Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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GABF Awards 2016

By

gabf-2014
On Saturday, October 8, the winners of the 34th Great American Beer Festival were announced. A record 7,227 beers were judged in 96 categories by 264 judges, of which I was again privileged to be one. First, here’s some statistics about the festival:

  • 35th anniversary of the festival; 30th edition of the GABF competition
  • 780 breweries in the festival hall
  • 3,800+ beers served at the festival
  • 60,000 attendees
  • 3,600 volunteers (festival and competition combined)
  • 1,752 breweries in the competition from 50 states plus Washington, D.C.
  • 254 medal-winning breweries
  • 286 total medals awarded
  • 7,227 beers judged (not including 88 Pro-Am competition entries), a nearly 9 percent increase over 2015
  • 96 style categories judged, plus the Pro-Am competition
  • 264 judges from 12 different countries
  • Average number of competition beers entered in each category: 75 (excludes Pro-Am beers)
  • Category with highest number of entries: American-Style India Pale Ale: 312

This year’s GABF competition saw seven new style categories:

  • Pumpkin/Squash Beer (category 6)
  • Four new historical beer categories were added: Finnish Sahti, Swedish Gotlandsricke, and Pale and Dark Breslau Schoeps (categories 21e, 21f, 21g, 21h)
  • German Leichtbier (category 36c)
  • Specialty Saison (category 79)

Since 2002, the most-entered category has been American-Style India Pale Ale (IPA), which saw 312 entries in 2016 compared to 336 entries in 2015.The top five entered categories were:

  1. American-Style India Pale Ale (312 entries)
  2. Imperial India Pale Ale (211 entries)
  3. American-Style Strong Pale Ale (169 entries)
  4. Coffee Beer (168 entries)
  5. Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer (159 entries)

gabf-medals

Only one brewery won 4 medals (Überbrew), but three won 3 (Brown Truck, Fat Head’s, Karl Strauss). By ratio, Wyoming did best (45 entries and 5 medals) for .111. In second was Hawaii (28 entries and 3 medals) with .107 and third was Virginia (200 entries and 14 medals) with .07. 464 breweries entered the competition for the first time, and of those, 41 won a medal.

Medals Won by State:

  1. California = 68
  2. Colorado = 38
  3. Oregon = 21
  4. North Carolina = 17
  5. Washington = 14
  6. TIE: Illinois / Virginia = 13
  7. TIE: Michigan / Texas = 10
  8. Ohio = 8
  9. Pennsylvania = 7
  10. TIE: Montana / New Mexico = 6

In addition two states won 6, two won 5 and three won 4. Two won 3 medals, 10 won 2, and 7 won a single medal. Thirteen states, plus DC, did not win a medal.

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The 2016 Great American Beer Festival Winners

Category 1: American-Style Wheat Beer – 37 Entries
Gold: Tumblewheat, Altitude Chophouse and Brewery, Laramie, WY
Silver: Shredder’s Wheat, Barley Brown’s Beer, Baker City, OR
Bronze: Flash Bang, Excel Brewing Co., Breese, IL

Category 2: American-Style Wheat Beer With Yeast – 31 Entries
Gold: White Noise, Überbrew, Billings, MT
Silver: Medley of Moods, Gibb’s Hundred Brewing Co., Greensboro, NC
Bronze: Boulder Bend Dunkelweizen, Fish Brewing Co., Olympia, WA

Category 3: American-Style Fruit Beer – 106 Entries
Gold: Slingback, High Heel Brewing, St. Louis, MO
Silver: Miss IPPA, Peter B’s Brewpub, Monterey, CA
Bronze: Apricot Cream Ale, Vertigo Brewing, Hillsboro, OR

Category 4: Fruit Wheat Beer – 84 Entries
Gold: Mexican Spring, 515 Brewing Co., Clive, IA
Silver: Mango Wheat, Blue Moon Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Bronze: Apricot Hefeweizen, Wasatch Brewery, Salt Lake City, UT

Category 5: Belgian-Style Fruit Beer – 61 Entries
Gold: Apricot Wheat, Wiens Brewing Co./Wiens Family Cellars, Temecula, CA
Silver: Cherry Busey, Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
Bronze: Cerasus, Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, Hood River, OR

Category 6: Pumpkin/Squash Beer – 10 Entries
Gold: None awarded
Silver: None awarded
Bronze: Butt-Ah Nut, BTU Brasserie, Portland, OR

Category 7: Field Beer – 92 Entries
Gold: Imperial Coconut Porter, Maui Brewing Co. – Production, Kihei, HI
Silver: Slam Piece, Coppertail Brewing, Tampa, FL
Bronze: Redbud with Cucumber, Independence Brewing Co., Austin, TX

Category 8: Chili Beer – 112 Entries
Gold: Rocky Mtn Saison, 14er Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Silver: The Contender IPA with Fresh Chilis, Duck Foot Brewing Co., San Diego, CA
Bronze: Vengeance! Jalapeno Cream Ale, Jack Pine Brewery, Baxter, MN

Category 9: Herb and Spice Beer – 114 Entries
Gold: NoDajito, NoDa Brewing Co. – Davidson, Charlotte, NC
Silver: Ginger American Ale, Broken Compass Brewing, Breckenridge, CO
Bronze: 1634 Ale, Brewer’s Alley Restaurant & Brewery, Frederick, MD

Category 10: Pumpkin Spice Beer – 39 Entries
Gold: Pump Action Imperial Pumpkin Ale, 4 Noses Brewing Co., Broomfield, CO
Silver: Twisted Gourd, South Street Brewery, Charlottesville, VA
Bronze: 5 Phantoms Pumpkin Spice Barleywine, Philipsburg Brewing Co., Philipsburg, MT

Category 11: Chocolate Beer – 46 Entries
Gold: Chaos, RAM/Big Horn Brewery – Wheeling, Wheeling, IL
Silver: The Ticket Chocolate Beer, ZwanzigZ Brewing, Columbus, IN
Bronze: 4th Gear (4th Anniversary), Kinetic Brewing Co., Lancaster, CA

Category 12: Coffee Beer – 168 Entries
Gold: Gusto Crema, Georgetown Brewing Co., Seattle, WA
Silver: Dusk ‘til Dawn – SC, Pizza Port San Clemente, San Clemente, CA
Bronze: Zumbar Chocolate Coffee Imperial Stout, New English Brewing Co., San Diego, CA

Category 13: Specialty Beer – 54 Entries
Gold: Campfire Stout, High Water Brewing, Stockton, CA
Silver: Good Conduct, Fieldwork Brewing Co., Berkeley, CA
Bronze: GAZPROM!, Lion Bridge Brewing Co., Cedar Rapids, IA

Category 14: Rye Beer – 81 Entries
Gold: Breakside Rye Curious?, Breakside Brewery, Portland, OR
Silver: Rock-Biter Roggenbier, Hop Dogma Brewing Co., El Granada, CA
Bronze: Runaround Rye Ale, Roundhouse Brewery, Brainerd, MN

Category 15: Honey Beer – 64 Entries
Gold: Jetty Cream Ale, Great South Bay Brewery, Bay Shore, NY
Silver: Spring Fever, FiftyFifty Brewing Co., Truckee, CA
Bronze: Belgian Honey Blonde Ale, No Clue Craft Brewery, Rancho Cucamonga, CA

