Oklahoma Tap Takeover shows just how far state’s beer scene has come
Day 4 of Tulsa Craft Beer Week is today, and the featured event is an Oklahoma Tap Takeover at R-Bar.
Think about that for a minute. Let it wash over you. A tap takeover, featuring all Oklahoma-made craft beer.
I’m not trying to be overly dramatic here, but I feel like this is the perfect time to get dramatic. This takes me back to the early days of The Thirsty Beagle blog.
There I was, an aspiring beer fan and blogger, scouring the Internet for random beer stories about guys drinking 47 Bud Lights and then punching police officers in the face. I’m serious, check my blog’s archives, the relevance threshold for what I would post was pretty low. It just had to have a hint of a connection to beer.
This was in September 2008. I would have loved to have posted more Oklahoma-specific beer news, if there was a lot more out there. I would have posted about firkin nights, if anyone knew what a firkin was.
In November of that year, I started the Beer Championship Series bracket competition. There was an Oklahoma region featuring 16 Oklahoma beers. They came from Choc, Marshall, Bricktown Brewery and Belle Isle Brewery. That was it.
Where was COOP? Where was Mustang? At that time, those breweries were in the planning stages. Where was Huebert? I was too naive and inexperienced to really even know Huebert existed. And when you think about it, Marshall hadn’t been around much before that either — they’re set to celebrate their fifth anniversary this spring. They only beat my blog to the punch by a couple months. I can remember going into liquor stores a few years ago that didn’t know Marshall existed as a brewery.
The other day, I was contemplating all of this, and I started thinking about the Beer Championship Series bracket for 2013. It’s not beyond imagination that by November of this year, I could fill an entire 64-beer bracket with only Oklahoma beer. (Heck, I could fill half the bracket with all the beer Prairie Artisan Ales is putting out!)
Think about it: In September 2008 we had Choc, Marshall, Huebert, Belle Isle Brewery, Bricktown Brewery, and I believe Royal Bavaria. (My apologies if I’m leaving someone off.)
Fast forward not even five years later: You add COOP, Mustang, Battered Boar, Redbud (sort of), Dead Armadillo, Anthem, Black Mesa, Prairie and Roughtail! (Plus a couple other brewers/breweries I know are in the planning stages; and again, my apologies if I’m leaving someone off — I’m pulling all this off the top of my head.)
And that’s not even digging into the amazing variety of beers we have and the creative boundaries our brewers have pushed through.
This is big, people. This is a long way to come in less than five years.
It reminds me of a saying that I’ve heard Marshall’s Wes Alexander say a few times: Anymore, people don’t ask what a firkin is — they ask what’s in the firkin.
It’s a perfect summation, really, of how far the Oklahoma craft beer scene has come.
Forgive me if I get a little misty-eyed here, but I feel proud that I’ve been able to come along for the ride, even if I’m only playing a small role in documenting where Oklahoma craft beer has been and where it’s going.
I’m excited to keep doing that — and to see where the next few years take us.
Daily Pints
-So, about that tap takeover tonight. I’m hearing the beers will be Marshall Dunkel, Atlas and Revival Red; Choc Spring Pils, Belgian OPA and 1919; Prairie Gold, Funky Galaxy and Somewhere; COOP TROAIS, F5 and Elevator (formerly Zeppelin); Black Mesa ESB and Blond; and a couple regional offerings to round things out.
-And more Tulsa Craft Beer Week news: The grand finale outdoor festival on Saturday is officially sold out. If you missed out, there’s always next year — organizers are saying the 2014 fest will be even bigger.
-Over here in Oklahoma City, there’s a special firkin night at TapWerks tonight featuring a raspberry saison from COOP. The firkin will be tapped at 6.
Beer review: Shiner Ruby Redbird
The good people at Shiner were kind enough to send me a sample of the summer seasonal Ruby Redbird recently — and since spring beers started coming out in January, and summer beer were out last month, I’d better fire off a review before the fall seasonals come out later today.
Let’s dive in:
-For starters, the beer has a pleasing orange-copper hue and good clarity, though I found it to have minimal head and fast dissipation of the foam.
