This Week's Pre-Holiday Closure & Acquisition Announcements (Plus New Labels):
Powered by Cruz Molson. Or Coorz Blanca? IDK.
Because we aren’t going to be sending a socials/events email on Friday (have a happy Thanksgiving!), I want to quickly touch on a few news items that have popped up in the past could of days.
They’re pretty much all Midwestern beer-related closures …plus a big sale.
Detroit’s 8 Degrees Plato beer bar and bottle shop announced they’d be closing in a couple of weeks.
After 13 years in business, Indiana’s Triton Brewing announced they’d be closing in mid-December.
MobCraft Woodstock confirmed that they would be closing on the 30th along with the rest of MobCraft, having been unable to secure a buyer in time to transfer over the business.
And Chicagoland’s Ravinia Brewing announced (along with their new name of Steep Ravine) that they would be shuttering their Diversey Avenue brewpub soon. This leaves the former Brewers Triangle with just a single point remaining.
A steep ravine is something you usually find yourself climbing out of … if the owners want to collaborate on a beer with another brewery that’s been beat up by bigger businesses, may I suggest a Crushed by Giants1 partnership?
And then just today,
broke the news that many of us have been anticipating: Cruz Blanca has been acquired by MolsonCoors.Doug has his initial reactions here; our Premium Subscribers got the first whiff of this a few weeks ago when we discovered a Mexico Calling lager label submitted for production at all of the MolsonCoors plants. We’ve been kicking the tires on this rumor for a little bit but good on Doug for confirming this one.
Now on to…
The New Illinois Beverage Label of the Week:
In a couple of days, many of us will be out grabbing a bottle or three of Vanilla Rye Bourbon County Stout, so why not also share this label for a Maplewood - branded vanilla whiskey with a vanilla bean in each bottle called Bean County?
No reason at all, says I.
Up next for our Premium Subscribers:
A beer that made me appreciate its general Hasselhoff-iness,
A beer that made me consider what the words “as schloads” also appeared like,
Two beers that kinda look like 60’s record album art,
A Fractured Prism, a Standing Wave and a Fruit Wagon.
And more! Want to see what we’re talking about here? Join up as a Premium Subscriber for just over $1 per week: