Category: Beer Industry

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

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SF Guild goes Regional


In what may be a blueprint for the even more sprawling (especially in traffic) Los Angeles, the San Francisco Brewers Guild has made a change from city to regional organization.

The goal being to “evolve into a regional trade association devoted to promoting independent breweries across the greater Bay Area year-round.”

That means that some independent breweries throughout the SF region will be extended invitations to join the Guild and then get slotted into their appropriate chapter such as San Francisco, East Bay, North Bay and South Bay — as well as a possible fifth for Santa Cruz / Monterey area.

On a side note, SF Beer Week Dates have been set for 2018, February 9-18 for a week+ of Bay Area festivities.

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Contractual Agreements

There is a good and a bad way to deal with long-term contracts that now seem unfavorable to you.

Ska Brewing has taken the high road or you could also call it the creative road. They have taken their hop contract and immortalized it on their label. BHC – Bad Hop Contract may not use the hippest hops on the market. The hops may not be that fancy lupulin powder or work as well with the new NE IPA’s but they have been able to weave this hop learning experience into the fabric of their brewery and I think they will be stronger for it.

Other breweries seem to have taken the low road which I also call the “I hope I don’t have to deal with these hop brokers in the future” road. 47 Hops has entered bankruptcy due to hops either not being paid for, or contracts not honored. Those that bet on a hop or amount of growth that did not occur need to, at least, call back. That is courtesy. Suggest a modified contract. Don’t behave like Trump and just run roughshod over vendors.

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Partners in Brewing


If you cast your mind back, you will remember that Southern Tier and Victory Brewing have combined forces under the Artisanal Brewing Ventures banner. Now the two breweries have announced plans run a R&D brewery and taproom together in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The innovation brewery will do both beers that are “specific to Charlotte and the Carolinas” and will also pour flagship brands such as Southern Tier’s Nu Skool IPA and Pumking along with Victory’s Golden Monkey and Prima Pils.

The facility will have a “25-barrel brewhouse capable of producing approximately 10,000 barrels annually. The facility will include a fermentation cellar, quality lab and packaging hall along with a beer garden and indoor/outdoor private event spaces.”

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Commons Change

The northward march of Modern Times just took a big leap as they announced their upcoming Belmont Fermentorium. In this instance, the Commons Brewery will give up their space to the growing San Diego employee-owned company as the Portland brewer, who started in his garage as Beetje Brewing will consider his next steps.
Mike Wright, founder of The Commons Brewery, who also owns the 10,000 sq. ft. site where his beer company is currently located, will turn the keys over for the premises at 630 Southeast Belmont Street at the end of the year. New brewery equipment and rebrand the location as “The Belmont Fermentorium.”

To be crystal clear, Modern Times is not acquiring The Commons Brewery. Though the future of Commons is uncertain.

Matt Sandoval will go from the cellar at Modern Times to running the brewing operations in Portland. The Belmont Fermentorium will also include a coffee roaster and eventually food will be part of the project as well . As of now, Modern Times has two locations in San Diego. Is building out locations in Anaheim and Los Angeles and is working on a possible Encinitas location as well.

I have a feeling that more statements like the one below from Mike Wright of The Commons will be seen in the coming years…
“What Happened?
Unfortunately, this is a classic small business cash flow story. Sure, there is plenty of industry nuance and hindsight that can be evaluated, but this boiled down to simple debits and credits. That’s the sinister simplicity of a cash flow problem. Your debt is clearly defined, but revenue is a rollercoaster. The belief was that we’d eventually break out and get past those challenges. We did not.”

The question is, how many breweries can take over for those that have decided to pause or quit?

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Clean Water makes Clean Beer

In general, I am apathetic to politics. There is a lot of anger and vitriol but not much actually getting something done that keeps this country progressing. Even something as needed as infrastructure can’t get done and don’t get me started on this country’ s health care.

But the further downstream (the pun will arrive later) you go, the more an individual can make a mark or at least have their voice added to the yea or nay column.

One concrete way to act is to read the 2015 Clean Water Rule. A rule that clarified which headwaters and wetlands would be under the protection of the Clean Water Act. Then adding your public comment by clicking on this LINK and saying your piece.

The extremist anti-environment and extremist pro any business EPA chief Scott Pruitt wants to roll back the Obama era rule because, well, any clean water seems to be an affront to him. Granted, farmers and ranchers need help as well but there has to be a way to keep water clean AND have people farm too.

The EPA has extended the public comment period on the repeal proposal to the Clean Water Rule to September 27.

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British Hops

It’s not all about our hops. Though it may seem that way at times. There is the old country to consider.

You should check out the variety tab on the website for the British Hop Association where you can get a quick view and more in depth looks at the hops they are growing.

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How Many Cannons?

14 to be exact.

In what is new to my knowledge, 14 Cannons will be both a brewery in the crowded Westlake Village market, that already has two big players in Figueroa Mountain and The Dudes as well as Westlake Brewing and Five Threads, and a showroom for future breweries to Ikea shop for a brewhouse design.

From the website, “The showroom is a working operational teaching facility for brewers and novices alike. It features top of the line equipment from Premier Stainless, Microbrew Water, ProBrew, Blome Tile, Airgas, Pro Chiller, Keg Credit, and GF Piping System.”

Infrastructure like this has been slow in coming but could really help those building a brewery now.

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Going Up


Whenever I see a graph with sliders (sliders disengaged on above), I just seem to move them back and forth.

In this instance, going granular with the data isn’t really needed. There is that nearly upright line moving upward starting from 2009-10. And that is the one to focus on.

At this point even a good sized downward spike will still keep us above the all-time historical number and if/when the downshift occurs, my gut is telling me that others will use that equipment to build up their current brewery or start a new one.

The question that is most burning for me is, “Can 6K be far reached?”

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B-Dubs at Your Door

photo from Dayton Business Journal

I have pooh-poohed beer delivery in the past. The folks with the logistic capability don’t have the beer that people want delivered and those that do, have harder roads to cover. What I did not think of is food delivery. There is some infrastructure there and if they buy decent beer, it could possibly work.

Granted the photo above shows one horrible beer and one that I would probably order from Summit.

Wings and beer delivery from the B-Dubs is starting in Ohio and if it succeeds without cannibalizing their sit-down restaurants than you might see more “B-Dubs Express” in your town.

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Karl is Distributing


Karl Strauss has decided to add another wrinkle to their company. Distributing. They are starting slow with two San Diego breweries, Benchmark and Black Plague for now though if it works they might add a brewery that starts with the letter C.

You can read more about it over at the West Coaster SD.