Category 16: Session Beer – 52 Entries
Gold: PSB Session IPL, Perry Street Brewing Co., Spokane, WA
Silver: Oatmeal Stout, Benchmark Brewing Co., San Diego, CA
Bronze: Slippery When Wit, South Street Brewery, Charlottesville, VA

Category 17: Session India Pale Ale – 118 Entries
Gold: Trump Hands, Cannonball Creek Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Silver: Pace Car Racer, Bear Republic Brewing Co. – Production Facility, Cloverdale, CA
Bronze: Mosaic Session IPA, Karl Strauss Brewing Co. – San Diego, San Diego, CA

Category 18: Other Strong Beer – 46 Entries
Gold: Anodyne Wheat Wine, Revolver Brewing, Granbury, TX
Silver: Black Muddy River, Fat Head’s Brewery & Saloon, North Olmsted, OH
Bronze: Muir Woods Coastal Red, Barebottle Brewing Co., San Francisco, CA

Category 19: Experimental Beer – 87 Entries
Gold: Dry Hopped Systema Naturae – Scuppernong & Lily, D9 Brewing Co., Cornelius, NC
Silver: Wineification II, The Bruery, Placentia, CA
Bronze: Oyster Weiss, Scratch Brewing Co., Ava, IL

Category 20: Fresh or Wet Hop Ale – 45 Entries
Gold: Melvin IPA, Melvin Brewing – Jackson, Jackson, WY
Silver: Acequia IPA, Bosque Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
Bronze: IBUsive, Fat Head’s Brewery & Saloon, North Olmsted, OH

Category 21: Historical Beer – 43 Entries
Gold: Valhalla, El Rancho Brewing, Evergreen, CO
Silver: Grosse Teufel, Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, Richmond, VA
Bronze: Wild & Crazy Rye, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery – Boulder, Boulder, CO

Category 22: Gluten-Free Beer – 37 Entries
Gold: Dark Ale, Ground Breaker Brewing, Portland, OR
Silver: Copperhead, Greenview Brewing, Madison, WI
Bronze: Grapefruit IPA, Ghostfish Brewing Company, Seattle, WA

Category 23: American-Belgo-Style Ale – 70 Entries
Gold: Mischief, The Bruery, Placentia, CA
Silver: #4.5 Hops with Saison Added, Brown Truck Brewery, High Point, NC
Bronze: White Wall Wit, Crank Arm Brewing Co., Raleigh, NC

Category 24: American-Style Sour Ale – 142 Entries
Gold: Queen of Tarts, Karl Strauss Brewing Co. – San Diego, San Diego, CA
Silver: Heart of Gold, Great Notion Brewing, Portland, OR
Bronze: Excommunication, Forte Cerise, Max Lager’s Wood-Fired Grill & Brewery, Atlanta, GA

Category 25: Brett Beer – 53 Entries
Gold: Touch of Brett, Alesong Brewing & Blending, Eugene, OR
Silver: Dreamy Thing, Cerebral Brewing, Denver, CO
Bronze: Brett Saison, Ardent Craft Ales, Richmond, VA

Category 26: Mixed-Culture Brett Beer – 65 Entries
Gold: Fünke Hop Farm, Sudwerk Brewing Co., Davis, CA
Silver: White Label, Almanac Beer Co., San Francisco, CA
Bronze: DAM Wild Marionberry Pink Peppercorn, Flat Tail Brewing Co., Corvallis, OR

Category 27: Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer – 66 Entries
Gold: Drama Queen, Denver Beer Co. – Canworks, Denver, CO
Silver: Brett Saison, Blackberry Farm Brewery, Walland, TN
Bronze: Rye Robustito, Drake’s Brewing Co., San Leandro, CA

Category 28: Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer – 159 Entries
Gold: Silent Warrior, TAPS Fish House & Brewery – Corona, Corona, CA
Silver: Mélange À Trois, Nebraska Brewing Co. – Papillion, Papillion, NE
Bronze: 15th Anniversary Ale, Island Brewing Co., Carpinteria, CA

Category 29: Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout – 131 Entries
Gold: Barrel-Aged Darkness, Surly Brewing Co., Brooklyn Center, MN
Silver: The Event Horizon, Olde Hickory Brewery, Hickory, NC
Bronze: Little Nonsense, Verboten Brewing, Loveland, CO

Category 30: Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer – 64 Entries
Gold: Sour Project Ale, Adirondack Pub and Brewery, Lake George, NY
Silver: Avant-Chard, Historic Brewing Co., Flagstaff, AZ
Bronze: Angelina, Brewery Vivant, Grand Rapids, MI

Category 31: Fruited Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer – 82 Entries
Gold: Razz-Jerry Tart, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery – Brea, Brea, CA
Silver: Saint Dekkera Reserve Sour Framboise, DESTIHL, Normal, IL
Bronze: Pi, Propolis Brewing, Port Townsend, WA

Category 32: Aged Beer – 40 Entries
Gold: Doc’s Scotch Ale, Millersburg Brewing, Millersburg, OH
Silver: Expedition Stout, Bell’s Brewery, Inc., Comstock, MI
Bronze: Winter Wheatwine 2007, Rubicon Brewing Company Pub, Sacramento, CA

Category 33: Kellerbier or Zwickelbier – 69 Entries
Gold: Sunnyside Dweller, Ocelot Brewing, Sterling, VA
Silver: Kelly Alt, Snake River Brewing Co., Jackson, WY
Bronze: Pilsner, Marble Brewery, Albuquerque, NM

Category 34: Smoke Beer – 65 Entries
Gold: Raucher, Wolverine State Brewing Co., Ann Arbor, MI
Silver: Cowboy Curtis, Arts District Brewing Co., Los Angeles, CA
Bronze: Croydon Is Burning, Neshaminy Creek Brewing Co., Croydon, PA

Category 35: American-Style or International-Style Pilsener – 66 Entries
Gold: Robot Crush, Aeronaut Brewing Co., Somerville, MA
Silver: Pelicano Extra!, Pelican Brewing Co., Tillamook, OR
Bronze: Mexican Logger, SKA Brewing, Durango, CO

Category 36: American-Style Light Lager or German-Style Light Lager – 21 Entries
Gold: #10 American Lager, Brown Truck Brewery, High Point, NC
Silver: Lightner Creek Lager, Carver Brewing Co., Durango, CO
Bronze: Coors Light, Coors Brewing Co., Golden, CO

Category 37: American-Style Lager or Ice Lager or Malt Liquor – 34 Entries
Gold: Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR), Pabst Brewing Co., Los Angeles, CA
Silver: Coors Banquet, Coors Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Bronze: Lager, Craft Brew Alliance – Omission, Portland, OR

Category 38: American-Style Cream Ale – 65 Entries
Gold: El Sully, 21st Amendment Brewery, San Leandro, CA
Silver: Old Style Lager, Pabst Brewing Co., Los Angeles, CA
Bronze: Broadway Light, Detroit Beer Co., Detroit, MI

Category 39: American-Style Amber Lager or Dark Lager – 108 Entries
Gold: Casa Azul, El Segundo Brewing Co., El Segundo, CA
Silver: Tragedy of the Commons, Iowa Brewing Co., Cedar Rapids, IA
Bronze: Lighter Than I Look, Figueroa Mountain Brewing – Buellton, Buellton, CA

