Fifteen years since 11 September 2001, remembering the heroes and the victims of that terrible day, the veterans of the war(s) that followed, and the soldiers killed since.
And the people of Afghanistan and Iraq.
And you, God's little flowers
May you blossom all around
So that my son
May sleep happily."Symphony of Sorrowful Songs"
Symphony No. 3, Op. 36
— Henryk Górecki, 1976.
If you have the day off today, #LaborDay, keep in mind that #YeastNeverSleeps. Your local brewer is hard at work. pic.twitter.com/k0OmSuBJNY
— YFGF (@Cizauskas) September 5, 2016
—Via USA Today.Rudy Van Gelder, perhaps the most influential recording engineer in the jazz genre,who brought to vivid life the sounds of such legendary artists as Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock and Freddie Hubbard, has died at 91.
—Via Harry Schuhmacher, at Beer Business Daily.[redacted slightly]Please can we all remember that Pete's Wicked Ale went public on the NASDAQ on November 8, 1995 and rose 40% immediately. Petes was initially priced at $18 in the offering and closed at $25.25 at the end of the first day of trading.
Today the brand doesn't exist. Doesn't even exist. Not kidding. Doesn't exist.
These issues, I am certain, will only intensify as more breweries come online and capacity starts to outstrip demand, and distributors and retailers start to say 'no mas' on additional brands and SKUs.
Too many breweries creating a crowded marketplace, tap rotation nation, too much brewing capacity but not enough packaging capacity, too much bad/infected beer being produced, too much dusty old beer on the shelves, rampant pay-to-play, and big brewers aggressively getting into the game. Oh, and deep discounting: the biggest red flag in predicting a 1997 redux.
There will be more Pete's Wicked Ales, mark me. The reverse-tipping-point is here, or will be soon. And when times get tough and the craft pie is not growing even high or mid single digits anymore -- or, god forbid, FLAT -- people will get sharp elbows. It's already happening.
Look, I was already armpit deep in the business in 1996-2000 when the last time this was happening in craft. Everybody now seems to hopefully say, 'This time is different.' From what I saw back then and what I see now, the only difference is people have more tatts. Even the beards are the same. And the blithe ignorance. They know what they know, but what they don't know they assume doesn't exist.
—Via [U.S.] Brewers Association.Since 1990, [brewery] production has grown faster than the total brewery number. The one time this wasn’t true – the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the index of permits caught up with the index for production – we got a shakeout. [...] All signs point to a future with slower growth in demand. A slowdown isn’t a bubble bursting and what we won’t see is a cratering number of breweries.
—Via Washingtonian.The fall fruits don’t lend a ton of flavor to beer, so instead brewers rely on 'pumpkin spice'—a combination of cinnamon, cloves, and other pie-like flavors that conjure up the holiday season. When brewers do use pumpkin, it’s often canned or frozen. The fresh stuff isn’t in season until its too late to market and sell the beer.
—Beer and whiskey writer Lew Bryson, at Charleston City Paper.You can, arguably, buy a relatively good table wine for $12. But if you compare that to $12 and up for a craft beer six pack, beer is not such a great deal anymore.
—American Sour Beers author Michael Tonsmeire, via Appellation Beer.Brewing beer with the lowest pH is like making an IPA with the most IBUs.
- Overall, the beer industry contributes about $252.6 billion in economic output which is equal to about 1.5 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product.
- Brewers and beer importers directly employ 49,576 Americans. More than 70 percent of brewing jobs are linked to large and mid-sized brewers and beer importers.
- The number of distributor jobs has increased by more than 20 percent in the last decade, to more than 131,307, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
- Suppliers to the brewing industry – enterprises that manufacture bottles and cans, cardboard case boxes, brewing equipment or marketing displays, for example – generate more than $83 billion in economic activity and are responsible for more than 383,190 jobs alone.
- More than $48.5 billion in tax revenue is generated by the production and sale of beer and other malt beverages. This is equal to nearly 40 percent of the retail price paid for beer by consumers.
Beer Serves America Beer Institute July 2015.
- The beer distribution industry directly employs 135,000 people in the United States.
- When the impacts of distributor operations, capital investment and community involvement are considered, the total number of impact jobs exceeds 338,000.
- Beer distributors contribute a total of $70 billion in economic impact across the U.S.
- Beer distributor activities contribute nearly $13 billion to the federal, state and local tax bases. This does not include the nearly $11 billion in federal, state and local alcohol excise and consumption taxes.
- The beer distribution industry contributes more than $23 billion in transportation efficiencies for the beer industry each year.
- Beer distributor activities result in nearly $178 million in economic impacts to communities through support of charities, local events and economic development.
America’s Beer Distributors: Fueling Jobs, Generating Economic Growth & Delivering Value to Local Communities National Beer Wholesalers of America (NBWA) 2015.
Since 1997, Cask Marque has been ensuring that the cask ale you drink in pubs in the U.K. has been in perfect condition. Qualified ass...
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