(Paso Robles, CA) – Firestone Walker is contract brewing some new ones for Trader Joe’s: Mission Street Brown Ale and Mission Street Hefeweizen.

Because these are contract beers, FW declined to comment though it is probably safe to say that these will be appearing at some TJ’s locations where Mission St. beers are currently sold.

Despite the stigmas surrounding contract brews, Firestone Walker does a nice job with these. The brewery just earned a second medal (bronze) for Mission Street Pale Ale at the World Beer Cup.

Two new Mission Street beers to be released

[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]

The Brewers Association Recognition Award went to Larry Bell, Founder and Owner of Bell’s Brewery, Inc. Bell started the Kalamazoo Brewing Company and Bell’s Brewery, Inc. in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1985, the earliest craft brewery in the eastern half of the United States. Larry’s dedication to the industry includes serving as a former chair of the Brewers Association’s predecessor organization and acting as a driving force with current Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper for the creation of American Beer Month (which evolved into American Craft Beer Week).

“Larry is a leader in our industry known for his innovative beers and the passion he brings to craft brewing,” said Brewers Association Board of Directors Chair Nick Matt, CEO of Matt Brewing Company. Mountain West Brewery Supply’s David Edgar noted in documents supporting Bell’s nomination that “Larry is continually pushing the envelope with experimenting with different grains, different yeast strains and plenty of hops.”

To select a winner of the Brewers Association Recognition Award each year, members of the association nominate candidates and the Brewers Association Board of Directors votes to determine the winner.

The Brewers Association presented the Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Brewing to Ken Grossman, CEO/President of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. Grossman received this year’s award for his leadership in technical brewing science for craft brewers. He is still deeply involved in technical brewing projects at Sierra Nevada and has led numerous initiatives in the area of sustainability and beer quality.

“Ken Grossman founded Sierra Nevada Brewing Company 30 years ago based on one principle, to make the highest quality beer in America,” said Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing Co. in a nominating document. “I think Ken’s never-ending quest in life is to make Sierra Nevada’s beers even better than they already are.”

The Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Brewing was first given in 1997 to honor Russell Schehrer, who died in 1996 at 38 years old, for his contributions to the brewing industry. Schehrer was a founding partner and original head brewer at Colorado’s first brewpub, Wynkoop Brewing Co. He was also one of the first brewers to produce mead, doppel alt, cream stout and chili beer.

Brewers Association brewery members submit nominations every year for the Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Brewing. The winner is chosen from the slate of nominees by a vote of the previous award winners.

The Brewers Association presented the F.X. Matt Defense of the Industry Award to Steve Hindy, Chairman and President of The Brooklyn Brewery. Hindy recently testified in a Congressional hearing to communicate how state franchise laws can hinder the ability for small brewers to grow their businesses and how self-distribution is important to many small brewers to develop their access to market.

“Steve’s work on behalf of the industry is almost too great to list,” says Brewers Association Past Chair Richard Doyle of Harpoon Brewery. “His involvement on the Beer Institute board established credibility for craft brewers there and reaffirmed our place at the table.”

The F.X. Matt Award is given in honor of a champion of small brewers, F.X. Matt (1933-2001), president of the F.X. Matt Brewing Co. in Utica, New York from 1980-1989 and chairman from 1989-2001.
Past Award Winners
Brewers Association Recognition Award Winners

2009 – Ken Allen, Anderson Valley Brewing Co.
2008 – Dr. Michael Lewis, U.C. Davis
2007 – Jack McAuliffe, New Albion Brewing Co.
2006 – Chuck Skypeck, Boscos Brewing Co.
2005 – Carol Stoudt, Stoudts Brewing Company
2004 – Jack Joyce, Rogue Ales
2003 – Mary-Anne Gruber, Briess Malting Co.
2002 – George Fix, Clemson University
2001 – Jim and Bobbie Kennedy, Admiralty Beverage Russell
2000 – Ralph Olson and Ralph Woodall, Hopunion CBS, LLC
1999 – Bill Owens, American Brewer Magazine
1998 – Charles Finkel, Merchant du Vin
1997 – Jim Koch and Rhonda Kallman, Boston Beer Co.
1996 – Karl Strauss, Karl M. Strauss Consulting
1995 – John Hickenlooper and Russell Schehrer, Wynkoop Brewing Co.
1994 – Fred Scheer, Frankenmuth Brewery
1993 – Jeff Mendel, Institute for Brewing Studies
1992 – Paul Shipman, Red Hook Ale Brewery
1991 – Ken Grossman, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
1990 – Bert Grant, Yakima Brewing and Malting
1989 – Roger Briess, Briess Malting Co.
1988 – Fritz Maytag, Anchor Brewing Co.
1987 – Michael Jackson
Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Brewing Winners

