Beverage Industry News

Stronger beer for Georgia?

posted Apr 9th, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

The Georgia House of Representatives has approved a bill that would raise the maximum alcohol content of what is defined as beer from 6% to 14%, sending the measure to the Senate.

The legislature has twice failed to pass such legislation, but the overwhelming House vote — 125-26 — gives the consumer group Georgians for World Class beer hope the measure will pass this year.

It’s good for Georgia businesses, it will help consumer choice and it will raise revenue for the state, Rep. Stephanie Benfield, D-Decatur, told the House.

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German beer blues

posted Apr 7th, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

The introduction of a 25-cent deposit on throwaway cans has dealt the struggling German brewing industry another blow. Beer sales have fallen 10% since the deposit was introduced in January.

“I would never have thought that the average German beer drinker would be put off by an extra 25 cents a can, but they have been,” said Udo Franke, a director of the country’s biggest beer producer, Holsten Brauerei. “If we continue to have months like January and February, then the outlook for the future is very bleak.”

“The economic slump, tax hikes and high unemployment have hit pubs and bars really hard,” said Marc Scherr, spokesman for the German Hotels and Restaurants Association. The food and beverage has borne the brunt of the country’s business bankruptcies with insolvencies in the sector rising by 21% compared with the national average of 4%.

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German beer blues

posted Apr 7th, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

The introduction of a 25-cent deposit on throwaway cans has dealt the struggling German brewing industry another blow. Beer sales have fallen 10% since the deposit was introduced in January.

“I would never have thought that the average German beer drinker would be put off by an extra 25 cents a can, but they have been,” said Udo Franke, a director of the country’s biggest beer producer, Holsten Brauerei. “If we continue to have months like January and February, then the outlook for the future is very bleak.”

“The economic slump, tax hikes and high unemployment have hit pubs and bars really hard,” said Marc Scherr, spokesman for the German Hotels and Restaurants Association. The food and beverage has borne the brunt of the country’s business bankruptcies with insolvencies in the sector rising by 21% compared with the national average of 4%.

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Alaskan Brewing Adds Tanks to Accommodate Growth

posted Apr 7th, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

New tanks were installed at the Alaskan Brewing Company last week to meet growing demand in the Pacific Northwest. The large stainless steel tanks were manufactured in Missouri, shipped across the country to Seattle then barged up to Juneau. “The success of the Seasonal Alaskan Summer Ale in addition to increased demand for our year-round products this year made additional tanks a necessity,” says Plant Manager, Curtis Holmes. “We are geared up for a great year.” It appears to be just in time as early 2003 numbers show Alaskan Brewing Company up nearly 15%.

The Juneau based brewery added one 400-barrel tank and one 1300-barrel tank without the usual fanfare of winter snowstorms, having only to contend with cloudy skies and a slight wind. “Aside from not having our usual snowstorm, the only difference for this installation was negotiating the road to the brewery. A stoplight and median were installed off the main highway that wasn’t there last year, so there was a little head scratching before our trucker could figure out how to negotiate the turn while hauling the longer, 47-foot tank,” Holmes adds.

Alaskan Brewing Company distributes throughout Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada and Northern California. Founded in 1986, Alaskan Brewing Company is the oldest operating brewery in the State of Alaska. The Juneau-based brewery also brews Alaskan Amber, Pale, ESB and Stout year round as well as Alaskan Winter Ale, Summer Ale and the internationally renowned Alaskan Smoked Porter on a seasonal basis.

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Lion Brewery Gets Organic Certification – Brews Organic Soda

posted Apr 7th, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

The Lion Brewery Inc. in Wilkes-Barre has become the first Pennsylvania brewery to be certified organic under the new rules promulgated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last October. In March the brewery began producing its first organic product, a green tea-flavored soft drink called Steap Soda.

According to spokesperson Amy Sorber, the Lion had to undergo a rigorous inspection to receive the certification, which encompassed every aspect of production from where the ingredients are stored to the warehousing of the finished product. The raw materials themselves also had to be certified free of artificial fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and preservatives. Quality Assurance International, a California-based certification institution, gave the Lion its approval. To maintain its certification, the Lion will be subject to yearly inspections and periodic auditing of the finished products on retailers’ shelves.

Steap Soda uses organic cane juice as sweetener and is available in 12-oz bottles in six flavors: Cola, Raspberry, Lemon Dew, Orange, Key Lime and Root Beer. The sodas have also been declared kosher by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis.

