Headlines

Lagunitas takes equity stake in Short’s Brewing

Lagunitas Brewing and Elk Rapids, Michigan based Short's Brewing have formed a new partnership. Lagunitas has purchased a 19.99% equity stake in Short's Brewing.

According to Short's, this partnership will allow the brewery to gain access to additional resources (besides cash) Continue Reading →

Posted in Headlines, Lagunitas, Short's Brewing

Lagunitas takes equity stake in Short’s Brewing

Lagunitas Brewing and Elk Rapids, Michigan based Short's Brewing have formed a new partnership. Lagunitas has purchased a 19.99% equity stake in Short's Brewing.

According to Short's, this partnership will allow the brewery to gain access to additional resources (besides cash) and, "continued opportunity to invest in Short's staff, and the northern Michigan community."

The equity stake will be managed by Lagunitas U.S. Holdings (LUSH).

Joe Short, founder of Short's Brewing characterizes this partnership an evolution in the cycle of their dynamic and growing business:

”I never imagined Short’s would become such a successful regional brewery. The secret to that success has always been to surround myself with good people. The best people; who in many ways are smarter and more talented than myself. I'm confident all successful businesses would tell you a similar story. This partnership with Lagunitas is just another part of evolution in the cycle of our dynamic and growing business. I've grown so much personally and professionally during my time at the helm of Short’s Brewing Company that I understand now, more than ever – the continued success of Short’s and its people rely on me to make smart and strategic decisions. This is just one of them.”

Lagunitas sold a 50% stake of the brewery to Heineken in 2015. Earlier this year, Lagunitas "fully merged" with Heineken, selling the remaining 50% stake.

According to the Brewers Association, Short's Brewing will remain an independent craft brewery. Per their definition of Independent:

Less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcohol industry member that is not itself a craft brewer.

The Need For Equity.

Beer Street Journal spoke with Scott Newman-Bale, a partner in Short's Brewing. For nearly six months now, Short's has been operating at 100% capacity. The brewery has less than 2 days of reserves, with trouble keeping beer on shelves in all of their current markets. A great position to be in, but also – financially complicated. Newman-Bale was wary of turning to a traditional financial institution, citing past horror stories of bankers asserting control in what a brewery does.

Lagunitas founder Tony Magee and the folks at the brewery are good friends with Short's. "They don't take themselves too seriously and really understand us," Newman-Bale said. "An equity partnership with Lagunitas would be with folks that would financially help us meet our goals, but really just leave us alone to do what we want. That's rare," he said.

So what's in it for LUSH? Newman-Bale states that Magee is still very supportive of America's burgeoning beer scene. LASH exists to be a strategic partner for growth opportunities like this. Not global domination. When asked the "complicated" question about the stigma of accepting cash from Lagunitas, which is owned by Heineken, Newman-Bale simply replied, "Yeah, we know what that means. We get that. That doesn't matter to us. Over time you'll see how well this works out."

The 19.99% is actually regulatory and not made up for fun marketing purposes. As far as Short's is concerned, there will be no more equity buy-in to the brewery. This will hopefully be it.

The future holds minor capital expansions to the Elk Rapids production facility. This will allow fresh beer to flow in current Short's markets, especially ones that are currently running dry. Right now, beer goes from packaging to shelves in less than a week. There will be no production outsourcing, no leadership changes, no recipe changes.

Even with the small brewery expansions, Newman-Bale states there are no new territories planned. "We have to keep our promises to our current markets first."

Short's opened their brewpub in Bellaire, Michigan in 2004. In 2009, the brewery opened their Elk Rapids production facility.  Short's is expected to produce 50,000 barrels (1.5 million gallons) of beer in 2017.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Stone Brewing Co., Coming Soon, Headlines

Stone Brewing teams up with punk band NOFX, debuts festival

NOFX can easily considered one of the most successful independent bands of all time. Formed in 1983 by bassist Fat Mike and guitarist Eric Melvin, the band has never signed with a major label. That kind of independence is very familiar to California’s Stone Brewing. Perhaps that’s where Stone Punk in Drublic, a collaboration with NOFX rises from.