Category 40: German-Style Pilsener – 115 Entries
Gold: Industry, The Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co., Austin, TX
Silver: Bosque Lager, Bosque Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
Bronze: Lokahi Pilsner, Kohola Brewery, Lahaina, HI

Category 41: Bohemian-Style Pilsener – 62 Entries
Gold: Sweet Ride, Bagby Beer Co., Oceanside, CA
Silver: Polaris Pilsner, Chainline Brewing Co., Kirkland, WA
Bronze: Torch Pilsner, Foothills Brewing Co., Winston-Salem, NC

Category 42: Munich-Style Helles – 84 Entries
Gold: Chuckanut Helles, Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Silver: Helles, Dry Dock Brewing Co. – South Dock, Aurora, CO
Bronze: Hell Yes, The Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co., Austin, TX

Category 43: Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest – 46 Entries
Gold: Dortmunder Mifflin, Emmett’s Tavern & Brewing Co. – Palatine, Palatine, IL
Silver: Longboard Island Lager, Craft Brew Alliance – Kona Brewery, Kailua-Kona, HI
Bronze: Figtoberfest, Figueroa Mountain Brewing – Westlake Village, Westlake Village, CA

Category 44: Vienna-Style Lager – 67 Entries
Gold: Vienna Lager, Devils Backbone Brewing Co. – Outpost Production Facility, Lexington, VA
Silver: 13.FIVE Ofest, Blue Mountain Barrel House and Organic Brewery, Arrington, VA
Bronze: Churchville Lager, Neshaminy Creek Brewing Co., Croydon, PA

Category 45: German-Style Maerzen – 79 Entries
Gold: Zirkusfest Oktoberfest Lager, Hi-Wire Brewing – Big Top Production Facility, Asheville, NC
Silver: Seven Bridges, Jekyll Brewing, Alpharetta, GA
Bronze: Fruhauf Oktoberfest, Pollyanna Brewing Co., Lemont, IL

Category 46: European-Style Dark Lager/Munich-Style Dunkel – 38 Entries
Gold: I Dunkled in My Pants, Figueroa Mountain Brewing – Buellton, Buellton, CA
Silver: Piney Ridge Dunkel, Front Range Brewing Co., Lafayette, CO
Bronze: Prunkle’s Dunkle, Horse Thief Hollow Brewery, Chicago, IL

Category 47: German-Style Schwarzbier – 47 Entries
Gold: General Schwarz, Central Coast Brewing Co., San Luis Obispo, CA
Silver: Alternate Present, Fiction Beer Co., Denver, CO
Bronze: Once You Go Schwarz…, Figueroa Mountain Brewing – Arroyo Grande, Arroyo Grande, CA

Category 48: Bock – 36 Entries
Gold: Breakline Bock, Rip Current Brewery, San Marcos, CA
Silver: Numbskull, Swamp Rabbit Brewery & Taproom, Travelers Rest, SC
Bronze: Bridge Street Bock, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant – Phoenixville, Phoenixville, PA

Category 49: German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock – 29 Entries
Gold: Warning Sign, Rockyard American Grill & Brewing Co., Castle Rock, CO
Silver: Frankenwald Eisbock, ZwanzigZ Brewing, Columbus, IN
Bronze: Apocalyptinator, Nevin’s Brewing Co., Plainfield, IL

Category 50: Baltic-Style Porter – 41 Entries
Gold: Danzig, Devils Backbone Brewing Co. – Basecamp, Roseland, VA
Silver: Apogee Baltic Porter, Morgan Territory Brewing, Tracy, CA
Bronze: Siberian Silk, La Cumbre Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM

Category 51: Golden or Blonde Ale – 115 Entries
Gold: Kirby, Echo Brewing Co., Frederick, CO
Silver: Miss Conduct, Moonraker Brewing Co., Auburn, CA
Bronze: German Blonde Ale, Bemidji Brewing Co., Bemidji, MN

Category 52: German-Style Koelsch – 111 Entries
Gold: Light of Cologne, Ornery Beer Co., Woodbridge, VA
Silver: Vacation, Daredevil Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
Bronze: Lü, Solemn Oath Brewery, Naperville, IL

Category 53: English-Style Summer Ale – 68 Entries
Gold: Hometown Blonde, RAM/Big Horn Brewery – Lakewood, Lakewood, WA
Silver: Ridgway Blonde, Colorado Boy Pub & Brewery, Ridgway, CO
Bronze: Liquid AC, Karl Strauss Brewing Co. – La Jolla, La Jolla, CA

Category 54: Classic English-Style Pale Ale – 38 Entries
Gold: Extra Pale Ale, Summit Brewing Co., Saint Paul, MN
Silver: Breakside ESB, Breakside Brewery, Portland, OR
Bronze: HopFish IPA, Flying Fish Brewing Co., Somerdale, NJ

Category 55: English-Style India Pale Ale – 43 Entries
Gold: Gatecrasher, Temperance Beer Co., Evanston, IL
Silver: Face Plant, Lost Rhino Brewing Co., Ashburn, VA
Bronze: Live Wire, Roak Brewing Co., Royal Oak, MI

Category 56: Australian-Style or International-Style Pale Ale – 90 Entries
Gold: Drop Bear Australian Pale Ale, Lynnwood Brewing Concern, Raleigh, NC
Silver: Mai Tai P.A., Alvarado Street Brewery, Salinas, CA
Bronze: Breakside Lunch Break ISA, Breakside Brewery & Taproom, Milwaukie, OR

Category 57: American-Style Pale Ale – 157 Entries
Gold: Stick’s Pale Ale, Bootstrap Brewing Co., Niwot, CO
Silver: Monterey Street, Central Coast Brewing Co., San Luis Obispo, CA
Bronze: The Charlatan, Maplewood Brewery, Chicago, IL

Category 58: American-Style Strong Pale Ale – 169 Entries
Gold: Good Green, Highland Park Brewery, Los Angeles, CA
Silver: Rippin, Sunriver Brewing, Sunriver, OR
Bronze: HFS, Alpine Beer Co., San Diego, CA

Category 59: American-Style India Pale Ale – 312 Entries
Gold: Bodhizafa IPA, Georgetown Brewing Co., Seattle, WA
Silver: Super Cali IPA, Riip Beer Co., Huntington Beach, CA
Bronze: Breaking Bud, Knee Deep Brewing Co., Auburn, CA

Category 60: Imperial India Pale Ale – 211 Entries
Gold: Humulus Insani, Überbrew, Billings, MT
Silver: Nobility, Noble Ale Works, Anaheim, CA
Bronze: Hop JuJu Imperial IPA, Fat Head’s Brewery, Middleburg Heights, OH

Category 61: American-Style Amber/Red Ale – 114 Entries
Gold: Ole Prospector Red Ale, BNS Brewing & Distilling Co., Santee, CA
Silver: Better Off Red, Vintage Brewing Co., Madison, WI
Bronze: Sabre-Toothed Squirrel, Smog City Brewing Co., Torrance, CA

Category 62: Double Red Ale – 78 Entries
Gold: The Red Glove, Boxing Bear Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
Silver: Average at Best, Überbrew, Billings, MT
Bronze: RIPA, Carson’s Brewery, Evansville, IN

