Jersey Beer Explosion A change in New Jersey beer regs is paying immediate dividends. Under the old rules, breweries could not sell beer for consumption on their own premises. That meant no tasting rooms, which are a significant source of revenue for breweries.The law was changed last year, hallowing breweries to sell pints to those who tour their facilities. As a result, small brewers are opening what amount to quasi-brewpubs that sell only house beer (no food).Those direct sales provide just enough revenue to give small startups a running start in their efforts to establish themselves. The result has been stunning: Less than a year after the new law's enactment, at least 15 new breweries will open throughout NJ by next summer. Most will be located in the southern part of the state. |
Nitro Dispute Left Hand Brewing altered the beer-drinking landscape two years ago when it announced during the Great American Beer Festival that it had come up with a way to inject nitrogen into its bottled Milk Stout so that it pours smooth and creamy, like a draft beer. Milk Stout Nitro quickly became the Longmont company's best-selling beer brand. Hopingto duplicate that success the brewery announced that it will begin selling two more nitrogenated beers: Sawtooth, a version of its flagship ESB, and Wake Up Dead, a Russian Imperial Stout.And that's when they got into a dispute with a Canadian brewer who had trademarked the word "Nitro," as it relates to beer, in 2004. Although Left Hand didn't patent its process, it did try to trademark the word "Milk Stout Nitro" at the same time that it released the beer in 2011. But the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied the application, saying the term "Nitro" had been protected more than a decade earlier by a man named Eli Gershkovitch, who owns Vancouver, Canada's Steamworks Brewery. Left Hand decided to challenge Gershkovitch's claim to the word, saying that he had never used the mark. As a court date was set the two companies settled the dispute. No word on the terms but most believe Left hand initiated a monetary exchange. The Nitro beers are designed to be poured hard -- which releases the nitrogen -- meaning that drinkers should turn the bottle upside down when they pour it into a glass. Rather than overflowing, however, the beer comes out smoothly and slowly, with a thick, billowy head and bubbles that cascade up from the bottom. Guinness also makes a nitrogenated beer, but it uses a device known as a "widget" to create that effect in the bottle. Left Hand, which spent three years and hundreds of thousands of dollars on its technology, is the first U.S. craft brewer to make a bottled beer on nitro -- and so far, it is still the only brewery to do it. -------------------- |
| Feature News from beernexus.com |
Edited by Jim Attacap
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| BEERNEXUS the crossroads of the beer world |
| Push Button Brewing Why can't we brew beer at home as easily as we can make a loaf of bread with a bread-maker, or a shot of espresso with an automatic espresso \machine? Now it's possible - if you have around $1500 to spend on the new PicoBrew Zymatic. All you do is put ingredients into a container called the "step filter", select the recipe to brew using a "rotary encoder" on the front panel (web-side software that imports recipes of any beer) fill a 5G keg with water and attach the hoses to the keg posts. Then add your grain and hops per the recipe into the appropriate places and you're all ready to brew! In about 3 1/2 hours your keg will contain beer wort (unfermented beer). Next chill the keg to room temperature add yeast, seal the keg with an air-lock keg lid and wait. Your beer will ferment in the keg. In 5 days to 1 weekyou will have tasty beer. Actually, for all of that $1,500 isn't a bad price at all! |