Brewbound — Craft Beer News, Events & Jobs Startup Brewery Challenge 4: Meet the Judges Register for the Brewbound Session Latest News Attention Startup Brewers: Registration Upcoming Events

Karmen Olson, CBA

We’re less than 48 hours away from Brewbound Session Summer ’15 in Chicago, and it’s time to introduce a quintet of judges for this year’s Startup Brewery Challenge, our bi-annual business pitch competition.

Presented by Craft Brew Alliance, the Startup Brewery Challenge gives U.S. craft breweries who have been on the market for less than two years a chance to show off their business plans, sample one core product offering and receive immediate feedback from our panel of expert judges.

During Thursday afternoon’s competition, which is scheduled to begin at 1:15 p.m., our industry veteran judges will evaluate Startup Brewery Challenge finalists and critique contests on their elevator pitch, branding & packaging, marketplace potential and product quality.

Ben Dobler, CBA

Competing for the chance to become the Widmer “Brother for a Day,” the winning company will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Portland, Ore. and the opportunity to craft a new collaboration beer with Widmer Brothers Brewing. Winners will also take an extensive tour of the company’s production brewery, participate in Widmer Brothers’ daily taste panel and receive business coaching from CBA executives as well as sales, marketing, graphics, quality assurance and packaging department leaders.

Specialists in brewing, branding, sales and retailing will join the judging panel and include:

, Senior Manager of Emerging Business, CBA

Karmen is the Senior Manager of Emerging Business for Craft Brew Alliance, currently managing CBA’s partnership with former Startup Brewery Challenge winner Appalachian Mountain Brewery. Previously CBA’s Redhook Brand Manager, Karmen led the development of Redhook’s partnership strategy, resulting in a nearly 20% volume shift for the declining 30+ year old beer brand. Karmen has over a decade of experience in CPG Food and Beverage Marketing, specializing in brand strategy and strategic partnerships.

Doug Dayhoff, Upland Brewing

, Brewing Innovation Manager, CBA

Ben grew up as part of the Portland craft beer scene. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, he got his start as a brewer when he was 19 at Bridgeport Brewing. After three years, Ben began brewing at Widmer Brothers Brewing, where he has been brewing for the last 19 years; during the last 9 years, Ben’s role has centered on innovation and Widmer Brothers/CBA beer development.

, President, Upland Brewing Company

Doug Dayhoff has led Indiana-based Upland Brewing Company since 2008. During that time, Upland has grown from 2,500 to 17,000 BBLs, built a new production brewing facility, expanded two tasting rooms, and is in the process of constructing a second facility focused on wood fermentation for Upland’s sour ale program. He has a degree in philosophy from Indiana University and an MBA from Dartmouth College.

Michael Kiser, Good Beer Hunting

, Founder, Good Beer Hunting

Strategist, writer, and photographer Michael Kiser serves the industry through strategic branding, storytelling, and new product development from his studio in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. He created Good Beer Hunting as a chronicle in craft beer, documenting the stories behind America’s favorite beverages. Most recently he helped unite craft beer and coffee innovation through his ongoing Uppers & Downers event series in collaboration with Intelligentsia Coffee. www.goodbeerhunting.com 

, Beer Buyer, Binny’s Beverage Depot

Pat Brophy is responsible for curating one of the most expansive beer selections in Illinois. Founded in 1948 by Harold Binstein, Binny’s sells more than 6,000 different beer SKUs across its 31 locations. “If you can’t find it at Binny’s, it’s probably not worth drinking.”

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Brewbound — Craft Beer News, Events & Jobs Press Clips: BrewDog Selects Ohio; Illinois Raises Production Cap Latest News Featured Jobs Additional News Craft Beer Industry Jobs Recent Articles Upcoming Events

Scottish craft beer company BrewDog has unveiled plans to establish a U.S. beachhead, last week announcing that Columbus, Ohio, will become the company’s stateside brewing headquarters. On its blog, BrewDog wrote that it has “provisionally agreed” to acquire 42 acres of land in Columbus and said it intends to build a 100,000 sq. ft. brewery complete with a 100-barrel brewhouse, canning machine and bottling line to serve markets across the U.S. The company also anticipates employing 100 people at the new facility. BrewDog first confirmed its U.S. ambitions in April when it launched its fourth wave of equity crowdfunding. At the time, the company was hoping to raise roughly $3.2 million for a U.S. brewing operation. BrewDog also credited San Diego’s Stone Brewing for suggesting Columbus, a city that had been a finalist in Stone’s own search for a secondary location.