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Better with age

posted Apr 3rd, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

Imperial Eclipse Stout from Flossmoor Station Brewing Co. won Best of Show during judging for the first Illinois Brewers Guild Barrel-Aged Brew Fest.

The festival — held April 1 at Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery in Chicago — featured 40 beers from 11 states across the country, indicating growing interest in wood- and barrel-aged beer. The Great American Beer Festival added a category for such beers in 2002, and Chicago’s Rock Bottom won the gold.

The festival itself attracted about 200 beer lovers, and plans are already being made for next year. Flossmoor Station brewer Todd Ashman reported that La Folie from New Belgium Brewing Co. (winner of the Traditional Ales & Lagers judging) was particuarly popular, with 36 bottles disappearing quickly. New Belgium’s beers are not available in Chicago. “When attendees asked ‘Where can we buy it?’ then answering ‘Fort Collins, Colorado’ caused a lot of disappointment,” Ashman said.

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French give up on surcharge

posted Apr 2nd, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

Bowing to pressure from the European Union Commission, the French Finance Ministry said Wednesday it has scrapped a special tax on strong beer. The French had suspended the tax in February.

The French government introduced the tax of 2 euros ($2.19) per liter (2.1 pints) of beer with an alcohol content of 8.5% or more in its 2003 budget, saying it would help protect public health. The European Commission, however, had backed a Belgian complaint that the tax discriminated against its exports, since most of the specialty beers affected came from Belgium.

The dispute over the beer tax had made headlines in Belgium, a country where strong beers form a crucial part of culinary culture and are an important export.

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Beer tax protest

posted Mar 31st, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

Wasatch Brewery owner Greg Schirf will step back in time this week to protest a tax bill that raises already high beer taxes in Utah.

He plans to dress up as founding father Ben Franklin on Thursday, and in an updated version of the Boston Tea Party, pour the first kegs of his new 1st Amendment Lager into Great Salt Lake.

Schirf claims he was the prime target of a beer tax bill that mostly Mormon state lawmakers passed last month, and bill sponsor Sen. Mike Waddoups admits he doesn’t like Schirf. “We’re a brewery with a political agenda,” said Schirf, who is also managing partner of the Utah Brewers Cooperative. “We have a political statement to make, but we want to do it with a smile on our face.

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Fish Brewing Co. Announces USDA Organic Certification

posted Mar 27th, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

Fish Brewing Company has announced the release of Fish Tale Wild Salmon Organic Pale Ale, the Brewer’s latest certified organic product. Fish Tale Organic Amber Ale and Fish Tale Organic India Pale Ale earlier earned USDA Organic Certification. These three year-round products have been Certified Organic by the Washington State Department of Agriculture. “We feel that going organic has been the best possible choice for our Company and our customers,” said Crayne Horton, founder of Fish Brewing. “We’ve made a clear commitment to environmental protection, and that decision has made Fish Brewing a stronger company financially, a better place for its employees to work, and a better choice for environmentally conscious consumers. Brewing and selling organic beer has been a win/win situation for all of us.”

In another groundbreaking move by Fish Brewing Company, Wild Salmon Organic Pale Ale is brewed using the first crop of commercially available hops to be grown in the USA under certified organic conditions. Wild Salmon Organic Pale Ale is brewed with Cascade hops, grown in Yakima, WA, and USDA Certified Organic. The availability of these hops is very important to the Mighty Fish Brewers, since the original Wild Salmon Pale Ale had always been brewed with Yakima Cascade hops. With Organic Cascade hops, it is now possible to brew the new Organic Wild Salmon without having to significantly change what has been a very successful flavor profile. The use of Organic Yakima Cascade hops further grounds the Fish Brewing Company s roots in the Cascade region of the Pacific Northwest. Consequently, all three varieties of Fish Tale Organic beer will continue to be labeled with a stamp stating “Brewed in the Republic of Cascadia” printed on the six-pack. “We’re proud to offer our Organic Ales as our gift to the Citizens of Cascadia,” Horton said. “We believe that it will be the natural choice for those Cascadians from Ashland to Bellingham, who are looking to make an environmentally conscious choice when picking their favorite craft beer.”

Malternatives May Be Impacted by Proposed Federal Regulations

posted Mar 27th, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

Malternative producers may be required to make changes in its formulation, labeling, and advertising as a result of new regulations proposed by the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. The proposals would limit the alcohol contribution from flavors and other ingredients containing alcohol to 0.5 percent by volume. It also proposed that the majority of the alcohol in the beverage would be derived from the malt base, and includes additional regulations on labeling and advertising for the beverages.

