Summer is here, y’all! I don’t know about you, but I plan to raise my fair share of pints wherever I go, including some of the most unique ways to celebrate the craft. From hiking and biking to balloons and tunes, I’m hitting the road in search of my new favorite festivals, not to mention great patios worth sitting a spell. The water’s plenty warm, and the suds plenty cold. So, come on out and toast to summer with me!

Chicago, Ill.: Friday Night Flights

May–September

Produced by the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild in partnership with Choose Chicago, Friday Night Flights began celebrating its sixth year with the first of a four-part series on May 27. Chicago reportedly has more breweries than any other city in America, with more than 160. Each month a different neighborhood will be showcased: Gallagher Way in Wrigleyville (which took place on May 27), Bridgeport (June 24), Chicago Brewing District (August 26), and Ravenswood (September 16). Within each neighborhood, the beer lineup will vary, and different cuisine and music each week highlight this inclusive way to explore the unofficial craft beer capital of the United States.

 Yakima, Wash.: Ales for ALS at Bale Breaker

June 25

Responsible for over 75 percent of the nation’s hops, Yakima’s prized crop can be found in beer glasses all across America. It’s hard to beat an outdoor brewery setting on one of those working hop farms, B.T. Loftus Ranches, at the peak of growing season. Bale Breaker Brewing Company just completed an expansion of its patio to include fire pits and great places to hang out just in time for Ales for ALS on June 25. The family, who has a history of ALS, has embraced this cause, donating a blend of experimental hops every year to more than 130 breweries around the U.S. who create a signature brew and donate at least $1 per pint to the cause, collectively raising more than $4 million since 2013 toward ALS research. As part of the Ales for ALS festivities, Bale Breaker brews an annual release of Bubba’s Brew in honor of the uncle of co-owners Meghann Smith Quinn and Kevin Smith.

Southern Border of Yosemite National Park, Calif.: Ales and Trails

July 13–17

Beginning and ending at Bass Lake, this five-day, pack-supported backpacking trip is an experience of a lifetime featuring stunning mountain scenery and craft beers. Spend your days exploring the Ansel Adams Wilderness on the southern border of Yosemite National Park, where you’ll find sweeping granite ridges with gorgeous views of the mountains and wildflower-strewn meadows along with sparkling high-mountain lakes offering a lifetime of fishing possibilities. There will even be an option for an ascent of one of the 10,000+ foot peaks. Come nightfall, enjoy craft beers from South Gate Brewing Company including a signature brew made specially for the trip. During happy hour, brewmaster Rick Boucke will be on the ready for tips and tricks for crafting your own special brews. “Hopportunity is knocking” for you to head to the hills on this one!

Portland, Ore.: Oregon Brewers Festival

July 28–30

Held the last full weekend of July for more than 30 years, the Oregon Brewers Festival brings more than 80 craft brews to Portland for a four-day brewfest, the largest gathering of its kind in North America. One of the country’s longest-running and best-loved craft beer festivals, the event is situated in downtown Waterfront Park on the banks of the Willamette River and attracts award-winning beers, live music, food vendors, beer memorabilia, and homebrewing demonstrations every year.

Franklin, Tenn.: Pilgrimage Music and Cultural Festival

September 24–25

If you’ve ever spent any time in the South on a hot September day, you’d say, “Hell yeah, it’s still summer!” Headliners this year at the Pilgrimage Music and Cultural Festival at the Park at Harlinsdale Farm include Chris Stapleton and Brandi Carlile. But the craft beer hall is a top act for festival goers, too. Located under a giant tent and featuring eight of Asheville, N.C.-based Wicked Weed Brewing’s most popular and seasonal beers, the beer hall will also offer local and regional brews on draught. It’s a big weekend for football, too, so the brew hall will show NCAA and NFL programming on LED screens the entire weekend.

If patio sipping is more your thing, here are some unique locales to check out this summer.

Arnaudville, La.: Bayou Teche Brewing

“What happens in the swamp ought to be in your cooler” is this Cajun Country favorite’s mantra. Acadiana’s first brewery has grown into a full experience, complete with live music, jam sessions, trivia, movie nights, annual events such as burning of the crawfish, onsite pizza place Cajun Saucer Pizza, and an arcade for the kids with vintage games. You’ll enjoy bayou views from the brewery’s patio and other outdoor seating.

Lake Charles, La.: Rikenjaks Brewing Company

One of the most prized craft beer experiences in Lake Charles, Rikenjaks Brewing Company offers 16 beers on tap with family-friendly entertainment and activities such as live music, karaoke, and giant-sized games like Connect 4 and Jenga. The fully restored Midtown Lake Charles 70-year-old bungalow features a 300-person capacity beer garden fit for low country fun year-round.

Fort Worth, Texas: Second Rodeo Brewing

Recently opened in Fort Worth’s Mule Alley (the revitalized horse and mule barns in the city’s Stockyards District), Second Rodeo Brewing is an outdoor beer garden, brewery, and live entertainment venue that resembles an eccentric Texan artist’s junkyard studio. True to Fort Worth’s “Funkytown” persona, there are quirky details around every corner, including a giant swing, cowboy boots hanging from chandeliers, colorful chairs made from repurposed beer barrels, and a paint-splattered standing piano on the performance stage. Under a retractable roof, guests can enjoy handcrafted beers, Western-inspired cocktails, and a unique menu of dressed-up comfort food while playing a variety of lawn games or jamming out to authentic Texas music.

Nashville, Tenn.: Tennessee Brew Works

Tennessee Brew Works’ two patios are dog-friendly and family friendly, and the brewery’s State Park Blonde Ale benefits the 56 Tennessee state parks. The brewery also offers beers made with 100-percent all-Tennessee grain. Each quarter, the brewery selects a local charity, with each Sunday’s pint sales going toward the effort. Also, you can’t visit Music City without savoring the copious opportunities to hear music. Tennessee Brew Works features amazing live music on the regular with a mouth-watering menu and some of the best brown water produced in these parts by George Dickel and Uncle Nearest.

Ocean Springs, Miss.: Lost Springs Brewing Company

Offering an ever-evolving selection of small batch, locally-inspired in-house brews with names like Porter Porter (named after Porter Ave.) and 1699 Pale Ale (named after the year OS was founded), Lost Springs also has timely brews to commemorate events, such as Betty Wit, a Belgian-style witbier brewed in celebration of the one and only Betty White. With comfy lounge areas and locally made bar tables, the covered patio is situated in the heart of downtown Ocean Springs. It’s the perfect place to spend an afternoon people-watching and soaking in the lively downtown atmosphere.

Wilmington, N.C.: aView Rooftop Bistro

On the seventh floor of the new Aloft, offering scenic views of the Cape Fear River along with seasonal outdoor seating areas with firepits, aView is committed to serving local Wilmington craft brews including offerings from Edward Teach Brewery, Wilmington Brewing Company, Wrightsville Beach Brewery, and Flying Machine Brewing Company. The property is connected to the 100-year-old historic Coastline Center, which was constructed for the Atlantic Coastline Railroad and was used as its headquarters from the early 1900s to the 1960s. Here’s to enjoying the craft among those who’ve gone before us!

The post A Toast to Summer: Festivals, Patios, and Benefits appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Dr. Thomas Curtin, a coroner’s physician and eye surgeon, reportedly coined the pigmented idea at a St. Paddy’s Day party at a Bronx social club in 1914.

If you believe in fairies, well, this could take more than a few shamrocks for illustration. Irish lore suggests wearing green as protective armor in case of a rare leprechaun sighting. And, if you get caught on St. Patrick’s Day without sporting a leprechaun-approved hue, you’re liable to get pinched.

So, if you’re donning the green this holiday season, here are two Irish-American breweries to consider.

Beth Bechtel of Bear Island Brewing in Boise, Idaho has Irish roots beyond the potatoes her state is so famous for. Her mother is from County Antrim, home of Bushmills Irish Whiskey and a host of breweries. “In Ireland there’s such a respect for beer,” insists Bechtel. “It’s not about getting trashed, it’s about communion with friends.” Bechtel has considered throwing a handful of shamrocks and clover into this year’s batch of I-rish You Enough, an Irish red IPA made with authentic Irish oats and named after the traditional Irish blessing. “Gosh, if I were to find a four-leaf clover in our beer, maybe we all would have better luck during the pandemic,” she mused. On St. Patrick’s Day, the Bear Island taproom will host the Boise Fire Department, kilts and all, for a special day of pipes, drums, and other Irish culture. You can also join Bechtel at the Treefort Music Fest March 23-27, featuring a special Alefort that will showcase the intersection of craft beer and local cuisine in Boise.

McLovin, a beer created by brewmaster Scott Manning at Vintage Brewing Company in Madison, Wis., was originally intended as a seasonal bridge between Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day, but was embraced by the locals so much that it was added to the flagship lineup. The Irish red ale boasts a deep copper color and smooth, toasty caramel malt character, with just a touch of roasted barley in the finish. But if you’re in Madison on St. Patrick’s Day and can’t resist hoisting a green beer, Sister Golden is the go-to Kölsch on tap. “My bartenders put one drop of blue food coloring per pint for that yellow-and-blue-makes-green effect,” says Manning. “I didn’t put a stamp of approval on that, but there’s always a knucklehead who wants green beer. I used to be that knucklehead, so I don’t want to turn customers away.” Manning offers this pro tip: “All that green beer in pubs will be half price the day after.” With three food-focused taprooms, Manning assures that Vintage’s St. Patrick’s Day menu will read like an Irish pub’s with corned beef and cabbage—along with other Irish delicacies—front and center. “I will have to wear green that day and show up for my people,” he adds.

No matter how you plan to celebrate a man who transformed an entire country, remember St. Patrick’s words with good cheer: “Here’s to a long life and a merry one. A quick death and an easy one.”

The post Donning, Downing, and Drowning the Shamrock: A Sordid Tale of Green Beer appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

When the pandemic hit its stride last year, and travel came to a screeching halt, it became painfully obvious that my storytelling needed a bit of diversification in order to sustain such a career dependent upon tourism. Sharing my hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee, with others felt like the most viable addition. In a town of 150,000, Clarksville boasts seven independent breweries and is expecting a couple more to hit the scene by 2022. So, I did what any writer worth their salt does in the beginning. I started with what I knew. “You have a captive, dedicated audience, which has already bought into the idea and wants to try something new,” says Dustyn Brewer, co-owner of Clarksville’s Kings Bluff Brewery. “That’s part of the ethos of a brewery in the first place. It also introduces people to the fabric of our community.”

An invaluable community member, he champions the idea of bringing such tours to Clarksville saying, “We know who and what we are, and that goes right in line with offering more craft beer amenities to the community. So, for beer tourism it makes sense to be involved. The more the merrier.” Brewer worked diligently with local lawmakers to pass Tennessee bill HB1085/SB1022 allowing individuals to walk in the downtown entertainment district with a semi-sealed open container on specified occasions.

The bike culture in Clarksville also seems to be catching wind with its rolling hills and picturesque landscapes. Just as hops and barley go together, so does cycling and beer. Such affinity proved most evident with the first year of Tour de France in 1903 which was a literal picnic on wheels where the beer and wine consumed were for merely nutritional purposes, wink wink.

Here in the states, brew brands such as New Belgium Brewing have taken this perfect pairing and ran (or pedaled in this instance) with it. Yet, while having an accident on a bicycle might not be the ticket you want, and it may even become the butt of your friend’s jokes, it’s something to consider. That’s why designing tours with safety top priority is so important.

In the state where big is always best, “Texans are used to using vehicles to cover a lot of ground. A big part of establishing the city tours is the awareness of how safe and fun cycling is,” says Bronwen Gregory, the previous visitor experience director for Visit Fort Worth. “While former Mayor Betty Price and now Mayor Mattie Parker are extremely bike-friendly, both have been happy to support anything in a healthful way.” Each year the city promotes a special Tour de Fort Worth to coincide with Tour de France, and also presents a rolling Town Hall.

Visit Fort Worth chose not to design a cycling craft beer tour, per se. Instead, Gregory says she’s designed all sorts of self-led tours that are ale trail themed so that tourists can go at their own pace with rented bikes through the Ft Worth Bike Sharing, upon which Gregory serves on their board. Gregory has been in the tourism business for more than twenty years and says that “There’s a growing appreciation with educational experiences either on their own time, or guided experiences that are human powered.” Especially in a time when the pandemic seems to refuse to give up the fight, she adds, “It really gives people a chance to explore a neighborhood without being separated by glass. Get them on a bicycle and it takes decades off their lives. They’re like kids again.”

Still, if you want a guided bike and brew tour, 6-Pack Trail coordinates craft brewery bike tours in Fort Worth on the 2nd Saturday of every other month. Led by a knowledgeable beer guide, participants travel 10 miles and visit seven of Cowtown’s inventive craft breweries, including five that are part of the Craft Brewers Guild: Rahr & Sons, Martin House, Wild Acre, HopFusion and Funky Picnic. At each stop, beer enthusiasts receive one 8-ounce beer, concluding with dinner at female-owned and operated, Funky Picnic. A fun portable stein, bottled water and general bike maintenance are complimentary.

Like Gregory, Troy Daily of Kayak, Bike, and Brew in Traverse City, Michigan, errs on the side of caution when it comes to beers on his experiential tours. Daily emphasizes that his tours are more about the outdoor recreation, and is pretty firm on the one beer per brewery stop. “We want to give them a tease about it,” says Daily. “We want them to go back and do business with the breweries.”  A pedal, paddle pub crawl allowing 24 people per 4-hour tour through Traverse City’s urban TART bike trails, Boardman Lake and River, and West Bay.

“The people are happy. They are always excited. Whenever they come in they are in a good mood, even if it’s misting or raining. It’s infectious. The guides are really good and in control. They are the reason the people are in a good mood. They are fun and informative,” says Russ Springsteen of Right Brain Brewery, one of the three to four stops in the craft forward town on Lake Michigan.

Using roadways and waterways for commerce to the public, Daily believes in “keeping it cleaner than we use it,” encouraging conversations while on the tour about environmental impact, and routinely welcoming river and roadway clean-up days. The tours are ADA compliant, and routinely sell out on the weekends. Two-weeks in advance weekend reservations are recommended, with regular weekday availability. “You are going to get wet. You’re going to meet other people. So, to be able to be social is important. And, if you enjoy your ride, tip your guide,” says Daily.

While peddling and paddling trend with craft tourists seeking to explore their destination, so has the Certified Cicerone designation for some tour operators.

Amy Beers (yes that’s her real name) of Indianapolis-based Drinking with Beers says, “It all boils down to what’s walkable,” and she weaves history, good product, and service into all of her neighborhood walking brewery tours. When she first started out in 2018, Beers began with her love for beer and travel, and felt that these affinities were a perfect pairing. But, when she hosted a booth at the fair showcasing her newly curated tours, she remembers a lady asking what qualified her to teach about beer.

Less than a year later, Beers received her Certified Cicerone, making her one of nearly 4,300 worldwide. “I like to educate, but also have fun,” says Beers. “It’s a great way for them to feel connected to Indianapolis.”

Her Taste of Europe tour of Mass Avenue Arts District walks attendees to three separate breweries including St. Joseph Brewery and Public House. Located in an old Catholic church, she focuses on Belgian style ales at this stop because of its connection to trappist ale. Here she offers a two-part YouTube video to give you a taste of her style. There’s also a tour of three Fountain Square breweries, along with the self-guided tour which you can download for a $10 fee. Because of the promotional discounts offered at some of the included breweries, she says this inclusive self-guided tour pays for itself on a single visit.

Gary Glancy also acquired his Certified Cicerone designation, and offered his first craft beer tour in Greenville, S.C., called The Brewery Experience in 2016. And, like Beers, Glancy uses multimedia to make his tours unforgettable.

After he left the newspaper business as a full-time journalist in 2012, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, and Oskar Blues all had announced their plans for new South Carolina locations. So, Glancy took a solo trip across America stopping at the breweries’ flagship locations along with a smattering of other breweries and National Parks, while also attending the Great American Beer Festival in Denver for the first time.

But, what makes Glancy’s tours so unique is a parody of Forrest Gump entitled Gary Gose Gump that he shot with little more than a GoPro camera, a beer bottle, and remote access to his producer, A.D. Weighs, while on that solo trip way back when. “It was a beast. A whole year of my life,” Glancy says. Now offering brewery tours in Greenville, South Carolina and neighboring Asheville and Hendersonville North Carolina, tourists hop aboard a passenger van where the opening scene of Glancy’s take on the 1994 award-winning epic story involves a Quest Brewing Company beer bottle rolling across America, as opposed to the original white feather. The beer theme continues throughout the 40-minute parody that entertains his guests between brewery stops.

Garnering extensive back-of-the-house knowledge working as a beerkeep for Catawba  in Asheville, Glancy says that his tours wouldn’t be possible without such experience coupled with the relationships he’s made with the breweries.” From the largest brewery at Thomas Creek to somewhere like Straight 8,” he explains, “People want to meet the owners. Once they feel like they bond with the owners, they’re more likely to buy product.” As his tours wrap up the credits roll from Glancy’s movie showing at the front of the van. “It’s fun to watch complete strangers bond over 3.5 hours and are the best of buds by the end,” he says.

I’m still in the design process of my Clarksville tours. But, if I’ve learned anything from the tour operators I’ve met along the way, it’s that everything hinges upon human relations, which could be said for most any successful venture, really. Back at King’s Bluff, Brewer told me once when I landed on offering tours as my side hustle, “Exclusivity never did anything but put you on an island without a boat.” The design of my new venture is taking longer than I expected. But, one thing’s for sure: Inclusivity will mean everything if I plan to stay afloat.

