Press Releases

Posted in Highland Brewing, Press Releases

Beer Analyzer Raises Bar At Highland Brewing (PR)

May 16, 2012 – A new relationship began on February 14, 2012, when the perfect Valentine’s Day gift arrived. For Erica Nelson, flowers and chocolate pale in comparison to an Anton Paar Beer Analyzer. Erica manages Quality Control/Quality Assurance at Highland Brewing Company in Asheville, NC. The Anton Paar catapults the capabilities of her department and Highland beer to world-class levels and she’s loving it.

Still the only one in a NC craft brewery, the Anton Paar takes up about as much room as a microwave and is a $60,000 investment in beer quality. It has a modular design, with a base unit that measures specific gravity. The other modules measure alcohol, color and carbonation. In the future, the haze module may be added, which measures clarity.

“It calculates anything you want to know: ABV, original gravity, final gravity, apparent efficiency, real efficiency, apparent extract, real extract, and the number of calories in a 12 oz. bottle.” Much more information than the average beer drinker can see, smell or taste, but all required for exceptional quality. Erica has been happy to find that beer color is very consistent within each style. Carbonation levels have become more consistent thanks to the test she conducts on every batch of beer — every day during fermentation, several times in the packaging line, and in the final package. Erica exports data to Access and collaborates with brewers John Lyda and Joey Justice to look for trends and improvements to be made.

Bottles are enclosed in the explosion-proof base unit, then put under 85 pounds of pressure per square inch. The pressure is needed so that when cap is punctured by a metal straw, the beer is least affected from the change. The beer is analyzed right from the bottle.

Equipment this sophisticated “gives us the ability to further refine our processes for many years… This machine will take us as far we can go. We’re getting great information now, but it does so much more, and we will grow with it.”

Erica cleans and calibrates the machine almost every day for the most accurate readings — a labor of love that began on Valentine’s Day.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Press Releases, Troegs Brewing

Tröegs Brewery Announces New Year-Round Beer (PR)

Tröegs Perpetual Imperial Pale Ale will be available in all Troegs Markets by mid-June

HERSHEY, PA — Chris and John Trogner, owners of Troegs Brewery, announced today they are adding a new beer to their current year-round line-up. Perpetual Imperial Pale Ale (IPA) will be released starting in late May and will be available throughout their eight-state distribution network by the middle of June.

Perpetual IPA will be available in 12 ounce bottles and half-kegs.

“With the opening of the new brewery and increased production capabilities we’ve wanted to start adding beer to our line-up since opening in October 2011,” said Chris Trogner. “In early March we finally caught up with customer demand and we are excited to finally add a new year-round beer to our roster.”

“In our constant evolution as a brewery, we’ve developed on undying drive to meld the organic and the mechanical,” said John Trogner. “Perpetual IPA is a tribute to building our new brewery and our desire to continue exploring beer.”

Perpetual IPA utilizes our hopback and dry-hopping to engineer a bold Imperial Pale Ale. Perpetual IPA is 7.5% ABV and 85 IBUs. It features Bravo, Chinook and Mt. Hood hops in the boil, Mt. Hood and Nugget hops in the hopback and Citra, Cascade and Nugget hops during the dry-hop stage.

Perpetual IPA was released in 22 ounce bottles and limited half kegs. It sold out almost immediately.

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Founded by brothers Chris and John Trogner in 1996, Tröegs Brewery is a small, family-owned specialty brewery that started selling beer in 1997. Located in Central Pennsylvania, Tröegs beers are distributed in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware,Virginia, New York, Ohio, Massachusetts and Washington, DC

Tröegs year-round beers include: Tröegs Pale Aleä, Hopback Amber Ale, Javahead Stoutä, DreamWeaver Wheatä and Troegenator Doublebock. Seasonal beers include: Nugget Nectarä,Flying Mouflan, Sunshine Pilsä, Dead Reckoning Porterä, and Mad Elf Holiday Aleä.

Pour through www.troegs.com to see what else is brewing at Tröegs.

Tröegs Brewing Company    200 East Hersheypark Drive   Hershey, PA   17033     717-534-1297

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Press Releases, SweetWater Brewing

SweetWater Brewery Campaigns To “Save The Hooch” One Brew At A Time (PR)

SWEETWATER BREWERY CAMPAIGNS TO “SAVE THE HOOCH” ONE BREW AT A TIME

Annual campaign with Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper® kicks off Memorial Day Weekend

ATLANTA (May 15, 2012) — SweetWater Brewing Company is gearing up once again for their 6th annual “Save the Hooch” conservation campaign in support of Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper® (UCR). Not only does the Chattahoochee River provide drinking water for more than four million Atlantans, but it is also the main ingredient for SweetWater’s lip-smackin’ brews. Since joining forces with UCR in 2006, the efforts are now more important as ever as the river was just listed No. 3 on the nation’s top 10 most endangered rivers list by American Rivers.

