Results of Homebrew Supply Shop Survey Released

Boulder, CO • June 11, 2013—The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) released the results of its fourth annual Homebrew Supply Shop Survey, detailing the current state of the home beer and wine supply retail industry. The results indicate that, on the whole, shops are thriving as they cater to the growing community of homebrewing enthusiasts.

Reviewing data from 275 shops spanning 47 states-a 32 percent increase in participants from last year’s survey-the survey found that on average, participants saw gross revenue increase by 26 percent in 2012. For shops that primarily sell homebrew supplies, gross revenue increased on average by 29 percent. This is 2 percent higher than last year’s results and 10 percent higher than results from the first AHA supply shop survey conducted in 2009.

“As homebrewing continues to grow, retail shops are responding accordingly, satisfying the needs of their increasing customer base,” said Gary Glass, director, American Homebrewers Association. “Homebrew supply shops serve as the heart of local homebrewing communities. The success of a local shop will ensure a thriving community of homebrewers.”

Additional highlights from the survey include:

•Homebrew Beginners: The majority of shops (80 percent) experienced increased sales of beginner homebrew equipment kits, signifying a considerable boost in interest in the hobby. The largest segment of people buying the beginner kits were individuals 30 to 39 years old.

•New Lease on Brewing: In 2013, 43 percent of responding shops said they have been open for three years or less, up from 34 percent in 2012, indicating considerable growth in new shop openings.

•Beer vs. Wine: Sales of beer ingredients outpaced wine ingredients among home beverage supply retailers, with an average of 35 percent of retail revenue coming from beer ingredients versus 21 percent from wine ingredients.

The full report contains additional information on customer demographics, marketing and sales. Results demonstrated significant advancement in several areas considered by the AHA, including gross revenue, store openings and beginner equipment sales, indicating a growth in the industry. The AHA conducts this survey every year to provide homebrewers and supply retailers with the latest industry information.

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About the American Homebrewers Association:

The American Homebrewers Association has worked on behalf of the homebrewing community since 1978 and celebrates a membership of more than 37,000 homebrewers. The American Homebrewers Association (AHA) organizes events including the National Homebrewers Conference and National Homebrew Competition. The AHA also publishes Zymurgy magazine. The AHA is part of the Brewers Association, whose Brewers Publications division is the largest publisher of contemporary and relevant brewing literature for today’s craft brewers and homebrewers.

Beer lovers and anyone interested in making their own homemade beer are invited to learn more at HomebrewersAssociation.org. Follow the AHA on Twitter, and join us on Facebook.

The brewery, situated at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, produces 1.5 million gallons of beer per day. No, it’s not craft, but it’s certainly an impressive operation and worth touring if you’re ever in the Denver area.

Here are some photos from my recent visit to the Coors brewery. Be sure to check out the video of the packaging line at the end.

German immigrants Adolph Coors and Jacob Schueler founded the brewery in Golden in 1873.

This historic copper brew kettle greets visitors to the Coors brewery.

Coors boasts of over 20 different brands of beer in North America.

A bucket full of hops always smells nice.

The brewhouse at Golden is monstrous.

The Golden facility is home to about 2,000 employees.

A view of the packaging line at the Coors brewery.

Down these stairs you’ll find the tasting room, the most popular stop on the tour.

On my recent trip to Perdido Key, Fla., I made a stop in Downtown Pensacola to check out their local micro/production brewery. In a beachy, historical neighborhood by the bay, we find this quaint, homey little brewery called Pensacola Bay Brewery.

Tara, my bar maiden, was very kind and more than helpful. If ever in this area of Florida, give this place a visit. Tara sat me down to a HUGE flight of beers, with up to five seasonals at a time.

This little place pumps out some beer. They are working on a bottling line, but up until recently they have been hand-bottling in 22-oz. bombers. Yikes!! I thoroughly enjoyed the feel of this brewery and all they had to offer. This was my opinion of their offerings:

–Pale Ale: A little light for an American Pale Ale. Typical citrus hop aroma, not up front, but there.

–Sawgrass Wheat: Bright yellow, light flavor. Easy to drink in the 90-degree Florida heat. Dry and somewhat hoppy finish.

–Riptide Amber: Very malty nose, full body with a pleasant dry finish. Very similar to a “new” American amber available to us in Memphis. More copper-colored than amber.

–Pensacola Bay’s ESB: A little stronger than I like my English ales. Clocks in at 6% and is dry-hopped to boot. Starting to see a trend here — very dry, doesn’t fit in the ESB category, but a good beer nevertheless.

–Banyan Brown: Very malty in the nose and finish. Typical American brown ale. Nothing to write home about.

–Lighthouse Porter: Now this is a beautiful example of a porter. Great roast and hops, balanced by a lovely malt backbone. Pleasant nose, touch of roast, malt and resinous American hops.

–Lil’ Napoleon IPA: This is Pensacola Bay Brewery’s biggest seller. Huge hop nose. I feel like I could smell it when she poured it. Big hop flavor with citrus and a touch of skunk — good skunk though. Not cloying but not as dry as some of the other selections. At 70 IBUs, the bitterness just keeps on giving.

