Attendees can expect to find 19 rye beers that run the gamut of styles, from breweries in Oregon and beyond. Two of the beers are special collaborations that Taplister CEO Kerry Finsand had a hand in helping to brew. One is being brewed by 10 Barrel Brewing Company, a small batch brewery out of Bend, Ore. and the other by Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB), a 100% renewably powered, “cradle to gate” carbon neutral brewery in the heart of SE Portland, Ore. In addition to rye beers, there will also be rye cocktails and rye food.

Entry to the event is free and unlike many festivals where sample sizes are the norm, beers will be available in both full and half pints. All proceeds from the sale of the two collaboration beers will be donated to the Children’s Cancer Association.

2007 marked the first year of American Craft Beer Week (ACBW) with 150 breweries hosting events. The event grew steadily over the next few years with 341 breweries hosting over 600 events in 2010. By 2011 the number of events reached over 1,500 posted on the official ACBW calendar and taking place in all 50 states. In addition to ACBW, many cities and states hold their own beer weeks throughout the year, all with the same goal – to celebrate small and independent craft brewers.

In the middle of the week the first ever nationwide toast will take place on Thursday, May 16 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern/5:00 p.m. Pacific. An expansive listing of ACBW events from Florida to Michigan, New York to Oregon, can be found on CraftBeer.com. Get out and celebrate!

The Perfect Storm, an annual brew for the seven year old, 15-barrel production brewery, is hopped with six different Pacific Northwest hops. The result is an assertive, hop forward beer that pairs well with savory and assertively flavored foods. According to Brewmaster Matt Van Wyk the Oakshire brewers take each year’s batch as a true challenge. “We’re always excited in the brewhouse to make The Perfect Storm and see if we can get more hop impact into the beer than the year before.”

The newly opened Oakshire Public House at 207 Madison Street in Eugene will have the beer on tap and will be selling a limited amount of the 22 oz bottles for $7. The Perfect Storm will also be distributed throughout Oregon, Washington, Alaska and northern Idaho beginning in early May.

The event was conceived to help introduce Oregonians to the breadth of style and flavors of beers brewed in Belgium. Originally each brewery used the same yeast strain and a dart throw was done to determine the whether the beer would be dark or light in color and low or high in ABV. Those restrictions have since been lifted to allow brewers to showcase their award winning beers.

Other events during the eight-day Beer Week include beer tastings, brewer’s dinners, special beer releases and home brew competition. The venues and breweries, including Oakshire, Falling Sky, The Bier Stein, Hot Mama’s Wings and the Cascade Brewers Society, will all be working together to celebrate and promote the craft beer culture in the Willamette Valley. Check out the website for additional details; events will be added as May approaches.

We are excited about our big release of new features we are officially releasing today. We listened to your feedback and added tools to make it easier to promote your beers on tap and analyze what beers are selling best.

Rotating Screens – Can’t fit all your beers on one TV? You can now create multiple screens to rotate your tap list (i.e., Screen 1 for craft beers, Screen 2 for imports, Screen 3 for ciders, etc.  Available to Keg customers only).

Zones – On the right hand side (available only for landscape mode – regular TV mode), you can add additional content to your screen such as your logo, food specials, upcoming events, etc… or even an ad. (available to Keg customers only) – See image above.

Screen refresh – Before you would have to refresh your web browser to display your beers on tap if you make a change. Now changes made will automatically update the beer on the screen approximately 60 seconds later. (available to Keg customers only)

Beers On Deck – When you receive your keg deliveries, you can now queue them up for later to add on tap. Visible only to you in the Beer Editor. (For Case & Keg customers only).

Analytics – See how long a beer is on tap for. Helps determine what has sold best historically so you know what to order and what not to order. (For Case & Keg customers only).

Social promotion – Now bars can edit their Twitter or Facebook message before they post them – Go to your tap list and choose the beers you want to promote and select an action (i.e.post to Twitter and Facebook. Allows you to include the Twitter handle of the brewery in the message. (For Case & Keg customers only).

