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my occasional rants and raves about what is going on in the industry.
In the run up to Christmas, Brouwerij West posted on social media that, barring a miracle, they would be shutting down early in 2025.
That “so there’s a chance” led me to check their feed more regularly and the news is still up in the air as of the end of the year. There is a GoFundMe that you can access HERE.
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.
I am usually wary of brand extensions but I do think that what Yakima Chief Hops does with their annual blend to benefit the Pink Boots Society fits into a brand extension slot but with benefits.
This year the blend features a harmony of Simcoe®, Mosaic®, Chinook, and Krush™. That last one seems to be quite en vogue at the moment.
The other cool thing about the 2024 blend is that YCH “partnered with women-owned farms within its network of growers to assist in creating the blend. Jessica Riel of Double ‘R’ Farms, Reggie Brulotte of Brulotte Farms, and Erica Lorentz of Lakeside Ranches each hand-selected their favorite lots from this year’s harvest, which the YCH sensory team used to craft three compelling blends for the Pink Boots Society membership to vote on.”
A third cool thing is that YCH will donate $1 from each pound sold to the Pink Boots Society.
Looks like another celebrity is entering the beer game but with an N/A twist. Tom Holland is founding a company with the un-Marvel name of Bero and will have three non-alcoholic beers initially. Kingston Golden Pils, Edge Hill Hazy IPA and Noon Wheat. Nary a spider pun to be found but certainly some British influence.
It will be direct to consumer via their website with plans to launch in Target next year. Holland has discussed his sobriety which makes a venture into near beer a good call.
The Modern Times fallout continues as Craft ‘Ohana, the parent company of Maui Brewing Co. is partnering up with San Diego based Wings & Arrow Beer Co. to kinda-sorta supervise Modern Times operations.
This is where it gets even more complicated though. Wings & Arrow is part of Great Frontier Holdings which is the overarching group for Ninkasi and Ecliptic Brewing amongst other seltzer holdings.
Got me to thinking about how one cqn have a manager, who has a manager, who has a manager. Eventually there is too much distance between the brew floor and who owns the business.
I have a feeling this will be ongoing.
It is safe to say that I enjoy a good entrepreneur story and if you don’t like the personalities of Shark Tank there is a different show that you can listen to as a podcast or on YouTube called The Pitch and recently they had a beer episode.
The founder of Hoplark which makes hop water and hop teas is branching out into brewing efficiency. ReCraft has engineered a way to get more utilization of hops and water that might save some money for a brewery.
Take a listen (or watch) HERE.
Anheuser-Busch announced a new $16 million investment in its Los Angeles ( Van Nuys ) brewery with the main takeaways being:
· Expansion of packaging capabilities for the company’s “beyond beer” brands like Cutwater and NUTRL, including variety packaging
· Increased production capacity for 25-ounce cans to meet increasing consumer demand
· Facility upgrades to enhance water conservation and reduce boiler emissions
Anheuser-Busch has been in the Valley since 1954 and is one of more than 120 facilities across the country.
I am down for the third item of water saving but am a bit confused by the first two. Are there not enough variety packs from Bud? Or its ethanol options? And 25 ounce cans? I thought the 19.2 ounce stovepipes were the package du jour.
I also noticed nothing about buying better hops or local malts or making better beer.
…National Black Brewers Day. I heartily suggest that you find a craft beer from a black owned business to celebrate this day whilst also realizing how few of these breweries there are and that there should be more come this time in 2025.
Most of us old-timey beer fans have a few big growlers either getting dust in a cabinet or garage. It was super trendy for a super tiny amount of time and always seemed to come with caveats to it.
16oz cans basically killed off growlers and bomber bottles in one fell swoop but Double Mountain Brewing in Oregon has been rallying behind refillable bottles for quite some time now.
Matt Swihart from the brewery talked to OPB (Oregon Public Broadcasting) about recycling which you can check out HERE.
At this point, I think the battle is over. Cans have the upper hand and also, there is no beer chasing FOMO or big recycling push at the moment from the younger generation so I do not see who would take the extra time to do this.
Like so much spent grain, Canadian cannabis company, Tilray is dumping a who’s who of Oregon brewing talent from 10 Barrel Brewing in Bend.
Gone is former Barley Brown’s brewmaster Shawn Kelso, former brewmaster Jimmy Seifrit, former Bend Brewing brewmaster Ian Larkin and most notably GABF medal machine, Tonya Cornett.
You can write a book (others have) about the malfeasance of SABInBev but at least they were not stupid enough to cut loose that murderers row of brewing know how. It would be the equivalent of the Kansas City Chiefs, waiving Mahomes, Kelce and Coach Reid in one fell swoop.
This is, unfortunately, typical corporate shortsightedness. Keeping talent happy and hoppy is not valued as much as profit. And what is thought of now as cost savings is going to end up losing them customers in the short term and will also introduce more competition in the long term as those brewers either start their own places or go to a brewery and bring their ‘rizz with them.
It takes a special attitude for a large corporation to grow a small company under its banner and most do not have the people skills or vision to accomplish it. Tilray has shown their true colors.