Beer

New York is making great strides in helping its own producers and retailers sell their own products. BeerPulse had a link to this story today:Gov. Andrew Cuomo and top lawmakers struck a deal this week on a bill that would make it easier for farmers to make their own hard ciders in New York. The bill, released Monday, would allow farm owners to make up the 150,000 gallons of cider each year, provided that it is made entirely with New York products. The measure would create a new license for farm cideries, which would allow them to host tastings and sell New York-made beers and spirits, as well.The state already had license systems for farm breweries and spirit makers, but didn’t have a system in place for cider makers. Here is the draft law with the changes shown as underlines. I like how the local breweries and cideries are being set up to help each other over the long term. There's a similar aspect to the news from Brooklyn Brewery about their new beer, Greenmarket Wheat: "[w]heat comes from upstate's Watertown, barley from Hadley, Massachusetts and honey from bees who reside in Chemung County, NY." That sounds fairly yum. Valley Malt is the supplier in Hadley. Pretty sure Valley Malt supplied the pale malt for 2012's Vassar Heirloom Ale I help Beau's with. Valley Malt also came up at the Albany Pump Station when Craig and I were there a couple of weeks ago. Which all suggests that agriculturally, politically, culturally and commercially something may be coming together in a very interesting way in New York state. Building wealth, identity and pride through making, buying and drinking your own makes a lot of sense.

Shaping the #Blog Post You're Writing via @chrislema @danisecodekas @tedcoine #blogger #writer

Deep Ellum Brewing Company announced today that Jeremy Hunt — whose resume includes former head brewer at Dogfish Head Craft Brewery — will take over as brewmaster following Drew Huerter’s exit in April. Most recently, Hunt was brewmaster at Bluegrass Brewing Company in Louisville, Kentucky. Hunt was with Bluegrass for approximately a year and a half. More >>Pegasus News.

Press Release: (San Marcos, CA) – St. Nicholas makes his way to the Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey Tasting Room for the 5th Annual release of Bourbon Barrel-aged Santa’s Little Helper (Port’s Imperial Stout) and a Christmas in July celebration to benefit The Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation on Saturday, July 13th, 2013. Whether you’ve been naughty or nice through the first half of the year, as long as you bring an unwrapped toy (valued at $15 or more) you’re in! Did your dog eat your toy along with your homework from 1995? Not a problem, for just $15 at the door you’re set to join us for food, fun, entertainment and photos with Santa all included! (This is a Family-Friendly event) The Port Brewing and Lost Abbey “Giving Tree” will also be making an appearance, for an extra donation to Toys for Tots, you’ll receive a gift from the tree. Gifts can include rare bottles, Port Brewing / Lost Abbey gear, tickets to our legendary Barrel Night during San Diego Beer Week or a Lost Abbey Ultimate Box Set. All of The Lost Abbey and Port Brewing’s full core lineup of beers will be available, plus a few specialty taps will be available (more info to come). Besides the fat man in the red suit (who will be available for pictures throughout the day), we’ll also be celebrating 5 years of releasing a Bourbon barrel-aged version of our Imperial Stout, Santa’s Little Helper. A robust beer with tones of sweet malt, dark cocoa and notes of deep bourbon, Santa’s Little Helper is the perfect accompaniment to fruit cake during a California Christmas in July. About Port Brewing / The Lost Abbey Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey produces an extensive line-up of continental and American- inspired ales and lagers. Under the direction of visionary brewmaster and co-founder Tomme Arthur, the brewery has garnered dozens of awards in its seven year history including the 2007 Great American Beer Festival Small Brewery of the Year and the 2008 world Beer Cup Champion Small Brewery. The company’s beers, many of which are aged in oak barrels for 12 months or longer, are universally recognized for their complexity, unique flavors and bold boundary-pushing styles.

San Marcos, CA – St. Nicholas makes his way to the Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey Tasting Room for the 5th Annual release of Bourbon…The post Port Brewing / Lost Abbey Celebrate Christmas in July appeared first on thefullpint.com.

Tomorrow over at Food GPS, my altar ego talks about where he went after leaving the Firestone Walker Invitational… More details on the beer will be there, but for now, the travelogue…. STOP # 1 Barrelhouse Brewing in Paso Robles STOP # 2 Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. in Buellton Oh, and one stop that I missed that you will just have to read about tomorrow.

From Cigar City – The legacy of a place is determined by its ability to maintain a standard of excellence over a tried and true l…The post Cigar City Legacy appeared first on thefullpint.com.