SweetWater’s campaign efforts will begin Memorial Day weekend and continue through July 4, offering beer drinkers, bar patrons and residents of metro Atlanta the chance to “Give of Your Liver to Save the River” by visiting participating accounts and purchasing paper fish, commemorative t-shirts or SweetWater’s seasonal Waterkeeper® ale. Proceeds from these efforts will go towards patrolling, protecting and preserving the Chattahoochee River.

“I have spent a lot of time on Atlanta’s waters since moving to Georgia in ’96 to start the brewery, and I’ve seen a lot of the issues firsthand,” said SweetWater Founder and Big Kahuna Freddy Bensch. “Keeping our water clean is a cause I think we can all believe in, and we’ll continue to do anything we can to help raise awareness and funding for the great folks who are out there every day protecting our water.”

In 2011, SweetWater launched its Waterkeeper® Hefeweizen, a great beer with a great cause, as part of the campaign in which proceeds benefit regional Waterkeeper Alliance® organizations. Now part of their seasonal Catch and Release line-up, the Hefeweizen brew will return to draft taps on limited release this May to help ramp up awareness and donations.

With the combined proceeds from the ale and campaign promotions, SweetWater raised a whopping $93,000 last year, a substantial increase from years prior. SweetWater has proudly raised more than $350,000, and several coldies, since campaign conception.

The success of the “Save the Hooch” campaign inspired SweetWater to expand their reach throughout the region to other communities and their local Waterkeeper® organizations with their distribution markets, including: the Neuse Riverkeeper® and French Broad Riverkeeper® in North Carolina, the Charleston Waterkeeper® in South Carolina, the Black Warrior Riverkeeper® and Mobile Baykeeper® in Alabama, and the Apalachicola Riverkeeper® and St. Johns Riverkeepers® in Florida.

Raising the bar even higher, SweetWater will host their first-ever regional concert series this year featuring the headlining act and bluegrass band Railroad Earth. The concert series will hit the road June 20-24 touring Raleigh, Charlotte, Charleston and Jacksonville. All proceeds benefit each city’s local Waterkeeper® organization.

For more information on the “Save the Hooch” campaign, to learn more about SweetWater’s efforts throughout the Southeast or to make a donation, please visit www.waterkeeperbrew.org. ###

MEDIA CONTACT:

Francesca Zeifman | Public Relations Manager | (C) 352-238-1604|SweetWater Brewery | [email protected]

ABOUT SWEETWATER BREWING COMPANY:

SweetWater Brewing Company is an Atlanta‐based craft brewery specializing in aggressive West Coast style beers. SweetWater’s brews are unpasteurized and designed to be consumed fresh so distribution is limited to the Southeast. The award‐winning lineup of year‐round brews includes SweetWater 420, IPA, Exodus Porter, Blue, LowRYEder and Georgia Brown. SweetWater also features a Catch and Release series of beers available on a limited basis throughout the year, and an experimental, one‐time‐only Dank Tank series. The SweetWater Brewery, open for tours every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 5:30‐7:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 2:30‐4:30 p.m., is located at 195 Ottley Dr NE, Atlanta GA 30324. For more information about SweetWater Brewing Company, please visit www.sweetwaterbrew.com. For more of a social relationship with SweetWater Brewing Company follow @sweetwaterbrew on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook:www.facebook.com/sweetwaterbrew.

 

ABOUT UPPER CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVERKEEPER®:

Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper® is a nonprofit environmental organization that, since 1994, has actively worked to protect the Chattahoochee River from its birthplace at a small spring in the mountains above Helen to West Point Lake downstream of Atlanta. As the drinking water supply for more than four million Georgians, the Chattahoochee is north Georgia’s most important natural resource. With the support of their 5,600 members, they have stopped hundreds of illegal discharges into the river and its tributaries, removed tons of trash from local waterways, provided river education to tens of thousands of students, monitored and patrolled hundreds of miles of waterways, and forced local governments and industries to comply with clean water laws. For more information, visit www.chattahoochee.org.

 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Full Sail Brewing, Press Releases

Full Sail Brewing Releases New Brewer’s Share Experimental Beer, Allman’s All (PR)

HOOD RIVER, OR – To celebrate American Craft Beer Week (May 14-20th),  Full Sail Brewing will release a new beer in their Brewer’s Share Experimental line up: “Allman’s All Mild” crafted by Lead Lab Technician Joshua Allman. Inspired by traditional English mild style beers he found in London pubs in his early 20s, Joshua wanted to honor his English heritage and those fond memories by brewing his own mild style ale.