2009 – Steve Parkes, American Brewers Guild
2008 – Vinnie Cilurzo, Russian River Brewing Company
2007 – Matt Brynildson, Firestone Walker Brewing Company
2006 – Dan Carey, New Glarus Brewing Company
2005 – Greg Noonan, Vermont Pub and Brewery
2004 – Dick Cantwell, Elysian Brewing Company
2003 – Phil Markowski, Southampton Publick House
2002 – John Mallett, Kalamazoo Brewing Co.
2001 – John Harris, Full Sail Brewing Co.
2000 – Mark Carpenter, Anchor Brewing Co.
1999 – Fal Allen, Pike Brewing; Anderson Valley Brewing Co.
1998 – Garrett Oliver, The Brooklyn Brewery
1997 – John Maier, Oregon Brewing Co./Rogue Ales
F.X. Matt Defense of the Small Brewing Industry Award Winners

2009 – Eric Wallace, Left Hand Brewing Company
2008 – John Carlson, Colorado Brewers Guild
2007 – George Hancock, Pyramid Brewing Co.
2006 – Daniel Bradford, past BAA President
2005 – Marc Sorini, McDermott Will & Emery
2004 – Marc Sorini, BAA Counsel
2003 – Jim Parker, Oregon Brewers Guild
2002 – Mike McKinney, Texas Wholesalers Association
2001 – David Edgar, Past Institute for Brewing Studies Director
2000 – Fred Bowman, Portland Brewing Co.

Brewers Association announces 2010 Achievement Award Winners

[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]

(Golden, CO) – As thousands in the craft beer industry prepare to gather in Chicago this week for the 2010 Craft Brewers Conference, back in the Centennial State, MillerCoors quietly introduces one of its more serious competitors to craft beer to date, Colorado Native Lager.

The brew premiered last week with very little fanfare considering this is a new MillerCoors product. The company has yet to introduce any TV or print advertising and typing “Colorado Native Lager” into Google yielded only a handful of relevant results as of this posting.

Instead, MillerCoors held an invite-only launch party at the Mile High Station, introduced a new website, created a Facebook page and started shipping out the beer across Colorado. That’s right, Colorado Native Lager is already available on some shelves. MillerCoors is positioning this brand, brewed by the company’s AC Golden Brewing arm, as “craft” or, at the very least, “small.” AdAge’s recent look at Boston Beer Co.’s TV advertising shows how this marketing message can be lucrative for the big guys.

Here is a breakdown of (what I perceive to be) the Colorado Native Lager strategy:

SOCIAL MEDIA

Whereas Blue Moon succeeded in a time before these tools existed, MillerCoors now has social media to build authentic/small/local brands.

Craft breweries have increasingly taken to social media to create and sustain connections with drinkers. Over 50% of craft breweries in the U.S. now have a Facebook fan page and the number of U.S. craft breweries with Twitter accounts will hit 50% sometime next year. If breweries still don’t believe in Facebook or Twitter as valuable endeavors, look no further than Rock Art Brewery’s viral public campaign during the Monster Energy fiasco or Fullsteam’s substantial brand presence before it has even produced a single drop of craft beer.

MOBILE CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

MillerCoors has another weapon beyond that of craft brewers though: SnapTags. You point and click your camera at an icon on the back label and send the pic as a message to a listed number. An automated CRM system then engages with you through back-and-forth mobile messaging. What that engagement entails is pretty wide open depending on the product though the AdAge article goes into the details as they pertain to CNL. For example, the buyer is able to vote for the charity for which they think that a portion of the proceeds from CNL sales should be donated.

This is the first product to use SpyderLynk’s SnapTags technology right on the product itself (instead of on a print ad as an example) according to AdAge.

