On Tap This Month:

Sale of Oregon Brewery Ignites Firestorm Green Flash Acquires Alpine Beer Bud Targets Millennials, Rests Clydesdales 'Pay to Play' Probe Continues British Pub 'Tie' Severed 10 Years Ago in Real Beer News Hipsters Relax; Pabst Still American Owned Historic Grain Belt Sign Saved A Pub Crawl with 18,000 Stops Maine Breweries Plan Beer School Hoppy Beers That Taste Like They Sound

AB InBEV/10 BARREL DEAL SETS OFF FIRESTORM

The news last month that AB InBev bought 10 Barrel Brewing in Oregon was seemed to be as big as the deal to many beer fans as when when InBev took over A-B in 2008. Here are the basics: The acquisition includes 10 Barrel’s brewery in Bend, and brewpubs in Bend and Boise, Idaho. A third brewpub is slated to open in Portland early next year. Financial terms were not disclosed. "The brewery is a major contender in the Northwest, an area with a large number of craft breweries," Andy Goeler, CEO of A-B’s craft division, said in a statement. "We see tremendous value in the brewery’s unique offerings and differentiated style." A-B said 10 Barrel’s current management team would remain intact. Now, here is some of what was written, much of it strikingly emotional:

- Making sense of Anheuser-Busch InBev buying 10 Barrel Brewing
- Why Anheuser-Busch’s Purchase of 10 Barrel Brewing is bad for the industry
- The Short Life and Ugly Death of 10 Barrel Brewing
- Craft Rhetorics: the 10 Barrel Brewing Moment
- On Anheuser-Busch buying 10 Barrel
- Interview with 10 Barrel Brewing Founders and Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO of Craft Brands

GREEN FLASH BREWING ACQUIRES ALPINE BEER

The news the following week that Green Flash Brewing Co. of San Diego is acquiring Alpine Beer Co. was greeted much more positively by craft beer fans. Alpine Beer officials said in a statement that each company will remain independently operated and maintain their distinct brands and cultures. Alpine founder Pat McIlhenney will remain Alpine’s president and brewmaster, overseeing all of its operations. A press release stated the acquisition will provide more widespread distribution for Alpine, which makes about 3,000 barrels annually. Green Flash has been brewing some beer for Alpine for about a year. "It was both intriguing and challenging to meld our philosophies while we worked together to scale up Pat’s recipes to be brewed in larger quantities," Green Flash brewmaster Chuck Silva said for the press release.

BUDWEISER GIVES CLYDESDALES THE HOLIDAYS OFF

Brewing giant AB InBev has decided that persuading 21- to 27-year-olds to grab Budweiser is the best chance to stop a decline that has been going on for 25 years. Sales of Bud peaked in 1988, when Anheuser-Busch shipped 50 million barrels of the beer, and since fell to 16 million barrels in 2013. Ten years ago Bud sales still were more than five times greater than all of craft beer. Now Bud and American craft sales are basically the same. So after years of developing advertising and marketing that appeals to all ages, AB InBev plans to concentrate future Budweiser promotions on the millennial age bracket. That means it won’t trot out the traditional Budweiser Clydesdales for this year’s holiday advertising. However, fans have been assured they aren't being put out to pasture and will be back for the Super Bowl. "This is a very considered, long-term view of what will turn around the brand," said Brian Perkins, AB InBev’s vice president of marketing, Budweiser..

'PAY TO PLAY' PROBE MOVES AHEAD

The Boston Globe reports Massachusetts regulators have issued subpoenas — indicating the investigation into charges of “pay-to-play” that came to light in October is getting serious — to "breweries, beer distributors, and retailers for records to determine whether they are paying for, or demanding payments for, access to bar taps in pubs and restaurants and shelf space at stores." Dan Paquette of Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project kicked things off with a late night rant on Twitter. He wrote that two bars owned by the Wilcox Hospitality Group — Lower Depths and Bukowski Tavern — were asking brewers to pay in order to be put on the bars’ draft lines. "We’re looking at any and all forms of inducements," Frederick Mahoney, chief investigator for the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, told the Globe. "This is ongoing, and this may not stop here." He declined to identify which companies were under investigation.

