Beer Industry – Page 40 – Beer Search Party

August 19, 2014September 5, 2018

Beer Economics in Oregon

Infographics are all the rage. Almost as much as listicles. But both can harbor nuggets of wisdom and this particular graphic about craft beer sales and production in Oregon has one number that is mind blowing to me. And it is the very last number…

53% of draft beer drunk in Oregon was brewed in state. That, to me, is a staggering number because that shows two things.

1. That drinking local is both ingrained and that there is enough supply to achieve it.

2. Craft beer is a majority choice if not a strong minority considering your definition of craft.

And combined with the 11% packaged beer number shows how far there is still to go. Literally and figuratively.

Now if I could get similar graphics for the other big brewing states to make a good compare and contrast post.

August 14, 2014September 5, 2018

Roll Out Your Own Barrel

2670 Rogue Brewing has it’s own hop farm, fruit trees, malt and rye and now they are taking the vertical integration one step further with the Rolling Thunder Barrel Works that they call with typical Rogue-ishness “a tree to table cooperage at the Rogue Ales and Spirits World Headquarters in Newport, Oregon.”

They are going to age their “Oregon made beer and spirits, crafted with Oregon grown ingredients, in barrels we crafted ourselves from Oregon White Oak.”

They will harvest wood from the Oregon Coast Range and then the “white oak pieces will be seasoned in terroir of the Willamette Valley and in the ocean air of Newport.”

And they are going to do it old-world style which means hand-crafted. Which means it will take time but I love the idea and I hope that more breweries with the means and supply see this as an example of taking the art of brewing into the art of cooperage too.

August 13, 2014September 5, 2018

Cantillon Bulks Up

No, no steroids here just more capacity for the beloved Belgian blender, Cantillon.

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They have apparently been in the market for additional space since last year and have found a new space in an old blender building that held Brasseries Limbourg up until the sixties.

Due to the lengthy process of aging, you won’t see an immediate impact but once 2 to 3 years/vintages pass they will eventually be able to double their production. Which is great news for those who can’t get enough of their stellar line-up. Soon they will brew the wort at the main brewery before transferring (after cooling) to mature at the new location.

July 28, 2014September 5, 2018

California Craft Beer and the Law

There were some interesting positions taken (I know, That’s What She Said) in a recent blog post on the BrewBound site pertaining to laws and craft beer.’

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Tom McCormick, the executive director of the California Craft Brewers Association was asked a few questions about laws and possible laws being considered and where the CCBA stands on them.

First up is Assembly Bill 2004 which would allow brewers to sell their beer at local farmers’ markets if the bill passes. This is something that I have seen very sporadically but that I think might me a good fit if done right. If nothing else, the opportunity should be allowed. This could be a ripe opportunity for a brewery to connect with it’s community and collaborate with farmers who could provide future ingredients. There are also many roadblocks that I foresee. Police or extra security might be involved and the area might need to be roped off to keep the kids out but these could be creatively surmounted.

According to BrewBound, “The bill maintains some restrictions for beer makers, however. Breweries will only be able to sell at farmers markets in their own or adjacent counties. Nevertheless, said McCormick, it would level the playing field with wineries, which have been legally selling products at the markets for many years.”

Next on the docket is Assembly Bill 2010. This tackles the duplicate permit issue. This allows a beer company warehousing and retailing privileges minus beer making. Right now, you can duplicate to your hearts content. But this bill puts a cap of six on the practice. I don’t know where 6 became the perfect number. Why not 10 or 11 1/2? I think that stymies growth to an extent so I disagree with the CCBA’s stance that it is OK. Just because one or more breweries may be growing more quickly doesn’t mean that others won’t in the future or that one brewery will eventually own California. I think we are way past that at this point.

For those few who follow this blog who are interested in the intersection of craft beer and the law, I would love to hear your thoughts.

July 24, 2014September 5, 2018

BrewAge

If you can’t get enough of beer videos on YouTube, then I have another channel for you to view….Brew Age

It is a unique set of videos covering California and Oregon and other topics like homebrewing and robots! ROBOTS! OK, that may be too excited but the videos are well done and most are short so you can watch a few without losing a whole afternoon. The wet hop video with Social Kitchen is another good one to check out.

Thanks to K for tipping me off about this channel.