A bill aimed at helping craft brewers grow by raising the production cap imposed on companies that operate multiple retail fronts in Illinois is headed to the governor’s desk, reports the Chicago Tribune. As passed by the House and Senate, HB 3237 allows for breweries that run as many as three retail operations to produce up 120,000 barrels per year. Under the status quo, brewers that manage additional retail components are limited to producing 30,000 barrels annually. Gov. Bruce Rauner has 60 days to sign, veto, or amend the bill, adds the Tribune.

Boston Beer Co., manufacturers of the iconic Samuel Adams line, has applied for a trademark applicable to beer on the phrase “Boston 2024,” the slogan popularized by the city’s effort to host the Olympic games. The city’s bid to land the 2024 summer games has been highly controversial on a local basis, as large swaths of residents oppose the campaign, but for Boston Beer, it could be a good marketing opportunity. “We were introduced recently to members of the Boston 2024 Committee and had a very preliminary conversation about collaborating on a special beer in the future,” company spokeswoman Jessica Paar told Reuters. “There’s nothing set in stone. It’s just a fun idea we talked about.” It wouldn’t be the first time Boston Beer capitalized on a momentous sporting event in the city. For the past few years, the company has released a beer dubbed “26.2” in celebration of the Boston Marathon.

Coopers Brewery of Australia has been licensed to brew and distribute Brooklyn Brewery’s Brooklyn Lager on the island continent. Per Australian Brew News, the partnership will better establish Brooklyn’s presence in Australia and is actually a continuation of an old relationship.“We actually used to sell Coopers beers here in New York from 1991 until 2003 when we sold our distribution arm, so we knew their beers well,” Brooklyn CEO Eric Ottaway told the website. “As we looked at how we could better supply the Australian beer market, conversations turned to the opportunity to work together.”

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Brewbound — Craft Beer News, Events & Jobs Brewbound Session: Drizly Hopes to Change Consumer Purchasing Behavior (Video) Latest News Attention Startup Brewers: Registration Upcoming Events

Drizly isn’t here to disrupt the three-tier system. Rather, as Cory Rellas, the COO of the booze-to-your door delivery app tells it, the company operates in the name of “accelerating the status quo.”

Drizly works like this: a legal drinking age consumer pulls up the app on their smartphone or computer, places an order for alcohol, and one of the company’s retail partners delivers it directly.

“We don’t touch money and we don’t touch alcohol, so at the end of the day we can say we’re not part of the alcohol industry,” said Rellas during a talk at the Brewbound Session in Chicago last week. “We don’t take a percentage of sales. It’s all about not being a part of that transaction.”

Instead, Drizly aims to add value to the space by propagating mobile e-commerce, a digital marketplace that has become entrenched in other industries but has yet to take root in the alcohol category, according to Rellas. It’s a simple enough model, though Rellas sees it adding tremendous value to all three tiers of the industry.

For retailers, Rellas told the Brewbound Session audience of nearly 200 that the proposition is an easy one.

“We’re bringing incremental profit, incremental consumers of a kind they wouldn’t get in the store,” he said. “The mix of product selection due to who we’re attracting, the average order size is three to four times higher – these are profitable consumers that any store would want to have.”

Rellas added that distributors could take solace in the fact that the company seeks to open up a new lane to the consumer.

“We’re three-tier compliant,” he said. “You’re in a $100 billion off-premise alcohol industry and only 1 percent of that, maybe 2 percent is e-commerce related. I’d like to think that’s going to 10 to 12 percent.”

