April 11, 2014                                                                                  

Just returned home from the Craft Brewer's Conference in Denver today. This annual conference is put together by the Brewer's Association for all the professional craft brewers in both the US and the world. The conference is an opportunity for all the owners, brewers, and everyone in between to get together and learn how everyone else runs their businesses and breweries through panel discussions, seminars, or just simply trading ideas with each other. There is also the Brew Expo which is a huge floor of displays from vendors showing off their wares including everything from labels and six packs to full on breweries and bottling lines setup on the trade show floor.

 

Back when this conference started some 20+ years ago, I believe the attendance was something like 300 people. I remember going to my first Small Beverage Wholesaler's conference, a small off shoot of the CBC, back in Philly around 10 years ago and there were maybe 50 different small craft distributors sitting around trading ideas on what trucks were best to use, what route accounting software was best for the job and how do we find good sales people and motivate them to sell craft beer. Now the CBC has grown to 8000+ attendees and the SBWC is attended all by large MC and ABI distributors all trying to figure this craft beer game out.

 

The craft brewing industry has definitely come of age since those early years. This is all big business now, not just a hobby. The industry is primarily made up of guys and girls who started home brewing beer 5 gallons at a time, but now if you are going to make that jump to pro you better have your ducks in a row. With so much beer and so many breweries out there, craft brewers have a necessity to brew the highest quality and most unique products they can. Not to mention putting together tight marketing  and business plans. 

 

The CBC can be an amazing event from the perspective of someone either inside or outside the industry. Tons of great events, the opportunity to rub elbows with a virtual who's who of craft brewers, and of course amazing beers being poured at every turn. But we can't lose sight of the fact that this industry, while still in relative infancy, is not just a game of brewing fun beer anymore. It is serious business.

 

Editor's note :  You can watch the World Beer Cup awards live from the Craft Brewer's Conference at: http://new.livestream.com/thebrewingnetwork

 

Adam Fine

Director of Hoperations

UPCOMING EVENTS
(for more info click on the event title)
Palm Beach County

 

Friday, 04-11-2014 6:00 PM ...�

Brew At The Zoo WEST PALM BEACH 
Saturday, 04-12-2014 6:00 PM ...�

Sunday, 04-13-2014 1:00 PM ...�

Tuesday, 04-15-2014 7:00 PM ...�

Wednesday, 04-16-2014 7:00 PM ...�

Thursday, 04-17-2014 10:00 PM ...�

Friday, 04-18-2014 5:00 PM ...�

Friday, 04-18-2014 6:30 PM ...�

Saturday, 04-19-2014 8:00 AM ...�

Sunday, 04-20-2014 8:00 AM ...�

Sunday, 04-20-2014 All Day ...�

Sunday, 04-20-2014 8:00 AM ...�

Monday, 04-21-2014 7:00 PM ...�

Wednesday, 04-23-2014 6:00 PM ...� 

Friday, 04-25-2014 4:00 PM ...�  
 
Wednesday, 04-30-2014 6:00 PM ...� 

Martin County
 
Friday, 04-18-2014 8:00 PM ...�

Broward County

Samuel Smith Salute Passport Program @ The Pub PEMBROKE PINES Tuesday, 04-01-2014 to Saturday, 05-03-2014 ...�

Tuesday, 04-15-2014 8:00 PM ...�

Wednesday, 04-16-2014 6:30 PM ...� 

Wednesday, 04-16-2014 7:00 PM ...� 
 
Saturday, 04-19-2014 7:00 PM ...� 
 
Sunday, 04-20-2014 8:00 AM ...� 
 
Tuesday, 04-22-2014 7:00 PM ...�  
 
Beer Dinner @ Dubliner FT. LAUDERDALE 
Tuesday, 04-22-2014 7:30 PM ...� 
 
Wednesday, 04-23-2014 7:00 PM ...� 

  

