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The Artist Behind 21st Amendment’s New Cans

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21-btter-amer-can
UK-based illustrator Joe Wilson, whose clients include such high-powered companies as Adidas, British Airways, De Beers, GQ, Random House and Wired, designed the new artwork adorning the new 21st Amendment Brewery beer cans. So given his work for Wired, I suppose it’s no surprise that they featured his art on their Underwire Blog in a post entitled Chimp Astronaut Spaces Out in 21st Amendment Brewery’s ‘American Icon’ Artwork.

In an e-mail interview for the post, Wilson talked about the project. Regarding Bitter American. “That was a nice idea to center it around Ham the Astrochimp, who was undoubtedly a bitter American.”

The brewery’s marketing firm, TBD Agency, hired Smith on the strength of a Statue of Liberty illustration he did for Public Finance magazine. “They asked me to create a series of images based around the loose theme ‘American icons,'” Wilson said. “They already had the names of the beers, so this was a case of coming up with American subject matter and giving it a twist.”

21st Amendment wanted to establish a cheeky alternative to its mainstream competitors and that’s precisely what Wilson delivered with his drawings of the space chimp and other American icons. For the history-on-a-can theme, Wilson drew Paul Revere (for a black IPA called Back in Black), Abe Lincoln and his Mount Rushmore companions (Brew Free or Die IPA), the Statue of Liberty (Hell or High Watermelon wheat beer) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (Fireside Chat winter spiced ale).

Below are Wilson’s original sketches followed by the finished can label for each beer.

Brew Free or Die IPA

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HoHW_Revise_022211

Hell or High Watermelon

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HoHW_Revise_022211

Bitter American

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21a-bitter-american-sk1

HoHW_Revise_022211

Back in Black

21a-back-in-black-sk

21a-back-in-black

Fireside Chat

21a-fireside-chat-sk

HoHW_Revise_022211

It’s cool to see the changes — look carefully — from rough sketch to finished artwork. You can see more of Joe Wilson’s artwork at his website and at debut art.

Mills River, North Carolina On The Short List For New Sierra Nevada Brewery

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sierra-nevada
After Sierra Nevada Brewing‘s plans to build a brewery in Black Mountain, North Carolina fell through, they set their sites on the nearby town of Mills River as one possible location they’re considering. According to Blue Ridge Now, the Mills River location “is now among a ‘handful’ of possible locations for California-based Sierra Nevada to build a second facility.” (And thanks to Win Bassett for the tip.) Sierra Nevada owner Ken Grossman was in North Carolina Thursday and was reportedly pleased by the “welcome reception” he received. He told Blue Ridge Now in a telephone interview:

“We like the community; we like the culture in the area and the focus on craft beer, and a vibrant craft (beer) community is certainly an appealing draw,” Grossman said. “The water is good; we’ve been well-received in the area — certainly a welcome reception helps, not that we haven’t been welcomed everywhere we’ve looked.”

“Logistically, it fits,” he said. “We began discussing the project five years ago but put it on the back burner a couple of times as we agonized over the concept of starting from scratch and building a second plant. But it really makes sense for us from an economic standpoint and a carbon footprint standpoint as far as shipping, as our Eastern markets have continued to see double-digit growth for a number of years.”

Apparently Brian Grossman, Ken’s son, would be relocating to run the Eastern Sierra Nevada operations, wherever it turns out to be.

UPDATE: Miles J. sent me a link to a similar story about Sierra nevada’s search foran East Coast location for a brewery that ran in today’s ChicoER.

Celebrator Beer News Goes Digital

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celebrator-long
The magazine that I used to run, as the GM, along with publisher Tom Dalldorf — the Celebrator Beer News — has gone digital. Beginning with the current December 2011/January 2012 issue you’ll be able to read it online or download a pdf to put on your iPad ofr other tablet/smartphone. The online digital version includes every page, along with the ability to bookmark your place and zoom in to get a closer look. You can find a link to it on the Celebrator’s website and from the digital page you’ll see the pdf link to download it. Tom tells me that going forward, each issue will be available both as a print version (found in your favorite watering hole) and a digital version (when your bar has run out). He also plans to start converting back issues to digital editions over the next few months.

CBN-Dec-2011

Alabama Beer

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alabama
Today in 1819, Alabama became the 22nd state.

