July's Top Beer Stories
The War Against Beer Pong(July 31) - Time -Beer Pong is a virtual rendition of the popular college drinking game that requires players to toss Ping-Pong balls across a table and into a cup of beer (if your cup is hit, you drink). Complete Story
Colorado breweries and beer pubs prepare for DNC(July 31) - Examiner - When it comes to getting down to business you can be sure that drinking a good old American beer during the DNC won't be far behind. Complete Story
SweetWater brews make local debut(July 30) - South Carolina - SweetWater has begun peddling its brews in the Lowcountry. SweetWater's 420 ale is on tap at Poe's Tavern, Off the Hook, Mellow Mushroom and The Pour House. Complete Story
Oregon Brewers Fest and Portland Trip Recap(July 28) - Seattle - The OBF was a blast. I was there from about 1pm to 4pm on Friday and Noon to 2pm on Saturday. During my time there both days, the crowd was quite manageable, but started to get too thick close to the time I was leaving. Complete Story
Shiner's Black Lager stays true to German roots(July 28) - New York - Shiner has made a name for itself with its bock beer, though I could never figure out why. There are much better bock beers out there. Its Black Lager, however, is one of the great examples of the schwarzbier style. Complete Story
Beer Drinkers Yield Profits For Bud(July 27) - Forbes - Brewer Anheuser-Busch, in its home-stretch of Independence, beat Wall Street's earnings estimates, thanks to the successful launch of Bud Light Lime and stronger sales of its higher-priced beers. Complete Story
Odell’s to debut Woodcut No. 1 ale(July 26) - Colorado - The Woodcut No. 1 ale was aged for four to eight months in American oak barrels from Kentucky, which give the beer added flavor and aroma, including hints of vanilla, almonds and dried fruits. Complete Story
Beers with more alcohol, flavor gain market share(July 26) - AP - Tucked in a corner at the Deschutes Brewery, barrels that once aged fine wines and whiskeys are nurturing beverages that are challenging drinkers to think of beer more like wine. Complete Story
Sports and beer have a strong bond(July 25) - Among the major beneficiaries of A-B's marketing budget are the Olympics, Major League Baseball, the NFL and NASCAR. But those properties represent a small fraction of the many tentacles the beer giant has in the sports world. Complete Story
Auburn Ale House Brews Plainsman IPA(July 23) - Alabama - Craft beer selections change regularly at the Ale House, but on any give day a patron can find a handful of selections including Peach Lite, Tiger Tail and the Full Monty Stout. Complete Story
Polygamy Porter Beer Protest - Equal Beer Rights for Women(July 23) - Utah - Ex-Mormon, Jezebel founded The Beer Goddess Ministry of Utah and the Beer4her.com to help get equal beer rights for women in Utah….namely protesting "Polygamy Porter" that is currently brewed by Wasatch Beers. Complete Story
Brooklyn Brewery's Steve Hindy Can't Get a Break on New Digs(July 23) - New York - Brooklyn Brewery's Steve Hindy went public last month with his difficulties in finding affordable housing for his expanding business in its namesake borough. Complete Story
Raise a stein to toast first-rate beers brewed in Maine(July 23) - Maine - Beer is driving Maine's economy forward, one bottle at a time, in microbreweries all over the state. This is very good news. Maine is carving a niche and earning a reputation for the very best beers, while the nation's favored brew, Budweiser, goes international with the purchase of Anheuser-Busch by Belgian brewer InBev. Complete Story
Brewer to squeeze more out of Bud Light Lime(July 23) - USAToday - Brewer InBev is already looking for ways to cut costs once its acquisition of Anheuser-Busch is complete, possibly by year's end. In the meantime, A-B plans no let-up in the marketing of its brands, especially up-and-comer Bud Light Lime, which launched in April. Complete Story
Good People Beer Company Opens In Birmingham(July 20) - Alabama - After a long drought, beer is brewing in Birmingham again. Over the last few months, Jason Malone has been laboring in the basement brewery next to the Five Points Grill in Southside, reviving and cleaning old equipment, mixing hops and malts in a quest to bring local brew back to Birmingham. Complete Story
Double Edge to Brooklyn’s Success (July 20) - New York - When the Brooklyn Brewery set up its brew house 12 years ago in a decaying section of Williamsburg riddled with empty shells of the borough’s industrial past, Steve Hindy, the brewery’s president, was hailed as a pioneer. Complete Story
Bold City Brewery to open in Jacksonville(July 20) - Florida - Bold City will make only ales, including its own version of India Pale Ale, known as IPA, a white ale similar to the popular Blue Moon brand, and a strong English ale. Complete Story
Hoppin' Frog leaps ahead (July 20) - Ohio - So less than two years after opening his small Hoppin' Frog Brewery across the street from the Akron Airdock, Karm is tripling the size of the facility to 6,000 square feet and preparing to double production. He's even hiring a full-time assistant brewer. Complete Story
A lot of patriotic talk from Pabst Brewing(July 19) - Milwaukee - Pabst Brewing Co. doesn't operate breweries anymore, but it wants to be the first choice for every red-blooded American beer drinker. Complete Story
OP Man Conquers 200th Beer, Gets Plate and 20-Pound Paunch(July 19) - Kansas City - On Thursday, Michael Krueger, a 44-year-old law firm analyst from Overland Park, went to the Flying Saucer bar in the Power & Light District to relish in the fact that he can drink a lot of beer fast. Krueger was the first in Kansas City to drink all 200 of the Flying Saucer's beers. Complete Story
