Houston homebrewer Chris Landis won first place in the 15th annual Big Batch Brew Bash, the world’s largest single-style homebrewing competition, with his English Barleywine. [beeradvocate.com]

And now, for the 5th time in history, the winning brewer will help Saint Arnold Brewing Co. create this year’s Divine Reserve (#10), based on his winning entry. Divine Reserve #9 was a delicious Imperial Pumpkin Stout that I excitedly got to try from USA Beer Trends, unlike any pumpkin brew I’d had before. Ever since my first taste of Divine Reserve, I know I’d want to try to get my hands on every other year that comes along … I also wish I’d have a chance to enjoy that Imperial Pumpkin Stout again.

Big Batch Brew Bash winners had inspired these other four Divine Reserves in the past:

• Saint Arnold Divine Reserve No. 8, Scotch Ale (2009)
• Saint Arnold Divine Reserve No. 7, Weizenbock (2008)
• Saint Arnold Divine Reserve No. 5, Russian Imperial Stout (2007)
• Saint Arnold Divine Reserve No. 3, Double IPA (2006)

Congratulations to Chris Landis and his winning brew - we hope brewing with the crew at Saint Arnold will be a dream come true.

TAGS [ HOMEBREW | BIG BATCH BRREW BASH | SAINT ARNOLD | DIVINE RESERVE ]

Not everyone may know this, but we’re (KegWorks I mean) located in Buffalo, NY – a border town with a few bridges to Canada. It’s a wonderful thing, considering we have easy access to the best products that Canada has to offer – particularly the beer.

Around here, the staple beers that you’ll find at every event and every bar are Labatt Blue and Molson Canadian. When people move out of the area and they ask for a Blue Light, bartenders usually look at them like they have three heads.

We all took notice when a company called North American Breweries purchased Labatt USA awhile back. When that happened, the Department of Justice stepped in with a mandate that said that in order for the deal to go through, North American Breweries must switch Labatt’s US sourcing away from AB InBev’s Labatt breweries in Canada and they must do it within three years.

Yesterday, North American Breweries lived up to their end of the deal. According to reports they had launched a "pretty intensive investigation of the options, including building a brewery in Canada, buying a brewery or contract brewing." Some sources even say they made a few attempts at buying an existing brewery but that didn’t pan out. So, they decided to contract their business out to Molson Coors.

Sure, it’ll be invisible to customers, it won’t say anything about Molson Coors on the packaging, North American Breweries and Labatt brewmasters will still be in charge and the recipe will remain the same. Yet, I still can’t help but wonder what John Labatt would have to say about this. As Beer Business Daily said, it’s kind of like brewing Budweiser in Milwaukee. I can’t help but think of it as sleeping with the enemy.

Apparently, they will start transferring production to Molson Coors in the fourth quarter with test batches and the entire transition is expected to be complete within the next 9 months.

I read that this solution "allows Labatt to maintain its Canadian heritage" – and that the company thought brewing the beer in the US (here or in Rochester for example) could possibly hurt the brand, seeing as it would no longer be considered an imported beer. Sounds kind of silly to me.

I suppose as long as Buffalo keeps getting Labatt Blue and Labatt Blue Light, the world will keep on spinning – it just might be a little off kilter.

TAGS [ MOLSON | COORS | LABATT | NAB | BEER NEWS ]

Everyone knows us as the fun loving, beer drinking, ball-busting group but truth be told – we really care about each other a lot. We care about our community too and we always do what we can to help.

When our Systems Administrator told us about his 13-year-old cousin Elizabeth A. Henry, we knew we had to do something. We’re feeling pretty helpless but we’re going to try to do what we can and we’re asking for your help.

This is Elizabeth, a beautiful young girl from New Orleans, Louisiana. She was born with a congenital heart defect called Tetrology of Fallot. She had her first open heart surgery at 6 months old and then a pulmonary valve replacement in 2009. Earlier this year she was diagnosed with large pulmonary artery aneurysms (large clots in the pulmonary arteries that makes breathing difficult.

Elizabeth’s case is rare and doctors all over the world have been consulted, to no avail. Elizabeth is currently living at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA where physicians are considering possible treatment and surgeries including a heart/lung transplant.

A fund has been set up to help her family cover the mounting medical and travel expenses related to Elizabeth’s condition and a fundraiser is in the works.

