Hey it’s Wednesday and that means it’s Rumor Mill Time….At a time when most breweries are doubling down on ales, Jamie Floyd and Ninkasi are committing to a “road less traveled.” We’ll be bringing you everything we know so far. Plus we’ve got some unfortunate news for fans of The Alchemist and an update on BrewDog’s popularity “Down Under.” So fasten your seat belts everybody….THIS WEEK’S RUMOR MILL IS ON!

Success Can Come With Heady Consequences (Waterbury, CT) – For many, it wasn’t even a name anymore but an address. 35 Crossroad remains the address for The Alchemist cannery but as of November 15, it will no longer be open to the public. Bottom line – the success of the brewery and its Heady Topper have overloaded the small town and the business – forcing them to make a difficult decision to discontinue direct sales from their cannery and to sell their brand merchandise primarily through their online store.

Saint Arnold Soon to be “On the Beach” (Houston, TX) – Saint Arnold Brewing Co. is set to enter Florida this year. The Houston, Texas-based brewery has inked distribution deals with eight of the state’s distributors, which will enable them to cover much of the Gulf Coast region spanning Pensacola to Naples. Florida marks Saint Arnold’s fourth market, joining Texas, Louisiana, and Colorado.

Ninkasi Commits to Lagers (Eugene, OR) – At a time when many breweries are moving away from brewing the more time-consuming and expensive lagers, Ninkasi Brewing Company is stepping up its game. Ales can take around 2 weeks to brew where lagers can take 7 to 9 weeks to age. It’s hard for many brewers to justify the tank time necessary for lagers when they could brew 3 or 4 batches of ale for the same period. Ninkasi’s Jamie Floyd tells SaveonBrew that they are “committed to building the capacity needed to brew lagers correctly and are now seeing the lagers start to roll out. Last year, we brewed about 1,000 barrels of lager beer. This year, we will brew about 2,000 barrels of lager. For 2014, it is likely that we will brew up to 5,000 barrels of lager next year!”

Beer Saves Two More Lives! (Kent, UK) – Drinking too much beer can be problematic according to the UK’s Daily Mail, but it can also save your life. The newspaper’s online edition is reporting that two unidentified swimmers were pulled to safety from the sea off Kent’s Herne Bay after an evening spent drinking. Paramedics suggest that although the eight cans of beer consumed by each individual might have made the icy cold swim seem like a good idea in the first place, they also slowed their bodies’ reactions to the cold – potentially saving both of their lives.

BrewDog Beers Commanding Stupid Money in Oz (Sydney, Australia) – Although hardly a phenomenon unique to Australia, BrewDog beers are commanding big bucks “down under.” The Australian is reporting that a Dan Murphy liquor store “sold out of $169 BrewDog Tactical Nuclear Penguin, a Scottish tipple that is double-barrel-aged for 14 months and has a 32% alcohol content.” The liquor store chain is also sold out of BrewDog’s Sink The Bismarck India Pale Ale, which sells for $200 a bottle!

More Good News for American Craft Beer (Norwalk, CN) – Better good news than bad news and the Beverage Information Group’s 2013 “Beer Handbook” confirms that 2012 was a pretty good year for beer in general– and a brilliant year for American craft beer. Super-premium, Craft, Imported and Flavored Malt Beverages out-performed the industry overall. While Super-premium (we love that term!) and Premium increased 1.6%, craft beer increased an amazing 13.7% to reach 185.2 million 2.25-gallon cases. This is the largest increase for craft beer in more than a decade!

Maybe They’ll Just Float Away (Norwalk, CT) – There was some bad news (depending on your perspective) in the Beverage Information Group’s report as well. The 2013 “Beer Handbook” also reported that Innovations in Light Beer, such as the launch of Bud Light Platinum, were not enough to turn things around for that category. Light beer declined for the fourth year in a row.