State Laws on Buying Alcohol

In the U.S. we had Prohibition. At the end of that failed experiment, the states were given control over alcohol. That led to some really diverse laws. About the only thing that's consistent is that you must be 21 to purchase alcohol, and you can't drink and drive. Even those rules weren't always the same in all states.

There are state-by-state exceptions to consumption with the 21 age for purchase, usually it's for religious reasons, medical reasons, or if you are in a class where part of the curriculum is tasting alcohol, such as an oenology or brewing class. In Alaska parents can give their kids a drink.

Sonoma County Beer Guide

Sonoma County has over 400 wineries. You're not surprised there are wineries here, but maybe you are surprised by the number of them. There are also over 25 breweries, many tap rooms, plus a handful of cideries and distilleries, too. Here are the breweries, big and small, the famous, and ones you've probably never heard of.

Beer vs. Wine, by Country

Some nations drink lots of beer, others lots of wine. Who has the biggest differential between the two adult beverages? This info is from a 2015 data gathering by the University of Adelaide. 

And You Thought a Toilet Paper Shortage Was Bad

 A year ago we were scrambling for TP and sanitizer. More recently, everything from computer chips to chicken wings to restaurant wait staff have been in short supply as the economy recovers and consumers ramp up their spending. Well, prepare for the Big One, especially in three states.

Gender-Specific Drinks

Sometimes gender-specific items make sense. Women's clothes, things made smaller, lighter for women who are often smaller and lighter. As a kid I probably noticed clothing and bicycles first. Of course, many things can just come in sizes rather than having male and female versions. Instead of men's and women's backpacks, what if I'm a 5 ft 3 inch male? I'd be okay with buying a small pack, but maybe not a girl's.

Wine Learning from Craft Beer

Premium wine has been around a lot longer that craft beer so you'd think it's beer that could learn from the wine industry. That's probably true, but what stands out are things wine could learn from the rise of craft beer.

What Beers the Winemakers are Drinking

"It takes a lot of beer to make wine" is a common saying. Also, "If you want to make a million dollars in the wine business start with two," but we're talking about beer here.

From interviews with a few West Coast winemakers by Forbes. The most popular seems to be Russian River Brewing's Pliny the Elder, a double IPA. However, many that do day drinking during the long harvest days are consuming something of lower alcohol such as pilsners and pales. That's why Russian River makes a seasonal Great Beer/Great Wine pale.

Article from Forbes

Sonoma County - What's Not to Love

If I didn't live here in Sonoma County this spot would be at the top of my list of places to visit. Why? There are many reasons.

Let's start with the obvious one:

Trouble in Craft Brewery Land?

Ballast Point Brewery was started in San Diego in 1996. It is now the 17th largest brewery in the country. Constellation Brands, owners of Modelo, Corona, and others, purchased Ballast Point in 2015.

In 2017 they opened a huge sour beer and barrel aging facility in San Diego that is closing. A brewpub in nearby Riverside County opened in 2016 is closing. It's just been announced that a large restaurant and brewery scheduled to be built in San Francisco near the new home of the Golden State Warriors basketball team will not be built after all.

Ballast Point appears to be retrenching as they say in corporate speak. It may also be that Constellation is changing priorities. One of those priorities is dumping lots of money into cannabis.

The State of Craft Beer

Recently the Brewers Association released its annual report of the U.S. beer market for 2018. While the growth numbers aren't as huge in some previous years it may at least be viable in the long term.

Wine and Craft Beer Sales

Wine consumption in the U.S. is up for 2018. That's 25 years of continuous growth in the amount of wine we drink. This was a 0.4% increase while 2017 saw a 1.0% increase and 2016 was 1.4% so the growth rate is slowing.

Beer was the big loser again falling 1.5% in 2018 compared to 1.1% in 2017 (though craft beer is up). Overall, Americans are drinking less alcohol probably because of health concerns. Total consumption dropped 0.8%, the third straight year showing a decline.

From 2017 to 2018 the number of wineries in the country grew from 12,335 to 13,000, a 5.4% increase. The number of craft breweries grew from 6,300 to to 7,000, an 11.1% increase.

Info from International Wine & Spirits Record (UK) and Brewers Association

Trouble for Craft Beer?

Craft beer's wild growth over the past ten years might be seeing some settling out. I guess at some point there just had to be too many IPAs out there.

It was just announced that Hanger 24 out of Southern California is laying off about half of their smallish production staff. They aren't huge, nor are they a tiny brewery selling everything out of their brewery, and there's the problem.

2018: The Year in Craft Beer

This was another high growth year for craft beer in the U.S. A few things stand out:
1) The number of small breweries made a huge increase.
2) That increase is not matched by a growth in craft beer sales.
3) The haze craze (the hazy, juicy beer style) is huge.
4) The switch from bottles to cans.

Little-Known Facts About Prohibition

Last week was the 85th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition -- the worst amendment ever to the Constitution. From Wine Spectator here are some surprising facts about Prohibition. For instance, it was actually legal to drink during that time.

How Constellation Brands Sees the Future

Constellation Brands is one of the largest owners of alcohol brands in the world. Of the over two dozen wine labels there is Robert Mondavi, Simi, The Prisoner, and Woodbridge. The several beer brands include Ballast Point, Modelo, and Corona. In spirits there's Black Velvet whisky and Casa Noble tequila among others. They recently made a large investment in a Canadian cannabis company. They were only about wine at one time. That sure has changed.

Blurring the Lines Between Beer & Wine

Sonoma County's Murphy-Goode Winery is best known for their Liar's Dice Zinfandel and their Sauvignon Blanc. Kendall-Jackson bought the winery from the founders about ten years ago. St. Florian's Brewery was founded five years ago by a local fire captain. St. Florian is the patron saint of firefighters.

The Three-Tier System

What is known as the 3-tier system for alcohol sales was set up after Prohibition. It separates producers, wholesalers, and retailers. During Prohibition you had mobsters bootlegging alcohol and they moved into the wholesales business after legalization (plus into other fields) and took their corrupt practices with them.

Here's a good read on the modern day problems with this system.

Alcohol Sales Control & Corruption from the Fermentation wine blog. 

Beer is Flat

Okay, beer sales are flat. The incredible growth in the craft beer business couldn't go on forever. The American beer conglomerates, basically Anheuser-Busch and Miller-Coors, have been shrinking in share to beers with flavor. Who is winning in this battle? It appears wine.

2017 The Year in Beer

Per the Brewers Association (whose job it is to promote independent craft brewers) there are now over 6,000 breweries in the U.S. That's 700 more than a year ago and double what we had just four years ago. Supposedly 83% of drinking age adults live within ten miles of a craft brewery. If you live in places like Portland, San Diego, or even Grand Rapids that number might be dozens.

Sonoma County Restaurants -- For Beer

So yeah, all of your meals don't have to be wine-centric especially if you've spent a good part of the day tasting wine. Why not eat somewhere with good food and an excellent beer selection?

Some of these are restaurants that just happen to have great beer. A few are pub operations that happen to have good food.