Breweries
A look at Creature Comforts Athens Pre-Build
Anheuser-Busch sells off 8 brands to Tilray
It seems like only yesterday that the beer industry would spend their days and weeks wondering who Anheuser-Busch would buy next. It all started when A-B bought Goose Island back in 2011. Fast forward to today, Bud Light is no longer the #1 selling beer in America, and Anheuser-Busch is selling off breweries they once acquired to a cannabis company.
Shock Top, Breckenridge Brewery, 10 Barrel Brewery, Redhook Brewery, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Square Mile Cider Company, Blue Point Brewery, and Hi Ball Energy have been sold to Tilray Brands Inc. in an all-cash deal that will close by the end of 2023.
Tilray also owns Atlanta’s SweetWater Brewery, Alpine Beer Company, Montauk Brewing Company, and Green Flash Brewing.
By Tilray’s estimates, this acquisition will put them as the 5th largest craft brewing company in the United States, upfront 9th. Combined, the craft brewing portfolio is worth $300 million.
According to Andy Thomas, the president of Bud’s “The High End,” the brewery’s segment of craft breweries they have purchased (Goose Island, Wicked Weed Brewing) stated in a press release that Tilray approached Bud earlier this year about acquiring these brands – which would pre-date Budweiser’s massive multi-billion dollar crash this summer after a failed marketing move with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Ty Gilmore, the president of U.S. Beer at Tilray states this transaction will push their beer production from 4 million case equivalents to 12 million.
Tilray is headquartered in New York City, with operations in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America, with an annual revenue of $628 million dollars in 2022.
NoFo Brew Co opens Gainesville location
NoFo Brew Co opens their new facility in Gainesville, Georgia August 2nd a year after the location was officially announced.
The brewery purchased the building in June of 2022, located on the corner of High Street and the Midland Greenway near the heart of downtown Gainesville. The 18,746 brewery is situated near a pond and a dog park, and boasts a 3,308 square foot patio. NoFo also has a walkup window for beers to-go for walking around the open container district of the city.
NoFo Gainesville also has two private event spaces for parties and celebrations.
“After a year of construction, we are beyond excited to see NoFo Brew Co open here in Gainesville. We look forward to serving each and every guest that walks through our door. I also want to give a very special thanks to the City of Gainesville. They have been so welcoming and an absolute joy to work with throughout this process. Cheers!
– Joe Garcia, CEO & Co-Founder
This third location comes shortly after the brewery acquired Tantrum Brewing in North Georgia, turning it into their 2nd facility and production facility.
NoFo Gainesville is located at 434 High Street SW, Gainesville, Georgia, open 6 days a week, closed on Mondays.
Image: NoFo Brew Co.
Flashback: Monday Night Brewing 10th Anniversary
Flashback: Monday Night 6th Anniversary with Nappy Roots
Monday Night Brewing celebrated their 6th Anniversary, which doubled as the Grand Opening of the brewery’s new wild ale-focused “Garage” facility on Atlanta’s West End on September 9th & 10th, 2017.
Famed Hip Hop Group Nappy Roots played, and later collaborated with Monday Night on a beer called “Humdinger” and ultimately opened their own craft brewery in Atlanta.
Flashback: Monday Night 5th Anniversary 2016 (PICS)
New Realm releases a new collaboration with Zillicoah Beer
New Realm Sound of Our Own Wheels has hit shelves, a collaboration with North Carolina’s Zillicoah Beer Company.
This double IPA is actually a family collaboration, a first for New Realm. Jon Chassner founded Zillicoah in Woodfin, North Carolina in 2017, and Jeff Chassner is the Chief Sales Officer of New Realm. As the name suggests, these Chassners are cousins. Family ties make a beer collab pretty self-evident.
New Realm’s brewmaster and co-founder Mitch Steele, Jeff, and Beer Street Journal traveled to Zillicoah’s home of Woodfin for the first of what would be two brew days. We’re pretty sure Zillicoah’s Jon and John (Chassner and Parks) wanted to brew an India Pale Ale with the man who literally wrote the book on IPA, so an Imperial IPA had to be on the brew sheet.
Sound of Your Own Wheels is a big tropical flavor bomb, brewed with Azacca, El Dorado, and Strata hops. This douple IPA pours golden and clear like a west coaster (Mitch Steele has entered the chat) and 9% alcohol by volume. It is prudent to note that Wheels doesn’t drink at all like a 9% beer. Finish the 4-pack one sitting and see what we mean.
We asked Steele what he thought of the finished beer this week at the launch in Atlanta. “It’s probably the best double IPA we’ve made yet,” he says with a smile. While New Realm’s beer styles have been all over the map, the brewing of imperial IPAs have been reserved for special occasions like anniversaries or friends. You honor the special occasion with high alcohol and hops, naturally.
Sound of Your Own Wheels is bright and sunny like late summer in the South and strong enough to make you forget how drenched in sweat you are as if you’ve been pushed into the deep end of a pool. The Sound of Your Own Wheels might just be you telling yourself to “drink more.”
Available in 16-ounce cans and draft for a limited time.
Style: Imperial IPA
Hops: Azacca, El Dorado, Strata
Availability: 16oz Cans, Draft.
Debut: Mid-July, 2023
9% ABV
