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Common Space Brewery last month announced a second taproom far from Hawthorne and way out in Highland Park. It is slated for 2026 and will also “have a full restaurant to enjoy burgers, tacos, and tasty bites.”
You can follow the progress at their Instagram @commonspace.highlandpark
When a business feels that their environment is unstable and not being overseen by anyone close to a genius, they will look for a place that is better and the Siebel Institute of Technology & World Brewing Academy has announced that it is moving from Chicago to Montréal effective January 1, 2026. And amongst their issues which included “increased student visa challenges to enter the United States.” Hmm. Wonder who caused that?
And now there is less opportunity for education which seems to be a hallmark of this administration which is very bad for brewing.
A lot of Beer Instagram is scrolling through the same stuff. You know, like the It’s Soup Season videos and influencer after influencer videos.
But Garage Project is a different beast and a somewhat recent post proves it…
Click HERE and then return back please.
….sort of like second runnings and small beer but with hops and if you use a lot, might be something that other breweries can look at.
Since they have moved on from Casamigos, founders George Clooney and Rande Gerber are eyeing the Non-Alcoholic beer space for their next business foray. And it could be coming as soon as March of next year and considering that Diageo bought the lower shelf tequila for a cool billion dollars they have the financial resources to make it happen.
But should they? I am not against celebrity beverage brands per se. As with any new brands, there are some just in it for the money and some who like the spirit or beer or just the history of tequila creation in Mexico or Bourbon in Kentucky.
My gut tells me this is just a where do we put this Diageo money move.
Almost forgot to pass on the news about the 9th Annual Pink Boots Blend. Yakima Chief and the fantastic Pink Boots Society get together and create a new hop melange and this year it is made up of two classic hops, one that is still making a name for itself and then one that is still to be named.
Mosaic® , HBC 638, Centennial and Ekuanot®
This year the pickers were from chapters in Boston, New Hampshire, New York City, Connecticut, and Washington D.C. Keep your eyes peeled for beers using this blend.
You can bury your head in the sand about Climate Change but it is a huge factor in agriculture including in ways that you wouldn’t even think of like making is England’s Scrumpy Cider so higher in ABV that it is taxed as a wine!
This is from a Rick Steves Facebook post: “England’s hottest summer on record has produced a bumper crop of unusually sweet apples — which, in turn, have bumped up the alcohol content of scrumpy (hard cider) from its typical 6-8% ABV to as high as 10.5% ABV. As a result, scrumpy is now classified as “wine,” meaning it’s taxed at a higher rate…and too expensive for producers to sell to pubs.”
Hops, barley and other grains are in the crosshairs of weather as well.
I was very excited to see that there was a new documentary detailing AbInBev and their marketing both good and bad. Then I got part way through the trailer and things took a turn. I had to pause and rewind to see if I had heard correctly. Then I read a synopsis and it too was weirdly MAGAish.
It seems this documentary is mostly about the Dylan Mulvaney ads and not how AbInBev chickened out like Target when they got right winged but rather how it was “a mistake” to do the ad at all. Appealing to a new possible customer base became ignoring the old base. Stop me if you heard that before from Fox TV “pundits”.
So gonna take a pass on that one but if you do watch it and want to tell me if I got the proverbial wrong end of the stick on this, let me know.
The night before the big award ceremony was the coveted 2025 Challenge for Alpha King and here are your winners….
Gold – Sunriver Brewing Double Whammies IPA
Silver – No Boat Brewing Lil’ Sal Imperial Hop Saturated Ale
Bronze – Hop Dogma Muka Laka Hiki International Style IPA
Locally ISM Brewing in Long Beach landed in the top 25 which ain’t too shabby.
I am a sucker for label design, and I am also a very harsh judge if I deem it to AI looking or too IP thefty.
Now there is a new exhibit called Design on Draft “Co-curated and co-presented by the Beer Culture Center and the Design
Museum of Chicago, Design on Draft invites you to take a closer look at the artistry behind every pour—and the ways design has made beer part of the city’s cultural fabric.”
So if you happed to be in the Chicago area over the next few months, you might want to check it out.
Reser Stadium, the football home of the Oregon State Beavers has just added…
…. the “Longest Bar in College Football,” “a row of 49 seats are being added to Beaver Street on the West Side of Reser Stadium. These swivel barstool seats will be located at the drink rails on Beaver Street.
The breathable mesh seats will have an amazing view of the game, the Reser Stadium videoboard and will have access to in seat service for food and drinks.”
Now, I am a bit over college football now that is basically a bunch of meaningless games leading to an extra long playoff just to end up with one megaconference playing another. And the money that was once at least a little hidden now seems to be the only thing that matters.
Now even smaller big schools have bars? The hell. Even a big craft beer fan has to say that the game has a problem. College students will access alcohol, so the football game doesn’t need it. And I would bet that most of those fans are not modeling great alcohol use which makes it a double loss.