The post The Components of a Successful Experiential Beer Tour appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

An accountant by day, craft brewer by night, Miller says that his college passion for brewing eventually led him to seek brewing as his chosen profession. So, he and his brother set the wheels in motion by forming an LLC for Crazy Gnome Brewery in 2017 but didn’t sign a lease until June 2019. Previously a transmission shop, it was going to need a complete overhaul. But, because of its prime location, it seemed a no-brainer. “I had every intention of opening before Christmas but didn’t realize how many government bodies were involved in opening legally. That’s me showing my ignorance having not done this before,” he says. 

The red tape had cleared, and the brothers thought, “it had all blown over.” So, they brewed their first batch on Sunday, March 1, 2020, which took 11 hours to brew because they were trying to write a handbook as they went along with documenting the day. The following Tuesday changed everything, and by 2:30 am, Miller was painfully aware of such a destructive game-changer. 

“My first thought after mentally checking my brother off the list was if I had paid the insurance bill, and thankfully I did,” remembers Miller. 

Meanwhile, he had not yet seen pictures of the tornado’s damage as his phone was blowing up from friends and family. All he could text back was, “Everyone is alive, but the brewery fell in its path.” His contractor was among the many receiving this message who immediately ordered dumpsters to be delivered. 

Over the next three days, Miller remembers a conscious stream of men riding in on personal bobcats, groups loading the dumpster with debris, and even a group helping him pour the first 800 pounds of half-fermented beer out onto the brewhouse’s sloped floor with great reverence.”It smelled good and was foamy. So, I grabbed a pint glass,” he says that no one was thinking of the deadly virus quite yet and shared in a communal taste.  The Crazy Gnome YouTube video marking the occasion garnered him a flurry of media attention that prompted others to pitch in.

Canadian breweries sent care packages of beers and snacks to keep his morale up. Local breweries like Southern Grist, Black Abbey, Bearded Iris, Tailgate, and the Tennessee Craft Brewers Guild all reached out. “I’m a little bummed to join the industry in dire need right off the bat. I wanted to be one of those people that helped. I’m just flabbergasted that I’m not even open yet, and the industry has been so welcoming. I think that our collaborative nature as an industry is what is going to keep our industry afloat in these challenging times,” says Miller. 

As many industries experience the global destruction of COVID-19, it will take the love of the community to rebuild a new normal. If independent craft brewers have anything to say about it, the world will have more than enough to raise a pint or two in celebrating the resilient human spirit.   

Grayson’s inaugural brew was a Kolsch. He says that when Crazy Gnome Brewery finally opens, it will be on permanent rotation as Kalamity Kolsch.

The post Crazy Gnome Brewery Cleans Up After Devastating Tornado appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“My family was proud of it,” she says, remembering.

The occasional batch of plums collecting fruit flies in the young Czech-American’s closet was only the beginning. Sandi Vojta would realize her childhood dream by opening Prairie Berry Winery among the stunning South Dakota Black Hills in 1999. She opened Miner Brewing Company down the hill from the winery in 2013, along with a Sioux Falls location in 2018. With a hint of wanderlust to point her in the right direction, Vojta claimed her calling and hasn’t looked back since.

Family Tradition Rooted in Wine-Making, Distilling

As a child, Vojta found plenty of room to explore and run around on her family’s farm in the Upper Midwest. This is where she learned to make wine and distill with her dad and brother–a family tradition five generations strong.

“It was something to do as we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere,” she says.

Initially, Vojta set out on a career as an environmental chemist. She soon met and married her husband, Matt Keck. The couple found themselves in Portland, Oregon, during the mid-90s, where they chose to see the world volunteering in the Peace Corp.

Once stationed in Tanzania, the 1998 United States embassy bombings which killed more than 200 people caused great family panic back home urging them to cut their globe-trotting short.

Less than a year later Vojta made a chokecherry beer while developing plans for the winery at her South Dakota kitchen table with Keck and her dad, Ralph.

“It was meant to be, and I have no regrets,” she says.

Leaving travel in her rearview for a life filled with community and good cheer, Vojta set her brand in motion.

(MORE: Mining Town Breweries Dig Deep Into History)

Miner Brewing Co. Offers a Taste of the Black Hills

Prairie Berry Winery is Vojta’s “firstborn” and is perched atop the hill. A short stroll down to Miner Brewing Company, you’ll fall in love with what she likes to call her “middle school kid.” On the other side of the hill there is a separate fermatory dedicated to her sour program.

“My team is actually cross-trained between the winery and brewery and are fluid,” Vojta says.

This is one brewmaster who certainly devotes a great deal of love to her “kids” and it shows.

In an area where the great outdoors commands your attention with national treasures like Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse, Miner Brewing Company offers a taste of what South Dakota’s Black Hills community is all about. From the local hop farms she annually contracts with, Native American farmers and foragers from which she sources fruits and grains, right down to the beef she buys from cattlemen who feed their herd her spent grains, Vojta embraces such a fruitful village in this beautifully rugged part of the world.

“We have amazing support,” she says. ”People know where the good beer is at.”

She also believes in supporting local artisans and local performers: “When it’s snowing outside it’s so cozy to grab a pint and curl up to some fine music. When warmer months come along, it’s about that outdoor stage between the winery and brewery.”

(Related: Heroes of the Brewhouse: Here’s What Brewery Workers Actually Do)

Sandi Vojta’s Love for Fermentation

These days Vojta indulges in a bit of soul searching. She enjoys reading books in the vernacular of enlightenment. She’s also turning to the trusty standbys of her trade like “The Art of Brewing.”

“My brain swishes in fermentation.” Sandi Vojta, Miner Brewing Co.

“I am the type of person who has six to 10 books open at the same time,” she explains.

(Brewery Near You: Brewery Finder)

Ever hungry to explore more, she admits she has her eye on distilling: “Never say never,” she says.

“My brain swishes in fermentation and is on a spectrum between winemaking and brewing. It’s all fermentation,” she says.

You could say Vojta is always focusing on the proverbial hills ahead of her, subscribing to the sentiment that life is to be lived in the name of good cheer.

The post Sandi Vojta Keeps Family Tradition Alive in South Dakota’s Black Hills appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Nashville’s Exciting Culinary World

One of the many reasons Ewing was drawn to Fat Bottom was that they wanted to be “a little more cutting edge.” She says that the team was really stoked for her to introduce mature flavors with upscale menu items. A divine example is her newest spring addition, steam buns, which she recommends pairing with the Rooster Brew, a classic wheat beer.

“One of the things I love about Nashville is that the culinary world is very innovative. Nothing is off limits. Everybody is excited about everything in Nashville,” Ewing says.

Because there are so many Fat Bottom beer styles, she exercises ambidextrous freedoms.

“It gives me a really solid playing field as far as food that goes with the pairings,” she says.

As for beer-infused dishes on the menu, you can’t beat her beer cheese made with the brewery’s flagship Knock-Out IPA. “The super bitter beer cuts through the sharp cheddar cheese,” she explains.

(VISIT: Find a U.S. Brewery)

Chef Leah Ewing Loves ‘the Dance’

The 27-year-old chef began what she calls “the dance” when she was just 16 in the small western Tennessee town of Dyersburg.

“This is something I was really drawn to in this industry. Keeping your hands busy and how everything has a rhythm to it. All of life has a rhythm to it really. If you just find your groove, there’s nothing more satisfying than being on a line doing the dance, getting the moves right and walking out being successful at the end of a shift,” Ewing says.

Ewing cut her culinary teeth at the town’s McDonald’s where her favorite task was working the fry station. (Her secret to the perfect fry: salt ratio was two and a half shakes for those who have ever wondered why they taste so damn good.)

When she enrolled in L’Ecole Culinaire Culinary Arts School in Memphis, she began carving her niche as part of the new crop of millennial chefs from the South. It was her serving job at the local Houston’s where she met her friend Brad. He persuaded her to move to Nashville in 2015 for a job at one of Nashville’s first 5-Star experience –Capital Grille at The Hermitage Hotel.

The Hermitage Hotel is one of those hotbeds for young chefs who proliferate their region’s culinary landscape. In fact, you can’t as much as throw a biscuit in Nashville without hitting a chef who hasn’t a story of their days at The Hermitage.

When Fat Bottom decided to up their game, they hired Ewing on as banquet chef for their new special events space, the Reserve, in 2017.

(READ: Delicious Beer-Infused Desserts from Brewpubs)

Taking the Reins as Tastemaker

She holds her hands under her chin not unlike a glamor shot, her tattooed forearm bears the likeness of her very first utility knife, commemorating her formative years. On January 1, 2019, this bantam badass took the reins as executive chef at Fat Bottoms Brewing Company, marking her place in this world as a full-fledged tastemaker.

Ewing keeps very long hours. So when she gets home and opens that fridge, she laughs.

“I have way too much Fat Bottom. Each of us get a ‘payday’ case of our choice every two weeks,” she says.