Beer sorting – In the tap list editor you can sort by beer, brewery, style or date tapped. Or by multiples of this. This will make it easier for bars that have large tap list to edit their tap list. This will effect how it looks on the digital beer board but not on the website, widget or printed menu. (Available to Case & Keg customers. Digital Beer Board sorting available to Keg customers only).

Adding Beer descriptions to new beers – When you are adding a beer you can can include a beer description (Available to all claimed bars- free to paid).

Support – New support site. When you are logged in just click on the support button in the black navigation area. Please reference this link when you have any questions. You will need to be logged in to access this info. (Available to all claimed bars- free to paid).

Upgrading is easy – Just log into your account and click the upgrade button and choose your plan or feel free to call us at (888) 827-7737 or email us sales[at]taplister.com.

Cheers!

Team Taplister

The 4.7% ABV Session Ale is a GABF Silver Medal Winner and will be available in 12-packs of 12 oz cans. The brewery purchased their canning line from Krones, the same manufacturer that produced their bottling line. Vice President of Operations, Brad Stevenson, said “We are 100% confident in both this line and this package.”

Currently All Day IPA is the only beer Founders will be canning. Additional brews may make their way into cans in the future.

Photo courtesy of AHA. From left to right: Gary Glass, Director of American Homebrewers Association; Senator John Hohrn; Craig Hendry, President of Raise Your Pints

One of the last holdouts, Mississippi has now come onboard as the 49th state where individuals can legally brew beer for their own consumption, according to the American Homebrewers Association (AHA). While homebrewing is federally legal the 21st Amendment left the regulation of alcohol primarily to each individual state where changes to laws leftover from Prohibition have been made at varying rates. Alabama, Mississippi’s neighbor to the east, is the remaining holdout.

The bill to legalize homebrewing was introduced to the Senate by Senator John Horhn and passed in early February, continuing on to the State House of Representatives for a vote in March and subsequently being signed into law by Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant. In addition to the work of the legislators, there was a great deal of work done by the non-profit grassroots organization Raise Your Pints, which was previously successful in raising the Alcohol By Volume (ABV) limit to 10%.

What started out as a restaurant in Lyons, CO and then became a brewpub in 1999, Oskar Blues has been at the forefront of the canning revolution since 2002. Dubbed the “Canned Beer Apocalypse,” they started out canning Dale’s Pale Ale, a “hoppy, assertive-but-elegant” beer on a table-top machine that sealed a single can at a time.

Since then the brewery has seen a great deal of growth. In 2012 they posted a 52% increase in sales, a result of a $4 million expansion that added 14 fermenters, and opened a second facility in Brevard, NC, factors that led Beverage World Magazine to choose them for this inaugural award. In opening a second location on the East Coast Oskar Blues will be able to capitalize on reduced shipping for the 45% of their product that is consumed in the Eastern U.S. The 30,000 square foot facility is located at the base of Pisgah National Forest, less than an hour south of Asheville. With the addition of the second facility they will be able to increase annual production by 50%, taking them to nearly 130,000 barrels produced this year.

Read the full article by Beverage World Magazine.

Check out what is on tap at

Oskar Blues Home Made Liquids

Virginia Beach, VA will be the home of Green Flash’s second brewery, slated to open in 2015. The 58,000 square foot facility will be located on a nine-acre industrial plot, employ 40+ people and have a capacity of 100,000 barrels annually (doubling their current capacity). Like their original West Coast brewery all brew house and fermentation cellar equipment will be manufactured by Paul Mueller Company of Springfield, MO. The facility will go beyond just a production facility, including an expansive tasting room, outdoor beer garden, retail space and large event space.

The 11-year old brewery has seen great success, winning awards for their beers as well as being held in high regard by craft beer drinkers. The downside of popularity, which many breweries face, is the ability to produce enough beer to meet demand. With this move Green Flash is investing in production capacity ahead of demand and will benefit from freight efficiencies and fresher beer for their East Coast consumers.