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 enjoying yourselves.
SAVOR 2013 A TOTAL BLAST (New York, NY) – This year’s SAVOR was a total smash and if anything, we had too much fun! It was so great catching up with our industry friends and making some new ones…Again, we’d like to thank the Brewers Association for having us – when it comes to presenting an industry event, no one does it better! Look for our riveting SAVOR 2013 wrap-up later this week.
Shmaltz Admits To Death of Contract Brewer! (Clifton Park, NY) – It was an announcement that stunned the industry, at least before everybody realized it was actually the name of their one-day-only special release, Death of a Contract Brewer Black IPA. This super limited release was brewed to celebrate the Shmaltz Brewing Company‘s Grand Opening Bash of their new Clifton Park brewery on July 7.
Schlafly Sours! (St Louis, MO) – The Schlafly Beer Company will be incorporating a process used to make sherry in some of their Sours going forward. The St Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that “the new batches will have elements of the first Schlafly sour beer, dating to its origins in 2010.” Sweet!
New Texas Beer Bill Package Finally Becomes Law (Austin, TX) – It’s been a decade in the making, but last Friday, Governor Rick Perry signed into law a package of brewery bills, which among other things allows craft breweries to sell limited amounts of their beer for on-premise consumption.The new laws also raise production limits on Texas brewpubs and allow them to sell beer to wholesale distributors, which will level the playing field with out-of-state brewpubs that were already allowed to sell their beer in Texas.
Rise of the Indie Malt Mavens (Portland, OR) – Craft beer currently accounts for around 6% of all the beer sold in America, yet craft brewers use 21.4% of all the malt that’s purchased. And until recently, most malt was grown in the Midwest and produced nearby by majors like Cargill, Rahr, and Briess. But all that’s changing according to Beer West, and they detail this industry’s progression beautifully in Amber Waves of Grain.
Cask & Larder Becomes Ravenous (Winter Park, FL) – We recently wrote about some of their big plans but we weren’t ready for this news…Cask & Larder has named its brewery Ravenous Brewing Company to better reflect the beers that the restaurant will be distributing. According to the Orlando Sentinel, “the restaurant’s name is evolving to Cask & Larder’s Southern Brewery & Kitchen.”
Shocker – Missouri Lawmakers Do the Right Thing! (St Louis, MO) – In what many consider a serious departure from form, St. Louis’s Liquor Enforcement Agency appears to have come to their senses. In 2012, the city’s agency decided a few days before a downtown festival that homebrewers would be violating the law if they took part and froze them out. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is now reporting that they’ve finally decided to do the right thing and have passed legislation “allowing beer brewed for personal or family use to be removed from their premises for pouring at homebrewer contests, tastings, exhibitions, and competitions.”
