Hey it’s Wednesday and that means it’s Rumor Mill Time….It’s not every day that one of American Craft Beer’s own takes home a medal for her brewing skills. We’ve got the inside on last weekend’s big win by our GWAR goddess! Plus we’ve some updates from our friends at Avery and all kinds of news from Deschutes and Odell Brewing.

So fasten your seat belts everybody because….THIS WEEK’S RUMOR MILL IS ON!

ACB Rep Wins Best Florida Beer Championship (Tampa, FL) – Mad props to ACB’s Florida Correspondent (and resident homebrewer) Jeanna Malines who took home a medal for her homebrewed Sour at last weekend’s Best Florida Beer Championship. Our Orlando-based brewing goddess was awarded a Bronze for her Brett Broke my Heart, a Wheat Ale brewed with passion fruit and fermented with lacto and Brett.

Avery Expands Its Barrel-Aging Program Tenfold (Boulder, CO) – “Beginning this year, Avery Brewing will dramatically increase the size and scope of its acclaimed barrel-aging program,” reports Westworld, “so that it can share its rarest beers with more people — not just in Colorado, but in some of the 27 other states where it distributes.”

Deschutes World Domination Tour Continues (Bend, OR) – Our friends at the Deschutes Brewery just hit us up with everything shaking at their end – and there’s a lot going on so here goes. Having just launched their line in Ohio and Kentucky, the brewery will soon begin distributing in central Pennsylvania this April and the Pittsburgh area in early summer. Later in the year, fans in Wisconsin (July) and Michigan (September) will also be able to find their favorite Deschutes Brewery beers in their home states.

Lupulin Carnival Returns to the Gateway City (Saint Louis, MO) – It’s about time! 4 Hands Brewing Company will host their 3rd annual Lupulin Carnival with friends on Saturday, March 8th from 2pm-6pm. The Lupulin Carnival is a celebration of the hop and the release of War Hammer Imperial IPA. This year’s carnival will feature an 120-ft tent and a main stage with a blockhead emcee, hula hoop and fire performers, balloon swallowing, contact juggling, and live music from the Bible Belt Sinners and Jungle Fire.

Recent Expansion Allows Odell to Enter Texas (Fort Collins, CO) – On February 24th, Odell Brewing beers finally hit Texas taps. The Colorado-based brewery recently partnered with Ben E. Keith Company, and will begin their statewide launch with drafts this week, followed by a package launch the week of March 31st.This is the first new market for Odell in over two years and would not have been possible prior to the brewery’s recently completed expansion. The brewery has more than 70 launch week events planned in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and North Texas and ACB reps will be drinking like madmen at all of them.

Got something we should know? News or events coming up that you want us to Hype? How about industry tips you want us to leak anonymously?

THEN E-MAIL US NOW AT:  info@americancraftbeer.com and let us do your dirty work for you!