Allman’s All Mild is a beautiful light copper colored English Mild Ale, using a blend of 2-row Pale, Munich, English crystal and brown malts that provide a toasty biscuit character and a dry and balanced finish. Golding and Willamette hops impart an herbal aroma and subtle hop finish that complements the malt complexity. The ale’s low carbonation delivers an incredibly refreshing and light beer perfect for summertime enjoyment. ABV 4.1% IBU 25

“Coming from English heritage, I was very excited to brew this easy drinking and sessionable ale for Full Sail,” says Joshua. “This is a great beer for the warm and sunny days ahead, and a beer that you can enjoy pint after pint with friends. I selected English malts that provide the flavor I remember fondly from that first pint in London. I hope you all enjoy the simple beauty of this Old World brew. Cheers!”

Full Sail has scheduled two “Meet the Brewer and the Beer” events to showcase this new beer. The first Meet Brewer and the Beer event will be at Full Sail at Riverplace in Portland, Tuesday, May 15th, from 5:00 — 6:30PM. The second is at the Full Sail Tasting Room and Pubin Hood River, on Thursday, May 17th from 5:00 to 6:30PM. Join the Full Sail crew to celebrate and toast a pint of this new brew.

With each Brewer’s Share series beer, Full Sail picks a local charity to receive a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the beer. Joshua has chosen to support the Columbia Gorge Ecology Institute, so every keg of Allman’s All Mild benefits this organization whose mission is to create life-long learning opportunities that foster a sense of wonder and community stewardship in the natural systems of the Columbia River Gorge.

The Brewer’s Share Experimental series is a line-up of small batch draft beers where each Full Sail brewer takes a turn hand-crafting their own single batch recipe. A portion of the proceeds benefit a local charity or organization of their choice. Full Sail’s Brewer’s Share Experimental beers will only be available on tap at Full Sail’s Tasting Roomand Pub in Hood River, Oregon, and at Full Sail’s Brewery at Riverplace, in Portland, Oregon. Growlers to go are available.  The next Brewer’s Share Experimental will be brewed by Brewer, Clinton Wertzbaugher and is planned for late summer.

About Full Sail Brewing Company:

The independent and employee-owned Full Sail Brewery is perched on a bluff in Hood River, Oregon, overlooking the most epic wind and kite surfing spot in the world. At this very moment our specialists in the liquid refreshment arts are crafting barley and hops into your next beer. Among the company’s most popular brews are Full Sail Amber, IPA, Pale, LTD, Session Premium Lager, Session Black and Session Fest. Founded in 1987, the Full Sail crew has been fermenting godlike nectar for 25 years.  Committed to brewing great beer and sustainable practices their award winning brews are now available in 29 states. The Full Sail Tasting Room and Pub is open seven days a week.  Swing by for a pint, grab a bite, tour the brewery, or just soak up the view.  http://www.fullsailbrewing.com

About American Craft Beer Week, May 14-20th 2012 

Started in 2006 and recognized by congress twice in its history, American Craft Beer Week® (ACBW) is the national celebration of America’s small and independent craft brewers, their impact on American culture, and the love affair that craft beer enthusiast have for their favorite American made craft beers. Become a fan of American Craft Beer Week on Facebook or visit the ACBW website  for more information on events around the country and toast the week with a delicious beer brewed by one of the craft brewers in the US.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Press Releases

Andreas Fält Is New Brewers Association American Craft Beer Ambassador (PR)

BOULDER, CO – Reinforcing its position as the leader in American craft beer promotion and education, the Brewers Association (BA) and its Export Development Subcommittee have selected Andreas Fält to cover Europe as an American Craft Beer Ambassador within the BA’s Export Development Program (EDP).

With a strong knowledge of American craft beer and held in high regard by brewers and distributors alike, Fält is charged with educating the beer community and media in Europe about the availability and quality of American craft beer. As an independent contractor, he will continue to serve as a consultant at Blue Yellow Media in the UK. He has previously held sales manager positions at Vertical Drinks, also in the UK, and Invicta Import and More Import in Sweden.

“Andreas’ appointment comes at an exciting time for American craft beer export market growth,” said Bob Pease, chief operating officer, Brewers Association. “Overall craft exports increased in record numbers in 2011, and regionally, Western Europe was the largest destination for American craft beer exports. Andreas will serve as a valuable bridge-builder to educate the growing audience of American craft beer lovers abroad.”

Globally, American craft beer exports increased 86 percent in 2011, with craft breweries exporting over 110,000 barrels of beer, valued at an estimated $23.4 million. The UK and Sweden are two of the top three largest international markets, with exports totaling approximately 13,065 barrels, and shipments to the Western European region increasing by 52 percent and surpassing 51,613 barrels.

“The demand for American craft beer is steadily growing in Europe,” added Fält. “By working to achieve the goals of the Export Development Program, and helping the Brewers Association’s members in key international target markets, we will continue to increase awareness of and love for American craft beer.”

