Beer

(Austin, TX) – Following House passage of a package of beer industry reform bills, Jester King Craft Brewery co-founder, Jeff Stuffings, shared some news on Beer Advocate this week. — We’ve filed for our brewpub license. It makes sense for us, if the law changes, since we only make about 1,500 barrels per year. We’re looking forward to (hopefully) selling bottles for on-site consumption as well as bottles to go. Assuming the bills are signed into law, I think we’ll see what’s the norm in most other states start to emerge in Texas for those breweries holding a brewpub license. Limited releases that are likely to sell through very quickly will take place at the brewery itself. The example that immediately comes to mind for me is Allagash’s coolship beer, which as I understand is only sold at their brewery when it’s available. Larger releases that won’t sell though in a few days or weeks at the brewery itself end up being sent through the distributor and retail tiers. In your case, your ability to get beers like Le Petit Prince, Noble King, Black Metal, etc. should not change. I would however expect for small, limited upcoming releases like Atrial Rubicite to happen exclusively at our brewery, again assuming the laws change. The upside as I see it for retailers, is that breweries being allowed to sell beer will help them grow much faster and add additional capacity. This ultimately means a greater amount and diversity of beer for the retailer to sell. As always, thanks for supporting us by selling our beer. — Stuffings also said in the same thread that for Oi Oi!, he “foresse[s] a bottling run in the fall that will make it to Houston.”

In light of this very acute capacity problem, we’ve already been at work on a little project called Freetail2 which is exactly what it sounds like: a second brewery. We will build another brewery in the San Antonio area, licensed as a brewpub, capable of producing up to 10,000 or more. In addition to making beer for on-premise consumption or for selling growlers, bottles or kegs to consumers, this brewery will produce Freetail beer for the wholesale market. More >> Brewed and Never Battered.

According to Citi, a combination of an increase in promotional spending and a decrease in pricing helped sales grow in dollar terms by 18%. While the beer sales — pushed along by some successful seasonal specials — were up, the whole company did even better; including cider and malt beverages, sales were up 43% More >> WSJ.

If you're a fan of the NHL or really sports in general, you already know that the National Hockey League playoffs have been incredibly exciting this year. Even last night, the New York Rangers defied the odds and held off elimination by defeating the Boston Bruines 4-3 in Overtime after being down in the series 0-3. The other day I received the above #beertography that I thought was a really great representation of playoff hockey. Granted I'm not a fan of the Los Angeles Kings, but what a fantastic photo. Thanks to Ian Sheppard who has now sent in two fantastic photographs specifically for use on the site! Here's his previous work of art. The beer he highlighted is the Eraser IPA from Rough Draft Brewing out of San Diego. If you've got a spare minute and a good camera, go ahead and try to compose an interesting piece of beertography. It's not always easy. Most of the time we reach for our phones because it's easy and still takes quality pictures, but sometimes it's worth grabbing the SLR and trying to compose something different. Be sure to check out Ian's website and hire him for all your photographic and beertographic needs!

In the letter, which was sent to six federal ministers, the brewers said: "The legal changes planned by the federal government to date are not sufficient to guarantee the security of drinking water supplies and to take into account the requirements of the Reinheitsgebot." A spokesperson for the federation confirmed the contents of the letter to SPIEGEL ONLINE. More >> Spiegel Online.

Just a quick reminder that Indiana City will host its official opening Saturday, May 25th from 2 - 8pm. They expect to have three regulars plus their seasonal IPA available for purchase. They will have live music and beers pouring outside as well as inside the tasting room. The outside beers are cash only, but they do accept cards inside the tasting room. Enjoy!

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Have you ever wondered what it takes to become a Certified Cicerone? This week on Beer America TV we talk to the founder and Program Director, Ray Daniels, about what the test is all about, how difficult it is, and why it’s a certification worth getting if you work, or would like to work, in [...]

The Kiuchi Brewery in Japan was founded in 1823 as a Sake brewery, diversifying into beers only in late 1996, they now brew a range of eleven beers, many of which have won international awards. By all accounts they ARE available in the states. The first of their brews that caught my eye was their ‘White Ale’ with the brewery’s trademark Owl staring out from the label. This is brewed in traditional Belgian style, with a recipe that includes Lager and Wheat malts, Perle and Styrian Golding hops, coriander, orange peel, nutmeg and orange juice.

Thursday’s ad is for Miller Beer, from 1959. It’s another one of Miller’s minimalist ads from the late fifties. Showing a scene that’s looks to be a fancy cocktail party, but one where tuxedoed guests sit on the floor and there’s a gold plated beer bucket cooling the Miller High Life. I have to wonder, though. What exactly is “truly genuine.”