-The aroma was slightly sweet and I got just the faintest hint of buttery, almost-burnt popcorn.
-It had an average mouthfeel with adequate carbonation.
-A light, sweet grapefruit taste is evident up-front; I expected the grapefruit juice would impart a certain bitterness, but I didn’t get that. I didn’t detect any predominant hop character, either in bitterness or taste/aroma. The beer finishes with a light malt presence.
-My overall impression: This beer would fit in the easy-drinking category — it won’t strip your palate with hops or weigh you down with heavy malts. It’s sweet, but not too sweet. I would have loved just a dash of hop aggression — especially with some cascade or centennial hops that would have accentuated the grapefruit juice nicely. You would do well to have a couple of these on ice for a hot summer’s day, but at the same time, I could see wearing a little thin on the grapefruit if it was the only beer you had on hand for a whole weekend.
Daily Pints
-As of this morning, there were only 30 tickets left for the grand finale Tulsa Craft Beer Week beer tasting festival on Saturday. You can scoop up tickets, and a schedule of events, at www.tulsacraftbeerweek.com.
-Showing up in state liquor stores soon: Prairie Okie Imperial Brown Ale aged in oak whiskey barrels; Prairie Noir Imperial Stout; Prairie Bomb Russian Imperial Stout brewed with coffee.
-For all my Canadian fans out there — you know who you are — Goose Island just announced expansion into Canada. You Canadians have grown up so much since I left!
-Marcus Smart!
Oklahoma beer sample bill goes to governor’s desk
House Bill 1341, the bill to allow licensed Oklahoma brewers to offer on-premise samples, today passed the state Senate by a vote of 35-9. The bill now advances to the governor’s desk for final approval.
If Gov. Mary Fallin signs the bill into law, state brewers would be able to offer samples of beer to visitors, not to exceed 12 oz. per person, per day. Brewers said such a move would put them on more equal ground with the state’s wine-makers, who already are allowed to offer samples, and that it would boost tourism in the state.
The governor’s office has a practice of not commenting on bills prior to the governor reviewing them, but the bill’s House author, Rep. Glen Mulready, R-Tulsa, told bill supporters with Marshall Brewing Co. that Fallin is expected to sign off on the legislation.
According to the language of the bill, the legislation would go into effect Nov. 1, 2013.
Marshall’s Wes Alexander called today’s news “exciting” and said his brewery may look to add one or more employees to help coordinate and conduct tours and sampling.
“Thank you friends for contacting your legislature on behalf of this bill and its merits for the growing Oklahoma craft beer industry,” Alexander wrote on Facebook.
Roughtail plans unique event for homebrewers
The guys behind the recently launched Roughtail Brewing Co. label are putting on one of the cooler events we’ve seen on the Oklahoma beer scene.
Roughtail’s Wort Transformation is scheduled for the afternoon of May 19.
The premise of the event is simple: Roughtail will brew up a big batch of pale ale wort and send 40 homebrewers home with 5 gallons each. Then the homebrewers will hop/spice/ferment the wort however they see fit, before everyone reconvenes in July to see what they ended up with.
If you’re interested, it’s best you act quickly by visiting this link. Only a couple spots were left as I was typing this post.
Daily Pints
-Day two of Tulsa Craft Beer Week is tonight, featuring a COOP beer dinner at Hey Mambo, a Great Divide Tap Takeover at R-Bar, and a Marshall firkin crawl with Mcnellie’s, Fassler Hall and Dust Bowl. More details can be had at www.tulsacraftbeerweek.com.
-While all the attention is on Tulsa this week, we’ve also got news in Oklahoma City. Tickets are now officially on sale for the third annual Oklahoma Craft Beer Festival, set for May 18 at TapWerks. The event coincides with the culmination of American Craft Beer Week. You can scoop up tickets at www.oklahomacraftbeerfestival.com. Organizers are expecting more than 200 beers from roughly 50 different brewers.
-New to state liquor stores this week are a couple offerings from Great Divide: Heyday Wit and Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti.
