The American Craft Beer Rumor Mill – May 25, 2016

American Craft Beer|May 25th, 2016|

Yikes, May’s blowing by… 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.

ACB Goes North To Alaska (Everywhere, AK) – American Craft Beer was recently invited up to Alaska for an “in-depth” tour of their fast-growing craft beer and distilling scene, and it was AWESOME. And even though, we were clearly “out of our depth” up there, we did our best to behave, hung out with some amazing people and visited some unbelievably spectacular places. We’ll be bringing you a whole series of tales from “The Last Frontier” over the next over next couple of weeks – that will ready you for a trip that “you need to take” – as well as “what you should drink” when you’re there.

Changes At Alaskan Brewing (Juneau, AK) – We spent hours hanging with Alaskan Brewing Founder’s Geoff & Marcy Larson while we were up north last week and they are truly two of the nicest people in the world. We talked about all kinds of things, including the recent appointment of Linda Thomas, the company’s long-time Chief Operations Officer, to a new position as Alaskan’s CEO. This much-deserved ascension, will allow Marcy and Geoff the opportunity to dedicate their efforts to “building the pioneering legacy of Alaskan” and afford them the time to focus on innovation, and further the spirit of craft brewing. Admirable goals…wonderful people.

Words To Drink By (Los Angeles, CA) – “If you don’t have the chutzpah to ask for the unthinkable, you’re not dreaming big enough.”

Bob Lefsetz – the Lefsetz Letter

Stone To Napa Valley (Napa, CA) – Among the big stories that broke last week, while we were fending off bear and drinking our way across Alaska, comes news from Stone, that they’ll be opening a new taproom and pilot brewery in an historic 10,000 square-foot building, in downtown Napa.

Stone’s Newest Outpost, will include a brewery and dining experience, growler fills and Stone merchandise. The planned 10-barrel system will enable their brewers to produce Stone’s envelope-pushing beer using core recipes, as well as indigenous ingredients from the local geography. Stone is always so smart about these kinds of ventures – and this one, like the location they chose in Berlin, and the striking James River setting for their soon to be opened brewery in Richmond, Virginia, couldn’t sound more exciting.

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. And since we’ve been drinking Alaskan recently, we thought we’d stay there with a classic from Alaskan Brewing. Setting a standard that few breweries seek to challenge, Alaskan Amber is a 5.3% ABV Alt-Style Ale that’s made from glacier-fed water and a generous blend of quality European and Pacific Northwest hop varieties and premium two-row pale and specialty malts.