Does the Dark Knight drink beer?(July 18) - Colorado - So the question begs to be asked: what kind of beer would Batman drink? I think he likes the dark, heavy stuff myself. What better way to wash away the pain from a night of fighting crime than with a bourbon barrel-aged, double-fermented porter topping out at a whopping 13.5% ABV?! Complete Story
What makes for a great summertime beer?(July 18) - MSNBC - For beer lovers, this expanding seasonal choice is a nice problem to have. But it begs some questions: What makes for a great summer brew? What traditions are behind these seasonals? What foods work best with these beers? Complete Story
King of beer deals: Anheuser-Busch takes InBev's $52B offer(July 14) - AP - The board of directors of Anheuser-Busch on Sunday accepted the higher takeover offer from Belgian-based brewer InBev, according to a joint press release, days after the companies seemed set for a hostile takeover battle. Complete Story
"Beer of the Week:" Lagunitas "Lucky 13" Mondo Red Ale(July 9) - Chicago - Lagunitas doesn't get enough of the "BotW" love and there's no excuse for that. It's one of those breweries that's so consistent that we sometimes forget the high quality of their selections. Complete Story
Oh, Lord, here comes Beer Pong for the Wii(July 9) - Newsday - Thanks to Nintendo Wii’s new “Frat Party Games: Beer Pong” (recently renamed “Pong Toss”), you should bust out the old “Castles in the Sky” mix-tape and re-incarnate the pimpled drunkard in you. Complete Story
Beer Battle: Anheuser-Busch sues InBev(July 9) - Atlanta - In a counterattack, Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. sued InBev this week, blasting the Belgian brewer's $46 billion takeover attempt as illegal and misleading to shareholders. Complete Story
High Falls Names New Brewmaster(July 9) - New York - The High Falls Brewing Company has promoted John E. Fischer to the time-honored position of "Brewmaster." The most recent addition to a rich brewing tradition at High Falls, Fischer will ensure that all brewing processes follow a strict regiment and meet the company's high standards. Complete Story
Women beer drinkers opt for micro-brewery specials(July 9) - Canada - Far from being a male domain, the drinking and brewing of beer - at least in the good old days when people bathed in goat's milk - was pretty much the exclusive domain of women. Complete Story
Three Brothers Winery brews first Riesling ale(July 8) - New York - Three Brothers Winery has ventured into new territory: beer. The Seneca Lake winery has opened the Barley Yards Brewing Co. after developing a Riesling ale. Complete Story
Spotlight on Crabtree Brewing Company(July 7) - Colorado - If you’ve never heard of Crabtree Brewing, you might have easily missed this brewery. It’s tucked away in the northeast corner of Greeley right beside the railroad tracks. Complete Story
The Belgians Want Bud? I'll Drink to That(July 6) - Washington DC - Now more bad news gnaws at what's left of our summer bliss: Budweiser -- our Budweiser, a beer as American as baseball and barbecue -- is about to become Belgian (and Brazilian too). Complete Story
Dunedin Brewery Celebrates 12th Anniversary(July 5) - Florida - In a dozen years, the Dunedin Brewery has made a name for itself as one of only three microbrewery producer-distributors in the state. It is also a major attraction in the city's downtown entertainment district. Complete Story
Beer sustains economies of Wisconsin communities(July 5) - Wisconsin - In Wisconsin, where drinking is inextricable from the fabric of life, alcohol informs not only the culture but also the economy. Nowhere is that more evident than in the state’s small towns. Complete Story
Irish woman seeks "husband" for 120 litres of beer(July 5) - Finland - Julia Galvin came to Finland looking for a man that would carry her 120 kg over a 253-metres track -- the incentive being the chance to win the wife-carrying world title and beer worth her body weight. Complete Story
Pearl Brewery's new solar project began this week(July 4) - Texas - More than a year ago, the developer of Pearl Brewery announced it was going to install the largest solar panel array in Texas. This week, it began to become a reality. Complete Story
Asahi Bartending Robot Will Give You a Drink(July 3) - Japan - Asahi's first attempt at producing a bartender robot was successful enough to be proclaimed the "best invention ever" by some overzealous technology writer, but this new Asahi bartender robot really may be the best invention ever. Complete Story
World's Top Brewery Tours(July 2) - Forbes -Once a magnet for those looking for a free beer, brewery tours have gotten much more sophisticated in recent years. Along with that gratis beer, breweries the world over are offering everything from in-depth tours to lessons in beer-making. Complete Story
Hoppy Daze a winning blend of two beer styles(July 2) - San Diego - Hybrids are all the rage these days, and not just on the road. Coronado Brewing Co.'s Hoppy Daze is a winning blend of two beer styles, the Belgian golden ale and India Pale Ale, the latter in its hop-forward West Coast rendition. Complete Story
Beer Man: Blueberry beer should put flavor first(July 2) - Indiana - When I have the occasional fruit beer, I don't like to mess around. I like bold flavors. A common disappointment with many fruit beers is that they don't follow through -- they have more of a fruit-like flavor rather than the taste of the actual fruit. Complete Story
InBev pitches buyout to Bud owner's shareholders in U.S. beer battle(July 1) - Belgium - InBev CEO Carlos Brito insisted in a statement that his offer of $65 a share was "full and fair" and would give shareholders immediate certainty as stock markets plunge. Complete Story
