Beer News

All Nude Beerfest Returns to the Poconos

Sunny Rest Resort, based in northeastern Pennsylvania, will again host a beer festival where clothing is banned.

Sunny Rest is a naturalist resort (i.e. nudist resort) where birthday suits are a must. On June 27th, the attendees will let it all hangout, while Continue Reading →

Epic Brewing Adds More Texas Distribution

Epic Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, UT) is annoying further distribution into Texas. The brewery has partnered with Faust Distributing Company who will be covering the Houston area.

“Our Denver brewery recently finished a large cellar expansion” said National Sales Manager Michael Malachowski, Continue Reading →

New Belgium Adds Kentucky

New Belgium Brewing (Ft. Collins, CO) will be begin distributing in Kentucky on March 2nd, 2015.

New Belgium will offer Fat Tire, along with year-round releases Ranger IPA, Slow Ride Session IPA and Snapshot Wheat on draft and in 12-ounce bottles.

Seasonal Continue Reading →

Posted in Beer News

Sierra Nevada Lime Ale

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Miller Coors

Braves Partner with MillerCoors on New Chop House

When the Atlanta Braves open their new stadium in Cobb County, Georgia, it will feature another Chop House bar, similar to the one that overlooks the outfield currently. MillerCoors has inked the partnership deal for the new three story restaurant and bar at Sunburst Park. You’ll come to know the new spot as the Coors Light Chop House.

Additionally, MillerCoor’s cider brand Smith & Forge will be the official hard cider of the Atlanta Braves, and Peroni Nastro Azzuro (Italy) will be the official import beer.

Currently, Atlanta-based SweetWater Brewery is the official craft brewery of the Braves. SweetWater has declined to mention if that partnership will continue when he stadium opens in 2017.

Image via MillerCoors

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News

All Nude Beerfest Returns to the Poconos

Sunny Rest Resort, based in northeastern Pennsylvania, will again host a beer festival where clothing is banned.

Sunny Rest is a naturalist resort (i.e. nudist resort) where birthday suits are a must. On June 27th, the attendees will let it all hangout, while drinking our favorite beverage – beer.

You want beer? Get a ticket. Oh, and drop your pants. A least it will be warm again right? Tickets are $18 dollars in advance.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News

Screamin’ Sicilian, the Craft Beer of Frozen Pizza (Sponsored)

Sponsored Post 

It might not be a surprise that drinking beer accounts for what seems half of my life. What is potentially scarier (read: awesome) is how much myself and the other Beer Street Journal folks spend drinking beer, and eating pizza. (Darts and heated Mario Kart 64 fights come into the fold too.)

That’s when we were approached by Screamin’ Sicilian Pizza. They must have heard about our epic pizza eating. Screaming’ Sicilian makes frozen pizza, and recently launched a new line called Screamin’ Sicilian. You had me at cheese, so we went shopping.

After eating a few of the styles, I told Screamin’ Sicilian that we were done ordering pizza, Screamin’ Sicilian is pretty amazing. That’s when they said – let’s talk beer pairings. Perfect. Right?

I called a few of our beer experts over, bought all the pizza styles we could find, and came up with a mini-guide to pairing Screamin’ Sicilian with some of America’s best craft beers.

Holy Pepperoni. Screamin’s hefty shot of pepperoni pizza, needs a great IPA. If you are a traditionalist, grab Sierra Nevada Torpedo. You want pepperoni with a twist? Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin IPA.

Mambo Italiano – Spicy Blend of Italian meats? Go hoppy. Think Stone Ruination 2.0, hitting shelves now. Coronado’s Sock Knocker IPA, Oskar Blues Pinner, or New Belgium’s Rampant IPA all pair fantastically. Try all four if you are just ready to party.

Supremus Maximus – This everything pizza has a lot going on in it, from spicy sausage to onions. You’ll need a rich beer to compliment. Founders Dirty Bastard’s caramel and hint of smoke was a homerun.

Bessie’s Revenge – All cheese. Ridiculous amounts of cheese. Cheese and fruit are a match made in heaven, so Dogfish Head’s seasonal, Black & Blue (with blueberries and raspberries) was a pairing people literally fought over.

We wanted to throw a couple of beers in that work for whatever pizza fancy you have. Some nice all around compliment beers include Bell’s Oberon, Victory Prima Pils, and Boulevard’s Saison Brett (or similar style). Grab some bottles of those, pre-heat the oven, and get drinking.

Screamin’ Sicilian made a good point to us. Why are we drinking $10+ a bottle craft beers and eating average $3 dollar pizza? Everything about Screamin’ Sicilian is different from what we thought frozen pizza could be. We are glad Screamin’ Sicilian is a part of the site. As if I needed another reason to drink more beer and eat more pizza, Screamin’ Sicilian just gave us eight more tasty reasons.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Headlines

Top 50 Overall U.S. Brewing Companies 2014 (By Volume)

Early today, the Top 50 craft breweries by sales volume in 2014 was revealed. Below you will find the list of breweries by sales volume (both macro and craft combined) below. No surprises when you see Anheuser-Busch at the #1 spot, followed by Miller Coors, then Pabst.

To put things in a little bit of a perspective, the Cartersville, Georgia Anheuser-Busch facility produces around 10 million barrels (310 million gallons) at just that location annually.