Since its inception in 2004, the EDP has worked to educate international trade and media about the quality and diversity of products offered by the U.S. craft beer industry and about the U.S. craft beer culture; inform member breweries about opportunities for their products in key international target markets and complement the industry’s own efforts to increase international distribution.

About the Brewers Association

The Brewers Association is the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their craft beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. The Brewers Association (BA) represents more than 70 percent of the brewing industry, and its members make more than 99 percent of the beer brewed in the U.S. The BA organizes events including the World Beer Cup®, Great American Beer Festival®, Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America®, SAVORâ„ : An American Craft Beer & Food Experience and American Craft Beer Week. The BA publishes The New Brewer magazine and its Brewers Publications division is the largest publisher of contemporary and relevant brewing literature for today’s craft brewers and homebrewers.

Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com and about homebrewing via the BA’s American Homebrewers Association. Follow us on Twitter.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Port City Brewing, Press Releases

Port City Brewing Debuts Downright Pilsner in June (PR)

Alexandria, Virginia (May 14, 2012) — Bill Butcher, founder of Port City Brewing Company located at 3950 Wheeler Avenue in Alexandria, VA, is pleased to announce the release of their summer seasonal beer, Downright Pilsner, available this June.  Crafted by Head Brewer Jonathan Reeves, this hand-crafted lager will be produced in the traditional Pilsner style, using authentic Pilsner malt and noble Saaz hops.  The limited production Downright Pilsner is the fourth seasonal beer produced by Port City Brewing Company.  Downright Pilsner will be sold at select retail, restaurants and bars in Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina starting June 10, 2012.  This beer will be in limited supply as Port City Brewing Company is only producing two 90-barrel batches with a suggested retail price for a six-pack of $11.99.

The 11,000 square-foot craft brewery is dedicated to bringing great quality, innovative, handmade craft beers to the DC and Mid Atlantic market.  Port City produces world-class quality beer, brewing four year-round beers along with a rotating seasonal selection.  The Downright Pilsner is a crisp, refreshing, and modern version of a traditional Pilsner, which will delight all summer long.  This beer has 4.8% alcohol by volume and boasts a deep golden color and is medium bodied with a soft round malt profile and crisp, spicy, hop character on the finish.  Downright Pilsner gets its carbonation completely naturally as its kept in the formation tanks for up to six weeks.  A unique twist on this beer is the dry hop addition of Saaz hops during fermentation.  This extra infusion of hops gives the beer a refreshing bite on the finish. 

Named by Washingtonian magazine as Washington, DC’s best brewery tour, Port City Brewing Company is located two miles from the King Street Metro at 3950 Wheeler Avenue Alexandria, VA 22304.  For more information please call (703) 797-2739 or visit www.portcitybrewing.com.

 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Elevation Beer Co, Press Releases

Colorado Governor To Sign Bill At Elevation Opening (PR)

May 10th, 2012 (Poncha Springs, Colorado) –  Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is scheduled to appear at Elevation Beer Company for their tasting room and brewery grand opening May 19th, 2012 on the final day of American Craft Beer Week.

“We are so happy to welcome Governor Hickenlooper and honored to have a him sign a bill at our Grand Opening,’ says General Manager Carlin Walsh, ‘After all the Governor is a fellow brewer himself.’

Elevation is a new Colorado microbrewery co-founded by four friends; Carlin, Christian, Sheila and Xandy, on a cool Colorado summer night over a few craft beers and a back yard BBQ.  The brewery plans on joining an elite group of approximately 20 microbreweries across the nation specializing in seasonal barrel-aged and specialty beers.

The Colorado microbrewing industry has been growing rapidly and accounts for over $446 Million dollars in total economic impact on Colorado’s economy according to the Colorado Brewers Guild.  Elevation Beer Co. is one of 141 breweries and brewpubs now open in Colorado with over 70 new breweries planning to open in Colorado over the next 12-18 months according to the Brewers Association.

“We plan on making rare artisan beers produced right here in the heart of Colorado,’ says Head Brewer and Co-founder Christian Koch, “using as many Colorado ingredients as possible, and hopefully bringing dozens of jobs to Poncha Springs and Chaffee County over the next few years.”

Governor Hickenlooper will be giving a short speech during the event as well as signing the BLANK BILL into effect starting at 12:00pm.

The brewery’s doors will open at 11:00am and the event will also feature live music from several local bands, as well as local food vendors, and 8 different Elevation beers on tap.

For more information, or to receive press passes for the event please contact:
Sheila Bustamante
Marketing Manager
719-539-5258
[email protected]

About Elevation
Elevation Beer Co. is an artisan microbrewery located in Poncha Springs, Colorado, just minutes from Salida, Monarch Ski Area, Arkansas River Headwaters, and over seven 14,000-foot peaks.  Elevation specializes in brewing large adventurous beers for the craft beer fanatic, While trying to elevate the perception of what beer can be.

by Reid Ramsay