First, the name. Stone Punk in Drublic is named for NOFX’s 1994 release by the same name, considered the band’s most popular release, selling over a million copies.

This craft brewing meets punk music collaboration, is a hoppy lager perfect for “when you just need something to wash the noise down.” In conjunction with the release, Stone and NOFX have unveiled Punk In Drublic Craft Beer & Music Festival in five U.S. cities, with the band and 100+ craft beers headlining the party. Other muscial acts include Bad Religion, Flogging Molly, Less than Jake, and Goldfinger.

This beer was brewed as a collaboration between Stone Brewing and Fat Mike. Who showed up and mostly just got in the way.

Stone Punk in Drublic will be available in 12-ounce cans only in the festival markets found below starting in September. For full festival details, visit www.PunkInDrublicFest.com.

Style: Lager
Availability: 12oz Cans
Distribution: ID, WA, CA

Debut: September 2017

5.8% ABV

Festival Dates:

Saturday, September 16 – Tacoma, WA – America’s Car Museum (on sale Friday, July 28)
Saturday, September 16 – Tacoma, WA – America’s Car Museum (on sale Friday, July 28)
Sunday, September 17 – Boise, ID – Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater (on sale Friday, July 28)
Saturday, October 14 – Concord, CA – Concord Pavilion (on sale Friday, August 11)
Sunday, October 15 – Sacramento, CA – Bonney Field (on sale Friday, August 11)
Saturday, October 28 – Huntington Beach, CA – Bolsa Chica State Park (on sale Friday, September 1)

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Dogfish Head, Headlines, New Releases

Dogfish Head Oak Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout debuts July 21st

One of America’s strongest imperial stouts Dogfish Head World Wide Stout, will be a bit different when it rolls around again in 2017. This July you’ll be sipping Dogfish Head Oak Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout.

November, as the weather is getting colder, Dogfish Head unleashes World Wide, an imperial stout that usually ranges from 15% to 20% alcohol by volume. The beast has been making a seasonal appearance (almost every year) since 1999. From an off-centered bunch like Dogfish Head, perhaps a change is in order.

Dogfish Head Oak Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout was planned for August, but the brewery has officially announced a July 21st release date. The dark and roasty sipping beer has been aged in 10,000 gallon oak tanks with vanilla beans.

“At Dogfish, our raison d’être is to expand the boundaries of the typical beer experience by creating innovative beers made from fresh ingredients, so we decided to take a new spin on our popular stout by adding tons of whole Madagascar vanilla beans to the recipe.  The addition of the beans enhances the coffee and chocolatey notes in the beer which we think our fans will enjoy.”  – Sam Calagione, founder & CEO

Dogfish Head Oak Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout debuts in 12-ounce bottles on July 21st. Important to note, due to its high alcohol by volume, not every state in the brewery’s distribution territory will receive this new release.

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Vanilla Beans. Oak Aged.)
Availability: 12oz Bottles, Draft. Aug-Nov.
Debut: July, 2017

16% ABV

Image via Dogfish Head

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Funky Buddha, Headlines

Funky Buddha readies barrel-aged “The Living Barrel Series” 

Oakland Park, Florida’s Funky Buddha Brewery will debut “The Living Barrel Series” later this month. The new monicker re-defines the brewery’s barrel-aged program.

Funky Buddha is now home to over 500 oak casks of various types. Barrels range from bourbon and rum to tequila and Cabernet. When the barrel says the beer is ready, the beer is bottled.

Starting in July and moving into 2018, The Living Barrel Series will produce a lineup of 22 ounce bottles, sporting fresh new artwork. Most will be available in the tap room, with some offerings seeing limited distribution around Florida.