Alabama
State_Alabama

Alabama Breweries

Alabama Brewery Guides

Guild: Alabama Brewers Guild

State Agency: Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board

maps-al

  • Capital: Montgomery
  • Largest Cities: Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa
  • Population: 4,447,100; 23rd
  • Area: 52,423 sq.mi., 30th
  • Nickname: Yellowhammer State
  • Statehood: 22nd, December 14, 1819

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  • Alcohol Legalized: March 22, 1937
  • Number of Breweries: 6
  • Rank: 43rd
  • Beer Production: 3,459,772
  • Production Rank: 23rd
  • Beer Per Capita: 23 Gallons

alabama

Package Mix:

  • Bottles: 35.2%
  • Cans: 61.61%
  • Kegs: 3.6%

Beer Taxes:

  • Per Gallon: $1.05
  • Per Case: $2.37
  • Tax Per Barrel (24/12 Case): $32.65
  • Draught Tax Per Barrel (in Kegs): $32.65

Economic Impact (2010):

  • From Brewing: $4,057,400
  • Direct Impact: $685,281,037
  • Supplier Impact: $239,545,560
  • Induced Economic Impact: $417,394,346
  • Total Impact: $1,342,220,943

Legal Restrictions:

  • Control State: No
  • Sale Hours: No later than 2 a.m. on Sundays in some counties.
  • Grocery Store Sales: Yes
  • Notes: 13.9% ABV cap on beer

    Beer containers may not exceed 16 ounces (0.47 l)

    ABV > 14.9% wine sold in state stores

    Alcohol may be served 24 hours unless restricted by local ordinances. Twenty-six of Alabama’s 67 counties do not allow the sale of alcohol. However, possession and consumption remains legal within those twenty-six counties. Cities with populations greater than 1000 within dry counties can “go wet” if passed by 50% of voters.

alabama-map

Data complied, in part, from the Beer Institute’s Brewer’s Almanac 2010, Beer Serves America, the Brewers Association, Wikipedia and my World Factbook. If you see I’m missing a brewery link, please be so kind as to drop me a note or simply comment on this post. Thanks.

For the remaining states, see Brewing Links: United States.

Pennsylvania Beer

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pennsylvania
Today in 1787, Pennsylvania became the 2nd state.

Pennsylvania
State_Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Breweries

Pennsylvania Brewery Guides

Guild: Brewers of Pennsylvania

State Agency: Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board

maps-pa

  • Capital: Harrisburg
  • Largest Cities: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Upper Darby Twp, Reading
  • Population: 12,281,054; 6th
  • Area: 46058 sq. mi., 33rd
  • Nickname: Keystone State
  • Statehood: 2nd, December 12, 1787

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  • Alcohol Legalized: May 5, 1933
  • Number of Breweries: 88
  • Rank: 7th
  • Beer Production: 8,963,292
  • Production Rank: 6th
  • Beer Per Capita: 22.3 Gallons

pennsylvania

Package Mix:

  • Bottles: 37.7%
  • Cans: 44.6%
  • Kegs: 17.3%

Beer Taxes:

  • Per Gallon: $0.11
  • Per Case: $0.24
  • Tax Per Barrel (24/12 Case): $3.31
  • Draught Tax Per Barrel (in Kegs): $2.48

Economic Impact (2010):

  • From Brewing: $532,012,580
  • Direct Impact: $2,947,491,286
  • Supplier Impact: $1,542,608,438
  • Induced Economic Impact: $2,449,763,837
  • Total Impact: $6,939,863,561

Legal Restrictions:

  • Control State: No
  • Sale Hours: On Premises: Sunday sales at hotels and restaurants are permitted from 11:00 a.m. ET until 2:00 a.m. ET Monday only with a special annual permit and whose sales of food and non-alcoholic beverages are at least 30% of total sales. Private clubs can serve alcohol from 7:00 a.m. till 3:00 a.m. Sales of alcohol have to stop at 3:00 a.m.
    Off Premises: State stores hours vary from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Mon–Sat and always noon until 5:00 p.m. Sunday
  • Grocery Store Sales: No
  • Notes: Wine and spirits can only be sold at State-operated stores. All persons must be at least 21 years of age to enter a state-operated liquor store alone. Beer is not sold at state-operated liquor stores.

    Beer can be purchased at beverage outlets (cases only), or restaurants (6-packs/restricted quantities) with Liquor Control Board–issued licenses, but not supermarkets. Non-alcoholic beer is an exception, and may be sold in supermarkets, but persons buying it still must be at least 21 years of age.

    Sunday sales were prohibited in LCB stores until 2003 (selected locations) and beverage outlets (owner’s option) until 2005.

    There are currently seven state liquor stores located within supermarkets. In 2010, a trial was initiated to test selling wine in grocery stores using vending machines. The buyer must present identification, look into a camera to allow an offsite PLCB employee to verify the identification, and blow into a breathalyzer to authorize the sale. (See US Wine Vending Machines) This practice was ended in September 2011.

    As of 2007, some convenience stores and grocery stores were trying to fight Pennsylvania’s strict laws on the sale of alcohol, for example Sheetz Weis Markets and Wegman’s. Since 2009, beer sales have been approved in multiple Western Pennsylvania locations of the grocery chain Giant Eagle. In addition, wine kiosks have also recently become available at multiple Giant Eagle locations in the Pittsburgh area.