Category 63: Imperial Red Ale – 62 Entries
Gold: Paradocs Red Imperial IPA, Raised Grain Brewing Co., Waukesha, WI
Silver: reDANKulous – Backstage Series, Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, MI
Bronze: Wreak Havoc, Bootstrap Brewing Co., Niwot, CO

Category 64: English-Style Mild Ale – 44 Entries
Gold: Workman’s Compensation, Lion Bridge Brewing Co., Cedar Rapids, IA
Silver: Saddle Bronc Brown, Black Tooth Brewing Co., Sheridan, WY
Bronze: Old Town Brown, Auburn Alehouse, Auburn, CA

Category 65: Ordinary or Special Bitter – 39 Entries
Gold: DBA (Double Barrel Ale), Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Silver: Drop Top Amber Ale, Craft Brew Alliance – Widmer, Portland, OR
Bronze: Special Bitter, Redwood Curtain Brewing Co., Arcata, CA

Category 66: Extra Special Bitter – 71 Entries
Gold: Redfeather, Black Raven Brewing Co., Redmond, WA
Silver: Red Fish, Flying Fish Brewing Co., Somerdale, NJ
Bronze: Mother Earth ESB, Mother Earth Brew Co., Vista, CA

Category 67: Scottish-Style Ale – 46 Entries
Gold: White Street Scottish Ale, White Street Brewing Co., Wake Forest, NC
Silver: Scottish Ale, Two Kilts Brewing, Sherwood, OR
Bronze: McGreagor Scottish Ale, Kootenai River Brewing Co., Bonners Ferry, ID

Category 68: Irish-Style Red Ale – 80 Entries
Gold: Highlander Devil’s Hump Red Ale, Missoula Brewing Co., Missoula, MT
Silver: St. James Irish Red Ale, Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co., Glenwood Springs, CO
Bronze: Riley’s Irish Red, The Packinghouse Brewing Co., Riverside, CA

Category 69: English-Style Brown Ale – 47 Entries
Gold: Tri-Town Brown, Echo Brewing Cask and Barrel, Erie, CO
Silver: Sir Williams, Grapevine Craft Brewery, Grapevine, TX
Bronze: Not Brown, CooperSmith’s Pub & Brewing, Fort Collins, CO

Category 70: American-Style Brown Ale – 84 Entries
Gold: Brown, Culture Brewing Co., Solana Beach, CA
Silver: Upslope Brown Ale, Upslope Brewing Co. – Flatiron Park, Boulder, CO
Bronze: Face Down Brown, Telluride Brewing Co., Telluride, CO

Category 71: American-Style Black Ale – 61 Entries
Gold: Once You Go, Lynnwood Brewing Concern – Production Facility, Raleigh, NC
Silver: Midnight Moonlight, Fat Head’s Brewery, Middleburg Heights, OH
Bronze: Alpha Force Double Tap, Überbrew, Billings, MT

Category 72: German-Style Sour Ale – 141 Entries
Gold: Gose, Reuben’s Brews, Seattle, WA
Silver: Gose, Kulshan Brewing Co., Bellingham, WA
Bronze: Farmers Market Citrus Gose, Sudwerk Brewing Co., Davis, CA

Category 73: German-Style Altbier – 57 Entries
Gold: Little Red Cap, Grimm Brothers Brewhouse, Loveland, CO
Silver: Deep Roots, Red Cypress Brewery, Winter Springs, FL
Bronze: On-Sight Alt, Hutton & Smith Brewing Co., Chattanooga, TN

Category 74: South German-Style Hefeweizen – 111 Entries
Gold: Windansea Wheat, Karl Strauss Brewing Co. – San Diego, San Diego, CA
Silver: Weißbier, Prost Brewing, Denver, CO
Bronze: Shotgun Betty, Lonerider Brewing Co., Raleigh, NC

Category 75: German-Style Wheat Ale – 33 Entries
Gold: AlpenGlow, Fat Head’s Brewery & Saloon, North Olmsted, OH
Silver: Slam Dunkel, Steamworks Brewing Co., Durango, CO
Bronze: Küsterer Original Weissbier, Cedar Springs Brewing Co., Cedar Springs, MI

Category 76: Belgian-Style Blonde Ale or Pale Ale – 61 Entries
Gold: Solid Gold, Cannonball Creek Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Silver: Lunatic, Wicked Weed Brewing – Asheville, Asheville, NC
Bronze: Sunken Road, Spencer Devon Brewing, Fredericksburg, VA

Category 77: Belgian-Style Witbier – 85 Entries
Gold: Ommegang Witte Ale, Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY
Silver: Wit’s End Ale, Great American Restaurants – Sweetwater Tavern, Centreville, VA
Bronze: Witbier, Community Beer Co., Dallas, TX

Category 78: Classic Saison – 88 Entries
Gold: Achtertuin Seizoen Farmhouse Ale, The Post Brewing Co., Lafayette, CO
Silver: Meriwether, Perennial Artisan Ales, St. Louis, MO
Bronze: Saison, Baere Brewing Co., Denver, CO

Category 79: Specialty Saison – 92 Entries
Gold: Six Finger Sam Saison, Two Rivers Brewing Co., Easton, PA
Silver: #4 Saison, Brown Truck Brewery, High Point, NC
Bronze: Creme de Peche, The Commons Brewery, Portland, OR

Category 80: Belgian- and French-Style Ale – 27 Entries
Gold: Domaine DuPage, Two Brothers Brewing Co., Warrenville, IL
Silver: Swingin’ Single, Piece Brewery, Chicago, IL
Bronze: Antonym, 2SP Brewing Co., Aston, PA

Category 81: Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale – 74 Entries
Gold: Hexotic, Two Roads Brewing Co., Stratford, CT
Silver: Chaos is a Friend of Mine, Beachwood Blendery, Long Beach, CA
Bronze: Roes Red, Pure Project, San Diego, CA

Category 82: Belgian-Style Dubbel or Quadrupel – 63 Entries
Gold: Abbey Dubbel, Elm City Brewing Co., Keene, NH
Silver: Responsibly, Nebraska Brewing Co. – Papillion, Papillion, NE
Bronze: Flyin’ Monks, Adelbert’s Brewery, Austin, TX

Category 83: Belgian-Style Tripel – 92 Entries
Gold: Allagash Tripel, Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, ME
Silver: PDA, Black Bottle Brewery, Fort Collins, CO
Bronze: Tripel Dog Dare, Big Dog’s Brewing Co., Las Vegas, NV

Category 84: Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale – 70 Entries
Gold: Old Split-Foot, Broken Bow Brewery, Tuckahoe, NY
Silver: Monk in Public, Maize Valley Craft Brewery, Hartville, OH
Bronze: Treachery, 12Degree Brewing, Louisville, CO

Category 85: Other Belgian-Style Ale – 31 Entries
Gold: Blond, Copper Kettle Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Silver: Standard Issue, Central Standard Brewing, Wichita, KS
Bronze: Petite Classique, The Commons Brewery, Portland, OR

Category 86: Brown Porter – 61 Entries
Gold: FivePine Chocolate Porter, Three Creeks Production, Sisters, OR
Silver: Black Shack Porter, Wachusett Brewing Co., Westminster, MA
Bronze: Porter, Back East Brewing, Bloomfield, CT

Category 87: Robust Porter – 94 Entries
Gold: Tabula Rasa Toasted Porter, Second Chance Beer Co., San Diego, CA
Silver: Shallow Grave, Heretic Brewing Co., Fairfield, CA
Bronze: Point Reyes Porter, Marin Brewing Co., Larkspur, CA

