American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
We blame the industry for this… It used to be that when we wrapped up our Weekend Picks on Friday, we could coast through the weekend. There was little need to check in for updates -things were pretty much done. But clearly all that’s changed.
So here’s some of what’s happened in the world of craft beer while you were off enjoying yourselves.
Whole Brews (Houston, TX) – The Whole Foods Market has really gotten into the craft beer game over the last couple of years. The Austin-based food chain has been opening in-store bars and growler fill operations at many of their stores throughout the country -and soon a Houston-based Whole Foods will be brewing their own beer. According to the Houston Chronicle the Whole Foods Market at BLVD Place in Houston is in the hunt for a brewer to helm their new brewpub-and if you’re interested you need to apply here.
Stockholm Syndrome (Stockholm, Sweden) – Brooklyn Brewery’s new overseas venture with Carlsberg Sweden opened last Thursday. Nya Carnegiebryggerietis a revival of the Carnegie Brewery, a 178-year-old brand that is the oldest trademark in Sweden. Behind the project are Carlsberg Sweden and Brooklyn Brewery, as well as private investors. The new brewery (which will be operated by a subsidiary of Brooklyn Brewery) will make small scale craft beer that emphasizes innovative. The beers will be available both on draft and in bottles and will be sold at selected restaurants and bars in Stockholm, Sweden, and the world.
Fly Sweetwater Air (Atlanta, GA) – In a move that almost guarantees the flights we’ll be taking between Atlanta and NYC in the future, the Sweetwater Brewing Company has announced that they’ll be partnering with Delta Air Lines and offering the brewery’s flagship brew – 420 Extra Pale Ale – on Delta’s 34 daily flights between Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International and New York’s LaGuardia Airport starting April 1.
Big Things Brewing at Midnight (Rockville, VA) – Our friends at the Midnight Brewery had an official ground breaking ceremony last Friday, their first large expansion since they sold their first beer to the public in April 2012.The new facility, more than twice the size of its present quarters, and help the brewery better meet the demands of their rabid and fast-growing fan base which has developed an almost cult-like devotion to their beers and have been known to become quite unmanageable from time to time.
Shocker – Michigan Legislators Do The Right Thing (Lansing, MI) – In a concerning departure from form Gov. Rick Snyder today signed in legislation that will create jobs, increase tourism and expand the state’s booming craft beer industry. The nine-bill package doubles the amount of beer microbrewers may produce, from 30,000 barrels per year to 60,000. It also allows brewpub owners to now have interest in five other pubs, up from the previous two, so long as the combined barrel production does not exceed 18,000 barrels per year. Additionally, small microbreweries that produce less than 1,000 barrels of beer per year are now able to distribute their product directly to retailers under certain conditions.
