The American Craft Beer Quick Hits – March 10, 2014

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.

It Fell Off A Truck (Waterbury, VT) – With its brewery retail sales sidelined for now, The Alchemist has taken to selling their legendary beers from the back of a truck at specially announced one-day events. Their second pop-up truck sale took place by the Waterbury Train Station over the weekend and in addition to Heady Topper, they were also selling two classics from their pub – Beelzebub and The Crusher.

World’s Worst Secret Revealed (Escondido, CA) – It first appeared mysteriously under the name of Stochasticity Project that was registered to the Koochenvagner Brewing Company. But now Stone Brewing is owning up to having created the elaborate hoax that surrounded the release of the Grapefruit Slam IPA in an effort to take “the spotlight off of our company and onto beer and cool, nth degree brew tech material. We felt this was best done independent of our iconic gargoyle and sometimes enthusiastic-and-bullish-to-the-point-of-bombastic nature.” Now that the cat’s officially out of the bag, look for theStone Stochasticity Project to soon be releasing a new beer – the ominously named Varna Necropolis.

Jester King Coronates New Head Brewer (Austin, TX) – Jester King Brewery has just crowned its new Head Brewer. Garrett Crowell began volunteering at the brewery in March of 2012 and was hired as a brewer in October of 2012.

Motor City Meets SXSW (Austin, TX) – Detroit-based Atwater Brewery has big plans for this year’s SXSW that will mark their first venture into Texas.The brewery’s owner and CEO, Mark Rieth, went all-in to prepare for the launch of his beers in Texas, knowing that the delivery would have to reflect size, creativity, and the uniqueness of the event. “SXSW is the largest music venue in the country. We knew we had to be a part of it, and had to come full force,” he said. The brewery is delivering more than 50,000 cans of its most iconic brand, Dirty Blonde, to distribute throughout the music and interactive events at SXSW.

Fire Drill in the Jayhawk and Buckeye States (Los Angeles CA) – LA-based Fireman’s Brew, a craft beer company founded by two firefighters, is expanding its national footprint to fourteen states and will now be distributing their award-winning beers throughout Kansas and Ohio. In addition to brewing up some serious beer , Fireman’s is committed to giving back to the firefighter community by donating a portion of company proceeds to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation – the nation’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring fallen firefighters and providing assistance to their surviving families.