Category 88: Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout – 41 Entries
Gold: Big Drought Stout, Solid Rock Brewing, Spicewood, TX
Silver: Love Stout, Yards Brewing Co., Philadelphia, PA
Bronze: Bangin The Mash, Latitude 42° Brewing Co., Portage, MI

Category 89: Export Stout – 43 Entries
Gold: Dirty Frank Stout, River’s Edge Brewing Co., Milford, MI
Silver: Fade to Black, Volume 1, Left Hand Brewing Co., Longmont, CO
Bronze: Starway Stout, Barrel Mountain Brewing, Battle Ground, WA

Category 90: American-Style Stout – 55 Entries
Gold: P2P, 10 Barrel Brewing Co., Bend, OR
Silver: Black Cliffs, Boise Brewing, Boise, ID
Bronze: The Volcanist, Societe Brewing Co., San Diego, CA

Category 91: Sweet Stout or Cream Stout – 71 Entries
Gold: Chocolate Milk Stout, Boxing Bear Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
Silver: Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout, Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery, Farmville, NC
Bronze: Good Mooed Milk Stout, Railtown Brewing Co., Dutton, MI

Category 92: Oatmeal Stout – 61 Entries
Gold: Sless’ Oatmeal Stout, Iron Springs Pub & Brewery, Fairfax, CA
Silver: Backside Stout, Steamworks Brewing Co., Durango, CO
Bronze: Feelin’ Your Oats, SLO Brew, San Luis Obispo, CA

Category 93: Imperial Stout – 91 Entries
Gold: The Russian, 2SP Brewing Co., Aston, PA
Silver: Gatling Gun Imperial Stout, BNS Brewing & Distilling Co., Santee, CA
Bronze: Iron Triangle Jawbone, Iron Triangle Brewing Co., Los Angeles, CA

Category 94: Scotch Ale – 76 Entries
Gold: Real Heavy, Real Ale Brewing Co., Blanco, TX
Silver: Oh My Darlyn!, Revelry Brewing Co., Charleston, SC
Bronze: Going Plaid, Fifty West Brewing Co., Cincinnati, OH

Category 95: Old Ale or Strong Ale – 38 Entries
Gold: Irish Walker, Olde Hickory Brewery, Hickory, NC
Silver: COLOSSAL FIVE, Port City Brewing Co., Alexandria, VA
Bronze: Old Silenus Ale, Migration Brewing Co., Portland, OR

Category 96: Barley Wine-Style Ale – 60 Entries
Gold: AleSmith Old Numbskull, AleSmith Brewing Co., San Diego, CA
Silver: Barley Wine Ale, Dick’s Brewing Co., Centralia, WA
Bronze: Toad Choker Barley Wine, Nine-Band Brewing Co., Allen, TX

Great American Beer Festival Pro-Am Competition – 88 Entries
Gold: Just Rye’te, Panther Island Brewing Co., Fort Worth, TX
     Brewmaster Panther Island Brewing, AHA Member Clifton Ellis
Silver: Vernal Equinox, Starr Hill Brewery, Crozet, VA
     Brewmaster Starr Hill Brewing Team, AHA Member Gary Layton
Bronze: The Kolsch Experiment, Altitude Chophouse and Brewery, Laramie, WY
     Brewmaster Jesse Brown, AHA Member Shawn Miller

2016 Brewery and Brewer of the Year Awards

Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year
zwanzigz
ZwanzigZ Brewing, Columbus, IN
Mike Rybinski & Trent Fleener

Mid-Size Brewpub and Mid-Size Brewpub Brewer of the Year
boxing-bear
Boxing Bear Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
Justin Hamilton and Dylan Davis

Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year
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The Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co., Austin, TX
Amos Swifty Kim

Very Small Brewing Company and Very Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
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Brown Truck Brewery, High Point, NC
Team Brown Truck

Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
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Überbrew, Billings, MT
Über Cru

Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
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Karl Strauss Brewing Co. – San Diego, San Diego, CA
Team Karl

Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year *
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Fat Head’s Brewery & Saloon, North Olmsted, Ohio
Matt Cole and Mike Zoscak

Large Brewing Company and Large Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
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Pabst Brewing Co., Los Angeles, CA
Gregory Deuhs

* – Note: During the awards ceremony, for the brewery and brewmaster of the year awards, Karl Strauss was awarded Mid-Size Brewpub and Mid-Size Brewpub Brewer of the Year, while Fat Head’s Brewery received the award for Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year. Afterwards, a correction was sent out indicating that Karl Strauss was considered a brewing company rather than a brewpub, and the points were re-calculated. As a result, Karl Strauss’ award moved from brewpub to brewing company, Boxing Bear Brewing was awarded the mid-size brewpub award vacated by Karl Strauss, and Fat Head’s was stripped of their award. What I heard (but haven’t confirmed) is that it may have been a paperwork error on Karl Strauss’ part in filling out their GABF entry form (which is understandable since they operate both a production brewery and brewpubs). As I understand it, brewpubs are considered brewing companies if they sell 25% or more beer on-site, so therefore Karl Strauss is a brewing company, and apparently that’s reflected in their membership. One could argue that Karl Strauss should have filled out the entry form correctly (assuming what I heard is correct) and if they didn’t … well, then it’s on them. I know that in some sports or contests, that’s cause for being disqualified. But the BA maybe could have caught it earlier since the form didn’t match their membership. To be fair, I doubt there was a procedure to check for that since you wouldn’t expect anyone to get that wrong. There are only a few companies like Karl Strauss where there might be any confusion. In the end, I think the BA was right to correct the error as soon as someone caught it. Even though I can’t really quibble with that, the one thing I wish they might have considered was not taking the award away from Fat Head’s and letting them share it this year with Karl Strauss. I feel confident that Karl Strauss would have been alright with that, especially if it was indeed their clerical error. That just seems like the kinder, fairer result.

But Now, God Knows, Anything Gose

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For our 116th Session, our host will be Derrick Peterman, who writes Ramblings of a Beer Runner. For his topic, he’s chosen Anything Gose, asking everyone to write about the German sour beer style Gose.

Rittergute Gose Labels

Here’s his full description of the topic:

I choose the Gose style in particular since it can be approached in so many different ways. Want to talk about the history of the Gose? How about how American breweries are taking this style and running wild with it with different spice and fruit additions? How else has the Gose manifested itself outside its German homeland? Is the Gose here to stay or will it go the way of the Black IPA, once the hot style but slowly becoming a largely irrelevant curiosity? (OK, that might not be your opinion of the Black IPA, but you get the idea.) Of course, we’re all on the look-out for a good Gose, so if there are any you particularly like, we’d love to hear about them.

AnythingGose_HalfBBLKegCap

We know “Times have changed, and “Good authors too who once knew better words, Now only use four-letter words Writing prose. Anything goes.” Or rather, Anything Gose. So on or before Friday, October 7, let’s wax lyrically about gose. Music optional. Post your contribution at the original announcement or e-mail your link to Derrick at photon.dpeterman[at]gmail(dot)com. And remember. “If driving fast cars you like, If low bars you like, If old hymns you like, If bare limbs you like, If Mae West you like, Or me undressed you like, Why, nobody will oppose. When ev’ry night the set that’s smart is in-Truding in nudist parties in Studios. Anything goes.”

