More than two years after announcing her retirement, craft brewing pioneer Carol Stoudt’s eponymous German-inspired brand will be returning to Pennsylvania draft lines in time for Oktoberfest season through a licensing partnership with Philadelphia-based Evil Genius Beer Company.
“It’s important to continue this legacy of equality and pursuit of innovation,” Stoudt said in a press release. “When we closed the brewhouse in 2020 we had no intention of retiring the brand. We just needed the right situation to bring Stoudts back to the forefront of the market.”
In February 2020 when she announced her retirement, Stoudt had planned to continue brewing on a two-barrel brewhouse at Stoudts Black Angus, the Adamstown-based restaurant her family owned. However, she and her husband Ed Stoudt closed the restaurant in April 2021, and sold the property, according to Penn Live Patriot-News.
Evil Genius will manage production, and the Stoudts team will be involved in sales, marketing and recipe development, a spokesperson told Brewbound.
Stoudts Oktoberfest will be the first beer launched by partnership when it hits retail on August 1 through Stoudts’ prior distribution network:
- Muller Inc. in the Philadelphia area,
- LT Verrastro Inc. in northeastern Pennsylvania,
- Ace Distributing in the York and Harrisburg regions,
- And Origlio Beverage in the Lehigh Valley.
The beer will be available in sixth- and half-barrels for festivals. Stoudts Gold will be brewed next and “even more offerings” will become available next year.
“Stoudts was founded on Gemütlichkeit – there’s no direct translation but we explain it as like-minded people having a great time together,” Stoudts VP Kurt Bachman said in the release. “We created our Oktoberfest beer with the hope that you get this feeling with every sip.”
New Equipment Listings From Offshoot, Lagunitas and Finch Beer Co.
Several breweries announced auctions this week:
Placentia, California-headquartered The Bruery and sister brand Offshoot Beer Co. will sell “assets no longer required” at an auction handled by New Mill Capital.
Available equipment includes one 170-barrel Metalcraft fermenter, two 250-barrel Foeder Crafters of America white oak foeders, five 100-barrel Vicard French oak foeders, stainless steel TranStore totes and a Parker industrial gas-fired boiler.
The online auction opens at 1 p.m. EST on August 4 and closes at 1 p.m. EST August 11.
Similarly, Lagunitas is selling some brewing equipment which it no longer uses, a spokesperson told Brewbound.
The California brewery has listed more than 150 assets with EquipNet, including an “unused” 250-barrel brewhouse, priced at $1.25 million. Other items include approximately 450 double-barrel and keg holders, multiple unused Rolec fermenters, and unused Rolec bright beer and bottling tanks.
And Chicago-headquartered Finch Beer Co. will auction off its 30-barrel brewhouse and all brewing equipment next month, according to a listing by Loeb Equipment.
The auction will close August 17, and includes five tanks, 14 fermenters and a canning line. The brewhouse is available as a possible turn-key acquisition, according to the listing.
Finch moved to the location in 2017, taking over for Like Mind Brewing, which opened the facility 18 months before. In 2020, Finch partnered with 4 STAR Restaurant Group to launch The Perch Kitchen and Tap in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood.
DISCUS Testifies In Support of Lower RTD Tax Rate in West Virginia
Andy Deloney, VP of state public policy for the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), testified before the West Virginia Joint Standing Committee on Finance Monday, and asked legislators to lower state tax rates for spirits-based ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails.
A legislative focus for DISCUS this year has been lowering excise taxes and expanding market access for spirits-based RTDs that have similar ABV levels to beer and other flavored malt beverages (FMBs). In West Virginia, 6% ABV RTDs have a tax rate of $0.71 per can, 35% higher than the $0.02 per 12 oz. can rate for 6% malt- and sugar-based beverages, according to Deloney in his testimony.
“Unfortunately, West Virginia spirits consumers are forced to pay much higher taxes for a spirits-based RTD product even if the product has the exact same or similar amount of alcohol as an RTD made with malt, sugar or wine,” Deloney said. “Spirits-based RTDs cost, on average, 15-20% more in West Virginia compared with all neighboring states except Pennsylvania… Updating the taxation laws will allow consumers to enjoy these spirits-based RTDs at affordable prices and continue to generate great return for the state.”
Reducing the state’s tax on RTDs to one similar to that of hard cider – $0.225/gallon – could add $3 million in new tax revenue in the next 3-5 years, as consumers would buy more product, and distilleries would be more likely to enter the segment, Deloney argued.
“Put simply, there is no beverage of moderation, only the practice of moderation,” Deloney said. “To suggest by statement or policy that some forms of alcohol are ‘softer’ than others sends a dangerous message when science has long recognized that standard servings of distilled spirits, beer and wine contain the same amount of alcohol. This is a critical aspect of responsible consumption.”
The Beer Institute (BI) has fought against changes to RTD excise tax laws, arguing the move will actually hurt local economies and take away jobs. The trade group wrote a letter to lawmakers in June, urging them to fight against RTD bills that “do nothing for consumers,” “hurt local beer business” and would “increase out-of-state liquor company profits.”
In 2022, bills lowering taxes for spirits-based RTDs have been defeated or stalled in Alabama, Arizona, Hawaii, Kentucky, Marland, Washington and West Virginia. A bill in Vermont that lowered the excise tax rate for RTDs and allowed them to be sold in licensed retailers rather than state-owned liquor stores passed in May, effective July 1.
The Brewers Association and BI Revise Advertising Standards Following 2020 Census
The Brewers Association (BA) and the BI have each revised their respective advertising codes, following updated U.S. demographic data from the 2020 Census.
The two trade associations now require all targeted media to be placed in mediums – including digital and social media channels – with an audience that is at least 73.6% legal-drinking age (LDA). The number reflects the percentage of LDA adults that make up the U.S. population – a +2% increase from the previous requirement of 71.6%, which was created in May 2011 and based on the 2010 Census.
Somewhat counterintuitive sounding, as the U.S. population gets older, and a higher percentage of the population is LDA, the percentage of LDA readers/viewers a medium must have increases.
“It’s vital to stay relevant to the latest demographic data,” Marc Sorini, BA general counsel, said in a press release. “Our updated code will help ensure that our members continue to market their products responsibly.”
As previously reported in Brewbound’s coverage of bev-alc’s presence on TikTok, advertising and marketing on social channels is self-regulated by trade groups, including the BI, BA and DISCUS.
Labatt USA and Barstool Sports to Launch New Beer Brand, Big Deal Brewing
Barstool Sports and Labatt USA announced a new partnership project last week: Big Deal Brewing.
Produced by Labatt, Big Deal Brewing debuted its first offering, Big Deal Brewing Original Golden Ale – a 4.5% super-premium golden ale – at the Labatt Brew House in Buffalo, New York on July 21. Created in collaboration with Barstool’s Spittin’ Chiclets hockey podcast, the beer brand officially launches in stores in September, and will be available in select cities in the U.S. and Canada this fall, according to a press release.
Labatt and Barstool have partnered on various marketing projects since 2019, mainly through the Spittin’ Chiclets franchise, which includes former NMH hockey players Ryan Whitney and Paul Bissonnette, according to the release.
This is not the first bev-alc release from the franchise. In 2019, Barstool and Spittin’ Chiclets launched Pink Whitney vodka in partnership with E. & J. Gallo’s New Amsterdam Vodka. A beer category offering was a “natural next step for the guys,” Barstool said in the release.