Largest Hop Crop In 5 Years!

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) - A thirst for craft beer helped hop growers produce their largest crop of hops in five years.
 A new report from the Hop Growers of America also shows a 10 percent increase in acres harvested between 2013 and 2014.
 The Herald-Republic says the Yakima Valley produces about 77 percent of the nation's hops. In 2014, nearly 29,000 acres of hops were harvested in Washington state, representing about three-fourths of the country's total. In Oregon, about 5,400 acres were harvested last year, up about 12 percent from 2013. Idaho also saw a 12 percent increase in acres of hops harvested.
 The country's crop was worth about $272 million. Growers fetched an average price of $3.83 per pound, the highest since 2008.

If You Can't Beat 'em, Buy 'em!

KIRO7 - Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser and other mass-produced beers, which holds a 47.2 percent share of the U.S. beer market bought Elysian Brewing in Seattle.
“For two decades, we’ve welcomed guests into our brewpubs and served them creative and impeccably crafted beers,” Joe Bisacca, Elysian ‎CEO and co-founder, said in a statement. His statement said he will continue with Elysian along with partners Dick Cantwell and David Buhler.
“After a lot of hard work, we’ve grown from one Seattle brewpub to four pub locations and a production brewery. With the support of Anheuser-Busch, we will build on past successes and share our beers with more beer lovers moving forward.”
Elysian Brewing was founded in 1995 by Cantwell Bisacca and Buhler. Elysian’s first Seattle location opened in 1996 on Capitol Hill and the company now distributes its beer in 11 states, including Washington.
“As the fastest growing brewer in Washington, their recipe is working,” Andy Goeler, CEO, Craft, Anheuser-Busch, said in a statement. “Elysian’s brands are an important addition to our high-end beer portfolio, and we look forward to working together.”

Brewpubs Stumbling In UK

 theguardian-observer  On a Tuesday lunchtime, Whitelock’s is doing healthy business. At Leeds’s oldest pub, a mixed clientele samples the 10 real ales and tucks in to hearty pub food. While Whitelock’s was revived, pubs are still closing their doors at an alarming rate. According to the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), 1,661 closed in the first six months of last year – 31 each week. Many have become supermarket convenience stores, some have been turned into homes or restaurants and others stand empty.
 Total beer sales fell from 35.5m barrels in the first quarter of 2000 to 27m barrels in the same period last year. On-trade sales slumped by more than 10m barrels in that time, while off-trade sales rose by more than 2m barrels as supermarkets sold beer at rock-bottom prices. The smoking ban, falling real incomes and the rise of the internet also kept people away from their local. Yet many pubs are thriving under new management, and new ones – more than 800 in the first half of 2014 – continue to open.
 Britain now has more than 1,200 breweries. The total has increased 10% in each of the last two years – a number not seen since the 1940s – and more per head than any other country. Independent brewers are helping keep pubs alive by providing interesting products, and, increasingly, by buying the premises.
 The “beer tie”is an arrangement that lets the pubcos charge their tenants rent and require them to buy their beer at more than the market rate. It's difficult to make money or to try anything different. It came down to what the pubcos charged me for beer. You’re forced to buy from them and there’s no way you can compete with other pubs.  Camra’s Neil Walker says: “There is a massive imbalance between the licensee and the large pub companies. If the company is squeezing the tenant by charging higher rent or too much for their beer there isn’t much they can do. The large pub companies are really property-owning companies. They are happy to sell off their pubs if they can get better prices by selling them to Tesco or for flats.”
 At the heart of Camra’s campaign to protect pubs is a belief that they are a special kind of business. They are, the argument goes, a peculiarly British focal point for community activity and classless interaction. A Camra survey found that three-quarters of adults thought pubs were a valuable part of British life. Some say there are many more pubs crying out for transformation. They’ve seen great pubs close that shouldn’t have closed – but a lot of pubs have closed because people weren’t using them; because the offer wasn’t particularly special and people’s drinking habits are changing.
 Gone are the days when a village can support four pubs. But there will be one pub: and if it’s well run it will be the most popular pub that everybody visits.

Sounds Tasty...

