Sam Adams Becomes Top US Brewery
Ok ok, so perhaps there's a bit of a catch to this. With InBev's recent acquistion of Anheuser-Busch the last of the big 3 (Miller, Coors, A-B) is now also owned by a foreign company. This acquisition has put put Sam Adam's into the #1 spot as the top American Owned brewery.
Click to read full article on CNN.
Add a commentSmuttynose Brewery Confirms New Brewery and Restaurant
Smuttynose Brewery, currently located in Portsmouth, NH, has just confirmed that they will be changing location to Hampton, NH. For a while Smuttynose has been looking to expand in Portsmouth, and the city government has refused to approve their plans. They will soon be moving to 105 Towle Farm Road in Hampton, NH.
The 14 acre property that will be their new location features a 42,000 square foot brewery as well as a barn to be turned into a restaurant. Personally, I'm wondering what they'll do with the 14 acres? If there is a God, they'll grow hops and put our a Fresh Hop beer!
Lastly, according to President Peter Egelston, the building will be in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified.
Personally, we here at DrinkCraftBeer.com can't wait for them to up their capacity and have a restaurant! I know we'll be there when it opens!
For the full story, check out: http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080806/NEWS/80806056/-1/NEWS10
Add a commentMiller Ends Testing of Craft Beers
The so-called Miller Lite Brewing Collection didn't perform as well as expected in test markets such as Baltimore, Minneapolis and Charlotte, N.C., spokesman Julian Green said Thursday.
Read the full article here: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_10060503
Add a comment
Bell's Beer Returns To Chicago
You may recall us reporting Bell's departure from the Illinois market due to issues with distributers a ways back. Well the good people of Chicago can finally have their Two Hearted Ale, Epedition Stout and the many other very tasty brews from Bell's brewery back. It would appear that Bell's is working with three new distributers. This runs contrary to every other Illinois law we've seen in the past so we're still digging for a bit more info on this.
Full news article here: http://cbs2chicago.com/local/bells.beer.returns.2.785599.html
Add a commentFlying Dog Brewery CEO stepping down
Eric Warner is stepping down as CEO of Flying Dog Brewery. We've always been fans of beer from these guys. Don't fret though the beer isn't going anywhere. Check out the full article here: http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/business/display.htm?StoryID=77311
Add a commentPress Release - New Series of Beer from Harpoon: The Leviathan Series
Boston, MA - This June the Harpoon Brewery, brewers of Harpoon and UFO beers, will introduce the Harpoon Leviathan Series, a limited edition line of specialty beers. The Leviathan Series is an exploration in brewing big beers for adventurous palates. The first beer in the series, Leviathan Triticus, will debut at the inaugural American Craft Beer Fest on June 20th and 21st in Boston.
“The Leviathan Series is a way for us to experiment with stronger flavors and bigger beers,” says Harpoon CEO and co-founder Rich Doyle. “We have always wanted to challenge ourselves as brewers and offer our drinkers a broader range of taste and styles.”
Latin for "wheat," Triticus is a strong and dark wheat wine-style ale that boasts 14.3% alcohol-by-volume. The blend of 50% wheat malts, including caramel and chocolate, provides color and depth of flavor. Complex hopping and dry-hopping lends a delicate spiciness and just enough balance to complement its strength. Once brewed, the Triticus was transferred to 50-gallon bourbon barrels and aged at the brewery for over 2 months.
Harpoon originally brewed Triticus in 2005 with guest brewers Jason and Todd Alstrom, founders of BeerAdvocate.com, as part of Harpoon’s 100 Barrel Series. In a nod to the Alstroms, Leviathan Triticus will debut at next weekend’s American Craft Beer Fest at the Seaport World Trade Center. The ACBF is the largest craft beer festival produced in the Northeast with more than 75 craft brewers pouring a variety of 300 beers.
