Category: Beer in the news

Great articles that you should read.

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Open / Shut – Anchor Brewing in Stasis

Some small good news from the crappy Sapporo handling of Anchor Brewing, per the NAGBW, “At the end of September, the National Museum of American History collected the business records and other artifacts from the recently shuttered Anchor brewery to preserve and make them accessible to researchers and the public into the future. The items include tools from the brewhouse and lab, a barrel that transported steam beer to 19th-century taverns, books from Fritz Maytag’s library, and more.”

Plucking those items combined with, the pluck and zeal of former employees and the recent book about Anchor’s history will go a long way to helping unfreeze the actual Steam Beer out of carbonite. More will need to be pried out of Sapporo’s hands if a new age of Anchor is to really happen.

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Elani

From a hop growing wild up in Idaho’s St. Joe River Valley, comes the now, newly named Elani hop varietal.

Per the hop growers at Yakima Hops it is “Clean and bright. Tropical-citrus and stone fruit.  Notes of pineapple, guava, lime, white peach, orange zest.”

And if you want to taste a commercial example head to a nearby BJ’s Brewhouse where Elani is featured in the seasonal Tropical Hopstorm IPA.

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Hops by Hand

Earlier this month, I made the drive to Fillmore, CA and the Sow A Heart Regenerative Farm to help harvest hops. Cascade hops to be precise and it was great fun to not only feel the cones in your hand fresh off the bine but to see harvesting done pretty much by hand because even the one machine used was nothing compared to the big growers of the NW.

More will be revealed in the September Beer Paper issue coming out soon but until then a few photos to whet the appetite…

Hop field with chicken
Goat eating spent brewing grain
In go the hops
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Angel Rare & Eagle Envy

Since the SABInBev take-over of Goose Island, lo those many years ago, the annual Bourbon County releases have grown in number and in the amount of flavors they cram into each bottle. This year is different though. Only one of the six variants is in pastry stout land, a bananas foster stout which I will slide away from. But two (see below) really lean into what I think is the core mission of this program. Bourbon and barrel-aging.

2023 Bourbon County Brand Eagle Rare 2-Year Reserve Stout  

“With a heritage rooted in authenticity and a commitment to craftsmanship, Eagle Rare captures the essence of American history with its Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. Just as bourbon is a uniquely American product, Bourbon County Brand Stout is distinctly Chicago. From the carefully selected American oak barrels sourced from Eagle Rare in Kentucky to the distinct combination of our unique climate and original imperial stout recipe crafted here; Bourbon County Eagle Rare Reserve Stout epitomizes a proud American legacy. ⁠  
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Aged for two years in extraordinary Eagle Rare 10-year-old barrels, each sip is a culmination of our passion, intricately woven together with the nuanced flavors imparted by these remarkable barrels. Eagle Rare Reserve is an incredibly complex and boldly rich stout that celebrates the essence of American brewing at its finest.“

2023 Bourbon County Brand Angel’s Envy 2-Year Cask Finish Stout  
“Introducing the newest addition to the Bourbon County family: our first-ever “Cask Finish” stout. Inspired by the innovation of our friends at Angel’s Envy, we embarked on a journey to further develop the complexity of barrel-aged stout by introducing never-before-used finishing barrels. The beer starts in freshly emptied barrels that once held Angel’s Envy Kentucky straight bourbon. After aging in those for a year, the beer was transferred to a second set of Ruby Port wine barrels where it patiently matured for another year. By replicating Angel Envy’s finishing process, we refined and amplified the flavors of cherry, spice, and cocoa within this aged stout. Bourbon County Angel’s Envy Cask Finish Stout is a testament to our legacy as the originators of bourbon barrel-aged stout.“

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SB 788

Mention government to me and it is like letting the air out of those balloony whirlygig things at used car lots.  But the Golden State has made a good stride in being brewery friendly with the new Senate Bill 788 that was signed into law by Governor Newsom.

The law states that breweries that produce less than 60,000 barrels of beer annually, in paperwork speak also known as Type 23 licensees will not habe to obtain (and pay for) a separate winegrower’s license to produce ciders. And Perrys too.

Per the press release from the California Craft Brewers Association, “Previously, only large brewers with a Type 01 license and annual production of over 60,00 barrels were permitted to manufacture beer, cider, and perry under the same roof.”

That is one of those pesky rules that bedevil state brewery guilds and was obviously written for either A) giving big donating, big industrial brewers a leg up and / or B) making life hard on smaller competition.

Kudos to the CCBA and board chair Laurie Porter from SoCal’s Smog City Brewing for making brewery business life a bit easier.

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Beer Science!

Science and beer are inextricably linked and two recent news stories really highlight that fact.

First up is Half Moon Bay Brewery and their NASA wastewater, HERE.

Salmon, do to our human meddling are having a hard time finding their way back upstream but trub from beer making might help guide them, HERE.

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Telco Down

Looks like there is a brewery casualty up in Santa Clarita.  Telco Brewing posted this to social media…

I had made one visit north to Telco.  The beers were fine but there was not much reach into L.A. so it was a case of out of sight, out of mind for me. From the outside it looked like they had a great name and brand, decent industrial space and a large enough market but sometimes you can do things right and still not make it.

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Pick Six for Tilray

The purge continues!  Not to say that I told you so but any brewery selling to SABInBev had to know that it was not a marriage of love but rather financial convenience.  And when the money flow trickled, well as ‘N Sync would say, “Bye, bye bye”.

And now Tilray Brands and their CBD, THC, Kush, weed money has peeled off six breweries and one cidery from SABInBev. Shock Top, Breckenridge, Blue Point (the first purchased brewery if I am not too mistaken), 10 Barrel, Redhook, Widmer and Square Mile Cider.  

They will join the power conference of SweetWater, Montauk, Green Flash, Alpine and the new Good Supply Lager which I did not even know existed.

Before rejoices are sung. I do not know if this is a good change or not. These breweries all have different strengths and weaknesses and need investment and most importantly patience. I am cautiously pessimistic because one company can’t have all the tools to help this disparate group.

But at least they are out from the thumb of Bud.

Maybe Tilray can buy the four remaining Pac- 12 schools next

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Best IPA in Oregon (or elsewhere)

The State of Oregon and The Oregon Brewers Guild has gauntlet in hand for a new beer competition – “the Best of the West Coast IPA: National Throwdown.”

This is for West Coast IPA’s between 6 and 8% ABV ONLY.

“Registration for the competition is open through July 7th and is open to breweries from all 50 states. All beers entered must be produced on a fully licensed, commercial brewery with a TTB Brewer’s Notice on file. Breweries-in-planning and homebrewers are not eligible. All proceeds from the competition will go to supporting the Guild.”  It will be interesting to read about the turnout for this new competition and if indeed all 50 states will have an entry.

You can get additional information about the competition, HERE .