8th Wonder Brewing is one of those 725 breweries “in planning” in the United States. In April, the founders signed a lease in downtown Houston, and started going forward with their business plan.
Senator Chris Coons recently visited Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware to discuss the Brewers Employment & Excise Relief Act. The Act seeks to stimulate small brewery business, and help them grow during a critical stage in development. Continue Reading →
Yazoo Brewing (Nashville, TN) is releasing #56 in the hop project series, with an IPA featuring galaxy hops.
Galaxy hops are an Australian breed, high in alpha acids. First bred in 1994, galaxy was crossed with a male Perle hop. Galaxy hop flavor Continue Reading →
In a teaser on Facebook, Firestone Walker said they will be announcing additions to their Proprietors Reserve Series for 2012. The series features beers like Parabola, Abacus, and the Annivesary Series.
Cigar City Brewing tapped this special ditty at Zhukov release day – Penultimate Push. It’s Zhukov with Cubano coffee, vanilla and chocolate. Draft only offering…
Ithaca Brewing (Ithaca, NY) moved closer to expanding with town approval. On Monday night, the brewery received the ok for 10 acres of land just south of the city.
While the approval was unanimous, apparently residents of the proposed area voiced Continue Reading →
8th Wonder Brewery, Food Trucks & Potentially College Degrees
8th Wonder Brewing is one of those 725 breweries “in planning” in the United States. In April, the founders signed a lease in downtown Houston, and started going forward with their business plan.
Aaron Corsi & Alex Vassilakidis & Aaron Corsi are the founders of the brewery. Vassilakidis is also the co-founder of the Eatsie Boys, a popular food truck in Houston. The brewery and the food truck (soon to be 2, they are adding an ice cream truck too) will benefit each other greatly. You’ll be able to get in line for food, or in line for a beer.
Corsi & Vassilakidis both have masters degrees, and Corsi is the professor at University of Houston. He uses the brewery as a lab extension for his students, and is working on creating a brewing degree program. The first in Texas.
The brewery space is 5,000 square feet, which will house a 20 barrel brew house. Heady Brewing was the orignal name of the venture, abandoned for 8th Wonder after trademark questions. [HoustonCultureMap]
Dogfish Head, Delaware, & The Brewers Employment & Excise Relief
Senator Chris Coons recently visited Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware to discuss the Brewers Employment & Excise Relief Act. The Act seeks to stimulate small brewery business, and help them grow during a critical stage in development. Highlighting from the press release
The Brewer’s Employment and Excise Relief Act redefines what it means to be a “small” brewery to one that produces up to 6 million barrels per year (up from 2 million barrels). It then recalibrates the federal excise tax on “small” brewers by:
Reducing the rate on the first 60,000 barrels each year from $7 per barrel to $3.50 per barrel
Reducing the rate on barrels 60,001 through 2 million from $18 per barrel to $16 per barrel
For Dogfish Head, which produces more than 125,000 barrels of its craft brews each year, this could mean savings of $340,000 a year that can be reinvested in new employees, production enhancements, and new products.
Full Press Release
MILTON, Del. – In a visit to the Dogfish Head Craft Brewing Co. on Monday, U.S. Senator Chris Coons reiterated his commitment to helping small businesses grow and getting more Delawareans back to work. Senator Coons underscored his support for S. 534, the Brewer’s Employment and Excise Relief Act, which would help small breweries like Dogfish increase production, development and local hiring.
“Dogfish Head is one of Delaware’s great small business success stories,” Senator Coons said. “What Sam and his team have built here is a terrific example of what can be done when talent,creativity and hard work are combined with the tools and resources to succeed in this competitive market. Washington needs to be doing all it can to help get more Americans back to work, and that means helping small businesses like Dogfish grow. The Brewer’s Employment and Excise Relief Act helps level the playing field for small breweries and makes it easier for them to grow at what is a critical stage in their development.”
