Budweiser 2017 Super Bowl Commercial - “Born The Hard Way"

I'm sure this will be met negatively by the Bud haters, of which there are many, but it doesn't concern me. I don't mix my politics and beer. If I did of course I might see how timely this is for the #OrangeHitler supporters, of which there are many, and again it doesn't concern me. Drink or don't drink whatever you like.

 

But this is damn cool. Cheers Budweiser.

 

Budweiser: "This is the story of our founder’s ambitious journey to America in pursuit of his dream: to brew the King of Beers."

 

Beer Bulletin - Boulevard American Kolsch

Boulevard brewmaster Steven Pauwels introduces their new beer, American Kolsch.  

Stone's Throw Brewing Event Calendar for February 2017

Plenty to do in February, as always, for 

Stone's Throw Brewing lovers!

Every Tuesday, 4:00-9:00pm: #HOPSandHOPE, $1 of each house brew sold donated to Our House

Every Wednesday, 6:00pm: #BetterWithBeerFreeMovie Series: Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Every Saturday, 4:00pm: Randall Beer Infusion

Razorback Basketball on the Big Screen (subject to availability) 

Wednesday February 1, 6:00pm: #BetterWithBeerFreeMovie "North by Northwest"

Thursday February 2, 6:00pm: Stone's Throw Night for Sister Act at The Rep

Thursday February 2, 6:30pm: #ArkiePubTrivia hosted by Big Red Ball Charitable Foundation & Big Brothers Big Sisters

Friday February 3, 4:00pm: #NewBrewFriday Baltic Porter & Bourbon Barrel Pumpkin Pie Porter World Premieres, Mosaic Pale Ale Release

Saturday February 4, 7:00pm: Big Red Ball Homebrew Contest at Next Level Events

Sunday February 5, 5:30pm: Super Bowl LI Watch Party

Tuesday February 7, 6:00-8:00pm: Faith & Fermentation Small Group Gathering

Wednesday February 8, 6:00pm: #BetterWithBeerFreeMovie "Rear Window"

Thursday February 9, 4:00-7:00pm: Rare Beer Tasting at 107 Liquor

Thursday February 9, 6:30pm: #ArkiePubTrivia hosted by Arkansas Public Media

Friday February 10, 4:00pm: #NewBrewFriday Biere de Gras World Premiere & Wallonia Dubbel Release

Tuesday February 14, 4:00-9:00pm: Be Your Own Main for Valentine's Day 

Tuesday February 14, 6:00pm: 2nd Tuesday Cribbage Night

Wednesday February 15, 6:00pm: #BetterWithBeerFreeMovie "Psycho"

Thursday February 16, 6:30pm: #ArkiePubTrivia hosted by Historic Arkansas Museum

Thursday February 16, 6:30pm: #5Beers5Bites Dinner at The Southern Gourmasian

Friday February 17, 4:00pm: #NewBrewFriday Magnum Trip Belgian Trippel Release

Wednesday February 22, 6:00pm: #BetterWithBeerFreeMovie "The Birds"

Thursday February 23, 6:00pm: Science After Dark at the Museum of Discovery

Thursday February 23, 6:30pm: #ArkiePubTrivia hosted by Arkansongs

Friday February 24, 4:00pm: #NewBrewFriday Mickey's Irish Red Release

Saturday February 25, 12:00pm: Mardi Gras in SoMa and 5th Annual Beard & Mustache Contest

Founder Barrel-Aged Beers: Masterfully Crafted. Patiently Perfected.

Founders Brewing Co.: Crafting legendary barrel-aged beers is an exercise in patience. We start by brewing complex, world-class beer worthy of time in a barrel. Then, our experience and years spent mastering our craft means we know exactly when it’s been aged to perfection. After one sip, you’ll know – it was worth the wait.

See more about the Barrel-Aged Series: https://foundersbrewing.com/barrel-aged-series/

   

Arkansas Beer Buzz #6 with Josiah Moody and Brandon Mize

Recorded Jan 25th, 2017: Randy and I chat with Josiah Moody of Moody Brews about his upcoming move from Vino's to Bike Rack Brewing and also Brandon Mize about his move from Lost Forty Brewing to Vino's to replace Josiah! Lots of changes in the Arkansas beer scene to discuss while we drink a delicious Moody Brews 2017 Katchiri's Bier. Check it out!

