Ex-Surly Brewer Todd Haug Joins Three Floyds
Less than two weeks after departing Minnesota’s Surly Brewing, former brewer Todd Haug has confirmed plans to join Indiana’s Three Floyds Brewing Co.
Haug’s exit from Surly after nearly a decade as the head of brewing operations caught many in the beer industry by surprise.
Now it appears his departure was acrimonious. Mpls.St.Paul Magazine reported that Haug didn’t feel supported at Surly, especially after the Twin Cities brewery let his wife, Linda, who had sold her restaurant to build the menu in Surly’s beer hall, go earlier this year.
The magazine reported that “Todd had no ownership stake, employee-stock, or any other financial incentive to remain at Surly, a brewery that ballooned from a tiny startup to a $35 million dollar destination brewery in the decade that Todd was inventing, brewing, naming, branding, and marketing beers for them.” (Namely, Todd the Axe Man West Coast-style IPA.)
“I’m just a lowly brewmaster,” Haug told the magazine. “They marketed the shit out of me. When I saw what they did to Linda, after she never had a bad performance review or one word of warning, I had to ask, could they do the same thing to me?”
In addition to brewing, Haug plans to assist head brewer Chris Boggess with Three Floyds’ expansion and the addition of a distillery. Linda Haug will also join the Three Floyds team as a consultant with the brewpub.
Hood River Juice Co. President Acquires Interest in Wandering Aengus Ciderworks
Hood River Juice Company president David Ryan has purchased a stake in Salem, Oregon’s Wandering Aengus Ciderworks, according to a press release.
Ryan is now a co-owner and manager, along with James Kohn.
“David has been a great supporter and supplier to both us and the cider industry for over seven years,” Kohn said in the release. “The new partnership will provide our company access to resources and expertise to further refine our quality and expand sales of both of our Wandering Aengus and Anthem brands in existing markets and new ones too.”
Untappd’s ‘Software for Businesses’ Grows to 3,000 Partners
Untapped is no longer just for checking in your beers and leveling up with badges. The beer-focused social-networking app has partnered with 3,000 bars, bottle shops, breweries, restaurants and retailers worldwide to showcase their inventories to nearby consumers through Untappd for Business, according to a press release.
“By having thousands of businesses on the new Untappd for Business platform, Untappd users are able to find almost any beer nearby, as well as learn about upcoming beer-related events in their area,” Untappd Co-Founder Greg Avola said in the release. “And on the business side, Untappd’s partners find tremendous value from not only connecting with this audience, but also through a host of operational efficiencies.”
Untappd for business also allows businesses to custom print menus, post to social media, integrate with Facebook and websites, add digital beer boards and review analytics. The platform is currently being used by Total Wine, ABC Wine and Spirits, Old Chicago, New Belgium and Green Flash, among others.
Samuel Adams Collaborates with Berkshire Mountain Distillers
Massachusetts’ Berkshire Mountain Distillers and Samuel Adams started collaborating on a whiskey four years ago, and now the finished product is finally making its way to market.
Two Lanterns American Whiskey is the first of its kind to be distilled with Boston Lager, the company said. The distillery used 25,000 gallons of Boston Lager to make the 1,000 gallons of whiskey that, according to a press release, began selling in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey and Georgia this week.
Priced at $120 per bottle, the whiskey was made by aging distilled Boston Lager for four years in bourbon barrels. Those barrels are now heading back to Boston Beer Company and will be used for another barrel-aged beer, the company said.
Debunking the Bourbon County Birthdate
Goose Island’s sought-after Bourbon County Stout may not be as old as the 1992 date on the bottles, according to the Chicago Tribune’s Josh Noel.
Noel, who is writing a book chronicling the history of the Windy City brewery, challenged the ‘92 origin story in his latest column claiming that the beer was actually first delivered in 1995.
So how did the 1992 date make its way to the label? It was apparently a best guess estimate by former brewmaster, Greg Hall.
“That’s based on our average of 200 brews a year beginning in 1988 at the Clybourn Brewpub,” he wrote to Noel, “and we brewed the first batch of Bourbon County Stout to celebrate our 1,000th brew.”
Through his reporting, Noel connected with Percy Young, an assistant Goose Island brewer from April 1995 through April 1996. Young said he remembered the barrels arriving in the summer of ‘95 and being filled with a Russian imperial stout that he and Hall had brewed.
Noel’s investigation continually traces the origin to ‘95, including online database searches and interviews with a restauranteur who held a Goose Island beer dinner and records of BCS being served at the Great American Beer Fest. It’s a fascinating read.
Anthony Bourdain is Tired of Beer Snobs
Anthony Bourdain just isn’t that into beer.