The Treasury Department said that flavored malt beverages would be taxed as beer and regulated as malt beverages only if less than 0.5 percent of the content of the beverage is from alcohol that comes from distilled spirits rather than from a brewing process. Officials said the rapid growth of the popularity of flavored malt beverages, marketed as alternatives to beer and wine, has prompted the proposed changes. Beer and malt beverages — made through a fermentation process — are taxed and regulated differently than distilled spirits. Many flavored malt beverages get much of their taste and alcohol content from distilled spirits found in their added flavorings.

A TTB press release with a question and answer fact sheet can be seen at www.ttb.gov/press/fy03press/032003publiccomment.htm and more information can be found on the Federal Register site at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov
/2003/pdf/03-6855.pdf
The government also announced that it is seeking public. Written comments must be received by June 22, 2003 in the Federal Register. You can submit comments by mail to Chief, Regulations and Procedures Division, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, P.O. Box 50221, Washington, DC

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La Crosse’s City Brewery to Sell Beer in Chicago Area

posted Mar 24th, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

City Brewery, the successor company that has taken over the former G. Heileman brewery facility in La Crosse, Wisconsin, has been expanding distribution of its own beer brands into the Chicago area. Metropolitan = Chicago was the G. Heileman Brewery’s largest market. Jon Reynolds, City Brewing Co.’s director of sales and marketing predicted last week that the Chicago area will again become the largest market for the La = Crosse brewery’s products. “I’m thinking it will be two to three years” before the Chicago area replaces the La Crosse area as the brewery’s largest market, he told the La Crosse Tribune.

The City Brewery began operating in late 1999, a few months after The Stroh Brewery Co. closed the Heileman brewery and sold Stroh’s brands to = Miller Brewing Co. and Pabst Brewing Co. The brands Pabst acquired included the Old Style and Special Export labels that the La Crosse brewery was best known for. Old Style’s share of the Chicago beer market rose sharply in the late 1970s and early 1980s, peaking at 4 percent in 1982 before it began to erode. “It was truly Chicago’s beer,” said Randy Smith, City Brewing president and former general counsel for the G. Heileman Brewing Co. Reynolds said City Brewery products have been available in northern Illinois counties that border Wisconsin, between Rockford and Lake Michigan, for more than two years. The company’s products were available in about 30 percent of the Chicago market by the end of 2002.

But by the end of this month, City Brewery brands will be available in about 90 percent of the Chicago market, Reynolds said. The Joliet area represents the other 10 percent, he said. “And we’ll be there in the month of May,” he said. The City Brewery is featured in an article headlined “The ghosts of G. Heileman revisit Chicago,” in the March = issue of the free Chicago bar journal “The Tap,” which is available in many taverns there. Reynolds said he has heard nothing but positive = comments in Chicago about City Brewery products. “I believe they are looking for that taste profile – the fully kraeusened, naturally carbonated taste that was a big part of what they grew up with,” he said. Kraeusening is a secondary aging process that naturally carbonates beer and was used to make Old Style and Special Export in La Crosse.

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Wynkoop’s Hickenlooper Runs for Mayor of Denver

posted Mar 17th, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

John Hickenlooper, well known in the craft beer industry as brewpub pioneer and industry supporter, is running for election as mayor of Denver.
There are numerous candidates on the ballot, but the race has boiled down to what the Rocky Mountain News calls a “three-way horse race” – with Hinkenlooper as one of the top three contenders. Hickenlooper has garnered great interest and popularity since officially announcing his bid for election in January. While the other two candidates have extensive political and bureaucratic backgrounds, Hickenlooper stands out among the residents of Denver as a prudent, successful and involved businessman, brewpub entrepreneur and civic leader.

In January and February, he matched the other two candidates nearly dollar for dollar in fund raising. Currently he has the largest amount of available cash-on-hand to fuel the closing months of the campaign. Hickenlooper’s campaign stressed that he has spent the least amount of money among the three candidates and has the most money on hand. “John runs a lean, tight ship,” said Hickenlooper spokeswoman Lindy Eichenbaum Lent. “He’ll be just as frugal with taxpayers’ dollars.”

