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.
Like Starbucks Only Better (San Diego, CA) – Just like Starbucks two decades ago, Stone Brewing’s Company stores have started showing up in cool neighborhoods all over town. Eater.com is reporting that a new satellite outlet is their sixth and that it soft opened downtown last week in the Columbia district. And this particular Stone Company Store features a 20-tap tasting room and its own beer garden (which we think is pretty awesome)!
Surly Revisits the Windy City (Brooklyn Center, MN) – After limiting distribution the last several years to focus on demand in its home state of Minnesota, Surly Brewing Company will be returning to Chicago again. Surly was previously available in Wisconsin, the Dakotas, and the Chicagoland area. With the advent of a much larger facility next year, Surly’s plans now call for ramping up and moving back into some of its former markets while the new brewery is built.
Goldenrod / Golden Road (Omaha, NE) – This one’s unfortunate – but sometimes, a brewery’s request for another new brewery to change its name is understandable. LA-based Golden Road Brewing recently sent the Nebraska-based Goldenrod Brewery a cease-and-desist last week asking them to refrain from using Goldenrod as the name of their brewery. The brewery is actually named after Nebraska’s state flower and it’s truly unfortunate that its spelling is so incredibly close to Golden Road’s name. A tip of the hat is due to the soon-to-open Omaha brewery for their decision to forgo any confusion and adopt a new name. The soon to be re-branded brewery is on schedule to open early next year.
Bell’s Gets an Upper Hand (Escanaba, MI) – Upper Hand Brewery, which will be based in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and is being developed as a division of Bell’s Brewing, got some good news at the end of last week. The Daily Press is reporting that the “sale of land in the Delta County Renaissance Zone for the construction of Bell’s Upper Hand Brewery has been finalized.” This opens the door for the next stage of the process that will eventually lead to the building of a $1.6 million dollar, 11,500-square-foot state-of-the-art brewery.
Rouge Wins Six at the WBA(Newport, OR) – Rogue Ales was awarded “World’s Best” twice at the World Beer Awards, with Rogue Farms Single Malt Ale named World’s Best Golden Pale Ale and Rogue Shakespeare Stout named World’s Best Oatmeal Stout. Also awarded as “America’s Best” in their respective categories were Captain Sig’s Northwestern Ale, St. Rogue Dry Hopped Red, Morimoto Imperial Pilsner, and Hazelnut Brown Nectar. The World Beer Awards honor the very best beers from internationally recognized beer styles.
Best Beer Name of The Week Awarded! (Winston-Salem, NC) – This week’s American Craft Beer Name of the Week goes to Foothills Brewing Company and the winner of the brewery’s Gambrinus Cup homebrew competition.This year’s winner, Alex Shoenthal, brewed up an awesome rye IPA – the cleverly named Battle Crye Rye (we love that they went all Anglo-Saxon with their spelling) – andit’s appropriately on tap at the Carolina Renaissance Festival.
