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ESCONDIDO, CA - Stone Brewing Co. is releasing its first collaboration beer of 2012—dubbed “Bear Republic ⁄ Fat Head’s ⁄ Stone TBA”—which begins rolling out to select regions today. This particular beer pays homage to a relatively little–known beer style called Texas Brown Ale, which, strangely enough, has its roots in California. It originated as a hopped up version of a brown ale recipe, and it got pretty popular with a group of NorCal homebrewers in the early 1980s.

It’s a fresh-pressed acquisition that has the beer world buzzing. When Tenth and Blake, MillerCoors’ craft and import division announced the purchase of Crispin Cider earlier this month, the cider channel received instant validation. And the category is growing in popularity amongst both the big domestic players and small upstarts.

The beer, a low-alcohol gose-style, is appropriately named “Samuel Adams Boston 26.2 Brew” and it’s being made specifically for Boston Marathon runners. The nation’s largest craft brewer, Boston Beer Company, today announced a partnership with the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A) making the brewers of Samuel Adams beers the official beer sponsor of the 116th Boston Marathon.

Earlier this month, Brooklyn Brewery President Steve Hindy visited the Harpoon Brewery in Boston to settle a Super Bowl bet. At the event, Brewbound.com spoke to Hindy about the state of the craft beer industry, rising ingredient costs and how the hundreds of small startups will fare in a competitive marketplace.

Alaskan Brewing is making a few changes to begin 2012. The company, currently distributed in just 12 states across the U.S., will begin sending beer to the Lone Star State through Ben E. Keith Beverage Distributors. In a press release, Ben E. Keith specialty beverage manager Kevin Nettleton commented on the move.

With the help of eight new 300-barrel fermentation tanks, Boulevard Brewing has bought itself a few years of capacity before it undergoes a much larger expansion to “Cellar Five,” the main brewhouse. The current $3 million dollar expansion – it should be complete in April — is a far cry from the estimated $20 million that Boulevard’s Vice President, Bob Sullivan, anticipates the next phase will cost, but it’s a start.

The cider category is officially hot. MillerCoors’ craft and import division, Tenth and Blake, announced today the purchase of Crispin Cider. The category has been receiving lots of attention as of late, even being described as ‘the next craft beer,’ by some beverage industry members.

WHITEFISH, MT – The second annual Black Star Beer Barter held outside the Great Northern Brewery was an event that the town of Whitefish, Montana may never forget. Contestants traveled in from as far as the South Pacific and Portland, Oregon to compete for their chance at a year’s supply of Black Star beer.  It was clear from the start that this year’s contestants were serious about winning the fifty-two cases of Montana’s finest golden lager. 

It’s based in a popular ski region, but Westminster, Mass.-based Wachusett Brewing Co. reached all the way to sun-splashed Bermuda to invest in a canning line. The brewery acquired its new equipment from a Coca-Cola plant on the island. It is capable of processing 800  12 oz. cans per minute.

MILTON, DE – Clay is the perfect material for capturing time in a bottle. As molecular biologists have discovered by unearthing ancient tombs, organic residue trapped in porous chards of pottery reveals quite a bit about what our ancestors drank on the special occasions of burial feasts.

ESCONDIDO, CA – Stone Brewing Co. is releasing yet another exciting collaboration beer today—the fifth this year!—dubbed “The Alchemist / Ninkasi / Stone More Brown Than Black IPA.” One of the many unfortunate casualties of Hurricane Irene was the destruction of The Alchemist Pub and Brewery in Waterbury, VT. When Stone Brewing Co. Brewmaster Mitch Steele heard of the loss, he immediately sent out an email to The Alchemist Head Brewer John Kimmich asking if there was anything he could do to help.

Upslope Brewing plans to release a new seasonal beer, Upslope Christmas Ale, the first week of December. The beer, an 8 percent dark, malty seasonal is brewed with coriander, brown sugar, orange peel. It will be lightly spiced with ginger and mace then finished with juniper berries at the end of the fermentation process to give the brew a piney aroma.