American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
12 of craft beer’s most important names were inducted to the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame over the weekend. We’ve that, Anthony Bourdain and more.
Craft Beer Hall of Fame Inducts Inaugural Class
If anything points to a maturing industry as well as its impact on society, it’s when it gets its own “Hall of Fame” and now thanks to Marty Nachel, a long-time beer writer, beer judge, and beer educator, it has one.
The American Craft Beer Hall of Fame was established to honor, celebrate, and commit to history those people who are responsible for initiating, sustaining, and promoting the American craft beer industry. And on Saturday, February 15 it announced inaugural class of inductees
A board of over 100 Electors, made up of many of craft beer’s most respected and notable analysts, commentators, and advocates, came to consensus on the following twelve Inductees for enshrinement in The Hall.
These inductees represent diverse facets of the industry –brewery owners, brewers, writers, and educators. Each has contributed greatly to the growth and development of craft beer in their own ways.
This year’s inaugural inductees include…
- Fred Eckhardt – Portland-based craft beer advocate and writer
- Charles and Rose Ann Finkel – Founders of Pikes Brewing
- Bert Grant – Beer advocate who opened first modern brewpub in US
- Ken Grossman – Founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing
- Michael Jackson – Legendary English writer and beer journalist.
- Jim Koch – Founder of Boston Beer Company
- Fritz Maytag – Longtime owner of Anchor Brewing
- Jack McAuliffe, Jane Zimmerman, and Suzy Stern – New Albion Brewing
- Charlie Papazian – American nuclear engineer, brewer and author. He founded the Great American Beer Festival and also served as President of the Brewers Association for over 30 years.
The induction ceremony was live streamed on Saturday, Feb. 15th, from five breweries across the country, including Bierstadt Lagerhaus (Denver), Deschutes Brewery (Portland), Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (Milton), Dovetail Brewery (Chicago), and New Realm Brewing (Atlanta).
Words to Drink By
“Without new ideas, success can become stale.” Anthony Bourdain – American celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian
New York State Breweries Hold Steady in Turbulent Times
“After decades of growth, craft beer nationwide is in its worst-ever slump,” according to the Cornell Chronicle, “with negative production for the second straight year and more craft brewery closures in 2023 than ever before. But the graph for New York state hasn’t wobbled, with 539 craft breweries and counting, ranking it second in the nation.”
“We are holding steady,” said Paul Leone, executive director of the New York State Brewers Association. “It’s one of those states where some craft breweries are closing, some are opening, some are expanding and some are right-sizing. That leaves us flat – which is not a bad thing in this environment.”
Cornell’s college paper explained the relative health of New York State craft brewers on “a combination of consumer enthusiasm, a tradition of cooperation and the right mix of savvy state policies and technological innovation. Cornell has recently doubled down on its commitment to craft beer research and industry support, for the first time adding an extension associate to focus on brewing with the Craft Beverage Institute.”
###