Feels like a good time to hand out a free beer book
Interested in a free beer book? Good! It’s time for another round of TTBFBFBF (The Thirsty Beagle Facebook Free Book Friday)!
Today’s offering is “The Beer Drinker’s Guide to Munich.”
This 240-page paperback gives you descriptions of the prominent beers and bars in Munich, plus a handy map with metro/train stops so you can commute between beer-drinking destinations. Perfect for that upcoming trip to Munich!
All you have to do to win the book is like the Facebook post associated with this blog post. The winner will be randomly drawn at roughly 5 p.m. today.
Good luck!
Daily Pints
-Shout out to the crew at Mustang Brewing — had a chance to try the new DoppelHopper IPA and they did a fine job with this one. It strikes a terrific balance between the hop and malt. The beer is on tap at several spots around town, but they’re officially launching DoppelHopper with a special pint night at TapWerks tonight.
-If you’ve got the time and coin, you could do worse than heading to New York in June for SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience. This year, Choc has been selected in the annual lottery to pour at SAVOR, along with all of the country’s top craft brewers. The event is quickly becoming one of the premier beer/food events in the world, and a limited number of public tickets will go on sale next week — at 11 a.m. CST on Wednesday, April 17. Tickets will be sold via Ticketmaster.
-McNellie’s OKC announced on FB that they just tapped kegs of La Fin Du Monde and Goose Island IPA.
-Speaking of McNellie’s OKC, the April 23 Oklahoma Beer University event that I blogged about earlier will include Marshall, Coop, Mustang, Anthem, Black Mesa, Rough Tail and Choc — and they’re trying to get Prairie Artisan Ales on board as well. Contact jenny.price@mcnellies.com for more information or to reserve a seat for $25.
Prairie Artisan Ales continues to make news
When is there not a lot going on with Prairie Artisan Ales?
The answer? Never, apparently. So it’s best we dive in with some bullet points today.
-Today is the last day for Prairie’s wildly successful Kickstarter funding drive. With just a couple hours to go, the drive had blown past the initial $10,000 goal, with more than $22,500 pledged by a total of 245 backers.
Prairie brewmaster Chase Healey said he is pretty pumped about the result:
“It’s pretty awesome what people can do when you just ask,” Healey said. “The money will help out big time.”
Healey said he will keep Prairie fans up to speed on what the $22K+ is spent on.
-True to his word, Healey posted an update: He’s purchased two 10-barrel, open-top fermenters (a barrel is equivalent to 31 gallons).
-In case you didn’t notice from the image at top right, Prairie recently updated its company logo. The old logo looked like this.
-Prairie announced three new beers will be coming to market soon. Here are the descriptions straight from the Prairie FB page:
1. Pirate Noir: 11% imperial stout aged in very old rum barrels. This has been bottled and could land as soon as next weekend. Only 120 cases of 750ml bottles.
2. Prairie Bomb: 14% imperial stout aged on vanilla, coffee, chocolate and peppers. Not yet bottled, 12 oz. release.
3. Prairie Okie: 13% imperial brown ale aged in bourbon barrels. This has been bottled and could land as soon as next weekend. Only 150 cases of 750ml bottles for OK. 120 cases will ship to outside markets.
Daily Pints
-Goose Island IPA pint night is tonight at TapWerks.
-A Mustang DoppelHopper IPA pint night is set for tomorrow at TapWerks.
-The next release from Green Flash — Patlate Wrecker — has arrived in state. Inquire at your local liquor store.
-The Mule is tapping a COOP firkin Friday night during Live on the Plaza. The beer will be a hoppy American wheat.
Updates flying in for Tulsa Craft Beer Week
It seems like plans for the inaugural Tulsa Craft Beer Week (April 15-20) are moving at a mile a minute, and there were some particularly good planning developments in the past couple days.
-First off, the beer list for the grand finale outdoor festival on April 20 has been announced.
