Nebraska Brewing 1st To Comply with Digital Conversion Mandate

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I got the following press release from Nebraska brewing in Papillion, Nebraska last week, suggesting things have been a little quiet around the brewery lately. But at least they’re keeping their wits about them.

Nebraska Brewing Company is pleased to announce the completion of Phase 1 of its Analog to Digital Craft Beer Flavor Conversion in compliance with Federal Mandates. The Congressional mandate for the cessation of full power Analog flavor is to take effect on February 17, 2009 and requires that all analog flavors be converted to digital by that time.

“We believe our efforts to be ground breaking in the sense that while all Craft Beers are required to make the jump, we believe that we are the first to undertake the initiative.” Said Paul Kavulak, Owner of Nebraska Brewing Company. “Over the past year, our R&D department has been able to convert our Brunette Nut Brown and Cardinal Pale Ales to the new format with only minor incompatibilities with the old Analog Growlers, we’re in great shape to be fully converted by the mandated date.”

Digital flavor enables Hi-Def aspects which drinkers cannot experience using the older Analog 16 oz. Pint Glasses. While the newer digital 16 oz. glasses have been on the market for years, drinkers will not be able to experience a true HD experience without the new beverages.

Nebraska Brewing

Photo of Pre and Post-Digital Conversion Craft Ales
(Digitally Enhanced Ale on Right)

Nebraska Brewing Company Public Service Ads have been running for months but unfortunately, the marketing department missed a significant error introduced by the Ad Agencies just prior to roll-out. “TV Ads in thousands of markets have mistakenly used the word TV instead of Beer in our commercials” Said Paul. “We’re doing our best to rectify this situation but our ad dollars are already spent. Just think Digital Beer when you hear Digital TV and you’ll be fine. Also, we expect some consumer backlash when they realize they should have been spending their monies on our Craft Beer instead of buying new TVs.” Nebraska Brewing Company Digital Beers use a special digital tap and binary beer lines which maintain the beverage integrity from tank to glass. “The biggest hurdle we’ve encountered to-date was the difficulty in the acquisition of digital yeast but our suppliers have worked very hard alongside us in our efforts”. Said Paul.

News within the industry has been reporting for some time that many of the larger factory breweries appear to have already tried and failed in their digital flavor conversion efforts as evidenced by the absence of flavor in many major brands. Further evidence of this appears in new ads touting drinkability, color changing mountains, or wide mouth cans instead of directing attention to the problems with flavor. Nebraska Brewing Company remains committed to quality, flavor, and an ongoing effort in remaining the people’s choice in these difficult economic times. In the days leading up to the full digital conversion, Nebraska Brewing Company consumers are urged to try these converted beers soon and often to evaluate personal compatibility with the new format.

First “No Carb” Beer?

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A Queensland boutique brewer has today made brewing history with the launch of BIGHEAD — Australia’s first no-carb beer. BIGHEAD is the brainchild of Burleigh Brewing Company, an independent craft brewery based in Burleigh Heads on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

Burleigh Brewing’s CEO, Peta Fielding, said BIGHEAD’s arrival would be welcome news for men and women across Australia who are conscious of their carbohydrate intake, but love their beer.

“There are a lot of low-carb beers on the Australian market, but only one no-carb – and that’s BIGHEAD Beer,” said Fielding. “For the past year, our customers have been asking us when we were going to create a low-carb beer and today, we’ve not only delivered, we’ve exceeded everyone’s expectations with a beer that is truly unique. We don’t know why this hasn’t been done before now, but we’re thrilled that the idea and ability has been developed by an independent Queensland company.”

BIGHEAD is a full-flavoured, full-strength lager that is 100% natural, free of additives and preservatives, and has a smooth, clean taste – with zero carbs and only 88 calories per bottle.

Bighead

BIGHEAD is named after its place of origin – Burleigh Heads – which was originally dubbed ‘burly head’ (meaning ‘big or brawny head’) by surveyor James Warner in 1840. The name also celebrates the fact that this is a big idea, and a big beer, for an independent brewery.

So how has this little company from the coast managed to create something that no-one else in Australia has? Understandably, they’re not wanting to share too much of their secret, but surprisingly, its based more on tradition than modern technology.

“We use a very authentic brewing process to ensure all our premium beers are fresh and pure. And adding the no-carb element to our brewing involved even more attention to times and temperatures – and required plenty of patience,” said Fielding.