–Oak-Aged IPA: Same beer in Chardonnay barrels. Well to me this is a strange combo. It seems the Chardonnay kind of overpowers the hops in the nose and the finish. Not a bad beer, by far, but strange nonetheless.

–Blackbeard Stout: Very creamy, with roast and malt to boot! Nice finish. Overall, a very smooth stout.

–Conquistador DoppleBock: Last but not least, this beer has a huge Munich malt nose. The 8.1% is hidden very well. Not your run-of-the-mill German dopplebock, made with a touch more saaz hops than I would prefer. The spiciness lends a different finish to this style, making it very drinkable. Lovely finish to a great flight of beers.

According to The Commercial Appeal, a story quoting owner Jerry Feinstone said a computer failure was to blame and Boscos should reopen Tuesday.

“The computer system totally crashed,” he said. “We don’t know if it’s a virus or what it is.” Feinstone said a large volume restaurant such as his can’t operate without a computer system; the staff can’t put orders in for the kitchen or accept credit card payments. [source]

Someone explain this to me @kerry901 twitter.com/joshspickler/s…

— Josh Spickler (@joshspickler) June 4, 2013

The Cash Saver grocery store at 1620 Madison in Midtown — which has established itself as a beer destination in Memphis — is hosting a series of free craft and import beer tastings in June.

Here’s what is planned so far:

Monday, June 3 – Fort Collins Brewery tasting, 4:30-7:30 p.m., featuring Rocky Mountain IPA, Red Banshee, Kidd Black Lager and Chocolate Stout.

Wednesday, June 5 – Krombacher tasting, 4-7 p.m., featuring Pils, Weizen and Dark.

Wednesday, June 12 – Abita Beer tasting, 4-7 p.m., featuring Amber, Purple Haze, Lemon Wheat, Turbodog and Light.

More tastings are in the works, so check back here, and also be sure to follow Cash Saver craft beer manager Taylor James on Twitter.

The Flying Saucer Memphis celebrated its 16th Anniversary in style this past Saturday. The concept was a tapping of sixteen special brews over sixteen hours. We went to check out the festivities. Here’s a rundown of the beers and our brief reviews. A special shout out, by the way, to our server, Sam, who helped us along the way.

Blackstone Tripel

Blackstone Tripel – This special brew from our friends down the road in Nashville is darker than most tripels; it’s almost light caramel in color. It’s fruity smelling with bubble gum and just a slight banana flavor. There’s not a lot of spice, making it seem more like a golden strong ale than a tripel.

Yazoo/New Belgium “Rufus” – Many may already be familiar with this special sour ale collaboration between one of our own Tennessee breweries and a well-known neighbor in Colorado, New Belgium. A funk and fruit nose is present. The taste is sour on the front and back end with “horse blanket” funk in the middle with an added touch of sweetness on the end as well.

Sweetwater IPA – Sweetwater is a well-regarded brewery out of Georgia expanding its market. This regular strength IPA has a good combination of citrus and spice in both aroma and taste with a somewhat sweetish finish.

Goose Island Matilda

Goose Island Matilda – This entry from the famed Chicago brewery fancies itself a Belgian pale ale. It has an orange, kind of rusty hue and a tiny bit of funky aroma. It’s hop forward with some earthy and barnyard notes that fade into malt and a citrusy, dry finish.

Schneider Aventinus Eisbock – Unfortunately, the bar had an issue with their equipment and getting this beast of an Eisbock (12% ABV) tapped. Alas, it will go unreviewed here.

Green Flash Grand Cru – Boy, there was a lot going on here with this Belgian dark strong ale from the malt to the Belgian yeast to the hops. Almost cinnamon-like qualities seemed to come from the combo.

Abbaye De Saint Bon-Chien

Abbaye De Saint Bon-Chien – A great smelling sour that has elements of cherry, oranges, and funk. It starts off with just a bit of sweetness before you get a pop of sour. It lingers just a bit and gives you a slight pucker before subsiding. It’s amazingly 11% alcohol by volume (and here’s no way to tell).

Ommegang Game Of Thrones Blonde – The name of this beer pretty much tells you everything you need to know. We’re not sure how much the series really “inspired” this beer from Cooperstown, New York, but it was very smooth with nice lemon and pepper notes to go with the classic blonde character.

Green Flash 7th Anniversary Red Rye IPA – Another beer where the name says a lot. What makes it interesting is the Belgian yeast used and its interplay with the rye malt.

Sierra Nevada Blindfold IPA

Sierra Nevada Blindfold IPA – A new entry from this brewery’s “Beer Camp” series. Coffee and American hops intermingled on the nose. The taste, similar to the aroma, was clean, yet robust with a touch of spice.

Green Flash Park West Porter – Yet another superior beer from this San Diego brewery. It smells mainly of coffee, but there are also some fruity esters. The taste is somewhat grainy with coffee then some sweet, sugary bits before it finishes with some hop bite.