Her favorite is W.A.C.– an American Pale Ale. She also dabbles in homebrewing. And when she’s sipping on the other side of the yard, she loves Southern Grist down the street.

Chef Leah Ewing’s Future

It’s a little too soon to tell where Ewing will end up.

“Every time I set a goal for myself the universe is just like, ‘Nope you’re going to go over here for a little bit.’ But, one thing is for sure it will definitely be in culinary,” she says. “If I were to go back to that fry station, I’d still be stressed out, yet excited all at the same time.

Nashville has become a whole new town. You can now count more breweries dotting the map in Music City than you can your fingers and toes. And it’s the new crop of young chefs like Ewing who are tappin’ their toes, ready to call out the next dance.

The post Chef Leah Ewing: From Fry Maven to Fat Bottom Brewing appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

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With well beyond 6,500 small and independent breweries impacting the U.S. economy to the tune of $72.5 billion, hoteliers are going beyond the thread count and taking notice. Next time you hit the road, drink local wherever you lay your head. Here are a few favorites for brew trekkers like me:

Loews Hotels

Loews Hotels adds a sense of locale with their Flavors Program. Building partnerships with artisan food and beverage vendors ranging from bakers to brewers, they showcase indigenous products. At Loews Vanderbilt Hotel in Nashville for example, guests can indulge in culinary offerings from partners at their fine dining option Mason’s and  Mason’s Bar along with their POD Organic Market. Some of Nashville’s best on this lineup include Yazoo Brewing Company, Frothy Monkey Coffee and Pennington Distilling Co. During Mason’s new brunch service, they offer “For Here Growlers”– any of the current craft beer on tap in a 64oz growler at the table for $15.

Cambria Hotels

Cambria Hotels is a Choice Hotels International brand who saw the light a few years back. A senior vice president was touring some of its U.S. locations, when he noticed a bottle of suds in the bar’s cooler that wasn’t “on-brand.” When the bartender explained that hotel guests were clamoring for it, that was enough to pop his top. Not only is each Cambria location now required to offer guests at least two local craft beer choices, but beer specialists are on staff to ensure the best options are made available the moment a new location opens its doors.

(List: A Beer Geek’s Travel Checklist)

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts partners with an impressive list of tastemakers from around the world. The Fairmont Sustainability Partnership, for example, works to protect local environments. The Bee Sustainable program features 40 honey bee apiaries and wild bee hotels at Fairmont locations worldwide. When it comes to bee-to-bottle brewing, you can’t go wrong with The Fairmont San Francisco who partners with Almanac Beer to brew their exclusive Fairmont Hotel Honey Saison using honey harvested from the iconic hotel’s rooftop.

(Learn: Beer & Food Course)

Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants

Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants believes in the collaborative spirit when it comes to locale, particularly in the Golden State. Kimpton Shorebreak Resort recently collaborated with Anaheim’s newest craft brewery, Towne Park Brew Co., to create Shorebreak Mexican Lager. Guests can enjoy the new beer in cans from their mini bar or during social hour. A local dining favorite, Pacific Hideaway, also carries the beer. Santa Barbara’s Kimpton Goodland Hotel has partnered with local brewery, M. Special Brewing Company, to create the hotel’s first branded beer — Good Bar Special is a grapefruit IPA sold at the hotel, as well as the brewery.

Viejas Casino & Resort

Viejas Casino & Resort is San Diego’s premier luxury gaming resort. They’ve collaborated with Mission Brewery to launch Viejas Golden Blonde, available at both Viejas Casino & Resort and Mission Brewery while supplies last. The new Viejas Golden Blonde is a beer that is meant to be enjoyed in the golden California sun.

(Enjoy: Brewpubs with Impressive Menus)

Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center

Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, opening in Aurora, Colorado, this December, loves to work with their local makers such as Dry Dock Brewery.  Aurora’s pioneering brewery has worked with Gaylord to create two Gaylord-specific beers: Grand Lodge Golden Ale and Pinyons Pale Ale. These beers will be served on tap in Gaylord’s Mountain Pass Sports Bar that is home to the largest HDTV (75 feet long and 14 feet tall) in the state of Colorado. Sports bars not your thing? Savor a pint while watching the beautiful Rocky Mountain sunsets.

Hotel Teatro

Denver, Colorado’s original boutique hotel has a complimentary “Craft Beer Concierge” on staff. Whether it’s sours, seasonals or saisons, the concierge will curate craft brewery experiences such as the Bike & Brew Package. Guests indulge in a custom charcuterie and cheese plate paired with two drafts of local craft beer in The Study, a map of favorite Denver breweries, reserved transportation to and from the breweries via Hotel Teatro’s vintage cruiser bikes, and a $40 breakfast credit.

Essex Resort & Spa

The Essex Resort & Spa is located just outside Burlington and nestled in the heart of the beautiful Green Mountains. Back in the day, the New England Culinary Institute lived here. There are two onsite restaurants serving local hard-to-find beers in cans/bottles along with 33 taps. Right now, you can get the always elusive Heady Topper and Lawson’s iconic Sip of Sunshine in their large format cans along with drafts like Rarefied Air from Fiddlehead and Strawberry Whale Cake from Burlington Beer Company. The property’s spa offers a “Body Brew” treatment which includes a scrub made with your favorite local beer. Stay tuned as beer taps are added at the check-in desk later this year.

(Find: A US Brewery Near You)

Ironworks Hotel Indy

Ironworks Hotel Indianapolis boasts three restaurants in Indianapolis’ first northside boutique hotel whose beer lists read like a Who’s Who of Hoosier brew. Later this fall, the hotel will welcome guests to the new Daredevil Hall. Makers of the Lift Off IPA in the Speedway neighborhood, this brewery looks forward to its first satellite location at Ironworks. Even though the Indy 500 champion cheers with milk each May, I bet there may be a beer or two awaiting the real “victory lap” in upcoming races.

Detroit Foundation Hotel

Detroit Foundation Hotel is a boutique hotel in downtown, home to the Apparatus Room helmed by two Michelin-star chef Thomas Lents. In addition to great food with local influence, their drink program features local breweries which include Kickstand Brewing, Old Nation Brewing, Griffin Claw, Batch Brewing, Liberty Street Brewing, Witch’s Hat and Cellarmen’s.

The Apparatus Room is also the only place to order a glass of Commissioners Brew; a collaboration between the hotel, Atwater Brewery and postindustrial figurative painter, Tony Roku. The Commisioner’s Brew is a red lager that the hotel says is brewed to “honor of all those who came before us and made this incredible building we call home, an iconic part of Detroit history.”

Hotels such as these pay attention to the discerning palates of their guests. It’s a sincere way to break away from the pack. By patronizing establishments that have a vested interest in their community by supporting their local craft, you’re not only keeping the lights on and food on someone’s table you’ve never even met, you’re doing your part to keep ‘em coming. And, that’s something to drink to. Here’s to wheels up and clear skies from here on out!

The post Drinking Local Beer at Hotels is Getting Easier appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

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Nancy Palmer began her career in the nonprofit world working with physically challenged Georgians before dipping her toes into the beverage industry waters. Becoming a first level Sommelier at the age of 23, she worked in every capacity you can think of in the alcoholic beverage industry. So, when she brought the burgeoning brewers guild of Georgia on as a client while working as a beverage consultant, she says it was because of her knowledge of the restaurant industry. It wasn’t long until she dove headfirst into those waters becoming the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild’s first full-time employee and to this day, their only employee.

Witnessing a Small Business Revolution

“The transition into the industry was smooth. And, while there’s a lot of pretension in the wine industry, there isn’t in the beer industry. As a woman, there’s a distinct feeling. I like the openness and nerdiness of it all,” she says.

(Featured: Beer That Makes a Difference in People’s Lives)

When Palmer stepped to the helm of Georgia Craft Brewers Guild (GCBG) in 2010, she had 15 brewery members. Today, as executive director she supports more than 50 Georgia breweries and brewpubs, over 75 allied trade partner members, and is tracking over 80 breweries in planning since the passage of Georgia’s SB85 in 2017, which finally allowed Georgia breweries to sell straight to the beer lover in their breweries. This movement is what Palmer refers to as a “small business revolution in the beverage alcohol sector.”

Serving as a registered lobbyist, she just completed her fifth session where she’s gotten two major pieces of legislation passed thus far. Her efforts made history earlier this year when Palmer became the first female ever to accept the F.X. Matt Defense of the Industry Award.

What often seems a man’s world, Palmer takes in stride.

“It’s an industry that I adore. Beer is for everyone. In my experience in the industry, like any industry, insensitivities happen. It’s true, that I’m one of the few women in this position. But, the owners in Georgia are a tremendous support. And we have a great relationship,” she says.

Political Realities of Georgia Beer

Even still, she says it’s been challenging as a Southern state that’s behind craft beer growth. “Our brewers didn’t have the rights and revenue streams like other states.” And, while she believes there is such a thing as Bible Belt push back, she credits the broader issue of tradition for delayed growth in the Southeastern craft beer industry. Regardless, she believes in perseverance: “We showed up and chipped away. We’re here and have unique biz model that deserves consideration.”

