Category: Beer Industry

my occasional rants and raves about what is going on in the industry.

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Home Brew Con


There won’t be any droids or cosplayers or Whovians at the Portland Convention Center in June. But it will be plenty nerdy because the Rose City will be hosting Homebrew Con, also known as the National Homebrewers Conference.

The three-day event will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year this year. There will be “interactive sessions, workshops and demonstrations that cater to beer enthusiasts and amateur brewers of every level.” Plus there will be a keynote address from Charlie Papazian.

The event finishes with the National Homebrew Competition, the world’s largest beer competition.

The “Con” runs fromThursday, June 28 to Saturday, June 30. Check out the conference schedule HERE.

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Kind of a Big 2017 Deal

Yesterday, The Brewers Association released the figures of the Top 50 U.S. Craft Brewing Companies. (They also released the Top 50 overall, but I ain’t interested in that).

Let’s tease some of the numbers out from a California perspective:
~ Biggest in CA is Sierra Nevada at # 3
~ There are four “collectives” at 5, 6, 9 and 14
~ There are 9 California breweries on the list + Firestone Walker as part of the Duvel Moortgat Group. Most are in the 35-50 range.

Overall, there are no “Wow!” surprises on the list. Those breweries that contract for others are high as expected. If you are looking for anomalies, New Glarus at # 16 might be considered bigger than thought before. What does “pop” is when you look at the list on a map…

Those blanks spots really stand out. The population of those “blanks” is part of the reason that say neither Dakota has a pin in it. State laws play a bigger part though in populous states such as Texas and Florida.

Kudos to the association for releasing so much information.

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3Grand

I know it was announced last week but it seems only fitting to use 3/3 to talk about the Independent Seal breaking the 3K point in usage.

That number represents half of today’s 6,000 craft breweries in just 8 months of use. So the next phase of action is #SeektheSeal.

There was a mini-kerfuffle with some slamming the design or the reason behind the seal but that has thankfully receded from view as the seal becomes more commonplace in shop windows and on packaging.

It’s still an efficient and easy way to differentiate #independent from the ever encroaching industrial brewers.

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Best Facilities Award – Winter 2018

I have waxed rhapsodic about the well curated taproom of Dry River Brewing before. It has a steampunk meets old-timely barn vibe that makes the small space seem lived in and welcoming. But what is even better is that the bathroom continues that decorating theme.

Most beer facilities are utilitarian. Keeping them clean is the basic goal which means spartan decor that is easy to clean and stock with supplies. But DRB has a bathroom that is stocked with little tchotchkes and art as well as a bowl of “something” that I assume is what makes it smell so good. There are local L.A. growlers on a high shelf. All of it takes your mind off the business at hand.

Why post about it? Well, I believe that breweries and bars can do a lot better with their bathrooms. Make them fun and architecturally inventive. Add artwork of bears with beer. Beer people are forced by nature to spend plenty of time in the loo, so make it fun!

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The Most

Untappd, the beer check-in app has been releasing some interesting statistics and the most recent that I have seen is the most of interest to me.

Here are the Top 10 Most Checked-In Breweries of 2017…

All but one are U.S. breweries and even BrewDog, though counted as Scotland, has an Ohio presence. They are all larger distribution footprint breweries minus one, Trillium which is probably on the list due to their hazyness but they are the only hazy IPA famous on the list which tells you something.

I was surprised to see Founders at the top. I would have pegged Sam Adams or Sierra Nevada for that slot. But other than that, I don’t see any other odd data.

Then the 10 individual Most Checked-In Beers…

I will toot my own horn and say that I have had all but Yuengling in my drinking career. And, if memory serves, 4 of these beers in the last year. Yeah, the list is IPA heavy but I would say that Two Hearted and 60 Minute are probably on the IPA border. I am a bit surprised at the double marks for New Belgium and Founders. Both are within 4+ check-ins of each other all told.

I do look forward to seeing more of these lists because it is a good indicator of the sales end of the business.

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Light at the Top


Light or “lite” depending on your education level, rules the U.S. roost. Not a surprise, except for the fact that it just happened last year. That is one of my golden nuggets from recent 3rd quarter sales figures up at the top of the sales world.

The other takeaway is that Bud is still falling and that the U.S. seems to be the major ache for the beer as a commodity business. Anheuser-Busch InBev – North American revenues were down 5% to $4.3 billion. And Year to date, they’re down almost 4% which means Q3 was worse.

