News Bits and Beer Quick Hits

I've found quite a bit of news this week in the wonderful world of beer, however instead of posting a few wordy entry's I'm taking the cheap way out and just posting one short entry on a few different news bits.

- First comes news from the Flying Dog Brewery out of Denver that they are moving to Maryland. A while back they bought out Wild Goose Brewery in Frederick, MD and began brewing a portion of their output at that facility. Well over time that output has grown to be 70% of production. With that increase in production and the fact that their current place was not conducive to expansion they have made the decision to move in January. That means the brewery in Denver will be closing down however their administrative duties will still be done out of Denver and won't be making the move. I have a couple of questions regarding this move: Will the tasting room still be open? What will happen to Stranahan's Whiskey next door? They use Flying Dog malt so I wonder how they will continue. The good news is that I am heading to Denver this week to spend Christmas with my wife's family, and I'm working on arranging a tour of Flying Dog, so hopefully I'll be able to find out the answers.

- Second bit of news is this article from MSNBC on the growth of craft brewing. The basis of the story is that craft breweries are starting to be run like a real life business. Instead of just throwing things together they have business plans and such. This organization is one of the many things that is helping craft beer increase their growth potential while the macro brewers are scrambling and seeing their sales drop. While Craft beer only takes up about 7% of the market in the last 52 weeks it has seen a growth (in term of dollar sales) of 17.2% according to this story. Thats pretty impressive. The good news is that as small breweries get smarter with their business structure they become more stable which leaves to longevity (hopefully).

- Lastly is the announcement of The Session #11. The monthly virtual beer tasting is being hosted by Brewvana, the theme is Dopplebock's. Hmmm, I love doppelbock's, especially in the cold weather. This will be a fun one to be sure. Maybe I'll even find something interesting in Denver. The session will be held on the 4th of January.