Considering Georgia is the fifth largest state for U.S. beer manufacturing, as Palmer points out, and with the presence of big names like Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors, “We have to consider that everything we want and how that affects the larger coalition as a whole,” Palmer says.

(MORE: Nancy Palmer Makes History at Annual Industry Awards)

When considering legislation change, the scope of GCBG’s membership demands extra care to the path of her organization. For example, in 2017, Georgia became the last state to enact  taproom sales direct to the consumer. Advocating for more brewery-friendly beer laws was a multi-year process for Palmer and her colleagues.

“For political and practical reasons, when we get taproom sales so do AB, Miller and Coors. If we’re talking about something like franchise law, are we comfortable with all sizes being able to do this?” she asks.

Palmer focuses on building bridges in order to make change happen, and says she and the guild have a “great relationship” with the larger beer makers in the state.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for them. The political reality is that they pay taxes and employ just like us. I have that added consideration. I can’t pick a fight for the wholesalers and AB at the same time and win.”

The moral to this story is: “Everyone must work together for the whole,” according to Palmer.

(Independent Craft Brewers Have a Right to Compete with Megabrewers)

Georgia’s legislative session is set to convene January 14, 2019, when Palmer must take in account with her members to see what can be done. “All of our members want everything,” she says with a good-hearted laugh. She explains that the outcome of Georgia’s gubernatorial election might impact what she wants to accomplish in the 2019 session, so she’s waiting until she knows the outcome before finalizing the year ahead.

For the outsider, all of this may sound like a movement for only the privileged. By gaining proper perspective, one begins to realize there are many cogs to this wheel.

“I think that craft breweries really stand out as impressive corporate citizens that deeply care about their communities. When we take time to invest in small family-run craft breweries, they are able to have a tremendous positive effect on those communities. They’re gathering places. They don’t shy away from getting elbow deep. By investing in craft breweries, you’re investing in communities,” says Palmer.

Inspired by Energy and Entrepreneurship of Georgia Breweries

Talk about community, and you don’t have to dig too deep into the red Georgia clay to find it. SweetWater Brewing’s ongoing work with the Riverkeepers Alliance, Creature Comforts’ Get Comfortable campaign, and Service Brewing’s focus on veterans organizations are a fraction of the work Georgia breweries do to give back to their communities. It’s work like this that inspires Palmer.

(Lovibond & Hip Hop: Nappy Roots Talks Brewing)

“What I really love about my work is being around these entrepreneurs. They have so much energy and passion. Frankly, they’ve put everything on the line to do this. The energy people have when they’re making something with their hands is exciting and I feed off it. The people across the country that do what I do…they’re tremendous individuals. There’s only 36 executive directors, but we can get a lot accomplished.”

Speaking of tremendous…

Nancy Palmer may have never entered the “ministry” with her religion degree. The luxuries associated with her once romanticized philosopher’s profession are long gone. But, keep an eye out, because it’s a good chance this won’t be the last we hear of Palmer making history.

The post A Conversation with Nancy Palmer, Craft Beer Industry ‘Defender’ appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Although hemp doesn’t have the psychoactive components of the cannabis plant like marijuana, brewers who create hemp ales still must follow proper licensing and regulations on state and federal levels. [newsletter_signup_box]

The use of hemp in craft beer was a topic of discussion as more than 13,000 craft beer professionals made their way to Nashville for the 2018 Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) this spring. According to Alva Mather, an alcohol beverage lawyer who presented at the “Cannabis and Craft Beer” CBC seminar, hemp contains less than one percent THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, which LiveScience.com defines as the chemical responsible for most of marijuana’s psychological effects. Hemp seeds, seed oil and stalk aren’t considered a controlled substance.

While using hemp is legal, Mather notes that brewers still must follow state legal considerations such as formula approval, including:

• TTB (Alcohol Tobacco Tax Trade Bureau) formula approval is required even if only sold in-state.
• Brewers will need to obtain a lab analysis for the hemp component which can be a prolonged process.
• The word “hemp” cannot be used unless it’s in the process: (“Ale Brewed with Hemp seed” vs. “Hemp Beer.”)

The TTB must approve all non-traditional beer ingredients, and the use of cannabis extracts is no exception. It’s a lesson a few South Florida breweries recently learned the hard way after receiving TTB cease-and-desist letters earlier this year.

(MORE: Hoppy and Bitter: The Misunderstood Beer Styles)

“If you’ve used an ingredient, like [cannabis] terpenes oil, you would need to come to us for formula approval first, since that product isn’t recognized as a traditional beer ingredient,” Thomas Hogue, a TTB spokesman and director of the agency’s Office of Congressional and Public Affairs, told SouthFlorida.com.

Brewery Explores Hemp Seed Oil Extracts in Beer After Family Diagnosis

Michael Sanders of Xtracts, a Tennessee company that specializes in the manufacturing of high value molecules from plants for food, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical applications, believes it’s a catalyst for a much more meaningful conversation beyond the beer. He joined a panel at CBC for the seminar “Understanding Pure Distilled Hop Oils.”

“Since the seminar we’ve got a lot of phone calls from Craft Brewers Conference attendees,” Sanders says. Sanders partnered with Nashville’s Little Harpeth Brewing taproom manager Devin Pena and brewer Mike Onofray to introduce Xtracts’ distillation process for a CBC event. Little Harpeth’s Pena has a personal connection to cannabidiol (CBD), a compound found in cannabis plants.

(FIND: Breweries Near Me)

His daughter, Kora, was diagnosed with CHARGE syndrome years ago. According to chargesyndrome.org, this is a complex genetic syndrome involving extensive medical and physical difficulties that differ from child to child. Doctors say it’s what brought on Kora’s autism and hearing impairment. Her symptoms ranged in “gnarliness” Pena says.

“The drugs she was prescribed were no longer working and CBD was illegal at the time in Tennessee,” he says.

Pena eventually would partner with a proactive medicine practitioner which led to Kora’s symptoms dissipating drastically due to the use of CBD extractions. The extractions were made possible by Xtracts distilling hemp flowers grown just up the road from Little Harpeth Brewing at the Six Boots Collective farm.

(MORE: Beers to Your Health: Researchers Link Health Benefits and Beer)

The FDA doesn’t recognize healing effects from hemp and the use of hemp in the brewing process isn’t meant to mislead consumers in the belief that a beer could heal their ailments. But Pena thought using hemp seed oils in beer would be a great awareness campaign. Sanders donated the hemp seed oils and Little Harpeth brewer Michael Onofray got brewing.

The process was pretty simple. Onofray started with two sixtel barrels where one was empty with only a measured dose of hemp seed oil injected into the clean barrel. It was then racked from a full barrel of Mosaic Pale Kolsch. They sold out of seven barrels for CBC with proceeds benefiting the Tennessee Cannabis Coalition.

Craft Brewers Further Explore Hemp Extracts

Little Harpeth’s new head brewer, Jesse Brown, is intrigued by the use hemp extracts in beer. Brown comes from Nashville’s Tailgate Brewery where IPAs are a specialty. He plans on at least exploring hemp extracts and sees it as an opportunity to work with a “useful plant that’s been used for centuries all over the world.”

“I’m interested in exploring the science behind it,” he tells us.

Jesse Claeys of New Belgium Brewing agrees.

“We believe it’s a game changer that could be the next IPA, maybe even a new category,” he says about New Belgium’s new release, The Hemperor HPA. The beer is brewed with hemp hearts — the meat of the seed, minus the shell — and dry-hopped with Simcoe and experimental HBC 522 hops to create a dank, pungent hop aroma balanced by a sweet, mildly herbal finish. The Hemperor HPA does not contain THC or CBD, but it’s currently banned in Kansas.

New Belgium is also partnering with GCH Inc., the company co-founded by Willie Nelson and family to build brands inspired by his journey as an artist and advocate, in supporting a national advocacy campaign to reverse the ban on industrial hemp. One dollar from the sale of every barrel of The Hemperor HPA will be donated to raise awareness and promote pro-hemp legislation.

In spring 2018, Four Saints Brewing in Asheboro, North Carolina, released Founding Fathers Hemp Ale, which the brewery says is the state’s first legally registered hemp craft beer. Four Saints’ Joel McClosky describes Founding Fathers Hemp Ale as a dark, english mild ale with a low ABV and traditionally low carbonation point — the perfect pairing for hemp seeds which add even a more nutty profile, somewhat like sunflower seeds. He prefers the beer served on nitro to add a touch of creaminess.

(LEARN: CraftBeer.com’s Beer 101)

McClosky says he never thought about using hemp until he met Bob Crumley speaking at the local rotary club. After a successful law career, Crumley retired and got into hemp research with his new venture, Founder’s Hemp, where he’s working with farmers all across North Carolina.

“We’re receiving what would be a waste for Bob, and then put it into the mash and fermentation like dry hopping. The lab sample came back with zero percent THC,” McClosky explains.

