Hey it’s Wednesday and that means it’s Rumor Mill Time….Word that Bluejacket’s Head Brewer has parted ways with the company is rocking the mid-Atlantic brewing community and we’ll be bringing you everything we know so far. Plus we’ve some big news coming out of the Boulevard camp and some updates on New Belgium’s progress in Asheville. But that’s not all… we’ve also got a special Rumor Mill release you’ll want to chase down.

So fasten your seat belts everybody because….THIS WEEK’S RUMOR MILL IS ON!

Head Brewer Megan Parisi Exits Bluejacket (Washington, DC) – The DC brewing community was blindsided yesterday by word that Megan Parisi, the much-lauded Head Brewer for DC’s popular Bluejacket, had parted ways with the company. In a statement to the Washington Post’s GoingOutGuide who first broke the story, Neighborhood Restaurant Group’s Beer Director Greg Engert (whose holdings include Bluejacket) described the parting as “amicable.” This is a big development in the mid-Atlantic region – and we’ll be following things closely – so stay with us on this.

Anheuser- BuschTerminates Another Generation (Saint Louis, MO) – In yet another effort to shore up its declining market share (much of it lost to craft beer), Anheuser- Busch has hired an aging “Terminator” to star in a pricey Bud Light Super Bowl commercial that will air on February 2. The 66-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger was reportedly paid $3 million to be part of a humorous campaign that was teased last Sunday during the AFC Championship game.

New Belgium Looks To Begin Brewing on the East Coast in 2015 (Ashville, NC) – As we reported in Quick Hits on Monday, Sierra Nevada might be opening the doors to their new North Carolina-based brewery as early as this August – and it appears that New Belgium is making progress as well. The Asheville Citizen Times is reporting that the” latest timeline from the company shows that construction on the brewery is expected to begin later this year, the first hiring will take place in early 2015, and workers should be brewing beer by the end of 2015.”

Lakefront’s Rolling Out More Barrels (Milwaukee, WI) – With its newly expanded brewing capacity, Lakefront Brewery has announced a 21.4% production increase in 2013. The Wisconsin-based craft brewery packaged 40,496 barrels of beer, up from 33,368 barrels, in 2012 and we’re pretty damn happy for them!

Boulevard’s CEO Moves On (Kansas City, MO) – Mike Magoulas, who helped guide the Boulevard Brewing Company for 16 critical months (which included the company’s October sale to Duvel Moortgat), resigned as the company’s CEO on December 31. The Kansas City Business Journal reports that his future plans include spending more time with his family business and continuing consulting for Boulevard, among other breweries.

A Rumor Mill Release You Want to Look Out For

Red Hare Brewing Company has just introduced the 7th beer in the Rabbit’s Reserve series, a line of draft only, limited release beers that only become available a few times a year. Thrice Hopped Imperial IPA is their triple-hopped, 8.3% monster that’s brewed using Chinook, Falconer’s Flight, and Saaz hops, and then dry hopped with the same trio. And it will soon be available in bars, growler stores, and restaurants throughout Georgia and South Carolina.