More hops, less filling? These are some of the best new low-calorie craft beers on the market.

By. Fritz Hahn

Since the dawn of the craft beer era, the mantra has been “Flavorful, complex beers are good. Fizzy, mass-produced yellow lagers are bad.”

And yet the best-selling beers in America continue to prominently feature the words “Light” or “Lite” on their labels. Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch’s No. 2 brand is no longer Budweiser but instead Michelob Ultra, which boasts about minuscule calorie and carb counts on its packaging. While Bud Light, Coors Light and Miller Lite all posted sales declines in 2018, according to market research firm IRI, Michelob Ultra did not — its 15.9 percent sales increase translated to about $1.9 billion.

It would be impossible for other brewers not to notice these trends, especially as craft beer’s growth slows. “People are paying attention to caloric intake and carbs,” says Jeremy Marshall, the brewmaster at Lagunitas since 2013. “It’s no secret that millennials are more alcohol-averse. Craft beer traditionally has a higher ABV [alcohol by volume], and it has more stuff in it. It’s on the list of things a dietitian would tell you to avoid.”Continue Reading

Ale Sharpton Points The Way To The Best Craft Beer In Atlanta, Other Georgia Cities

By. Gary Stoller

The taste of Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout blew Dennis Malcolm Byron's mind and forever changed his life.

The stout, which Brooklyn has brewed since 1994, pointed the future direction for Byron, an Atlanta-based craft beer ambassador, freelance writer and blogger known as Ale Sharpton. His Cruisin' for a Bruisin' blogs can be found on his website, and he recently collaborated with Colorado-based New Belgium Brewing to brew Piano Keys, a chocolate and vanilla imperial stout.

"Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout introduced me to to how a beer could actually taste like chocolate, yet not be too sweet and still amazingly potent," Sharpton says. "Then I started understanding the various tasting and aromatic properties of individual hops, leading to West Coast pale ales and IPAs."

Sharpton grew up in Ithaca, New York, the home of Cornell University and Ithaca College. He graduated from Cornell and later adopted his monicker, because “I wanted something creative, catchy and more recognizable than my legal name.

“Rev. Sharpton and I are passionate about what we do, and I wanted to incorporate that along with recognizing the best beverage in the world. There is no parody or comedic approach of disrespect.”Continue Reading

Senate moves to let breweries sell beer to go, make it easier to own several liquor stores

The Texas Senate restored a measure Wednesday allowing breweries to sell beer to go from their taprooms to a bill allowing the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission to continue operating. It also approved a measure that would loosen restrictions on the number of liquor store permits individuals can hold.

State Sen. Dawn Buckingham, R-Lakeway, said her amendment allowing breweries to sell beer to go — something allowed in every state except Texas — would foster job creation, economic development, entrepreneurship and tourism.

“We stand our best when we stand together, and we come together on issues that have been divisive in the past,” Buckingham said during the floor debate. “Our constituents elected us to be bold — and with that, I give you beer to go, baby.”

The TABC bill's sponsor in the Senate, Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, also added an amendment that would allow individuals to hold up to 250 liquor store permits. Under current law, individuals are prohibited from owning more than five liquor stores, with two exceptions. One exception applies to anyone who owned a liquor store before May 1, 1949. The other allows anyone with a parent, child or sibling who is also in the liquor store business to join forces and obtain an unlimited amount of permits. Together, those two exceptions only apply to 11 of more than 2,600 liquor stores in Texas.Continue Reading

Utah creates new online drawing for distributing Pappy Van Winkle, other ‘unicorn’ liquor

By.Kathy Stephenson

The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control soon will allow customers to sign up for a chance to win — well, actually, buy — rare, high-demand liquor products like Pappy Van Winkle and Old Forester bourbons.

On Tuesday, the DABC announced that it will now hold random drawings to ensure that these items are distributed in a “fair and equitable” way to consumers.