New Belgium Lips of Faith: Beire De Garde – Another collaboration beer, this time finding New Belgium teaming with Brewery Viviant (Michigan) – Perhaps an “Imperial” Biere De Garde. The aroma was a little funky with some orange peel. Surprisingly, it’s a very sweet beer with substantial alcohol presence that dries with candy, citrus notes on the end.

Rogue XS Dead Guy Ale

Rogue XS Dead Guy – Our pals at Rogue used to call this one “Double Dead Guy,” and if you’re familiar with the regular Dead Guy maibock, that’s exciting. There was not much aroma, but the flavor had bold, sweetish malt character followed by a substantial hop bite that finished clean. It almost comes off like a barleywine but cleaner and easier to drink.

New Belgium Lips of Faith: Heavenly Feijoa Tripel – Another New Belgium collaboration with Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel (Montreal). Another darker tripel, likely influenced by using hibiscus. A relatively standard tripel smell with some spice. There was a tart taste from the feijoa fruit and the hibiscus with an herbal quality. However, the flavor seemed a bit out of balance.

Green Flash Black IPA – A very citrus forward smelling black IPA with a strong hop flavor profile that, to be honest, kind of overpowered the malt character, although there was a bit of a roasty, coffee finish.

Out of the beers tried (there were actually fourteen in total), there were some real standouts, all bringing something a bit different to the table. Green Flash really stood out with its Park West Porter and Grand Cru, while Sierra Nevada’s Blindfold IPA showed they still really know what they are doing their when it comes to hops. Also, the Abbaye De Saint Bon-Chien is not to be missed, if you are a sour fan. In years past, The Saucer has held on to leftovers from their birthday celebrations for further consumption, so if you stop by, be sure to ask them if you can try any of these beers that spark your curiosity.

The Flying Saucer in Downtown Memphis is celebrating its 16th anniversary this Saturday with a party featuring rotating taps and 16 rare beers over 16 hours.

Among the beers that will be served are Yazoo Barrel Aged Porter, Sweetwater IPA, Green Flash Red Rye IPA, Abita Wheat IPA, Sierra Blindfold IPA, Goose Island Matilda, Blackstone Tripel, Yazoo/New Belgium’s “Rufus” and more.

Judging beers for the 2013 Boscos Pro Am.

Memphis homebrewer Nick Vincent is GABF bound.

Nick is the winner of the 2013 Boscos Pro Am, taking first place in the local competition with his Extracurricular Hoptivity IPA.

As the Pro Am winner, Nick, a member of the Bluff City Brewers & Connoisseurs, will get to brew his recipe on Boscos’ 7-barrel system, and his beer will go on tap at the brewpub this fall.

In addition, Nick will get to take a keg of his beer to Denver to compete in the 2013 Great American Beer Festival Pro Am. He’ll get an all-access pass to the festival from Boscos and airfare provided by the homebrew club.

“This was by far my best IPA I’ve ever made, and I was pretty excited about it when I submitted it,” he wrote in an e-mail today.

Best of Show in the Pro Am was rounded out by Ben Pugh (H.E. Wheat) and Charlie Patrick (“S” Stout).

As the winner of the 2012 Pro Am, I got to judge this year’s competition with Boscos head brewer Adam Hargrove. The competition was really tough, but Nick’s beer, a hopped-up American IPA made with Magnum and Citra hops, was our favorite, and I can’t wait to have another pint when it goes on tap at Boscos this fall.

Nick is in for a real treat when he brews the Extracurricular Hoptivity at Boscos in late August or early September. Here’s what I wrote about my experience when I got to brew my Red Hop Ale there last year.

Cheers, Nick!

Zoo Brew, the beer tasting event at the Memphis Zoo, is coming up again on May 24.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online.

Tickets are $35 for zoo members and $40 for non-members. VIP tickets are $55 for zoo members and $60 for non-members.

On Saturday, Boscos played host to Memphis’ celebration of National Homebrew Day, with close to 40 local homebrewers boiling wort on the back parking lot of the brewpub in Overton Square.

It was a cool morning with no rain, so conditions were good for the American Homebrewers Association Big Brew, which is celebrated by homebrewers from around the world and always takes place the first Saturday of May.

Homebrewers from the Bluff City Brewers & Connoisseurs and the Memphis Brewer’s Association marked the occasion this weekend. Boscos provided the space and gave each homebrewer free wort to brew with, as well as optional yeast. Brewers brought their own hops and created their own hop schedule and recipe.

Homebrewer Adam Steele assisted Boscos head brewer Adam Hargove in the brewhouse and got to experience brewing on the 7-barrel system. He filled the homebrewers’ kettles with either five or 10 gallons of wort.

To celebrate the Memphis Grizzlies’ playoff run, I brewed ten gallons of “Grit Grind IPA,” with Belma, Citra and Columbus hops.

Site manager Joe Barnes (left) helps homebrewer Stephen Russell carry a kettle to the wort chilling area.

At noon, Big Brew participants paused to join in on a world-wide toast. Ben Pugh (left) led the toast at Boscos.

Adam jumped in the kettle to clean it out and posed for a quick photo. Thanks for all your hard work Saturday, Adam!