    Special permits may be purchased for certain organizations for fundraisers once per calendar year, and are valid for a total of six days under the same rules governing restaurants.

    Grain alcohol prohibited as a beverage.

pennsylvania-map

Data complied, in part, from the Beer Institute’s Brewer’s Almanac 2010, Beer Serves America, the Brewers Association, Wikipedia and my World Factbook. If you see I’m missing a brewery link, please be so kind as to drop me a note or simply comment on this post. Thanks.

For the remaining states, see Brewing Links: United States.

Beer Sales By Style Through Thanksgiving

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sales-chart-up
MC Basset, publishers of the Beer Bible — better known by its official title, “The Essential Reference of Domestic Brewers and Their Bottled Brands” — in their monthly e-mail blast, Style Trends, “provided a snapshot of (YTD) beer sales by beer style.” The data they use was compiled by the Symphony IRI Group (IRI), using “a data set that includes 15,000+ US grocery retailers.” The two charts below graph beer sales for calendar year 2011, through November 27th.

It’s also important to remember that by “beer styles,” they don’t mean styles in the ordinary sense used by homebrewers and judges in beer competitions, where the goal is to categorize beers of like characteristics together for ease of comparison. As IRI uses the term, they’re more of a loose arrangement of how they’re sold, since that’s their main focus. They also define what is “craft” beer differently than, say, the Brewers Association does, again because their goals are different. In their world, there are less “styles” than we’re generally used to, but what is “craft” is more loosely defined, allowing almost any beer that’s not a mainstream beer to be included.

In the first chart, it shows sales through Thanksgiving of the Top 15 craft styles based on dollar sales. There’s actually very little that’s surprising in this chart, as the category “seasonals” has been the top category for some time now, and IPAs, in second, is likewise how things have been for some time now. It basically shows that current trends are continuing as they have been lately.

craft-$sales-11-11-27

The second chart, however, I find more interesting. It’s showing the same fifteen categories, but by how their sales have changed, by percentage, over the same period of time from last year. In essence, this chart shows which kinds of beers are doing better this year than they did last year.

craft-$change-11-11-27

The second best recorded change, India Pale Ales — at just over 40% — has been trending up for a few years now, and hoppy beers continue to sell well. But what came in at number one is more surprising. Belgian Ales (really Belgian-style ales) are up around 50% over last year. Sure, it’s on a smaller base, but it’s still great to see more complex beers registering such a big increase. Undoubtedly, part of the reason for this is probably due to more outlets beginning to recognize customer demand and adding these beers to their set; but that, too, is a welcome development.

The other surprise is “stouts,” which are also up around 40% over 2010. And five of the beer styles are up over 10%, including “brown beer,” “pale lagers,” “porter,” “seasonals,” and “strong ales.” Only one style is down over last year, and that’s “craft light beer.” I presume that’s mostly Sam Adams Light, though there are a few others, such as Genny Light, Point Honey Light, Shiner Light and Yuengling Light that probably are included in that category.

Of all fifteen categories, all but three of them show fairly healthy growth. In addition to “craft light beer’s” slide, both “amber lager” and “wheat” grew only very slightly in 2011. Every other category grew by at least 5 or more percent from 2010 to 2011. Not bad in a recession.

Indiana Beer

By

indiana
Today in 1816, Indiana became the 19th state.

Indiana
State_Indiana

Indiana Breweries

Indiana Brewery Guides

Guild: Brewers of Indiana Guild

State Agency: Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission

maps-in

  • Capital: Indianapolis
  • Largest Cities: Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville, South Bend, Gary
  • Population: 6,080,485; 14th
  • Area: 36420 sq.mi., 38th
  • Nickname: Hoosier State
  • Statehood: 19th, December 11, 1816

m-indiana

  • Alcohol Legalized: December 5, 1933
  • Number of Breweries: 38
  • Rank: 16th
  • Beer Production: 4,154,936
  • Production Rank: 17th
  • Beer Per Capita: 20.2 Gallons

indiana

Package Mix:

  • Bottles: 39.2%
  • Cans: 51.6%
  • Kegs: 9%

Beer Taxes:

  • Per Gallon: $0.12
  • Per Case: $0.26
  • Tax Per Barrel (24/12 Case): $3.57
  • Draught Tax Per Barrel (in Kegs): $3.57

Economic Impact (2010):

  • From Brewing: $38,672,825
  • Direct Impact: $1,154,626,759
  • Supplier Impact: $437,356,994
  • Induced Economic Impact: $826,069,137
  • Total Impact: $2,418,052,890

Legal Restrictions:

  • Control State: No
  • Sale Hours: On Premises: 7 a.m.–3 a.m.
    Off Premises: 7 a.m.–3 a.m. No sale on Sunday
  • Grocery Store Sales: Yes
  • Notes: Sales limited to on-premises in restaurants, wineries and breweries on Sundays. No sales on Christmas. Minors, including babies, are not allowed to enter a liquor store. No sales of cold beer in grocery stores or gas stations. ID must be presented for all off-premises sales as of July 1, 2010 per IC 7.1-5-10-23. (Outdated as of 1 July 2011)

indiana-map

Data complied, in part, from the Beer Institute’s Brewer’s Almanac 2010, Beer Serves America, the Brewers Association, Wikipedia and my World Factbook. If you see I’m missing a brewery link, please be so kind as to drop me a note or simply comment on this post. Thanks.