Here it is:
Choc:
1. OPA
2. Choc Beer
3. Spring Pilsner
4. (Special Release)
Marshall:
1. Dunkel (Special Release)
2. Atlas IPA
3. Revival Red
4. Old Pavilion Pilsner
Prairie:
1. Noir
2. Somewhere
3. ‘Merica
4. Gold
6. Funky Galaxy
7. (Special Release)
COOP:
1. DNR
2. Horny Toad
3. Native Amber
4. (Special Release)
Mustang:
1. DoppelHopper IPA
2. Route 66
Boulevard:
1. Wheat
2. 80 Acre Hoppy Wheat
3. Tank 7
4. Double Wide
5. (Special Release)
Green Flash:
1. West Coast IPA
2. Hop Head Red
3. (Special Release)
Great Divide:
1. Heyday Wit
2. Collette
3. (Special Release)
Big Sky:
1. Special Release
2. Special Release
Leinenkugel:
1. Big Eddy (TBD)
2. (Special Release)
FOAM:
TBD
And speaking of the grand finale, ticket sales are going so briskly that organizers said they are considering capping attendance. So, if you really want to go, best to act quick and snap up tickets at www.tulsacraftbeerweek.com. There will be no day-of sales either way.
-TCBW pint glasses — which will be handed out to ticket-holders at the grand finale — are also available for sale at the event website.
-McNellie’s will have a COOP firkin on Monday featuring an Imperial IPA with 15 different hops.
-McNellie’s will have a Choc firkin on Wednesday featuring Rosemary Biere de Garde.
-The R-Bar Great Divide Tap Takeover on Tuesday will feature: Yeti, Espresso Oak Aged Yeti, Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti, Heyday Wit, Orabelle Tripel, Denver Pale Ale, Titan IPA, Hercules, Colette and Nomad.
-Tuesday’s Marshall Firkin Crawl will feature stops at three bars: 5 p.m. at McNellies featuring Beat Juice Pub Ale; 6 p.m. at Dust Bowl featuring Belgian Pale with Sauvignon Blanc Oak; and 7 p.m. at Fassler Hall featuring American Dry Hopped Klaus.
Organizers are updating the website pretty much every day as events and menus are finalized, so check back often to finalize your plans.
And on an overall note, this is shaping up as an absolutely crazy week. I know this much — us folks over here in Oklahoma City have our work cut out for us during American Craft Beer Week in May if we want to match what Tulsa’s bringing to the table.
Beer Sprocket beer list tops 100 offerings
Judging by the weather this morning, now wouldn’t seem like the best time for an outdoor beer festival. This is Oklahoma, however, so by Saturday — the date of the annual Beer Sprocket festival — the weather no doubt will be absolutely perfect!
At the least that’s what Beer Sprocket organizer and Old Germany proprietor Mike Turek is hoping for. Today Turek shared with me the beer and restaurant list for the fest, which is set for 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday at Choctaw Creek Park, and now I can pass it along to you.
As a reminder, you can buy tickets at www.oldgermany.com. Tickets are $50, with proceeds going to benefit charitable efforts by the Rotary Club of East Oklahoma County. There are no day-of sales, so act by end-of-day Friday if you want to go.
