The American Craft Beer Quick Hits – November 24, 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.

, The American Craft Beer Quick Hits – November 24, 2014Attack of the Brewbots! (Northern, Ireland) – There’s so much innovation happening on the periphery of the craft beer industry that we find ourselves highlighting something new almost every day. Over the weekend, the NY Times did an interesting piece on the people behind Brewbot – a stainless-steel-and-wood brewing machine that produces five-gallon batches of beer and allows customers to either brew their own creations or to access recipes the company collects from great breweries such as Russian River.

Ohio Lawmakers Threaten to do the Right Thing! (Dayton, OH) – In a shocking departure from form, Ohio legislators are trying to push a bill through the House of Representatives that would allow Ohio brewers to make beer with a higher alcohol content. It’s believed that ABV limitations might have been a factor in Stone Brewing choosing Richmond, Virginia over Columbus, Ohio for their new East Coast facility. According to Fox 45 Now, “House Bill 391 would increase the maximum alcohol by volume (ABV) from the current 12% to 21%.”

Massachusetts Investigates the State’s Beer Industry (Boston, MA) – According to an AP report, “Massachusetts regulators are looking into whether beer distributors, breweries and retailers are violating the law by paying to have certain brands sold in bars and at liquor stores, while at the same time shutting out rivals.” This investigation is a big deal and we’ll be watching this story closely!

Governor to Support Black Hoperations (Loudon County, VA) – In an effort to support Virginia’s burgeoning craft beer industry, Governor Terry McAuliffe has committed partial state funding to Black Hops Farm, LLC. In 2015, they plan to convert 15 acres of former pasture land into a hop farm and to build a new processing facility. Once completed, Black Hops Farm will be “the largest hopsyard in Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic’s first commercial-scale hops production and processing facility,” according to Fairfax News.

Insightful But For All The Wrong Reasons (Everywhere, USA) – CNBC recently posted an article that’s worthy of checking out for a number of unfortunate reasons. In the provocatively titled Elitism, or something else? Millennials and the war on Big Beer, reporter Nicholas Duva suggests (among other things) that the millennial’s growing attraction to craft beer is partly an act of rebellion – a rejection of the beers that their parents embraced with a tinge of anti-capitalism thrown in. That millennials’ shift to serious beer might actually reflect a refinement of taste is barely touched upon. The article’s analysis as to the generation’s shift to craft beer comes off as both shallow and dismissive – and millennials deserve to be pissed.

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