The Burleigh Brewing team, led by Masterbrewer and co-founder, Brennan Fielding, has spent the past year researching, developing, testing and refining the no-carb recipe, which has also been tested by an independent lab in accordance with Australia and New Zealand Food Standards to substantiate its no-carb claim.

But for Brennan and Peta Fielding, this process has been largely a labour of love. “As a craft brewery, we’re passionate about making great beers that taste great and make our customers happy,” Peta Fielding said.

“One thing we wouldn’t compromise on when we were creating this no-carb beer is the quality. BIGHEAD is full of flavour, fresh, pure and balanced, with the added bonus of no carbs. Low-carb beers may have been the ‘it’ drink of 2008, but looking towards the new year, we see the launch of BIGHEAD opening up an entirely new beer category. We hope Australia enjoys drinking BIGHEAD as much as we enjoyed creating it.”

Budweiser Announces Massive Layoffs

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Anheuser-Busch announced today their intention to layoff a number of A-B employees (though the press release is on the InBev website, not A-B’s nor the new ABIB website). The plan is to cut around “1,400 U.S. salaried positions in its beer-related divisions, affecting about 6 percent of the company’s total U.S. workforce,” three-quarters of which were at A-B HQ in St. Louis. Also, 250 vacant position will now not be filled and 415 independent contractors will also be terminated.

Anheuser-Busch InBev

From the press release:

“To keep the business strong and competitive, this is a necessary but difficult move for the company,” said David A. Peacock, president of Anheuser-Busch. “We will assist in the transition for these employees as much as possible. The people of Anheuser-Busch dedicate themselves to the business, and we appreciate all of their contributions.” The company will provide employees severance pay and pension benefits based on age and years of service. Employees also will be offered additional benefits during the transition, including outplacement services.

The announced workforce reductions are in addition to the more than 1,000 U.S. salaried employees company-wide who accepted the company’s voluntary enhanced retirement program, which closed November 14 and provided special benefits for eligible employees retiring by the end of 2008. The retirements were part of planned cost reductions of [$1 billion dollars US], called project Blue Ocean, announced by Anheuser-Busch in June 2008. At that time, the company announced plans to reduce its company-wide U.S. full-time salaried workforce of 8,600 by 10 to 15 percent before the year end. The company’s other Blue Ocean cost reductions remain on track. Bargaining unit employees at the company’s 12 U.S. breweries are unaffected by the reductions announced today.

“Managing our costs is important in building and maintaining a successful business, especially in a challenging economy,” said Peacock. “We are pleased with our U.S. beer sales, we will continue to invest in growing our brands and we will always look for ways to become more efficient. Decisions like this are never easy, but they will ensure the long-term success for
Anheuser-Busch and our employees.”

The company anticipates that the aggregate pre-tax expense associated with the reduction will be approximately 197 million USD. Approximately 150 million USD of this expense will arise from severance arrangements with terminated employees and the remainder will arise from enhancements in the pension benefits required by the terms of the defined benefit plan because the terminations are occurring within three years of the change of control of the company. The company anticipates that cash expenditures from the reduction will be approximately 213 million USD. The plans announced today are an integral part of the at least 1.5 billion USD in annual synergies identified by InBev when it announced its combination with Anheuser-Busch in July. The company is confident in its ability to achieve against this synergies projection by 2011.

Happy Repeal Day

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Today is, of course, the 75th anniversary of the repeal of the 18th Amendment with the ratification of the 21st Amendment. Drink a toast to the freedom to have a legal alcoholic beverage today. See where your state fell in the ratification process below.

Repeal

The following states ratified the amendment:

1. Michigan (April 10, 1933)
2. Wisconsin (April 25, 1933)
3. Rhode Island (May 8, 1933)
4. Wyoming (May 25, 1933)
5. New Jersey (June 1, 1933)
6. Delaware (June 24, 1933)
7. Indiana (June 26, 1933)
8. Massachusetts (June 26, 1933)
9. New York (June 27, 1933)
10. Illinois (July 10, 1933)
11. Iowa (July 10, 1933)
12. Connecticut (July 11, 1933)
13. New Hampshire (July 11, 1933)
14. California (July 24, 1933)
15. West Virginia (July 25, 1933)
16. Arkansas (August 1, 1933)
17. Oregon (August 7, 1933)
18. Alabama (August 8, 1933)
19. Tennessee (August 11, 1933)
20. Missouri (August 29, 1933)
21. Arizona (September 5, 1933)
22. Nevada (September 5, 1933)
23. Vermont (September 23, 1933)
24. Colorado (September 26, 1933)
25. Washington (October 3, 1933)
26. Minnesota (October 10, 1933)
27. Idaho (October 17, 1933)
28. Maryland (October 18, 1933)
29. Virginia (October 25, 1933)
30. New Mexico (November 2, 1933)
31. Florida (November 14, 1933)
32. Texas (November 24, 1933)
33. Kentucky (November 27, 1933)
34. Ohio (December 5, 1933)
35. Pennsylvania (December 5, 1933)
36. Utah (December 5, 1933)

