As mentioned in my Bell’s Batch 9000 piece from a while back, Bell’s Brewery is in the midst of a legal battle over distribution again. This time it is on Bell’s home turf of Michigan. Check out Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal article for details. In other Bell’s news, Larry noted that Bell’s Batch 9000 could be released as late as fall.
(Haverhill, MA) – Haverhill Brewing will release its fourth bottled beer Continue reading
(Asheville, NC) – Pisgah Brewing has joined a chorus of other breweries such as Rogue Ales and Left Hand Brewing in making special beers for Continue reading
From reading comments online, Three Floyds Brewing did an excellent job with Dark Lord Day, anchored by the ticket process. Hopefully it went as well for the folks at FFF as it did for the hoards of beer people that went on Saturday. Check out the comments at Beer Advocate and RateBeer. Local blog, Hoosier Beer Geek, also has a wrap-up with some pics. This Flickr search will take you to more pictures from the day. (The picture above comes courtesy of Froboy on Flickr).
(Munster, IN) – No, I am not at Dark Lord Day, but some folks online are posting up live shots so that the rest of us can be jealous. Here is a link in case you want to follow the DLD shenanigans on Twitter (#dld and #dld09). For the record, a report from Beermapper, Evil Keith, said that people were in line drinking before 3am. Wild.
Anyway, the photos below come courtesy of Twitterers. Click the pics for larger versions.
[Above left: @realbighugebeer comes away with one of the first bottles. White wax! Above right: @drinksdearborn with a poster shot.]
(Munster, IN) –
is finally upon us. For many, and for good reason, it is the greatest beer event of the year. Beer people from all over gather to share bottles (and cans and growlers) from their local breweries and share some rare acquisitions. It is also a day when you will find great beers on tap from Three Floyds, Russian River, Firestone Walker, and others. What other event/bar features these breweries on tap where you can get more than just a “sample” of the beer? All of that said, in our little world of craft beer, it is one of the most controversial beer events of the year. A lot more on that in a minute, but first a few details about DLD ’09:
I Am A Craft Brewer from I Am A Craft Brewer on Vimeo.
Here is a well-done video which was part of Greg Koch’s keynote speech at this week’s Craft Brewers Conference. It made waves yesterday around the internet beer world so you may have seen it but here is a reminder to spread the word. The background song is called Hoppipolla by Sigur Ros. Great Icelandic band.
(Fort Collins, CO) – Label approval came through this week for a new summer seasonal from
. The beer will be hoppy and in that new/hip 6-7% ABV range (6.5% to be exact). It will be released in June and available through September.
Back label: “A mystical legend echoes in our brewhouse – that of St. Lupulin(loop-you-lin) the archetypal hophead. He devoted endless summers to endless rows of hops, tending to the flowers and the beloved resin within – lupulin Extraordinary oils in this yellow resin provide this dry-hopped extra pale ale Continue reading
(Munster, IN) – In the spirit of counting down to Dark Lord Day 2009 (now just two days away), here is a recent video in which Stephanie Izard pays a visit to Three Floyds Brewing.
Did any info come out yesterday on the bottle count?
(San Marcos, CA) – Port Brewing is working on a new beer to honor a fallen SoCal-area homebrewer and friend. Brother Levonian Saison will not be released to the public though it will be available for the June American Homebrewers Conference and the Michael Jackson Rare Beer Club. Just about everything you need to know has been posted by one of the minds behind the brew (and Levonian’s best friend) at the Zuvaruvi blog.
[6/9 Update here]
(Pleasantville, NY) – Captain Lawrence Brewing will release its Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA for the first time in (500 mL) bottles. Continue reading
Couple quick notes tonight…
Three Floyds Brewing announced the beer lineup for what is easily the biggest beer release event of the year (this Saturday, of course). Here is what was released for info on the blog today:
“Stone Levitation and ‘06 Brandy Barrel Double Bastard
Struise Black Albert
Firestone Walker Abacus and Union Continue reading
The Bruery from Claire Thomas on Vimeo.
