Ever heard of 312? It’s a wheat beer brewed by Goose Island in honor of Chicago’s area code. Looks like Anheuser-Busch InBev is cooking up the same idea. Recently, InBev applied for a few trademarks for “area codes” around the Continue Reading →
Greg Hall is best known for Goose Island Brewing. Since the sale of the brewery to AB, the question remained what Greg will be doing now. The answer is surfacing. Cider. Specifically – farm to table ciders.
There has been an ongoing issue in Michigan over Flying Dog Brewing’s Raging Bitch label. The Michigan liquor board banned the label due to the “bitch” name in the title. Dogfish Head’s Bitches Brew had the same issue, the beer Continue Reading →
Smuttynose Brewing is bottling their newest offering Homunculus today. This Belgian style offering heads for shelves in July.
Homunculus is a hoppy Belgian-style golden ale. A special Belgian abbey yeast left an alcohol content of 9.9% abv. The grain bill is Continue Reading →
Peak Organic Brewing Company recently released Hop Noir – a black IPA in April. It was the 2nd release in the brewery’s 22oz bomber series. Noir was extremely successful, and now Peak is putting Hop Noir in 12oz bottles.
Remember the hoopla surrounding Four Loko a few months ago? The source of the issue – caffeine and alcohol. Four Loko WAS an alcoholic energy drink that the FDA got all huffy about because some stupid kids drinking too much. So, Continue Reading →
SweetWater Brewing has started their huge expansion. The first steps involved tearing down a neighboring building the brewery purchased to expand. From 360 Media:
It was a “hoppy” morning for the Atlanta based craft-brewery, SweetWater Brewing Company, as they watched Atlanta Continue Reading →
Ever heard of 312? It’s a wheat beer brewed by Goose Island in honor of Chicago’s area code. Looks like Anheuser-Busch InBev is cooking up the same idea. Recently, InBev applied for a few trademarks for “area codes” around the United States, including (619) San Diego, (314) St. Louis, (602) Phoenix, (702) Las Vegas, (216) Cleveland, (415) San Francisco, and (412) Pittsburgh, (713) Houston, (305) Miami, (615) Nashville, (303) Denver, (214) Dallas, (704) Charlotte, and (202) Washington D.C. for starters.
No word if this has anything to do with beer, but logic would dictate they aren’t going into telecommunications. Also, there is no initial relationship with Goose Island’s 312 – even after their near $40 million dollar purchase by AB.
Greg Hall is best known for Goose Island Brewing. Since the sale of the brewery to AB, the question remained what Greg will be doing now. The answer is surfacing. Cider. Specifically – farm to table ciders.
Virtue Ciders is on the cusp of being in business. Little has been disclosed about Virtue, and Josh Noel – a writer for the Chicago Tribune lamented in his article published Friday that even Greg Hall himself is declining to comment on the venture.
There has been an ongoing issue in Michigan over Flying Dog Brewing’s Raging Bitch label. The Michigan liquor board banned the label due to the “bitch” name in the title. Dogfish Head’s Bitches Brew had the same issue, the beer was not sold in Michigan. Flying Dog’s label was deemed “detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare.” A bit overprotective aren’t we?
Flying Dog just annoyed that the Michigan liquor board has reversed their decision, and Raging Bitch may now be sold! From Flying Dog’s Blog:
On Tuesday, June 28, the Michigan Liquor Control Commission reversed its decision banning Raging Bitch Belgian-Style IPA from the Great Lakes State.
The move came three weeks after our first hearing on the case before the federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We not only argued that the original decision by the Commission violated our First Amendment rights, but also sought a preliminary injunction to lift enforcement of the Commission’s ban while waiting for a final judgment from the court. Michigan reversed its decision to ban Raging Bitch in the state before the Court ruled on our request for an injunction.
Previously, the Commission declared that our speech — in the form of the name “Raging Bitch” and accompanying label imagery and text by renowned artist Ralph Steadman — endangered public safety and was harmful to any adult who might read the beer’s name on a restaurant menu.
“The Michigan Liquor Control Commission’s involuntary reversal of opinion is a victory for craft beer,” Flying Dog CEO and General Partner Jim Caruso said. “Now, the great people of Michigan are no longer denied access to Raging Bitch, Flying Dog’s top-selling beer. But the fight for First Amendment rights in Michigan continues to rage on.”
Though the Michigan Liquor Control Commission has now approved the sale of Raging Bitch in the state, we have no interest in dropping the First Amendment lawsuit. With the support of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise and the law firm of Gura & Possessky, we originally filed suit in U.S. District Court on March 25 not only to overturn the Commission’s regulation banning Raging Bitch, but also to deem their ability to ban any beer label that they find offensive unconstitutional. Additionally, the suit seeks to recover damages from the loss of sales under the rule.
