Death and Taxes Day may have been postponed to August 29th, but Taxman has released Evasion and its 2020 variants. Evasion is a limited release imperial Belgian style stout aged on Kentucky bourbon barrels with vanilla beans. It is 50 IBU and 14% ABV. The Evasion variants for 2020 are Cherry Vanilla, Cocoa Mint, Maple Vanilla and Toasted Coconut.
They have also released their Mezcal Barrel Exemption. This is an abbey style tripel with citrus peel and coriander. Wheat, oat and artisan malts contribute to a smooth body that is balanced by the smoky, vanilla notes of mezcal barrels. It is 30 IBU and 9% ABV.
These can be purchased at the following Taxman locations at the indicated times:
Taxman Cityway: Thursday, 4/23 – 4PM-7PM
Taxman Fortville: Friday, 4/24 – 4PM-7PM
Taxman Bargersville: Saturday, 4/25 – 12PM-3PM
They are also offering special growler and case sale pricing on their other available brews. See Taxman Facebook page.
Indiana Breweries Step Up to Provide Economic Assistance to the Food and Alcohol Industry Workers
Social Distance Pale Ale, brewed at Centerpoint Brewing in Indianapolis, has been released! It is 40 IBU and 5.5% ABV, and 100% of its proceeds will go to benefit service workers in the community. Information regarding the non-profit organization that was formed to support these workers, and those involved in the production of the beer, is included in the press release below:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Indy Independent Relief Fund will use dedicated beer sales to provide for laid off employees
Indianapolis, March 20, 2020: Members of the Indianapolis craft beer industry have come together to form the Indy Independent Relief Fund (IIRF), a registered non-profit organization designed to generate and disperse funds and food to needy members of the food and alcohol service industry. Present conditions have led to the layoff of thousands of restaurant/bar and brewery employees that depend on both hourly wages/salary and tips.
Local companies have combined forces to produce a beer, from which 100% of the sales will be used by the IIRF to provide services and funds to industry workers. Three hundred cases of Social Distance, a pale, will be sold by the IIRF’s industry partners to Central Indiana bars and breweries that have licenses for “to go” sales, and those businesses will then sell six packs of the beer by carryout or delivery in order to raise money for their business and their own employees.
The first run of Social Distance has been funded by donations by several breweries and beer related companies. Centerpoint Brewing in Indianapolis is providing the equipment on which to do the brewing and the labor, tank space, and energy for production. Sugar Creek Malt Co. of Lebanon is providing the grains for the beer, the hop farm Indy High Bines of Indianapolis donated the hops, and Sun King Brewing of Indianapolis gave the yeast for fermentation. Daredevil Brewing of Speedway is contributing cans and Monon Beverage Brokers the labels, while Indiana On Tap is donating graphic design and marketing services.
Interested parties wishing to purchase cases of Social Distance should contact IIRF via Sean Webster at sean@mononbeverage.com or 317-340-0227, or Centerpoint Brewing at sales@centerpointbrewing.com. The first run of Social Distance will be complete and ready for distribution two weeks from the brew date of March 20, 2020 and the design is to have all cases presold by that time. Cases will have a suggested resale of $10/6-pack ($40/case). This will provide individual businesses with profit (and tips) for their employees, while the IIRF will generate $9000 from this initial run.
The funds collected by IIRF from this100% donation beer will be used to purchase food stuffs for the immediate needs of industry worker that have been laid off. Foods to be distributed from the contributing breweries in their taprooms (Daredevil, Sun King, and Centerpoint). Laid off workers should monitor social media for the dates and times of the distribution.
The recipe for the Social Distance beer will be made available to all Indiana breweries so they may produce the beer themselves for draft sales, the proceeds of which will provide some funds and tips for their employees, as well as an appreciated donation to the IIRF. Future production of Social Distance and a series of charity beers will not be based on 100% donation of ingredients and labor, but the plan is for these to provide an ongoing source of funds that IIRF will distribute to needy individuals within the industry for a variety of reasons beyond the present coronavirus pandemic and restaurant/bar shutdown.
About Indy Independent Relief Fund. The Indy Independent Relief Fund was registered as a nonprofit organization on March 19, 2020. Dedicated to “Serve those who serve us” entity to provide assistance for food and alcohol industry workers in both the short-and long-term. Sean Webster of Monon Beverage Brokers is the president of the Fund, and a board of directors is being set up at the present time. The goal of the fund is to continually generate funds through the production and sale of charity beers, which will then be donated to industry workers in need due to health, financial, or personal reasons. (End of Press Release.)
