Heavy Seas Beer will be introducing a brand new offering in March - the Alpha Effect, a Hazy IPA. This limited release will be available in all states where Heavy Seas beer is distributed.

With a lightning strike of exotic hops, the Alpha Effect is a hazy and dank IPA thundering with juicy hop aroma and flavor. With a hefty 7%, the Alpha Effect has enough malt to balance the ridiculous amount of hops we used to create this category 5 monster. Hazy, but never muddy, this is an expertly brewed IPA. Take cover, the Alpha Effect is in effect!

"Any time we start to plan a new beer, I get excited," says Heavy Seas Brewmaster, Christopher Leonard. "With our newest limited release The Alpha Effect (TAE), we've designed an all new IPA from the ground up which has gotten EVERYONE in the brewery excited. After extensive research (tastings!) we decided to hop TAE predominantly with Columbus hops. We do not use Columbus hops in any of our other beers, so TAE will certainly provide a unique flavor profile within our portfolio. The beer is hazy, with a modest portion of malted wheat in the grist. Straw colored, it has a clean, crisp malt profile. Juicy, resiny, piney hop aromas and flavors are the stars of this show, however. Some Citra and Centennial hops play supporting roles to Columbus' powerful performance. If you like hops, find The Alpha Effect. You won't be disappointed!"

Continuing the momentum from Diageo Beer Company USA's positive half year financial results, Diageo recently announced its intention to build a US version of Dublin's popular Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Baltimore County, Maryland. As currently planned, the company would build a mid-sized Guinness brewery and a Guinness visitor experience with an innovation microbrewery at the company's existing Relay, Maryland site. This new brewing capability and consumer experience, combined with a packaging and warehousing operation, would bring the company's investment in Relay to approximately $50 million. The new brewery would be a home for new Guinness beers created for the US market, while the iconic Guinness Stouts will continue to be brewed at St. James's Gate in Dublin, Ireland. Visitors would be able to tour the working brewery, sample experimental beers brewed on-site at the taproom, and purchase Guinness merchandise at the retail store.  While finalization of these plans is still contingent on reaching agreement on several considerations, the project would represent a significant investment in Maryland in terms of economic development, job creation and tourism.

New York State has surpassed 300 breweries for the first time since Prohibition, and now has a total of 326 in the state according to the New York State Brewers Association (NYSBA). The NYSBA was founded in 2003, at that time there were only 38 breweries in the state, but do to favorable legislation in recent years by Governor Andrew Cuomo and his administration, the number of breweries continues to grow, adding to a $4 billion economic impact in the state, that ranks 4th highest in the country. "Before Prohibition, New York State had 350 breweries with a population of 5 million people," said Paul Leone, Executive Director of the NYSBA. "Today, we are seeing an average of one brewery opening every 10 days, so we should eclipse the 350 mark sometime this summer or fall."

Another reason for the growth can be attributed to the 2013 Farm Brewing license that was created to incentivize and require breweries to use NYS grown hops and malting barley. This has reignited the hops industry with hundreds of acres being grown and harvested each year as well as multiple local malt houses now opening around the state to meet the demand.

Sudwerk Brewing Co.'s award-winning Farmer's Market Citrus Gose rolled out of the tanks this past Friday. This tart and tangy brew was offered during their Lights in a Pinch. Lights in a Pinch, a program started by the City of Davis, offers night time cyclists a bike light on the fly and Sudwerk acts as a hub.

Sudwerk Brewing Co. is located in Davis, California.

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Independent Distilling, in collaboration with Three Taverns Brewery, has created Georgia’s first Bierschnaps as part of their Outlier series of limited and special releases. This beautiful spirit is the result of Three Taverns asking if Independent would like to distill some of their Feest Noel winter ale. The answer was of course “YES!” but with no real idea of what the end product might be. Made of 100% malted barley, Feest Noel also contains Belgian dark candy sugar along with cardamom, allspice, and clove that carry over in the distillation process. The result is a truly unique spirit with a strong malt base, floral aromatic notes, and spice from beginning to end. Three Taverns calls Feest Noel “merriment in a glass,” and that by distilling and aging that merriment Independent has created utter jubilation for your sipping pleasure. Do not miss the chance to be a part of history and take home a bottle of this very limited spirit!

Tasting Notes:
Nose: Herbal with soft vanilla, floral, ginger, licorice, holiday spice.   
Palate: Cinnamon, cardamom, and mace beautifully balanced with oak.
Finish: long with subtle sweet spice with a hint wood.

On Saturday January 28, Southern Sky held a bottle release party for the Barrel Aged Alepocalypse. They took 30 gallons of the 2016 batch of Alepocalypse and aged it for 3 months in a chocolate rye whiskey barrel from Kennesaw's Lazy Guy Distillery. The beer, already having complex notes of chocolate and graham cracker, picked up vanilla, chocolate, oak and a little bit of rye spice from the whiskey barrel. The barrel yielded just over 100 bottles, which were each hand-filled, hand-dipped in wax, and then the labels were applied by hand. This was truly and hand-crafted product!

There were over 100 people in attendance on Saturday, with samples poured by Lazy Guy ambassadors and food catered by Rafferty's.