Welcome to Early Draught, a weekly newsletter by Kurt Reckziegel about enjoying, selling, and making good craft beer. If you haven’t subscribed, please do!
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This Week
I tasted some new prototypes at work and one was fruit loops flavored. Turns out fruit loops are just lemongrass flavored. 🤷🏻♂️
🍺 Beer (& cheese 🧀)
Double zero (read: alcohol-free) Guinness is coming to the UK next week.
Caputo Brothers Creamery and Tröegs Independent Brewing have linked up for a third time, and this year their cheesebaby is a Mad Elf Beer Cheese.
☎️ Mad Elf the beer cheese, what’s your favorite color? ☎️
Heineken USA is cutting out a couple steps and giving us Dos Equis with lime & salt already inside the can. 🧂… wait, there’s no lime emoji?!
Oct.co asks whether craft beer has gotten too weird. Has it?
Camden Town’s new Italian Grape Lager. So, like, wine?
Coasts colliding! New collab from Firestone Walker and Felons Brewing coming soon…
SEND TRACKING LATER!!! Indie Brewing Co out of LA is using a hazy double IPA to tip their hat to our amazing postal workers. (pic courtesy of /u/mailmanRED on Reddit)
Usually known for their whiskies, Suntory dropped a “malt & hops beverage” that forgoes the whole fermentation process, making it free of everything: no sugar, no calories, no alcohol… no whisky?
🗣️ Marketing Beer
Election day in the US is nearly upon us, and the beer world wants to remind you to vote vote vote vote!
Free beer with your flu shot at Cranky Sam Public House in Missoula, MT. But do I still get the lollipop? 🍭
The World Series is here, so if you’re a fan of the Rays or Dodgers it’s time to get those rally caps on. But Budweiser wants to play too, and obviously they flipped their cans inside-out: “Rally Buds”.
Tired of zoom happy hours? Same. Well, Untappd is looking to help companies jazz up their holiday perks and festivities by giving them the opportunity to design their own custom beer.
🍻 Drinking Beer
New beer-related subreddit alert! 🚨 /r/BeerSteins launched a little over a week ago and already has 233 subscribers. Collectors rejoice!
Here’s an interesting read from Vinepair on cult-favorite Belgian brewery Cantillon and their unlikely cookbook (from the 90s). Could you imagine wasting a delicious lambic on fancy cooking?!
Only now finding out that Ranker.com exists. Here’s their Best American Beers list. ICYW, Heady Topper is at #10, but I’ve always preferred Focal Banger.
😝 Stuff almost beer-related (like if you squint a little)
Winerytale allows winemakers to deliver AR experiences triggered by scanning a label, giving consumers the opportunity to learn more about the story behind the product.
G FUEL (The Official Energy Drink of Esports®) and FaZe Clan (prominent eSports pro team and gaming entertainment organization) have been in partnership for eight years, and now—as part of the celebration of FaZe Clan’s 10-year anniversary—they’re coming out with a new flavor: G FUEL FaZe X.
Wine Happiness is a thing. “This explains, I think, why rich people tend to be so fond of fine wine: it’s the most consistently reliable way that they can convert money into happiness. So if you have a bit of disposable income, get yourself down to your local wine shop.” Also, if you don’t already subscribe to WITI, you should.
📲 Follow of the Week
Em Sauter is the brain and artist behind Pints and Panels. Her fantastic series include: #BeerStyleSimple, #HopVarietySimple, #AleBC, Visual Cicerone Syllabus, and #BeersImGladExist. AND she recently locked in 3rd place for “Best Blog” from the North American Guild of Beer Writers.
📸 Can of the Week
Super Session #2 from Lawson’s Finest Liquids in Waitsfield, VT. Outside Earl’s Beer & Cheese in NYC, featuring friendguy Rob.