Beers:
1. Battered Boar 405 Lager
2. Battered Boar Briarpatch Pale Ale
3. Battered Boar Coconut Cream Stout
4. Battered Boar Chocolate Cherry Porter
5. Battered Boar Dante’s Chili Porter
6. Battered Boar Blue Face Scotch Ale
7. Kapsreiter
8. Greiskirscher
9. Mactarnahan’s Goose Bump
10. Pyramid Snow Cap
11. Rogue’s Mom’s Hefeweisen
12. Rogue Chatoe
13. Hornsby’s Amber Cider
14. Hornsby’s Crisp Apple Cider
15. Mustang Golden Ale
16. Mustang DoppleHopper IPA
17. Staropramen
18. Hofbrau Maibock
19 . Shiner Farmhouse
20. Angry Orchard Crisp Apple
21. Mustang Washita Wheat
22. Mustang Route 66
23. Sam Adams New Albion
24. Guinness Black Lager
25. Ace Joker Cider
26. Woodchuck Amber Cans
27. Boulevard Wheat
28. Boulevard 80 Acre Hoppy Wheat
29. Boulevard Tank 7
30. Boulevard Double Wide IPA
31. Big Sky Brush Tail
32. Big Sky Moose Drool
33. Caldera IPA
34. Big Sky IPA
35. Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy
36. Leinenkugel’s Big Eddy Wee Heavy Scotch Ale
37. Laughing Dog Sneaky Pete IPA
38. Unibroue La Fin du Monde
39. Crispin Original Cider
40. Crispin Honey Crisp Cider
41. Redstone Mead Nectar of the Hops
42. Redstone Mead Sunshine Nectar
43. Redstone Mead Black Raspberry Nectar
44. New Planet Raspberry (Gluten Free)
45. New Planet Pale Ale (Gluten Free)
46. Left Hand 400 lb. Monkey
47. Left Hand Fade to Black
48. Left Hand Warrior IPA
49. Left Hand Twin Sisters Double IPA
50. Tallgrass Pub Ale
51. Tallgrass Buffalo Sweat
52. Augustiner Maximator
53. Augustiner Edelstoff
54. Sam Smith Organic Chocolate
55. Sam Smith Organic Cider
56. Traquir Jacobite
57. Pinkus Alt Beer
58. Golden Pheasant
59. Ayinger Jahrhundert
60. Estrella Damn
61. Weihenstephan Kristall
62. Weihenstephan Original
63. Choc Spring Pilsner
64. Great Divide Colette
65. Anchor Steam
66. Anchor Summer
67. Anderson Valley Hop Ottin
68. Choc Beer
69. Choc OPA
70. Coopers Sparkling
71. Great Divide Nomad
72. Green Flash Hop Head Red
73. Murphy’s Red
74. Murphy’s Stout
75. Rio Grande Chile Cerveza
76. San Miguel Light
77. San Miguel Dark
78. Sea Dog Blueberry
79. Stevens Point Nude Beach Cans
80. Stevens Point Belgian White
81. Goose Island IPA
82. Goose Island Honkers Ale
83. Goose Island 312
84. Redhook ESB
85. Widmer Rotator IPA
86. Widmer Drifter Pale Ale
87. Widmer Columbia Common
88. Omission Pale Ale
89. Beck’s Sapphire
90. Franziskaner Hefe
91. Spaten Optimator
92. Spaten Premium Lager
93. COOP F5 IPA
94. COOP Zeppelin Wheat
95. COOP Horny Toad Cerveza
96. COOP Gran Sport Porter
97. COOP Native Amber
98. COOP DNR
99. Roughtail Red Republic Ale
100. Roughtail 12th Round Strong Ale
101. Roughtail IPA
Restaurants:
-Old Germany
-Old Chicago
-Poblano Grill
-Gabriella’s Italian
-Charlie’s Sport Bar and Grill
-TapWerk’s Ale House and Cafe
-McNellie’s Public House
-C&C Cupcake
Looks like a great lineup, and a great way to dive into the spring/summer beer season!
What does the future hold for Redbud Brewing Co.?
It wasn’t too long ago that Redbud Brewing Co. was viewed as one of the up-and-coming beer entities in the state.
In fact, trace back to July of last year, and you would have seen that Redbud’s brewmaster, Chase Healey, had moved into the new OKCity Brewing Co-op, was ramping up plans for new recipes, aging several hundred gallons of beer in barrels and pouring beer under the Redbud flag at the annual Wild Brew beer tasting event.
Skip ahead just one month though, and Redbud was on the rocks. Healey announced he was leaving his post as brewmaster in August, and leaving the state. The owner of the OKCity Brewing Co-op said a new brewmaster would be hired and production would continue.
By November, no brewmaster had been hired. Then came a curveball nobody saw coming — OKCity and the Redbud brand were scooped up in a purchase agreement by Mustang Brewing Co.
Purchasing the co-op made sense for Mustang — which was looking to brew its kegged beer in-state. The Redbud move left several questions unanswered, however.
