MEET THE MOST UNLIKELY BEER MAKER IN NORTH AMERICA
SPENCER, Mass.—Father Isaac Keeley knew nothing about beer. He was a 59-year-old Trappist monk who rose daily at 2:30 a.m. to pray for most of the next four hours. Yet there he was, at a local public house in 2009, discussing plans for the brewery he would build on the 2,000 cloistered acres of Saint Joseph’s Abbey in central Massachusetts.
The talks were interrupted by the arrival of a round of cold ones for the table, further unsettling Father Isaac. He sipped hesitantly from the large, sweating glass.
“It was delicious,†he recalls. “I asked, ‘Is this really beer?’â€
Read the rest of this great piece at https://news.northeastern.edu/2022/01/26/spencer-brewery-trappist-monk/
Archives for
Beer culture
archives
archives
archives
archives
archives
archives
archives
archives
archives
archives
archives
archives
archives
archives
archives
Hop Culture Announces Beers With(Out) Beards Festival in Portland, ME.
Support The Most Badass Women In the Beer Industry
BRICK SOUTH THOMPSON’S POINT / PORTLAND, MAINE
SATURDAY, APRIL 9TH 2022
In 2018, Grace Weitz conceptualized the first Beers With(out) Beards as part of her graduate school thesis capstone project at NYU. Over the past four years, this celebration of women in beer has grown to attract thousands of attendees and showcase over sixty women-led breweries. Additionally, the fest has featured over thirty-five events highlighting the achievements of women across all aspects of the alcoholic beverage industries. Grace started BW(O)B to create a space where everyone felt welcome to show up, taste amazing beers, and cultivate conversations around how to break through barriers. And now more than ever, we need Beers With(out) Beards.
The fifth annual Beers With(out) Beards takes pride in representing women and femme-identifying folks in the beer industry. And this year, we feel especially empowered by those who have also had the courage to speak up about the importance of equity and inclusion in craft beer. Together, everyone’s voice is stronger.
Join us on Saturday, April 9th, 2022 at Brick South in Portland, ME to celebrate the achievements of women in craft beer. All are welcome at the festival, and you’ll be able to enjoy beer from thirty-five-plus breweries that are either women-owned or owned by femme-identifying people, or that have women or femme-identifiying people in prominent leadership positions.
Central Oregon Winter Beer Festival Returns
Event Returns In-Person Under Guild Management, Vaccination Required.
The Oregon Brewers Guild announces the return of the Central Oregon Winter Beer Festival, to be held on Saturday, March 5th at GoodLife Brewing in Bend, Oregon. The event, previously held as a fundraiser for the Central Oregon Brewers Guild which dissolved at the end of 2021, will now be a fundraiser for and managed by the Oregon Brewers Guild.
Full press release here
Russian River Postpones Pliny the Younger Release
The surge in omicron has many industry events reevaluating plans to cancel, postpone or go forward with events that are planned for the coming weeks and months. One well-known event, Russian River Brewing’s Pliny the Younger release has been postponed until late March. The annual event draws beer consumers from around the country who travel to the Santa Rosa, California brewery for a long wait in line to buy the popular double IPA.
Read more on ProBrewer
Oregon – 2022 Zwickelmania® Dates Announced
Read More at OBG site here
Annual Open-House Style Event Returns to In-Person with Precautions
The Oregon Brewers Guild announces the return of their 14th Annual Zwickelmania® event. The statewide open-house style celebration of Oregon craft breweries will be returning safely in-person in February and is free to attend. As in previous years, the event will be held on two separate weekends, highlighting Portland breweries on Saturday, February 19th and then statewide on Saturday, February 26th.
“Zwickelmania® has been a staple event for the Guild for over a decade and we are very excited to be able to transition back to in-person this year,†shared Christina LaRue, Executive Director of the Oregon Brewers Guild. “We made the pivot last year to an online platform, offering virtual brewery tours and panel discussions with brewers via Zoom and social media. Our members are looking forward to being able to offer guests an in-person experience and will be ensuring the safety of the public, as well as their teams is a top priority.â€
Hell or high water… SF Beer Week Returns
The world’s most cherished craft beer celebration returns…
SF Beer Week – Feb. 11-20
SAVE THE DATES
Sure, there’s uncertainty in the world — but one thing is for sure, SF Beer Week is returning in 2022!
Advance listings and the Week’s initial schedule launch in January, when tasting boxes, ticketed offerings, Valentine gift ideas and similar on-demand offerings help set the table for a festive 2022 SF Beer Week. Mix in the Winter Olympics, Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, Black History Month and a BOATLOAD of special releases, and you know, now matter if in person or on demand, it’s going to be a great time.
More Info Here
Sisters are doing it for themselves!
Move over monks: Belgian nuns join in on brewing tradition
A group of Belgian nuns has turned to beer brewing, an occupation undertaken by monks for centuries, to fund much needed renovation work.
Maredret Abbey in Belgium is a 20-strong Benedictine community, founded in 1893. The Abbey’s nuns, struggling to scrape together the funds for some much needed renovation work, turned to brewing to raise the money.
Maredret Abbey nuns teamed up with a brewer five years ago, in the hopes of producing some beer infused with some of their history and values, in order to fix the leaky roofs and cracked walls.
