A Greener Forge

A few days ago I saw a cryptic post about the timing of the sale of Barley Forge. It seemed on its face as a simple explanation for fans who might want to schedule last visits to the Costa Mesa brewery, but it also was a foreshadowing that the brewery was changing hands. Greg Nagel from OC Beer Blog broke the news that new that….

It looks a strategic parry to their neighboring brewery, Gunwhale Ales which opened a second location near Green Cheek and now Green Cheek is returning the favor. Also, it is interesting that this will be the second brewery space that Green Cheek will take over.

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Jason Lee Norman, an Edmonton publisher and author, has come up with an ingenious use for a can of beer.  Norman teamed up with Blindman Brewing for custom can labels for the brewery’s limited edition summer ale.  Each can had a micro-short stories from local writers on the label.

For those who love to have something to read on cereal boxes this is perfect.  Pour your beer and then read your story while you taste the ale.  I could see this being a great idea for a brewery that has a large distribution footprint that can add local flavor by having a different label for different markets.

Cost of One CBA

A little financial sleight of hand and suddenly a 20 million dollar fine seems like a small price to pay for the Craft Brew Alliance. ABInBev owned a minority stake in the group that includes Appalachian Mountain Brewery, Cisco Brewers, Omission Brewing Co., Redhook Brewery, Square Mile Cider Co., Widmer Brothers Brewing, and Wynwood Brewing Co. (basically just Kona and Widmer and really just Kona if you want to sit on brass tacks) had a September deadline for ABInBev to buy them at higher price A) 475 Million. That was declined and the 20 million paid so that lower price B) could be paid around 321 million.

321 + 20 < 475 sums up that transaction.

What happens now though Kona gets added to the formerly known as “High End” or “Brewers Collective” as if we were in the USSR. The other breweries on the list will too but I doubt they will last long before being spun out somehow. ABInBev has the geography and styles covered already with higher financial performers. Widmer Bros. is the odd duck here as a heritage brand with super-strong ties to Portland. It might be a target for revival for an ambitious under VP in ABInBev ranks. Or it may end up on the scrap heap too which would sad for the current oldest brewery in Portland.

Bank Withdrawl

This story was recently in the L.A. Times….

It is rare that a government body is even a tiny bit pro-active but San Diego has seen the power of both biotech and beer and have created a new bank.  One that will be filled with water and (hopefully) won’t increase taxes.

The city wants to take “stranded”, unused water from business ventures willing to part with it and offer it to water dependent companies willing to pay for extra.  It is a clever idea and one that could conceivably work with other finite resources. It will be interesting if this project takes off and can be a model for other water districts.

Cellar No More

I was vigilantly checking my credit card statement when I saw a strange name on a purchase. I looked at my calendar and saw that I was at the Eagle Rock branch of Craft Beer Cellar that night and not at some place called Talon. I dug a little more and found out that the Talon is now the new name of the bottle shop.

The only news that I can find was on Facebook saying that Tom & Nicki have taken over. Leads me to think that the franchising through Craft Beer Cellar is having problems over on the West Coast too or maybe some other answer is at the root of the sign change.

I made a quick stop and did not see any of the regular staff on hand but the shelves were stocked so let’s hope that the beer choices stay strong.

For the 1st Responders

What you see is an old fire truck transformed into a second life as beer delivery system. Not only does it make you wonder what other cool vehicles could become taps but I also wonder if something like this could be combined with Jose Andres and his food for disaster victims (World Central Kitchen) to create a charitable beer truck. Maybe for the California fire fighters working in super hazardous conditions as celebration when a fire is contained.

Read the back story on this rolling Ohio tap truck right HERE.

Whither Lagunitas?

In late October, the news broke that Lagunitas (or was it Heineken) had closed a Community Room charitable space in Portland. It was PR claimed that it was a hard decision to make but I am pretty sure that the big brewery could have stopped taking reservations and then easily found the spare change in the marketing department couch to keep the place afloat through all the booked events or called it quits on January 2nd.

This led me back to a conversation I had recently where the massive Lagunitas complex off the 210 freeway was brought up and how it had completely fallen off the map in the Los Angeles beer universe. Back in time when I was invited there on media day and saw all the space for trucks to be loaded with easy access to move out onto the freeway to send Lagunitas beer to the large SoCal market and presumably to Mexico. Space for brewing and taprooms and food. But years have passed and no rooftop garden bar as spoken of. Nothing but a temporary taproom that had the look of thrown together over a weekend which I don’t even know is open or not anymore. And there ha been nary an update about the whole project since.

If two states are affected, in two widely disparate areas like Portland and SoCal, there is something afoot. This feels like a re-trenchment from above and not something guided by Petaluma HQ. I expected this to happen to one of the “High End” breweries or Constellation with the inflated Ballast Point sale but maybe Heineken hit a financial wall first. A self-imposed wall to be sure.

Road Brewing

While scrolling through GABF (Great American Beer Festival) Facebook posts, I ran across the following Sierra Nevada, tidbit…

Ken Grossman announced that the original Sierra Nevada brewing system will travel the United states, making occasional stops to brew in celebration of their 40th anniversary. I hope they head to L.A. because that would be a brew day to watch.

Are You Ready for Some… Three Weavers

It may not be ready when T. Swift opens the new Inglewood Stadium next year but Three Weavers will have a large 20,000-square-foot  presence in the stadium.  There will be a beer garden + opening in 2021 in the Hollywood Park development.

The beer garden per sources “will feature plenty of room for on-site brewing, as well as seating by way of outdoor tables and space for live music.” It is quite amazing that any sort of true craft presence is being invited into one of these projects.  The big beer cabal usually puts the kibosh on any sort competitors even at lesser pro sports venues, let alone a biggie like the NFL.

CA-1K

If it weren’t for the 1000 number in the middle, you could spend some time counting all the orange dots on the map to get to 1000.

Isn’t that crazy? Think about it. At one point it was a handful scratching out an existence on used dairy equipment and now you can find spots where you can walk from brewery to brewery or try to set a low Lyft fare record.

Of course with that number comes re-calibration. And that is for everyone in the independent California beer eco-system. Customers have incredible choice and need to wield it with care. Media needs to stop focusing on their influence and start working on enlightening. Breweries need to keep raising the quality and creative bar higher and those who move the beer need to do so fast, cold and in control.

The inevitable refrain of bubble may arise because some like singing that particular song but I think that it is more of a constant search for the right size of the industry. We had too many years of way under and no one really knows where the sweet spot is so maybe we should enjoy this time of plenty if it is indeed over that spot.