Category: Beer in the news

Great articles that you should read.

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Strong

Anchor Brewing has entered the helping business with their Stay Strong SF campaign. They hooked up with Bay Area artist, Jeremy Fish who created and put up “special artwork across several boarded up bars and restaurants across the city. The design is a modern twist to the San Francisco flag, with a Phoenix rising from the ashes.  Every poster has a QR code that directs you to donate to the United States Bartenders Guild.” If you have left your heart in SF you can get a poster which are available to download for free HERE.

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An Anvil of Hope

AleSmith has set-up a new nonprofit with a heavy name, Anvil of Hope. The goal of the organization is in three parts, A) assist low-income families facing homelessness B) assist youth aging out of foster care C) help neighbors experiencing financial hardships. This effort from AleSmith owners Peter and Vicky Zien will hopefully spread hope and hops.

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Okto-gone

Well, the beer steins will be empty as it looks like Oktoberfest in Germany will be taking a break in 2020. That is a huge tourist dollar loss for Munich especially. And with that large domino falling, I expect that other big festivals are going to follow that lead.

Which means no festival for L.A. Beer Week, no Great American Beer Festival and those Anniversary parties will have to skip a year. Unless, of course, the Governor of Georgia has anything to say about it.

I would go so far as to guess, that any party on the books for 2020 would be on the chopping block. I know that seems far off and maybe overly cautious but all it would take is one sneeze or one cough in a crowded area to throw the fear of God into people. And this is before the probably inevitable round two when the virus comes around again because people didn’t quarantine enough the first time.

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Aftermath – Part 6

Will delivery be normal after the virus has passed? Will to-go orders and curbside pick-up remain an option?

I would say that both will eventually phase out. In-state delivery is just too costly not to mention bad for an environment healing from lack of cars on the road. Plus, with travel opened up, visiting breweries will more than like return if the stir crazy mood of Americans is any indication.

Curbside though might hang on longer as fear and worry slowly dissipate. Eventually though, the keg trade will reclaim its position and there will be less cans and bottles to pick-up and run with.

Where it may linger a bit more is in the delivery apps. They are either going to struggle with being profitable or struggle to pay a workforce that will increasingly call for more money and alcohol might be a big ticket item that could be used to pay back investors and contractors.

The taproom experience is clearly something people want so that means back to the sidelines for delivery.

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Netflix & Beer

I have never seen The League and was only mildly amused by That 70’s Show so my hopes are a bit low for this new Netflix comedy, Brews Brothers that starts today. Also lowering my expectation is that the title is Brews Brothers. Not much of reach on the ol’ title tree for that one. Who knows though, maybe the creators had a better title and Netflix marketing chose to go the easy route. Anyway, I will give it a go and if it is worth the time, I will write more about it.

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All Together

Other Half Brewing Co is taking a page from the Resilience handbook with their new All Together, worldwide beer collaboration. It was “created to raise funds & awareness for the industry we love so much. Regardless of location or circumstances, when one member of the hospitality industry struggles, the rest of the group (including brewers, servers, bartenders, bussers, dishwashers, GMs, buyers, chefs & owners) steps in to help and lend a hand”

More info, “How does the project work? #AllTogetherBeer invites any brewer, from any corner of the planet, to participate by providing the tools needed to make the beer at the lowest possible cost, including an open-source recipe, artwork, and name. In exchange, the collective asks that a portion of the proceeds go to supporting hospitality professionals in each brewery’s own community. The rest should be donated to keeping the brewery in business to weather this storm.”

Go to the website to find out if there will be togetherness near you. I know that Long Beach Beer Lab and Bodega did a version.

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Beer Buyers Club

The Beer Connoisseur magazine with great 20/20 2020 vision launched a new Beer Buyers Club, a partnership with beer delivery service, Tavour. Breweries are shutting taprooms and sales are limited so a good way to support craft beer might just be to have it delivered to you. I have a friend who has used the service and it worked well.

Head HERE to start checking out the details. Use promo code “BC2020” at the Tavour check-out.

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Athletic in San Diego

Non-Alcoholic East Coast brewer Athletic has pounced on the former Ballast Point “Trade Street” brewing facility and will be shipping their beer out the door in mid-May. This new production hub will increase their capacity and help them meet a demand across its 10 state distribution footprint. And maybe they will even add a taproom to this spot as well.

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Federal Relief?

So, despite some light Republican siding with corporate interest resistance, the first of what may be many CoronaVirus bills has been signed into reality.

Phase 1 is about free testing, sick leave and expanding unemployment benefits.

Phase 2 would have small business loan assistance

Also, the Brewers Association is going to push their weight behind the following initiatives…

  • “A temporary suspension or deferral of federal excise taxes;
  • A waiver of penalties for payment of late excise tax fees;
  • A business tax credit for lost sales;
  • Flexibility in submitting amendments to licenses for current permit holders;
  • An increase in funding for Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Relief Assistance programs;
  • Deferment of SBA loan payments/no interest loans;
  • Deferment of payments with no interest accrual for loans with commercial lenders;
  • A freeze on premium increases for unemployment insurance;
  • Suspension of payroll taxes;
  • Compensation Fund.”

That list is taken from information from the BA and of those items, the last one is the most important. Breweries need a replacement cash flow and hopefully they can get it.

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Make a Beer Wish

Who doesn’t like a good raffle? And you can win some serious beer too. Follow this LINK Whale Hunters and buy a few tickets to help the Make-A-Wish foundation. Personally, I went for the Cantillon package.