Please take a moment to check out the website, elizabethhenryfund.webs.com and get involved if you’re able.

Elizabeth is a good kid from a good family who is looking forward to starting high school and beating this condition. We know that we’ve got some of the best blog readers and customers in the world and if anyone can help this little girl and her family get through this, it’s us. Thanks so much!

TAGS [ FAMILY | ELIZABETH HENRY | CHARITY ]

If you’ve been reading for a while, you may have happened upon my post about the Mexican Craft Beer Revolution, lead by Rodolfo and Jaime Andreu of Primus Cervezas. Rodolfo has not only been lobbying for more craft breweries in Mexico, but also to import more craft beers from around the world.

Photo courtesy of BrewDog’s Hop Propaganda

Enter BrewDog, Scotland’s largest independent brewery and pushers of all boundaries. I received their monthly newsletter, Hop Propaganda, from James Watt (Emperor Penguin) today and was happily surprised to find out that BrewDog and Primus have collaborated to bring Hardcore Ales into Mexico!

Cheers to BrewDog and Primus - keep on pushing the limit and extending reach around the globe!

Want to receive BrewDog’s monthly newsletter yourself? Sign up for Hop Propaganda today.

TAGS [ BREWDOG | PRIMUS | CRAFT BEER ]

A few days ago Hannah informed me of an awesome sale that was going on at one of Buffalo’s craft beer outlets, The Village Beer Merchant. I thought that was awesome until she told me the reason for the sale. They need to make room for fall beers! Geez Louise, I feel like summer just started! I never even got around to working on my beach body like I intended. I thought I’d have more time!

Then there’s the fact that the entire Twitterverse (should that even be capitalized?) is buzzing with brewers talking about the production of their pumpkin ales. To top it all off, I’m currently working on getting our new tailgating products up on the site before football season starts.

Once I got over my initial shock, realized that summer is indeed on its way out and realized that the best thing to do is embrace the change, I actually got really excited. Some of my favorite seasonal beers come out in the fall! Great Divide’s Fresh Hop Pale Ale is inspired by the annual September hop harvest and it’s a once a year specialty brewed with freshly picked hop flowers instead of the standard dried or pelletized stuff. I suggest everyone try to find some.

Then there’s Oktoberfest beers (mmm… Spaten) and awesome pumpkin ales. I haven’t tried the Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale my colleagues have raved about yet, but I’ll definitely get my hands on some this season! If this fall is anything like last fall, Southern Tier’s Pumpking Ale will become a staple in my diet. If you’re looking for more great pumpkin ales to check out, just read this
blast from the past blog post and take notes.

Bring on the apple pies, crunchy leaves and that warm, cozy feeling that comes with wearing your favorite sweatshirt on a regular basis. The beers are almost ready and I’m with them!

TAGS [ FALL BEER | AUTUMN BEER | PUMPKIN BEER | OKTOBERFEST | MARZEN ]

Deron just sent me a link to an article on beernews.org announcing that North American Brewers (NAB) is just days away from closing a deal to purchase Independent Brewers United (IBU), who merged Magic Hat and Pyramid breweries back in 2008. In 2009, IBU was the 8th largest of all regional breweries and made up 3.8% of all craft beer sales.

Who is NAB? They’re owners of High Falls Brewing Company, which includes lines like Genesee and Dundee Ales & Lagers, and also the exclusive seller of Labatt beer and Seagram’s Coolers in the US.

What does this mean for craft beer lovers and drinkers of Magic Hat and Pyramid? Well, only time will tell, but many are concerned that quality will suffer, once they’re being produced on a larger scale.

What do you think?

TAGS [ MAGIC HAT | PYRAMID | NORTH AMERICAN BREWERS | INDEPENDENT BREWERS UNITED ]

Love BrewDog beer? Head to Aberdeen on the opening night of their pub (coming soon!) and get the BrewDog logo tattooed somewhere on your body. You’ll get free BrewDog beer for life, or at least as much as is allowed by law, according to BrewDog.

Now, there’s a number of people and groups that are "appalled" by the idea of this promotion. I just don’t get that. I think that BrewDog’s beers and marketing schemes are plain genius.

Cheers to James Watt and the entire BrewDog team.

TAGS [ BREWDOG | BREWDOG TATTOO | ABERDEEN | BREWDOG PUB | FREE BEER FOR LIFE ]