Other Indiana breweries have begun brewing beers for the Industry Relief Series. The next one will be named Essential, a 4.6% ABV Pilsner, from Grand Junction in Westfield. It is scheduled to be canned on 4/30.
Some Indiana breweries are participating in the brewing of All Together Beer, which is a worldwide collaboration to benefit the hospitality industry. They will use a base IPA recipe modified as they see fit. The Indiana breweries known to be participating in this benefit, and the release date for their beer, is listed below:
450 North Brewing, Columbus – Release TBD
The Devil’s Trumpet, Merrillville – Release 4/24
Moontown Brewing, Whitestown – Release 6/2
2 Toms Brewing, Fort Wayne – Release TBD
The press release for All Together is shown below:
Other Half Brewing Announces All Together Beer Worldwide Collaboration to Benefit Hospitality Industry
Mar. 29, 2020 at 2:00 PM
BROOKLYN, N.Y.- – The team at Other Half Brewing Co is proud to announce All Together, a worldwide beer collaboration created to raise funds & awareness for the industry we love so much. Regardless of location or circumstances, when one member of the hospitality industry struggles, the rest of the group (including brewers, servers, bartenders, bussers, dishwashers, GMs, buyers, chefs & owners) steps in to help and lend a hand.
With this spirit in mind, Other Half Brewing (OHB) is spearheading the All Together project, started by a collective of beer industry partners from around the globe, to raise awareness and provide relief to those struggling in the industry as we’re all in this together.
“Raising awareness about the devastating losses in the hospitality industry is the core vision of this project,” says Matt Monahan, co-founder, Other Half Brewing. “We want to keep these losses at the forefront of conversations so that anyone who wants to help can learn what is happening and find a way to contribute to the recovery.”
How does the project work? #AllTogetherBeer invites any brewer, from any corner of the planet, to participate by providing the tools needed to make the beer at the lowest possible cost, including an open-source recipe, artwork, and name. In exchange, the collective asks that a portion of the proceeds go to supporting hospitality professionals in each brewery’s own community. The rest should be donated to keeping the brewery in business to weather this storm.
Recipe: OHB created a base recipe that easily brewed with commonly sourced ingredients. Each participating brewery can modify the beer as they see fit and brew it at their own convenience.
Artwork + Label: Stout Collective created the label artwork that can be customized by brewery, and Blue Label Printing has offered to print at cost.
Website: Craftpeak Team donated their time, talent & technology for the site
Breweries can get involved by reaching out to alltogether.beer/ for more information.
Beer drinkers can support this cause by signing up for the mailing list. The beers are being brewed around the world, and the newsletter will inform beer lovers worldwide when they’re available to purchase from their local brewery.
At OHB, the proceeds of All Together will go to the Restaurant Workers Community Foundation; https://www.restaurantworkerscf.org/ and the beer is expected to be available starting April 2020. Social assets can be found here.
The #AllTogetherBeer project begins with the following breweries with more to be announced: Other Half Brewing, NYC; Side Project, St. Louis, MO; Monkish, Torrance, CA; Trillium, Boston, MA; Alvarado St, Monterey, CA; Arizona Wilderness, Phoenix, AZ; Outer Range, Frisco, CO; The Veil, Richmond, VA; Omnipollo, Stockholm, Sweden; Humble Sea, Santa Cruz, CA; Finback, NY; Crak, Padua, Italy; 3 Sheeps Brewing, Sheboygan, WI; Sigma Brewing, Houston, TX; Southern Grist, Nashville, TN; Burial, Asheville, NC; Mikerphone, Chicago, IL; Pilot Project, Chicago, IL; Modist, Minneapolis, MN; Homes, Detroit, MI; KCBC, Brooklyn, NY; Industrial Arts, Garnerville, NY; Fifth Hammer, Queens, NY; Hidden Springs, Tampa, FL; Green Cheek, Anaheim, CA; Bottle Logic, Anaheim, CA; Parish, Broussard, LA; Vitamin Sea, Weymouth, MA; Ska, Durango, CO; Equilibrium, Middletown, NY; Northern Monk, Leeds, UK; Garage Project, Wellington, NZ; Wylam, Newcastle, UK; Lervig, Stavanger, Norway; Juguetes Perdidos, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Carton Atlantic, Highlands, NJ; American Solera, Tulsa, OK; Civil Society, Jupiter, FL; Anchorage, Anchorage, AK; Hoof Hearted, Columbus, OH; Barrier, Oceanside, NY; Sand City, Northport, NY; Bellwoods, Toronto, ON; Whiplash, Dublin, Ireland; Boundary, Belfast, N. Ireland; Dancing Gnome, Pittsburgh, PA; Collective Arts, Hamilton, ON; and more. alltogether.beer/.