As if being North Carolina’s first legally registered hemp ale wasn’t enough, Four Saints used the opportunity to put a spotlight on sustainable brewing. They partnered with Greensboro’s Urban Offsets on a carbon-neutral brewing process to make Founding Fathers Hemp Ale — a first for North Carolina and among the earliest of its kind in the nation.

The verdict is still out whether this hemp ale trend is what New Glarus Brewing co-founder Deb Carey might call a “relationship grabber.” But one thing is for sure: this relative of hops can sure stir things up.

The post Hemp Ales Grow in Popularity as Brewers Aim for New Flavors and Awareness appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

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The brewery’s story started more than six years ago when the brewery’s co-founder Eric Avery toured Houston’s Saint Arnold Brewing Company during a bachelor party.

“I’d never been to a brewery before. I fell head over heels in love,” the founding partner says. He contends that the craft brewing industry unites all walks of life. He was born and raised in Lake Charles, so it was important for him to bring craft beer’s hospitality full circle.

(MORE: Move Over Coffee Beer. Tea Beers are Steeping Hot Right Now)

Avery actually went to school to become a surgeon, but quickly realized that he “wanted nothing to do with blood … or anything else medically related.”

Perhaps a little blood, sweat and tears was more Avery’s destiny.

Brewing Craft Beer in Lake Charles, Louisiana

An undertaking like building Crying Eagle Brewing Company from the ground up came with its challenges; the experience epitomizes a labor of love.

“We’re in Lake Charles where craft beer is still in its infancy,” explains Avery. “Smaller towns don’t want the big national brands any more than a Nashville, New Orleans or Houston. It’s the guys like me, Tin Roof and Flying Tiger that need to step outside the mold and do our little part to grow the craft beer industry.”

He knew how to run a business, but very little about brewing. Avery chose his brewmaster, Bill Mungai early on.

(VISIT: Local Breweries Near You)

“I was an avid home brewer for about 11 years and started volunteering at commercial breweries to learn what I could. I was trying to open a much smaller brewery, but met the Avery family and kept bringing them some of my home brews. They loved all of them,” says Mungai.

The word “avid” might even be a little light to describe Mungai’s homebrewing hobby. He threw himself into brewing textbooks and style research, wanting to learn everything and anything about beer.

“This wasn’t brewing once every six months in the garage. This was brewing two to three beers twice a week for years and years,” he explains.

Together, Avery had Mungai set out to become pioneers of sorts in the Lake Charles community.

Costly Lessons Early On

Avery says he put everything he had into Crying Eagle, “I didn’t plan for failure.”

Of course, behind success, there’s plenty of failure. He smirks a little as he says,”We were all rookies, even my brewmaster.”

When they launched with three styles that they believed would be huge successes, little did they know they would fall flatter than a day-old beer on a hot Louisiana afternoon.

(MORE: Cultivating Community with Brewery Bhavana)

“We were trying to mimic popular styles, but all three of those fell in between what the market truly wanted. What we found out painfully was that while the locals supported us, they didn’t continue to buy the beer. I had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in recipe development, cans and marketing,” says Avery.

They found themselves at a fork in the road and somehow found all the joy through all the pain.

Crying Eagle Brewing Co. Rebrands

Crying Eagle chose to redo everything starting in January of 2018. The brewery fully rebranded with new beers and new packaging. All three of their original beers fell to the cutting room floor and they used consumer data to dictate what they made. It was an expensive mistake, but they now have 16 to 18 beers on tap. Among them are the popular Louisiana Lager, which is brewed with locally-grown rice, and the Hop Blooded IPA, a collaboration with the 80’s band Foreigner.

Brewmaster Mungai’s obsession researching brewing hasn’t slowed, and he loves sharing what he’s learned.

“This isn’t a huge craft beer market. So, really we’re educating everybody,” he says.

Ever-curious, Mungai is “always working on something.” He says the brewery’s new bottling line and barrel-aging program means specialty high gravity beers are in the works. “The craft beer culture in Louisiana was slow to adapt. But, we’re rocking and rolling now.”

The 30-barrel brewhouse started off in May 2016 with an annual production of around 1500 barrels. The whole company was designed with expansion in mind, with the latest taproom addition of The Bistro at Crying Eagle serving up wood-fired pizzas and sandwiches. You can find Crying Eagle beers sold in cans across Louisiana (with the exception of Shreveport). The brewery has also recently expanded distribution into Texas.

The post Louisiana’s Crying Eagle Brewing: A Far Cry from Old School appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

LineUp Brewing’s founder and brewmaster Katarina Martinez moved to New York several years ago for an Adobe tech job. The bright-eyed, 20-something embraced her inner-catness at such an early age. “I would have never guessed I would be in this position when I moved out here,” she says.

Martinez just turned 30 last fall and is coming into her own. “It’s weird to be this age. It’s weird to be a single woman in New York. I started out by naming my beers after bad dates. You wouldn’t believe how bad dating is in this city. It’s so interesting. I think guys are threatened by women here. I make beer. I’m not quiet,” she explains.

(VISIT: Find a U.S. Brewery)

The Bïeryoncé Beer Conundrum

Sharing a can of LineUp Brewing’s fandom’s casualty formerly known as “Bïeryoncé,” Martinez describes it as a clean cut German-style pilsner. When the LineUp Brewing Pilsner garnered Bey’s attention last year, a cease and desist letter was sent pronto.

“I get it. I get the brand protection side of it. But, we went out of our way to make sure there was clarity,” Martinez says. Beyoncé’s camp did not share the love. “She and her attorneys don’t know that we name beers after puns in this industry. She doesn’t realize how many beers we name after artists and others we aspire to. It’s just not her industry. The fact that I even got attention for that … It really blew up. It was literally covered by every news source. I locked myself in my house for a week. It was too much,” Martinez explains.

Was there a tear in Martinez’s beer? Well, maybe a little after the Bïeryoncé Weekend Can Sale. She was originally given three weeks to get rid of the product. “It was only a 15 barrel can batch— not a lot of beer,” explains Martinez. When she received the emailed requirement from Beyoncé’s team to forfeit the rest of her product, Martinez was over it. After all, she’s in the beer business—not the Beyoncé business.

(LEARN: Beer 101 Online Course)

“The main thing is that I’m a female-run business and that’s kind of her (Beyoncé) platform— female empowerment.” Martinez continues, “I’m a woman and am trying to bring women into the world of beer and very successfully did that. We have people from all over that would not have ever tried beer and are wanting to try beer because they were excited about Bïeryoncé. It did exactly what I wanted it to.”

Martinez has finally named the damn beer what it should have been in the first place— Kätariná.

Martinez doesn’t necessarily want to make beer “for women” because, she says, “Women don’t need speciality beer.” She encourages everyone to “literally like whatever you want.”

She digs brewing traditional beer styles. She loves the history of beer and how it’s evolving. She also loves how folks like her neighbors over at Other Half Brewing Company are expressing the new styles. “We are the music makers,” she smiles.

Gender and Diversity in Brewing

There’s a long pause with mindful edits lingering in her eyes when I ask about the worst thing that’s been said about her. “That I’m a homebrewer who wants to be a real brewer,” she tells me.

Even though this is a common introduction to the brewing industry regardless of gender, Martinez feels it’s a label she gets because she’s a woman. “It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in. There will always be an excuse to keep women at a certain level when men are doing the same thing. But, somehow men are doing it better.”

“I hope if I take the hits and continue pushing forward as a woman that I will continue to inspire other women,” she says. “Maybe they won’t get hit as hard when they go through this. I think this is how all change happens.”

(READ: The Evolving Role of Women’s Contributions to Brewing Beer)

Martinez beams in referencing her Native American-Hispanic lineage and the support of her community. To her, diversity outside of gender is another important topic. A recent launch party at LineUp really put that into focus for her. More than 150 people came out, and she tells me she was surprised by the large amount of Latino fans in the crowd.

“I didn’t realize I had such a following,” she says. She sold out of beer that day, and local Latino-owned businesses continue to be among her top supporters.

“It’s great to have that connection. We need to pay more attention to ethnicity coming into play,” says Martinez.

Finding a Balance

A Colorado native, Martinez says there’s a certain positivity she hasn’t yet found in New York City. “It’s very cutthroat. It’s just that everyone is trying to make it. So when the competition rises, you can’t spend your time thinking about that or feed the trolls.” 

At the end of the day, LineUp’s founder still wants to meet someone she can settle down with. “New York is one of the loneliest places in the world. It will chew you up and spit you out. If you get through it, you become so much more resilient. You have to balance everything,” she exclaims.

(MORE: Independent Brewery Leaders Named 2018 James Beard Award Semifinalists)

While Martinez hopes to continue LineUp’s Sunset Park success, she’s planning for the future. She hopes to have more funding with perhaps a couple more locations and maybe nation-wide distribution.

“Who knows?” she smiles.

Only time will tell.

Until then, this is one keg-slinging, dog-loving, lioness landing on her feet every time.