For suppliers, Drizly presents many opportunitie “One, we know a lot about our consumers,” he said. “For the first time, you can control how your product is merchandised on a digital shelf. For the first time, you have the ability to influence the consumer at the point of sale in a three-tier compliant way.”

To date, he said the company has been most simpatico with craft brands on the beer side because they launch in new markets similarly.

“We are fighting to establish capacity, distribution and consumer awareness in a way that makes sense for all parties involved,” he said.

He did add, however, that it could make sense for Drizly to eventually partner with the likes of a Anheuser-Busch InBev or a MillerCoors-type supplier on future consumer engagement initiatives.

Drizly is currently only available in 17 cities, works with nearly 200 retail partners and is boasting around 30,000 downloads a month, according to Rellas.

Looking ahead, he said the company plans to build out “the largest and most sophisticated” retail partner network of any e-commerce booze delivery service, continue to improve the app’s technological function to make delivery “efficient, reliable, and profitable,” and drive consumer awareness through marketing.

To that end, Rellas noted that there has been a shift from physical to digital advertising, with some of the heavy hitters in the beer industry allocating more and more of their resources to developing a digital platform.

That nexus between a digital shift in attitude and open roads ahead leaves Rellas optimistic about the future of e-commerce as it relates to alcohol.

“I don’t know exactly where that can take us, but I can tell you I’m optimistic it’s big enough to continue trudging along.”

Video of Rellas’ talk can be played above. Complete video playback from every Brewbound Session Chicago presentation can be found on the Brewbound Youtube channel in the coming days.

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Brewbound — Craft Beer News, Events & Jobs Oskar Blues Taps West Virginia & Arkansas Latest News Featured Jobs Additional News Craft Beer Industry Jobs Recent Articles Upcoming Events

With an expansion to its North Carolina brewing facility underway, Oskar Blues is continuing to grow its footprint throughout the eastern half of the U.S. The company, which just last week revealed plans to increase production capacity at its Brevard outpost, has announced plans to add distribution in West Virginia and Arkansas.

For coverage throughout Arkansas, the Longmont, Colo.-based company has signed a wholesale agreement with Arkansas Craft Alliance, a network of four distributors including Arkansas Craft Distributors, Three Rivers Distributing, Three Lakes Distributing, and White River Beverage. In West Virginia, Oskar Blues has partnered with Proud Eagle Inc., a collection of four Anheuser-Busch InBev wholesalers including Proud Eagle, Northern Eagle, Mountain Eagle, and Mountain State Beverage.

As Brewbound reported last week, in its first two years of operation, Oskar Blues produced 110,000 barrels at its North Carolina brewery alone.

Exact launch dates are still being finalized, the company said in a statement, but West Virginia and Arkansas would bring the number of states where Oskar Blues beer is sold to 44. Its beers are also sold in Washington, D.C. The brewery said it plans to add two more states in 2015 as well as additional international markets.

Oskar Blues, the 24th largest craft brewery in the nation by volume, produced 149,000 barrels total in 2014, up 25 percent over 2013.

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Brewbound — Craft Beer News, Events & Jobs Press Clips: BrewDog Selects Ohio; Illinois Raises Production Cap Latest News Featured Jobs Additional News Craft Beer Industry Jobs Recent Articles Upcoming Events

Scottish craft beer company BrewDog has unveiled plans to establish a U.S. beachhead, last week announcing that Columbus, Ohio, will become the company’s stateside brewing headquarters. On its blog, BrewDog wrote that it has “provisionally agreed” to acquire 42 acres of land in Columbus and said it intends to build a 100,000 sq. ft. brewery complete with a 100-barrel brewhouse, canning machine and bottling line to serve markets across the U.S. The company also anticipates employing 100 people at the new facility. BrewDog first confirmed its U.S. ambitions in April when it launched its fourth wave of equity crowdfunding. At the time, the company was hoping to raise roughly $3.2 million for a U.S. brewing operation. BrewDog also credited San Diego’s Stone Brewing for suggesting Columbus, a city that had been a finalist in Stone’s own search for a secondary location.