The Rare High Demand Products drawing is expected to begin next month with a lesser-known spirit to test the system, DABC Deputy Director Cade Meier told the state liquor commission Tuesday.

“Many people are excited about these products,” he said, “and the state needs to find a better method to deal with them.”

To participate, Utah consumers will have to create a profile on the DABC website and register for the drawings in which they may be interested. Those who win the opportunity to purchase products would be notified by email and would be able to select the liquor store where they want to pick up and buy the item.

Products that will be featured in a drawing will be announced during liquor commission meetings — typically held the last Tuesday of each month — and on the DABC website. Consumers will have five days to put their name into the hopper.

The drawing — don’t call it a lottery, that’s illegal in Utah — has been used by several other states, said Meier, who added that it is open only to Utah residents and those in the active military here. DABC employees may not participate, neither can restaurants, bars or others businesses with state liquor licenses.

Only one bottle can be purchased per address, and reselling the product is prohibited.

Minnetonka Target applies for a liquor license — again

By.Frances Stevenson

MINNETONKA — A new liquor store may be coming to Minnetonka pending the City Council’s decision on its liquor license.

The store, which has applied for a liquor license from the city of Minnetonka twice in the past, is the Target at 4848 County Road 101.

Target has applied for a liquor license to open a separate-entrance store at the SuperTarget location, Target spokesperson Angie Thompson told Lakeshore Weekly News.

“This application supports Target’s ongoing efforts to deliver a convenient, one-stop shopping experience for our guests,” Thompson said.

The Minnetonka City Council held a public hearing on the off-sale liquor license at its May 6 meeting. The public hearing will continue at its June 24 meeting.

Target applied for a liquor license in 2015 and again in 2017, in 2015 the license was denied, in 2017 Target withdrew their application, according to a report given by Minnetonka Community Development Director Julie Wischnack at the City Council meeting. The store does have a 3.2 liquor license, which allows it to sell lower alcohol content beer.

The City Council’s main concerns when it comes to liquor licenses in past years, according to Wischnack, has been the number of liquor stores within the city and if the city is adequately served. When Target applied for licenses previously, the City Council decided there were sufficient liquor stores within city limits.

In 2019, Target is planning on purchasing Strong Liquor, a liquor store in Minnetonka and one of the city’s stand-alone liquor license holders. While Target cannot purchase Strong Liquor’s license, it can buy a store to attempt to keep the number of liquor stores in the city the same. If Target is granted a liquor license and it buys out Strong Liquor, the number of stand-alone liquor stores in Minnetonka will stay at 10.

This is the same way Total Wine eased the City Council’s concerns about granting it a liquor license. In 2015, Total Wine applied for a liquor license for a location next to the Whole Foods in Minnetonka, according to Wischnack. The City Council denied the license because it was concerned about traffic flow and it felt the city was adequately served by liquor stores.In 2016, Total Wine sued the city of Minnetonka for denying it a liquor license for “arbitrary and capricious” reasons, according to City Attorney Corrine Heine.Continue Reading

This is how you play the game: Utah ax-throwing business gets beer license by adding pool tables

By.Kathy Stephenson

What does an ax-throwing business have to do to get a beer license around here?

Install three pool tables and some arcade games.After being denied a liquor license last month, the owners of Social Axe Throwing in Ogden added those games to their new business — and it was enough to qualify for a recreational beer license from the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.Last month, the DABC commission denied the Social Axe’s beer license request — as well as a similar application from Salt Lake City’s Heart & Seoul Karaoke — saying the businesses did not qualify as recreational amenities under a new liquor law passed by the Utah Legislature.

The law lists specific businesses that can have recreational beer licenses. Bowling alleys, golf courses, pool halls, ski resorts and government-owned concert venues, for instance, made the list.

Karaoke and ax throwing did not.

Adding the pool tables and games appeased most of the liquor commission. It voted 6-1 on Tuesday to grant the license that allows the sale of beer that is 3.2 percent alcohol by weight (or 4 percent by volume).

