Beer, Bars & Brewers #20

Cheers and we’re back! This week we take a look at “America’s Ugly Beer Wars”, Nürnberg’s BrauBeviale fest, a Catholic boarding school that’s teaching its all female students how to brew beer (yay!), and Kirin’s interest in acquiring stakes in Brooklyn Brewery.

Confused about sour beers? Of course you’re not! Want to learn more about them though? Of course you do! Then head on over to Lucky Peach’s guide to sour beers, starting with Belgian Lambics and ending in American Dry-Hopped Sours, this guide has got it all!

America’s Ugly Beer War

Last week Wolf Richter took it upon himself to write a bizarre article on “America’s Beer Wars” for the Business Insider. The article’s premise is this: beer sales have fallen, but craft beer sales have risen. The number of craft brewers is rising exponentially. “Big Beer” is trying to get in on the game by acquiring craft breweries. New brewers get funded on a daily basis. Now we’ve got what he calls “overcapacity”. Yup, we’ve heard all of this before. He makes some other bizarre points, such as: “Stone Brewing opened a brewery in Germany, Stone Berlin, where utterly bewildered locals are discovering to their greatest surprise a superb YankeeBier”. I feel like Berliners are really not “utterly bewildered” when it comes to craft beer these days. Check your facts dude. An annoying, badly written article that doesn’t really get to a point. Prost! (from a utterly bewildered Berliner)

BrauBeviale Nürnberg

Nürnberg will play host to the the BrauBeviale from the 8th until the 10th of November this year. Around 1,100 exhibitors are expected to show their drinks materials, innovative technologies, efficient logistic, and effervescent marketing ideas. The fair is expecting 37,000 visitors. This year’s trend topics is ‘creative drinking culture’. The Craft Beer Corner is sure to be a highlight, visitors will be able to try over 250 beers sourced from over 20 countries. More info here. 

Catholic Girls School Teaches Pupils How to Brew Beer

The St.-Ursula-Gymnasium for girls is located in Hohenburg, Germany. For the first time in over 12 years, the Schlossbrauerei Hohenburg is back in business. They might seem like two unrelated facts, however they’re very much related: the school’s director, Christoph Beck, is offering his pupils a course that teaches them how to brew beer. The passionate hobby brewer has brewed four different beers with the girls: Weißbier, a Helles, Irish Stout, and a Indian Pale Ale. The girls are taught to combine their knowledge of biology and chemistry in a very practical way. It is, quite literally, the symbiosis of theory and practice. A hands on approach that teaches kids the technicality that belongs to brewing while simultaneously preserving the tradition of German castle brewing. Wonderful, and cheers to that!

Kirin to Acquire Stakes in Brooklyn Brewery?

Reuters reports that “The Coca-Cola group in Japan and brewer Kirin Holdings Co Ltd are near a deal for an operational and capital partnership amid intense price competition in the Japanese soft-drink market”. What we found more interesting in this article though, was the fact that Kirin is also interested in acquiring stakes in the Brooklyn Brewery. “Kirin earlier this month said it would take a minority stake in privately held Brooklyn Brewery to help it expand its craft beer offerings in Japan and Brazil”, interesting concept Kirin.