At the time of the purchase announcement — Nov. 13 — Mustang said Redbud would remain a viable brand and that distribution would continue. It was not made clear who would brew the beer, or if Redbud’s recipes would be used. What was clear was that new Redbud was not showing up in stores in the subsequent months.
Fast forward now to this summer, and we may see that trend reversed.
Mustang President Tim Schoelen said this week that he and brewmaster Gary Shellman will sit down in the next two months to formulate a series of recipes to be brewed under the Redbud banner.
Schoelen said Mustang views Redbud as a clean slate, or an open-exploration label. It will give the Mustang team a chance to break free from some of the session-style constraints of its main beers.
Specifically, he said Mustang will use Redbud to explore artisan beer styles. The plan calls for brewing small batches for limited, local distribution and creating recipes that are unique to the market and not duplicative of other Mustang beers.
Schoelen said there are no plans at the moment to revive any Redbud recipes — that would include the Cuvee series of beers — but the idea has not been ruled out entirely.
On a pretty interesting side note, when Healey left Redbud and operations were stalled, he also left behind those hundreds of gallons of barrel-aged beers I mentioned above. Redbud’s website includes this list of beers described as being in barrels at the time:
1. Golden Ale Reserve in French Oak Pinot Noir Barrel with Neutral Brettanomyces.
2. Folkbeir in French Oak Pinot Noir Barrel with Neutral Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus.
3. Buried Alive Dark Saison in French Oak Pinot Noir Barrel with Neutral Brettanomyces.
4. Very Redbud Christmas in French Oak Pinot Noir Barrel with Neutral Brettanomyces and Lactobacillus.
5. Royal Black Ale in French Oak Pinot Noir Barrel with Neutral Brettanomyces.
Schoelen said those beers are still there today, although the changeover in companies did not include any bookkeeping or paperwork to say which beer is in which barrel. So we have a barrel-aged mystery on our hands, if you will.
I contacted Healey to see if he could provide any clarity. He respectfully declined to discuss operations at his former employer.
Schoelen admitted they are not sure what they’ll do with the barrels — although I’m sure beer fans out in the state have a few ideas (taste test!) for what to do with them.
Brewers Association announces country’s top 50 breweries
So much beer news, this feels like a multiple-blog-post kind of day!
Let’s kick things off with the news that the Brewers Association this morning released its annual list of the 
nation’s top 50 craft breweries and brewing companies. There’s not any direct local flavor on these lists — although we can get a good number of the breweries in state — but I always find the list interesting to see just how big some of the breweries we are supporting are.
It’s also interesting to note how many of the craft beer brands we see in liquor stores are fully or partially owned by the megabrewers. For example, did you know that AB-InBev has full ownership of Bass, Beck’s, Bud Light, Budweiser, Busch, Goose Island, Landshark, Michelob, Rolling Rock, Shock Top and Wild Blue brands; and partial ownership of Coastal, Craft Brew Alliance, Fordham, Kona, Old Dominion, Omission, Red Hook and Widmer brands? Did you know Shiner and Bridgeport have been owned for nearly 20 years by the same company — the Gambrinus Co.? After the lists, I included the Brewers Association blurb that disclaims who is owned by what for your reading pleasure.