The technology allows MillerCoors to establish a connection with drinkers who have mobile phones but don’t participate with brands on Facebook or Twitter. Now MillerCoors can text someone when the next Colorado Native Lager block party is or where the beer is appearing on tap near the drinker’s home or when the brewery is introducing a new beer like CNL, etc. Those are just a few ideas; one can see how valuable those connections could potentially be.

LOCAL COMMUNITY

It is right there in the name. The beer bears the state name, is brewed in Colorado with virtually 100% Colorado ingredients, and will only be sold in Colorado (at least for now). The brewery is also holding no less than ten official events over the next month to help build word of mouth for the beer. Last but not least, there is the local charity angle.

A couple notes on the ingredients from the website: “As far as we know, Colorado Native is the only lager brewed with Moravian two-row barley grown in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. [...] Colorado Native is brewed with three hop varieties: Chinook, Centennial and Cascade. As with our barley, the San Luis Valley is also home to many of our hops.”

PACKAGING

Again, MillerCoors turned to a Colorado business, Ten Fold Collective, based in Loveland (or more specifically, a Denver-based branding agency hired by MillerCoors called The Integer Group did). Thinking back to the local concept, Ten Fold notes, “the design bears all the hallmarks of our Colorado home: lodge pole pines, elements from the state flag, and the snow-capped peaks of the Rockies.” More packaging shots can be found here.

Colorado Native Lager certainly makex a compelling case for those seeking a new local beer. The odds are good that many won’t realize that this is one of many MillerCoors brands before making their purchase which, it goes without saying, is exactly how the company wants it.

The only thing yet to be determined is how much quality is really in that bottle.

Colorado Native Lager: New MillerCoors beer aims to beat Craft at its own game

[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]

(Newport, OR) – More news on the Rogue Ales front . . .

The Rogue XS Series was previously available in large-format ceramic bottles but the brewery decided to go back to its roots, returning the series to 7 oz. nips beginning this year.

From John Holl of the New Jersey Newsroom, “Currently, the Russian Imperial Stout is on shelves. In April, it will be replaced by the Imperial Red. Summer months will bring the YSB English Bitter and I2PA. Late fall will bring [McRogue Scotch Ale] and by December the Old Crustacean Barley Wine will be on shelves.”

One interesting thing that the Newsroom piece mentions is that these should retail for $3.99. With these being 7 oz., that translates to $6.84 for a single 12 oz. bottle. The brewery has drawn criticism for its pricing in various beer forums. The latest example is a Beer Advocate thread in which the brewery is cited by no less than 22 different users for being overpriced. To the brewery’s credit, they addressed this criticism head-on in an interview with the New School blog back in January (that must have been one tense interview).

In other Rogue news, as reported previously, Chatoe Rogue Single Malt Ale will be released in April and Chatoe Rogue OREgasmic this summer.

Rogue XS 2010 Schedule announced

[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]

Jane Peyton, an author and historian, says the fairer sex are behind the popularity of beer, and have been involved in its production since brewing began between 7,000 and 9,000 years before Christ.

And in Britain, it was women in their role as homemakers who drove the beverage’s popularity as a home brew in the Middle Ages.

Back then, drinking ale was more common than water for most people, even children, because water was often contaminated.

Only over the past 500 years have men started to muscle in on the act, when commercial breweries began to be set up and the product was taken out of the home.

Mrs Peyton said: ‘For thousands of years women brewed beer. It was part of the daily diet and therefore part of a woman’s domestic chores to produce.

‘I can imagine it will come as a shock to many men, but they’ve got women to thank for their beer.

‘It is only in comparatively recent times that men became involved in the brewing process.’

Known as brewsters, women brewed the vast majority of ale drunk in Britain until the 14th century.

In Britain today, only 13 per cent of women choose beer over other drinks, compared with 40 per cent on the Continent.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1262441/Putting-ale-female-Men-women-thank-making-beer-popular.html#ixzz0jmF1A2JA

(Oostvleteren, BELGIUM) – Struise has not started an eBay account for you to buy Westvleteren though they (apparently?) have an agreement with the abbey of Saint Sixtus to sell it on their webshop.

