New Zealand based MOA Brewing was either being funny or serious, but people aren’t laughing.
To top it all off, the beer debuts this Thursday at 7 am. The beer itself is a cherry flavored lager, sweet enough for breakfast. Why Continue Reading →
Allagash Brewing mentioned today only on Twitter that the first of the brewery’s spontaneously brewed beer will finally be sold. These beers were brewed over the course of the last 1-3 years.
Interestingly enough, the brewery will NOT announce when the Continue Reading →
MLive is reporting that starting in summer of 2011, Founder’s Brewing will be releasing some of their beers in 750ml “bomber” format. Beers are to include tap room “one offs” plus others.
The recent 7 million dollar production plant expansion has Continue Reading →
Revolution Brewing (Chicago, IL) is still young. Founded as a brewpub in February 2010. After a profitable first year, Revolution has begun production of a production facility. The new facility per the Revolution Blog will be 35,000 square feet. High Continue Reading →
As part of Bell’s Brewing’s ongoing expansion, the brewery announced they are installing a canning line at the Comstock facility.
A 500 can per minute canning line will be active by Spring, 2012. That’s almost double the speed of the bottling Continue Reading →
Great Divide Brewing is growing, much like the rest of the beer community in the United States. It’s a good thing! But….As we have seen recently with the Dogfish Head news, and acquisition of Goose Island by InBev, because you are growing, Continue Reading →
They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but can you judge a beer by its label? Beer becomes a first amendment issue. @JayeMarie, beer lover & future lawyer helps breakdown the legal side of this beer issue.
The Breakdown: Flying Dog filed suit in federal court this week against the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC) with the request that the federal judge overturn the state-wide ban on one of its top selling beers, Raging Bitch, and award Flying Dog damages for the loss of sales due to the ban.
All out of state beer manufacturers must apply to the MLCC for a license to sell their product within the state of Michigan. Failure to do so may result in criminal charges.
Flying Dog first applied for a license to sell Raging Bitch in 2009 but was turned down. The brewery appealed only to be turned down again because according to the MLLC, the brew’s name, label, and statement on the back “contains such language deemed detrimental to the health, safety or welfare of the general public.”
New Zealand based MOA Brewing was either being funny or serious, but people aren’t laughing.
To top it all off, the beer debuts this Thursday at 7 am. The beer itself is a cherry flavored lager, sweet enough for breakfast. Why have champagne? Have a beer instead. While it is completely your right to have a beer with breakfast, New Zealand’s National Addiction Center calls the beer irresponsible. Personally, I don’t need to motivated to have a beer with breakfast. I choose to. <NZHerald>
Allagash Brewing mentioned today only on Twitter that the first of the brewery’s spontaneously brewed beer will finally be sold. These beers were brewed over the course of the last 1-3 years.
Interestingly enough, the brewery will NOT announce when the beer goes on sale. That will also be spontaneous. Within the next 90 days. (Fits doesn’t it.)
Allagash briefly mentioned on their blog in January 2008:
Last month we brewed the first two of our spontaneously fermented beers at Allagash. In brewing these beers we are using an authentic, traditional process honoring the classic Belgian Lambic tradition, including the use of a cool ship, which we built specifically for these spontaneous beers.
Also check out this video about the process. <Allagash Blog>
MLive is reporting that starting in summer of 2011, Founder’s Brewing will be releasing some of their beers in 750ml “bomber” format. Beers are to include tap room “one offs” plus others.
The recent 7 million dollar production plant expansion has allowed to brewery some more options with packaging. <Mlive.com>
Revolution Brewing (Chicago, IL) is still young. Founded as a brewpub in February 2010. After a profitable first year, Revolution has begun production of a production facility. The new facility per the Revolution Blog will be 35,000 square feet. High speed canning & bottling line, oak barrel room and tasting room. Estimated completion is January 2012. The brewery is planning on both bottles and cans from the start.
The can lineup includes Bottom Up Belgian Wit, Anti Here IPA, & Eugene. Seasonals will be announced later. In bomber bottles, expect a Milk Stout, barrel aged milk stout, and a saison. Initial distribution will be to bars & stores in the Chicago area. <Chicago Tribune>
As part of Bell’s Brewing’s ongoing expansion, the brewery announced they are installing a canning line at the Comstock facility.
A 500 can per minute canning line will be active by Spring, 2012. That’s almost double the speed of the bottling line at 260 bottles a minute. No decision has been finalized which Bell’s beers would be headed to cans. <MLive>
Great Divide Brewing is growing, much like the rest of the beer community in the United States. It’s a good thing! But….As we have seen recently with the Dogfish Head news, and acquisition of Goose Island by InBev, because you are growing, things get complicated. It has surfaced over the past 24 hours that Great Divide Brewing will be leaving between 4-7 U.S. markets due to “growing pains”, and supply issues.
Affected:
Great Divide Brewing will be leaving Delaware, Michigan, Rhode Island, Connecticut. It was mentioned in various beer related tweets that Washington D.C. could also be affected.
According to a few beer stores in Delaware & Connecticut, Great Divide has already been scarce.
UPDATE (VIA Savannah Distributing) From Great Divide:
We are pulling out of MI, RI, DE and CT due to our exponentially increasing orders. Additionally, we are pulling out of DC and southern and central VA. While we are excited to see this massive growth, we simply do not have the production capability to keep up with these orders. We appreciate the loyalty that our customers have shared with us in these states and hope to be back in the future.
They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but can you judge a beer by its label? Beer becomes a first amendment issue. @JayeMarie, beer lover & future lawyer helps breakdown the legal side of this beer issue.
The Breakdown: Flying Dog filed suit in federal court this week against the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC) with the request that the federal judge overturn the state-wide ban on one of its top selling beers, Raging Bitch, and award Flying Dog damages for the loss of sales due to the ban.
All out of state beer manufacturers must apply to the MLCC for a license to sell their product within the state of Michigan. Failure to do so may result in criminal charges.
Flying Dog first applied for a license to sell Raging Bitch in 2009 but was turned down. The brewery appealed only to be turned down again because according to the MLLC, the brew’s name, label, and statement on the back “contains such language deemed detrimental to the health, safety or welfare of the general public.”
Flying Dog’s newly filed complaint alleges their “core First Amendment” rights were violated when the MLCC banned the sale of Raging Bitch because the MLCC has “taken it upon themselves to control not merely alcoholic beverages, but speech as well.”
On his company’s blog, Jim Caruso, CEO or Flying Dog said he believes it is about a lot more than a mere beer label, “We believe not only in freedom of speech and artistic expression for both businesses and individuals, but also in the individual’s fundamental right to choose or reject books, art, literature, artisanal craft beer, and other forms of artistic expression based on their personal preferences.”
Why it’s concerning: With the rapid growth in the craft brewing, many brewers have already, or will face this problem when they look to expand their business. With greater nationwide distribution, each individual state’s alcohol licensing board determines what is acceptable. This is exactly why the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise has joined Flying Dog in their case. In a statement on Flying Dog’s blog, lan Gottlieb, president of the center said, “The issues raised have a profound impact on the right to freely engage in the marketplace.”
Raging Bitch: The 20th anniversary Belgian Style IPA
To see the full complaint filed by Flying Dog: http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/03/29/Beer.pdf
Special Thanks to Jacklyn Johnston for the legal insight!