Here are the top 50 craft breweries, based on 2012 sales volume:
| 1 | Boston Beer Co. | Boston | MA |
| 2 | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. | Chico | CA |
| 3 | New Belgium Brewing Co. | Fort Collins | CO |
| 4 | The Gambrinus Co. | San Antonio | TX |
| 5 | Deschutes Brewery | Bend | OR |
| 6 | Lagunitas Brewing Co. | Petaluma | CA |
| 7 | Bell’s Brewery, Inc. | Galesburg | MI |
| 8 | Matt Brewing Co. | Utica | NY |
| 9 | Harpoon Brewery | Boston | MA |
| 10 | Stone Brewing Co. | Escondido | CA |
| 11 | Brooklyn Brewery | Brooklyn | NY |
| 12 | Boulevard Brewing Co. | Kansas City | MO |
| 13 | Dogfish Head Craft Brewery | Milton | DE |
| 14 | Abita Brewing Co. | Abita Springs | LA |
| 15 | Shipyard Brewing Co. | Portland | ME |
| 16 | Alaskan Brewing Co. | Juneau | AK |
| 17 | New Glarus Brewing Co. | New Glarus | WI |
| 18 | Long Trail Brewing Co. | Bridgewater Corners | VT |
| 19 | Great Lakes Brewing Co. | Cleveland | OH |
| 20 | Firestone Walker Brewing Co. | Paso Robles | CA |
| 21 | Anchor Brewing Co. | San Francisco | CA |
| 22 | Rogue Ales | Newport | OR |
| 23 | Summit Brewing Co. | St. Paul | MN |
| t. 24 | Full Sail Brewing Co. | Hood River | OR |
| t. 24 | SweetWater Brewing Co. | Atlanta | GA |
| 26 | Victory Brewing Co. | Downingtown | PA |
| 27 | Oskar Blues Brewery | Longmont | CO |
| 28 | Cold Spring Brewing Co./Third Street Brewhouse | Cold Spring | MN |
| 29 | Flying Dog Brewery | Frederick | MD |
| 30 | Founders Brewing Co. | Grand Rapids | MI |
| 31 | Ninkasi Brewing Co. | Eugene | OR |
| 32 | CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries, Inc. | Chattanooga, TN & Louisville, CO | |
| 33 | Odell Brewing Co. | Fort Collins | CO |
| 34 | Bear Republic Brewing Co. | Cloverdale | CA |
| 35 | Stevens Point Brewery Co. | Stevens Point | WI |
| 36 | Blue Point Brewing Co. | Patchogue | NY |
| 37 | Southern Tier Brewing Co. | Lakewood | NY |
| 38 | Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe | Eureka | CA |
| 39 | Karl Strauss Brewing Co. | San Diego | CA |
| 40 | BJ’s Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc. | Huntington Beach | CA |
| 41 | Breckenridge Brewery | Denver | CO |
| 42 | North Coast Brewing Co. | Fort Bragg | CA |
| 43 | Left Hand Brewing Co. | Longmont | CO |
| 44 | St. Louis Brewery, Inc./Schlafly Beers | St. Louis | MO |
| 45 | Saint Arnold Brewing Co. | Houston | TX |
| 46 | Ballast Point Brewing Co. | San Diego | CA |
| 47 | Big Sky Brewing Co. | Missoula | MT |
| 48 | Allagash Brewing Co. | Portland | ME |
| 49 | Uinta Brewing Co. | Salt Lake City | UT |
| 50 | Tröegs Brewing Co. | Hershey | PA |
And here is the list of the top 50 overall U.S. brewing companies:
| 1 | Anheuser-Busch, Inc. (a) | St. Louis | MO |
| 2 | MillerCoors (b) | Chicago | IL |
| 3 | Pabst Brewing Co. (c ) | Woodridge | IL |
| 4 | D.G. Yuengling and Son Inc. | Pottsville | PA |
| 5 | Boston Beer Co. (d) | Boston | MA |
| 6 | North American Breweries (e) | Rochester | NY |
| 7 | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. | Chico | CA |
| 8 | New Belgium Brewing Co. | Fort Collins | CO |
| 9 | Craft Brew Alliance, Inc. (f) | Portland | OR |
| 10 | The Gambrinus Co. (g) | San Antonio | TX |
| 11 | Minhas Craft Brewery (h) | Monroe | WI |
| 12 | Deschutes Brewery | Bend | OR |
| 13 | Lagunitas Brewing Co. | Petaluma | CA |
| 14 | Bell’s Brewery, Inc. | Galesburg | MI |