A bill aimed at helping craft brewers grow by raising the production cap imposed on companies that operate multiple retail fronts in Illinois is headed to the governor’s desk, reports the Chicago Tribune. As passed by the House and Senate, HB 3237 allows for breweries that run as many as three retail operations to produce up 120,000 barrels per year. Under the status quo, brewers that manage additional retail components are limited to producing 30,000 barrels annually. Gov. Bruce Rauner has 60 days to sign, veto, or amend the bill, adds the Tribune.

Boston Beer Co., manufacturers of the iconic Samuel Adams line, has applied for a trademark applicable to beer on the phrase “Boston 2024,” the slogan popularized by the city’s effort to host the Olympic games. The city’s bid to land the 2024 summer games has been highly controversial on a local basis, as large swaths of residents oppose the campaign, but for Boston Beer, it could be a good marketing opportunity. “We were introduced recently to members of the Boston 2024 Committee and had a very preliminary conversation about collaborating on a special beer in the future,” company spokeswoman Jessica Paar told Reuters. “There’s nothing set in stone. It’s just a fun idea we talked about.” It wouldn’t be the first time Boston Beer capitalized on a momentous sporting event in the city. For the past few years, the company has released a beer dubbed “26.2” in celebration of the Boston Marathon.

Coopers Brewery of Australia has been licensed to brew and distribute Brooklyn Brewery’s Brooklyn Lager on the island continent. Per Australian Brew News, the partnership will better establish Brooklyn’s presence in Australia and is actually a continuation of an old relationship.“We actually used to sell Coopers beers here in New York from 1991 until 2003 when we sold our distribution arm, so we knew their beers well,” Brooklyn CEO Eric Ottaway told the website. “As we looked at how we could better supply the Australian beer market, conversations turned to the opportunity to work together.”

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Brewbound — Craft Beer News, Events & Jobs Craft Brewers, Guild Leaders Meet with Lawmakers on Capitol Hill Latest News Featured Jobs Additional News Craft Beer Industry Jobs Recent Articles Upcoming Events

More than 150 craft brewery owners and state brewers guild leaders descended on Capitol Hill last Thursday to meet with lawmakers and discuss legislative reform, most notably a bipartisan bill that aims to slash the federal excise tax rate imposed on every barrel of beer produced in the country.

The “hill climbers” had over 300 individual meetings with members of Congress and their staffers, according to Bob Pease, CEO of the Brewers Association, which organized the lobbying effort in conjunction with the SAVOR beer and food festival. More than half of those were “member level” meetings, held between participants and their own representatives and senators, said Pease.

Steve Crandall, founder and owner of Devils Backbone Brewing in Roseland, Va. said he met with Rep. Robert Hurt (R-VA) to help secure his support of the Small Brewer Reinvestment and Expanding Workforce Act (Small BREW Act), the abovementioned tax bill.

“He was on board. Basically, what I told him was this is a jobs bill,” Crandall told Brewbound. “I said, ‘Certainly it gives us some relief, some tax relief on what we’re paying on barrelage. But ultimately, American craft breweries are going to use that money to invest in infrastructure and hire more people.’”

The Small BREW Act, which is supported by the BA, seeks to cut the federal excise tax rate on a brewery’s first 60,000 barrels from $7 to $3.50. The bill would also reduce the rate on production between 60,001 and 2 million barrels to $16 from $18. As written, once a brewery surpasses the 2 million barrel benchmark, the tax would not change from its current $18 per barrel rate. Brewers producing 6 million barrels or less would qualify for the lower rates.

Lawmakers do have a competing bill to mull over, however. The Beer Institute-backed Fair Brewers Excise and Economic Relief Act (Fair BEER Act) promotes even deeper cuts and extends them to all domestic and international beer companies, regardless of size.

With the craft industry well represented in D.C. this past week, both for the Hill Climb and for SAVOR, Crandall said he did see ads for the Fair BEER Act both on television and in the Washington Post. Brewbound reached out to the Post and the BI for further comment and to confirm the existence of the ads, but both organizations were unavailable as of press time.

