The American Craft Beer Rumor Mill – April 6, 2016

American Craft Beer|April 6th, 2016|

Yikes, it’s the third week of March already… and clearly nothing is slowing down anytime soon. But no worries, Rumor Mill is always on the case, keeping you plugged in to all the craft beer news that matters. Plus we’ve an all-important update on what we’ve been drinking lately and you absolutely don’t want to miss that.

Firestone Walker To Get Rustic In SoCal (Venice, CA) – Firestone Walker’s much anticipated Venice, California operation will be its doors for limited evening hours starting on April 7^th before expanding into daily lunch service in May. The Propagator is the brewery’s third regionalized coastal California operation, which also includes their home base in Paso Robles – and the Barrelworks wild ales facility in Buellton. The Venice campus includes a restaurant, lounge and new barrel cellar for their rustic ale program. There will also be a retail space with merchandise, brewing gear, cold-stored packaged beer, and a growler fill station – as well as room for beer education seminars.

Deschutes Picks Their New East Coast Home (Bend, OR) – Deschutes recently announced that they’ve chosen scenic Roanoke, Virginia to be home to their new East Coast brewery. Construction on the facility is expected to begin in 2019.

Words To Drink By (Dublin, Ireland) – “I don’t want to go to heaven…None of my friends are there”

Oscar Wilde / Author, Poet & Playwright

Left-Handed Praise (Longmont, CO) – On the heels of yesterday’s Brewers Association’s Top 50 Craft Brewery List, our friends at Left Hand Brewing sent us an update detailing the great year they’ve had. Some of their highlights include an 11% vol. growth in 2015 and distribution that spans 36 states + UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Czech Republic, Germany, and Japan. Plans for 2016 include the introduction of new lab with sensory tasting booths – and a cooler expansion which will increase their onsite capacity by 150%.

Drinker Believed Duped Sues (Belgium) – AB InBev SA is reportedly being sued by an American beer drinker “who claimed he was duped into believing its Leffe brand beer was brewed in a Belgian abbey, rather than mass produced in an automated factory that also makes Stella Artois.”

What We’ve Been Drinking Lately (Washington, DC) – We’d like to thank all of the American craft breweries who’ve shipped us beer from time to time. It’s always great to sample the brews that we write about and it helps to give us a better feel for what’s happening out there. And last night we hit up a new Heavy Rotation Series release from Starr Hill that was awesome. Starr Hill’s Daily Grind is a nuanced 6.2% rustic Peppercorn Farmhouse Ale with a spicy citrus and pepper nose.