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Brooklyn, Carlsberg to partner with Norwegian brewery

Brooklyn Brewery and Denmark’s Carlsberg have announced another brewing collaboration, this time with Ringnes in Norway.

The three companies will a new brewery with pub, restaurant, conference facilities and visitor center established at the existing Ringnes E.C. Dahls brewery site in Trondheim, Norway. The brewery will produce both popular local Dahls beer and new beers that take inspiration from both Norwegian and US craft brewing traditions.

E.C. Dahls is the second brewery collaboration between Carlsberg and Brooklyn. One year ago, Carlsberg and Brooklyn opened a brewery in Stockholm – the New Carnegie Brewery – a revival of Sweden’s Carnegie Brewery.

“This is great news for the E.C. Dahls brewery, and great news for beer lovers in Norway and beyond,” said Jørn Tolstrup Rohde, senior vice president for Western Europe at Carlsberg Group. “Carlsberg’s collaboration with Brooklyn continues to explore new possibilities in craft brewing. Carlsberg started its life as a small brewery in Copenhagen back in 1847, and thanks to the resurgence of craft brewing in recent times, more and more people are getting interested in the world of beer. We think that’s very positive.”

Brooklyn brewmaster Garrett Oliver, is a frequent visitor to Norway and will help develop a new line of beers for Norwegian beer drinkers. “The new E.C. Dahls will celebrate the great tradition of Dahls and bring the brewery and its portfolio into the world of craft beer,” Oliver said. “Norway already has a great beer scene, and we’re really excited to be part of it.”

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Rahr Malting plans major expansion

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development has awarded $610,000 in Job Creation Fund resources to Rahr Malting Corp., which will help the Minnesota company to begin its $68 million expansion and addition of 28 full-time employees.

Rahr Corp.’s expansion plans include the construction of a malt house, pilot brewery and technical center, maintenance warehouse, and distribution center. New parking, green space, ponding, and other site improvements are also part of the plan. The Job Creation Fund resources will go directly toward the cost of the pilot brewery and technical center, maintenance warehouse, and distribution center. This funding is contingent on Rahr meeting its hiring and investment goals.

“We’re very excited to be able to continue growing in our home base of Shakopee,” William Rahr, president and chief executive officer of Rahr Corp., said for a press release. “This is the first time in our 168-year history that we have asked the state to support our expansion of jobs and production, so we appreciate the state’s recognition of the economic benefits that Rahr’s expansion will bring to Minnesota.”

The expansion includes:

– The addition of a new 115,000-square-foot malt house will add 70,000 metric tons of annual malting capacity, for a total of 460,000 metric tons. This amount is enough to brew 6 billion bottles of the average craft beer or 12 billion 12-ounce cans of the average light beer. Upon project completion, the company’s headquarters in Shakopee will be the largest single-site malting facility in the world.

– The 20,000-square-foot pilot brewery and technical center will further Rahr’s position as an industry leader in brewing ingredients and improve the company’s understanding of how its products perform in a realistic brewery environment. The first floor will house a pilot brewing and micro-malting center, and the second floor will house an expanded malt quality control lab.

– The 15,000-square-foot maintenance warehouse will allow for storage of the parts and equipment needed to maintain the malting facility.

– The 80,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility for Brewers Supply Group (a wholly owned subsidiary of Rahr Corporation that supplies premium ingredients to brewers, winemakers and distillers) will primarily be used for warehousing and order fulfillment. About 6,000 square feet will be used for the bagging of malt, ranging from bulk loads down to smaller sizes for craft brewers. The facility will serve Rahr’s brewery customers across the United States, including many of Minnesota’s new craft brewers.

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Economic impact of brewing in New York

The numbers aren’t quite up to date — and given recent growth they would likely be even more impressive — but the growing economic impact of brewing in New York’s state economy is apparent.

Impact of craft beer in New York state

The New York State Brewers Association (NYSBA) &#151 whose motto is “Think New York, Drink New York” — found that in 2013 the impact of craft beer on New York State to total $3.5 billion (up from $2.2 billion in 2012). The figure takes into account the number of full-time jobs generated by the local beer industry (11,366 jobs); wages ($554 million paid); state and local taxes paid ($748 million in taxes); and craft beer tourism ($450 million in tourism dollars).

“When the NYSBA was founded in 2003 there were only 38 breweries in the state, today there are over 200,” David Katleski, NYSBA co-founder David Katleski said in a press released. “Through years of relationship building in Albany, we were able to help craft legislation that laid the foundation for the growth we are seeing today. New York State is certainly on the national radar as a brewing powerhouse, and these numbers show the results of a craft beer friendly New York State.”

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Brew Hub to make Toppling Goliath beers

Toppling Goliath, an Iowa brewery that makes bold-flavored beers highly pursued by beer enthusiasts across the country, has become the latest to strike a deal to have a portion of its beer made by Brew Hub.