“We’re glad that the people of Michigan are now free to decide for themselves whether Flying Dog’s beer labels are, like the beer, in good taste. Our lawsuit forced the Liquor Commissioners to see at least some of the light. But the litigation won’t end until the Commissioners accept responsibility for the damage they’ve caused by violating the First Amendment,” our attorney Alan Gura, partner at Gura & Possessky, said.
The controversy began in September 2009, when we applied for a license to sell Raging Bitch, then our 20th anniversary commemorative beer, in the state of Michigan. The Commission then barred the sale of Raging Bitch, claiming that the beer’s label is “detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare.”
Smuttynose Brewing is bottling their newest offering Homunculus today. This Belgian style offering heads for shelves in July. Homunculus is a hoppy Belgian-style golden ale. A special Belgian abbey yeast left an alcohol content of 9.9% abv. The grain bill is very simple: 2-Row, Weyermann Carahell, and some cane sugar to lighten the body. Bravo hops are exclusively used for a moderately aggressive 45 IBUs while all the late boil additions are Sterling.
So far so good, but Homunculus’ real moxie comes from its dryhopping. We infused 150 barrels (4650 gallons) with 176 pounds of Nugget hops and 264 pounds of Sterling hops. That’s nearly 3 pounds of hops per barrel of beer! It’s safe to say that you can expect an aroma explosion when you finally get some in your glass.
What is a Homunculus? There are several different definitions that come from psychology, alchemy, and preformation. The word itself is Latin for, “little human.” As you can see from the label art, we were captivated by the preformationist usage of the term. The name was discovered during a brainstorming session. We didn’t want to call the scaled up brew by its original name, so out came the thesaurus. We saw “homunculus” was a synonym for “gnome” and the rest, as they say, was history.
Peak Organic Brewing Company recently released Hop Noir – a black IPA in April. It was the 2nd release in the brewery’s 22oz bomber series. Noir was extremely successful, and now Peak is putting Hop Noir in 12oz bottles.
Hop Noir is as hoppy as it is bitter, boasting almost 100 IBUs. This all centennial hop, extremely aggressive imperial IPA is 100% organic from the ground up, showing that being organic doesn’t mean you can’t be bold.
Hop Noir is a delectable Black IPA, dripping with piney, aromatic Centennial hops. The malt base is dark and rich, anchored by organic black malt. This provides a strong foundation for the extravagant kettle hopping and dry-hopping that this beer experiences. Enjoy with a night-light.
Remember the hoopla surrounding Four Loko a few months ago? The source of the issue – caffeine and alcohol. Four Loko WAS an alcoholic energy drink that the FDA got all huffy about because some stupid kids drinking too much. So, the government played the “we know what’s best” card and told Four Loko to change the formula, or stop making the drink all together. In the same stroke, this opened up the scope of caffeine and energy drinks to Moonshot beer, brewed by New Century Brewing. (They also make Edison Light.) Unable to reverse the FDA ban, Rhonda Kallman has closed the brewery. The quote from the Mass Market pretty much sums up the issue:
“The FDA decided that mixing Red Bull and vodka is tantamount to drinking Moonshot and that neither is safe,” Kallman writes. “But since they have no control over mixed drinks, they decided to regulate Moonshot. … Perhaps even more concerning is the fact that the officials I met with alluded to the fact that they are not done regulating.”
There is an allusion that there could be more from the FDA beyond what we have already seen. Moonshot was available in Los Angeles, Boston, & Atlanta. Here’s a chance to sound off. Regardless of what your thoughts on the beer are (flavor-wise), is the FDA/ U.S. Government intervening too much? After all, you have to be 21 to purchase the alcohol anyway… <MassMarket>
SweetWater Brewing has started their huge expansion. The first steps involved tearing down a neighboring building the brewery purchased to expand. From 360 Media:
It was a “hoppy” morning for the Atlanta based craft-brewery, SweetWater Brewing Company, as they watched Atlanta Demolition tear down their neighboring building just after 8:30am. “We have the opportunity to expand and grow, but we’re still the same people,” said SweetWater Brewery’s Minister of Propaganda Steve Farace. “The expansion will mean more upgrades and more space to continue serving the community. It’s all about the quality of our beer, and the more beer we can sell in our backyard the better.” Staying true to its environmentally friendly roots, nearly 98% of the building that was destroyed this morning will be recycled.
The expansion will take SweetWater’s capacity from 100,000 to 400,000 barrels per year. Current output is in the neighborhood of 71,000 barrels.
