Beer as Art

#CraftBeer is even better when it looks good! Let @ohbeautifulbeer show you...

Labels, bottles, advertising, pub signs, six-pack holders.  You name it, and a lot of hard work is going into graphic designs to make craft beer look great.

I have always been partial to some of the great graphic design that has been used by Northern Brewer, as produced by Karl Engebretson.

As well as some of their previously sold throwback 'propaganda' posters...

 
And though I have never been one to toot my own horn, I do like some of my homemade homebrew labels...

[Hat-tip on @ohbeautifulbeer to @microbrewr]

Is Your Craft Beer...'Craft Beer'?

Bloomberg News had a few segments on Craft Beer over the past couple of days.  The most interesting is the discussion on whether the beer you drink is really 'Craft Beer'.  For some of us who follow Craft Beer with a bit more regularity, the distinctions are obvious.  But for a normal, everyday beer drinker, they may not be.  And sometimes who really owns a beer label can be surprising.

Bloomberg: Is Your Craft Beer Not Really Craft Beer?


Bloomberg: Five Craft Beers Actually Owned by Major Brewers


And for giggles, here is a discussion on what defines craft beer...in the UK. Interesting that things are coming full circle. Once we looked to them for inspiration, and that became the vibrant U.S. Craft Beer scene. Now they a looking to us to go the craft/microbrewery route...

 Bloomberg: What Defines a Craft Beer?

Beercast Shoutouts

I would like to thank the @CLTBeercast 'brahs', for giving me shout-outs in their two most recent podcasts.

The first was a good old fashioned mention, while the second was a multi-multi-Stout infused drunken challenge to get off my ass and visit the upcoming CLT Craft Beer Week.



 As usual, both episodes are great listens, while the second does devolve (matriculate?) into the aforementioned Stout-infused drunkeness.  Entertaining to say the least!

Episode 21 - Brah is the new Backside Guy

 

Episode 22 - Redacted

Unfortunately, I probably will not be able to make it up to enjoy CLT Craft Beer Week's Tap Takeover at Vintner's, as I have two other upcoming beer trips which have depleted my current stockpile of kitchen passes.  Thus I will have to miss out on the warm hospitality of @CLTBeerBlog that everyone keeps mentioning...

Next week I will be heading down on a special trip to some breweries in ATL, and in May the Augusta Homebrewers Association is going to caravan up to Asheville to enjoy the vibrant craft brewery scene.  Both trips should make for some great reviews...

Florida Beer Envy

So it has been a little while since I last posted.  But what with ice storms, Pinewood Derby, and a short vacay to Florida, there wasn't much time.
I was excited to get to Florida, since that meant I could go in search of beer that can't be found here.  In particular, the Cigar City Brewing line-up.  I wasn't quite getting down to Tampa, so I could again visit the brewery, so Total Wine & Beverage would have to do.

I was able to score some of the CCB regular line-up, as well as Invasion Pale and the unique Hopped on the High Seas series.  Unfortunately, outside of their flagship beer, Jai Alai, none of these CCB brews can yet be found here in the Augusta area.

I was also able to find Due South Brewing's 'Category 3 IPA', and two offerings from the BrewBus line, 'Rollin' Dirty Red' and 'Are Wheat There Yet?'

Hopefully we will be able to see some more of the CCB line-up come here to Georgia in the near future...

Things to Know When Starting a Brewery

Recent blog startup microbrewr.com (@microbrewr) has published a fantastic article "61 Brewers Speak Out: What I Wish I’d Known Before Starting a Brewery".

So remember that first time when you said, “I think I want to start a brewery”!  After all of those experiences of getting the brewery up and running, if you could travel back in time and tell yourself some advice, what would it be?  At MicroBrewer, we wanted to know and thought that you might too so we asked craft brewery owners the following question:

What do you wish you had known before starting your brewery?

The article covers several topics, with some candid comments on each one from craft brewers across the country.  Amongst the topics discussed:

- Plan For Expansions From the Start 

"People are thirsty!  We started with a 3 barrel brewhouse, and that barely made enough beer to keep our tap room stocked.  And the tap room was only open two days a week.  We recently upgraded to a 20 barrel system, and we’re already planning the next expansion!"  

- Costs to Running a Brewery and Time Required Will Be More Than You Plan On

"We planned for it to take twice as long and cost three times as much and it still took twice as long as that." 

- Permitting and Other Legal Issues Are Complicated And Take Time 

"Even with two other operating breweries in my city prior to my opening, many of the city inspectors, officials, etc. had no idea or understanding of what a brewery was or how it operated..."

- Opening A Brewery is More than Just Brewing Beer… Get Ready For Administrative Work! 

"If I had known how much administrative work I would be doing, I would have built a bigger office inside the brewpub!" 

- Running Brewpub is Opening a Restaurant that Sells Beer That Was Brewed There 

"I thought I was opening a Brew Pub, when I was really opening a Restaurant that sold beer that was brewed there." 

- Talk To Other Brewers in Your Area and Do Your Research 

"Brewers tend to help each other out with things like advice, ingredients, and man power. It’s like no other industry I’ve ever seen."

- The Journey Is Half of The Reward of Starting the Brewery 

"I wish I knew just how much fun and rewarding becoming a Craft Brewer would be, and I would’ve left that perfectly good paying job about 5 years earlier."

If you are a brewer, even if you aren't looking to open your own brewery, this is a must read for some terrific insights into the craft beer industry that we all hold dear.

Georgia Beer Rising

@CL_Atlanta & @austinlouisray recently provided at great run-down of up & coming Georgia craft breweries.

Georgia Brewery Watch
14 new breweries to look forward to in 2014

One year ago almost to the day, Creative Loafing devoted its cover to the many in-progress craft breweries and brewpubs cropping up in and around Atlanta. Of the eight forthcoming beer makers highlighted in that piece, four — Jekyll, Three Taverns, Eventide, and Reformation — have opened. By CL's count, at least 14 are currently in the works this year. Will they all introduce beer to the market in 2014? Not likely. But the crowded pack represents a continuing upward trend that shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

 The article includes a nice overview of some great additions to metro ATL's embarrassment of brewing riches, including the previously profiled Southern Brewing Company, and some intriguing  ideas like Geer Beer and Slice & Pint.  With regard to the latter, pizza and beer sound good to me.  Any chance they would want to open a second one in the CSRA?

It looks like I may have to convince the wife to take some more side trips to the ATL....

Living in a No Brew Zone!

Thanks to the @GaBrewersGuild, one can conveniently see where all of the state's craft breweries are located.

Of course there is a cluster in the Atlanta region, as one might expect.  But what about Georgia's second biggest city, Augusta?  Well....Augusta sits smack dab in the middle of a "No Brew Zone".

While the aforementioned Aiken Brewing Company and brewpub is about an hour away in South Carolina.  But on the Georgia side of the border Augusta residents have to travel at least 90 minutes (and not in a direct route) just to find the closest craft brewery.  And the plethora of locations around Atlanta can be up to 3 hours away, making any visit a long day trip, or an overnight venture.

Yep, it sucks living in the 'No Brew Zone'....