Rank Company City State
1 Anheuser-Busch, Inc (a) St. Louis MO
2 Miller Coors (b) Chicago IL
3 Pabst Brewing Co (c) Los Angeles CA
4 D. G. Yuengling and Son, Inc Pottsville PA
5 Boston Beer Co (d) Boston MA
6 North American Breweries (e) Rochester NY
7 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co Chico CA
8 New Belgium Brewing Co Fort Collins CO
9 Craft Brew Alliance (f) Portland OR
10 Gambrinus (g) Shiner TX
11 Lagunitas Brewing Co Petaluma CA
12 Bell’s Brewery, Inc (h) Galesburg MI
13 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR
14 Stone Brewing Co Escondido CA
15 Sleeman Brewing Co (i) LaCrosse WI
16 Minhas Craft Brewery (j) Monroe WI
17 Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY
18 Duvel Moortgat USA (k) Kansas City & Cooperstown MO/NY
19 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE
20 Matt Brewing Co (l) Utica NY
21 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA
22 Firestone Walker Brewing Co Paso Robles CA
23 Founders Brewing Co Grand Rapids MI
24 SweetWater Brewing Co Atlanta GA
25 New Glarus Brewing Co New Glarus WI
26 Alaskan Brewing Co Juneau AK
27 Abita Brewing Co Abita Springs LA
28 Anchor Brewing Co San Francisco CA
29 Great Lakes Brewing Co Cleveland OH
30 Oskar Blues Brewery Longmont CO
31 Shipyard Brewing Co (m) Portland ME
32 Stevens Point Brewery Co (n) Stevens Point WI
33 August Schell Brewing Co (o) New Ulm MN
34 Summit Brewing Co Saint Paul MN
35 Victory Brewing Co Downingtown PA
36 Long Trail Brewing Co (p) Bridgewater Corners VT
37 Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits San Diego CA
38 Rogue Ales Brewery & Headquarters Newport OR
39 Full Sail Brewing Co Hood River OR
40 Odell Brewing Co Fort Collins CO
41 Southern Tier Brewing Co Lakewood NY
42 Ninkasi Brewing Co Eugene OR
43 World Brews/Winery Exchange (q) Novato CA
44 Flying Dog Brewery Frederick MD
45 Pittsburgh Brewing Co (r) Pittsburgh PA
46 Uinta Brewing Co Salt Lake City UT
47 Bear Republic Brewing Co Cloverdale CA
48 Left Hand Brewing Company Longmont CO
49 21st Amendment Brewery Cafe San Francisco CA
50 Allagash Brewing Co Portland OR

Top 50 Overall U.S. Brewing Companies notes: (a) includes Bass, Beck’s, Blue Point, Bud Light, Budweiser, Busch, Goose Island, Landshark, Michelob, Rolling Rock, Shock Top and Wild Series brands. Does not include partially owned Coastal, Craft Brew Alliance, Fordham, Kona, Old Dominion, Omission, Red Hook and Widmer Brothers brands; (b) includes A.C. Golden, Batch 19, Blue Moon, Colorado Native, Coors, Keystone, Killian’s, Leinenkugel’s, Miller and Tenth & Blake brands; (c) includes Pabst, Schlitz and 28+ other brand families; (d) includes Alchemy & Science and Sam Adams brands. Does not include Twisted Tea or Angry Orchard brands; (e) includes Dundee, Genesee, Labatt Lime, Magic Hat and Pyramid brands; (f) includes Kona, Omission, Red Hook and Widmer Brothers brands; (g) includes BridgePort, Shiner and Trumer brands; (h) includes Bell’s and Upper Hand brands; (i) includes Sleeman and Sapporo brands; (j) includes Mountain Crest and 10 other brand families; (k) includes Boulevard and Ommegang brands; (l) includes Flying Bison, Saranac and Utica Club brands; (m) includes Casco Bay, Sea Dog and Shipyard brands; (n) includes James Page, Point and Whole Hog brands; (o) includes Grain Belt and Schell’s brands; (p) includes Long Trail, Otter Creek, The Shed and Wolaver’s brands; (q) private label brands, primarily for grocery store chains; (r) includes Iron City and 17 other brand families.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Distribution Expansion, EPIC Brewing Company

Epic Brewing Adds More Texas Distribution

Epic Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, UT) is annoying further distribution into Texas. The brewery has partnered with Faust Distributing Company who will be covering the Houston area.

“Our Denver brewery recently finished a large cellar expansion” said National Sales Manager Michael Malachowski, “and with the increased capacity we can widen our presence in Texas. The craft beer community in Houston has been asking for us since we launched last August and it’s finally time to answer their call.”

Epic is hosting event in the Houston, Texas area the week of March 10th.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Distribution Expansion, New Belgium

New Belgium Adds Kentucky

New Belgium Brewing (Ft. Collins, CO) will be begin distributing in Kentucky on March 2nd, 2015.

New Belgium will offer Fat Tire, along with year-round releases Ranger IPA, Slow Ride Session IPA and Snapshot Wheat on draft and in 12-ounce bottles.

Seasonal offerings, including Rampant Imperial IPA, Trippel Belgian-Style Ale and variety packs will also be available in 12-ounce packages.

“We’ve been eyeing Kentucky for quite a while, so it’s exciting to officially open up the state,” said New Belgium Brewing’s Sales Co-Pilot, Brian Krueger. “The glory of college basketball is upon us and the Derby isn’t too far off, so we’re arriving at a pretty fun time in the state.”

New Belgium’s Kentucky Distribution Network

  • Eagle Distributing Company –AB
  • Golden Eagle Distributing, Inc. –AB
  • J.B. Distributors, Inc. –AB
  • Bud of Hopkinsville (Hand Family, LLC) –AB
  • Kentucky Eagle, Inc.-AB
  • Perry Distributors, Inc. – AB
  • River City Distributing – M/C
  • Smith Brothers Distributing Company –AB
  • Stagnaro Distributing – M/C
  • Edward Utley Jr., Inc. –AB
  • Heidelberg of Northern Kentucky – Independent

The addition of Kentucky brings New Belgium’s distribution states to 38.

by Reid Ramsay