Craft beer industry news.
Two of Kona Brewing Company’s popular Hawaii-only specialty beers are returning to pint glasses across the U.S. The coffee infused Pipeline Porter and the coconut rich Koko Brown Ale make their return to the Mainland in response to increasing demand for the uniquely Hawaiian brews. The beers are limited releases and are not expected to stay on shelves or taps long.
Santa Fe Brewing Company (SFBC) is ecstatic to bring back the holiday tradition of “12 Beers of Christmas.” For the last 4 years, the brewery has held a special release of limited small batch beers brewed by individuals from both the homebrew community, as well as employees of the brewery. As the name implies, each day, for the 12 days leading up to Christmas, a new holiday-inspired beer is tapped at two of the brewery’s chosen taprooms for the public to enjoy. But be sure to get there early because these beers disappear faster than Santa up a chimney.
Peak and The City Bakery are thrilled to announce the release of their annual holiday collaboration, the Holiday Saison. Both Peak and The City Bakery have their ethos rooted in a passion for using the finest quality ingredients to create the freshest and most flavorful products. With that shared passion as the centerpiece for their collaboration beer – a dark malted, spiced Saison brewed with a blend of The City Bakery’s famous holiday spices – the two companies hope to showcase an amazingly flavorful, complex sensory experience.
It’s last call, so grab a beer and catch up on all the news that we overlooked this week, including: Stone’s first German-made beers, a bankruptcy filing in San Francisco, yet another trademark suit and Amazon’s newest service — one-hour booze delivery.
Stone Brewing, the first American craft brewer to independently build, own and operate a brewery in Europe, will release its first Berlin-brewed beers today. This is the first time in history that the beers will be tapped in bars, restaurants and breweries across Europe. Stone Brewing is the ninth largest brewer in the United States and with brewing now underway at StoneBerlin, the famously big character, hop-centric craft beers will make their fresh debut beginning at 6 p.m. CET at more than 40 locations in Germany, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.
After more than four years of planning, capital raising, test-batching and building, Castle Island Brewing is officially open for business.
Earlier this month, Craft Brew Alliance — which produces and markets the Redhook brand, as well as the Widmer, Kona and Omission lines of craft beers — announced plans to open a new Redhook Brewery brewpub in Seattle, the brand’s birthplace.
Pabst Brewing Company has struck yet another strategic partnership, this time with the struggling Vermont Hard Cider Company, a subsidiary of C&C Group plc. The company today announced an exclusive, long-term agreement to distribute, market and sell all of Vermont Hard Cider’s domestic brands, including Woodchuck, Gumption, Wyder’s and Hornsby’s. Pabst will also gain access to Vermont’s portfolio of international cider brands from Ireland and England, including Magners and Blackthorn. Specific financial terms of the transaction — which is slated to begin on March 1, 2016 — were not disclosed, but Pabst will have an option to acquire Vermont’s U.S. cider brands and related assets.
Throughout the month of December, Miller High Life will celebrate the brand’s rich heritage and the holiday spirit by airing three vintage television spots from the acclaimed “High Life Man” campaign. The three television spots, “Alternative Fuels” (2003), “Waiting” (1999) and “Pondering” (1999), originally aired as part of the “High Life Man” campaign. Each of these ads captures the brand’s personality, highlighting its humor, authenticity and the notion that High Life is a simple, no-frills beer.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (Euronext: ABI) (NYSE: BUD) today announces the launch of four Global Smart Drinking Goals, deepening its commitment to implement effective and collaborative solutions to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. The new goals, to be achieved by the end of 2025, demonstrate an evolution in the company’s approach to responsible drinking, from helping to raise awareness of alcohol responsibility to positively changing behavior by investing in longer-term, evidenced-based approaches to reduce harmful drinking, including underage drinking, binge drinking and drink driving.
Boston Beer’s newest creation, Rebel Raw – a hazy, 10 percent double IPA clocking in at 100 IBUs – has finally hit retail shelves. Brewed with six pounds of hops per barrel, Rebel Raw – which is packaged in 16 oz. cans and sold in four-packs — is by far the hoppiest beer Boston Beer has ever produced. It’s also unfiltered and being marketed with a 35-day shelf life to promote freshness.
On Thursday, December 31, pioneering nanobrewery Saint Benjamin Brewing Company will debut Bonne Année, the second-annual batch of what is sure to become a time-honored annual tradition of New Year’s Eve beers. Bonne Année will be released each New Year’s Eve in kegs, with a portion of each year’s brew reserved and bottle-conditioned for 365 days, to be released the following year along with the new batch, giving beer lovers a festive alternative to champagne and a memorable way to honor the transition from one year to the next. Brewer Christina Burris hopes that fans will “ring out the old with the old and ring in the new with the new” each year.
Upper Hand Brewery is excited to announce that Yooper Ale will soon join the brewery’s year-round portfolio of bottled beers. Currently only on draught, it will be available in bottles beginning in January.
Hi-Wire Brewing is set to release the newest offering from its South Slope Specialty Brewery (197 Hilliard Avenue, Asheville, NC) run by Head Specialty Brewer, Jonathan Parks. A fruit-forward 11.3% ABV beer, this American style Golden Strong Ale was made using fresh guava, papaya and mango.