Ratification was completed on December 5, 1933. The amendment was subsequently ratified by the following states:

1. Maine (December 6, 1933)
2. Montana (August 6, 1934)

In addition, the following state rejected the amendment:

1. South Carolina (December 4, 1933)

North Carolina voters rejected a convention to consider the amendment on November 7, 1933 The following states have not ratified the amendment:

1. Nebraska
2. Kansas
3. Mississippi
4. Oklahoma
5. Louisiana
6. North Dakota
7. South Dakota
8. Georgia

For more information, check out Celebrate the Repeal of Prohibition.

Celebrate Repeal

New Belgium’s New Glass Creates Rolling Carbonation

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New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire Amber Ale and lovers of all things bicycle, has introduced new glassware that is guaranteed to stir the senses. Tapping into the world of physics, artistic bike-shaped etchings on the bottom of each glass create bubbly nucleation, resulting in rolling carbonation throughout the beer. The glass will help enhance beer’s flavor by delivering a greater olfactory experience through carbonation.

The new glassware is a traditional Belgian globe shape, crafted with thicker, more durable glass, a beaded lip and a narrow opening that enhances the beer’s bouquet. The reinforced stem keeps hands from warming the beer and also allows one to cradle the beer to the desired temperature.

New Belgium Glass

“We’ve always had our own unique stemware that maximizes the sensory experience of drinking a beer,” said New Belgium’s Sales Co-Pilot Brian Krueger. “The opportunity to introduce nucleation really took it to the next level and we wanted to add a little heft for durability while we were at it. We worked stateside with Libbey Manufacturing, who helped us create a glass with great form and function, and we are more than ready to raise a new glass this holiday season.”

The new Belgium glassware, which holds 13.5 ounces, is available in certain New Belgium markets, in the brewery’s Liquid Center, and will soon be revealed at New Belgium’s website.

Ipswich Celebrates 375 Years

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In the small town of Ipswich, Massachusetts, the new year will mark a milestone in the city’s history. In 2009, Ipswich will celebrate its 375th anniversary. Throughout the year, the town will hold a multitude of community events, educational programs, and outdoor activities to commemorate the past, present, and future of Ipswich, Massachusetts.

As part of the festivities, local brewery Mercury Brewing will be releasing, in limited quantity, 1.5 liter bottles of strong ales. The series will include an Imperial Stout, a Summer Barley Wine, a Double I.P.A, and a barrel aged Old Ale. The first strong ale to be released will be the Choate Bridge Imperial Stout.

Ipswich Ale

Russian imperial stout was originally brewed to satisfy the Czarist courts. Because it was transported across the freezing Baltic from England, imperial stout was brewed with a high level of alcohol. Our Choate Bridge Imperial Stout may not be sailing over the Baltic Sea anytime soon, but the rich, flavorful, deep chocolate color and flavor will remain true to the style. The use of roasted barley gives this hearty ale its subtle coffee aroma and taste.

The first 20 cases, or 80 1.5L bottles of Imperial Stout will be sold right out of the brewery on a first come, first serve basis. Each of these bottles will also be numbered as they come off the bottling line.

Bell’s To Brew At De Proef

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SBS Imports of Seattle, Washington has announced that Bell’s Brewery has agreed to be the 2009 partner for the latest brew in the De Proef Brewmaster’s Collaboration Series. The yet to be designed beer will be brewed in March at De Proef in Lochristi, Belgium and released to the USA market in September 2009.

The initial beer in the series was Signature Ale – originally brewed in 2007 with Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing/Lost Abbey. Jason Perkins of Allagash collaborated in 2008 on Les Deux Brasseurs. Both beers have been exceptionally well-received by beer enthusiasts.

De Proef

“Each year it is my pleasure to invite a noted American brewer to participate in this series,” noted SBS Founder Alan Shapiro. “I am thrilled that John Mallet & Bell’s have agreed to be the 2009 partner.”

