Category: Tea and Kombucha
Expert Topic Why the Hard Tea Category is Growing in the Beer Space
As brewers continue to spin the wheel of flavored malt beverages, it appears to have recently landed on hard tea. With a modest amount of booze, familiar flavors of herbal tannins and citrus, the hard tea is nothing new to the beverage space. Twisted Tea, part of the Boston Beer Company, has ruled the category – largely unchallenged – for decades.
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News The Rise of Athletic Brewing – Where it Started and Where Will it Go
Who would have thought? One of the most talked about beers in America doesn’t have alcohol. Athletic Brewing has become the king of the fastest growing segment in the alcohol beverage industry. And it all started here on ProBrewer.
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Sponsored Fermentation Analysis – Understanding Free Amino Nitrogen (FAN)
Free Amino Nitrogen (FAN) is a critical parameter in beer analysis that leads to a healthy fermentation, and thus better beer quality. It is a measure of the concentration of amino acids and small peptides that are essential for yeast metabolism. In simpler terms, it is an indicator of the amount of food that is available for yeast, helping them convert sugar into alcohol during the brewing process more effectively.
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Expert Topic Using Artificial Intelligence to a Brewer’s Advantage
There is a lot of talk when it comes to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it can shape the world around us. The beer industry is not immune from the technology and it is showing up in an increasing amount of ways from the front office, to the brew deck, and the tap room.
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Expert Topic Brewers are Innovating in New Beverage Spaces
There was a period of time, and it wasn’t too long ago, when craft brewers were urging other brewers to stay in the beer lane. Focus on the beer, don’t think about flavored malt beverages, or other liquids, some industry leaders said. Be beer manufactures, stick to the mission, they urged.
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Expert Topic Brewing Beer with Tea
There are endless ingredients available to brewers these days, from fresh fruits and herbs, to candies, salts, coffee, and more. Tea is a fascinating ingredient, but not often used by brewers. It can bring depth of flavors to nearly every style and the varieties in the tea realm bring unexpected character to the glass.
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Expert Topic Non-alcoholic Offerings Make Sense at a Brewery
A well thought out tap list, one with diversity of styles and ABV range is a delight to see at a brewery. It means customers can pick pints or flights that suit a mood or menu. So much focus is put on a brewery’s beer, rightly so, but there is also an appreciation that comes with non-alcoholic offerings.
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News Non-Alcoholic Offerings at Brewpubs Taking New Direction – Including NA Beer
It used to be that the non-alcoholic beverage selection at most brewpubs was simple; often a choice of a couple of sodas and maybe a kombucha. But today, as more consumers seek tasty, innovative beverages, and at the same time are drinking less alcohol, brewpubs are expanding their non-alcoholic offerings, often including non-alcoholic beer.
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News Six Craft Brewery Equipment Suppliers Merge into Lotus Beverage Alliance
Six U.S. craft beverage equipment suppliers have merged in a $100 million deal to create Lotus Beverage Alliance. The six merged companies are Alpha Brewing Operations, GW Kent, Twin Monkeys, Stout Tanks and Kettles, Brewmation and Automated Extractions.
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News New Report Shows Craft Spirits Continuing to Grow
The American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) and Park Street released the Craft Spirits Data Project (CSDP) at its annual Craft Spirits Economic Briefing, which was held at New York Distilling Co. last week. The report finds that the U.S. craft spirits market share reached 4.9% in volume and 7.5% in value in 2021, up from 4.7% in volume and 7.1% in value in 2020.
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Sponsored Why Use Fruit Puree instead of a Fruit Extract?
The addition of fruit to beer is an ancient practice. Beer is an ancient craft with a basic recipe that predates writing, so it’s no wonder that brewers have experimented with a variety of ingredients during that time. The addition of fruit is a natural way to add interest to a traditional base style as well as increasing strength and nutritional value. Fruits can add sweetness or tartness. They mingle with malts and hops for greater aromatic complexity. They add novel qualities to beer flavor and color that can’t be accessed by grains alone.
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News Pilot Project Brewing Buys Milwaukee Brewing Co Facility to Expand Incubator Projects
Pilot Project Brewing, the brewery incubator based in Chicago has purchased the closed Milwaukee Brewing Co. brewery in Milwaukee. The 43,000-square-foot space includes a production facility, taproom and event space.
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Expert Topic What’s New and On the Horizon for Hard Kombucha
Kombucha is a long established beverage with a lot of passionate fans, and in recent years a number of breweries have branched out to add it to their portfolios. With a consumer bent towards “better for you” drinks and an interest in probiotics and flavor diversity both traditional and hard kombucha are gaining momentum in the general consciousness.
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News Will the Low and Non-Alcohol Beverage Trend Continue to Grow?
There has been plenty of ‘buzz’ lately about the low and non-alcohol beer category gaining in popularity among consumes of all age groups. Not only have the global brewers added new products to the category, but even craft brewers such as Brooklyn Brewery have jumped in with their Special Effects alcohol-free beer.
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News Scofflaw Brewing Forms ‘Shared Services Platform’ Company to Partner with Other Breweries
Scofflaw Brewing Company announced yesterday the creation of a shared services platform called IndieBrew, short for Independent Brewers Union. IndieBrew was created to help independent breweries succeed as market conditions present increasing costs and challenges.
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News Brewer Migration – Moving from ‘Brewing Company’ to ‘Beverage Company’
Almost without doubt, the biggest evolution in the brewing industry over the last 40 years has been the rapid growth and popularity in alternative beer brands. Lead by hard seltzers but also joined by hard teas, kombuchas, FMB’s and others, more brewers are following in the footsteps of Boston Beer Company and the global brewers by shedding their “brewery” hat and becoming a “beverage company.”
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News A Third of Craft Brewers Now Make Non-Beer Beverage
One third of all craft brewers in the US now make some variety of alternative beer beverage, according to Bart Watson, economist with the Brewers Association. The statistic points to the growing popularity of hard seltzers, hard kombucha, flavored malt beverages and other non-beer products.
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News Pivoting to ‘Total Alcohol’ Gives Milwaukee Brewing Big Boost
It is a concept that has brought big growth to Boston Beer Company – the notion of expanding from a “brewing company” to that of a “beverage company” by expanding production into all areas of beverages such as tea, seltzer, kombucha, spirits and others. And it is not a concept that is limited to national craft brands like Boston Beer.
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News On Premise Business Holding Steady
Data from Nielson CGA shows that 50% of consumers have gone out to the on premise for an eating occasion since venues reopened, and 17% for a drink led occasion. This has stayed relatively even for several months now and may indicate an end to the decline in business since the pandemic began in March of last year.
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News Oregon Brewers Volume Down by 28%
It’s hard to get a good number on exactly where beer sales are in this pandemic year. But in “reporting states” such as Oregon, a clearer picture is coming into view. Sales volumes reported to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission by breweries are down about 28% from last year, and the number of breweries reporting has dropped by 25, a nearly 10% decline.
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News Asahi Shuzo to Open Sake Brewery in US – Will It Give Sake a Boost?
Posted by Tom McCormick
Japan’s Asahi Shuzo announced plans to open a new $53 million sake plant in New York state. The facility, located in Hyde Park, will begin brewing sake in spring of 2023.
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