Crandall made clear though that while he supports the Small BREW Act, he doesn’t oppose the Fair BEER Act, saying the passage of either bill would be a net positive for the industry.

“Also, we told [Rep. Hurt], ‘You know what, we don’t mind if you sign both bills,’” added Crandall. “We don’t oppose the Fair BEER Act. We just think the Fair BEER Act is the bigger challenge.”

Rick Chapman, founder of San Diego’s Coronado Brewing, echoed that sentiment.

“We tell everybody, if you can’t make a choice, do them both. It’s going to help us all out eventually,” said Chapman. “If you just push together forward we’ll get relief down the road.”

A BA memo that detailed the legislative talking points for the visit was sent to hill climbers prior to the visit and encouraged brewers to invite lawmakers to join the Small Brewers Caucuses of both the House and Senate. Additionally, the BA sought to encourage legislative support for the Craft Beverage Bond Simplification Act of 2015, which would “significantly reduce the regulatory and paperwork burden” faced by brewers by removing bonding requirements and necessitating less frequent tax filings.

The meetings came on the heels of the Senate unanimously passing a symbolic resolution late Sunday in praise of the jobs and wages created by the craft brewing industry.

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Schell’s Starkeller Peach

– “Peach schnapps. Babes love it.”

Peach is one of those flavors we sometimes associate with sticky sweet things like wine coolers and the aforementioned schnapps. This, my friends, is not cut from that mold. As described, Starkeller peach is hazy, golden and full of peach aroma. You’ll find no candy-sticky-sweetness here. Instead you’ll probably catch the traditional Berliner Weisse tartness with just a bit of sweetness and… get this… peach. Seek this one out!

“It’s a beauty Clark.” Nice work @schellsbeer.

A photo posted by MNBeer.com (Ryan) (@mnbeer) on Jun 15, 2015 at 4:37pm PDT

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Brewbound — Craft Beer News, Events & Jobs TTB Label “Dictator” Retires Latest News Featured Jobs Additional News Craft Beer Industry Jobs Recent Articles Upcoming Events

Kent Battle Martin has been called many things throughout his time as the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s Malt Beverage Labeling Specialist.

A 2014 Daily Beast profile described Battle as the “beer bottle dictator,” characterizing him as the “tyrant,” and “pedantic pain in the ass” that has approved every beer label design in the U.S. for the better part of a decade.

Indeed, since joining TTB in October 2004, Battle has single-handedly reviewed every malt beverage label application ever submitted. But on May 28, that came to an end.

The TTB has formally announced Battle’s retirement from the U.S. Treasury, which is tasked with monitoring and enforcing compliance for the expansive beverage alcoholic category.

“Battle’s departure marks the end of an era at TTB,” a statement read.

The end of an era indeed — Battle processed over 60,000 malt beverage labels in 2013 and 2014 alone. Since just last October, he had already reviewed over 25,000 labels.

A polarizing figure in craft beer circles, most brewers had somewhat of a love/hate relationship with the man. In the Daily Beast piece, Scott Newman-Bale, a partner at Michigan’s Shorts Brewing, was quoted as saying “I’ve never seen anyone working as hard as him.”

His reputation for being an eccentric and, at times, awkward figure at the controls of a multi-billion dollar industry has practically taken on a life of its own. He was known for approving labels in the middle of the night and rejecting labels for including nuanced design elements like googly eyes on a Santa or a hamburger, which, according to Battle, implied there were meat additives in the beer.

At trade shows, brewers have routinely traded whispers about their run-ins with the label czar, and how he could make or break the production of a beer with the single stroke of a pen.

But don’t tell TTB copywriters that.

“He was also a very popular person at many beer industry conferences and trade shows over the years, providing advice, presenting seminars, and even processing people’s malt beverage label applications on the spot,” the release stated.

Also, according to the announcement, Michael Webster will now the lead TTB’s malt beverage labeling efforts.