Leviathan beers will be brewed in 120-barrel batches. The beers will be available in 4-packs and on draft for distribution, excluding the Triticus which will be available on draft only. The second beer in the series, an Imperial IPA, will be released in September 2008.
Founded in 1986 on Boston’s waterfront, the Harpoon Brewery distributes its locally brewed products throughout the Northeast. In 2000 Harpoon purchased a second brewery in Windsor, VT to keep up with the growing demand. Harpoon’s line of craft beer features six year-round beers, including their award-winning IPA and UFO Hefeweizen beers, and four special seasonal selections. In 2003, Harpoon introduced a line of limited edition beers brewed by every few months by a different Harpoon brewer called the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series. In 2007 Harpoon introduced Harpoon Cider, an all-natural hard cider made from freshly pressed, local apples.
For more information about the American Craft Beer Fest visit http://beeradvocate.com/acbf/.
Add a commentGood Beer For A Good Cause - Central Florida Beer Festival
Every once and a while you come accross something that isn't your average beer festival. In this case we were contacted by Fred Thibodeaux about the Central Florida Beer Fest . Now we often get contacted about a lot of things, but this is a little different. This fest is looking to raise $50K for charity. So for all our Florida readers check this one out! Full press release bellow:
Orlando Young Professionals will be hosting the 2008 Central Florida Beer Festival. The purpose of OYP is to encourage and facilitate a meaningful exchange of information and perspectives relative to the Orlando economic region and provide members with increased opportunities to foster quality business and personal relationships.
The festival is intended to raise over $50,000 for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central Florida. The donation by the festival will be used to improve the lives of children through professionally supported one-to-one mentoring relationships with measurable impact. The vision of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central Florida is to provide a quality, adult volunteer mentor to every Central Florida Child who wants or needs one. The donations will help with mentoring services, and assisting youth in achieving their highest potential as they grow to become responsible, productive, happy, and healthy young men and women.
The festival will also be benefiting 911 Cell Phone Banks by providing an on-site cell phone deposit box. Participants will be able to donate used cell phones to the charity and in return will receive raffle tickets that will be part of a drawing for multiple prizes and gift cards. The cell phones will be used to provide an ongoing readily available source of emergency cell phones and funds to meet unexpected and urgent needs of participating law enforcement and affiliated victim services agencies. With the help of the festival 911 Cell Phone Bank will continue to generate thousands of dollars and provide thousands of emergency cell phones for victim services organizations nationwide.
The Central Florida Beer Festival is Orlando’s premier celebration of golden beverage and an effective branding/sampling forum where brewers and consumers gather to taste and toast the many world-class beers available in Florida. The event will be focused on providing a venue for beer enthusiasts to compare and rate their favorite and unfamiliar beers and brewers while enjoying the atmosphere of the beautiful Central Florida Fairgrounds. This is a tasting event where each participant will be limited to a 4oz serving of beer from each exhibitor. Improper behavior will not be tolerated and participants will be removed from the premises by on-site security if necessary.
Please contact the management department if you should have any questions or concerns pertaining to the event.
We thank you for this opportunity to provide a venue that will contribute to hundreds of children and victim services agencies.
Respectfully,
Fred Thibodeaux
Sierra Nevada Releasing Fresh Hop Beers Year Round
Press release from Sierra Nevada:
Sierra Nevada, the pioneer of fresh hop ales in America, has expanded its Harvest Ale Series with the release of another ground-breaking product introduction, Southern Hemisphere Harvest Ale. This marks the first time in known history that a fresh hop ale has been available in America in the spring since hops are harvested in the fall in the northern hemisphere. The inaugural ale will debut in early May.
To make this project happen, Sierra Nevada traveled to New Zealand to harvest fresh hops, and then transported them from the southern hemisphere to Chico where they were immediately used in brewing. Like their award-winning Celebration Ale, the fresh hops in this beer are dried right after being picked then shipped immediately to Chico for brewing, so that they retain their peak aromatics and flavors. Freshly harvested hops are richer in hop oils so they impart more hop aroma and hop spiciness into beer.
