, multi-dimensional beers. Brewery tours are available every weekend, and special limited edition beers are released via on-line public lotteries several times each year.
Grand Rapids, MI — Brewery Vivant celebrates the art and science of barrel-aging beer with its 5th Annual Wood-Aged Beer Festival (WABF) Saturday, September 19th in the parking lot behind the Brewery. Vivant will hold two tasting sessions: Afternoon (1-4p) and Evening (5-8p) to allow for more people to enjoy 20+ limited, rare, and exclusive beers in an intimate beer-centric environment. The Vivant scratch-kitchen will have festival foods available should hunger arise. Tickets are $35 and include 10 tokens, a collector’s edition tasting glass, and access to some incredible beer. Limited tickets available online at http://ift.tt/XI20J0 or directly through wabf15.brownpapertickets.com.
Fittingly, this will be the “Wooden anniversary” (as per Victorian tradition) of WABF at Brewery Vivant as they celebrate their 5th festival and 5th year in business in the East Hills neighborhood of Grand Rapids. Opening the festival up for two identical sessions will give more beer drinkers a chance to enjoy all that the festival has to offer, particularly more beer tasting. “We’re hoping with more tokens in your glass from the start, less people on the grounds at once, and a map to guide you, this year’s festival will be the best one yet,” says Kate Avery, Abbess of Beer and Director of Sales & Marketing, “The brewers have been plotting for this unveiling since last November. It’s their big party with big flavors. We’re glad to share it with more enthusiasts by offering two sessions this year.”
Wood-aging beers harkens back to the earliest beer brewing traditions when vessels were all made of wood and brewers worked to blend flavors into drinkable liquid. Unique flavor profiles arise in the already flavor-forward craft beers when aged in wood. Brewery Vivant will be hauling out old favorites from the vault, as well as new never-before-tasted experiments. Love Shadow, the bourbon barrel-aged Imperial stout makes a triumphant return to tap handles, as well as a cellared Wizard Burial Ground (2014 vintage bourbon barrel-aged quadrupel).
Get your tickets early as this event is the highlight of the Fall beer season and will sell out. Not to be missed. The Pub will be open for business as usual on Saturday, 11am-midnight. The festival grounds are separate.
About Brewery Vivant
The brewery is located in the East Hills neighborhood of Grand Rapids, in a renovated funeral chapel built in the early 1900’s. Their staff of around 50 employees specialize in Belgian/French inspired beers and fare in a completely unique setting. Husband and wife partners Jason and Kris Spaulding opened the doors for business in December of 2010. They are the first commercial brewery in the nation to receive Silver LEED Certification from the USGBC. Additionally they are 100% renewable powered, a silver-level Bicycle Friendly Business, and are a certified B Corporation. Beer the Change®!
Brewery Vivant | 925 Cherry St. SE | Grand Rapids, MI 49506
More info can be found at www.breweryviant.com, or by visiting our Facebook page.
Chandler, Arizona (August 18, 2015)— It’s that time of year again, SanTan Brewing Company will invade the streets of Old Town Scottsdale with their annual Labor Day Weekend Bathing Suit Brews Cruise. This year, taking place on Sunday, September 6, 2015 – the ride will begin at Grimaldi’s at 1 p.m. with pizza plus an ice cold SanTan beer.
Grab your beach cruisers, tricycles or 10 speeds, don your best bathing suit, scuba gear or speedos and let the fun begin! After parking it at Grimaldi’s for a spell, it’s time to ride on over to Brat Haus where you can take a ride on the giant inflatable water slide and enjoy a second SanTan brew. From there it’s off to Oregano’s Pizza Bistro and then the finale, live music, a dunk tank and water guns at Boondocks.
Admission for the Labor Day Weekend Bathing Suit Brews is $25 if purchased at SanTan Brewing Company or online, in advance. Day of admission will be $30. Admission includes a slice of pizza at Grimaldi’s, a SanTan beer at each stop, live music, a dunk tank, a water slide and a water gun battle. This is sure to be a super fun and super soaked day with friends and brews in Scottsdale. Visit http://ift.tt/1asGWNO for more information and to purchase tickets.
About SanTan Brewing Company
Open since 2007 under the leadership of founder and brewmaster, Anthony Canecchia, SanTan Brewing Company has established a strong reputation as one of Arizona’s favorite craft breweries. In addition to brewing, SanTan features a friendly neighborhood brewpub in Downtown Chandler, which has quickly become one of the top local food and beer destinations in the Phoenix metro area.
