Multinational and Malty National

Beer fests are driving me mad and tacos are making me thirsty

Hello from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where I’m currently sitting waiting to board a turboprop that will take me to experience Regina, a place that few Americans could even point to on a map. I’m headed there to attend a football game, visit some breweries, and taste some of their regional pizza style. My first brewery visit in the province will be Malty National Brewing Corp., and not just because I love the name. Last month, I grabbed a few beers from The Garden Brewery in Croatia to take back to the States, and chose based on style alone. I was excited to have a Witbier, since they’re so rare to see these days, but it wasn’t until I opened the can to try it last week that I read the label closely and realized it was a collaboration with Malty National — a brewery I had already intended to visit when I planned this trip. I’ve said before that the beer world is small, but when you can thread Zagreb, Croatia and Regina, Saskatchewan into the same beer anecdote, everything seems so remarkably connected.

Commentary: When Planning Area Beer Festivals, Consider Area Transport Modes

Blue Point’s annual Cask Festival is transit-accessible, but many other area beer festivals are not

Hey, New York-area beer festivals: we need to talk.

There have been several beer festivals I’ve wanted to attend this year that were held within 30 miles of Manhattan. But you wouldn’t know that they were held so close to New York City, which is a city of more than eight million people where more than half the population lacks access to a car and relies on public transit. These particular festivals offered only driving directions to the venue on their event pages or websites, with no mention of transit — usually because their organizers chose venues that were nowhere near any reasonable public transit option. Some even boasted about the amount of free parking at the venue. But I, like literally millions of other people in the New York metro area, do not own a car. And even if I did, I wouldn’t choose to drive it to a beer festival, because that’s pretty damn irresponsible.

It’s kind of stunning that these events don’t offer realistic options for people that might not want to drive to a beer festival (or, more specifically, from a beer festival). And it would be fairly easy for the organizers of these festivals to do something about it. They could offer a ticket that includes charter bus transportation from a nearby commuter rail station — or even partner with a bar or brewery in New York City to run a shuttle (this was done for several years when Shmaltz Brewing would hold their festival at their brewery in Clifton Park, which is nearly three hours north of the city). They could partner with a rideshare company to offer free or discounted rides from their venue (this, of course, would require holding the fest in an area that’s reliably serviced by rideshare companies — something that cannot be said for some of these fests). They could choose venues with public transit access in mind (one upcoming beer festival is one-third of a mile from a commuter railroad station as the crow flies, but the only way to access the venue by foot requires a 40-minute walk on roads with no sidewalks).

Oh, you have a Designated Driver ticket option? Great. Entrusting people who attend a beer festival to designate a driver when no other transportation option exists seems totally safe! There are far too many people who can’t be trusted and should at least be offered another option. And what about people like me, who choose not to own a car? Imagine that conversation with a friend. “Hey, I don’t own a car, but you do. Can you drive me to a beer festival and then hang around a bunch of drunk people for three to four hours and then drive me home?” I’m sure that’ll go over like a lead balloon.

The next beer festival in our city’s suburbs that makes any attempt to address the fact that people would like options to access the festival by something other than private vehicle will immediately get my business. A few have made some effort, but it’s hard to even tell if it was intentional or just happenstance. One festival on Long Island this year made no mention of public transit as an option despite being on a frequent bus line and a 20-minute walk from LIRR. Another upcoming fest says they “strongly encourage rideshare,” but neglects to even mention that the venue is a 10-minute walk from an LIRR station. Ooh, so close!

Organizers of beer festivals shouldn’t just mention transit access — they should promote it as a benefit not just for people who don’t own cars, but for people who simply don’t want to drive to a beer festival (which should, honestly, not even be a thing). Leave the car at home! Be responsible! Don’t drink and drive! That should be the message anywhere, but especially in the New York metro area.

Brewery Tracker

Total brewery count: 3,477
Total breweries visited in 2024: 193
Total breweries visited in Canada: 183

Brewery Visit of the Week

Brewery #3235, La Cervecería Astilleros, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Visited 11-Nov-2023)

Perhaps it was ignorant of me to be surprised when our neighbors to the south were represented in the brewing scene in our neighbors to the north. But that surprise was a pleasant one when I walked into a brewery in North Vancouver, BC that was adorned with Mexican tile work and papel picado, where Spanish was happily spoken, where burritos and chilaquiles and tostadas were served, and where the beers ranged from corn lagers to amber lagers to beverages with tajin, lime and salt, mango, and more from south of our border. La Cervecería Astilleros, a brewery with Mexican roots that celebrates them at every turn, opened in 2020, and it was thriving in 2023 when I crawled along this brewery-rich stretch on Vancouver Harbour (the brewery name appropriately translates to “The Shipyard Brewery”). The beers were delicious, and I delighted in a couple of tacos along with their award-winning salted lime lager. The small taproom also serves as a bit of a community hub, like many taprooms, as soccer parents gathered after a youth soccer match as their kids kicked the ball around outside. This spot was the highlight of my afternoon in “North Van,” as it’s known… not just for the beer, but for standing out in a crowded field of breweries.

The Doom and Gloom Tracker

At least 2 breweries I’ve visited closed or announced their closure this week:

• Brewery #3303, Fixation Brewing Company - The Incubator, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia (Visited 17-Jan-2024)

• Brewery #3306, Burnley Brewing, Richmond, Victoria, Australia (Visited 17-Jan-2024)

The Weekly Reader

• Blue Point/Montauk owner Tilray acquires four brands from Molson Coors [Jessica Infante, Justin Kendall and Zoe Licata, Brewbound]

• Who’s on your Mount Rushmore of craft breweries? [Aaron Goldfarb, VinePair]

• Is rhubarb beer the next big thing? [Seth Voorhees, Spectrum News]

• Get to know the phenomenon of smoke taint [Tomas D’Anella, Nonstop Local Yakima]

One Last Thing

That news about Tilray acquiring those Molson Coors brands is likely to have a troubling ripple effect: Molson Coors also announced they were shutting down AC Golden, their in-house craft arm that had been brewing beer for the Colorado market since 2007. Among their beers was Colorado Native, a nearly-ubiquitous beer across the state that was brewed with 100% Colorado-grown ingredients, which Molson Coors confirmed they would be discontinuing in September. Considering the scale of that beer (even at launch, Molson Coors expected to brew 10,000 barrels a year of Colorado Native, and that likely grew when Colorado legalized full-strength beer in supermarkets and convenience stores), it goes to show the consequences of the contracting of the craft beer industry — what happens to all those Colorado-sourced hops and malt? It’s one of the challenges states like New York, which have a very active beer agriculture industry, will have to watch.

Cheers,
Chris