“We are proud of our Delaware roots here at Dogfish Head and we are proud to have Senator Chris Coons as our senator,” said Dogfish president Sam Calagione. “Both he and Senator Carper understand that righting our country’s financial ship begins at home with small businesses and main street jobs. Senator Coons is a co-sponsor of S 534, legislation that will allow small American family-owned breweries to add thousands of jobs in every state across the nation. He has championed the importance of small business on many fronts many times. Our Dogfish Head production facility is on Chestnut Street in Milton and our pub is on Rehoboth Ave but our company is adding dozens of Main Street jobs this year and it is great to know we have the support and commitment of Senator Coons as we do our small part to move our local economy forward.”
The Brewer’s Employment and Excise Relief Act redefines what it means to be a “small” brewery to one that produces up to 6 million barrels per year (up from 2 million barrels). It then recalibrates the federal excise tax on “small” brewers by:
Reducing the rate on the first 60,000 barrels each year from $7 per barrel to $3.50 per barrel
Reducing the rate on barrels 60,001 through 2 million from $18 per barrel to $16 per barrel
For Dogfish Head, which produces more than 125,000 barrels of its craft brews each year, this could mean savings of $340,000 a year that can be reinvested in new employees, production enhancements, and new products.
“Whenever I visit one of Delaware’s innovative manufacturing businesses, like Dogfish,” Senator Coons said, “I ask the same question: what can I do to help you grow? Sometimes it’s an introduction to another business or elected official. Sometimes it’s legislative. But the key is, we need to make sure Delaware’s businesses have the tools they need to grow.”
S. 534 was introduced earlier this year by Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.). It is cosponsored by Senator Coons and a bipartisan array of 34 additional senators, including – locally – Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.).
Yazoo Brewing (Nashville, TN) is releasing #56 in the hop project series, with an IPA featuring galaxy hops.
Galaxy hops are an Australian breed, high in alpha acids. First bred in 1994, galaxy was crossed with a male Perle hop. Galaxy hop flavor has been described as citrus & passionfruit.
About Hop Project:
This brew is an India Pale Ale by style, but that is where the similarity to most IPAs ends. Each consecutive batch of Hop Project is brewed with a different blend of spicy, aromatic hops, never using the same blend twice. It’s a Hophead’s dream come true! Check the bottled on date and our blog to decode what specific hop varieties we used in that batch.
Firestone Walker To Announce 2012 Proprietor’s Reserve Additions
In a teaser on Facebook, Firestone Walker said they will be announcing additions to their Proprietors Reserve Series for 2012. The series features beers like Parabola, Abacus, and the Annivesary Series.
We will be announcing two new beers for 2012 under Proprietors Reserve Series…thx to every who responded to our post a while back…we took advice from that and we think you’ll be excited…stay tuned.
Cigar City Brewing tapped this special ditty at Zhukov release day – Penultimate Push. It’s Zhukov with Cubano coffee, vanilla and chocolate. Draft only offering…
Freddy Bensch aka “The Big Kahuna” at SweetWater Brewing has told the AJC Business some details on where you might find their beer in the future.
The brewery has already broken ground on an expansion on Ottley Drive that will take the their annual capacity from 100,000 barrel to 400,000 barrels. That raises the question – Where are you distributing to next? Here’s the buzz on what to expect. Per @AJCFoodBiz:
Freddy Bensch of @SweetWaterBrew tells me expansion is a 2-year project. “We have a hard time keeping up” with existing demand for #beer
@SweetWaterBrew says it will eventually expand geographically — deeper into Florida and Tennessee. “Surgical” approach, says co-founder.
Co-founder says @SweetwaterBrew to “start looking heavily in Virginia” for opportunities to sell. It’s a hot market and this reporter’s home.
The expansion end completion by the end of the year, functional by January 2012.
Ithaca Brewing (Ithaca, NY) moved closer to expanding with town approval. On Monday night, the brewery received the ok for 10 acres of land just south of the city.
While the approval was unanimous, apparently residents of the proposed area voiced concerns that a brewery would diminish the surrounding property, and decrease neighborhood values.
The 10 acre site will potentially house a new production facility, tasting room and potentially a restaurant. [IthacaJournal]
