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 major collaboration brewery is set to hit Chicago, one of the city’s most unique beer events aims to teach you the alphabet, a hotbed of Chicago breweries gets a name of its own, lofty goals are set at one of the country’s fastest growing breweries, and a Chinese factory has been caught creating a truly disgusting counterfeit.
CHICAGO, IL — A few days ago, Indiana’s 3 Floyds and Denmark’s Mikkeller revealed plans to bring their collaboration WarPigs Brewing brand to the United States. Now there’s speculation that a WarPigs brewpub could be inline for Chicago’s Humboldt Park. We know the beer will be contract brewed at Chicago’s Great Central Brewing Co. and Wisconsin Brewing Co., but beyond that, details are hard to come by. There’s no doubt this will be a hot topic so we’ll be keeping a close eye on this exciting project. [Chicago Tribune, Eater Chicago]
LAKEVIEW, CHICAGO — One of Chicago’s most unique beer events, AlphaBeer XVI is set to return for its 16th time this August. Showcasing one beer for every letter of the alphabet, the event is organized by The Local Tourist, who’s teamed up with Barley’s Angels Chicago, a group working to expand the appreciation and understanding of craft beer among women . Get $5 off an individual ticket by using code ‘THR’ at the link above. [THR Wire]
RAVENSWOOD CORRIDOR, CHICAGO — Anyone fan of Chicago beer has likely paid a visit to one of the many breweries on and around Ravenswood Ave. The Greater Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce is aiming to capitalize on that trend with the creation of ‘Malt Row.’ Featuring six breweries, one distillery, and a whole lot of great bars and eats, it will be interesting to see how this helps promote beer tourism in Chicago. [THR Wire]
BROOKLYN CENTER, MN — Few breweries have seen the kind of growth that Minnesota’s Surly has witnessed over the last few years — evidenced by their 100,000 barrel production goal by the end of 2017. The brewery also plans to move to 12 oz cans in larger packages for some of its core brands. Want one amazing fact that illustrates their astounding growth? — one tank in their production facility holds as much beer as the brewery produced in their entire first year. [BrewBound]
CHINA — In one of the weirder and more disgusting beer related stories we’ve come across, a factory in China has been caught on video canning fake Budweiser. Aside from the obvious legal issues, the video found the workers using a less than sanitary technique to package their suds. [Beer Street Journal]
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Photo of the large fermentation vessels at Great Central Brewing Company, which will soon hold WarPigs beer, from our winter 2017 interview with founders David Avram and Conor McFerran — by Jack Muldowney.