Miller Lite Celebrates Return of Football with ‘Heartbeakingly Beautiful’ Gold Rings

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

The Miller Timeless Collection includes a one-of-a-kind set of six heartbreakingly beautiful rings for six one-of-a-kind friends. Each custom ring is carefully adorned with a variety of precious gems, all inlaid in 10K gold. A built-in sensor inside each ring detects when another collection ring is close by, and when all together, they unlock free Miller Lite for life – allowing those who possess the rings to commit to their crew not simply for the season, but for eternity. To see the beautiful rings in action, check out the video here.

“There is no truer embodiment of Miller Time than cheering on your favorite team, with your gameday crew, and a cold beer in hand,” said Sofia Colucci, vp-marketing, Miller Family of Brands. “We desperately missed this feeling last year, which is why fans now deserve to taste victory all season long – with fine jewelry to match. The Miller Timeless Collection celebrates our long-awaited reunions by unlocking a lifetime of memories and Miller Time.”

For a chance to win this incredible collection, fans must follow Miller Lite on Instagram and post a photo of their gameday crew with the hashtags #MillerTimelessCollection and #Contest. The post must tag @Miller Lite and must include a caption sharing why the group deserves to win The Miller Timeless Collection and “beer for life”. More contest details can be found at www.MillerTimelessCollection.com.

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UConn Partners with Kinsmen Brewing to Intro Husky Hops

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

The partnership between the University of Connecticut Division of Athletics and Kinsmen Brewing Co. of Milldale, Conn., was sparked by Jeff Delucia.  He a former UConn Huskies football co-captain who’s now the manager of Kinsman Brewing.  

“Husky Hops is a great tribute to our Husky spirit,” said David Benedict, UConn Director of Athletics. “We are particularly proud of being able to partner with a growing local company and participating in an industry which is growing throughout Connecticut and the region.”

It is debuting at Rentschler Field during the UConn-Yale football game this weekend.

The new IPA is described as “medium bodied yet refreshing” with a base made from clean American pilsner malt and fluffy malted wheat with intense notes of pineapple, white peach and tangerine. “We had been discussing the idea of a special Husky craft beer with the University for quite a while,” said Kinsmen co-owner, Bruce Staebler, “and we are so proud of the product developed by our team.”

The Husky Hops label is graphically arresting and all-husky, featuring a close-up of the full front face of Jonathan, the University’s vaunted canine icon, with his penetrating, piercing eyes in muted shades of dark blues offset by the product’s name in bold white letters outlined in red.

 

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What We’re Reading —

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

How the Hoffmanns are making waves in Missouri wine country

The family’s company is hoping to turn the Augusta, Missouri, wine region into a national destination rivaling Napa Valley.  (KSDK)

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Washington State Winegrape Harvest Down 11%

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

That’s according to the Washington State Wine Commission’s annual Grape Production Report, which showed 178,500 tons of wine grapes were harvested in 2020, an 11% decrease compared to 2019.

“The smaller harvest is due to many factors,” explained Steve Warner, President of the Washington State Wine Commission. “The first factor is Mother Nature. We had a series of freeze events in October 2019, which many farmers say led to smaller canopies and yields in 2020. Some regions experienced wind and rain at bloom time, which contributed to a smaller cluster size. We then had several smoke events during harvest, which we are finding to have had limited negative impact to the grapes on a widespread scale, but did impact picking decisions. All of this paired with varied levels of business concerns related to COVID-19 added up to a smaller crop.”

Cabernet Sauvignon again rose to the top at 52,000 tons or 29% of the total. Chardonnay was second at 28,100 tons or 16% of the total. Riesling, Merlot and Syrah rounded out the top five, which altogether equated to more than 80% of the crop. For four years running, red varieties have accounted for nearly 60% of the total production. Every published variety saw a decrease in production with the exception of Riesling, which saw a slight increase compared to 2019. Farmers received an average of $1,495 per ton, which was an increase of $180 over the previous year. Cabernet Franc received the highest average price per ton at $2,167.

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More On-Premise Taps Are Pouring: BeerBoard

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

The average location has 20 taps, BeerBoard said.  That’s up one from its prior report, and the percentage of taps pouring grew to 74% for the Sept. 23-26 weekend, up 4.2%.

More good news for brewers:  For the third straight period, Volume saw a marked increase — this time up +13.7% (after climbing +10.8% and +3.8% climb in the  two prior periods). Every state tracked saw double-digit growth, led by Tennessee  (+30.1%), Illinois (+29.4%) and New York (+26.7%).

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Spirits Exports from Irish Republic Fall 16% from Covid

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Joel Whitaker

That’s according to an annual market report from Drinks Ireland|Spirits which shows that the value of spirits exports fell last year to €990 million from €1.18 billion in 2019.

It attrributes the decline to the collapse of global travel retail, the second largest market for Irish whiskey and fourth largest for Irish cream liqueur before Covid.  Recovery “could be slow,” it says.

The overall global sales volume of Ireland’s spirits declined slightly, from 20.4 million nine-litre cases in 2019 to 19.7 million last year, the report says.  The most popular markets for Irish spirits last year were the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and Ireland respectively.

A separate report shows the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the drinks and hospitality industry, which is expected to employ 140,000 people next year, down 40,000 from the fourth quarter of 2019.

Drinks Ireland is urging the government to reduce bev/al taxes, noting that in “high-income European countries like France, Germany, Spain, and Italy, where drinks and hospitality businesses are equally important to international exports and tourism, excise tax is significantly lower. For example, a pint of beer served in a German bar is levied with just 5 cents of excise compared to 55 cents in Ireland. In France, a glass of wine has an excise tax of just 1 cent, and in Italy and Spain zero.

‘In Italy, excise tax on a 70cl bottle of Irish whiskey, which is €2.90, is lower than the excise tax on a bottle of Irish whiskey produced and sold in Ireland, where it is €11.92.

‘Lowering excise tax on drinks products by 7.5% requires no new legislation or EU approval. The Government can do it quite literally overnight, with overnight benefits for drinks and hospitality business owners and their employees.’

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