All SanTan Brewing Company craft beers are Southwestern Style Ales. SanTan’s brews are fermented to completion and carbonated higher than traditional American beers for a more effervescent, crisp and refreshing hand crafted beer – perfect for quenching your thirst in the hot Arizona sun and throughout the southwestern region of the US.
In 2009, SanTan Brewing began distributing their Southwestern Style Ales throughout the state of Arizona, operating with a mission to pair craft beer with craft food that would inspire great conversation and good times. 2014 marks the beginning of taking this journey throughout the Southwest and California.
SanTan beers have won numerous national and statewide awards including two medals at the US Open Beer Championship: bronze in 2013 and gold in 2011. SanTan Brewing also took home a silver medal at the 2011 Great American Beer Festival and won Best Brewery in Arizona, selected by the Phoenix New Times and the Arizona Republic, in 2013 and 2011.
When our tasting room opened on July 31st, we released two new beers: our Bière de Syrah and our third batch of Ambrée Farmhouse Amber Ale. Ambrée may have gotten a little lost in the excitement over a new wine grape refermentation, but at Jester King, we’re just as enthusiastic about this new simplified, scaled-down batch of Ambrée.
To be perfectly honest, Ambrée started out bearing the fingerprints of our early days as homebrewers. Back then, we attributed complexity largely to the sheer number of ingredients in a beer. If you want to make a beer complex and interesting, load it up with a bunch of different ingredients is what we believed. This mentality led to Ambrée being brewed with EIGHT different malts! It contained Munich, Two-Row, Pilsner, Carared, Amber, Crisp C-120, Melanoidin, and Roasted Barley.
As time has progressed here at Jester King, we’ve come to very much appreciate and subscribe to the principles of subtlety, simplicity, and restraint. We’ve found that some of the most beautiful and enjoyable beers really subscribe to these principles. More specifically, we’ve discarded the mentality that more specialty malts necessarily equate to complexity of flavor. In the culinary world, a few simple ingredients prepared well can be just as complex and elegant a dish made using a ton of specialty ingredients. We wanted Ambrée to reflect the same kind of refinement and balance.
Our initial inspiration for Ambrée came from some of our favorite farmhouse ales from French Flanders, notably the beers brewed by Brasserie Thiriez in Esquelbecq, France. But for the third batch, we looked much closer to home for inspiration: Live Oak Brewing Company in Austin. We’ve gotten to learn much from Live Oak during the last year or so while collaborating with them. Live Oak makes beautiful wort using very simple ingredients. For instance, for Kollaborationsbier they took one malt and worked with it using a technique called a decoction mash to create some of the richest, most delicious wort we’ve ever tasted. Decoction mashing involves separating out a portion of the mash, boiling it in the kettle, and then returning it to the mash tun.
For our third batch of Ambrée, we took inspiration from Live Oak and appreciation for subtlety, simplicity, and restraint to create a simple, amber farmhouse ale. We brewed it with three malts (Pilsner, Munich, and Vienna) instead of eight using a decoction mash. The wort was then fermented with our mixed culture of brewer’s yeast and native yeast and bacteria harvested from the air and wildflowers around our brewery. We also scaled down the gravity of Ambrée, which resulted in a lower alcohol by volume. Our third batch of Ambrée is 4.5% ABV, whereas before it was in the 7% range. We think this has lead to a more drinkable, enjoyable beer. We also believe Ambrée now has some nice symmetry as a middle ground between Le Petit Prince Farmhouse Table Beer and Commercial Suicide Farmhouse Mild.
Ambrée Batch 3 was brewed with Hill Country well water, barley, and hops. It was fermented in stainless steel for five weeks with our mixed culture, then naturally conditioned through refermentation in the serving vessel for another four weeks prior to release. It is unfiltered and unpasteurized. At the time of bottling, it had a finishing gravity of 1.002, a pH of 4.39, and was 25 IBUs. Ambrée is available on draught in our tasting room and in 750ml bottles, both in our tasting room and in stores throughout Texas.
DENVER – Metropolitan State University of Denver has added four new beer courses for fall 2015 and named a new faculty coordinator for its growing Beer Industry Operations program to facilitate a real-world, hands-on educational experience, including use of Tivoli Brewing Company’s new $7 million campus operation.
