Category: Specialty Industry News
News relating to the craft brewing industry
News BA Releases ‘Year in Beer 2022’ Report with Mixed Signs of Recovery
The Brewers Association today released their “Year in Beer 2022” report, a look back at a year “marked by overall growth but lots of variation.” While there were 200+ breweries that closed during the year, over 550 new breweries have opened, adding to the over 9,000 already operating. But the report also identified a number of challenges for craft brewers in the year ahead, indicating that the headwinds are far from over.
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News Fast Expanding Saucy Brew Works Buys Cartridge Brewing
Cleveland-based Saucy Brew Works, founded just 5 years ago, has rapidly expanded across Ohio and beyond. Its most recent acquisition, the purchase of Cartridge Brewing just outside of Cincinnati will another brand-set to its portfolio.
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News Fire Strikes Two Breweries – One Fatal Killing Owner-Brewer Ray McNeill
Tragedy has struck the craft brewing industry. Fire tore through McNeill’s Brewery Friday night, a longtime fixture in Brattleboro, Vermont, killing founder and owner Ray McNeill who lived in the buildings upstairs apartment. Another fire caused significant damage to Local Brewing in San Francisco early Saturday morning. There were no injuries reported in that incident.
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News Firestone Walker Collaborates with Calwise Spirits to Create ‘Old Tom Big Sur Gin’
Calwise Spirits and Firestone Walker Brewing Company have collaborated together to create “Old Tom Big Sur Gin,” using a special mash made at the brewery. According to a press release, Firestone Walker generated a mash of traditional brewing grains with a complement of wine grape juice, all fermented with native yeast and bacteria.
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News Keurig Dr Pepper Invests $50 Million in Athletic Brewing
Not that we needed any more signs that non-alcoholic beer is surging, but the investment of $50 million into Athletic Brewing Company by Keurig Dr. Pepper is one more indication that the industry sees a lot more growth in the segment.
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News How the Economy and Consumer Habits will Impact the Beer Industry
In a rough and tumble economy, with ballooning inflation and fears of a looming recession, one of the most important indicators of where the beer industry might be headed is how beer drinkers feel about the economy, as measured by the Consumer Sentiment index published regularly by the University of Michigan. According to an analysis by beverage industry consulting firm First Key, this metric is highly predictive of certain beer-buying behaviors, and it’s currently at its lowest level since it was first measured in 1952.
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News A New Trend in Craft Brewing? Lost Abbey Announces Bold Move to ‘Grow Down’
The Lost Abbey, considered to be one of the best American producers of barrel-aged Belgian-style sour ales is making an unusual pivot in a rapidly changing and challenging beer industry: they are ‘growing down.’
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News And the Winners Are….Great American Beer Festival Competition Honors 2022 Winners
The 2022 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) competition awarded 300 medals to the best commercial breweries in the United States. Awards were given out in 98 beer categories covering 177 different beer styles. In addition, three GABF Collaboration medals pairing two professional breweries, and three GABF Pro-Am medals pairing homebrewers with professional brewers, were announced. The awards ceremony was held at the Bellco Theatre in Denver during the 40th anniversary Great American Beer Festival.
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News Two More Oregon Breweries Go Up for Sale
The industry has yet to see a significant number of closures, which many predicted would occur when the pandemic hit. But there does seem to be an uptick in breweries going out of business or looking to sell, as the post-pandemic environment becomes more and more challenging for small brewers.
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News Pilot Project Brewing Buys Milwaukee Brewing Co Facility to Expand Incubator Projects
Pilot Project Brewing, the brewery incubator based in Chicago has purchased the closed Milwaukee Brewing Co. brewery in Milwaukee. The 43,000-square-foot space includes a production facility, taproom and event space.
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News BA to Hold Hopsource in Yakima for Its Fifth Year
Brewers Association (BA) staff will conduct the Hopsource hop sensory assessment in Yakima, Washington again in 2022. Brewers and industry members visiting Yakima for hop selection will have the opportunity to evaluate over 20 varieties of hops that are being considered for advancement in the BA-funded United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Public Hop Breeding Program.
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News Larry Bell to Open Beer Memorabilia Museum Along with Collection of History Books & Jazz Artifacts
Larry Bell, craft beer pioneer who founded Bell’s Brewery in 1985, is set to convert a warehouse he currently owns in Kalamazoo, Michigan to become a display hall for his collection of brewery industry memorabilia.
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News Maui Brewing and Modern Times to Operate Under New Entity of Craft ‘Ohana
With the Modern Times acquisition by Maui Brewing Co. expected to close in late October, the company has announced that new parent company will be called Craft ‘Ohana (Ohana being the Hawaiian name for ‘family’).
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News Will the ‘Paradox of Choice’ Require Craft Beer to Simplify?
Posted by Tom McCormick
A long-running study of Americans’ attitudes, values and purchasing behavior has shown that a new consumer trend may be emerging: a newfound desire for simplicity and simplified choices. This may not bode well for the craft beer segment, and some industry analysists are pointing to it as a root cause for the sluggish performance of craft beer coming out of the pandemic.
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