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Apropos of nothing, I love the title because it’s play on the Cole Porter musical “Anything Goes,” a personal favorite, and the only show I’ve done twice in my theatre geek days.

Here’s a great performance of the song “Anything Goes,” although only really just part of it, from the 2011 Tony Awards.

ABI Buys Brouwerij Bosteels

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I was at a conference in Sacramento most of the day, but it was hard to escape the jaw-dropping news that Anheuser-Busch InBev has acquired another brewery to add to its growing portfolio. That kind of news is becoming almost routine, but this time the brewery they bought is a little surprising. Brouwerij Bosteels, who until this deal was a member of the Belgian Family Brewers, makes a trio of high profile, well-known beers: Kwak, Tripel Karmeliet and DeuS. Until now, the brewery had been in the same family — the Bosteels — for over 200 years, and seven generations, having been founded Evarist Bosteels in 1791.

While the price was not disclosed, the rumor is $225 million, or “15 times enterprise value to Ebitda,” according to The Street, by way of reports coming out of Belgium. Antoine Bosteels will continue to run the family business

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Antoine Bosteels (center, with his father to the right) during a visit to the brewery in 2013.

Via Craft Business Daily, Korneel Warlop, who is the Manager External Communication BeLux & Global at Anheuser-Busch InBev, said “Bosteels will continue brewing its heritage brands Tripel Karmeliet, Kwak and DeuS in the original brewery in Buggenhout, Belgium.

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The Bosteels brewery during a second trip there, also in 2013.

Crack A Book For The Next Session

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For our 115th Session, our host will be Joan Villar-i-Martí, who writes Blog Birraire. For his topic, he’s chosen The Role of Beer Books, to sum up the topic says. “I believe the importance of books for the beer culture makes them worthy of another Session.”

Books&Beer

Here’s his full description of the topic:

The discussion at hand is “The Role of Beer Books”. Participants can talk about that first book that caught their attention, which brought them to get interested in beer; or maybe about books that helped developing their local beer scene. There’s also the bad role of books that regrettably misinform readers because their authors did not do their work properly. There are many different ways to tackle this topic.

The Session has been about books before just once, and it was about those that hadn’t already been written. I believe that their importance for the beer culture makes books worthy for another Session.

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So before Friday, September 2, crack open some beer books, and some beer, and write about the intersection between the two. Prose seems to be the preferred vehicle, but I don’t see why you couldn’t resort to iambic pentameter or some other poetic form. Rhyming optional. Publish your findings, and then post a comment with a link to your post at the original announcement. Happy reading.

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MillerCoors Buys Revolver Brewing

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MillerCoors has been in an acquisitive mood here of late. Over the last month, they’ve bought controlling interests in two small breweries — Hop Valley and Terrapin — and last week they announced they’re acquiring a majority interest in Texas’ Revolver Brewing, which opened in 2012. But their brewmaster was Grant Wood, who had previously brewed at the Boston Beer Co. at their Jamaica Plain facility, and was an experienced and talented brewer. I think that really got them off to a fast start, and when I tried their beer at GABF the first year they were there, he was making some terrific beers, not surprisingly.

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Here’s the press release:

Tenth and Blake Beer Company, the craft and import division of MillerCoors, announced today an agreement to acquire a majority interest in Granbury, Texas-based Revolver Brewing. Revolver Brewing is highly regarded in the Texas craft beer community for its flagship brand Blood & Honey, a uniquely approachable craft beer that has quickly become one of the leading craft brands in the Dallas-Fort Worth Market.

“We are excited to be joining the Tenth and Blake family, which shares our commitment to brewing great craft beer,” said Rhett Keisler, Revolver Brewing co-founder and president. “This partnership will allow us to maintain our brewery and operations in Granbury, while providing us with the additional resources to invest in and accelerate the growth of the Revolver brand in Texas.”

Founded in 2012 by father and son Ron and Rhett Keisler, along with seasoned master brewer and cicerone Grant Wood, Revolver Brewing has made incredible waves in the Texas craft beer community in a mere four years. Revolver Brewing calls Granbury home and is currently distributed in Dallas, Fort Worth, Waco, Austin and surrounding areas.

Revolver Brewing will operate as a separate business unit of Tenth and Blake. Revolver’s management and employees will continue to create, brew, package, market and sell Revolver’s portfolio of brands.

“We have tremendous respect for the quality and innovation that Revolver Brewing has brought to the Texas craft community and are thrilled to have such a terrific team and portfolio join Tenth and Blake,” said Scott Whitley, president and CEO of Tenth and Blake. “Our main priority will be to work with the Revolver team to support its continued success and make sure its beer is enjoyed by even more consumers in Texas.”

Revolver Brewing joins other leading crafts in the Tenth and Blake portfolio, including Blue Moon Brewing Company, Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company, Crispin Cider Company, Saint Archer Brewing Company, and, following expected closes in the third quarter, Terrapin Beer Company and Hop Valley Brewing Company. For more information on Revolver Brewing and its portfolio of brands, visit RevolverBrewing.com.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2016. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Grant-Wood-Revolver

Terrapin Co-Founder Buys Asheville Brewery

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After Terrapin Brewing Co. was sold to MillerCoors in July, co-founder John Cochran announced late last week that he’s bought Altamont Brewing in Asheville, North Carolina. The name will be changed to UpCountry Brewing, although the staff will remain intact, including brewer Jordan Veale. Apparently, he negotiated a “carve out” in the Terrapin/MillerCoors transaction which allowed the purchase of the brewery in Asheville.

Here’s more information, from the press release:

A new addition to the Asheville brewing scene, UpCountry Brewing, takes over the spot formerly operated by West Asheville favorite Altamont Brewing.

Staff at the brewery includes new owner John Cochran, Brewer Jordan Veale, General Manager James Mayfield, Assistant GM Nicole Flynn and Executive Chef Matt Kovitch.

UpCountry Brewing plans to make beers that are sessionable, thirst-quenching and easy drinking. Mayfield said, “Our customers are active folks who want to come in after a ride and enjoy a beer that cools them down, but doesn’t womp them with high alcohol content.”

Cochran has 21 years experience in the world of craft beer including being co-founder of Terrapin Beer. Cochran says, “I fell in love with the Asheville beer scene and wanted to be a part of it. Altamont is a locals bar and anchor of the West Asheville scene. We look forward to continuing to serve everyone who works, lives and enjoys the scene here.”

As part of the new brewery, UpCountry is refitting the adjacent restaurant space, formerly Nona Mia. A limited menu is available in the bar area until the the restaurant refit is complete. The menu features what Chef Kovitch calls Southern Appalachian Eats.

The brewery is located at 1042 Haywood Road and will also feature a game room with pinball and arcade games.

UpCountry

Patent No. 2291980A: Beer Barrel

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Today in 1942, US Patent 230815 A was issued, an invention of James C. Mullen, assigned to the Verdi Bros Cooperage Company, for his “Beer Barrel.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

This invention relates to barrels, vats and the like and more particularly to the type of barrels employed in the shipment and dispensation of malt-liquors and similar products.

This invention specifically relates to barrels made up of ply Wood laminations.

It is a common practice that barrels, used for the purposes referred to, are preferably built up of barrel staves of which their end portions are made much heavier than their middle portions, whereby to resist the severe handling in shipment.