Thursday, 04-24-2014 10:00 PM ...� 
 
Saturday, 04-26-2014 7:00 PM ...� 
 

Miami-Dade County

Saturday, 04-12-2014 6:00 PM ...�

Saturday, 04-12-2014 7:00 PM ...� 

Sunday, 04-13-2014 7:00 PM ...�

Monday, 04-14-2014 8:00 AM ...� 

Wednesday, 04-16-2014 5:30 PM ...�

Thursday, 04-17-2014 7:00 PM ...�

Friday, 04-18-2014 4:00 PM ...� 
 
4/20 @ Kush WYNWOOD
Sunday, 04-20-2014 All Day ...�

Sunday, 04-20-2014 All Day ...�

Sunday, 04-20-2014 All Day ...�

Sunday, 04-20-2014 All Day ...�

Sunday, 04-20-2014 All Day ...� 
 
Sunday, 04-20-2014 All Day ...� 
 
Sunday, 04-20-2014 All Day ...�
 
Monday, 04-28-2014 7:00 PM ...� 


NEW AND RETURNING PRODUCTSBeerfinder
VISIT OUR BEERFINDER TO FIND THESE PRODUCTS  
Lickinghole Creek Magic Beaver 

Belgian beer meets American and New Zealand Hops, they live happily ever after.  Named after the Magic Beaver pond on the farm's property, LCCB's Pale Ale is a combination of Belgian Pilsner Malt, authentic Belgian yeast and and American and New Zealand hops.  Delicious and easy to drink.  5.5 % ABV

Lickinghole Creek Short Pump Saison 

Our ode to Belgian Farmhouse Ale.  The Short Pump name comes from the colonial era Short Pump Tavern, a famous mid-way point between Richmond and Charlottesville. Lickinghole Creek's Saison matches Premium Imported Belgian Pilsner Malt with two types of Rye.  First Wort Hopped (an old German brewing technique) with American Grown Galena Hops and Hop Bursted (a newer American technique) with large amounts of Columbus and Nugget hops.  The combination of the malt, rye and hops creates a beer with a distinguished hop aroma, a more undeviating bitterness and a more balanced beer. 6.8 % ABV 

Lickinghole Creek Three Chopt Tripel 

The Three Chopt name comes from a nearby colonial era trail marked by three hatchet marks on a tree.  LCCB's Tripel is a non-stopped hopped version of a European classic.  We use American grown sterling and New Zealand Grown Motueka Hops that help impart a lemon and lime characteristic with a hint of tropical fruit. Multiple hop additions throughout the boil create a textured, full flavor. 9.3% ABV  

Peak Organic Fresh Cut 

Fresh Cut is a dry-hopped pilsner. Chinook, Citra and Centennial hops provide aromas of citrus, grass and spice. Though the front palate is loud with IPA qualities, the finish is distinctly pilsner- crisp, dry and extremely refreshing. Enjoy! 4.6% ABV

Peak Organic Hop Blanc 

Hop Blanc is a heavenly White IPA. Local wheat and Belgian yeast give this beer a soft mouthfeel, while Centennial, Simcoe and Citra hops provide a bright rush of tropical and citrus flavors up front. This beer is the cheery, angelic cousin of the more sinister Hop Noir. 6.4% ABV

Wynwood Flagler Saison 

This light in body Farmhouse Ale has a fruity aroma and flavor with lots of spice and a medium bitterness with a semi-dry finish with a touch of Wynwood sweetness. 7.4% ABV

Due South Summertime Craft Lager

Crisp, clean, and refreshing lager brewed for summertime. 5.3% ABV

Cane Vodka Florida Fire Ant

Small Batch Artisan Sugar Cane Vodka flavored with Jalape�o. 

Rogue Voodoo Doughnut 
PretzelRaspberry & Chocolate Ale 

They say the third time's a charm, and this time the collision of crazies created a Pretzel, Raspberry & Chocolate ale inspired by Voodoo Doughnut's Voodoo Doll doughnut.  The Voodoo people say the magic is in the hole.  We think it's also in the bottle. 

5.4% ABV

Blue Point Mosaic Session IPA  

A light, straw-colored, West Coast version that showcases serious aroma. It features Mosaic, Simcoe, and Centennial hops that lend strong tropical fruit characteristics to a light body and dry finish. You won't be able to drink just one - and with less than 5% ABV, you don't have to.

