Realbeer.com Beer Therapy

Pabst Brewing Co., which owns the Pabst and Schlitz beer brands as well as nearly 40 others, is up for sale again.

The Kalmanovitz Charitable Foundation has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to find a buyer willing to pay around $300 million, according to the New York Post, which cited unnamed sources in a Monday article. The foundation also put the company on the market in 2003 but did not find a buyer.

The action apparently is the result of a deadline imposed by the Internal Revenue Service. Federal tax laws don’t allow charitable foundations to own for-profit companies. The IRS initially gave the foundation until 2005 to sell Pabst. That deadline was extended to 2010 when a buyer couldn’t be found.

After years of fast rapid, sales of the Pabst brand stabilized in the early part of this decade when it gained some notoriety a “hipster beer.” The company has sought to revive Schlitz — one of the other iconic brands such as Old Style and Special Export it owns — in a similar way, but results have be mixed. Despite better results by Schlitz and Pabst overall company sales declined 3.3% in 2008.

Pabst was founded in 1844 in Milwaukee and became one of the country’s largest brewers. In 1975, Pabst beer accounted for 45% of all beer sold in Wisconsin and in 1976 Pabst held 11.2% of the national market. It closed the last of its own breweries in 2001 and since it has contracted brewing of its brands largely to Miller Brewing Co.

Back in 1995 you could watch Flying Fish Brewing literally come to life on the Internet.

The world moves on, including to YouTube. Witness this tribute to the brewery and its Exit Series of Big Bottle Beers from Jeff Linkous, freelance editor, writer, video producer, photographer, graphic artist and beer fan.

The Boston Beer Co. is rolling out a new series of beers, the Samuel Adams Barrel Room Collection, that will be available in a limited number of markets but also at its Boston brewery — the first time the brewery has sold beer at its door.

The Barrel Room Collection includes New World Tripel (10% abv), American Kriek (Balaton cherries, 7%) and Stony Brook Red (9%), all aged in Eastern European oak barrels, originally used to age brandy in Italy and imparting subtle sweet, toasty notes.

“For years, we’ve been playing with barrels at the brewery, aging small batches of beer in our Barrel Room. Before now, these beers have only been available at beer festivals or to a few lucky visitors to our Boston Brewery,” founder Jim Koch said for a press release.

The beers will be available in Denver, Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire for a suggested retail price of $9.99 per 750ml bottle.

Making beer at home is one thing. Selling it is another.

The British government has told a Hampshire man he must now pay duty, keep better records and undergo a background check for a license to sell his beer.

The Metro reports it began when Robert Shields, who brews 100 pints (or 12.5 gallons) a month, decided to start charging friends just six months after he started brewing.

But before selling the home-made Moorlands and Runnymede bitters, he was told to convert his shed into a bonded warehouse and apply for two licences.

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Custom’s guidelines added that he must pay 20p duty a bottle, measure how much alcohol is in his beer and record how much malt he buys.

(He) also had to get a personal licence to sell alcohol and undergo a criminal records check by the police.

“It’s totally over the top for someone who just wants to sell beer to friends,” he said.

However a spokesman for the a Campaign for Real Ale, a consumer advocate group, said: “It’s right that if you are selling it to people then you have to make sure it is of a demonstrable quality.”

Boston Beer Co., brewer of Samuel Adams beers, and Germany’s historic Weihenstephan Brewery have announced they will partner to create a collaboration beer. Such collaborations between breweries of all sizes, and often breweries located in different countries, continue to become more popular but this arguably is the biggest yet.

Weinehstephan, founded by Benedictine monks in 1040, lays claim to being the oldest brewery in the world. Boston Beer, founded in 1984, is America’s largest craft brewery.

“The Weihenstephan Brewery is a mecca for brewers and people around the world who are passionate about beer and brewing. No brewer can stand at the site of this brewery without feeling a sense of reverence for what has been done here,” Boston Beer founder Jim Koch said for a press release. “It is a great honor to work together on this mission to explore the limits of the Reinheitsgebot and to brew a beer that represents the platinum standard in the art of brewing.”

Dr. Josef Schrädler, managing director at Weihenstephan, expressed similar thoughts. “This journey we’ve embarked on with Samuel Adams is unprecedented in the beer world,” he said. “We are making history with Jim and his team of brewers; turning our traditional brewing techniques on their head will result in an innovative beer that is ground breaking, delicious and unique.”

