In the final year-end Covid report, Matt Van Wyk of Alesong Brewing describes retooling the brewery’s approach to reaching customers directly.
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In this latest Coronavirus update, the always-candid Ben Parsons describes the real costs and long-lasting trauma he and his team has survived getting through this crisis.
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The pandemic caused major crises for breweries, but also smaller, unexpected side-benefits, including this one: for some small breweries, it meant tank space for neglected favorites.
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Despite their resilience and creativity, the Covid pandemic didn’t hit breweries equally hard. It hit those focused on a restaurant, like Old Town Brewing, with special violence. The brewery’s owner, Adam Milne, describes how he fought to keep from folding his bad hand.
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Today we hear from Zoiglhaus’ Alan Taylor. During the pandemic, Taylor has retooled the restaurant, added a canning line, and with draft sales picking up, he looks toward the coming year with hope.
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In the first report from brewers surviving a year of pandemic, Gigantic’s Van Havig points to the ways beer proved to be more resilient than similar industries.
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On a momentous period that began March 9 and extended through the following Monday, March 16, our world was turned upside down. We were flying off the edge of the road before we realized we were in a car accident. Now, with a year to reflect, we are starting to make sense of our plague year.
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Every now and again, an explorer will follow a path deep into a thicket before finally tracing their way back out. The Sherpa has lately been following American-brewed Czech tmavés deep into the underbrush, and today’s edition reveals what he found.
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The OLCC has released its annual sales figures for 2020, and the numbers are mixed—which counts as good news in a pandemic year. One brewery had an especially good year and another, important one, a worryingly poor one.
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Yesterday Bend’s Deschutes Brewery announced it was buying in-town rival Boneyard. Beware hot takes about how happy the marriage will be: the devil in these kinds of deals involves details we can’t see.
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One of the more remarkable stories in the beer world is the incredibly long process of developing a viable commercial hop variety, and the long odds any single seed has of becoming a winner. In the first of the Sightglass articles, we examine HBC 1019 to see how it all works.
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Remember all the way back to 2016 when brewers were making what they called “zero IBU” IPAs? The notion, not actually so absurd, came from what we understood then about hop utilization. We’ve learned a great deal in those few years, and here’s a quick overview of some of the key lessons.
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Oregon legislators have introduced a new beer tax that would make the state’s beer the most-taxed in the country—at a level nearly twice as high as the next state, and more than ten times the national median. Worse, the rhetoric suggests an explicit goal is to cripple Oregon breweries.
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I am bad at predicting future events—often spectacularly, hilariously so. What’s a good anniversary without a good roasting? To that end, I have a looked back to see what what I predicted about glitter beer, hazy IPAs, and hard seltzer.
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This week Beervana turns fifteen. Throughout the week I’ll be posting some lighthearted material, and today we kick things off with a quick look back. It turns out this blog almost perfectly corresponds to the modern era of brewing in the US.
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Mass market lagers aren’t, let’s be honest, especially interesting beers. They are often made by giant corporations in equally giant plants. That doesn’t mean they don’t have their moments.
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So many forces are now scrambling the beer industry—including Covid, which may change it forever—that the very meaning of “craft beer” is up for grabs. It may help to consider the era through different lenses to take its full measure.
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In May, Pelican Brewery turns 25. For the whole of its life, it has reflected the vision of its longtime brewer, Darron Welch. Yet unlike so many legacy breweries, Pelican is growing and thriving. There’s an important lesson here.
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Having been neglectful about actual, tasty beer, I offer a round-up of recent discoveries, both in trends and individual beers.
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The Covid pandemic has been especially brutal on downtown businesses, and last week claimed one of the most important independent bars in Portland, Bailey’s Taproom. It counts as its legacy a host of breweries it championed and a richer, more interesting beer scene.
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