 

Dale's Pale Ale Becomes Nation's #1 Selling Craft Can 6-Pack

Press Release (Jan 19th, 2017):

DALE'S PALE ALE BECOMES NATION'S BESTSELLING CRAFT CAN 6-PACK AS OSKAR BLUES BREWERY GROWS IN ALL DIRECTIONS IN 2016

 

 

Longmont, CO, Brevard, NC & Austin, TX - Oskar Blues Brewery, the innovators behind the craft beer-in-a-can apocalypse, finished 2016 strong eclipsing 200,000 barrels shipped with several significant milestones achieved throughout the year including the addition of a brewery in Austin, several new SKUs, expansion of its barrel-aging program and the completion of its U.S. footprint. Flagship brew Dale's Pale Ale became the bestselling craft can 6-pack in total U.S. Food.  

 

In August of 2016, Oskar Blues' brewery and live music venue opened its doors in Austin, TX while a 21,000 square foot expansion took place in its Brevard, NC brewery raising the potential capacity amongst all three breweries to 500,000 bbls and adding 43 jobs. The brand also completed its 50 state U.S. footprint with distribution in Montana and further expanded internationally with the addition of Australia, the Netherlands, and Belgium, totaling nine international markets.

 

Oskar Blues continued to push innovation through new beer offerings and packaging.  The Can gROWLER (CROWLER®) from Ball Corporation and Oskar Blues grew to over 1,000 installations to date.  Many of the last year's installations were due to new locations choosing aluminum over glass for their growler choice and many established locations discontinued offering glass growlers altogether.  CROWLER® has quickly shown how far cans have come and how beneficial the evolution of CROWLER® cans are to the growler customer.

 

The brewery launched four new SKUs, including year-round offerings BEERITO Amber Mexican Lager and Priscilla White Wit Wheat, while launching limited release cans of Passion Fruit Pinner IPA and Hotbox Coffee Porter. The expansion of its barrel-aging program resulted in national distribution of Barrel-aged Ten FIDY Imperial Stout in 19.2 ounce, single-serve cans and limited taproom-only releases of rum barrel-aged Death by Coconut, rum barrel-aged Ten FIDY and Java Ten FIDY. The team at Oskar Blues didn't stop there, recently launching Pinner Throwback IPA in new packaging - resulting in the first American craft beer 16-pack**.

 

Ancillary brands also saw growth, including four new flavors of B. Stiff & Sons Old Fashioned Soda Pop and the launch of new Oskar Blues Fooderies concepts in its home market of ColoRADo, which includes a CHUBurger/Hotbox Roasters Café brick and mortar location in the RiNo district of Denver.

Oskar Blues Holding Company, a strong group of craft brewers, including Wasatch Brewery, Squatters Brewery and Perrin Brewing furthered its mission to maintain symbiotic partnerships with like-minded craft brewers across the country with the addition of Tampa's Cigar City Brewing. While Dales Pale Ale is the bestselling craft can 6-pack in the U.S., Cigar City has the number two spot, with Jai Alai IPA.  Oskar Blues Holdings grew collectively to nearly 350,000 barrels and is the number two overall craft can vendor and number 15 overall in total U.S. Food.  That's a particularly good spot to be in, as craft cans have been up 55% over the last 52 weeks. 

Oskar Blues continued to spread do-goodery with its nonprofit arm, CAN'd Aid Foundation. In 2016 alone, the organization raised $768,000, built & donated nearly 600 bikes to underprivileged children, put 100 instruments in budding musician's hands, recycled 155,000 lbs. of waste through its #CrushItCrusade and donated 330,000 cans of drinking water to areas in need including Flint, Michigan during its water crisis. Soul-founder of Oskar Blues Dale Katechis founded CAN'd Aid in 2013 following the Colorado flooding that devastated Oskar Blues Brewery's hometown in Lyons, Colorado. To date, over $2.6 million has been raised to support its efforts.

 

As for 2017, Oskar Blues has already set its sights on further growth, celebrating the 20th year of what started as a funky little brewpub in Lyons, CO in 1997. International markets to launch distribution in include Brazil and Japan. The brew team, not to be outdone by 2016, has announced the limited release of Hotbox Coffee IPA cans in March as well as a CANspiracy rare beer club at the North Carolina and Colorado Tasty Weasel Taprooms.  The Oskar Blues Fooderies restaurant group has already announced a Colorado Springs, CO location that will expand its footprint to over nine locations in 2017.  - stay tuned for more details at  www.oskarblues.com.