The first three drool-worthy releases include: 

Rum Barrel-Aged Pina Colada – Imperial cream ale brewed with pineapple, coconut, & aged in Jamaican rum casks
Vanilla Bourbon Barrel-Aged Nikolai Vorlauf – Imperial Russian stout aged for 2 years in bourbon barrels with vanilla beans
Bourbon Barrel-Aged Dread Pirate Roberts – Imperial stout with raspberries, chocolate, & coconut (Imperial club members only)

Future releases will include Morning Wood, and Last Buffalo in the Park.

Exact release dates are forthcoming.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Headlines

Coconutty summer. Dogfish Head Lupu Luau IPA debuts this month

It’s a tropical summer for Delaware’s largest craft brewery. Dogfish Head Lupu Luau IPA is going national.

The newest India pale ale in founder Sam Calagione’s arsenal is Dogfish Head Lupu Luau IPA, a coconut heavy offering.

The tropical IPA is brewed with toasted coconut, experimental hops, and dehydrated coconut water. That might sound weird. Dehydrated water? By removing the water content from coconut water, what are left behind are natural sugars, and electrolyte heavy, coconutty compounds and flakes that further enhance this beer.

The hops in Dogfish Head Lupu Luau IPA are quite special as well. The brewery found this experimental variety to have a strong wood, citrus, and coconut flavor. So much so that Dogfish Head contracted the majority of the domestic yield just for themselves (and this beer).

This “tropical trifecta” is available nationally in 12 ounce bottles and draft starting in July.

Style: IPA (w/ Toasted Coconut. Dehydrated Coconut Water.)
Availability: 12oz Bottles, Draft.
Debut: July, 2017

7.3% ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Mikkeller Brewing San Diego, Headlines

Mikkeller to build a brewery at Citi Field, home of the Mets

For years Mikkeller Brewing, headed up by Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, was a one of the world’s most venerable gypsy brewers. Meaning he didn’t have a brewery of his own to call home.

That all changed when Peter Zien, owner and founder of AleSmith Brewing, was expanding in San Diego and mentioned his old space a mile away was for sale. Bjergsø jumped at the chance, and Mikkeller Brewing San Diego was born.

Despite his brewery’s geographical proximity to California ballparks (especially the San Diego Padres), Mikkeller brewed two beers for Citi Field, home of the New York Mets this season. That move might make more sense now, as Mikkeller Brewing NYC is on the way.

Initial details.

Beer Street Journal is told the brewery will occupy a portion of the stadium that the Mets were using for ticket holder and fan hospitality near 126th Street and Right Field Gate. A 20-barrel brewhouse and around 60 taps will be found there.

The cost of construction and initial plans have not been disclosed. The build is expected to be completed in 2017.

It would seem baseball park breweries are becoming popular. Terrapin just opened a 5-barrel brewhouse at the new Suntrust Park in Atlanta. For years, The Sandlot Brewery has been operating at Coors Field in Denver; touted as the birthplace of Blue Moon.

A placeholder site for Mikkeller Brewing NYC is now live.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Headlines

Brewers of Budweiser’s “The High End” respond to the new “Independent” seal

This week, the Brewer’s Association, a not-for-profit trade group dedicated to small and independent breweries in America, launched a new seal. The “Independent Craft” seal can be licensed for free, designating a brewery’s independence.

For a little insight, the Brewers Association intends this move to create more transparency when it comes to brewery ownership. For instance (and something you will see in the comments below), one of the most controversial purchases this year is the Anheuser Busch’s acquisition of Wicked Weed. Wicked Weed will continue to brew as normal, and be sold under the Wicked Weed Brewing name, even though the ownership has changed.

For the Brewers Association, which fiercely supports the small and independent brewers, this move lacks consumer clarity. Thus, the “indie” seal.

Today, brewers that make up “The High End,” the series of breweries that AB InBev has purchased over the past fews years (Goose Island, Devil’s Backbone, Four Peaks, etc), have a response to the seal.