The post Bïeryoncé, Balance and Beer with Lineup Brewing’s Katarina Martinez appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Sonoma Strong: How the Levins Survived a Tragedy

It was nearly 8 p.m. on a blustery fall evening in Windsor, California, when Amy Levin met her husband, Aron, for dinner at their favorite neighborhood hang. The two looked up at the flagpole outside Padre Mi Pueblo and stopped in their tracks.

“Wind’s blowing due north,” Aron had said as he hung his head.

“You just had to say it out loud,” Amy said.

(TRAVEL: 20+ U.S. Bed and Brews to Visit)

Aron had been fighting fires for more than 20 years, but this was to be his first shift as Acting Battalion Chief. All it took was a spark the evening the Sonoma fires broke out. “We were in for a good fight that night,” Aron recalls.

“The winds were crying – not howling, crying,” Amy says. She says she’s never heard anything like the 80 mph winds that tore through the hillsides. She and their two boys, Cooper and Karlsen, hunkered down in their home just minutes from the brewery and waited to hear from their very own patron saint that night. It would be nearly a week before his return.

Eventually, the fires were extinguished, and residents returned to take account of the devastation. In true form, these folks have proven #SonomaStrong.

“It’s going to take time to rebuild,” Aron says.

St. Florian’s Brewery: A Family Affair

Firefighting is a lifestyle for the Levins and has been from virtually day one of their courtship. “It’s your life, your heart, your soul,” Aron says with a smile. Still, this is one love story beginning with beer.

It all started when Aron’s cousin brewed for Black Diamond Brewery back in the day. “I brewed in the late 80s out of curiosity, but it also gave me something to drink,” he laughs.

(READ: A Beer Geek’s Travel Checklist)

“He wooed me with it,” Amy says. She remembers how hard Aron worked on the award-winning California Common, a native San Francisco-style beer with malty notes balanced by the crispness of a lager at 6% ABV. This flagship can sure clear a lot of “steam” from your palate after a long day of wine tasting, and it’s a recipe that Aron perfected right up until the day they opened St. Florian’s doors in 2013 in the quaint town of Windsor.

Amy grew up in the Bay Area, whereas Aron hails from Northern California up near Humboldt County. “This was just my happy medium of heaven,” Amy says.

She remembers when Aron accepted the Windsor firefighting post. Drive the downtown streets of Windsor, and you’d swear Aunt Bee and Andy packed up Opie and headed for wine country. This Mayberry of a town is lined with brightly painted shops, offices…even the McDonalds looks charming. “It’s quintessential family,” she says.

Cooper and Karlsen, 9 and 8, grew up here. From chemistry to accounting and marketing, the boys know what it takes to run a brewery. “We teach them things that they’re allowed to do,” Amy winks. Aron has high hopes that at least one of his sons will become a master brewer. The couple is very yin and yang when it comes to developing recipes, according to Amy. But everyone agrees that brewing is a release from the firefighting lifestyle.

From Battle to Brew

“It’s more [about] creativity. I’m not responding to someone’s emergency or bad day,” Aron says. Even still, brewing and fires share a few things in common. “There’s no quitting or stopping. If you’ve got a task, you work through it. Brewing is nice because you don’t have to deal with the tragedy; but with brewing, you’re comforting someone. In a way, that’s my job as a firefighter – to make someone’s day better,” he says.

“These guys didn’t even stop to question if they had lost their own homes as they headed into the fires.” Amy Levin, St. Florian’s Brewery

Firefighting and brewing go hand in hand at St. Florian’s. One of the most common firefighter’s schedules is 48 hours on and 96 hours off. It’s the inspiration for St. Florian’s 4.8% ABV Citra Session ale – known as, you guessed it, 48/96.

While there are 12 tap handles, including a root beer, it’s the “First Responder” handle garnering the most consistent attention that rotates through the Levins’ experimental beers. “Setting Backfires,” which was on rotation this fall, is an imperial scorpion pepper sour ale. Think Thai Food without the lemongrass. While Amy is the self-proclaimed “wild child of the bunch,” Aron developed the flavor profile on this one. She says that he has a knack for toning down sour notes and nails it every time.

(WATCH: Jackalope Brewing’s Many Paths to Brewing)

Amy and Aron fan one another’s flame, particularly when talking about the charitable nature of St. Florian Brewery. As a rule, the brewery donates a minimum of 5 percent of all their profits to fire-related nonprofits. It was the Sonoma fires that led St. Florian to devote 100 percent of their fundraising efforts to first responders. “These guys didn’t even stop to question if they had lost their own homes as they headed into the fires,” Amy says, while Aron adds that he simply saw it as an opportunity to do something good.

St. Florian Brewery was one of more than 50 small and independent breweries that joined the Sonoma Pride fundraising effort in response to the fires. Breweries from California to the Deep South brewed a beer under the Sonoma Pride label, donating profits to the foundation. Together, the breweries raised more than $450,000; the funds have already been able to help more than 65 families impacted by the wildfires.

Without hesitation, Aron remembers the glimmer of a spark that would become St. Florian Brewery, “Amy! I have a passion for it. I enjoy it. So, when she came up with the idea it wasn’t a hard sell.” The two beam at the mere notion of a legacy they will one day leave behind.

“If the only thing we did with this brewery was philanthropic, to teach our kids how to do the right thing…I’m fine with that,” Amy says.

The post California Brewery Couple Faces the Fires Together appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

When Linus Hall opened Yazoo Brewing Company’s doors in October 2003, no one could have ever pre-dicted what a culinary force Nashville would become. As Yazoo celebrated its 14th birthday in October 2017, we played connect the dots with this Nashville original.

Hall started at Brooklyn Brewing under Garrett Oliver, and learned everything he could about the indus-try. It didn’t take him long to decide Nashville was his Brooklyn. Hall shares a bit of his story, and some of his future plans in this CraftBeer.com Full Pour.

(BEER TRAVEL: Buffalo Beercation: Come for Niagara Falls, Stay for the Beer)

Q: Tell us how this modern era of craft beer was born in Nashville.

Linus: I had this idea in my head to start a brewery and come back to Nashville. Breweries back then had so little market share, we knew we had to help each other- to raise all tides for all boats. Everyone was so helpful to me. Even the local ones here.

When I moved up to Nashville from Mississippi, I joined the local homebrew club, Music City Brewers. I was just amazed at how many people were involved. We would meet at either Bosco’s or Blackstone and bring beers to compare. Not only were the homebrewers really involved, but Chuck Skypeck of Bosco’s and Dave Miller at Blackstone were heavily involved. That’s where I got the idea of how a professional brewery operates. They encouraged me and others to know what you were getting into. For me, that meant I needed to go back to business school, and at least get an internship or professional education on the brewing side.

It’s kind of funny to look back at that homebrew club. I was in it, Carl Meir of Black Abbey, Steve Scoville of Little Harpeth, Ken Rebman of Czann’s…so, yeah. I think you can look back at that club as a birthing place for a lot of breweries here in Nashville.

Q: Garrett Oliver was a mentor of yours. How have you passed the baton?

Linus: Back when Yazoo started, if I was out of a bag of hops or malt, other brewers would let me have some of theirs. It’s the same way now. We have a little more in-depth of a lab. Some of the breweries just starting out will come over to test their recipes. I’d say that definitely on the brewery/production side. But on the sale side it’s getting a lot more competitive out there. There’s not quite as much sharing on the sales side of things. Regarding mentorship, it’s a pass it forward idea. So many people were hhelpful to me when I was getting started, I owe it to people that are starting out.

The other thing is that craft beer is definitely a lot more popular than when I first started. I still think that you can turn off someone if they have a bad beer for their first options. We kind of owe it to the whole industry to keep it growing to help new brewers to set up their processes the right way, and to make sure they’re paying attention to quality. While it may be cliche, I still think that one bad experience can turn people off.

(LEARN: Explore 75+ Craft Beer Styles)

Q: How do you help a sinking ship?

Linus: If there’s obvious problems with a beer. Like if the batch is infected, and not supposed to be. Or, if the beer is flat, or has pretty significant off-flavors. I feel like you owe it as a brewer to say, “Hey, I’m not downing your beer, but I had a pint of your beer the other day, and it didn’t taste at all like I tasted at your brewery.” If someone called and told me that, my first impulse would be to run out and try to sample it where they had it to see what’s going on. A lot of times it’s a recipe kind of thing that gets into personal preference. I might have not used as much crystal malt, but that’s their recipe. If its technical problems, or obvious infections, any brewery would want to know that about their beer. Consumers might say, “Oh, that’s a bad beer.” But, technically there’s nothing wrong with the beer. It’s just not their style preference.

Q: Who have you mentored that went on to start their own breweries?