Commissioner Thomas Jacobson offered the lone dissenting vote, saying the Social Axe was not complying with the spirit of the law and should change its signs to say it was a pool hall.

Continue Reading

Taco Bell expands its cantina concept, where you can order booze with your tacos

The Chelsea Cantina serves several types of drinks.  Photo Credit: Charles Eckert 

Spring’s annual rite of renewal played itself out on a prime patch of Chelsea real estate, when a booze-infused Taco Bell took the place of longtime tenant Radio Shack. The corporate owner, Yum!, is betting its take on a cantina will become a destination for customers who hunger for libations considerably more potent than the fizzy fountain drinks found on a typical Taco Bell menu.

Situated at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and West 23rd Street, the Chelsea Cantina joins several other iterations of this tipsy-turvy business model across the city, including outposts at 500 and 840 Eighth Ave. in Manhattan. All three alcohol-serving cantinas in Manhattan are owned and operated by Taco Bell. 

“While suburban concepts with drive-thrus will always be a priority for us, we knew if we created a restaurant format for highly walkable areas, we would be able to further tap into urban markets," said Amanda Clark, Taco Bell’s executive vice president of restaurant experience.

Since the concept’s 2015 debut in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood, Taco Bell has opened cantinas in New Haven, Chicago, Orlando, Las Vegas, Cleveland, San Francisco and elsewhere, including a franchise under construction at 545 Sixth Ave. in Manhattan. 

To date, Taco Bell has launched 18 urban-format stores (which include cantinas) across the city. A Taco Bell representative said these outposts are designed with open kitchens, local approaches to design and artwork as well as exclusive shareable menus. The cantinas also serve alcohol. 

And serve, they do, everything from Bud Light to Dos Equis to shots mixed into slushy-style Freeze beverages. 

Blue Point Brewing Co., a Long Island-based craft brewery, did “a lot of research crafting the right beer for that [cantina] concept,” including a visit to the Taco Bell test kitchen in California, said Blue Point president Jenna Lally. That exploration yielded the Big City Bell Pilsner, a toasted lager custom-made for the menu.

“Pilsners in general are pretty well-balanced, beers,” Lally said. “Taco Bell has very pronounced flavors, so we wanted a beer that would not overpower that. When you’re eating a spicy taco, it offsets that flavor.”

During the cantina’s liquor license permit request process, locals expressed concerns that mixing this rich tapestry of Chelsea eclecticism with alcohol would yield a strange brew.

Last call was among the bones of contention when Taco Bell went before Manhattan Community Board 4's Business Licenses & Permits Committee (BLP). BLP recommended the State Liquor Authority deny its application for a restaurant wine, beer and cider license — based in part on concerns from neighborhood residents and businesses that the cantina would exacerbate quality of life problems in an area that already sees its share of litter, loitering, public drunkenness, and, occasionally, vomit.

At the time, BLP co-chair Frank Holozubiec recalled, the community was concerned that "people will go there to continue eating and drinking" after a night out at the area's many bars and clubs.

Still, the state granted the license to the Chelsea Cantina, which started serving alcohol in mid-April.

Customers can order alcohol from 11 a.m. through midnight Monday through Thursday and up until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, according to a store manager.

Holozubiec said the community board has not fielded any complaints about alcohol consumption related to the cantina.

Bill Borock, president of the Council of Chelsea Block Associations agreed, saying, “I have not heard anything at all about [the Chelsea] Taco Bell.”

Taco Bell stations security guards at cantinas on weekend evenings. 

With Memorial Day in the rear view mirror, summer’s warmer weather is sure to bring more crowds to the Chelsea Cantina, and possibly, buoy the concept's proliferation. 

“The majority of urban markets across the U.S. are still untapped for us,” Clark said, “so we still have a major opportunity to grow where our fans want us most.”