“We love fresh hop ales, but until now fresh hops were only available here once a year – during the fall hop harvest,” said brewery owner and founder Ken Grossman. “So we journeyed to the southern hemisphere to catch their hop harvest, which occurs during our spring.” The result is the North-by South fusion of fresh-picked New Zealand Pacific hops with the finest North American malts. Southern Hemisphere Harvest will feature fresh Pacific Hallertau, New Zealand Motueka and New Zealand Southern Cross hops, all from New Zealand.
The introduction of Southern Hemisphere Harvest gives Sierra Nevada three fresh-hop ales in their Harvest Series. In addition to Southern Hemisphere Harvest, Sierra Nevada produces Chico Estate Harvest in late summer and its original Harvest Ale in early fall.
Chico Estate Harvest is one of the very few estate harvest ales produced anywhere in the world today. All the hops in the beer are grown organically on the premises at the Chico brewery. The brewers pick the hops themselves and then take them directly to the brew kettle, without being dried, just after picking so they retain nearly all of their natural oils and resins. It is made with Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops. Until now, this beer has only been available in draft. Starting this year, Sierra Nevada will bottle it on a very limited basis (Chico only this year) with plans to expand its availability as they expand their Chico hop field in the coming years.
The cornerstone of their Harvest Series is the beer that started the modern-day fresh hop ale phenomenon in America, the original Harvest Ale. Created in 1996, Harvest Ale features Cascade and Centennial hops from the Yakima Valley in Eastern Washington. These hops are harvested and shipped as “wet,” i.e., un-dried hops—the same day they are picked—to their brewery in Chico where the brewers eagerly wait to get them into the brew kettle while their oils and resins are still at their peak.
Representing the journey following the hop harvest around the globe, the Harvest Series includes hops sourced from new regions and brewed using new methods in an effort to maximize the oily, resinous qualities of the hops from each harvest as they transported them to the brewery in Chico, California.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. was founded in 1980 and is one of America’s first microbreweries. It is regarded as the standard of quality for American craft brewers and has won numerous awards for its beers and ales. Its flagship product, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, has been the number one selling craft beer brand in America for the past five years according to IRI scan data. The brewery is still 100% owned by Ken Grossman.
In addition to Pale Ale, Sierra Nevada makes a Wheat, Porter, and Stout year-round, a host of draft-only specialty beers, and offers five seasonal beers. Harvest Ale will be available in limited supply nationwide in 24-ounce bottles and draft. The cost is slightly above Sierra Nevada’s year-round products.
Add a commentCape Cod Beer to Host Brewery Open House To Celebrate Expansion
“We’ve grown our production capacity by about 140%, which includes 9 new tanks, a new semi-automated keg washer and a new brewhouse, which are the 2 vessels used to actually brew the beer. It was a huge undertaking, where every piece of equipment in the brewery had to be emptied and moved. We didn’t expand the overall footprint – but basically expanded upward. It’s a pretty impressive site, with all the stainless steel equipment and we’re excited to show it off!” explains Todd Marcus, Brewmaster & President of Cape Cod Beer.
At the Open House on Saturday May 3rd, Cape Cod Beer will have tours hourly at 11am, Noon, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm, and brewers and staff will be there to answer questions. Families are welcome, though children must be supervised.
About Cape Cod Beer: Cape Cod Beer is Cape Cod’s only distributing craft brewery located at 1336 Phinney’s Lane in Hyannis with beer on tap in over 140 locations and in 75 package stores from Plymouth to Provincetown. Brewery hours are Monday through Friday Noon to 6pm, as well as Saturday 11am to 2pm. Brewery tours are given on Saturday at 1pm and Tuesdays at 11am. To find out more about Cape Cod Beer, please contact us at 508-790-4200 or see our website at www.CapeCodBeer.com. Add a comment
