Archive for the Industry News Category

On Thursday 21 September a representative of Ruben’s Brews will be on hand at Tap N Fill for a tap take over. The event will run from 5:30 to 8 p.m. There will also be giveaways. Ruben’s won a Gold medal at the 2023 International Beer Awards for their “Three Ryes Men”, an English Style Barleywine\Old Ale. Want to read more about the history of iconic American Beers? On Amazon try https://www.amazon.com/American-Beer-History-Mayflower-Microbreweries/dp/1081554  

A report released today claims that Anheuser-Busch Inbev will be selling off part of its craft brewing business. These include Shock Top, Square Mile Cider, Blue Point Brewing, Breckenridge Brewing, 10 Barrel Brewing, Widmer Brothers, Redhook and Hiball Energy. The reported sale price was 85 million to the Canadian operating branch of Tilray. The sale would make Tilray the 5th largest craft brewer with 5% of the Craft Beer Market. Zoo Brew Returns August 18th from 5 to 9 p.m. In honor of Zoo Brew we’re looking at animal named beers

The EU is revising a directive to cut down on packaging waste. The proposed change would require all packaging to be reusable or recyclable; at face value it seems a reasonable idea. However, it also states that all such packaging must include an “indelible code” to trace the recycling of materials. Problem is most breweries in the EU have refillable glass bottles with paper labels. There is no indelible code because it was not included when the glass was manufactured and the paper label is washed off so the bottle

For years the large brewing corporations have acquired craft brewers as part of the strategy for gaining market share. However, as Craft Beer sales have stabilized the Mega brewers have shifted their attention to potential growth of other segments of the beverage industry (read that as seltzers and canned cocktails). All of which leads to the unusual sale of a Craft Brewery back to its original owners. The Boone, North Carolina based Appalachian Mountain Brewery, part of the Anheuser-Busch portfolio of Craft Breweries, was recently reacquired by original owners Nathan

If you’re a fan of Pils, Vienna, Oktoberfest, Helles, Marzen, Bock and other varieties of Lager beer; you may be drinking an accident. A recently released study indicates that lager may have been the result of a contaminated batch of wheat beer. This lucky mistake occurred in Schwarzach, a small town in South Bavaria at the start of the 1600’s. Lager uses Saccharomyces Pastorianus, a different yeast than ales. The clue as to how this came about was when Saccharomyces Eubanus was discovered in the Patagonian Andes of Argentina during

                An unusual grave marker located in Winchester Cathedral, UK. A memorial to Thomas Thetcher who died on this date (12 May) in 1764, in part it reads that he “…died of a violent fever contracted by drinking Small Beer when hot.” It further reads “Here sleeps in peace a Hampshire Grenadier Who caught his death by drinking cold small beer Soldiers take heed from from his untimely fall, and when you’re hot, drink strong, or none at all. Mark your calendars, Mountain

The Steel Keg Association announced winners of their first annual Keg Champion Awards. Awards were presented in 7 categories and over 2,000 Breweries, Bars and Restaurants were nominated.  The Basis for the awards were, as described by the Association’s Executive Director. “They were distinguished by their commitment to sustainability and to delivering differentiated consumer experiences. Importantly, we also have a shared belief that this is not the culmination of an awards program, but just the beginning. Cheers to these winners and all of the keg champions out there.” In addition