Well, all you FAFOs out there. President Musk is going after craft beer starting with USDA hop researchers in the Pacific NorthWest. Some people seem to think that government jobs are too costly and in the short run, yeah, they fucking are because this isn’t a short term game. We don’t shut down lighthouses because they only help some boats. We don’t cut funding to air traffic control, oh wait, apparently this is something this backwards country does.
Entering the Hall
The 2025 Craft Beer Hall of Fame Inductees for the first class have been announced and it is a solid start to build upon…
* Fritz Maytag – Anchor Steam
* Michael Jackson – beer writer
* Charlie Papazian – home brewer and GABF founder
* Ken Grossman – Sierra Nevada
* Jim Koch – Boston Beer
* Fred Eckhardt – beer writer
* Bert Grant – Grants Les
* Charles and Rose Ann Finkel – beer importers
* Jack McAuliffe, Suzy Stern and Jane Zimmerman – New Albion
I am hoping that the second round will dig a little deeper into the agricultural side and also the publican side as well.
You can view the replay of the ceremony HERE
A Toast
Eagle eyed readers of the blog will know that I am not a big fan of baseball. But if I do watch it is minor league because they seem more fun.
And here is a prime example…
…The Reading, Pennsylvania franchise will change over to the Reading Prost for a few games next year. I can see beer fans buying the hat for sure.
Hobbits in Santa Monica
Merry and Pippen. Sorry, let me start again. Billy & Dom and their travel / food program, Eat the World stopped off in Santa Monica and went through the brewing process of the Westside (not Middle Earth) brewery.
Santa Monica Brew Works is in the California section aka episode three but the series is not yet streaming here in the U.S. but keep checking for when it does.
Enter the Hall
A much happier inauguration is coming on Saturday, February 15th, at 12:00pm (PST), when the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame will be announcing its inaugural Inductees into The newly created Hall.
Here is How to Watch:
“The livestream will be available free of charge and can be accessed live online HERE, or recorded following the event on the Craft Beer Professionals YouTube page.
Who will be the first enshrined?
Follow Z Star
American breweries have done nationwide charity beers but maybe the next evolution as craft beer goes back to basics is for a nationwide Zoigl.
Interested to see if you are near one or do you need to know more of this Z word. Then head HERE first Then follow AmericanZoigl on Instagram for updates.
Maybe # 3
Over the latter half of 2024, I have been checking Instagram because of the curious case of the account for Monkish Brewing in Echo Park (see below).
I looked again at the start of the new year and still no activity at all. Perhaps a hoax? Not an official account? Sheer hopefulness and jumping the gun?
Rest assured that if anything does come to pass, there will be a post about it unless Project 2025 and their neo-prohibition nazi goons take away my right to blog about beer. (that went from positive to dark quick, didn’t it?)
Rate No More
The long and winding saga of RateBeer will come to a close as of February 1st. I was a user of the website as many in the halcyon days were. It was a great way to find craft beer information and to hear scuttlebutt about a rapidly growing industry.
Then came Untappd which scratched the itch of those who just wanted to tick and go. That and the sale of rating site to the “disrupter” arm of SABInBev really took the steam out of RateBeer from which it never quite recovered.
Now that story could have been different if said disrupter had put even a tiny bit of effort and money into the site, it could have flourished as a clearinghouse of information from across the globe. But that is not how SABInBev treats the companies that it purchases. It tolerates them at first, then ignores them, then lets them die on the vine and then claim that it was the customer speaking and not their purposeful neglect.
There are still those attempting to resurrect the brand but, to them, I say just start anew. RateBeer has too much baggage at this point. I say find a solid beer pun and let RateBeer be remembered fondly for the good times.
Also Starting
It is not only the Brewers Association making changes at the top. The California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA), has announced the choice of a new Executive Director in Kelsey McQuaid-Craig.
McQuaid-Craig is a Certified Association Executive and has over a decade of association management experience most recently with the California Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians which will hopefully help her navigate the political waters of Sacramento and help out the Golden State’s breweries in the coming years.
Starting Today
Craft beer fans will recognize the name of Bart Watson as the pragmatic numbers guys for the Brewers Association. But he is currently the vice president of strategy and membership after his stint as the chief economist of the group, Watson becomes president and CEO on January 6, 2025 two days after the retirement of Bob Pease on January 3.
You can get the full scoop HERE.
It is a challenging time in the beer industry but Watson knows the group from the ground up so I expect that good changes and good growth are on the horizon.