The American Craft Beer Rumor Mill – January 23, 2013

American Craft Beer|January 23rd, 2013|

It’s Wednesday and it’s Rumor Mill Time…..Craft Beer has caught fire in Mississippi with more and more new breweries coming on line! We’ll be giving you everything that we know so far, plus we’ve got some fast-breaking craft beer news from the UK as well as from Stone Brewing Co. We also have a hot new release that you’ve got to get your hands on! So fasten your seatbelts everybody, because ….THIS WEEK’S RUMOR MILL IS ON!

The South Will Rise Again (Biloxi, MS) – The craft beer business is really picking up in southern Mississippi according to SunHearrald.com and new brewery announcements are becoming more frequent. Crooked Letter Brewing Company just opened in Ocean Springs, MS, and already they’re upgrading from 15-gallon to 500-gallon brewing tanks. Southern Prohibition Brewery is remodeling a former furniture warehouse with plans to house a 20-barrel brewing system capable of producing up to 3,000 barrels of beer a year. They plan to begin brewing by spring. And Gordon Creek Brewery, located just four blocks from Southern Prohibition, is expected to begin brewing on a smaller scale by February.

Thank God Things Like This Can’t Happen in America (United Kingdom) – The Financial Times is reporting that the UK-based John Smith’s Extra Smooth Ale will be intentionally weakened next month. John Smith’s Extra Smooth, billed as “no nonsense beer,” is being reduced from 3.8% alcohol to 3.6% in response to new tax laws, which designate that higher ABV beers are to be taxed at a higher rate.

Brewer For a Day (Allentown, PA) – Michael Sexton was announced the winner of Fegley’s Brew Works ‘Brewer For a Day’ competition last week. His Black Rye P.A. beat out over 60 other homebrewers, making him the “Brewer For a Day” and giving his ale the title of LVBW1, the first beer of Lehigh Valley Beer Week. With his winning brew, Michael will be heading to the Allentown Brew Works on Thursday, January 24th to brew beside Brewmaster Beau Baden. Congratulations Michael…It’s time to start thinking Kickstarter!

Good News and Bad News for MillerCoors (Chicago. IL) – MillerCoors is reporting that their sales in the last quarter fared better even though their overall domestic sales are still in decline. According to SABMiller News, their domestic sales to retailers declined 1.1% in the latest quarter and both of their light brands (Coors Light & Miller Lite) were down low single digits. The good news is that their craft beer front, Tenth and Blake, saw double-digit growth driven by Leinenkugel’s and Blue Moon. Economy volumes were down low single digits and domestic sales to wholesalers were down 1.4% from last year.

Stone to Roll Out the Barrels (Escondido, CA) – Stone Brewing Company has just received 288 bourbon barrels from Four Roses Distillery. According to Stone’s own Laura Ulrich who recently reported on Twitter, the company will use these barrels to age beer. Previous barrel-aged brews have been released in very small quantities, but expanded packaging capabilities may mean that more markets will receive this new brew – fingers crossed!

A New Release You Want To Look Out For

Harpoon has just released the latest addition to their 100 Barrel Series that was initiated to showcase the individual talents of its brewers. For the 46^th session of the series, they tapped Jim Perry and Mark Edwards, one-half of Harpoon Brewery’s Board of Directors and they came up with the appropriately named “series release” Directors’ Cut, a blend of pale ale and stout. “Directors’ Cut” is dark yet drinkable and comes in at a very manageable 6.3% ABV. The Harpoon 100 Barrel Series Directors’ Cut is out in 22 oz. bottles with limited draft availability.