Breweries

Anchor Brewing closes after 127 years

Anchor Brewing Company, founded in 1896, is closing its doors for good.

Just about a month ago, Anchor announced Christmas Ale, a beloved seasonal that has been released continually for the last 47 years was no more. The move shocked Continue Reading →

Southern Tier Pumking makes its mid-July return

Southern Tier Pumking is usually the first pumpkin beer to hit shelves, typically right after Independence Day. You typically see it on shelves alongside the brewery’s pumpkin stout, Warlock. Pumking is one of the boldest (and highly debated) pumpkin beers across Continue Reading →

Posted in Beer News, Monday Night Brewing

Flashback: Monday Night 5th Anniversary 2016 (PICS)

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Releases, Don't Miss This, New Realm Brewing, Zillacoah Beer Company

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

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Brewery Expansions, New Realm Brewing

New Realm Brewing breaks ground in Suffolk, Virginia

New Realm Brewing broke ground on their newest location this week in Suffolk, Virginia. The brewery is adding a brewhouse and restaurant to the new Blue Point at the Riverfront Development.

The new build spans 6,000 square feet, and will include a 5-barrel brewhouse and scratch restaurant with a covered rooftop patio. Additionally, the location will have an 8,000-square-foot dog-friendly beer garden for patrons to enjoy.

New Realm Suffolk is a part a new 18-acre mixed-use development by the Miller Group, located in the Harbour View area of the city. The development is so named for the famous Blue Point Oysters found in nearby Nansemond and James Rivers.

RELATED: NEW REALM RELEASES COLLAB W/ ZILLACOAH

This New Realm’s second Virginia location, opened in 2018 not long after opening their flagship Atlanta, Georgia location.

New Realm Suffolk will bring at least 60 new jobs to the area. The facility is expected to open in spring, 2024.

Aerial view of New Realm Suffolk, Virginia.

Images: New Realm Brewing

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Anchor Brewing, Headlines

Anchor Brewing closes after 127 years

Anchor Brewing Company, founded in 1896, is closing its doors for good.

Just about a month ago, Anchor announced Christmas Ale, a beloved seasonal that has been released continually for the last 47 years was no more. The move shocked much of the brewery’s fanbase.

Additionally, the brewery dropped distribution to 49 states, limiting sales to just California.

According to the brewery, the fallout from the pandemic, inflation, and the highly competitive market in Anchor’s hometown of San Franciso led to the difficult decision.

Sam Singer, a brewery spokesperson, tells Beer Street Journal that “Anchor has invested great passion and significant resources into the company. Unfortunately, today’s economic pressures have made the business no longer sustainable, and we had to make the heartbreaking decision to cease operations.”

In 2017, Japan’s Sapporo Holdings acquired the brewery.

Brewing Ends.

Anchor has officially stopped brewing beer. Any remaining beer will continue to be packaged and sold until the supply is depleted – which includes a small amount of Christmas Ale.

The Sell-Off.

Employees were informed of the closure on Tuesday, and were given 60 days with “transition support and separation packages.” Per Singer, Anchor is in the process of negotiating an arrangement with an Assignee to retain as part of a California Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (“CA ABC”), an alternative to filing for Court-monitored federal Chapter 7 or 11. 

Under this process, Anchor will retain an Assignee to whom all its assets will be irrevocably assigned and then liquidated, the proceeds of which, the Assignee will use to pay off Anchor’s creditors.  Once selected and retained, the CA ABC Assignee will be wholly responsible for liquidating the company’s assets and paying creditors.

Singer also mentioned Anchor, and presumably Sapporo, had been looking for a buyer the brewery and brands over the course of the last year, with no success.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Southern Tier Brewing, Seasonal Return

Southern Tier Pumking makes its mid-July return

Southern Tier Pumking is usually the first pumpkin beer to hit shelves, typically right after Independence Day. You typically see it on shelves alongside the brewery’s pumpkin stout, Warlock. Pumking is one of the boldest (and highly debated) pumpkin beers across craft beer since debuting in 2007.

The 9% strong ale is brewed with cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, clove, and allspice. Each sip is an over-the-top fall beer that tastes like biting into pumpkin pie (crust included). Much to the chagrin of beer drinkers and their social media hatred of beer seasonal creep, Pumking really is the king one thing – it’s always the first pumpkin beer on shelves every season for the past few years. The brewery has not said if that helps beer sales or not.

In 2015, Pumking also shipped 12-ounce bottles, making the imperial pumpkin ale a little more manageable if you are flying solo.

In 2014, the brewery added Southern Tier Rum Aged Pumking,

Southern Tier Pumking is available in 12-ounce bottles, 22-ounce bottles, and draft through the fall.

Style: Pumpkin Beer (Allspice. Cinnamon. Clove. Nutmeg. Vanilla.)
Hops: Sterling, Magnum
Malts: 2 Row Pale, Caramel

Availability: 12oz Bottles, Draft.
Latest Return: July 2023

9% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, New Beers, Wild Heaven Craft Beers

Wild Heaven Beagle Party 2023

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Second Self Brewing Company, Don't Miss This

Second Self Beer to shut down June 17th

Atlanta, Georgia-based Second Self Beer will close its doors at the end of this month after 9 years of operation.

Second Self – situation on the city’s upper westside, was the 42nd brewery to open in the Peach State. The brewery had a geeky streak, releasing beers like Maverick & Gose (Top Gun) and Triforce IPA (a legend of Zelda nod.) As the years progressed, founders Jason Santamaria and Chris Doyle pivoted the brewery to be more than just beer, with the goal of being a full “beverage company.”

Second Self released “Cirrus,” a line of non-alcoholic CBD drinks, as well as taking on numerous contract brews and beverages for third-party companies.

That pivot was successful for a while until the challenge of the pandemic and rising costs forced the contracts to fold. That was a big financial hit for the brewery.

In a phone call, Santamaria told Beer Street Journal that in an effort to potentially save Second Self, the brewery cut their taproom hours, while Jason himself took himself off of the payroll going back to his previous role at IBM.

“Everything is just so much expensive, it just kept getting more complicated,” he says.

The brewery’s last day will be June 17th, open from 1-9 pm.

On a personal note – I want to say thank you to Jason and Chris. You both have been welcoming of Beer Street Journal even before the Second Self even opened to the public. It has been an honor and a downright freaking blast covering your releases over the years, not to mention canning days, tank pulls, and nerd trivia. You are some of the kindest people I have met in the beer industry. Legend of Zelda for life.

All images: Beer Street Journal

by Reid Ramsay