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Things are certainly heating up in the world of craft beer as we move in to 2017. And here’s some of what’s been happening while you were drinking your way through the weekend.
Production Declines At Great Divide In 2016 (Denver, CO) – Beer production slowed down significantly last year at Great Divide Brewing for the first time in their in their 23-year history. According to Westword the Colorado-based which normally sees annual growth increase anywhere from 25 to 30 percent, “produced 35,300 barrels of beer in 2016, down 16 percent from 41,900 barrels in 2015.”
Craft Beer Sale Slowed nationally last year according to the Brewers Association – and although an increase of 6% would be viewed as a success in most industries, the single digit increase after years of double-digit growth was sobering.
Hardest Hit Last Year were mid-sized breweries like Great Divide who saw their overall numbers decline to an abundance of small neighborhood boutique brewing operations.
Words To Drink By (Atlanta, GA) – “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
– Martin Luther King Jr.
Texas Brewers Legislative Wish List For 2017 (Austin, TX) – In 2013 Texas laws reportedly changed to allow breweries to sell their beers for on-site consumption. And this year the Texas Craft Brewers Guild has but one goal in mind, to successfully push through legislation that would finally allow Texas breweries to sell beer to-go from their taprooms.
Richard Kilcullen
BrewDog About To Get Wilder (Aberdeenshire, UK) – Scottish punk brewing multinational, BrewDog announced last week that they’re getting serious about Wild Ales in a big way and that on January 16th they’ll begin construction on The BrewDog Overworks a standalone facility dedicated to the production of sours.
BrewDog Gets Their Man (Ellon, Scotland) – But any new program is only as good as the person helming things and BrewDog has scooped up Wicked Weed’s former Head of Sour Production Richard Kilcullen to oversee the new operation. Kilcullen will be giving up the wilds of Asheville to work with the wild Scotts and it’s going to be fun watching things develop over there.