The first allotment of Westvleteren went on sale on Sunday afternoon and sold out in 13 minutes. More was added to the site on Monday and as of Monday night, there were bottles of Westvleteren 12 to be had though they have sold out. The best beer in the world (sorry, Pliny the Younger didn’t last long at the top of Beer Advocate) was listed for only 4 euro at a two bottle limit. Note that prices are only viewable after creating a free account. Instead of listing a product as sold out, the site lists de-lists the product altogether. There is a way to subscribe to product updates though I don’t know how effective it is and the link only to subscribe only comes up after completing an order. If anyone has a better idea for being notified as to when more Westvleteren is added, please post in the comments.

The brewery charges 26 euros for every six bottles shipped so it makes sense to order in multiples of six (in other words, whether you order one bottle or six, your shipping will come out to 26 euros). Because of the limit on Westvleteren 12, you would have had to fill in the rest of your order with Struise beers and there are several good options there. A six bottle order is likely to come in at $60-75 USD after shipping, a relative bargain compared to the prices that you might find for Westvleteren and Struise beers listed on eBay.

And that is what this is all about.

Says Struise’s Urbain Coutteau on RateBeer, “Westvleteren does need help. We were able to ruin the Ebay market in just two months. ‘Help thy Neighbour’ has always been our philosophy. And if we are right, we, and we only will be able to stabilize Westvleteren beers. My hair comes up right when I see a crate of Westvleteren beer being sold at 670$ at belgianshop.com and/or at 12 euros a bottle at the crackedkettle.com or 250 euro a six pack on ebay.

Gentlemen, besides brewing drinkable beers, I’m at war, and I will rest once I have beat all those opportunists, and you can help me, by buying at a reasonable price at our place.”

It is unknown as to when the next bottles will be available in the store. It is also unclear as to whether there is an actual agreement in place with Saint Sixtus.

Part II coming in a few hours . . .

Struise, Westvleteren and eBay: an opportunity to try the world’s #1 beer

[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]

Let us know how you did. We are a little embarrassed to post our scores.

On Friday, Conley was our emcee for Prime Street Grille’s five-course beer dinner. More than a 100 people attended the event, which featured five great courses and as many great Flying Dog brews for $50 plus gratuity, a sum that ultimately equaled a very good deal.

Servers delivered beer first (about half a beer per course) and food second (all told, nothing less than a feast). While the beer arrived, Conley told us about the ingredients and the brewing process. We also learned some Flying Dog history. We learned, for instance, that it was founded in Colorado 20 years ago by a rancher, George Stranahan, whose process for naming his company had something to do with a mountaineering expedition, a donkey and a suitcase full of contraband…

Read the full article at SoMDNews.com

(Fort Collins, CO) – The following update comes from the good folks at Fort Collins Brewery.

Summer will signal the introduction of two new seasonal brews to the Fort Collins Brewery’s growing portfolio of limited release beers. Happy for the summer sunshine yet reluctant to let go of the big beers of winter, FCB crafted two exceptional brews meant to be perfectly quaffable even in the height of summer yet still big, bold and feisty.

First up will be FCB’s much anticipated Wheat Wine available in bombers April through August. This remarkable brew was made using a preposterous 50% malted wheat and features a slightly fruity flavor and soft, pillowy mouthfeel with just a touch of caramel. It’s a good thing you won’t be wearing any socks because at 9.2% ABV they’d be knocked straight off.

This summer will also bring a new addition to FCB’s exceptional series of bock beers. Hellesbock will be available in bombers May- July. The straw-blonde bock is squeaky clean on the palate and overflowing with subtle malt flavor. Don’t be fooled by the color, this is a serious beer.

Both brews will be available in 22oz bombers in select states. Judging by the recent success of FCB’s Maibock it is recommended that customers not dally as supplies of both brews are limited.

Perhaps even more exciting is the exceptional progress on FCB’s long awaited new brewery. Come June the 30,000 square foot facility will house FCB’s entire operation as well as a full service restaurant, tasting room and community room. Visitors will be afforded a full view of FCB’s brewing and packaging operations as well as mountain and golf course scenery as they enjoy hand crafted brews and gastro-pub fare.

Fort Collins Brewery introducing new seasonals this summer

[Disclaimer: Beernews.org is a leader in craft beer news and is the original source of this article. If you would like to check out more, please visit the original site. Thanks!]

Click here to view the embedded video.

What do you all think?