American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
We blame the industry for this… It used to be that when we wrapped up our Weekend Picks on Friday, we could coast through the weekend. There was little need to check in for updates -things were pretty much done. But clearly all that’s changed.
So here’s some of what’s happened in the world of craft beer while you were off enjoying yourselves.
SAVOR Returns to Power City (Washington, DC) – After last year’s sojourn up in New York City, SAVOR 2014 is returning to the city where it began on March 9th and 10th – and we’re psyched about it. As we predicted, tickets for this year’s “American Craft Beer & Food Experience” sold out quickly, leaving those who did not heed our warnings gnashing their teeth in a craft beer purgatory, broken and empty handed. The good news is that, with more than 70 of the country’s best breweries descending upon Power City, there are going to be all kinds of craft beer events taking place around SAVOR that are open to the public – so stay plugged in to us because we will be all about everything going down.
Dark Lord Day Donneth (Muenster, IN) – Three Floyds celebrated its Dark Lord Day over the weekend and American Craft Beer had boots on the ground covering this legendary event. ACB’s intrepid Co-Editor and Director of Social Media, Amber Medin, trekked 1370 miles (Washington, DC to Muenster, Indiana and back) to join Chicagoland correspondent Kevin Bastian to bring our readers up-to-the minute reports and updates on everything that was going on. If you follow us on Twitter, you understand that she clearly had too much fun – which is basically how we all roll here at ACB.
Craft Beer Biz Booming in The Land of Lincoln (Chicago, IL) – The craft beer industry is on a major roll in the “Land of Lincoln” and it doesn’t appear like it will be slowing down any time soon. The Executive Director of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild, Justin Maynard, told the Chicago Tribune“that there are about 85 breweries in the state and that 40 breweries are in the process of being licensed this year.”
Craft Beer Politics Go Nuclear in the Sunshine State (Tallahassee, FL) – The fight down in Florida between craft brewers and Big Beer-funded distributors over the legalization of half-gallon beer containers has gone from stupid to dangerously provocative. The issue is simple enough and we’ve covered it endlessly this year. Basically, Florida allows breweries to fill quart and gallon growlers at their tap rooms – but the half-gallon size (the industry standard) remains illegal. A consortium of brewers, customers, and some lawmakers think the state should change this restriction and allow for the half gallon size, which is currently legal in 47 states. But according to a report filed by AP writer Brendan Farrington in The Republic ,”the politically powerful Anheuser-Busch InBev distributors have a powerful ally in Senate President Don Gaetz” and want to force breweries to buy their own beer from distributors at a markup before they can sell cans and bottles to brewery visitors. ACB sees this suggestion as one step short of extortion. After all, the breweries wouldn’t be receiving any services from the distributors for this charge. They’d be paying off middle-men for the right to sell their own beer at their own breweries to the fan base that they’ve nurtured. We think this proposal is total bullshit and if it goes any farther, we promise we will make this legislation a national issue – and those responsible will be shown to be the corrupt fools that they are. Stay tuned -we’re just getting warmed up!
Cigar City Would Consider Leaving Florida if Pending Legislation Passes (Tampa, FL) – New state legislation that was just passed by the Senate in Tallahassee is considered so toxic that one of the Sunshine State’s leading breweries said they might actually consider relocating out-of-state should SB 1714 become law. Joey Redner, the founder of Cigar City Brewing, told the Tampa Bay Times that the bill would prohibit Florida brewers who produce more than 2,000 kegs of beer a year from selling their products in bottles or cans at the brewery without going through a distributor first – and that if it passes, Cigar City could potentially “lose $300,000 a year.”
