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Yikes, it’s August already …and things are only accelerating in the craft beer biz. But no worries, Rumor Mill remains on the case, keeping you plugged in into all the beer news and lifestyle that matters. Plus we’ve an update on what we’ve been drinking lately and you don’t want to miss that.
Demand For Stouts Set To Double In China (Beijing) – Mainland China, home to mass-produced lagers and ubiquitous brands like Snow Beer, is now seeing the rise the of a dark beer style that’s not been all that popular over there…at least not until now.
Chinese beer drinkers are projected to consume 264 million liters of stout this year, eclipsing the US as the #1 market for the dark brew worldwide. And according to recent data from Euromonitor International, Chinese demand for stouts will more than double by 2021.
American beer drinkers had previously captured the stout crown from the British in 2013. But both of those country’s beer markets are now growing at a fraction of the pace in China, where according to Bloomberg, brewers like Guinness and Tsingtao have benefited from a more than 10-fold growth over the last five years.
Words To Drink By (Washington, DC) – “Would have’ is just another way of saying ‘didn’t.” Author Don Winslow from Kings of Cool
Rubicon Brewing Closing (Sacramento, CA) – a pioneer in central California’s craft-brewing movement, Rubicon Brewing, announced on Monday that it would be shutting its doors on August 18th after nearly 30 years in business..
Since 2013, 60 to 70 breweries have closed each year. And as MarketWatch’s Jason Notte astutely puts it “If a long-tenured brewer isn’t guarding its turf, updating its products and marketing, maintaining its beer’s freshness, second-guessing its spending and doing its best to stay relevant…, no amount of history, equity or snazzy labels will keep its doors open and beer flowing.”
What We’ve Been Drinking Lately (Frederick, MD) – Last night we said goodbye to summer with Flying Dog’s latest Brewhouse Rarities Series offering and it was almost too good a time! Flying Dog’s Sunflower Pilsner is a 5.2% ABV Czech-style Pils, deftly enhanced with flaked sunflower petals.