Press Release: (San Francisco, CA) – W.G. Barr Beverage Company, a new Bay Area startup, today announced the release of T.W. Pitchers’ Snake Bite, a bottled blend of beer and apple cider based on a popular British pub-mixed drink. Wilson Barr and Tommy Hester, the founders of W.G. Barr Beverage Company, met at Williams College in 2007, where they were teammates on the Varsity baseball team. While at school, they found a shared interest in the burgeoning craft beer industry and began hatching plans to start their own beverage company. However, it wasn’t until Barr studied abroad and visited Great Britain that the friends’ concept started gaining traction. “During my time in the U.K., I saw people at pubs ordering round after round of this mixture of lager and cider called Snake Bite,” says Barr. “It was flavorful, crisp, and really easy to drink. I quickly realized Snake Bite had the potential to be a successful beverage in the United States.” Two years later, after crafting a business plan and spending many late nights taste testing, Barr and Hester are launching T.W. Pitchers’ Snake Bite, a new version of that British pub favorite bottled for the first time. Although their drink has just been introduced to bars and stores in the San Francisco Bay Area, the partners think Snake Bite can become a mainstay in Northern California and beyond. “Our product is unique and one of the first beer cocktails on the market,” explains Hester. “We fill an exciting new niche in the industry.” “Snake Bite will appeal to a wide range of people,” Barr adds. “Our blend lets you taste the characteristics of both the lager and the cider, making Snake Bite simultaneously balanced, refreshing, and very drinkable.” Barr and Hester are introducing Snake Bite at a time when there has been substantial growth in the hard cider market. In 2012, U.S. hard cider sales grew 65 percent compared to the previous year and many industry experts believe growth will continue as new and innovative products like Snake Bite are introduced1. T.W. Pitchers’ Snake Bite is available in San Francisco Bay Area bars and retail stores at a suggested price of $7.49 – $7.99 per 4-pack (12 oz. bottles). Snake Bite contains 5.1% alcohol by volume. About W.G. Barr Beverage Company Founded in 2011 and based in San Francisco, W.G. Barr Beverage Company owns the T.W. Pitchers’ Snake Bite brand. It is privately held and committed to bringing consumers original, high quality beverages.

(St. Paul, MN) – Summit Brewing Company Founder and President, Mark Stutrud, discussed the brewery’s expansion at the recent St. Paul Summer Beer Festival. Summit broke ground on a $6 million expansion last November, several months before it originally planned to due to rapid growth in market demand. To illustrate, production increased 8% to 112,450 barrels in 2012 and could have rose higher if not for capacity constraints it encountered last summer. The latest phase of the expansion wraps up soon. To recap some expansion highlights, the brewery reported the following back in November… Although we have been quietly investing an annual average of $1.7 million into the brewery over the past 10 years, this is the most ambitious expansion since the building of the new brewery back in 1998. The truth of the matter is that we have hit the wall on capacity. The brewery had to cut 12 brews this year due to capacity issues, so the original expansion date of June 2013 had to be moved up to this month. The current capacity of the brewery is 120,000 barrels (bbls) a year. The $6 million expansion will increase our production capacity to 240,000 bbls a year. The addition of 7,632 square feet of cellar space and twelve 600 bbl fermentation vessels will be completed by June 2013. We are partnering with some great Minnesota companies: DCI in St. Cloud is fabricating the tanks, our general contractor is Burnsville-based PCL Construction Services, and our engineering/architecture firm is Van Sickle, Allen & Associates out of Plymouth. New Tanks Stutrud touches on a lot of those same points though he clarifies that they are adding 800-barrel tanks (not 600-barrel tanks). Each tank holds four brews out of the 150-barrel brewhouse. The 200-barrel overage in each tank, as Stutrud explains, is for krausening. Six of the twelve tanks are in place and Summit brewed into them for the first time earlier this month. The other six will arrive soon. Summit is currently brewing 3-4 times a day, five days a week, and can increase that with the new tanks. New Cellar The new cellar space can hold two dozen tanks so the other 50% of the space will be reserved for future expansion up to 360,000 barrels of capacity. It will be highly automated compared to its existing cellar where brewers have to do things manually (like lug hoses around) and feature new-to-North America equipment from Pentair. The valve tops have LED lights when they are in-use, need maintenance, etc. Other tidbits…Summit added a centrifuge and separator last year, moving away from Diatomaceous Earth. The brewery added a sheet filter for additional ‘brilliance,’ primarily for lagers. Extra Space: Summit bought property next to its front plaza where it plans to add an outdoor beer garden next year that overlooks the Mississippi River (3.5 acres and 38,000 square feet?). If the brewery passes 300,000 barrels and gets uncomfortably close to that 360k-bbl capacity mark, it can add a second brewhouse in that additional area. New Distribution: Summit accounts for only 2.3% market share in the state of Minnesota. Stutrud looks to push up to 5-6% and grab market share away from the big companies. On that note, Stutrud says focus will remain on Minnesota and neighboring states like Iowa, Wisconsin and North Dakota. They will remain careful and selective with new distribution partners. Stutrud jokes that they won’t be impeding on Stone’s territory in San Diego or doing big tap takeovers. There is some availability in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and Florida where Summit partnered with JJ Taylor (JJ Taylor has Minnesota and Florida branches). New Beers: One of the twelve beers that Summit discontinued in 2012 was Hefeweizen though the brewery did replace it with a Kolsch. That beer “took off like a rocket” and Summit brewed more than double what initially projected. Summit also introduced Saga IPA around the same time and that beer was equall

HOP PROJECT #73 NOW AVAILABLE! Good news, hop heads!  Our newest incarnation of Hop Project is now available for your enjoyme…The post Yazoo Hop Project #73 Now Available appeared first on thefullpint.com.