The celebrity chef and vagabond told Thrillist that he doesn’t like talking about beer — or wine — and he’s definitely not willing to “analyze it.” Bourdain recalled a trip to San Francisco in which he found himself in a microbrewery where beer snobs with tasting glasser were taking notes on their drinks.
“This is not what a bar is about,” he told Thrillist. “A bar is to go to get a little bit buzzed, and pleasantly derange the senses, and have a good time, and interact with other people, or make bad decisions, or feel bad about your life. It’s not to sit there fucking analyzing beer. It’s antithetical.”
Idaho Court Says A-B InBev can Own 10 Barrel Brewpub
Despite producing more than 180 million barrels of beer a year, Anheuser-Busch InBev can own the 10 Barrel brewpub in Boise, an Idaho district court has ruled, according to Alcohol Law Review.
An Idaho statute appeared to restrict a brewer producing more than 30,000 barrels of beer a year to hold a retail, brewpub or wholesale license. A-B InBev makes more than six times that amount of beer and 10 Barrel brews more than 40,000 barrels of beer, but an Idaho court came to this conclusion:
“Whatever the legislature intended, it did not preclude an international giant in the industry from buying out the local competition of brewers so long as the local entity operates within the statutory parameters for its own product. If this is not the result intended by the legislature, the solution falls to the legislature.”
So the court throws it back on the Idaho Legislature to ultimately clarify its definition.
Pennsylvania Alcohol Laws Getting a Makeover
Pennsylvania’s Prohibition-era laws are getting an overhaul. For starters, distributors can now sell six-packs, growlers or any configuration that beer comes in.
Beer drinkers can get up to 192 oz. of beers shipped to their homes each month. Taverns can offer beer at 9 a.m. without providing food. And bars and restaurants can enact mug clubs.
Wine lovers can finally buy bottles of wine at grocery stores, hotels and restaurants instead of government-owned and operated stores.
The Pepper Hamilton Law Firm detailed the entirety of the changes. Read up here.
Marijuana is Bigger than Craft Beer in Colorado
Budweiser might claim to be the king of beers, but a different kind of Bud is king in Colorado.
The marijuana industry in Colorado generated $2.39 billion last year, besting the $1.7 billion generated by the craft beer industry, Denverite reported, citing a report issued by the Marijuana Policy Group.
The Denver-based research group’s report added that marijuana tax revenues were triple that of alcohol, and the industry employed 12,591 people last year, compared to the 7,776 who worked in craft beer.
Actual marijuana sales are expected to peak at $1.52 billion by 2020, the group said.
Cannabis-Infused Beer Kickstarter Fails
Despite national media attention, Aurora, Colorado’s Dad & Dude’s Breweria failed to reach its $50,000 Kickstarter goal for the rollout of General Washington’s Secret Stash IPA.
The campaign generated just $4,612 from 62 backers.
“There was so much content on the Kickstarter page and in our video that I think the idea was lost. I didn’t voice it very well,” Dad & Dude’s co-owner Mason Hembree told Denver alt-weekly Westword. “Most of the press was on the existence of the beer itself and the ingredients. I don’t think people realized the opportunity existed to fund the Kickstarter.”
Dad & Dude’s will relaunch the campaign in 2017.
The Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) granted the brewery federal formula approval to make the IPA, which contains several cannabinoid compounds but no tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
Yuengling Owner Supports Donald Trump
The owner of the oldest brewery in the nation is backing Donald Trump’s bid for the presidency. Last week, Eric Trump, the son of the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, toured D.G. Yuengling & Son’s facility in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
“Our guys are behind your father,” Richard “Dick” Yuengling Jr. told the younger Trump, according to the Reading Eagle. “We need him in there.”
In turn, Eric Trump called Yuengling “an amazing American success story. We need a lot more of these.”
Aeronaut Brewing, the Lights Out Collaborate on Sci-Fi Album/Beer
Somerville, Massachusetts-based Aeronaut Brewing Co. has teamed up with The Lights Out rock band for a sci-fi album release and beer collaboration called T.R.I.P.
“The beer fuels your trip through the multiverse, and the album is the soundtrack to that journey,” The Lights Out guitarist Adam Ritchie said in a press release. “Aeronaut embraced the spirit of this album from the start, and was the perfect co-pilot to help us bring T.R.I.P. into this reality.”
“We designed this beer to pair with the album,” said Aeronaut CEO Ben Holmes in the press statement. “It’s packed with galaxy hops, clocks in at 7.5% ABV and is refreshing to drink.”
Cans of Aeronaut’s T.R.I.P., “an imperial session IPA — a paradox in a can,” feature instructions on how to get a copy of The Lights Out’s album of the same name through social media.