Treat Yourself With a Gift (Plus This Week's Beer News)
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Beer is a very personal gift.
I think it’s fair to say that unless your family or friends know you pretty well, any beer gift has a high likelihood of being wrong. You already tried that beer, you already have that glassware, you already read that book, etc. That’s why I’ve opted to publish my 2024 Gift Guide after the Xmas holiday for y’all to buy something special for yourselves.
If you have some gift cards or cash burning a hole in your pocket and you want to get yourself something fun this year, here’s what I’m suggesting. And yes, some of these links will be affiliate links, because we’re never not hustlin’ over here.
Anyways, give these things a try! You made it through the holidays. That’s worth celebrating.
A Rare Beer Club subscription:
Earlier in the year, the founder of MonthlyClubs.com (and a fellow Chicagoland expat) reached out with an invite to try their Rare Beer Club as part of their 30th anniversary celebration. I rarely accept these invites, but since we were from the same hometown, I decided to indulge.
Shortly after doing so, I started to see some interesting things. First up was a very interesting label or two from very good breweries making exclusive beers for the Rare Beer Club (Premium Subscribers saw this too). That was followed by a gold-medal FoBAB victory for the Rare Beer Club’s collaboration with the Lost Abbey called “Serpent’s Kiss Imperial Stout” in the Blended Beer category. Two very compelling arguments.
Then I cracked open one of the beers I received and happily enjoyed this blended barrel-aged imperial brown ale from Lost Abbey, realizing that yes, I did want to recommend this to you all. It’s not exactly inexpensive, and they can’t deliver everywhere, but if you want beers dropped at your door that literally no one else has access to and know that it’s quality stuff coming from the likes of The Bruery, Perennial, Jolly Pumpkin and more, they got you.
Click here to learn more or sign up.
A Glassware Rinser
Okay, I know that not everyone has a spare hole drilled into their kitchen countertop, but I recently redid ours and had one of these HGN glass rinsers installed while I had the option. It’s awesome. Just like your favorite taprooms and beer bars, you can quickly spray rinse your pint glass, goblet, snifter or whatever else you’re drinking from so it’s clean and ready to go.
It’s especially great if you drink a few different beers in an evening and want to cut down on a bit of dishwashing. I got the stainless steel version but now that I know that there’s a matte black one (with a 15% off coupon!) I’d probably get that one instead. My loss is your gain.
An order from Etre Gourmet
A few months ago I spotted something on the r/beer subreddit referencing a company called Etre Gourmet. I checked it out and they have a ton of beers available for sale from breweries called Cantillon and other famously hard-to-find beermakers from Europe.
I thought, “This is too good to be true, right?” but plugged in an order anyways. It took a month for it to arrive, but I am now the happy owner of a few unbroken bottles of Boon Kriek, Cantillon and Boerenerf Oud Gueuze, amongst other things, and I didn’t have to book a flight to get them this time.
Check it out here. Those of you who have amazing bottle shops near you probably won’t need this, but I definitely don’t have this kind of selection available to me, and I’m happy to now have some great beers on hand for tomorrow night’s NYE drinking.
And if that doesn’t do it for you, how about a copy of the American Spirits nationwide guidebook from Fodor’s that I contributed a chapter to? Might come in handy if you’re traveling this year.
Beyond that, not a ton of news to share with you this week … but I still pulled together some updates from the past couple of weeks. Here we go!
Following a settlement with the business, the town of Woodstock took over the equipment and space from MobCraft’s now-vacant taproom and brewery after their recent shutter.
RIP to Simon Floyd, brother to Nick, son of Mike and one of the titular Three Floyds. NWITimes has the full story paywalled but here’s a link to some of their video coverage.
Scarlet Lane Brewing Company announced that after a decade in business, their final location would close as of tomorrow night. They had five locations just a year ago, as outlined by the Indianapolis Star.
Toppling Goliath recently introduced a new line of THC-infused sparkling waters.
A new brewery from former owners/managers at Founders and Brewery Vivant will be opening in Saugatuck this spring.
The co-owner of Mitten Brewing Company is not happy about “the lack of action regarding House bills aimed at protecting Michigan’s existing tipped-wage credit.”
Want to make a snowmobile run to an Upper Peninsula beer maker? Tahquamenon Falls Brewery is ready for you and your machines.
Bell’s announced plans to open a taproom at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
4 Hands announced plans to open a taproom at STL’s Lambert International Airport.
After a lot of changes along the way, Lorain Brewing Company is finally open.
Despite industry headwinds, Brew Kettle continues to grow, having recently acquired Canton Brewing Company and Terrestrial Brewing.
After 157 years, the last batch to be brewed at Leinekugel’s Chippewa Falls facility is in the tanks. Shed a tear.
The Milwaukee Record’s Meet A Brewer column talks to Alex Wenzel from Lion’s Tail Brewing Co., who lays claim to creating MKE’s very first NEIPA.
Urban Milwaukee asks: Is craft beer dying in Milwaukee?
On a similar note, Josh M. Bernstein looks at this year’s decline in number of American breweries for the first time in two decades. (NYT Gift link!)
And finally, RIP to President Jimmy Carter, whose decision to legalize homebrewing at the federal level in 1978 eventually led to all of us having much better beer to drink in his honor tonight.
Thanks for reading! If you’ve made it all the way to the end of this email and you’ve learned something beer-y from this, you should share this with a friend!
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