Stone Mixed 12 Pack  

The Stone Mixed 12 Pack features three 12-ounce bottles of four beloved Stone year-round releases: Stone IPA, Stone Levitation Ale, Stone Ruination IPA and OAKED Arrogant Bastard Ale.

Stone Go To IPA

For Stone Go To IPA, we are embracing our hop obsession in a new way, funneling an abundance of lupulin-borne bitterness into a "session" IPA delivering all the fruity, piney character of a much bigger IPA. To accomplish this, we employed "hop bursting," a new technique wherein an irrational amount of hops is added during the final phase of the brewing process to coax out extreme flavors and aromas while also imparting a burst of desirably pleasant bitterness. The result is an Alpha-acid-rich beer that fans can enjoy more of without missing out on the assertive hop character you, like us, crave. 4.5% ABV  

Ommegang Game of Thrones: Fire and Blood

Fire and Blood has a deep, dark red hue with a persistent, creamy off-white head. Aromas of ripe fruit, raisins, malt and slight spice, followed by a slightly floral and spicy hop character. A fruity, sweetish malt taste gives way to faint drying provided by the hops and rye. Underlying flavors of raisin and prune from the ancho chilies give way to a balanced malty and spicy finish. To celebrate the rebirth of dragons, three different labels were created by the Game of Thrones visual effects specialists, each depicting one of Daenerys' feared dragons. Randomly distributed amongst the cases, each case will contain all three bottles. 6.8% ABV  

Uinta 21st Birthday Suit Sour Farmhouse Ale 

In celebration of their 21st anniversary in brewing, Uinta Brewing Company will be celebrating with a Sour Farmhouse Ale. This is the third release of Uinta's Birthday Suit, a brand developed to rotate in style and to be released annually in commemoration of another year brewing. While the Birthday Suit brand was not developed to be a 'sour brand', the tradition, thus far, has carried on. This year's rendition of Birthday Suit is an unfiltered sour farmhouse ale that showcases a mix of underlying spice, zest and moderate tartness. Crisp and refreshing, Birthday Suit lets it all hang out with a citrusy sourness that is worth celebrating. 6.3% ABV  

Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale

Think classic seafaring ports, local pubs, and weathered old fishermen. This old ale is brewed with molasses and an insane focus on the malt bill, then oak-aged. The result is a strong, rich, malty delight that's deceptively smooth and drinkable. 9.8% ABV   

Other returning favorites:
Look out for returning hits such as: Native Glades Pale Ale (Now with Citra hops), Funky Buddha Crusher (Now with Amarillo hops), Magic Hat #9 (Now in 16oz cans), Cascade Blueberry, Cascade Apricot, Cascade Kriek, Cascade The Vine, Shiner Ruby Redbird, Victory Swing Session Saison, Coronado Frogs Breath IPA, Dogfish Head Aprihop, Magic Hat Pistil, Magic Hat Spring Fever Variety Pack
*Check with your Brown sales representative for availability or products not available in certain areas 

BEER NEWS
Craft Beer Is Brewed From Real Prehistoric Fossils
 
Brewing your own beer is a popular pastime in which experimentation is encouraged, but it's unlikely anyone expected a beer made from a 35-million year old whale fossil. Jason Osborne, co-founder of Paleo Quest, a non-profit dedicated to advancing paleontology and geology, thought it would be the perfect way to get people talking about science.
 

To help collect samples from the fossils that Paleo Quest had dug up, Osborne called on Jasper Akerboom, a brewing scientist from the Lost Rhino Brewing Company. While the pair didn't discover an entirely new strain of yeast, they did at least find a new subspecies of the one commonly employed by breweries around the world.

 

Craft Beer Goes Viral in Vietnam
By: Aimee Millwood
 

In northern Vietnam, people don't waste their time arguing about which craft beer is better; there is only one king of brews known affectionately by locals as bia hoi. Not only is it the cheapest beer in Vietnam (and arguably the world, averaging 25 cents a cup), but it is also the freshest. The unpreserved draft beer is made to drink that day, so shopkeepers can only order what they can serve. Each day, thousands of kegs of the staple homemade brew travel across northern Vietnam to be consumed in popular bia hoi joints.