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Brewbound — Craft Beer News, Events & Jobs The Last Call: Kansas City Brewery Beats A-B in Trademark Race Latest News Featured Jobs Additional News Craft Beer Industry Jobs Recent Articles Upcoming Events

Five days after airing its now infamous Super Bowl ad poking fun at craft brewers, Anheuser-Busch attempted to trademark the phrase upon which the ad was built: “Brewed the Hard Way.” Turns out, as noted by Kaider Law, an intellectual property firm, the beer giant was actually beat to the punch. On February 5 — one day before A-B filed its own trademark — a small brewpub in Kansas City called Martin City Brewing filed a trademark application of its own for its “Hard Way IPA.”

Here’s where it gets a bit tricky. Martin City filed its request as an “actual use” application, citing February 4, 2015 as the date the mark was first used in commerce. A-B, conversely, filed an “intent to use” application, meaning that its desired mark had yet to be used in commerce. From Kaider Law:  “This is significant, because trademark rights stem from usage and the first in the market has priority over all second-comers.”

In turn, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) suspended its examination of A-B’s trademark application on May 13 pending the outcome of Martin City’s application, which was filed first. Now, assuming Martin City’s application is a go, the USPTO will publish the trademark for “opposition.” At that time, A-B could theoretically object and argue why the mark should not be allowed.

New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan vetoed a bill Tuesday that would have allowed for the sale of alcoholic beverage products adorned with labels depicting minors, so long as the imagery didn’t promote underage drinking, reports the Associated Press.

State Rep. Keith Murphy (R-Bedford) – who also runs a tavern in the state – originally sponsored House Bill 122 because he wanted to be able to buy and sell Breakfast Stout, a popular beer from Founders Brewing that features on its label a baby wearing a bib spoon feeding himself.

The bill passed muster in both the House and Senate, but democratic Gov. Hassan said she believed more formal guidance was necessary and vetoed it. Currently, state law prohibits the sale of all alcoholic beverages whose labels make “any reference to minors, pictorial or otherwise.”

In April, Brewbound reported that San Francisco-based private equity firm Friedman Fleischer & Lowe (FFL) was a significant investor in Enjoy Beer LLC, the acquisition-minded craft beer consortium launched by ex-Harpoon founder, Rich Doyle. Now, a new report from Reuters colors in a bit the size of that investment.

According to the article, in its fourth and largest private equity raise, FFL secured $2 billion. Of that, reports Reuters, “about a quarter” has been invested in two unspecified eye care companies and the Enjoy Beer enterprise. With the new fund, FFL plans to invest in companies without “using a lot of debt.”

Mike Stevens, co-founder and CEO of Founders Brewing, and Brett VanderKamp, president of New Holland Brewing, interviewed each other about the state of the craft during a recent meetup hosted by Start Garden, a venture capital firm based in Grand Rapids, Mich. The pair touched on a number of subjects, most notably, M&A activity in the space and whether their respective companies would be buyers. Selected, a few highlights, as gathered by MLive.com:

On the influx of private money in the space:

VanderKamp: “They all say the same thing… They want to come in, own a majority, keep me around and then buy me out, or I buy them out in five to seven years.”

Added Stevens: “I’m a little worried about who owns this industry 10, 20 years from now.”

On whether they’d be interested in buying a craft brewery:

Stevens: “Our compound annual growth rate for the last six years is averaging 72 percent. We’re not even out west yet… why would we want to hit the reset button and have those complications when we’ve got so much in front of us?”

VanderKamp: “It’s definitely something we’ve talked about.”

Illinois lawmakers have passed a bill to repeal a 25-year-old ban on happy hour drink specials and other promotions in the state, reports the Chicago Tribune. Pending Gov. Bruce Rauner’s signature, the bill would allow for vendors to discount alcohol for up to four hours a day and 15 hours a week, provided the promotions are advertised a week in advance. Under the bill, volume specific deals, like two drinks for the price of one, notes the Tribune, would remain banned. “We’re jumping up and down about this,” Aaron Zacharias, managing partner of Fountainhead and Bar on Buena, told the Tribune. “I can’t believe that Illinois lawmakers did something good.”

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