When employing ply wood laminations in the manufacture of barrel staves, a thickening and thereby strengthening of their end portions introduces however certain mechanical difficulties.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a practical barrel stave comprising wood ply laminations and of which the physical contour of said stave, approximates or duplicates those of the conventional one-piece, oaken staves.

A further object is to provide a stave adapted for the manufacture of barrels, and of which the wood ply lamination utilized therein are formed and arranged in a manner to give to the barrel all of the desirable characteristics of the conventional oaken barrel, while being cheaper to manufacture, stronger in construction and therefore more enduring.

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US2291980-1

MillerCoors Buys Hop Valley Brewing

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MillerCoors announced today that they’ve acquired a majority interest in Hop Valley Brewing of Springfield and Eugene, Oregon.

Here’s the press release:

Tenth and Blake Beer Company, the craft and import division of MillerCoors, announced today an agreement to obtain a majority interest in Eugene, Ore.-based Hop Valley Brewing Company. Hop Valley is known as a leader in the IPA space, producing a wide variety of acclaimed beers including Alphadelic, its flagship IPA, Citrus Mistress and Alpha Centauri.

“We are very proud of what we have achieved to date, and even more excited about the future for our company and our employees,” said Charles “Chuck” Hare, Hop Valley Brewing Company co-founder. “From the get-go, it has always been about the beer, and we are looking forward to working with Tenth and Blake to get our beers – made right here – to even more consumers.”

Since opening their original brew pub in Springfield, Ore. in 2009, Hop Valley has stayed true to its name producing award-winning IPAs throughout the Pacific Northwest region. The brewer has since added to its production with a 30,000-square-foot brewery and tap room in Eugene, Ore. and currently distributes in Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho and Vermont.

“We’re thrilled to join forces with the Hop Valley team, to add an incredible roster of brands that complement our portfolio perfectly,” said Scott Whitley, president and CEO of Tenth and Blake. “I’m looking forward to working with Chuck and his team to support the continued growth and success of their innovative IPAs and award-winning beers.”

“This is a great opportunity for us and our brewery,” said Trevor Howard, Hop Valley co-founder and brewmaster. “We will continue to craft all of our core brands and innovate with seasonal and small-batch brews like we always have – with the same commitment to quality, taste, and creativity.”

Hop Valley Brewing Company joins other leading crafts in the Tenth and Blake portfolio, including Blue Moon Brewing Company, Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company, Saint Archer Brewing Company and, following an expected closing in August 2016, Terrapin Beer Company. For more information on Hop Valley Brewing Company and its portfolio of brands, visit HopValleyBrewing.com.

Hop Valley Brewing Company will operate as a separate business unit of Tenth and Blake. The management team at Hop Valley will continue to lead the business and will retain an ownership interest. The transaction is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2016. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

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This is actually the second acquisition this month for Tenth and Blake, MillerCoors’ craft division. Back in 2011, they bought a minority stake in Georgia’s Terrapin Brewing, but last week they acquired a majority stake.

Lagunitas Announces Several Big Changes & New Ventures

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Damn. Go big or go home, I guess. Tony Magee never does anything small … or halfway. Today Lagunitas Brewing announced a number of big changes and new ventures they’ve undertaken. Here’s the first part of the press release, laying out the general idea.

The Lagunitas Brewing Company of Petaluma CA is excited to announce that we are expanding the way we participate in some of the great communities that have helped us learn and grow as brewers. We believe that beer is the original social media and we know that the best way to connect with beer lovers is face to face, over a beer.

Today we are announcing a set of intense local alliances with very special local brewers whose work we admire and are proud to partner with. They are four completely different partnering situations and in concert we will learn from one another and help build our breweries together culturally and geographically.

We don’t live in a world of either/or, our world is both/and. Drawing from the best of the best to find new possibilities is the most thrilling way forward.

The why and how differs from one cultural region to another but the intention remains the same: Connect with, learn from and support our communities. “We expect to be surprised by the things that we encounter as we grow these relationships. This will be a big learning experience for us” says Tony Magee, Founder of Lagunitas.

And here they are, though I’ve re-ordered them in order of importance to me personally. Not exactly scientific, but hey, this is a personal blog, so there you have it. By far, the most surprising, though exciting one, is a joint venture with Brian Hunt and his Moonlight Brewing Co.

Moonlight Brewing Company (Santa Rosa, CA)

We’re thrilled to be entering into a joint venture with Moonlight Brewing Company. We will work alongside Brian and his people to expand the reach of a genuine national treasure. Moonlight opened in 1992, (the year before Lagunitas) at a time when the term “craft” didn’t even exist. Over the years, we’ve long enjoyed a great friendship with brewer/owner Brian Hunt and have huge respect for is people, the beers he brews and the reputation he has created. We’re looking forward to learning together and having a blast doing it.

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Brian Hunt.

Independence Brewing Company (Austin, TX)

Lagunitas will combine resources with the great Independence Brewing of Austin TX to help them grow their brewing capacity and do more of what it is that they already do so well. Independence Brewing founders Amy and Rob Cartwright, along with their great people, will continue to lead their company and will help us deepen our own connection to Austin and the Lone Star State. We’re looking forward to learning from each other and sharing our local connections.

A Non-Profit Fund Raising Community Room #1 (NE Portland, OR)

On August 1st, Lagunitas will open the doors to our first Community Room, dedicated 100% to supporting non-profits with their fundraising efforts. The beer and the space will be completely donated to any bona fide Non-Profit organization so that they can focus on raising the funds they need to carry out their respective missions. A Lagunitas team and live music will be on-hand to ensure turnkey execution of the event and most importantly that all of their guests have a great time!

A 2nd Non-Profit Fund Raising Community Room (San Diego, CA)

Our 2nd Community Room will open January 2017. This space will also be made available exclusively to Non-Profit groups for fund raising.

A Lagunitas Taproom & Beer Sanctuary (Historic District Charleston, SC)

Lagunitas is under contract with the beautiful Southend Brewery and Smokehouse of Charleston, SC to convert the long time brewpub to a new Lagunitas Taproom and Beer Sanctuary in the heart of Old Charleston on famous East Bay Street. This turn-of-the-century landmark will be a cornerstone location for Lagunitas in the Southeast, offering small batch beers that are exclusive to the Charleston Taproom and brewed in the existing 10-barrel brewhouse. The Taproom also offers two different floors of event space which we will make available to local non-profits for their fundraising efforts. A Grand Opening party and more information to come in the near future.

Here, I’ll pick up with the remainder of the press release, giving more explanation.

This new thing for us represents our way forward into the brave new world of the brave new world of beer’s brave new world. I say brave thrice because it is exactly that; We don’t know exactly how this will unfold over time or what unforeseen paths forward it will reveal.

These new relationships will be learning experiences for all four of us. We all know that we love beer, we all know that we love brewing and the community that gathers around its fire. We all know that we all want to grow and make new connections. We know we all want to be productive and learn. We know we all want to earn a living and make a home for our employees who’ve put their chips down on the table alongside our own.

As we all learn and begin to grow together in this new paradigm I believe that we will find more partners in other parts of the country that we can also share with and cultivate regional relationships through. If we can get this first step right then it is just the beginning for all of us.

