Beer News

Sierra Nevada Helping to Turn Discarded Yeast into Fuel

Just how many ways can beer help our economy? The Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is giving us one more. Working together with Los Gatos, Calif.-based E-Fuel Corporation, they will begin testing their EFuel100 MicroFueler in the spring, and hope to have full-scale MicroFueler production capability on the brewer’s grounds by the summertime.

The MicroFueler is being touted as “the world’s first portable ethanol micro refinery system.” The unit is the size of a household appliance and allows consumers to produce ethanol at their home, or in this case, in a brewery.

The E-100’s ethanol is refined from a mixture of water, yeast and sugar, so Sierra Nevada’s “bottom of the barrel” yeast mixture can be used to help refine the fuel. Cheri Chastain, sustainability coordinator at Sierra Nevada, tells BA, “We have run a few tests with our spent yeast and they returned favorably. We are hoping to have a machine by late April and will hopefully begin production this summer.” Tom Quinn, founder and CEO of E-Fuel, mentions how using discarded waste is both environmentally friendly and economical. “Creating ethanol from discarded organic waste is an excellent example of how the MicroFueler can help eliminate our reliance on the oil industry infrastructure. This is especially true when considering Americans reportedly discard 50 percent of all agricultural-farmed products.”

Illustration by Barry Bruner

Journalist and Friend of Beer, Bill Brand, Passes Away

Bill Brand, a well-known and respected journalist, family man and lover of craft beers, passed away on February 20th. Brand, 70, had been in a coma since being struck by a train while returning to his home from a beer-tasting event in San Francisco on February 8th.

Brand had been a reporter for the Oakland Tribune since 1981, and in 1994, he started his famed column, “What’s On Tap,” in which he would fairly and lovingly critique the latest California craft brews. After retiring from the Tribune, Brand continued his column as a blog, and his favorable reputation only grew from there.

Fellow reporter Harry Harris recalls, “Bill was one of the best, most real newspapermen I ever worked with in my 43 years at the Tribune. Bill was an aggressive reporter, but also compassionate and sensitive … If you had Bill involved, you always knew it would be solid and professional, just like him.”

Brand will be fondly remembered by his many friends, as well as his loving family. Daryl Brand, his wife, says, “I loved his great sense of adventure and vibrancy. He was kind and wonderful.”

Tax Relief for Small Brewers Arrives in BEER Act

On February 3rd, the House of Representatives introduced the Brewers Excise and Economic Relief (BEER) Act. The bill would provide a tax break to domestic brewers by cutting the federal beer excise tax in half, to $9 per barrel—a rate not seen since 1991. In addition, the bill aims to slash the tax for small brewers from $7 to $3.50 per barrel.

Tom Long, president and CEO of MillerCoors and chairman of the Beer Institute, is very enthusiastic about the introduction of the bill. “There is strong industry-wide support for this legislation, and we thank Congress for its bipartisan effort to institute tax fairness for one of the most productive sectors of the American economy.”

Rich Doyle, cofounder of Harpoon Brewery and chairman of the Brewers Association, is also optimistic about the positive effect this will have on America’s brewers in these difficult times. “While our industry has been able to remain successful in the recent past, we’ve faced raw-material cost increases that have reduced our margins and severely challenged our bottom line. This measure would go a long way toward sustaining our businesses and our employees, benefiting local communities in all 50 states.”

Companion legislation is expected to be introduced to the Senate as well.

Here’s Looking at You, Canada!

How many Canadians can fit into 4,000 square feet? According to Molson, between 10,000 to 20,000. The Canadian brewery is planning a photo-mosaic “mega mural” offering a message of support to Canadian athletes for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. “The scale of the project is really limitless,” Adam Moffat of Molson Canadian tells BA. “While our goal is to collect 10,000, we can accommodate more than twice that many in the final image.”

“Molson Canadian is preparing to welcome the world to Vancouver in a truly Canadian way,”  said David Bigioni, brand director of Molson Canadian. “The 2010 Mural Project will give Canadians from all corners an opportunity to share a personal connection with the Games and show our athletes that we stand proudly behind them.”

Canadians can upload photos of themselves by going to Molson’s website. The 4,000-square-foot canvas will be displayed on the brewery’s wall, and will be officially unveiled—along with its secret message—on the eve of the opening ceremonies.

Oregon Looking to Tap Brewers for More Tax Dollars

When a state’s economy worsens, legislators will increase taxes wherever they can in order to obtain funds. Unfortunately for Oregon’s brewers and bar owners, state legislators are looking to increase the current beer tax by roughly 1,900 percent.

The current tax, which hasn’t been touched since 1977, is $2.60 per 31-gallon barrel. House Bill 2461 aims to raise that tax to $49.61 per barrel. State legislators say the tax increase will only add up to a mere 15 cents per glass, but those in the business of beer tend to disagree.

Jeff Althouse, cofounder of Oakshire Brewing Co., explains, “Those who drink beer would pay more than twice the amount that the state would collect due to producer, distributor and retailer margins … The economic realities of the brewer-to-distributor-to-retailer system cause the consumer price to increase quite a bit more than 15 cents. In my humble opinion, good public policy should not ignore basic economic facts.”

Local bar owners are opposed to the bill, saying it will drive up costs and reduce business in an already tough time. Small breweries like Oakshire, who only produce around 1,100 barrels of beer annually, would be hit especially hard by the tax hike.

Debate Still Brewing Over Alabama’s Beer Laws

Alabama’s laws regarding the maximum strength of beer and container sizes are currently among the most restrictive in the nation. The state’s highest allowable ABV content is held at 6 percent, with the largest legal container size capped at 16 ounces.

After the introduction of the “Gourmet Beer Bill,” drafted by specialty beer crusading group Free the Hops, things might finally change. On March 3rd, Alabama’s House of Representatives passed a bill allowing the sale of beer with an alcohol content up to 13.9 percent, putting the measure in the Senate’s hands.

If the bill passes the Senate, Alabamians will finally get a chance to enjoy a much larger variety of beers such as Imperial Stouts, Barleywines and Trappist beers from local liquor stores.

Free the Hops was started in 2004 as a grassroots organization, and in 2007, it was officially registered as a 501c (6) nonprofit organization. Their mission is “to help bring the finest beers in the world to Alabama.” ■