Some words about the beer inside this can coming . . . eventually, but certainly not the next few weeks.
Stan Hieronymus
One link, one paragraph
The paragraph:
“Now Ye Three Lords, the place is a pub again. Entry is through a kind of foyer and, depending on your point of view, it has rather subdued lighting or is a bit gloomy. To the right is a long bar festooned by many taps dispensing London Brewing’s keg offerings and others. In the middle is a set of wickets with, on this visit, four cask beers on offer. On the left are sets of comfortable banquette type seating set to face each other, with some room dividers nicely breaking up the space. Walls are painted black, dark grey or dark blue. In the circumstances, it was hard to tell. Ceiling lights and bar lights are fabulous and look as though they cost a bob or two. The bar back sports spirits and is mirrored and looks good.”
Sign me up.
One link, one paragraph
First up, the paragraph, because the link doesn’t go directly to the story.
“If you want to know whether your relationship is built to last, forget the pros-and-cons list, skip the astrology compatibility charts, and go straight for a bottle of saison.”
That’s the lead to “Saison as Relationship Barometer: Dating. Farmhouse ale. Saving yourself six months of disappointment.” A clever way to present a field guide to an elusive style. The story is only available in print in Final Gravity 10, and here’s a link to get it.
Rogue Ales: What the numbers show us
You may have heard that all the doors at Rogue Ales turned up shut last week. Jeff Alworth wrote an obituary, and reminded us how influential Rogue was. I agree. We first met Jack Joyce during the Oregon Brewers Festival in 1995. And I remember XS Russian Imperial Stout vividly. It paved the way for other intense beers.
Alworth mentioned that Rogue remained one of the largest craft brewers (50th in 2024) in the United States, which made me wonder when Rogue first made the list and how it had moved up and down through the years. As I was looking through the numbers, my goal changed. At one point, I thought about comparing Rogue and Anchor through the years, but that turn out to be particularly interesting. Instead, I charted Rogue and New Glarus Brewing, and added in Brewers Association defined Craft as well.
Two thoughts before I leave you to consider the numbers. First, comparing almost any brewery to New Glarus is not fair. Too bad. Also, the Craft numbers underwent some adjustments through the years for a variety of reasons (most notably to account for breweries that were once consider Craft and then were not). So there is a chance that I grabbed the 2017 number in 2018 and it has since been revised.
| Year | Rogue Ales | Domestic Craft | New Glarus Brewing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 25,000 barrels | 5,307,057 barrels | 9,406 barrels |
| 2001 | 27,458 | 5,352,580 | 10,478 |
| 2022 | 29,817 | 5,460,742 | 13,700 |
| 2003 | 28,503 | 5,532,031 | 18,700 |
| 2004 | 38,084 | 5,922,272 | 26,113 |
| 2005 | 43,150 | 6,409,290 | 39,622 |
| 2006 | 51,985 | 7,172,536 | 54,261 |
| 2007 | 67,737 | 8,018,237 | 64,953 |
| 2008 | 69,642 | 8,483,659 | 75,137 |
| 2009 | 76,342 | 9,064,629 | 78,733 |
| 2010 | 81,958 | 10,133,977 | 91,937 |
| 2011 | 92,110 | 11,467,337 | 108,690 |
| 2012 | 113,209 | 13,246,390 | 126,727 |
| 2013 | 104,000 | 15,504,850 | 146,310 |
| 2014 | 117,000 | 22,133,379 | 162,287 |
| 2015 | 105,961 | 24,335,413 | 194,894 |
| 2016 | 105,000 | 24,302,549 | 214,006 |
| 2017 | 98,000 | 24,958,560 | 226,328 |
| 2018 | 88,000 | 25,457,429 | 231,875 |
| 2019 | 89,000 | 26,320,151 | 236,161 |
| 2020 | 75,000 | 22,842,008 | 206,302 |
| 2021 | 88,000 | 24,746,826 | 232,539 |
| 2022 | 67,000 | 24,179,853 | 231,395 |
| 2023 | 55,881 | 24,048,217 | 228,132 |
| 2024 | 45,602 | 23,103,985 | 232,171 |