Abbey beers, where a brewer pays royalties to use the Abbey name, are common in Belgium. But until now only monks have been associated with these brews.
Read more…The Drinks Business
New Glarus, the power of limited distribution
The Two New Glarus-es: Viewing a Unicorn Brewery From Beyond Wisconsin’s Borders
Wisconsin’s New Glarus Brewing Company is, by any estimation, one of the most successful craft breweries in American history. It is one of the oldest (born in 1993) and one of the biggest (the 12th largest craft brewer in 2020 and 21st overall brewery, per the Brewers Association).
These figures are all the more astonishing when one considers the brewery’s famously ironclad commitment to sell no beer outside the boundaries of Wisconsin.
Read More in Vinepair
Eh! It’s Canadian Beer Day!
First started in 2019, Canadian Beer Day is dedicated to celebrating beer and the thousands of Canadians involved in the brewing, selling, delivering, serving – and enjoying – Canada’s favorite beverage loved by millions across the country. The celebration, which occurs every year on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, recognizes and celebrates beer and breweries in Canada and the workers directly involved in beer’s supply chain – agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and hospitality.
“Beer brings Canadians together, and it’s been a part of our country’s culture and communities for generations. The last 18 months have been a challenging time for Canadians and businesses, specifically those in hospitality and tourism, making beer’s role in bringing friends and family together more important than ever,” said Dana Miller, Interim Director, Communications and Engagement for Beer Canada.
Canadian Beer Day
SF Bay Area – Reviving Community with Brewer Weekends
Bay Area Brewers Guild
Hard to fathom fall is here and the majority of 2021 is behind us. Hopefully a summer of hunkering down means better days ahead, and for us at the Bay Area Brewers Guild, we’d like to help bring back community by spotlighting five Bay Area regions — one for each weekend of October.
We’re kicking things off this weekend in the North Bay, where brewers often work hand-in-hand with local farms and use local ingredients, like fresh picked hops for wet-hopped beers. Along with highlighting those releases, other seasonal favorites (Oktoberfest, anyone?), plus fall brewery events, food & beer pairings, and a new brewery opening are all in the mix this weekend.
Collectively, these Brewer Weekends are meant as reminders there’s nearly always something special, fun or new at your neighborhood brewery every weekend, to enjoy safely on-site or grab and go.
They’re also intended as teasers for 2022, when we hope to finally hold these ‘beer week’ style occasions in their fuller glory, five dotted throughout the calendar, and do proper justice to each region’s unique and vibrant craft beer scene.
Until then, enjoy this impromptu 5-weekend October surprise, and help support and appreciate the neighborhood breweries who so often bring us together.
Read More Here
Portland Fresh Hops Festival Needs Volunteers!
Portland Fresh Hops Festival Needs Your Help!
The Oregon Brewers Guild’s 17th Annual Portland Fresh Hops Festival will be returning in-person this October 1st and 2nd and we are in need of additional volunteers to help out for the following shifts:
Friday, 10/1 3pm-close: Beer Servers, Check-in
Saturday, 10/2 3pm-close: Beer Servers, Check-in
All volunteers must be 21 or older and FULLY VACCINATED to participate.
Volunteer form
So strong it’s illegal in 15 states
Boston Beer Company’s 2021 release of its Sam Adams Utopias beer. Which at 28% abv, is illegal in 15 states.
Only launched every two years, Utopias is renowned for its complicated process of barrel-ageing and blending which gives the final product its complexity.
Sam Adams shares that some of the liquid has been aged nearly three decades in wooden Bourbon casks and, after multiple batches are blended, are aged in a total of 86 different barrels that previously held Madeira, Port and sherry. This year, Utopias has had part of the blend aged in Sauternes French oak wine casks as well.
Read More About This Extravagant and Expensive Barrel Aged Beer Here: https://www.samueladams.com/our-beers/specialty-beers/ale/utopias
6th Annual Portland Fresh Hop Pop-Up Beer Fest
Oregon’s freshest Fresh Hop event kicks off the seasonal hop harvest celebrations with 17 straight days of fun September 17 – October 3rd from 8am – 10pm. The 6th annual Portland Fresh Hop Pop-Up Beer Fest has yet to miss a year, and this will be the largest lineup of beers so far.
A Pilgrimage To Meet Germany’s Last Beer-Brewing Nun
It seems that every town in the southern German state of Bavaria — no matter how small — has a brewery, and beer is brewed by all sorts of people. And before you judge farmer Zausinger for his morning beer run, consider who he bought it from: Sister Doris Engelhard, a 72-year-old Franciscan nun. She claims to be the world’s last nun brewmeister, and woe unto anyone who would argue that title. Read or listen to more at NPR
Portland Fresh Hops Festival Returns This October
Oregon’s Largest Fresh Hops Festival Returns In-Person, Vaccinations Required
The Oregon Brewers Guild’s 17th Annual Portland Fresh Hops Festival will be returning in-person this October, albeit a bit different than
previous years. The event, which has been held previously at the Oaks Park Amusement Park, will be moving to the Glendoveer Golf &
Tennis driving range, with food options provided by Von Ebert Brewing. The event will be held on October 1st and 2nd.
Press Release
Event page –