The brewers from Samuel Adams and Weihenstephan have been working on the project for two years, “perfecting an innovative beer style that explores new brewing techniques within the boundaries of beer law.”

Their yet-to-be-named beer will be released in both the United States and Germany next spring in cork-finished bottles. Effervescent and Champagne-like beer it will weigh in at more than 10 percent alcohol by volume.

News from the breweries:

- Fire Island Beer Co., based in Ocean Beach, N.Y., has launched a second brand, Fire Island Red Wagon IPA. “Fire Island Beer Company is going in a hoppier direction with Red Wagon IPA compared to our Lighthouse Ale,” co-founder Tom Fernandez said for a press release. “Wagons are central to life on Fire Island, and the perfect symbol of what makes this place so different,” added co-founder Jeff Glassman. “There are no cars, so people pull their stuff around in wagons instead. It’s a great reminder to keep things simple in life . . . you can only carry so much, so focus on what’s important. That is the idea that inspired Red Wagon IPA.”

Fire Island Beer Co. has its beers brewed at Olde Saratoga Brewing Co. in New York.

- Flying Fish Brewing will release Exit 1 Bayshore Oyster Stout, the third in their popular Exit Series of Big Bottle Beers. Exit 1 is a classic oyster stout, a once-ubiquitous style brewed with local oysters, in this case from the Delaware Bay, for richness and intensity of flavor.

“New Jersey’s southwest bayshore has been supplying oysters to Americans since colonial times. Until the 1950s, hundreds of millions of oysters were harvested annually,” said Flying Fish head brewer Casey Hughes. “Now, thanks to efforts by many organizations, the oyster is coming back. We worked with local oystermen in Port Norris, NJ to get the freshest specimens for this brew.”

Exit 1 is brewed with 100 Delaware Bay oysters per batch. The beer bears the name of Exit 1 because it is the final turnpike exit before drivers enter the state of Delaware. Future Exit Series Big Bottles will be named for other exits, chosen based on videos, photos and testimonials submitted to Flying Fish by fans. “One of the very best things about the Exit Series is the interactive element of it,” said Flying Fish founder Gene Muller.

Flying Fish was recently named “Local Hero: Beverage Artisan of 2009” by Edible Jersey magazine. In addition, the brewery took home two medals at this year’s GABF, including a gold medal for Exit 4.

News from the breweries:

- Boulevard Brewing has announced Jean-Marie Rock, brewmaster at the Belgian Trappist brewery Orval will team up with Boulevard brewmaster Steven Pauwels to create a small production, limited release beer. The joint effort, a first for the Midwestern brewery, will take place during Rock’s late October visit to Boulevard’s Kansas City facility.

The brewers, both native Belgians, will produce an imperial pilsner similar to a lager brewed by Rock at the start of his career. It will, according to Pauwels, be a tribute to pilsner beers; full flavored and refreshing, brewed with 100% Pilsner malt and 100% Saaz hops, using time-honored techniques.

“The beer will be made in a very traditional way,” said Rock. “The methods by which it will be brewed, fermented, and lagered are no longer employed, though they made this beer fantastic. It is time to get a beer like this back in a glass.”

- Stone Brewing has expanded distribution into 33 states, adding Connecticut last month and Louisiana this month. Louisiana will be celebrating the arrival of Stone oct. 20 with “72 Hours of Arrogance.” “Stone is the opposite of the beers that we have down here,” said Dan Stein, of Stein’s Market and Deli. “We’re talking about big, strong, hoppy, bold beers.”

Stone Brewing installed two new 400-barrel fermenting vessels in their Escondido, California, in September to boost annual capacity by 7,000 to 8,000 barrels per year.

- Widmer Brothers Brewing has made Cherry Oak Doppelbock, the first release in the brewery’s new Brothers’ Reserve limited-edition series. The Brothers’ Reserve line gives founders and brothers Kurt and Rob Widmer a chance to play with new styles and premium ingredients. The 22-ounce bottles retail for around $7.95.

Cherry Oak Doppelbock, 9% abv with 40 bitterness units, is cold-fermented with dark sweet and red tart cherries, then conditioned on new, heavily toasted American oak. Each release bears the name of the brother who inspired its creation. In the case of Cherry Oak Doppelbock that’d be Kurt, who hand-signed 50 bottles for consumers to discover as a way to commemorate the series’ launch.