BRITISH PARLIAMENT VOTES OUT PUB 'TIE'

Members of Parliament have voted to allow British pub tenants to buy beer from any supplier they want, effectively ending the “beer tie” that has required landlords to buy beer from the companies that own their pubs. The MPs voted 284-269 against the government and for a clause in the Small Business Bill that allows pub owners to buy beer on the open market. The amendment means pubs no longer have to buy beer from their parent pub company and could seek a contract where they would only pay rent on the property. The Campaign for Real Ale, whose members lobbied to end the tie, praised the vote. Tim Page, CAMRA Chief Executive said: “Today’s landmark Parliamentary vote helps secure the future of pubs. CAMRA is delighted that, after ten years of our campaigning, MPs have today voted to introduce a market rent only option for licensees tied to the large pub companies – a move that will secure the future of the Great British Pub." The surprising results left the pub industry in upheaval. Before the vote, the British Beer & Pub Association warned if the rebellion succeeds, 1,400 pubs would close and 7,000 jobs would be lost. Brigid Simmonds, BBPA’s chief executive, said: "Without 'the tie' many much-loved British breweries, robbed of their existing market through their own pubs, would also have to close." British beer writer Pete Brown offered this commentary.

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HIPSTERS CAN RELAX; PABST STILL AMERICAN OWNED

Remember in September when it was announced that Pabst Brewing had been sold to a Russian company? That's not actually what happened. Yes, Eugene Kashper, a United States citizen born in Russia, was at the center of the deal. And, yes, he was chairman of Oasis Beverages, a brewer and distributor that serves the Russian and Eastern European markets, at the time. But he worked with TSG Consumer Partners, a San Francisco-based private equity firm that invests in consumer goods companies, to put together the Pabst deal. Kashper and TSG formed a new company, Blue Ribbon Intermediate Holdings, to buy Pabst. Despite the fact that Oasis was never involved in the deal, a media release said that Oasis was the acquirer, suggesting that a beverage company with deep ties to Russia was acquiring an American brand.

SCHELL BREWING PRESERVES LANDMARK GRAIN BELT SIGN

The Grain Belt beer sign that has been a Minneapolis landmark since the 1940s but dark for almost 20 years apparently may soon be lit again. August Schell Brewing Co., which acquired the Grain Belt brand in 2002, announced it will buy the sign and the Nicollet Island land it sits on and donate it to the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota. The organization plans to raise money to light and maintain the sign. "People love the sign," Schell president Ted Marti said. Schell, located in New Ulm, is the second oldest family owned brewery in the country. Minneapolis Brewing Co., which brewed Grain Belt until selling the grand to Schell, originally leased the sign from the Eastman Family. It was moved to its current location on the Mississippi river in 1950 after first sitting atop the Marigold Ballroom. The Eastman Family Trust currently owns the sign.;

30 YEARS AND 18,000 PUBS LATER ...

It has been declared the world's longest pub crawl and two friends have celebrated in the appropriate way - with a pint. Peter Hill, 59, and John Drew, 61, have visited 18,000 pubs during 30 years of traveling together, and promised to keep going "until our livers give out." They began their journey in 1984 as part of a group called The Black Country Ale Tasters (when a pint cost 64p), but now the original group is down to just these two. Wearing waistcoats fashioned from old beer towels, they've traveled to pubs around the entire coastline of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Last year they completed a seven-year quest to visit every pub in Wales after stopping off at all 3,905 of them.

MAINE BREWERIES LAUNCH BEER SCHOOL

The Maine Brewers’ Guild has partnered with its member breweries and allied members to launch a series of events to promote Maine's craft beer industry. The goal of its Beer School is not to train people how to brew beer or work in our industry, but rather to serve as a theme to tie together a series of events that take place around the state, led by member breweries and promoted by the Guild, that give beer enthusiasts one-of-a-kind experiences to learn what's behind the beer, and get an insiders' perspective on what happens in and around our breweries. The profits from Beer School events help further the Maine Brewers' Guild's mission to promote and protect Maine's craft beer industry. More information is available here.

HOP CONCEPT BEERS WILL TASTE LIKE NAMES

Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey in southern California have announced they will make a third line of beers in 2015. The Hop Freshener Series from Hop Concept Brewing will include four quarterly IPAs described as "uncomplicated Hoppy Beers from the people who know how to make them." The series will include: Dank and Sticky IPA (February), Citrus and Piney IPA (May), Lemon and Grassy IPA (August), and Tropical and Juicy IPA (November). Each beer will feature different hop combinations, including the use of a few experimental hops that are new even to the brewers. “Here at Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey, we love our IPA's as much as everyone else. But lately we've noticed with so many of them hitting the market, it's been difficult to know how they taste and smell. So we thought how could we go about simplifying it for the consumer,” co-founder Tomme Arthur said for a press release. The Hop Freshener Series will be distributed throughout the Port Brewing and Lost Abbey distribution territories.

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