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 Wisconsin brewer is set to expand, a governor installed a kegerator, a historic Belgian brewery sells out, Jordanian beer hits the market, the U.S. surpasses Germany in a very important metric, and the sour spectrum is charted. Let us know what else you caught in the beer world in the comments.
GREEN BAY, WI – Expect to see a whole lot more Hinterland beer in the coming years as the Green Bay brewery recently broke ground on a new 24,000 square foot facility next to Lambeau Field — nearly four times the size of their current location. The new brewery will have an expected capacity of 20,000 barrels. (THR Wire)
VIRGINIA – We don’t pay much attention to regional politics on The Hop Review but when Virginia’s governor reportedly installed a kegerator in his residence to attract Stone Brewing to the state, well that’s interesting. Apparently the ploy worked as Stone is already pumping out beer from it’s massive new facility in Richmond. [Washingtonian]
BELGIUM – AB InBev are on the move again with the estimated €200 million acquisition of Belgian brewer Bosteels. A nearly 200 year old Flemish brewery, they’re most famous as the makers of Tripel Karmeliet and Kwak. [Beer Street Journal]
FUHEIS, JORDAN
– Primarily Muslim countries aren’t exactly known for their beer, but that’s just what’s happening in Jordan. The region that invented beer thousands of years ago is experiencing something of a renaissance of late. Carakale, the country’s first and only craft brewery, has begun exporting their beer to the U.S. [Cache Valley Daily]USA – For the first time in decades, the U.S. is the top hop producer in the world. The massive demand for the many American hop varieties has prompted the expansion to 52,213 acres of hop growing land, compared with just over 45,000 in Germany. If that isn’t a sign of the astounding growth of U.S. craft beer, we’re not sure what is. [The Denver Post]
BEER – Sours are all the rage of late but most drinkers new to the style might not realize “sour” is a pretty broad descriptor. Draft does a great job charting the many variations of the sour spectrum and how they range from jarringly tart to “nose-scrunching” funk. [Draft Magazine]
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Photograph of the hop fields of Elk Mountain Farm in Idaho by Jack Muldowney.