Brewnanza

Breaking – Anderson Valley Brewing Company Sold

Anderson Valley Brewing Company from Boonville, CA, makers of NorCal favorite Boont Amber Ale, has been sold.

Trey White, a former exec with United States Beverage is the buyer, by way of a holding company created specifically for the purchase.
I’m not immediately clear on whether this is the same Trey White behind the suspiciously scammy Evolv [...]

Brewers Association Releases Official Numbers – Craft Up 7% in 2009

Surprise! Craft beer still A Pretty Big Deal, continues its explosive growth in 2009.

The latest numbers were officially released by the Brewers Association today, and we’re looking at yet another substantial increase in overall share, and year-over-year growth.
In 2009, craft brewers represented 4.3 percent of volume and 6.9 percent of retail dollars for the [...]

The Cascadian Dark Ale: Deschutes Wants You to Stop Saying “Black IPA”

The Black IPA is a bit of an oddity – its looks are certainly deceiving. Black as night, one would expect this emerging style to taste like a heavy, malty stout. But in reality, they’re hop bombs, virtually indistinguishable from your typical wondrous, golden-amber IPA.
This striking similarity in all areas but appearance raises some skepticism [...]

Brewdog Bottles Some Sarcasm

Brewdog makes me jealous – I wish I could get paid to package up all of my sarcasm and ire, and simply fling them at the world, unconcerned with outside opinions or consequences. Wait a second – I’m blogging right now! Sweet! All my dreams have come true.

The Scottish outfit is known for its extremely [...]

Beer Tourism: An Alternate Revenue Stream for Craft Breweries?

The craft brewing movement is a direct descendant of the home brewing hobby, so it’s no surprise that the ever-more-mainstream nature of craft beer has served to generate more interest in cookin’ the stuff at home.

This New York Times article offers an example of a craft brewery with a unique product offering targeted at those [...]

Pliny the Younger: Heavily Hopped, Heavily Hyped?

There are some discussions going on, as there always are, about whether Pliny the Younger, the annual small-batch Triple IPA release from Russian River, is over-hyped.

Whether PTY is overhyped or not, I think it’s safe to say the absurd fervor over the IPA doesn’t reflect the intentions of Russian River. Time and again, the Santa [...]

Dogfish Head’s Alstrom Bros. Collaboration? “Wrath of Pecan” – Really.

I missed it when they announced the naming contest in December – but the Extreme Beer Fest collaboration between Dogfish Head and BeerAdvocate’s Alstrom brothers (sorry dudes, I’m umlaut impaired) is going to be called “Wrath of Pecan.”
The 6% abv brownish ale, brewed with pecan-wood smoked malt, plantains, and carob, lands in March.
Sounds extreme enough, [...]

New York Times Rounds Up Some Belgians

Only a relatively small fraction of the posts on the New York Times‘ The Pour blog have anything to do with craft beer – but the fact that a media outlet as far-reaching as the Times even covers the topic regularly is undoubtedly a positive sign for the industry.
Yesterday, writer Eric Asimov wrote about a [...]

Eataly NYC’s Rooftop Brewery – A Collaboration Between Dogfish, Russian River, and Others

I think, proximity-to-awesome-beer-wise, the Bay Area is probably the best to live if you’re a fan of beer. But this development makes me want to be a New Yorker:

Eataly, a chain of high-end Italian markets and restaurants, is teaming up with two Italian brewers -  Teo Musso, Brewmaster of Birrificio Le Baladin and Leonardo Di [...]

Fullsteam Brewery-in-Construction Installs Space-Age Equipment (Literally)

Fullsteam is an under-construction craft brewery in Durham, N.C., which plans to define a “distinctly southern style of beer” when it opens this year.
Something that will apparently help them make…unique beers is a truly unique piece of equipment. Meet “MIR”:

Indeed, Fullsteam’s brewhouse was going to be in space. Originally part of a scrapped space station [...]