About Other Half Brewing
Founded in 2014 by Sam Richardson, Matt Monahan and Andrew Burman, Other Half Brewing is rooted in a simple mission: to push the boundaries of beer. Known for its hazy IPAs, pastry stouts, and creative sours, Other Half has built a loyal community of fans around its Brooklyn taproom, and grown to become one of the most sought after breweries in the country. Through their innovative festivals (Pastrytown & Green City), creative flavors and with locations in East Bloomfield, NY and Brooklyn, NY, Other Half seeks to be constantly moving the beer industry forward. otherhalfbrewing.com/
According to the Brewers of Indiana Guild the 8,000 full-time employees in Indiana’s craft brewing industry, of 170+ breweries, create an impact of more than $1 billion! Many of these jobs, and much of that impact, are at risk due to the COVID-19 outbreak and its resulting restrictions. That is why it is so important for each of us to support our local breweries in this time of need.
On a brighter note, the Brewers Association just released its annual growth report for 2019. It shows a 4% growth in beer volume for craft beer over 2018, while at the same time the total beer market overall was down 2%. The total volume share for craft brewers increased to 13.6%, up from 13.0% in the prior years.
Here’s the press release and report from the Brewers Association:
Boulder, Colo. • April 14, 2020 — The Brewers Association (BA)—the trade association representing small and independent1 American craft brewers—today released annual growth figures for the U.S. craft brewing industry.2 In 2019, small and independent brewers collectively produced 26.3 million barrels of beer and realized just under 4% total growth3, increasing craft’s overall beer market share by volume to 13.6%.
Retail dollar value was estimated at $29.3 billion, representing 25.2% market share and 6% growth over 2018. Growth for small and independent brewers occurred in an overall down beer market, which dropped 2% by volume in 2019. Craft brewers provided more than 160,000 direct jobs, an increase of 7% over 2018.
“Small and independent brewers continued to serve as job creators, strong economic contributors, and community beacons in 2019, while craft maintained a fairly stable growth rate in 2019 and continued to gain share in the beer market,” said Bart Watson, chief economist, Brewers Association.
There were 8,275 craft breweries operating in 2019, including 2,058 microbreweries, 3,011 brewpubs, 2,966 taproom breweries, and 240 regional craft breweries. Throughout the year, there were 942 new brewery openings and 294 closings.
“Although craft brewers entered 2020 on a solid foundation, the beer landscape is dramatically different today than it was just a few months ago. Breweries will be facing new realities due to the pandemic with extended closures, tight cash flow, societal shifts, and other economic variables in play. These 2019 figures will allow us to see how much COVID-19 affects small brewer production and jobs,” added Watson.
Note: Numbers are preliminary. For additional insights from Bart Watson, visit Insights & Analysis on the Brewers Association website. The full 2019 industry analysis will be published in the May/June 2020 issue of The New Brewer, highlighting regional trends and production by individual breweries.
1 An American craft brewer is a small and independent brewer. Small: Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less (approximately 3% of U.S. annual sales). Beer production is attributed to the rules of alternating proprietorships. Independent: Less than 25% of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member that is not itself a craft brewer. Brewer: Has a TTB Brewer’s Notice and makes beer.
2 Absolute figures reflect the dynamic craft brewer data set as specified by the craft brewer definition. Growth numbers are presented on a comparable base. See full methodology.
3 Volume by craft brewers represent total taxable production.
For the latest news and information about craft beer in Indiana visit beerblogIN.com
Bare Hands Brewery is doing a triple can release on Wednesday, 4/15. These are described as follows:
Silvin Pilsner – A crisp, clean Pilsner style lager brewed with American malts and European noble hops and a classic lager yeast to create a balanced lager. 4.6% ABV
Upful IPA – A Citra hopped IPA featuring a biscuity, and baked bread malt nose supported by prominent hop aroma and flavor. Citrus fruit and tropical hop notes are balanced by a touch of malt sweetness, accompanying bitterness, and clean finish. 7% ABV
Helgian – A strong, medium bodied Belgian style ale with hints of ripe pear, banana, and clove. 11% ABV
The annual Craft Brewers Conference originally scheduled for April 19-22 in San Antonio, was canceled for obvious reasons, and is now taking place online. It will consist of forty seminars, with two live streams per day, beginning April 13th and running through May 15th. All of the seminars are free, and there will be recordings available through May 31st.
