Monthly archive for January 2021

January 27th Only a month before Anchor Brewing celebrates its 125th anniversary a major change has been announced. In short, the traditional retro-style labels are out and a new minimalist label is in. Intent upon a swift change the brewery is using sales of beer at the brewery to exhaust supplies of the old label. What once cost nine dollars at the brewery has now dropped to the low discount price of $ 1.25   Beer Fest tickets Make a great Ground Hog Day Gift – available now at MBBF.org

This date marks the birth of Frank Sales Reisch in 1809. The founder of what became the F. Reisch Brothers Brewery of Springfield, Illinois started with an 8 barrel brewhouse. Later, an improved system, installed in 1900, raised the output to 100,000 barrels. Beer runs deep in the Reisch family with six generations in the industry. Although the original brewery closed, the Reisch Gold Top brand was resurrected in 2019 and won a medal at the International Beer Awards competition. Beer Fest General Admission tickets available now at MBBF.org or

Atlanta, Georgia: Sweetwater Brewing Company, the nation’s fourteenth largest craft brewer announced it will enter the Colorado market on February first. A company spokesperson of Sweetwater, which was acquired in November by Aphria Inc. a “cannabis-lifestyle” company, said it makes Colorado a perfect fit. Beer Fest General Admission tickets available now at MBBF.org or follow this link  https://northamericanbrewers.org/ticket-store/ Copyright Gregg & Lisa Smith – Their latest book “Beer Drinkers Dictionary” is available on Amazon

January 17th – A sad day for beer drinkers; it was on this date that marked the official start of prohibition. Millions of people went out the night before for the last legal beer they would have for the next 13 years. Breweries attempted to continue operations by the production of near beer the brands by brewery were: Pabst – Pablo; Schlitz – Famo; Miller – Vivo; Stroh – Luxo; Anheuser Busch – Pivo. Beer drinkers largely rejected these attempts at NA beers. The saying was that whoever called it

Portland Brewing has announced it will cease operations as of February 5th.  This will end production of  the MacTarnahan’s brands. Pyramid beers which were also produced at the brewery will now be brewed in Rochester, NY. No further information is available on the status of the brewing equipment. Portland was one of the early craft brewers in the city and operated for more than thirty years; it follows Bridgeport Brewing another early craft brewer which closed 2 years ago. Beer Fest General Admission tickets available now at MBBF.org or follow

On this day in 1935 the Krueger Brewing Company of Richmond, Virginia, introduced the first practical beer can. This might not seem of much significance but before ‘off-premise’ (six packs) most beer was consumed on-premise, meaning bars, saloons, restaurants and hotels. After the introduction of off premise sales American drinking habits changed when they realized beer was thereafter mobile, they could drink it almost anywhere.             The one drawback was the lack of an easy-opening top. It required a can opener that was affectionately called a ‘Church Key’. The public

The end of COVID, though almost in sight, might not be soon enough for a great number of the country’s breweries. Which face the greatest threat? Those with slim operating reserves and those which rely on taprooms sales for the majority of their business. Back in early April 2020, a survey conducted by the Brewers Association determined that over 45% of the small brewers were in jeopardy, indicating they could only survive approximately three months of COVID restrictions. Many small breweries were dependent on a business model which focused on