| 15 | Matt Brewing Co. (i) | Utica | NY |
| 16 | Harpoon Brewery | Boston | MA |
| 17 | Stone Brewing Co. | Escondido | CA |
| 18 | Brooklyn Brewery | Brooklyn | NY |
| 19 | Boulevard Brewing Co. | Kansas City | MO |
| 20 | Dogfish Head Craft Brewery | Milton | DE |
| 21 | Abita Brewing Co. | Abita Springs | LA |
| 22 | World Brews/Winery Exchange (j) | Novato | CA |
| 23 | Shipyard Brewing Co. (k) | Portland | ME |
| 24 | Alaskan Brewing Co. | Juneau | AK |
| 25 | August Schell Brewing Co. (l) | New Ulm | MN |
| 26 | New Glarus Brewing Co. | New Glarus | WI |
| 27 | Long Trail Brewing Co. (m) | Bridgewater Corners | VT |
| 28 | Great Lakes Brewing Co. | Cleveland | OH |
| 29 | Firestone Walker Brewing Co. | Paso Robles | CA |
| 30 | Anchor Brewing Co. | San Francisco | CA |
| 31 | Rogue Ales | Newport | OR |
| 32 | Summit Brewing Co. | St. Paul | MN |
| t. 33 | Full Sail Brewing Co. | Hood River | OR |
| t. 33 | SweetWater Brewing Co. | Atlanta | GA |
| 35 | Victory Brewing Co. | Downingtown | PA |
| 36 | Oskar Blues Brewery | Longmont | CO |
| 37 | Pittsburgh Brewing Co. (n) | Pittsburgh | PA |
| 38 | Mendocino Brewing Co. (o) | Ukiah | CA |
| 39 | Cold Spring Brewing Co./Third Street Brewhouse (p) | Cold Spring | MN |
| 40 | Flying Dog Brewery | Frederick | MD |
| 41 | Founders Brewing Co. | Grand Rapids | MI |
| 42 | Ninkasi Brewing Co. | Eugene | OR |
| 43 | CraftWorks Breweries & Restaurants, Inc. (q) | Chattanooga TN & Louisville CO | |
| 44 | Odell Brewing Co. | Fort Collins | CO |
| 45 | Bear Republic Brewing Co. | Cloverdale | CA |
| 46 | Stevens Point Brewery Co. (r) | Stevens Point | WI |
| 47 | Blue Point Brewing Co. | Patchogue | NY |
| 48 | Southern Tier Brewing Co. | Lakewood | NY |
| 49 | Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe | Eureka | CA |
| 50 | Karl Strauss Brewing Co. | San Diego | CA |
(*Top 50 U.S. Overall Brewing Companies notes: (a) includes Bass, Beck’s, Bud Light, Budweiser, Busch, Goose Island, Landshark, Michelob, Rolling Rock, Shock Top and Wild Blue brands. Does not include partially owned Coastal, Craft Brew Alliance, Fordham, Kona, Old Dominion, Omission, Red Hook and Widmer brands; (b) includes A.C. Golden, Batch 19, Blue Moon, Colorado Native, Coors Keystone, Killian’s, Leinenkugel’s, Miller and Tenth & Blake brands; (c) includes Pabst, Schlitz and 28 other brand families; (d) includes Alchemy & Science and Sam Adams brands; (e) includes Dundee, Genesee, Labatt Lime, Magic Hat and Pyramid brands; (f) includes Kona, Omission, Red Hook and Widmer Brothers brands; (g) includes BridgePort, Shiner and Trumer brands; (h) includes Mountain Crest and 10 other brand families; (i) includes Flying Bison, Saranac and Utica Club brands; (j) private label brands, primarily for grocery store chains; (k) includes Casco Bay, Sea Dog and Shipyard brands; (l) includes Grain Belt and Schell’s brands; (m) includes Long Trail, Otter Creek, The Shed and Wolaver’s brands; (n) includes Iron City and 17 other brand families; (o) includes Butte Creek, Kingfisher, Mendocino and Olde Saratoga brands; (p) includes Cold Spring and John Henry brands; (q) includes A1A, Big River, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants, Rock Bottom Restaurants, Ragtime and Seven Bridges brewpubs; (r) includes James Page, Point and Whole Hog brands.)
More to come on the blog later today on Tulsa Craft Beer Week and future plans for Redbud Brewing Co.