For the remaining states, see Brewing Links: United States.

More From This Year’s Anchor Christmas Party

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anchor-xmas11
If you saw my post from the Anchor Christmas Party a few days ago, my friend Mike Condie — who’s a much better photographer than I am — sent over some of the pictures he took at the party and I thought I’d share those, as well.

DSC_2384
The Celebrator crew.

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Alec Moss and Tom Dalldorf.

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Me with brewer Mike Lee and Bob Brewer.

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Bob Brewer showing me Anchor’s new bottling line.

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Ron Silberstein, from Thirsty Bear, and Anchor co-owner Keith Greggor.

Thanks for sharing, Mike.

Mississippi Beer

By

mississippi
Today in 1817, Mississippi became the 20th state.

Mississippi
State_Mississippi

Mississippi Breweries

Mississippi Brewery Guides

Guild: No Known Brewers Guild

State Agency: Mississippi Alcoholic Beverage Control

maps-ms

  • Capital: Jackson
  • Largest Cities: Jackson, Gulfport, Biloxi, Hattiesburg, Greenville
  • Population: 2,844,658; 31st
  • Area: 48434 sq.mi., 32nd
  • Nickname: Magnolia State
  • Statehood: 20th, December 10, 1817

m-mississippi

  • Alcohol Legalized: February 26, 1934
  • Number of Breweries: 1
  • Rank: 49th
  • Beer Production: 2,413,764
  • Production Rank: 31st
  • Beer Per Capita: 25.5 Gallons

mississippi

Package Mix:

  • Bottles: 41.8%
  • Cans: 56.1%
  • Kegs: 1.8%

Beer Taxes:

  • Per Gallon: $0.43
  • Per Case: $0.96
  • Tax Per Barrel (24/12 Case): $13.23
  • Draught Tax Per Barrel (in Kegs): $13.23

Economic Impact (2010):

  • From Brewing: $1,312,993
  • Direct Impact: $363,552,316
  • Supplier Impact: $103,910,200
  • Induced Economic Impact: $198,133,204
  • Total Impact: $665,595,720

Legal Restrictions:

  • Control State: No
  • Sale Hours: Local authorities fix hours of alcohol sale
  • Grocery Store Sales: Yes
  • Notes: ABW > 5% wine and sparkling wine sold in state-contracted stores. Beer and light wine (ABW < 5%, ABV < ~6.3%) sold in convenience stores/supermarkets. Beer over 5% ABW prohibited. Beer and light wine (ABW < 5%) may be consumed by persons age 18-20 with parental supervision. No sales on Christmas Day. No state open container laws. Free alcohol all day and night in coastal casinos. In most counties, alcohol cannot be sold on Sundays. There are many dry counties in which it is illegal to possess alcoholic beverages, though some cities within dry counties have voted in beer sales.

mississippi-map

Data complied, in part, from the Beer Institute’s Brewer’s Almanac 2010, Beer Serves America, the Brewers Association, Wikipedia and my World Factbook. If you see I’m missing a brewery link, please be so kind as to drop me a note or simply comment on this post. Thanks.

For the remaining states, see Brewing Links: United States.

Anchor Christmas Party 2011

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anchor-xmas11
Last night was the annual Anchor Christmas Party, one of my favorite events of the beer year. It’s an opportunity to celebrate the holidays with the local beer community and have a bit of fun before all the family obligations kick in. And it’s always a great party. Anchor pulls out all the stops, putting out a terrific spread and opening the brewery up for one night.

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The Anchor party is one of the few events that my wife Sarah attends with me each year, making it that much more special. We always make a point of having holiday photo taken at the brewery.

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The Celebrator Beer News crew at the party.

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Brewer Mike Lee and Bob Brewer.

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During the course of the evening, I was happy to get a look at Anchor’s new bottling line, which is doubling their filling speed and offering better O-levels and fill level consistency. Plus it’s a beautiful piece of machinery.

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Tom Dalldorf, publisher of the Celebrator Beer News, my wife Sarah, and Keith Greggor, co-owner of Anchor Brewers & Distillers toward the end of the night.