 

**Data Source & Set IRI Data, 2016 52 WEEKS TTL US FOOD.

Arkansas Beer Buzz #5 with Mother's Brewing Co.

Randy and I talk to Stan from Mother's Brewing Company in Springfield, Missouri about their plans for their first collaboration with Little Rock's Rebel Kettle plus some new and current releases like MILF, Winter Grind and plenty more.  

Arkansas Beer Buzz #4 with Stone Brewing

On the latest Arkansas Beer Buzz podcast, Randy and I talk with Josh from Stone Brewing Company about Enjoy By 2-14-2017, new Megawheat Double IPA and the Ripper pale ale events in Argenta coming up on Thurs, Jan 19th. Plus talk of Rebel Kettle Brewing and more!  

Tap Time from Jan 11th, 2017

Here's the latest edition of Tap Time radio on 103.7 The Buzz. We chatted with Greg from Rock City Eats and Jess and Ryan from North Little Rock's Flyway Brewing. Check it out!  

The Rogue Hop Experience

Rogue grows its own hops on a 42-acre hopyard on the banks of the Willamette River in Independence, Oregon. The 8 varieties include Alluvial, Freedom, Independent, Liberty, Newport, Rebel, Revolution, and Yaquina hops.   

Eleven Year Goose Island BCS Vertical!

Resident beer tasters and guinea pigs, Quinn (Brewer) and Wally (Safety Guy) taste through an ELEVEN year vertical of Bourbon County Stout. Bourbon County Stout is our Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout.

Let Quinn and Wally take you on a trip back in time with Bourbon County Stout and let us know what Goose Island Vintages they should taste through next!

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Arkansas Beer Buzz Podcast #3 with Coop Ale Works

Here's last night's podcast, when we visited with Jeff from Oklahoma City's Coop Ale Works and talked about their 2017 projects, drink some 2016 Territorial Reserve Imperial Stout and shared some local events for the next few weeks. Check it out!

 

Victory Sour Monkey Going Year Round!

Need some good news to kick off 2017? Check it out...

 

Victory Brewing Company: "Alright, alright, we heard you: Sour Monkey is back, and going year round! James Gentile, director of brewery operations, walks us through the brew day and multiple fermentations that make this Sour, Brett-Fermented Tripel a monkey all its own!"

 

Arkansas Beer Buzz Podcast #2

Arkansas Beer Buzz: "Back with Scott and Randy drinking Clown Shoes Space Cake Double IPA while chatting about events at Rebel Kettle, The Joint and Skinny J's with mentions of breweries Schlafly, Lagunitas, Bubba Brews, Flyway, Bell's and more plus Frost Fest 2017 with Fossil Cove!"

 

How Arkansas Breweries Stack Up On Untappd

It's a new year so I think it's the perfect time to check on Untappd and see how the Arkansas breweries are doing, right? Let's jump right in!

Not a lot of changes at the top, but quite a bit of movement in the placements after the top 8.  Core did extend their lead in 1st place and both Lost Forty and Ozark are quickly closing the gap for 2nd and 3rd, but Diamond Bear has stayed locked in by a good, but shrinking margin. When I last checked (9/26/2016) Diamond Bear was +4,359 and now they're +1,730. Quite a difference.

Brewery

	Check-Ins
Core Brewery	32,532
Diamond Bear	27,914
Lost Forty Brewing	26,184
Ozark Beer Company	22,090
Fossil Cove	13,057
Apple Blossom	10,411
Saddlebock	9,926
Stone's Throw	7,385
Superior Bathhouse	5,318
Bike Rack	5,057
Rebel Kettle	4,341
Bentonville Brewing	4,145
Flyway Brewing	3,964
Blue Canoe	3,380
Vino's Brewpub	3,001
West Mountain	2,530
New Province	2,375
Columbus House	2,113
Moody Brews	2,099
Damgoode Brews	1,838
Bubba Brew's Brewing	1,291
Black Apple Crossing	1,241
Foster's Pint & Plate	1,047
Brick Oven Brewery	246
Gravity Brew Works	221
Prestonrose Farm	90
Refined Ale Brewery	63
Leap of Faith	60
501 Brewing	12