The American Craft Beer Hall of Fame has just nominated some of the biggest names in the craft beer biz to receive the ultimate honor.  We’ve that, “Words to Drink By” 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.

And on December 9^th the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame announced the nominees for its 2026 class of Inductees.

A Board of Advisors—comprised of respected analysts, commentators, brewers, and advocates—has reached consensus on the following nominees for enshrinement in the 2025 class (in alphabetical order):

• Charlie Bamforth
• Larry Bell
• Sam Calagione
• Kim Jordan
• Ray Daniels
• Teri Fahrendorf
• Garrett Oliver
• Carol Stoudt
• Mitch Steele
• Pete Slosberg

These nominees represent the diverse and interconnected facets of the craft beer community, including brewery founders, brewers, writers, educators, innovators, and champions of the culture who helped elevate American craft beer to global prominence.

“This year’s ballot is like a “Who’s who” of some of the most important figures in American craft beer.” explains The Hall’s founder and President, Marty Nachel. “Every one of the nominees has been absolutely foundational to the industry’s success, and we could not be more proud to have the opportunity to induct some of their number into the Hall in 2026.”

The Hall’s Electors are presently casting their official votes for the final list of new Inductees, with the final list of those to be honored to be announced in February.

Words to Drink By

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.” – Steve Jobs, American businessman, investor, and inventor

Ghostfish Brewing Acquires Former Pike Brewery Assets

On Dec 8^th Ghostfish Brewing Company (CBC) announced the acquisition of brewery assets from Green Lake Brewing Company, LLC, which does business Fremont Brewing Company.

The new home for Ghostfish Brewing’s beer production is located approximately 2.5 miles south of the existing GBC brewery taproom & restaurant in the Georgetown area of Seattle, WA.

“This expansion is a long time coming and a major milestone for us,” said Brian Thiel, co-founder/co-owner of GBC. “We started a process of identifying and viewing potential vacant warehouses around the greater Seattle area with the intention to build out a new state-of-the-art brewery back in early 2024.”

“After learning about the former Pike brewery opportunity from our friends at Fremont Brewing in late 2024, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that it checked most of the boxes we were planning to create on our own. The timing of acquiring the new production brewery aligns perfectly for us to meet the growing demand for Ghostfish beer.”

GBC’s new production brewery was originally built out in 2023 by Seattle’s iconic Pike Brewing. The brewery’s brewing and packaging equipment is nestled in a 26,000 square foot facility with easy access to major transit lanes. GBC anticipates the new production brewery will support a 6x – 7x greater production capacity than its current annual production.

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