The general election is May 6th. If none of the candidates receive 50.1% or more of the vote, which appears likely to happen, a run-off election will be held on June 3rd. To find out more about Hickenlooper’s campaign you can visit his web site at www.hickenlooperformayor.com. – Tom McCormick

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Utah boosts beer tax

posted Mar 4th, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

Utah legislators have approved a beer tax increase the goes into effect May 1. The tax on beer will increase from $11 to $12.80 per barrel, down from the $14 increase originally contemplated. Some of the revenue from beer sales and increased license fees will go to combat overconsumption and underage drinking.

Lawmakers also pushed forward the tax hike’s effective date two months to May 1. The early start will help generate revenue needed to balance the 2003-04 general fund, where most of the new tax money will go, in addition to building up the fund for law enforcement.

Arguments against the beer-tax increase focused on the fact that the existing $11 per barrel tax already raises more money than previous legislatures had targeted to help local governments fight DUI cases, and even then, lawmakers have raided those funds repeatedly to cover general expenses.

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Utah boosts beer tax

posted Mar 4th, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

Utah legislators have approved a beer tax increase the goes into effect May 1. The tax on beer will increase from $11 to $12.80 per barrel, down from the $14 increase originally contemplated. Some of the revenue from beer sales and increased license fees will go to combat overconsumption and underage drinking.

Lawmakers also pushed forward the tax hike’s effective date two months to May 1. The early start will help generate revenue needed to balance the 2003-04 general fund, where most of the new tax money will go, in addition to building up the fund for law enforcement.

Arguments against the beer-tax increase focused on the fact that the existing $11 per barrel tax already raises more money than previous legislatures had targeted to help local governments fight DUI cases, and even then, lawmakers have raided those funds repeatedly to cover general expenses.

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Washington brewers protest tax proposal

posted Feb 13th, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

Small brewers in the state of Washington went to the state legislature this week to protest proposals that would significantly raise taxes on beer.

House Bill 1255 proposes to double the tax on selling bottled and canned beer from $1.30 to $2.60 per barrel. The bill would raise another tax imposed on all beer from $2 to $24.36 per barrel. Along with other taxes already in place, brewers estimate they’ll pay a total of $31.74 per barrel, an increase from $8.08, if the bill is passed.

“It is very anti-small-business,” said Crayne Horton, founder of Fish Brewing Co. in Olympia. “They`re going to pass that price on to the consumer,” Horton said.

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Wyoming defeats higher beer tax

posted Jan 30th, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

Legislators in Wyoming have voted against raising the tax on beer in that state, but in New Mexico a state senator has proposed a new tax and backed it with anti-alcohol rhetoric.

All this comes at a time when state governments are face tax shortfalls and looking for additional revenue. Proposals have recently been put forth in Montana, Utah and Washington.

In Wyoming, the House Revenue Committee voted 5-3 against at bill that would have increased the beer tax from about 2 cents to 8 cents per gallon. The bill, sponsored by the Joint Interim Labor, Health and Social Services Interim Committee, would have earmarked proceeds from the tax — probably around $800,000 a year — to help pay for the state’s substance abuse treatment plan, according to Rep. Jane Warren, D-Laramie, who argued for the bill.

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Historic Washington brewery doomed

posted Jan 10th, 2003 by Pat Hagerman

Miller Brewing company said Thursday that it will close its brewery in Tumwater, Wash., ending a 106-year brewing legacy and eliminating the last major brewery in the Northwest. Nearly 400 workers will lose their jobs.

The brewery is probably best known nationally for the brand of beer long produced beside waterfalls on the Deschutes River — Olympia, whose “It’s the water” slogan was famous in the beer world.

“Significant investments would be required to upgrade this facility to standards where other breweries are,” said Michael Brophy, a Miller spokesman. “We cannot justify the cost of its operations beyond the date that we’re planning to close it.” Miller company intends to keep the buildings and grounds in good repair with hopes of finding a buyer, but industry analysts agree there’s little chance that the facility will be used as a brewery.

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Micro cans big beer

posted Nov 13th, 2002 by Pat Hagerman

Oskar Blues Brewery ships a new beer this week in a container unique for a Rocky Mountain craft brewery. Dale’s Pale Ale, a substantial beer at 6.5% alcohol by volume, will be sold along Colorado’s front range in aluminum cans.

Specialty brewers in other parts of the United States and around the world already sell specialty beers in cans, but Oskar Blues — located in the small town of Lyons — is the first from Colorado.

“We like pushing the envelope and stretching the boundaries,” said Dale Katechis, founder of Oskar Blues. “We like hearing something can’t or shouldn’t be done and then doing it. That’s what craft brewing is supposed to be about.”

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