This Week's Beer News: Springfield Senate Stagnation
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We don’t pay quite as much attention to beer law as we used to around these parts, but it’s worth mentioning that as Springfield shuts down for the summer, one of the bills that didn’t move forward was SB618.
The ICBG’s Advocacy page currently cites a number of things they were looking to accomplish this session with this bill, including legalizing mug clubs, legalizing beer donations to nonprofits and - perhaps the biggest ask: Increasing Self-Distribution for Class 3 Breweries.
Way back when we were fighting the good Save The Craft fight, those Class 3 breweries - aka brewpubs - were mostly kept out of the self-distro game because they had the freedom to also serve wine and hard liquor. The 200bbl allowance was a bit of a concession to let brewpubs get a little beer into market but forced the main focus to be on-premise.
The ask to jump from 200 to 2500bbls annually was a big ask, and our sources tell us that the beer distributors lobby had some thoughts of their own about this bill, hence its non-movement out of committee. We’ll keep an eye on this later in the year, just to see what changes are made in the attempt to get it to a larger vote.
One fun new thing that I haven’t seen mentioned anywhere else yet is this new Publican Beer Club. For who read and write emails about craft beer every week (like us!), we probably don’t need someone to curate a cool bunch of beers for us, but for a lot of other people, The Publican is known as one of the places that helped make beer “cool” in Chicago - remember when they opened in 2008 and announced that they had a “beer sommelier” and everyone went a little bit crazy about that idea?
Anyways, their current beer person, Aaron Peck, is picking out a special mixed-6’er every month to share with people and if you work downtown, forward that link to your boss or office manager and have them sign up for your office. It’s quite pricey at $65 for that sixpack but I’m guessing there are a lot of people who don’t know a ton about beer and are willing to pay for the Publican’s curation efforts.
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Naturally, the Pope almost immediately got a beer named for him, and it’s entirely fitting that Burning Bush Brewery jumped on that ASAP. Love that it’s a mild ale, also.
Bon Appetit published a story featuring the Best Bars in Chicago, which included Monochrome Brewing.
WGN-TV’s Around Town feature visited the Northman Beer & Cider Garden on the Chicago River.
Block Club just published this list of 200+ places to get a drink al fresco this summer - lots of good beer-friendly establishments here to patronize.
The Iowa Brewers Guild is hosting over 75 beermakers at this weekend’s Iowa Craft Brew Festival.
The Detroit Free Press published a story about the economic headwinds Michigan breweries are facing, with comment from Brass Ring Brewing, Mountain Town Brewing Company and Big Lake Brewing.
Lansing’s City Pulse recently featured Old Nation Brewing, and their M-43 might still be one of the best hazies in the Midwest.
Leigh’s Brewing Co., a brewery owned and operated by two sisters in the former Hopland Brewstillery space in Holland, is now open.
In Detroit, Meantime is now open - a beer-focused bar in the former 8 Degrees Plato location -run by a group who originally intended to open a brewery called Side Pull Brewing. Instead, they grabbed this space and added some Lukr handles.
Happy 7th birthday to Alpha Michigan Brewing Company, which calls itself the “smallest village in America with a brewery.” Alpha’s population? About 120 people.
“Michigan based movie theater chain Emagine is introducing an exclusive beer at theaters in its home state” … and it’s being made by Leinenkugel’s. I can’t for the life of me think of a single reason why Leinie’s would be tapped to make a beer for a Michigan brand.
Bri Smith is the new head brewer at Modist Brewing, making her “the first known Black woman to hold the title in Minnesota and one of only a few nationwide.”
STLMag has a nice roundup of approachable stouts from STL-area breweries that dad might like for Father’s Day. It’s a pretty good list of approachable dark beers with only one over 6% ABV.
CORRECTION: Recently, we said that Black Frog was opening in Cincinnati, which was an error - they are now open in Cleveland. Thanks for the catch, Tim!
Mosaic Brewing is working on opening in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood with the city skyline as a backdrop.
Lombardi Brewing Company announced plans to take over the old City Lights Brewing space. In business since 2017, this will be the first permanent location for the brewery helmed by Vince Lombardi’s grandson.
Lakefront’s Riverwest Stein is getting some throwback packaging for the summer.
Happy 30th birthday to Hinterland Brewing, and happy 5th birthday to Falklandia Brewing.
PBR recently got into the cheese game, and the team at Milwaukee Magazine tried it. Results were … mixed.
In Bloomer, Bloomer Brewing’s brewery and taproom is now closed. More coverage here.
Sounds like the fish fry at the newly reopened St. Francis Brewing is pretty good.
Garage Beer and the Kelce Brothers are now the owners of an indoor football team based in St. Joseph, MO.
In Florida, Starbase Brewing is hoping to be the first beer served on Mars. Based on this weekend’s NYT reporting (free link!) they might want to add a bit of ketamine.
That’s the week in beer news! In addition to this Monday beer news roundup, we also provide a deep dive into the week’s TTB-approved beverage labels on Wednesdays (for Premium Subscribers only) and an events listing on Fridays (Premium Subscribers also receive a roundup of social news shared by beermakers).
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