Lagunitas is the lead in the relationship because we gained adequate scale to be able to borrow the money it will take to be the lead and to help, but scale is not insight and money is not creativity. Insight and creativity are everything. They are the cornerstones of small brewing. That is the space where our four teams of brewers and marketers and managers are all standing eye to eye, playing together to try to make magic happen, and I for one am very sure it will. What form it will take will be ours to find out.

One thing is for certain, the future will not be like the past! Furthur….

Cheers all….!!

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And, of course, Tony weighed in with his own take on the changes, though this was originally meant to preface the above information, but I wanted to lead with the news first.

Greetings Fellow Travelers,

Over the last 23 years of running-off the mash and filling the kettle we have come to understand that the new world of small brewing is less a ‘thing’ than it is a ‘journey’. A point on a curve. Jack Joyce, founder of Rogue Brewing in Newport, once said that we’re not in the beer business, we are in the ‘change business’. Ask any brewer older than 5 years and they will tell you that in 2010 small brewing was a whole other place. Ask one older than that and they will tell you the same about 2005, and 2000, and especially 1995. And so it is that 2020 will be unrecognizable to the brewers of 2016.

One thing that hasn’t changed though is the personal connection that beer lovers want with the people that make the beer they take into their bodies in the hope it will thrill their tastebuds as it enters their blood enroute to their brains to make it do tricks. This is pretty personal stuff and as brewers our job is to make that connection.

Last September we announced our own way of relating to the world outside of the United States through a joint venture with the last of the largest family-controlled (meet Charlene De Carvalho-Heineken..!) brewer in the world. Most U.S. beer lovers don’t know too much about the family and I really didn’t either until I began to meet them and understand them and their company and grew to love them as people and a company.

There is an old expression friends sometimes use when the go to lunch, ‘Let’s go Dutch’, meaning let’s split the bill. That expression, I’ve learned, comes from a place and a people. You haft’a wonder how it is that a small, mostly flooded, lowland country ever became a global colonial superpower? Most know that New York was once called New Amsterdam but most also don’t know that Brooklyn and Bronx and other local names are actually Dutch names too. The answer to the question is pretty straightforward: The went Dutch. The cooperated, collaborated, shared risk, partnered, co-invested and joint ventured. This is what we built with Heineken, we are pulling on the rope together.

I have seen that one way they achieved their own goals of growing Heineken was and is now to co-invest in local brewers around the globe, not to ‘consolidate’ or dominate or reduce competition, but to expand and nurture the opportunities to the benefit of themselves AND their partners. They do this with big brewers and with brewers far smaller than ourselves in all 24 time zones.

If one were to take a line drawing of a map of the borders of the 50 United States and lay that line drawing over the continent of, say, Europe, it would look a lot like, well, Europe. There’d be spaces the size of France and the UK inside of Nevada and Illinois and there’d be a Rhode Island like there is a Monaco and so on. In Europe nationalism matters and each country has historically meaningful brewers that are important to those individual countries. All over the world, beer is local. It’s gradually becoming more so here too. But Americans still like to think of us all as Americans and we have liked having 50-state nationally distributed brewers.

In the past, before and just after prohibition this wasn’t really so, but it became that way over time. Now it is going back the other way. Small brewing has played a role in re-igniting regional pride the way music and locally-sourced food is doing the same.

Having said all that, it’s no secret that the U.S. is a whole lot of places stitched together by a constitution, right? I mean, good people from Florida are very different from good people from South Dakota and Oregonians would never mistake themselves for Texans. Even Wisconsinites sometimes call Illinoisans ‘Flatlanders’ while some Minnesotans still think that grave-robbing is called date-night in North Dakota (it’s an old Johnny Carson joke….all apologies to North Dakota). There will always be nationally distributed brands and I sincerely hope that Lagunitas can continue to find a place in peoples hearts irrespective of geography by working to be something close to the bone, rooted to a fundamental human experience that actually does cross borders fluidly. But local matters, and will matter even more in the future.

This is very cool actually, because it means that if we can be genuinely local we can be part of the future. When we became genuinely local in Chicago we found lots and lots of new friends that we might not have by just shipping it in from the Left Coast. We’re already feeling the same vibe in Southern California even as we construct our new brewery there. It’s a great thing to be able to do. However we can’t do that everywhere. But….we can go Dutch everywhere, and that’s exactly what we are doing right here right now.

California Reaches 700 Brewery Milestone

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The California Craft Brewers Association announced today that the number of breweries in the state reached 700, more then at any time in California’s history. The number of breweries has more than doubled in just the last four years. There are more breweries in the Golden State, by a wide margin, then any other state. Eleven of the breweries on the list of the nation’s top fifty craft breweries, as defined by the Brewers Association, are from California.

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California has more breweries than many countries. So it only makes sense that we have our own world class, statewide events. This September, the CCBA will put on the second annual California Craft Beer Summit and Beer Festival in the state capitol of Sacramento.

The three-day Summit includes 24 educational sessions, 60,000 feet of interactive displays, 450 beers, 160 breweries and unlimited tastings. It’s an amazing event, especially the huge beer festival. I’ll be there again this year, and if you work in any part of the beer industry, or want to, you should be there, too. Here’s more information about it from the CCBA’s press release.

“California continues to lead the nation’s craft beer movement and the Summit showcases the wild success of a community united over a common passion: craft beer,” said Tom McCormick, executive director of the CCBA. “CCBA’s signature event is the ultimate opportunity for craft beer enthusiasts to join the tribe, learn from brewers and experts across the Golden State and taste the creativity and passion that serves as the foundation of the industry.”

Reigning as the largest California-brewed craft beer event of its kind, the 2016 Craft Beer Summit and Festival gives attendees a tasting tour through the state’s craft brewing landscape.

“At the Summit, beer lovers and brewers have the chance to experience wonderful techniques and ideas from the best of the industry,” said McCormick. “David Walker from Firestone Walker, Fritz Maytag, the founder of the American craft beer movement, the brewers and owners from AleSmith, 21st Amendment, Russian River Brewing Company, and many others will share their knowledge, history, expertise and passion with every person connected or passionate about the craft beer industry.”

Educational highlights at the Summit include:

  • How to start a career in craft beer from the hiring managers of Mikkeller Brewing San Diego, Russian River Brewing Co. and other growing breweries
  • Advanced homebrew lessons, including how to go “off recipe” and explore yeast management, hosted by the homebrewers now running successful commercial breweries
  • Mock judging at a “Taste Like a Judge” session teaching attendees how rate and taste beers
  • The rise of sour beer as a style, including how to differentiate between sour beers and what you can expect in a wild ale versus a spontaneously fermented sour
  • How to develop a beer list for taproom managers and beer buyers looking to advance their offerings in the craft beer sector

“The Summit has become, in a very short period of time, one of the largest and most significant craft beer events not only in California but across the nation,” said Natalie Cilurzo, co-owner of Russian River Brewing Company and president of the CCBA Board of Directors. “The unique part about the Summit is the bringing together of brewers, retailers, wholesalers, suppliers, and consumers all in one location, something I have not experienced to this level at any other event. I’m proud to be a part of this incredible state trade association as well as the second annual Summit.”

Early bird tickets, available online through June 30, 2016, include: 25 percent off the Summit Beer Festival ($45 at early bird, $60 regular price), single-day Summit entry ($99 early bird, $119 regular price) or full weekend packages ($219 early bird, $239 regular price).