July 13, 2014September 5, 2018

BrewDog Fund

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The BrewDogs are at it again. But this time it isn’t a beer made with the bacon and bike power. Not. It is EMpowering new breweries to succeed. Here is the lowdown from the “lowdown” section of their website…..

“Our mission has always been to make other people as passionate about great craft beer as we are. Not just BrewDog beer, but all great craft beer. More people brewing, serving and drinking craft beer from a range of killer breweries can only be a good thing, and that is what we try to achieve across our entire business from our brewery to our bars and our bottle shops.

With this overarching ambition in mind, we are delighted to announce the new BrewDog Development Fund. This fund will see us allocate up to £100,000 of our profits each year as well as loads of our time to help other new craft breweries start up and get established. It was only seven years ago that Martin and myself (James) set up BrewDog with some second hand tanks, a small bank loan and a big mission, and now we want to encourage others to do the same.

As well as providing capital to our new BrewDog Development Fund partners, we will also help them grow by:

· Showcasing their beers in our bars both domestically and internationally

· Providing advice and ongoing support (we know a little bit about growing a brewery)

· Helping with the sourcing of ingredients and brewing materials

· Assisting with equipment purchases

· Offering access to our state of the art laboratory for beer analysis

· Helping them grow sales by introducing them to our international sales network

As part of this initiative we are insanely excited to announce that our first two official partners in the BrewDog Development Fund are the phenomenal Brew by Numbers brewery based in London and CAP, based in Stockholm, Sweden.”

This is a logical extension of what craft breweries are already doing. Whether it is giving free advice, helping out with supplies or letting people brew with their equipment and it is one of the reasons why I am still jazzed about this business after 5+ years of writing about it.

June 28, 2014September 5, 2018

MyBrewBarrel

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One of the American dreams is to make things as good, just faster. FASTER! But this brewing product is not from here. It’s from Germany.

BrewBarrel wants to be the “easiest and fastest way to brew beer at home.” According to the literature (e-mail lit), “you can create your own beer out of over 30,000 varieties and then brew your customized beer at home in only one week.”

They have just started their Kickstarter campaign in order to take Brewbarrel to the US.

Check out the video. Do you think it would generate more interest in home brewing? Would it be a good introductory product for home brew shops to market as the step before all-grain brewing?

I do love the orange in the graphic though.

June 24, 2014September 5, 2018

No Reason Not to be in Denver

Unless you are me, and think it is better to go Denver for the Great American Beer Festival every three to four years. But for brewers, it can be invaluable which is why last year’s overflow situation sucked, to be perfectly frank.

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News from the excellent Brewbound site explains that this year will be different: “The Brewers Association (BA) has streamlined the registration process for this year’s Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in hopes of avoiding a repeat of a debacle that made securing a spot at the event difficult in 2013.

Last year, brewers flooded the BA’s servers in an attempt to register, which resulted in the festival selling out in half an hour. As such, not all beer companies were able to sign up. Additional “technical problem[s]” with Ticketmaster, which the BA contracts for general public and member ticket sales, “had a negative impact” on some members, as outlined in an apology issued by the BA at the time.

……to ensure that brewers aren’t excluded from participating, the organization said it plans to accept every applicant wishing to submit products for judging — unless more than 1,400 companies apply.

But while the amount of breweries able to participate in the medal competition has increased, the number of beers a company can enter for judging has not. That number will depend upon the total number of brewers competing, the BA said.”

It won’t make the medal ceremony any shorter but hopefully those who want to go will get the chance and those who don’t want to will also learn that it might be better to step aside.

June 14, 2014September 5, 2018

New(Port)

Port Brewing Co. “will change up its original branding of a “port hole” and “pint glass”, to a recognizable icon seen on beaches worldwide, the flip-flop.”

And that branding change will encompass the label designs and the newly refurbished website with the Port motto, “Laid Back but Hop Forward™.”

“We’ve been using the Flip-Flop tap handles to brand our draft beer for the past 7 years” said Tomme Arthur Director of Brewery Operations for Port Brewing. “Adding these icons to everything from our new website all the way down to our bottle caps makes perfect sense.”

Agreed. I wasn’t a huge fan of the artwork on some of the bottles and I think a unified image will be better in the long run both artistically and commercially.