“I am really looking forward to this project,” added Bell’s Production Manager, John Mallet. “I have several family ties to the area which makes this invite to brew with Dirk Naudts at De Proef even more special.”

Old Rasputin XI

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North Coast Old Rasputin XI Available Friday, November 28th Only At the Brewery in Fort Bragg, California.

Old Rasputin XI

North Coast Brewing has been making exceptional beers for over 20 years now. The Brew Guide has called them, “very big, very complex and downright kick-ass.” And, one of the biggest and most kick-ass has been their Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. With a string of 12 Gold Medals dating back to 1996, Old Rasputin has developed a cult following. So would it be possible to improve upon that huge, robust coffee and chocolate flavor profile?

Old Rasputin XI

Check it out! On Wednesday, November 26, North Coast will bottle the long-awaited Old Rasputin XI to celebrate the eleventh anniversary of the first bottling of Old Rasputin. This special batch of Old Rasputin has been aging for a year in oak bourbon barrels, and it is truly amazing — even more depth and complexity than we had hoped for. Old Rasputin XI will be available only at the Brewery retail store in Fort Bragg beginning on Friday, November 28 — the day after Thanksgiving. It will be packaged in a 500 ml bottle with commemorative label and a cork and cage finish at $12.95 per bottle. Limit is one case per customer. Some for now, some for cellaring. Sorry, they are unable to ship beer to consumers.

Pike To Release Entire Wood-Aged Stout Monday

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Pike Entire is a blend of three beers: Pike’s XXXXX Extra Stout, (7% abv); the same beer aged for more than half a year in oak Bourbon barrels; and an Imperial Stout (12% abv). The Entire blend contains 42.7% barrel aged beer and finishes at 9.5% alcohol by volume. The taste is complex with velvety malt tones, a coffee aroma, and a palate and finish of bitter chocolate. The biscuity character of pale and crystal malts, along with roasted barley, is balanced by a generous amount of Yakima Valley Willamette, Goldings and Columbus hops in the boil; finished with even more Willamette and Goldings. Adding complexity are the underlying wood tones perfumed by the caramel sweetness of wood-aged Kentucky Bourbon.

Pike Wood-Aged Stout

In order to brew a beer in keeping with the original style but still distinctly American, Pike acquired oak Bourbon barrels last year and filled them with Pike XXXXX Extra Stout in April 2008 to be blended back. Pike Head Brewer, Drew Cluley, describes the beer as “complex and chocolaty with a great vanilla wood overtone.”

On Monday, November 24, 2008, Pike Entire, in wax-dipped 22 oz. bottles, will be released. It will have very limited availabilty at the Pike Pub and in select bottle shops, primarily in the Seattle area. A few quarter-barrels will be released for sale on draft. The Pike Pub will tap its one and only quarter-barrel of Pike Entire on Friday, November 28.

Iron Hill Bottles Lambic-Style Beers

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Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, the popular food and drink destination with seven area locations, has announced the release of four lambic-style beers in bottles: Kreik de Hill, Lambic de Hill, Framboise de Hill, and Cassis de Hill. Iron Hill will host two release parties, at the Wilmington and Media locations, to give beer enthusiasts an opportunity to sample the different styles, speak with the brewers who created them and purchase the award-winning beers.

“It takes 3 to 4 years to make one batch of lambic beer. In the past, we’ve only offered these beers at special events,” says Director of Brewing Operations Mark Edelson, “We are excited to now be able to make them available to everyone who appreciates these great beers.”

Iron Hill’s four lambic-style beers are their most awarded varieties. The Lambic has won two gold medals in 2008 and 2003 from the Great American Beer Festival (GABF), the Kreik one gold in 2005 and one bronze in 2007, the Cassis one bronze in 2008 and the Framboise a bronze in 2004 from the World Beer Cup (WBC).

Iron Hill Lambic

Iron Hill Lambic is a traditional Belgian-style lambic beer made with wild yeast and bacteria and aged in oak barrels for at least two years. It is golden-yellow in color and unfiltered, with a complex aroma of bananas, oak and hay and a nutty flavor that gives way to intense sour notes.

Iron Hill Lambic

Cassis is a lambic-style beer that is aged in oak barrels with black currants, which lend the beer a violet color and berry aroma.

Iron Hill Lambic

Framboise ages in oak barrels with fresh raspberries; it is ruby red in color and balanced between lambic sourness and sweet raspberry notes.

