A couple of weeks ago, I planned to open up this newsletter with a bit about how one of the ways that breweries are becoming more nimble in a crowded environment and a weakened market: mergers and acquisitions. That observation came on the heels of New Jersey’s Cape May Brewing Co. acquiring the assets of Flying Fish back in April. But since then, the trend has hit closer to home, with two acquisitions made by New York breweries. First, it was South Glens Falls-based Common Roots purchasing the assets of Albany stalwart C.H. Evans Brewery and the Albany Pump Station. Then this week, news dropped that the state’s second-largest craft brewer, F.X. Matt (maker of brands like Saranac and Utica Club) would acquire Maryland-based Flying Dog and shift their brewing operations to Utica.
The era of big beer seeking value in acquiring smaller breweries is long gone, but there are plenty of mature, healthy breweries that may see the benefit in assets or facilities from well-established but weaker breweries — or ones with owners who want to retire and don’t have a natural successor. Moves like this could save breweries from a full-on closure, though they aren’t without risks of dragging an otherwise successful brewery down.
Despite the doom-and-gloom in the beer industry (like the Brewers Association revealing that 29 of the 50-largest breweries saw record volume declines last year), a bit of consolidation might help keep the growth in the number of breweries nationwide net-positive, particularly with smaller “taproom breweries” still growing. We’ll have to see if there’s more of this to come.
Your NYC Summer Beer Event Guide
Memorial Day Weekend marks the unofficial start of summer and the slightly-more official start of beer drinking season, and if there’s one thing New York City knows, it’s hot fun in the summer sun. So, here’s a lineup of a few beer events coming up in the five boroughs as the weather heats up, if you crave some summer crushers or some beach brews.
Threes Summer of Pils (June 2nd-9th)
Kicking things off in early June is Threes Brewing’s first week-long celebration of all things Pilsner: Summer of Pils, June 2nd through 9th. The lineup includes a whole host of events highlighting the style, including two panel discussions with the nation’s leading lager-makers, a kickoff party on Governors Island, beer launches, pairings, and specials, and a closing can jam celebrating New York City-brewed beer. Check out the full list of events and plan accordingly.
NYC Brewers Guild Celebration of Pride (June 18th)
Mark Pride Month with a beery celebration put on by the NYC Brewers Guild at LIC’s Focal Point Beer Co. on Sunday, June 18th from noon to 6pm. The pay-as-you-go mini-fest will feature beers from a more than a dozen New York City brewers like Fifth Hammer, Finback, Torch & Crown, and Wild East — all beers brewed especially for Pride. Tickets start at $15 for entry and two pours, and there’s a $60 option that offers a pour from each brewery in attendance. All proceeds go to both the guild and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Other Half Green City (June 23rd & 24th)
As mentioned in a past edition of the newsletter, Other Half’s Green City will return this year as a scaled-back celebration of all things hoppy, hazy, and refreshing being hosted in their taproom in Gowanus, Brooklyn across two four-hour sessions on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, June 23rd and 24th. Breweries from down the road and across the country will pour their finest creations and food vendors will be available. Tickets start at $65 per session.
Kills Boro Pizza Party (July 29th)
The most Staten Island beer event possible returns for its third year on July 29th. Kills Boro Brewing’s Pizza Party — a beer festival featuring some of the region’s top brewers and the island’s top pizzas — will be held again this year at the Smug Harbor Cultural Center. The outdoor event is a four-hour, picnic-style celebration of beer and pizza in a lovely park setting. Early-bird tickets are available now for $55.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 3,092
Total breweries visited in 2023: 197
Total new breweries visited in the month since returning from Australia: 1
Beer of the Week
Beer: Steadfast, Finback Brewery, Glendale, NY
Style: Hazy IPA with New Zealand Superdelic hops
ABV: 8%
Enjoyed at: Whale Watching by Finback, Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Taking a break from featuring a brewery this week to bring back a long-lost feature of the newsletter. This space used to feature a beer I really enjoyed over the past week. Finback’s Steadfast got me excited because it was the first time I had gotten a chance to drink an American-brewed beer with Superdelic hops, which everyone seemed really excited about in New Zealand when I visited last month. This one matched the red berry and tropical notes I got off the ones down under. If you’ve been curious to try a Superdelic-hopped beer, you might want to seek this one out.
An aside: despite the miserable rain, I had a great time at Whale Watching this year. The brewery and beer lineup was stellar and as long as you were dressed for the occasion, the precipitation didn’t ruin things. Between this year’s rain and last year’s 95°F heat, I’m hoping Finback finally gets some decent spring weather next time around.
Long Read of the Week
List-based articles seem to be a dime a dozen, but this is one of the better ones I’ve seen in a while: The 25 Most Important American Craft Beers Ever Brewed at Food & Wine. There’s not much I can argue with here. These aren’t always beers that will end up on a “best beers” list, but they’re definitely the most iconic. A lot of gateway beers for me on here, including Ithaca Flower Power, Victory Prima Pils, and Allagash White. My only possible criticism is that it seems to have a bit of an East Coast bias. What say you, readers?
One More Thing
A follow up to the last two weeks of mentions of the Craft Brewers Conference: I’m unsurprised but nonetheless bothered that the Brewers Association was silent about the hatred, bigotry, and racism on display in government in the conference’s host state of Tennessee. The same organization that has insisted that the path to growth in an otherwise stagnant sector is to grow by being more inclusive and welcoming new consumers outside of craft beer’s typical realm sure didn’t seem to carry that message forward in their conference. Whether it was not acknowledging the political situation in Tennessee or running a seminar whose name alone was utterly tone-deaf, it felt like the organizers of the conference not only forgot to walk the walk, but actively ignored it. As Ren Navarro of Beer. Diversity. said of her experiences at CBC, this industry is broken. Stephanie Grant had a recap of her experience that’s worth your time, too. It seems the industry’s major trade group doesn’t want to fix its problems, let alone acknowledge them.
I can only hope something good comes of the attention this has been getting, but I’m not holding out hope. The response from the BA was the same double-speak we saw from Anheuser-Busch when asked to take a stand last month — an utter disappointment for a segment of the beer industry we thought was better and bolder.
Cheers,
Chris