It’s easy to take collaboration in the world of craft as fate; as the natural outcome of combining thousands of people who all agree that their job is The Best Thing Ever. With each brewery visit comes a chance to combine mutual obsessions. And the best way to accomplish that? Field trips.
Allagash’s Rob Tod recalls visiting spontaneous Belgian breweries with a group of American brewers, and wondering whether their techniques could be imported to the US.
Dogfish Head, Great Divide, Avery and Allagash pull back on distribution; Flying Dog files suit against the Michigan State Liquor Control Commission; and Free the Hops calls for a boycott of all products offered by ABI’s distributors.
“I make beers that I want to drink. That’s the bottom line,” Avery says. “I love our IPA because I made the IPA for me—that’s the style of IPA I like. I always say: I’m making the beer for me; I’m just making a little extra for everybody else.”
