The Stone Brewing Company have announced that they have plans to open a secondary brewery somewhere in Europe. This is an amazing idea, and something I wish other breweries would start doing as well.

First, let’s look at a company like Dogfish Head, the 11th largest craft brewer of 2010. They have grown immensely, especially recently. They are smart in that they have never wanted to grow too fast. However they are still growing remarkably fast. On the company blog and on Discovery’s Brewmasters show, they have publicly stated that they have had to dump batches of their rarer, specialty brews because it was not consistent with previous versions. When they dumped their 120 Minute IPA last year, it cost the company half a million dollars. People forget that beer contains living organisms (yeast) and simply doubling the recipe does not mean that the exact same beer will come out. The yeast can act differently from one batch to the next, especially when the batches are increased greatly. Besides this, Dogfish Head also regularly makes quite a few different beers that it does not distribute to the west coast. This is done to ensure that these particular beers are as fresh as possible. Recently they also announced that they would no longer distribute to England, Canada and 3 states currently in distribution. This is done so they can better focus on the states with the greatest demand and not simply growing bigger too fast. I’ve always wondered if it would be beneficial for business if they were to open a second brewery on the west coast. They could have their main Delaware brewery focused only brewing enough to distribution the east coast and their west coast brewery doing the same on the other side of the country. They could continue to brew smaller, consistent batches of beer and overall increase distribution to more states with more varieties.

Stone is doing something similar except in another continent. They state that the reason for this is to build their presence in Europe without the costs, financially and environmentally, of shipping beer across the world. They want to ensure that the best, freshest beer that best represents their company is available to Europeans. In addition to this, they will primarily only use ingredients available in Europe whenever possible. Because of this, they will be brewing different beers in Europe than what they currently brew in San Diego. They will still be in a style that is consistent with their brand but new recipes. Again in keeping with their reasoning for all this, the beers that they brew in Europe will not be distributed to the U.S. for the same reasons that they are not currently distributing beers to Europe.

I think this is going to turn out to be a huge success for Stone. They will create a global brand recognition without having to sacrifice quality. It will allow them to create even more unique beers using a greater variety of ingredients and overall increase distribution and sales. All of this can be done than cheaper than what it would cost if they were to try and accomplish these same goals all from their single brewery in San Diego, even if they were to expand it’s size. I would love to see this kind of thing happening more often. It doesn’t have to be in another continent or even country, but a secondary brewery can help a company like Dogfish to continue creating their off-centered ales for more off-centered people in more off-centered places.

I started using Untappd about 5 months ago and last night I reached the milestone of having had 100 different beers. I looked through the list and saw that I have had beers from 42 different breweries from 6 different countries.
The 100th was not as eventful as I was originally planning on it being, but I am glad that it was from a Las Vegas brewery that I had not tried before, Joseph James. I tried their Hop Box IPA, it was super hoppy but not at all bitter, much more of a hop aroma. I had seen it around town before and was very excited to give it a try. I was first introduced to this brewery when I tried their root beer at Ho Foods (Whole Foods). Just from that root beer alone, I could tell that this brewery knows what they are doing. I look forward to trying more beers from this brewery.

The royal family has decided that beer is for the lower classes and has banned any beer from being present at Prince William’s wedding. Specifically: “It isn’t really an appropriate drink to be serving in the Queen’s presence at such an occasion.” Since many associate beer with a drunken frat party with an endless supply of Bud Lite, beer can have a negative connotation. Many think of beer simply as the watered down taste of Budweiser, Miller, and Coors. However, modern day craft beers have complex flavors that any alcohol enthusiast can appreciate. It is a shame the royal family does not see this, especially considering the history beer has had in Britain.

So, in honor of this, here are 6 beers that would be great at a wedding. While William and Kate have not shared their beer preferences, if any, these beers are wedding worthy.

Chimay Grand Reserve
This is a very smooth, amazing beer. It’s bottle conditioned, meaning that it is naturally carbonating and maturing inside the bottle. It is also brewed by monks in Belgium! How is this not classy?

Dogfish Head Midas Touch
This beer is fit for kings! The recipe for this was created by investigating the chemical compounds lining the inside of clay jars buried in Kind Midas’ tomb. It is brewed with honey and grapes, which gives it some white wine-like qualities. Dogfish Head states that this “will please the Chardonnay of beer drinker alike.”

Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu
Another beer from Dogfish’s ancient ales. Also brewed with honey, this is a very light, crisp and refreshing beer that could easily replace a white wine.

Dogfish Head Red & White
This is a witbier that is fermented with pinot noir juice. The added fermented fruit juice gives this beer a strong tart flavor making it a favorite amongst traditional wine drinkers.

Stone Old Guardian Belgo Barley Wine
This is similar to Stone’s normal Old Guardian Barley Wine, however this one is fermented with a Belgian yeast strain whereas the traditional Old Guardian uses and American yeast strain. The Belgian yeast brings out some floral and fruity characteristics in the beer which pairs perfectly with the strong, distinct taste from the barley and hops used in barley wines.

Coronado Brewing Idiot IPA
An unfiltered IPA from a small San Diego brewery. This beer is served on cask (aged and fermented naturally) giving this beer all the qualities of a good IPA with a smooth, soft texture.

As I mentioned in my last post, Stone is one of my favorite breweries. The beers that they make are very distinct in flavor and are easily recognizable. Arrogant Bastard Ale is a regular favorite of mine. While I was San Diego a few weeks ago, I stopped by the brewery to take a tour. It was incredible to see how efficient a professional level brewery is. The entire space is primarily filled with giant fermenter tanks and a single station with a grain mill and brew tank where all 100,000+ barrels (1 barrel = 31 gallons) were brewed last year. Pipes line the ceiling connecting the brew pots to each other and to all the fermenters. If ever in the San Diego area (North County specifically) stop by the brewery. They have several free tours daily that each end in free samples of some of their beers!

People travel all over world to come to Vegas. The city tries hard to make these visitors feel welcome by having a little bit of their home somewhere in town. There are “mini-cities” amongst the hotels, there’s a buffet for nearly every ethnicity of food, and various attractions featuring animals from all around the world.
But what about beer? I’ve found a few shops and bars in town with large selections of beers so I presumed that this town had the beer scene covered. However, as I started following different out of state breweries on Twitter, as I regularly read other beer sites and as I’ve gone to bars in other states, I’m hearing of so many breweries that I have never heard of before. After a while I begin to wonder why it is I hear so much about a particular brewery, but have never seen it on tap or even for sale anywhere.
Recently, the Brewers Association released a list of the top 50 breweries of 2010 (based on volume of beer sold). Of this list of 50, only ~20 of the highest selling breweries distribute in Nevada. Looking through my Untappd profile, the only beers I’ve had that were not of the 20ish breweries that I’m referring to were either:
A: purchased while I was in another state
B: shipped to me from another state
C: from one of Las Vegas’ local breweries or
D: not an American brewery.
That being said, Las Vegas is not a destination for craft beer. The beer that is distributed here, is definitely very good. My 3 top breweries distribute here (Stone, Dogfish Head and New Belgium), but there is still so much more that this city is missing out on.

– George Takei

ALC/VOL: 7ish%? The bottle has the gravity listed in Plato and I don’t feel like doing to the math to convert it into alcohol by volume.

Color: Dark amber brown.

Smell: For lack of a better term, it smells like every other brown ale. Just a bit nuttier.

Feel: A bit more carbonation than most brown ales.

Taste:  It tastes a bit nutty!

Strong hazelnut taste. Do not drink too cold or the hazelnut flavor will be a bit hidden. It has a very basic brown ale base to it but the hazelnut extract makes this a very unique tasting beer.

Overall: Very unique, great tasting beer. I have yet to taste a bad beer from Rogue. That being said, this beer has a very distinct taste and as such, it might be a bit much to have more than one.

Lastly, I don’t think I have ever been disappointed by the artwork on Rogue’s labels.

Thumbs up.

ALC/VOL:7%

Color: Rich Amber

Smell: Grapefruit citrusy hop aroma

Feel: Pillowy soft head, medium mouthfeel, medium to low carbonation.

Taste: Hop bitterness is very present but not overpowering. Same with the hop aroma. Low level malt sweetness.

Overall: This is a definitive, west coast American IPA. Very strong, very present hop character.

One of the better IPAs that I’ve had from a small San Diego based brewery. Sadly they do not distribute to Nevada. The brewery is worth making a stop at if you are ever in San Diego. They often have one-off/unique beers on tap. When I was there I had a habanero version of this IPA that had a very spicy finish!