Collaborating for a Cause | Jukes Ale Works

It’s been since November that PorchDrinking has been able to feature a new brewery in the Collaborating for a Cause series, but ending the drought is Nebraska’s Jukes Ale Works. This brewery team—like many others in recent installments—were quick to show their support for Alex Kidd. Their dedicated effort included an exclusive, draft-only reincarnation of their Bayonet barleywine to help raise money for Alex Kidd and his family.

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Testimonial | The Payroll Dept. is the Solution to Your Brewery’s HR & Payroll Needs

While beer has long played a central role in the advancement of modern civilization, ironically, today’s modern craft breweries often still struggle to innovate when it comes to managing their own internal processes. 

Sure, huge leaps have been made in hop varietal development and in the realm of brewing processes, but everyday tasks like human resources management, recruitment and hiring practices, and payroll management are often overlooked and become internal bottlenecks.

Luckily, our friends at the Payroll Department have become a proven resource for breweries by prioritizing the human element first, while also keeping up with the advanced technological support needed to keep up in today’s market.

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Collaborating for a Cause | New Image Brewing

It’s honestly baffling to come to the realization that it has been 17 and a half months since Alex Kidd’s shocking announcement that he had been diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic colon cancer. The beer community immediately rose to the occasion, raising over $400,000 for Alex and his family to help with his medical bills. Even after all this time, PorchDrinking still has yet to feature all of the breweries and their beers and/or releases dedicated to the man behind Don’t Drink Beer. That said, we started this journey back in June of last year with Horus Aged Ales’ Stay Strong Alex, and this is now the 23rd installment of Collaborating for a Cause. For this spotlight we zoom northwest of Denver, CO, and set our sights to New Image Brewing.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Relentless Perseverance

On July 9th, 2024, Odd Breed Wild Ales announced the impossible decision to close their doors at the end of the month. The logistics fueling brewery ownership have become increasingly difficult worldwide, and it’s seen some truly talented programs shut down as a result. Odd Breed owner and head brewer Matt Manthe is a true gem in the industry, emphasized by his incredible gratitude to all the support from loyal customers both near and far. In an effort to pay that generosity forward, he announced that the final bottle release that Odd Breed would conduct would be Relentless Perseverance, a massive barrel-aged barleywine created in collaboration with The Hallway Tap & Brew, in support of Alex Kidd and his family.

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Crafting History | Brussels Edition

Back in July, I had the incredible opportunity to visit Brussels, Belgium. A city and country rich with beer history, this trip is a bucket list destination for many connoisseurs. Belgium’s diversity of styles, centuries-old brewing techniques, and preservation of tradition have all impacted its place as one of the most culturally significant countries in the world when it comes to heritage. This installment of Crafting History features contributions from legends of the industry Werner Van Obberghen – Owner and Managing Director of 3 Fonteinen, Moeder Lambic owner Jean Hummler, and former Chairman of De Heikantse Bierliefhebbers Fons Minne, as well as reviews of a few Belgian relics – some of which have been cellared for over two decades.

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Shifting Lanes: How Craft Breweries Are Changing Business Structures

Times are tough for craft beer. Once the darling of the tap walls and shelf sets, double-digit sales growth and taprooms springing up on every street corner like that green and white coffee giant. Things seemed like good times would never end, but every party has a pooper, and 2024 is looking like one of the most brutal years so far for craft brewery brands since 2020.

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Bringing Culture to the Cup: NB2A Revolutionizes Craft Beer

Craft beer has always been a staple of local communities, serving as a gathering point for people to share stories over a pint. The sense of belonging and support from local patrons fueled the growth of craft beer during its peak years. However, there’s a significant opportunity yet to be fully realized—the untapped potential of Black consumers and brewers in the craft beer industry.

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Growing Change: Small Growers Adapt to a Shifting Craft Beer Market

Craft beer grew at an impressive rate in the decade preceding the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, from 1,813 U.S. breweries in 2010 to 9,092 in 2020, according to the Brewers Association. As it grew, it pulled a number of supporting industries up wthe

ith it, perhaps most notably small-scale ingredient growers and suppliers. The number of small hop farms in the U.S. increased from 68 in 2007 to 817 in 2017 (according to figures published by Penn State University), and member count of the Craft Maltsters Guild grew from eight companies when the guild was founded in 2013 to 67 by 2022.

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Highs and Lows of the 2024 Craft Brewers Conference

With more curves than a Bart Watson data chart, the 2024 Craft Brewers Conference in Las Vegas did not disappoint for the 9,000-plus attendees who braved the lights and sounds of The Venetian Expo Center and cacophony of Phish fans pouring into The Sphere. (Talk about fantastic people watching!) The conference provided a sanctuary for industry professionals to discuss the myriad challenges and emerging opportunities within the craft brewing world.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Alex’s Life

Our showcase for the Alex’s Life installment of this series has been a long time coming. A collaboration of six of the biggest names in today’s craft scene, this joint effort was an undoubtedly pure testament to the magnitude of togetherness exhibited toward Alex Kidd and his family as he endures this fight with Stage IV cancer. With additional thanks owed to craft beer marketplace Tavour as the outlet used to maximize the release’s scope, this Veil-headlined benefit still remains the largest fundraiser to-date for the Kidds.

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Horus Aged Ales | Year Nine Spotlight

It has been over a year now since collaborating with Kyle Harrop and Horus Aged Ales on a spotlight of his unique and formidable barrel program. Now, Horus finds itself preparing to open year seven of the Convocation membership. We reconnected with Harrop for a brand new feature, highlighting some of his recent projects as well as digging deeper into what we can hope to expect from this sought after program in 2024.