Linus: We’ve been lucky and haven’t had much turn over. Our first brewer, Zach Henry, was from Alaska. His wife was studying at Vanderbilt. When she finished school, they moved back to Alaska and started a brewery there. We’ve had a few people where their wives’ jobs moved them somewhere else. It always helps to have a wife that has a higher paying job, because being a brewer doesn’t always offer the most financial rewards. One of our brewers moved with his wife, and is working at Half Acre now. Another left to go to Cincinnati with his wife, and is at a new start up brewery there. We’ve not had a lot of turn over. I think people have been happy to be a part of our growth throughout the years.

Q: Tell us about the craft beer web that’s been woven in Nashville. 

Linus: Some of the older guys from the homebrew days — we’re still pretty tight. I don’t know all of the newer ones quite as well. But, there’s definitely a sense of community. Ever since we formed the guild four years ago, we’ve actually been able to work together to get laws changed, and approved statewide. It helps that Bailey Spaulding of Jackalope Brewing has a law degree and has that input. One of our newer breweries, East Nashville Brew Works is co-founded by Anthony Davis. He’s actually my council person. We were able to get the High Alcohol Bill passed at the beginning of 2017.

(READ: Dogfish Head Demolishes Original Brewpub)

Q: What’s next for the guild?

Linus: Next thing that we’re looking at is the Craft Brewers Conference that is coming to Nashville in May of next year. It’s going to be a huge feather in Nashville’s cap to have it here in the Southeast in about 20 years. It should be a cool sight. Mainly, what we’re going to try and do is demonstrate the economic impact it will have for more industry to be involved in the state. When you see that many people coming in for conference, and most of them out-of-state…compare that to somewhere like Oregon or California where you have over 300 breweries. Mainly, that’s what we’re trying to do. We still want to reform the wholesale tax, as it’s still the highest in the country.

Q: What’s next for Yazoo?

Linus: We’re making plans to move, but are still looking for a buyer for our Division Street property. We have some land still in Davidson County that we’ll pull the trigger on once the current property is sold. The land prices have just gotten insane. We’ve run out of room to grow. We can’t add many more tanks, but the main problem we’re having is logistics. Our main revenue is the wholesale business. So, getting trucks in and out of here has gotten to be a nightmare.

Last Sips

When people lift one another up, great things happen. Linus Hall is a testament to what happens when folks lend a hand. Now, that’s something to raise a pint to. If you see Hall or any of the other Music City pioneers at next year’s Craft Brewers Conference, shake their hand and pay it forward.

The post Yazoo Brewing Company’s Linus Hall: Six Degrees of Nashville appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Fairhope Brewing Company was the first to take the plunge in Lower Alabama in 2012. They won the thirsty’s heart with their Everyday Ale and The Causeway IPA.

Today, the pioneering efforts of three new independent craft breweries entice beer travelers for a coastal hop Alabama-style.

(READ: 7 Southern Craft Breweries to Watch)

Haint Blue Brewing Company

Mobile (not New Orleans) is the birthplace of American Mardi Gras. Walk the downtown streets of this American port city, and the colorful beads drape the trees.

Within sight of Mobile’s father of Mardi Gras, Joe Cain’s final resting place at the corner of Broad and Canal, sits a 90-year-old ice factory that will soon be home to Haint Blue Brewing Company.

“It’s not a set it and forget it industry. It’s a craft,” says Keith Sherrill, co-owner of Haint Blue. His mission is to create community around “the best beer and a small amount of it.”

Raising over $267,000 through crowd-funding, Sherrill is convinced that the people within a community build the community.

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As his brother-in-law, Matt Wheeler, came aboard as head brewer, the duo set out to Colorado for Tom Hennessy’s Brewery Immersion Course.

“Opening the books was a sanity check.” Wheeler explains.

The Haint Blue team has been persistent. A few legal snags have held up the downtown brewery up in construction. So, they’ve teamed up with Lazy Magnolia Brewery to brew their recipes during the interim. Wheeler brewed his first commercial batch at the Mississippi brewery just a little over an hour away this past January, and continues brewing Haint Blue flagship beers there.

Included in the lineup is a saffron saison that holds a special place in Sherrill’s heart from his military days. Sourced from Afghanistan where he was stationed for multiple tours of duty, this saffron is creating new income streams for traditional poppy farmers. These same farmers historically had no other choice but to do business with the Taliban — not anymore, according to Sherrill. He says that when brewing beer, he can’t help but to think he’s helping a community half a world away.

Serda Brewing Company

Serda Brewing Company is also racing the clock to bea founding frontiersman of Mobile’s new craft brewery scene. Just beyond Wintzell’s Oyster House at 600 Government Street, owner John Serda and brewmaster Todd Hicks are building a 30-barrel system that will focus its distribution from Brownsville, Texas, to Key West, Florida.

While these guys believe in the theory as Hicks puts it, “every place is your beach,” they plan on focusing on lagers.

“Being on the Gulf, lagers are lighter to drink,” explains Serda. “We want to be the Corona of craft beer.”

When I asked him if there’ll be limes in their thirst-quenching beers, Serda opines, “Oh, there will be none of that.”

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Back in the day, Serda and Hicks attended the same high school. But it wasn’t until their career paths crossed at Port City Brewery that they would become friends. At the time, the two brew friends avidly brewed at home. Yet, Serda’s professional journey took a different path.

Ask any Mobile local about the Serda name, and they’ll most likely point toward John’s Serda Coffee Company on Royal Street. Here there’s an aroma of small-batch Costa Rican roast permeating the air. Still, Serda contends the best place to find a good brew is his house. But, he also frequents The Haberdasher which is only steps from his Mobile coffee shop.

Hicks has a long history of beer in the Southeast. Cutting his teeth on the likes of Port City Brewery in the early 90s, he also once trained under a former Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu brewer. Since those days, he’s tucked away quite a few recipes for German lagers and ales.

“I make lagers because no one’s doing them,” he says. To this day, his brewhouse designs pepper the Gulf Coast. So, when it came to designing the Serda brewhouse in the old Goodyear store, the seasoned brewmaster says he had no hesitations.

“I designed this place to produce lagers and could probably brew by myself, if I had to,” he says.

Design isn’t the only star of efficiency in this future Mobile mecca. Hicks says that the municipal water supply is pulled straight out of the reservoir which is extremely soft water, ideal for pilsners.

Serda Brewing Company opens this summer and their Hook, Line and Lager-Pilsner will be tapped and ready to beat the heat in their pub-style taproom. Be on the lookout for Serda to hit Southeastern shelves, sooner rather than later.

(LEARN: 75+ Popular Beer Styles)

Big Beach Brewing

Just an hour’s drive east and you’ll be in beach heaven. Most folks come for the 32 miles of white, sandy beaches made from quartz grains washed down the Appalachians thousands of years ago. But, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach is also home to the state’s southernmost brewery, Big Beach Brewing Company, located at 300 E 24th Ave in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

When Jim and Julie Shamburger travel, they always seek out mom-and-pop breweries and visit with the locals.

“With 5-6 million visitors per year, we felt we could be successful opening a brewery here,” Jim says. “It got bigger than I thought it would be.”

Big Beach opened last fall with a 10-barrel system that is literally tank to tap. The barrel lines go straight to the taps from a big iron pipe that cools the beer to 36 degrees.

“Once it’s moved into the bright tank, folks can drink the beer. You don’t get much fresher than that,” explains brewmaster Rod Murray. 

Murray started brewing in 1994 during his military career by taking a brewing course. While in Germany he fell in love with hefeweizen, but then stepped into the world of cream ales for which he’s become known for.

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Hailing from Public House Brewery in Rolla, Missouri, Murray is excited for one of their brewers to join him for a bit this summer to “fire up a lager together.” He actually has several summer recipe plans that include a taste of Alabama farms such as the peach wheat made with Alabama peaches. Beekeeper Matthew Green hauls his local honey to the brewery which goes into the blonde ale. Also, the satsumas for the satsuma white come from right up the road.

“Anytime we can source something local, we do,” Murray tells us. “This is our first year. I’m always feeling like I’m chasing myself. Once we get to this fall, I’ll know the normal rotation.”

Enjoy the breeze in the front yard swing, cozy up by the fireplace, or grab a seat on the northeast deck (complete with views of the Intracoastal Waterway). Four-legged friends are also welcome at Big Beach. And if music is the ticket for savoring the flavors, this is the place for you.

“Julie and I like music. We like to go to places that offer an easy vibe so that we can sit and talk about the beer. We want to become one of the premier music venues of Gulf Shores,” Jim says. Check out their events calendar for an act that pleases your palate.

The folks at Big Beach Brewing Company aim to create an environment with comfort in mind, while adding an educational component. Murray says anyone is welcome to come back and take a look at the process. In fact, he works in somewhat of a fish bowl setting.

“There’s nowhere to hide,” he says of the brewhouse surrounded by glass. Garnering a multitude of national awards, Murray doesn’t need to hide. “Rod is a very modest person. He’s won national awards … but, he’d never tell you about that,” says Jim while Murray chuckles, responding: “Nope!”

The post The Rising Tide of Alabama’s Gulf Coast Craft Breweries appeared first on CraftBeer.com.