Brew News: A Cure for Bad Beer?

Vacancies at a pair of top craft breweries, a booze-fueled road trip, beer flavor augmentation, X days without a work incident and America’s fastest growing beer brands highlight this week’s beer roundup.

Austin/St. Louis: Time to dust off the old resume…

Unfortunately for those looking to take a leading role at one of the two reputable breweries with recent job vacancies, the positions have been filled. Austin’s Jester King announced that head brewer Garrett Crowell would be leaving to start his own brewery. Crowell held the position for nearly three years and the brewery put his impact into perspective, stating, “he created our mixed culture of brewers yeast, native yeast, and native bacteria that we use to ferment all our beer, apart from our 100% spontaneous fermentations. Through his thoughtfulness, creativity, and skill, Garrett has done an exemplary job helping us make beer tied to a time, place, and people.” The next day Jester King announced that former volunteer, Averie Swanson, would be taking over head brewing duties. Swanson quickly climbed the ranks in her four years at the brewery, most recently serving as brewery production manager.

Meanwhile, it was revealed that Schlafly Beers—St. Louis’ largest craft brewery—co-founder, Dan Kopman, would be stepping down as co-chairman of the company. Kopman had previously served as CEO of the brewery he kick-started with Tom Schlafly back in 1991 but transitioned to co-chairman when James Pendegraft claimed the top spot in 2012. “We accomplished the goals we wanted, to change the beer culture in St. Louis and make the community better for everyone,” Kopman told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in a phone interview. “I have 25 years of amazing memories that are priceless.”

Tennessee: Road trip requires DD

Road trips are often romanticized, a sentiment that shatters when you run out of money and break down somewhere in Deliverance country. But, a craft beer tour proprietor in Tennessee is hitting the open road with a route that is sure to not disappoint. Zack Roskop, operator of Knox Brew Tours, plans to visit the state’s 76 breweries over a 21-day period. The mission, according to the official “beer run” website is, “To highlight the wonderful craft beer that the state of Tennessee has to offer.” Roskop will embark upon the 1,400-mile trek with two buddies in a former school bus dubbed “Kathy.” Anyone wishing to keep tabs on his progress or meet up for a beer can view the route online.

South Bristol, NY: Cheap beer gets a taste lift

For those who don’t like the taste of coffee, there’s sugar and milk. For those who can’t stomach H2O there are “water enhancers.” What about beer? “But beer already tastes good,” you might be saying. This is true, mostly… What happens when you find yourself with a solo cup frothing with cheap beer at a frat party? Thankfully the trend of altering a substance to make it more palatable has reached beer. A company in upstate New York has created a product called Mad Hops Flavored Beer Drops. The drops—good for 18 flavored beers per bottle!—come in flavors such as cherry wheat, Irish porter and Mexican lime, among others. While not necessarily ideal for, say, an actual Irish porter, the product is marketed for improving the flavor of inexpensive adjunct lagers. A good stocking stuffer, perhaps, for the college student who lives on Busch Light.

National: Breweries getting safer

While “drinking too much” might be the most popular “Family Feud”-style answer to the “occupational hazards of working at a brewery” question, in actuality working in tight quarters with heavy equipment in an often wet environment can create a serious risk of injury. Thankfully, the instance of occupational injuries at breweries has gone down to 3.9 cases per 100,000 hours worked according to recently released data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics which the Brewers Association disseminated. The rate had jumped to 5.3 the previous year but is now back below the ten-year average. “We are encouraged by the latest BLS injury data for breweries,” said Paul Gatza, director at the Brewers Association. “The Brewers Association urges all brewers and owners to foster robust safety cultures and continue to apply downward pressure on this important metric.”

National: Mexican beer on the rise

24/7WallSt reviewed data related to shipment volumes provided by Beer Marketer’s Insights to determine the 10 fastest growing beer brands in the United States from 2010 to 2015 and the results…might depress you. While the craft beer sector has certainly experienced explosive growth over the last decade, this survey looked at brands eclipsing the one million barrels shipped mark in 2010 or 2015, and the “winners” are decidedly un-craft. Corona Extra led off the cavalcade of less than stellar suds followed by hipster staple, Pabst Blue Ribbon. Corona Light, Coors Banquet, Bud Ice, Blue Moon and Michelob Ultra took the 8 through 4 spots while Dos Equis, Stella Artois and Modelo Especial placed 3, 2 and 1, respectively. Modelo saw a sales change of 135.3% over that five-year period.