Iron Hill Lambic

Kreik is aged in oak barrels with sour cherries, light red in color and also delicately balanced between sour and fruity-sweet.

InBev Closes Anheuser-Busch Takeover

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According to the Associated Press and otehrs, InBev is reporting that the deal to acquire Anheuser-Busch is officially closed. Beginning today, the new company — Anheuser-Busch InBev — will be the largest beer company in the world and in the top 5 of “global consumer products companies.”

Anheuser-Busch InBev

Other accounts include more details, such as CNN Money, WGN Chicago, St. Louis Today .

From St. Louis Today:

InBev says its main goals — besides running its current operations — are to mesh the two big companies, pay off debt and deliver promised “synergies.” Those include $1.5 billion in cost cuts over three years.

They’ve already launched a new website under the new name, Anheuser-Busch InBev

Germans, Americans one-two in Beer Star Awards

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American breweries claimed 27 medals in the 2008 European Beer Star Awards, second only to host Germany, whose brewers took home 61.

The winners of the competition, judged in October, were announced at BRAU-Beviele, the giant brewing trade show in Nuremberg.

High Falls Brewing in Rochester, N.Y. grabbed two golds, with Genesee winning for “Bottom fermented beer with alternatives cereals or field crops” and Dundee Honey Brown for Specialty Honey.

Oregon breweries Deschutes Brewery and BridgePort Brewing both won gold with English-style beers. Deschutes’ Mirror Pond Pale Ale was top English Pale Ale, and BridgePort ESP won English-Style Best Bitter. California’s Firestone Walker captured gold for Union Jack IPA, repeating its recent triumph at the Great American Beer Festival. And Left Hand Brewing of Colorado took gold in Sweet Stout with Lefthand Milk Stout, which had won the silver in 2007.

The results.

Labatt USA To Be Sold

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Though it won’t stop the deal from closing, the Department of Justice placed one condition on their approval, which was given on Friday, a mere two days after A-B shareholders approved it. DOJ approval was one of the remaining items on the laundry list of “to do” items that had be ticked off in order to complete the takeover of Anheuser-Busch by InBev.

Labatt Blue

That condition is that Labatt USA must be sold off within an unsepcificed period of time, though present contracts will remain in force for three years. The DOJ’s rationale was that without a sale by A-BIB of Labatt USA prices to consumers would be expected to rise in Buffalo and other parts of northern New York due to the sudden lack of competition the merger brings. About half of the Labatt beer sold in the U.S> is sold in that area.

The Buffalo News has the full story, and there’s an AP article as well.

Bounty on December 5th Birthdays

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Wanted: 21-year-old, 75-year-old to Lead Repeal of Prohibition March

21st Amendment Brewery is offering a $75 bounty for a San Franisco Bay Area resident turning 75 on December 5, which is the 75th Anniversary of the repeal of prohibition. In addition, they are offering a $25 bounty for someone turning 21 on the same day. The birthday boy(s)/girl(s) will lead a We Want Beer! March on Friday afternoon, Dec. 5, at 4:00 p.m.

“The Repeal of Prohibition is near and dear to our hearts,” said Shaun O’Sullivan, Chief Hop Head for The 21A. “We don’t usually need an excuse for a party, but this is such a good one that we’re having a parade, too.”

Local residents with a 21st or 75th birthday on December 5, or who know someone with a 21st or 75th birthday on December 5, are asked to contact 21A at [email protected]. 21st Amendment is offering a bounty for the first person who introduces them to each Grand Marshal. Grand Marshals can claim the bounty by introducing themselves. Full instructions for claiming the bounty are posted on 21st Amendment’s blog.

Beer Parade

The We Want Beer! March will begin at 4:00 p.m. at Justin Herman Plaza (1 Market St, at Embarcadero) and end at 21st Amendment Brewery, located at 563 2nd Street, San Francisco. The pub will be transformed into a prohibition-ending celebration, complete with a speakeasy in the mezzanine that will require a password to enter.

“We’ll share the password with the Grand Marshals, but everyone else will have to find the password themselves,” said O’Sullivan. Password retrieval instructions will be distributed Dec. 1 via Twitter and the 21st Amendment blog.

Potential Grand Marshals must be able to provide proof of their December 5, 1987 or December 5, 1933 birthday, and they’ll need to provide their own transportation to the march. “But we’ll help them get home safely after the party,” he said.