Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
my humble and correct opinion
Russian River Brewing does some really cool things for the craft beer industry. Their latest is….THIS
..which is just a cool way to help an up and coming brewery. An if Pliny is brewed on that kit, there are some good vibes coming from that for sure.
The Sports Bra the much lauded and talked about first women’s sports bar in the world, has announced plans to franchise and bring the brand to other cities.
Owner Jenny Nguyen opened The Sports Bra in Portland in 2022 and now with investment from Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, best known as the husband of tennis legend Serena Williams, and his Ohanian’s 776 Foundation will provide the backing for the endeavor which will hopefully create more places where women’s sports can be watched which in turn might get more women’s sports broadcast.
As a bonus, money from the investment will be re-invested right back into girls’ and women’s sports via the foundation providing even more of a positive feedback loop.
Maybe, a franchise will open here in Glendale!
Finally, some streaming beer content and it even name checks my hometown!
And if you want some companion material, head HERE.
Usually mergers and acquisitions occur and it is a net negative. Especially when it is the big players in the beer industry. A big brewery buys a small one and then proceeds to water down the product or distributors get bigger and bigger until they cannot service all the beer they have in their portfolio.
But the new Circle of Crowns Beverage Group Strategic Alliance is indeed that an alliance. CCBG includes Inglewood-based Crowns and Hops, Fresno-based Full Circle Brewing and its sister brands Speakeasy Ales and Lagers and Sonoma Cider. All black owned breweries.
The two main prongs of the alliance are a combined sales force bringing not just one brewery but multiple to the table and second Full Circle will use their excess brewing capacity to brew Crowns and Hops beers which, I think, may change once the Inglewood brewery is up and running.
Owning your local market is quite important these days so the fact that each one is in a different sector of California will help as well. But the combined weight might just push growth so that these beers get more placement.
Whenever economic figures for craft beer are powerpointed and then later dissected, it always seems to be in a tone of grimness.
Maybe people thought the high flying double digit days were never going to cool or that another alcoholic beverage would ever possibly have its time in the sun.
But that somber news story is exactly that, a story, one of many. And the side of the story that I wish would be focused on more is that of the sheer amount of breweries in the United States now.
The number is close to 10K. And that is amazing. Who would have thought back on 2000 or 2010 that there would be that many. Remember that back in the 80’s that there were barely any and the regional players were on life support. Even if this is the plateau, that is such a turn around.
Yes, closures may soon outpace openings but even so 10K! I have one taproom that I can walk to and three breweries that are super short drives to.
It may not be confetti in the air but this is still a good time for craft beer fans.
CBC, the Craft Brewers Conference was in Las Vegas aka Land of the Sphere and that is where the World Beer Cup awards were announced yesterday.
Here is my Los Angeles centric take on who won…
You can see the full list of winners HERE
There is the potential that beer labels will have to squeeze in a lot more information onto them in the future. More specifically, allergens and nutrition information. Which is not good for those, like me, who need major magnification just to read what hops are in the beer. And though I like the idea of a QR code that leads you to more detailed information, what percentage of people are going to use that and then what percentage of those will understand the governmental gobbledygook that passes for information?
You can read more HERE from the Brewers Association.
I am not a homebrewer but I know the vital importance of having them around to push the recipe envelope without having to sell their beers and to be a minor league from which new breweries can spring with new ideas.
And a cool new idea for the Big Brew 2024 on May 4th is to have a theme. That theme? Homebrew recipes inspired by Star Wars.
The recipes are Degobah Dunkel, Jabba Juice Hazy IPA, A New Hope Pale Ale, Empire Strikes Back Dark Ale and rounding out the OG trilogy Return of the Jedi Pale Ale. All OK names but I hope to see some deeper cuts like Ahsoka Amber or Order 66 Betr-Ale.
I am giving you ample opportunity to stock up for April 27th. What am I stocking up on, you might ask? Saisons of course. Throwing no shade on IPA Day or Stout day but other styles need the push more and Allagash has picked the 27th for Saison.
Start looking now, you don’t have to just drink them on one day.
Haven’t been on Netflix for awhile. Too busy catching up on shows on other streamers but they have recently announced an interesting beer series helmed by “Peaky Blinders” writer Steven Knight. Called House of Guinness (for now) it will tell the story of The Guinness Family. Yes, that one.
It “will be set in the 19th-century in both Dublin and New York, and will focus on the aftermath of the death of Benjamin Guinness, who is frequently credited with the brewery’s long-standing fame and success. The plot will follow Benjamin’s children Arthur, Edward, Anne, and Ben as they navigate the challenges of the business in the wake of their father’s passing.”