Brew Hub was founded in 2012 in St. Louis and is building a network of five breweries across the country that primarily will produce beer for other breweries, such at Toppling Goliath. The first came on line in Lakeland, Fla., last year and the next will open outside St. Louis in 2016. The Lakeland facility will brew Toppling Goliath in 2015, but the St. Louis brewery will make most of it beginning in 2016.

Brew Hub will make PseudoSue and other popular brands in Florida, then ship the beer back to Decorah, Iowa, to be distributed throughout Iowa and Wisconsin. Toppling Goliath also will expand distribution to Minnesota.

Toppling Goliath produced approximately 3,200 barrels of beer in 2014. The partnership with Brew Hub will allow the company to increase its volume to nearly 20,000 barrels annually. Brew Hub will package the beer in cans, bottles and kegs.

“We began brewing our beer in 2009, and the positive response from consumers was almost immediate, but it has been overwhelming,” said Toppling Goliath founder Clark Lewey. “It’s been really gratifying to brew craft beer that people love, but we have been unable to meet consumer demand for several years, which has really been frustrating for us, retailers and consumers. Our partnership with Brew Hub will allow us to grow Toppling Goliath the way we always dreamed, and we could not be more excited.”

Lewey and other members of the Toppling Goliath team toured Brew Hub’s Lakeland, Florida, brewery in 2015 to discuss a potential partnership. During that meeting, Toppling Goliath asked Brew Hub to brew their two flagship brands, PseudoSue and Dorothy’s New World Lager. Lewey wanted to see for himself how well Brew Hub could brew their beer.

“Once I tasted our beers brewed by the Brew Hub team, I got really excited,” Lewey said. “That was the proof I needed to know this partnership was the way forward for Toppling Goliath.”

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Abita first partner for Enjoy Beer

Abita Brewing in Louisiana has signed on as the founding brewery partner of Enjoy Beer, a new enterprise created to provide resources on a national scale to a select group of top independent U.S. craft brewers.

Harpoon Brewery co-founder Richard Doyle, who last year sold his stake in the Boston brewery, created Enjoy Beer. A press release explains that company “partners will share their collective wisdom and resources, and those of craft industry experts, in order to bring competitive strength to their individual craft breweries in an ever more competitive marketplace.”

“As the craft brewing industry continues to evolve, there is enormous pressure on brewers to compete against the big breweries,” Doyle said in a press release. “Local brewers like David Blossman at Abita, have been committed to innovation and finding new opportunities to compete while ensuring the company’s independence and local roots.”

Enjoy Beer plans to take on more craft brewing partners “who wish to preserve their local independence, while gaining shared resources in areas such as marketing, sales, purchasing, logistics, and finance in order to compete with large-scale corporate competitors.”

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CEO, New Belgium donate $1 million to Colorado State

New Belgium Brewing and CEO Kim Jordan will donate $1 million to Colorado State University that will update and renovate facilities housing the university’s Fermentation Science and Technology program. Jordan will personally give $500,000 to the project and the remaining $500,000 will be allocated over five years through New Belgium’s philanthropy program. The gifts will be used to build a new fermentation science laboratory, significantly strengthening the long-standing relationship between CSU and New Belgium.

“We’ve had a great relationship with the university over the years and it’s personally meaningful to me to be able to give something back,” said Jordan. “Craft brewing has afforded opportunity to more than 100,000 people working in our industry and it’s important to support the next generation of brewers who will take us into the future.”

CSU has provided a Brewing Science and Technology course since 2005 and formally launched the Fermentation Science and Technology undergraduate degree program in August 2013. There are 76 students currently enrolled in the major. The renovated space will be named the New Belgium Fermentation Science and Technology Laboratory and will house analytical, brewing, kitchen, and sensory room space. It is slated for completion in August 2015.

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Royals’ stadium upgrades beer lineup

The Craft & Draft experience has replaced the .390 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, where the Kansas City Royals play their home games. The new space is the result of an expanded partnership with Boulevard Brewing Company and their wholesaler, Central States Beverage.

“We’re excited to be joining with the Royals and Central States in bringing more craft beers to Kauffman,” said Jeremy Ragonese, director of marketing for Boulevard Brewing. “The organization has demonstrated a clear commitment to creating a welcoming new space that will feature a wide assortment of specialty beers. It’s a big win for fans of Boulevard, craft beer, and the team.”

In addition to Boulevard’s Unfiltered Wheat Beer, Single-Wide I.P.A., and Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale, an assortment of beers from Brewery Ommegang, Lagunitas, Founders, Mother’s Brewing Company, Santa Fe, Breckenridge, and many others, will also be available.

Craft & Draft is located in the left field corner of Kauffman Stadium.