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The beer biz never sleeps at American Craft Beer. And here’s more of what’s been happening in the beer world while you were drinking your way through another January weekend.
Fire Destroys Popular Minnesota Craft Brewery (Walker, MN) – On January 6th Portage Brewing, a popular craft brewery situated three hours north of the Twin Cities in the Chippewa National Forest, experienced a catastrophic fire that destroyed its downtown Walker facility. Thanks to the quick response from volunteer firefighters in the area, no one was injured.
The early morning fire at Portage Brewing devastated the year-and-a-half-old brewery which was housed in a former hospital. And according to Portage Brewing’s Jeff Vondenkamp more than $100,000 worth of equipment was lost to the fire along with 1,500 gallons of beer.
Portage Brewing, which was undergoing an upgrade that would increase its capacity by 50% at the time of the fire, is for now officially closed. But the destination brewery, frequented by lake residents, bikers, fishermen, hikers, and craft beer lovers alike may not be for long…
A GoFundMe page is raising money to help Portage Brewing rebuild. And the Star Tribune is reporting that supportive breweries like Modist Brewing, “have offered to remake some of those beers to sell statewide and raise awareness of Portage’s plight.”
Words To Drink By (Walker, MN) – “It’s just crazy, with all the bad that’s gone down, what’s coming from it…It’s nice to see people stepping forward and just being there for us.” Jeff Vondenkamp Co-Owner and Head Brewer Portage Brewing
The Pink Boots Society 2019 Conference Rocks It! (Austin, TX) – The Pink Boots Society wrapped up their biannual conference in Austin Texas over the weekend and we’ve been hearing that this year’s gathering of women beer industry professionals was one of Pink Boot’s best.
The Brewers Association’s Julia Herz kicked things off on Friday with a dynamic keynote address that set the tone perfectly for two days of sessions that addressed everything from innovative brewing techniques to trademark law, advanced social media practices and issues like sexual harassment in the workplace.
On Sunday many Pink Boots attendees “took to the hills” and capped off the 2019 conference with a special excursion out to Texas Hill Country to visit some of the region’s most exciting breweries, and we’re pretty sure a good time was had by all.