Why do I care about these things? Obviously sales of that magnitude are in the far future for independent beer but it does send a strong signal that the chipping away from the big sellers is still there and growing. Maybe not at the fast clip of the past but that may have been the low hanging fruit.

That fruit may next be plucked by Europe and then the rest of the world, at that point, we may see a drastic course change from the Bud Light – Coors Light – Miller Lite troika. And that change may lead to reactions.

We may well see reactions to Miller Lite taking the #3 spot by not losing as much ground. Will the big three return to fighting each other maybe?

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Where It is Grown


Mikkeller has done a single-hop series in the past but now they are going the route of compare/contrast with Hop Terroir. The educations involved is to spot the taste differences because “A hop variety can taste markedly different depending on the country in which it’s grown and the processes involved in its production”.

Now there will be nine different beers with nine varieties of hops from various locations in the world.

The current line-up of Mikkeller Hop Terroir beers:

Hop variety: Amarillo/Cascade
IPA – Terroir Series Amarillo Idaho
IPA – Terroir Series Amarillo Washington State
IPA – Terroir Series Cascade Australia
IPA – Terroir Series Cascade Germany
IPA – Terroir Series Cascade Washington State

Hop variety: Centennial/Sorachi Ace
IPA – Terroir Series Centennial Washington State
IPA – Terroir Series Centennial Belgium
IPA – Terroir Series Sorachi Ace Belgium
IPA – Terroir Series Sorachi Ace Northwest US

To me the Cascade beers seem to be the best bet for creating truly unique beers with one single hop, though Sorachi Ace is intriguing since it is not seen as much. And hopefully, the L.A. Mikkeller outpost will have a tasting trial.

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Block Grant


The #independent beer community is more than just the people making beer it is also the farmers that grow the raw ingredients which is why it is so important that the Brewers Association is granting, well, grants as part of their Research and Service Grants Program. The program is “designed to further the development of a healthy and sustainable raw materials supply chain.”

17 grants with an attached $432,658 were awarded this year with 12 going to malt and 5 to hops. I selected 2 that I think will be important in the years to come….

Breeding for Barley Contributions to Beer Flavor
· Partner: Oregon State University
· Principal: Pat Hayes

Hop-Derived Dextrin-Reducing Enzymes from Dry-Hopping
· Partner: Oregon State University
· Researcher: Thomas Shellhammer

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The 2017 Hop Report


Governmental crop reports are generally not my jam but the hop report for 2017 is fascinating to pore over.

Here are my bullet points / important data from the PDF….

1. Idaho crept past Oregon for the # 2 slot in production with a two percent lead. Neither state combined can touch Washington with 75% of the production.

2. Overall hop production is up 20%

3. Washington produced more Cascade than any other hop, Idaho had Zeus followed by Cascade and Oregon had Nugget followed by Cascade.

4. Experimental hops are growing in yield in Washington but slowing down in Idaho from this year to last and not even on the list for Oregon

5. Azacca and Palisade were big last year but I don’t see other newcomers on the list to keep an eye on.

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Death and Taxes

While the Republican Tax Cut has been dissected and rightfully dismembered for it’s generosity to those needy wealthy folk and corporations who will soon be charging us more for the interwebs, it did also have a nice bit of help for small brewers tucked inside. (Not that it helps the overall picture)

The Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act will “recalibrate” according to the Brewers Association, the federal excise tax.

Here’s the gist:
“Under the bill, the federal excise tax on beer will be reduced to $3.50/barrel (from $7/barrel) on the first 60,000 barrels for domestic brewers producing less than 2 million barrels annually, and reduced to $16/barrel (from $18/barrel) on the first 6 million barrels for all other brewers and all beer importers. The bill maintains the current $18/barrel rate for barrelage over 6 million. In total, this represents more than $142 million in annual savings, which will allow America’s small brewers—who are manufacturers and entrepreneurs—to reinvest in their businesses, expand their operations, and hire more workers.

Additionally, CBMTRA increases collaboration between brewers by permitting transfer of beer between bonded facilities without tax liability.”

How breweries will react to these savings and how they use them will be interesting to watch. Will it go to infrastructure like tanks or more to employee benefits? And will it give an extra boost to those bigger breweries at the expense of the smaller? It will certainly impact the #independent beer world in 2018 but tax cuts don’t have the most predictable outcomes. And with most of these taxes sunset-ting to meet budgetary concerns, will they even have 1/2 the effect that is expected.

To get another deeper dive, check out the numbers HERE at the Beervana Blog.