 USA Today  A year after outraging conservationists with a whale-meat beer, an Icelandic microbrewery is back with another outrageous marine mammal brew — this one flavored with smoked whale testicles.  For the annual month-long winter celebration of Thorri, honoring the Norse god Thor, Stedji Brewery is whipping up Hvalur 2, the sequel to last year's popular holiday libation made with the endangered fin whale.

 The International Whaling Commission issued a moratorium on commercial hunting of the fin whale — the second-largest-known animal on the planet after the blue whale — but after a two-year halt, Iceland resumed hunting the species in 2013.
 Last year, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society said it was "immoral and outrageous" that fin whale meat was used in the first Havalur (Whale) brew. The group called this year's offering "a load of b*lls" and "highly provocative and a cheap marketing ploy."
 "Right-minded people would no sooner drink beer brewed with whale testicles than they would order similar drinks made with tiger, elephant or rhino testicles, and our hope, of course, is that visitors to Iceland will treat this latest offering with the disdain it deserves," the organization said in a statement.
 The brewers see things differently. "Actually, we don't consider the fin whale to be an endangered species here in the North Atlantic," brewery co-owner Dabjartur Arilíusson told the trade journal Beverage Daily. "We have a fisheries system in Iceland with all the fish kinds that is really self-sustainable and responsible."
 Hence, whale meat again for this year's festival, which runs from mid-January to mid-February. Stedji, which opened in 2012, will brew 20,000 bottles, and one whale testicle is used in each batch.
 Now, about that new taste ...  "We work the testicle by the old traditional way," he told Beverage Daily. "We smoke it with dried sheep sh**. This method gives it a unique smoked flavor, and we also get a bit of the meaty taste in the beer."
 (Note: His brews highlight "the freshness of the Icelandic water," contain "NO extra sugar" and are "filtered and pasteurized.")
 Mark your calendar: The release date is Jan. 23. International shipping available.
 Not your cup of tea? There are other traditional Icelandic delicacies to enjoy during the month of celebrations: putrefied shark, ram's testicles, sheep's heads and blood pudding.
  Skál!

Careful What Beer You Drink

 Contaminated traditional beer has killed 56 people in Mozambique, health authorities in the southern African country said on Sunday. An additional 49 people were admitted to hospitals in the Chitima and Songo districts in the northeastern Tete province, and 146 more people have reported to hospitals to be examined for the poisoning, district health official Alex Albertini told Radio Mozambique.
 Those who drank the contaminated brew were attending a funeral in the region on Saturday, Albertini said.
 Pombe, a traditional Mozambican beer, is made from millet or corn flour. Authorities believe that the drink was poisoned with crocodile bile during the course of the funeral.
 Blood and traditional beer samples were being sent to the capital Maputo to be tested, said provincial health director Carle Mosse.  “We don’t have the capacity to test the samples,” she told Radio Mozambique.  Mosse told Radio Mozambique on Sunday that she expected the situation to worsen because the region did not have the necessary resources to deal with the disaster.
 Mourners who drank the beer in the morning reported no illness, while those who drank the beer in the afternoon, fell ill, authorities said. They believe the beer must have been poisoned while funeral goers were at the cemetery.
 The woman who brewed the beer is also among the dead.

Kalamazoo Beer Week Starts Jan 10.

 This year marks the fifth anniversary for Kalamazoo Beer Week, an event aiming to support the local craft beer movement.  The seven-day event includes parties, tastings, games and more at a variety of venues in Kalamazoo, Mich. Attendees will get chances to meet brewers, both from local breweries like Bell’s and from national ones like New Belgium and Dogfish Head, and – of course – taste lots of beer.  more K-Zoo Beer Week 2015

Beer Is Tops In Michigan 2014!

 There is no doubt that West Michigan loves to discuss, debate and, of course, drink craft beer. After all, you don’t earn the title Beer City USA by default. In 2014, online traffic at MiBiz.com reflected that notion while also highlighting how big of an impact the craft beer industry plays on our local economy.
 In 2014, we worked hard to uncover news and collect industry intelligence on the local craft beer industry — and readers responded. Of our 20 most-read articles on MiBiz.com, seven of them had to do with beer or spirits in one way or another.
Here is a link to the most popular reads in 2014. MiBiz Most Read 2014
  jbussa@mibiz.com