February was off to a tumultuous start and Rumor Mill is on the case, making sure that you are always 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.

Ninkasi Gets Their Man (Eugene, OR) – Ninkasi Brewing just announced their new VP of Sales. And guess what? He’s one of their own. Per Nielson is clearly “The Man” now, and has earned the right to legitimately blow off our calls. He joined Ninkasi as business development director in May 2014, bringing more than 25 years of experience to the independent craft brewery.

Farm Breweries Get Support In The Green Mountain State (Montpelier, VT) – “Vermont farmers could tap into the state’s burgeoning craft beer scene under a new proposal in the House of Representatives,” according to the Burlington Free Press. “Rep. Bill Botzow recently introduced a bill that would create a new farm brewer’s license for Vermont farmers who want to brew beer with at least one ingredient grown on their property.”

Brewed In The USA (Boulder, CO) – The Brewers Association wants you to know that American Craft Beer Week will be taking place from May 11^th through 17^th this year, and that it’s time to start training in earnest if you hope to outperform last year. “I advise upping your drinking capacity steadily starting now,” remarked Tom Bobak, Editor at American Craft Beer. “Volume training is essential if you hope to be competitive in May.”

New Digs For Trillium (Boston, MA) –Trillium Brewing said on Monday that it has signed a lease for a new brewery in town that they hope to have on line by the end of this year. The Boston Globe is reporting that “Trillium is leasing 16,000 square feet, making the Canton brewery nearly eight times the size of its home base on Congress Street in South Boston’s Fort Point section. Beer will be sold directly to consumers via growlers and bottles in Canton, and Trillium is working with town officials on a plan for on-premise consumption.”

What We’ve Been Drinking Lately (Washington, DC) – We’d like to thank all of the breweries who ship 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. Innis & Gunn is a Scottish brewer known for maturing their beers with oak – and they took things to an interesting new level with what they recently sent our way. Innis & Gunn Irish Whiskey Stout is a malt-forward, 7.4% ABV Scottish-style Stout that’s matured with whiskey infused oak in something they call “Oakerators,” (think coffee percolator). It’s clearly brewed with St. Patrick’s Day in mind, but we couldn’t wait and hit it last night, and it was awesome.

Got Something You Think We Need To Know About? Send Your Press Releases to: pr@AmericanCraftBeer.com