It's time to change the face of distribution

This is a great article that lays out the issues craft brewers face on the marketplace. I cry a little every time I go to Farm Fresh here in Elizabeth City and see what has become of their beer cooler. What once was a wall of craft choices has been removed to make way for more Bud and Coors and other big beers and their psudeo-craft beers.

Read more here.

This is why we can't do anything nice...

A new rule under consideration by the Food and Drug Administration would virtually shut down a practice that has been in place since man started brewing beer and raising animals. Under the new rule brewers would be unable to provide spent grains to farmers as feed to their animals unless they made large investments in equipment that can dry, package and analyze the spent grains without it being touched by human hands.

While I am aware of the issue of contaminated animal feed and I completely agree that there have been too many recalls and issues related to animal feed; I would really like to see a study on how many times an animal has been contaminated from spent grains.

The brewer farmer relationship is one that goes back many ages. It is a win/win scenario as the farmer grows the grain, the brewer uses it and gives the spent grain back to the farmer for his animals.

What is your take on the issue?

Never thought I'd see the day

I never thought I'd see the day craft brewers would edge out mainstream commercial breweries. Today is that day. With more breweries open since the 1880's the U.S. craft beer industry is alive, well and growing more. Read more here.