 

Despite a wide availability of local, regional, and imported beers, bia hoi is favored by Vietnamese and foreigners not just because of its price, but because of its intrinsic place in the local drinking culture. Drinking bia hoi in simple, low-cost restaurants or in the streets is a quintessential part of local life and a must-do for many visitors. Bia hoi brings people together to relax, socialize, and even do business. In Vietnam, the notion that "contracts are signed at the beer table, not the meeting table" still dominates, and it's common to conduct business meetings over a glass of bia hoi.  

Brewery Ommegang Kicks Off Third Annual

HopChef Beer and Food Pairing Competition
By: Erinn Lynch/ Nick Valente
 

Brewery Ommegang will kick off its expanded third annual HopChef Competition on Monday, April 28 from 7-10 p.m. at the Biltmore Hotel. The event will bring together Miami's top rising chefs under one roof to pair dishes with Ommegang's Belgian-style ales and compete for the title of Miami HopChef 2014. Tickets, which are now on-sale at http://hopchef2014.ticketleap.com/Miami/, are the only way to take part in the HopChef action and include samplings of each chef's delectable dishes and a selection of Ommegang ales. 

 

A line-up of eight chefs from leading, local restaurants have been hand selected to participate, including:

Each chef will create one dish showcasing their imaginative beer and food pairing skills. The dishes, each paired with a specific Ommegang beer, will be served to a panel of judges and attendees to taste and score. The Miami judging panel includes: Celebrity Chef Michael Schwartz, Master Cicerone Neil Witte, StarChefs Managing Editor Will Blunt, Prime 112 Head Chef Mike Sabin, and Pubbelly Chef Jose Mendin.

The HopChef winner from Miami will be invited to the Grand Finale to compete against winners from Boston, Denver, San Francisco and Philadelphia at Ommegang's annual Belgium Comes to Cooperstown festival on Aug. 9, 2014.The 2014 Grand Prize winner will receive a spotlight position on the SAVEUR Tastemakers board, a spotlight in SAVEUR Magazine & StarChefs.com editorial, a showcase with Brewery Ommegang at the StarChefs.com International Chefs Congress and a showcase station with Brewery Ommegang at the SAVEUR Summer BBQ, both in New York. 

Tickets, which are available for $75 each, can be purchased at http://hopchef2014.ticketleap.com/Miami/ and include samples of each chef's signature dish and accompanying Ommegang beers as well as a commemorative Brewery Ommegang glass. 
VOLUME 308
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In This Issue:
Upcoming Events
Craft Beer Is Brewed From Real Prehistoric Fossils
Craft Beer Goes Viral in Vietnam
Brewery Ommegang Kicks Off Third Annual HopChef Beer and Food Pairing Competition
Featured Recipe
Featured Article
______________ 
Featured Beer  
Cocktail 

 

Ginger Patch  

 

Boost the flavors of a Belgian Wit with added citrus, berries, and creamy ginger liqueur.   

 

8 oz. Belgian Style Wit

1/2 oz Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur

1/2 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice

6 fresh raspberries

 

Muddle raspberries with ginger liqueur and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker.

Add ice and shake vigorously.

Strain into a tall chilled cocktail glass.

Gently fill glass with the Wit beer.

Garnish with a lemon wheel.

____________________
Featured Recipe 
 
Coconut Curry Belgian Ale Chicken 

 

By The Beeroness
   
Ingredients

2 tbs olive oil

� cup chopped white onions

4 large bonesless skinless chicken thighs, cut into small cubes

� cup Belgian ale

13.5 fl oz coconut milk

3 tbs thai red curry paste

1 tbs fish sauce

1 tbs lime juice

pinch cayenne pepper

� cup cilantro, chopped

3 tbs roasted peanuts, chopped

Rice or Rice noodles for serving

 

Directions

In a large skillet or wok heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onions and saut� until soft and slightly brown, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken, cooking until browned on all sides.

 

Add the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan.

Lower the heat, add the coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce, lime juice and cayenne pepper. Simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.

 

Serve over rice or rice noodles, garnish with cilantro and peanuts just prior to serving.

______________

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