This content was originally published by The Hop Review, a digital magazine that joined the Hop Culture family in March 2020.
This piece was written by Tom White.
In this week’s Hoplinks, a Chicago Field Guide is released, we get into a certain State of Mind, white supremacists are shut down, the beer landscape continues to evolve, and a difficult to imagine cross border bar is announced. All this and more in our latest Hoplinks below.
LAKEVIEW, CHICAGO — Beermiscuous, a craft beer cafe most Chicago based readers are likely already familiar with, has released their very own Field Guide to the city’s taprooms and brewpubs. While we can’t imagine the challenge of keeping this up to date in today’s constantly changing brewery landscape, it’s sure to be a great resource for Chi-town drinkers. You can snag the book half-off at the official launch party on August 19th at Beermiscuous. [THR Wire]
CHICAGO — This self-professed “pretentious-as-hell” article from Chicago based writer Michael Shannon O’Keefe takes a dive into the writer’s mood swings throughout the day. Included in his Chicago Design State of Mind is an evening nightcap with a standby from his favorite brewery. An interesting read, to say the least. [Consumer Advocate]
KALAMAZOO, MI — One western Michigan craft beer bar has been forced to close its doors after accusations the owner is a white supremacist. The allegations surfaced after owner Aaron VanArdsdale posted pictures of himself giving a Nazi salute as well as various other racist imagery on Facebook. While technically nothing illegal has occurred, local breweries and distributors are already looking to distance themselves from the 10 month old business. [Forbes]
USA — The beer landscape continued to evolve over the last couple weeks as acquisitions and takeovers of major craft beer brands continue. Just last week, New Belgium announced their takeover of San Francisco’s iconic Magnolia Brewing on the same day it was revealed Chicago based Constellation Brands had acquired Florida’s Funky Buddha Brewery. This all comes just one week after Anchor, the oldest craft brewery in the US, was acquired by Japanese giant Sapporo. Having trouble keeping track of who owns who? You’re not the only one. [CraftBeer.com, Fortune]
USA/MEXICO — In a statement that raises more questions than answers, Scottish brewer BrewDog announced plans to build a craft beer bar straddling the US-Mexican border. How this will work — Will there be doors on both sides? Will you need your passport? How will this ever happen? — weren’t addressed. While clearly a PR stunt to make a statement on the current political environment, we’ll be eagerly awaiting more news on this project if and when it surfaces. [THR Wire]
GLOBAL — Hotel chain Four Points, a subsidiary of Marriott International, is getting on the craft beer bandwagon with their Best Brews competition (Warning: Flash required), happening at six of their hotels around the world. The inaugural winner, announced last week at their New York hotel, was LIC Beer Project, as voted by guests at the hotel. It’s great to see a hotel take beer seriously as most chains typically settle for the bare minimum, overpriced swill. [THR Wire]
BEER — Do you like cooking with beer? Do you dislike throwing away food? One famous Danish chef thinks there are plenty of uses for the two. Case-in-point is his porridge recipe using day-old bread and flat beer. What other uses for old beer have you discovered? [Thrillist]
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Photo of signage at Magnolia Gastropub & Brewery in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury neighborhood from our summer 2017 DETOUR feature — by Jack Muldowney.