Beer Buzz: Kona Builds Hawaiian Brewery, Great Divide Abandons Plans For Denver Brewery

, Beer Buzz: Kona Builds Hawaiian Brewery, Great Divide Abandons Plans For Denver Brewery

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This week’s Beer Buzz is a tale of two breweries…one building for its future…the other taking a more cautious approach as craft beer’s momentum slows.

Kona Breaks Ground On Island Brewery (Kailua-Kona, HI) – In spite of its clearly defined Hawaiian identity, Kona Brewing, which merged with Craft Brew Alliance in 2010, brews the majority of its beer in Oregon and at other breweries throughout the country, not in Hawaii. And although that will continue, the brewery has broken ground on a new on-island facility that will allow the Hawaii-aligned beer brand to expand the amount of beer available to, well, actual Hawaiians.

Kona’s new brewery will up its island capacity to 100,000 barrels annually and allow the company to move most of its production of cans and kegs for Hawaii back to the Big Island. “The current facility, where tap beer offered in Hawaii is brewed, puts out about an eighth of that at just 12,000 barrels annually,” according to the Hawaii Tribune Herald.

The first beer from the new facility is anticipated to be ready for consumption by March or April, 2020.

 

Words To Drink By (Hawaii) – “Everything that comes out of here will be shipped all over the islands…Bottled beer will still continue to come from facilities on the mainland.” Bill Smith, Kona Brewing General Manager of Hawaii Operations

 

, Beer Buzz: Kona Builds Hawaiian Brewery, Great Divide Abandons Plans For Denver BreweryGreat Divide Abandons Plans for Downtown Brewery (Denver, CO) – Reflecting (we think) craft beer’s slowing growth and momentum, Great Divide Brewing is selling 2.4 acres of downtown land that had been originally purchased with the idea of to building a larger brewery in Denver, to a local development firm, according to Westword.

What We’ve Been Drinking Lately (Boston, MA) – It’s Oktoberfest season and we’ve been celebrating with an award-winning lager from Boston Beer. True to tradition and authentic in its execution, Samuel Adams Oktoberfest is a 5.3% ABV deep amber colored Märzen Lager with a malt-rich mouthfeel and lingering flavor.

Banner image credit: Hensley Beverage Company

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