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Garrett Oliver Unites Brewing Industry in Pioneering ‘Brewing for Impact’ Initiative

For more than 30 years, Garrett Oliver has been a pioneer in the brewing industry, both in his brewing and his commitment to social change. His focus on innovation in the craft beer movement has led to national recognition and a James Beard Award. Having been with Brooklyn Brewery for 30 years this year, Oliver is proud to announce the “Brewing for Impact” campaign. This initiative launches a worldwide collaboration with breweries, spotlighting the ancient West African grain fonio, and is rooted in Oliver’s belief that beer can unite people, cultures and traditions. In highlighting fonio and its adaptability, Brewing for Impact is able to emphasize the idea that the future of brewing can have a focus on sustainability and social awareness.
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5 Questions with the Brewers Association Ahead of Next Week’s Craft Brewers Conference

Each year, thousands of industry members gather for one of beer’s biggest and most anticipated events: The Craft Brewers Conference (CBC). This year, the conference will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada from April 21-24. A one-of-a-kind-can’t-miss event, CBC gives attendees the opportunity to learn from industry leaders in 60+ seminars, engage with suppliers providing new products and services to help grow successful businesses, and of course — cheer on their peers at the electric World Beer Cup award ceremony. We caught up with the Brewers Association ahead of this year’s event to highlight a bit of what’s to come – and to provide a few tips to attendees to get the most out of their CBC experience.

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Collaborating for a Cause | For Alex

At the end of May 2023, Wax Wings Brewing pledged their support for Alex Kidd with a dedicated bottle release. This series has always looked to highlight breweries and the benefits they’ve conducted to help support Alex and his family as he continues to fight for his life. As we approach 20 installments to this series from breweries and meaderies all over the country – and even Norway! – we find ourselves back in Michigan to take a deep dive into Wax Wing’s For Alex release.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Wren House Life Barleywine

As this series continues to surge through the spring months of 2024, it’s amazing to note just how many of these recent installments were announced during just the first few months after Alex Kidd’s cancer diagnosis. As we continue to see outpouring of support for DDB and his family, it’s also important to continue to reflect back on some of the first breweries to release dedicated beers in an effort to raise money for the cause. This week we take a deeper look at Wren House Brewing and their Life Barleywine.

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Pouring Potential | Examining the CHEERS Act

Earlier this month, two US Congressmen introduced H.R. 7577, the Creating Hospitality Economic Enhancement for Restaurants and Servers (CHEERS) Act, designed to invigorate and further support local hospitality businesses, like bars, restaurants and entertainment venues, by providing tax incentives to organizations that invest in upgrades for their draft beer systems. The bipartisan legislation aims to revitalize the On-Premise community by providing financial breaks for small businesses still hurting from shutdowns in 2020 and slogging through current economic conditions.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Cerebral Brewing

For this week’s installment of Collaborating for a Cause, we head to one of the Mountain states for the first time in this series. Cerebral Brewing, based out of Denver, Colorado, was quick to show their support for Alex Kidd, the person behind Don’t Drink Beer, and his family following his devastating cancer diagnosis. For Cerebral’s fundraiser, they re-released two high-gravity beers, donating 100% of proceeds from all bottles and draft pour sales to the Kidd family GoFundMe.

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Casks & Camaraderie | Oak & Steel

In an unintended continuation from the last installment, Casks & Camaraderie is again headed to Missouri. Previously exploring Cape Girardeau’s Cask Craft Spirits and Beer Lounge, we focused on their elevation of barrel picks to expand exclusively from whiskey distillers into the realm of private picks with local brewery barrel stocks. This iteration picks up in the same barrel room it left off in, with Cory King and Side Project Brewing. His newest collaboration in the Silent Barrel series was with Kyle Howard, owner of Oak & Steel craft drinkery out of Kansas City. We took a deeper dive into his experience, the barrel, and the impact it’s had on the ever-changing beer scene in northwestern MO.

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New Ownership Takes Over Resolute Brewing Company

Resolute Brewing Company, a brewery with locations in Centennial and Arvada, is changing ownership. “We are thrilled to embark on this journey as the new owners of Resolute Brewing Company,” said Jacob Wells, a new owner of Resolute. “Resolute has established itself as a cornerstone of the community, and we are committed to upholding its values while infusing fresh energy and creativity into the brewery and taprooms. We’ve been big fans of Resolute for a long time and can’t wait to get started.”

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Go Big Or Go Home: Can Smaller Producers Recreate 19.2 Ounces of Success?

“Where’s your bomber section?” — said no Millennial or Gen Z craft beer shopper ever in the past four years. So is the once revered 22-ounce craft beer bomber dead? In short, not really. Most consumers can find plenty of high-end, special release large format bottles from a multitude of brewers on shelves nationwide. But the format of choice, and one of the fastest growing package segments in the alcoholic beverage space, is now the 19.2-ounce single serve can, a.k.a. the stovepipe. And growth is not slowing down any time soon. The 19.2-ounce can accounts for more than 92% of craft sales in the convenience channel according to Circana, a leading industry data aggregation firm, which adds up to about $221 million in sales dollars. In a mid-year 2023 report from Bump Williams Consulting, the 19.2-ounce can was the top growth contributor to incremental dollar sales in the single serve category (Brewbound, August 2023).

So how did we get here? The simple beer can — once disregarded as a sign of lower quality has now become the shining star of the craft beer industry. The concept of single serve, once touted as the beverage that you hide in a brown paper bag is now trending in every corner of the Off Premise market. Something in our consumer base has shifted and with that comes questions from smaller producers about whether or not they should jump on the trend wagon.

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