(Placentia, CA) – Big fan of online video here and it is a great medium by which to get to know brewers who we may never have the opportunity to meet in person. Above is a video featuring The Bruery‘s Patrick Rue (b-RUE-ry, get it?). The host is Claire Thomas of Kitchy Kitchen TV. This reminds me . . . I’ve been meaning to do a post on beer video sites so look for something in the near future.
The entire state of Alabama has only two breweries and three brewpubs. That makes five brewing operations for about 4.5 million people. Many of those folks don’t like to drink but we do have some beer-loving brethren in Alabama. And they need your help.
The beer folks are trying to pass a bill down there yet again to “pop the cap” with a gourmet beer bill (they have a website going four years strong now). It will open up the possibility of more breweries and at the very least, better beer selection in the state. Why do they keep running into trouble? Some senators are filibustering their way through another session, letting their egos effectively run the state into the ground as they fail to agree upon initiatives to help not only the beer community but the greater community at large in these trying times.
So what can you do? Write an Alabama senator. You may or may not live there but who cares; just voice your support for beer and respect of beer and let’s see what happens. I am so tired I am typing with one eye open and I’m still going to write a letter for these guys and have another three posts to go tonight so let’s do it up! You just need to be clear that you want HB373 to come to a vote! See FTH’s blog for more info on how and for whom to write your note.
(Boston, MA) – It is only every other year that they hold the World Beer Cup competition and announce the winners at the Craft Brewer’s Conference. So from a blogger’s perspective, this year’s event may not be as much to write home about…maybe they will be talking about taxes a lot since every state under the sun is trying to cut its deficits with yours and my beer money…
Chasing down links around the beer web…
Bangor Daily News reports that Atlantic Brewing has bought Bar Harbor Brewing in a move that will have implications on one of the better American Stouts out there on the market: Bar Harbor Cadillac Mountain Stout. It could mean that the beer will finally be available outside of Maine. Meanwhile, a bill to allow growler sales in Maine will go before the Senate in the near future.
200+ breweries are now on Twitter. Visit the new Twitter section!
Re-tweet link (copy-paste into Twitter) -> http://is.gd/tudA
Might as well Twitterize it up again here with all the brewers busy at the Craft Brewers Conference this week. I’m hoping we won’t be slow for news thought it will be more difficult than normal to get in touch with folks.
As with the beer calendar, I though there’d be enough demand and interest to start an all-out section of the site specifically for beer and Twitter. For now, it remains only a Twitter directory for brewers but will expand in the future.
A few notes…there are now pics. Top 50 = top 50 brewers (as named by the Brewers Association based on sales). RateBeer = Top 50 on RateBeer. Then there are three pages for other USA breweries. A page for breweries that have opened in 2009 and a page for breweries that will open in 2009 (or 2010). And then international breweries and the breweries who you can follow if you want but don’t really keep up with Twitter. No brewery appears more than once though it may qualify for multiple pages.
Enjoy.
Part of the reason I posted this is because it mentions the use of Sorachi Ace hops from Japan and Motueka hops from New Zealand, two hops with which I am quite unfamiliar. Here is what I dug up:
(Aberdeen, SCOTLAND) – This would confuse me as much as anybody but label approval came through recently for
. According to Continue reading
(Portland, ME) – Well, they finally did it. A brewery finally created a beer named after a Smurfs character.
“is the first offering in our limited release 375 ml series,” according to a new post on the brewery’s website. “Our brewers used a blend of American 2-row barley Malt, Raw and Malted wheat and selected caramel malt to brew this 9.20 % ABV beer. After primary fermentation the beer was inoculated with our house Brettanomyces aged in French Oak wine barrels with a generous amount of local raspberries for over 18 months.”
The Belgian-style Sour Ale will go on sale only at the brewery on Thursday, May 7, with a limit of two 375 mL bottles per person ($10 a pop).
The Allagash Confluence release has been lingering out there for a while. I will see if I can get any word on it appearing in bottles. The beer has only been seen on tap so far.