The responses range from, “the beer tells the story,” to, “we will always support the craft beer industry,” to responses that are a little more salty – “that logo doesn’t mean shit to me.”  You’ll find a little bit of animosity towards the Brewers Association in the “Six Viewpoints from The High End” below:

David Buhler – Elysian 

“What would I do, because it’s about my brewery and my people and as a team of graphic designers and packaging on that side of the business and what we do — I thought how I would use it and how would I use it and what are the decision that other breweries across the country are doing right now looking at this logo. Is this logo a mandate for breweries to put on their labels that are not part of “big beer?” Does this logo designate something like quality? Does it differentiate anything about what the beer is or how it is perceived by consumers – because it’s all about the consumers, the consumer is what drives our businesses, right?”

Walt Dickinson – Wicked Weed 

“I mean at the end of the day we are all making beer, we are all brewers, whether you want to call us craft or not craft or whatever. I’m pretty sure Pernicious was a craft IPA like 2 months ago and I’m pretty sure it’s a craft IPA now, right? So we’re all doing the same thing – we are beer. We are fighting this bigger battle which is wine and spirits and we are losing margin every year to them, and so they have to be looking at us and just laughing, thinking this is just — why are you throwing us a bone right now? You guys are literally in-fighting, this is just a civil war meanwhile this armada of boats is coming across the Atlantic to crush us and we are shooting each other with, you know, muskets and sling-shots. So what’s the point? We need to band together and grow this market as a whole and if we do that everyone has a great space in the market, right? Small independents like us innovate, they get a platform from a strategic to take those great ideas and take them to a bigger market and create new consumers and grow the space as a whole and what does that do? It opens up more spaces for innovation and good product wins. So that’s the point of this whole thing. You know, I was just hoping we could get back to just talking about beer, but I guess we’re not there yet — but hopefully soon.”

Garrett Wales – 10 Barrel 

“At the end of the day the beer does the talking, not the label on the package, and the consumer makes up their own mind.  The problem is that the BA continues to refuse to let the consumer make up their own mind and try to make it up for them. They have a little bottle that someone told me “that’s what I have to buy” because there is a bottle on the six packs – but that doesn’t mean shit to me.”

Andy Ingram – Four Peaks 

“There are clear threats from wine and spirits out there that, whether we are being willful and not noticing that or we are too busy fighting amongst ourselves, there is a clear present danger out there, there are storm clouds on the horizon for the beer industry. Some people think its top heavy — I don’t, I think we can  sustain a lot more — but we are not going to be able to do that if we are divided. I think that is a key role going forward that the BA needs to focus on, as well as getting back to quality. When a major trade organization is saying it doesn’t matter whats in your glass as long as it’s independent, and they’re telling consumers that, then that’s a big issue, you’re saying go ahead and drink crap just as long as you don’t support the big guys. And it’s not heathy and not a good way going forward.”

Felipe Szpigel – The High End  

“And now comes this piece on- you know independence, and for me the real thinking behind independence is that consumers don’t necessarily care about independence. What they care about is, what is the impact that small businesses have on the communities? And are the communities being better? Think about our partners, the amount of support we give locally, the amount of jobs that we provide locally by keeping on investing on our own partners. By the responsible things we do in terms of drinking or connecting to communities or natural resources and giving back – honestly I see no other brewer that does as much as we do. That makes me proud. And I think that’s what we are going to tell our consumers. That at the end that’s what really matters behind being independent or being small — is doing the best for your community or the communities… I’m proud of what we do and our partners do in the communities that we are in.”

Steve Crandall – Devils Backbone  

“We are going to continue being the same guys we have always been. We are going to continue offering the best possible beers and occasions to our consumers that we have always done and we are always going to support the craft beer industry.”

David Buhler – Elysian 

“Well to be independent would mean you don’t put the logo on because you’re indie. So to be truly punk you don’t use the logo, you do your own thing and you follow your own rules.”

 

by Reid Ramsay