Beer by the Stange

Blue Point will change hands and you will enjoy Kölsch service

If you’ve ever been lucky enough to visit Cologne, Germany, you might be familiar with how their city’s traditional beer style, Kölsch, is served in small, tall glasses called stanges. These glasses are meant to be served in small quantities to ensure the beer remains cool and carbonated, and often servers roam beer halls to replace empty glasses with full ones, with your tally tracked by the wait staff on your coaster. It’s an experience I had never seen in the U.S. before last month, when I visited Labyrinth Forge in Portland, Oregon and enjoyed the option to drink Kölsch by the 0.2-liter glass — the traditional stange service, just without the German accents or big booming beer hall.

You too can experience this in New York over the weekend with Tørst’s Kölsch Weekend, running this Friday through Sunday. In communal tables in their back room, they’ll be doing nine one-hour seatings over the weekend for you to enjoy the option of Halfway Crooks Farina or Reissdorf Kölsch for $25. You also have the option to purchase your stange and take it home with you. You can reserve a spot now on Eventbrite.

A-B to sell off Blue Point to owner of Montauk Brewing Co.

A blockbuster deal in beer this week that involves Anheuser-Busch selling off some of its craft beer assets will have local implications here in New York. Blue Point Brewing in Patchogue is among eight brands that A-B will sell to Tilray Brands, a Canadian cannabis company that has been growing its craft beverage portfolio since first acquiring Georgia-based SweetWater Brewery in 2020. Tilray more recently acquired Montauk Brewing Co. late last year.

A-B is selling eight brands in full: Blue Point, 10 Barrel, Red Hook, Widmer, Breckenridge, and Shock Top in the beer space, plus Square Mile Cider and HiBall Energy. The all-cash deal is expected to close at the end of the year, and indications are that the brands sold for an estimated $85 million.

In New York, the deal essentially merges Long Island’s two biggest beer brands. The transaction will include Blue Point’s production space and taproom in Patchogue, opening up the opportunity for consolidating production of Montauk’s core brands in-house (most are currently contract brewed). There are other regional synergies in the broader deal, with four Pacific Northwest brands all coming into Tilray’s portfolio, and the acquisition of Breckenridge Brewery aligning with the company’s existing ownership of Breckenridge Distilling.

Tilray has been investing heavily in Montauk this year following acquiring the brand, expanding their distribution footprint across several markets, including Upstate New York and most recently eastern Pennsylvania last week. Time will tell if similar investments will be made in Blue Point, or any of the newly-acquired brands.

Brewery Tracker

Total brewery count: 3,165
Total breweries visited in 2023: 270
Total breweries visited in Oregon: 103

Brewery Visit of the Week

Brewery #3159, Duality Brewing, Portland, Oregon (Visited 6-Aug-2023)

It’s always nice to see a brewery that breaks the mold. That’s definitely what’s happening at Duality, which opened in May in the Kerns neighborhood of Portland. In a crowded market like the Rose City’s, it’s hard to stand out. But with a minimalist look and a pair of house-brewed farmhouse beers on tap, this visit was a breath of fresh air. The Highest Sun, a saison with toasted fig leaves, was subtle and earthy and served in a cute little highball glass. The taproom adjoins a coffee shop that makes some tasty brunch. And the vibes were mellow, with a nice outdoor deck for some Sunday afternoon lounging. In a time where the sameness of breweries are probably a part of their declining popularity, it’s nice to see a place that dares to be different.

The Weekly Reader

• Why are Citra and Mosaic the “power couple” of hops? [Em Sauter, Vinepair]

• West Coast IPA is hard to define [Jeff Alworth, Beervana]

• A great profile of Maine’s Sacred Profane Brewing [Matt Osgood, Good Beer Hunting]

One More Thing

If you’re still looking for some last-minute weekend plans, a reminder that Drowned Lands’ Wild Acres Festival is happening this Saturday up in Orange County. The event on their gorgeous sprawling property in Warwick will feature beers from over three dozen breweries, including Other Half, Jester King, Wayward Lane, Prison City, Wild East, and more. GA tickets are still available.

Cheers,
Chris