Beer, Bars & Brewers in July, 2015

Welcome to the first Beer, Bars & Brewers on Mixology. We’ve changed platforms and hope to keep all our readers in the loop with beer-related news, particularly pertaining to bars.

Here we go: this week Thrillist released a map of America’s most popular beers, 5 Rabbit pulls its beers from Trump’s taps, Spiegelau glasses win the prestigious Red Dot Design Award, breweries Duvel Moortgat and Firestone Walker sign an ‘agreement’, and Danish craft brewery Mikkeller is changing Bangkok’s craft beer scene.

Thrillist’s List of Top American Beers

Never one to turn down a listicle, Thrillist put together neatly data compiled by Priceonomics last week. The map of the US showcases what each state’s most popular beer is. Drinkers visiting a bar in Delaware are most likely to drink Dogfish Head, while in Minnesota you’ll see many a Summit EPA. Huge players like Bud Light, Coors Light, and Miller Lite still dominate the field, though some states proudly support their own micro breweries. See the complete list here.

5 Rabbit pulls Beer from Trump Bars

We can probably all agree that nobody here is a huge fan of Donald Trump, correct? His latest (in many) idiot comments about Mexican immigrants has got the Illinois-based brewery 5 Rabbit extremly upset, and it’s decided to pull its golden ale, which previously was available exklusively at the Trumpb building, from the taps. The Chicago Tribune reports that the “approximately 50 remaining kegs will go to various Chicago bars”.

Founder Andres Araya said “We shouldn’t have to be proving a point”, but they are. “Many of the comments he’s made recently really strike a chord directly at us as Latin American immigrants, and it’s just something you can’t let slide,” said Araya, a native of Costa Rica. “Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but that doesn’t mean we need to do business with people who have that point of view. It goes against everything we represent as business owners.”

Spiegelau’s Red Dot Design Award

Last week Spiegelau’s Craft Beer Glass was awarded the Red Dot Design Award, a most prestigious accomplishment. Specifically designed to enhance a craft beer’s aroma for the drinker, the glass was designed in cooperation with brewers and scene experts. The glass was introduced in 2013 and was quickly followed by a stout glass in 2014 and a American wheat beer glass in 2015. Richard Voit, Spiegelau’s manager, stated that “We’re proud to be the recipients of this award. It confirms our notion, that we are on the right path with the design of our glasses”.

A Craft Beer Empire in the Making

Craft beer breweries Duvel Moortgat and Firestone Walker have signed an agreement to combine their US operations, Fortune.com reports. Because both companies are privately held, the terms of the agreement were not announced though they stopped short of naming the ‘agreement’ as a merger or acquisition, as both breweries plan to continue operating independently. This is not the first deal the Belgian beer conglomerate has reached with craft breweries. In a statement the two founders David Walker and Adam Firestone have said “The riddle for us lately has been how to maintain [our] founding traits while serving a growing demand for our beers. It became increasingly clear that we needed a partner and brewer to solve this problem, and to secure our brewing legacy for the future”.

Beer fans might be nervous as the market continues to see an increase of consolidations and acquisitions, however Duvel Moortgat has said that in no way do they plan to put Firestone Walker’s outstanding reputation at risk, instead they want to help in managing exponential growth. Ron Lindenbusch of Lagunitas Brewing Co. says “I mean, Unilever bought Ben & Jerry’s. As a category, we’re much stronger than an individual brand.”

How a European Cult Brewery is Shaking Up Bangkok’s Craft Beer Scene

Earlier this week Condé Nast Traveller wrote a lengthy piece about Bangkok’s craft beer scene and how Mikkeller managed to shake things up. Once CN talks craft beer, you know that the craft beer scene is officially common knowledge. The nomad, Danish brewer  Mikkeller opened up his own bar in 2014 that boasts with 30 rotating taps “featuring many flavor profiles Bangkok had never seen before, like sour beers and barrel-aged stouts”.

In a city where craft is far from being king, co-owner Jakob Mørkenborg Rasmussen says “[Thai consumers] don’t know much about craft beer yet, but they want to know more. At the end of the day, that’s the more interesting customer to work with—where you can help change how people perceive craft beer.” Mikkeller plans on expanding its Asia empire into Seoul and Tokyo within the year.