New classes begin today, and include Brewery Operations, Fermentation Science, Beverage Sales and Marketing, and Cooking with Beer. Instructor Scott Kerkmans is the new coordinator of the Beer Industry Program within the Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Events. As a former brewer at Alaska Brewing and one of the first five Certified Cicerones in the world, Kerkmans is a leading professional educator for beer distributors, retailers and brewers.
A unique aspect of the program is students will learn all elements of beer industry operations and management in a historic facility that has the brewing capacity to be among the top 20 craft breweries in the state. The Tivoli Brewery will be the first full production brewery in the country on a college campus. In 2012, a group of native Coloradans formed the Tivoli Distributing Company and ending the 45-year hiatus and once again began brewing Tivoli beer after more than 100 years as one of the largest breweries in the state.
To celebrate, a grand opening of the Tivoli Brewery and Tap House is scheduled on Aug. 22 at 4 p.m. in the historic Tivoli Student Union on the Auraria Campus. The brewery and academic program will add to the economic impact of the industry in Colorado, already valued at more than $10.3 billion and employing more than 24,000, according to a recent report by the Beer Institute.
“Our faculty’s rapid response to industry need, including the Tivoli Brewing Company, in creating new curriculum demonstrates MSU Denver’s impact on Colorado’s workforce,” said MSU Denver President Stephen Jordan.
For more than 14 years, MSU Denver’s Hospitality, Tourism and Events program has been teaching students the fundamentals of beverage management with a special emphasis in service integration within restaurant and hotel environments. A foundational class, Beer and Spirits, teaches students the major categories of beer including the practical brewing and sensory analysis of beer styles. Students can earn major degrees in Brewery Operations and Brewpub Operations as well as a minor or certificate.
To complement classroom instruction, students previously utilized the Gold Medal winning Blue Moon Brewing facilities, located in the Sandlot Brewery at Coors Field, to experience first-hand all phases of the brewing process. Now with the opening of Tivoli Brewing Company on campus, the program will shift higher-level course experiences to Tivoli’s campus operation. The foundation Beer and Spirits course will also work with Rising Sun Distillery and Strange Craft Brewing Company for additional experiential education, since both facilities are within walking distance from campus.
“When we considered pursuing this endeavor, we saw the educational opportunities it would create for students, current employees and craft brewers as a whole and we knew it was a win-win for all those involved,” said Corey Marshall, founder and chief executive officer for Tivoli Brewing Company. “Educational opportunities for students will go beyond just brewing to all aspects of the operation from restaurant management, distribution, sales, marketing, packaging, quality control and business operations.”
Tivoli Brewing Company has already hired students in roles such as certified beer server, brewer’s assistant and restaurant service.
The excitement surrounding the release of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s annual Oktoberfest lager can be felt across the country. The brewery has even redesigned their entire site to commemorate the release, including a traditional Oktoberfest pattern and German navigation options.
Looking around the site, you’ll learn a variety of information about the history of Oktoberfest and learn why this beer—which is a collaboration with Brauhaus Riegele of Augsburg—is so important to Sierra Nevada. After you click around a bit, you might notice a visitor has popped in the middle of the navigation bar, meet Kenny.
Kenny is the hero in a game Sierra Nevada had created in honor of the beer. Basically, the Oktoberfest celebration is in trouble—there isn’t nearly enough of Sierra Nevada’s Oktoberfest lager—and it’s up to you and Kenny to save the day collecting ingredients to brew more. You guide Kenny to jump around like a little brewing Mario and collect malt, hops, water and yeast.
Sierra Nevada’s Oktoberfest game is a prime example of how our ever-expanding digital culture is invading every industry, including craft beer. There are a million ways to catch someone’s attention, and Sierra Nevada definitely has the attention of craft beer enthusiasts. This game might be a new experiment for them to attract another kind of customer beyond who they normally reach.
The game is not advertised anywhere on the site. The user has to be actively looking around the site (and hopefully learning about the beer) for Kenny to appear in the bar at the top of the page. Sierra Nevada has a very well established fan base of craft beer drinkers, and they’re looking at ways to increase their appeal and differentiate themselves from other breweries both for their current fans and hopefully some new ones.
Learn more about this year’s Oktoberfest collaboration:
Dan Powell is the current Craft Beer Program intern and a bartender at Upslope Brewing Co., as well as a homebrewer, hop enthusiast and transplant to Colorado from Maryland. He loves talking and writing about beer, dogs, cars, gear and tech. For more, follow him on Twitter and Instagram @danpow6
