Nine Band signs with Sipp Industries to produce Major Hemp HIPA

Image credit: Sipp Industries, Inc.

Nine Band Brewing Co. of Allen has signed an agreement with California-based Sipp Industries, Inc. for the production and national distribution of the West Coast company's Major Hemp HIPA.

Sipp Industries is notable in that it's the first publicly-traded firm in the U.S. to focus primarily on production and sales of hemp-infused beer. By way of established partnerships, it currently markets Major Hemp HIPA in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and Illinois, but with the Nine Band accord, Sipp Industries has set its sights on Texas and beyond.

"We're ecstatic to be working with owner Keith Ashley and his team at Nine Band," says Ted Jorgenson, president of Major Hemp - a wholly owned subsidiary of Sipp Industries. "The Texas market is enormous and Nine Band has relationships with some of the largest distributors in the state.  We now possess the capabilities to expand nationally and are currently speaking with distributors in major markets about Major Hemp HIPA.”

The formulation for Major Hemp HIPA was developed by Sipp Industries and launched in November 2018. Like similar beers recently released in Texas (New Belgium The Hemperor, Noble Rey Certified Dank), Major Hemp HIPA utilizes the hemp seed, which is free of both THC and CBD.

According to a press release, Nine Band intends to begin production this month, with plans to deliver Major Hemp HIPA to California and other large markets across the country. Presently, the brewery is working together with Sipp Industries to gain necessary label and recipe approvals from the appropriate governing bodies.

North Texas Craft Beer Conspectus - November 15, 2018 edition

The list of subjects covered in this edition of the Conspectus includes an international award, one brewery's charitable activities and the introduction of two new names to the North Texas scene.

Cheers!


The Regulator wins silver at European Beer Star competition

Rahr & Sons Brewing Co. of Fort Worth earned a silver medal for The Regulator in the German-Style Heller Doppelbock category at the 2018 European Beer Star competition. The international event, which drew 2300 entries from 51 countries, focuses on beer styles of European origin. Click here for a complete list of winners.


Nine Band partners with Chris Kyle Frog Foundation, opens Oklahoma site

Earlier this month, Nine Band Brewing Co. of Allen launched a new partnership with the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation (CKFF). Centered around the brewery's easy-drinking honey ale, The Badge Honey Blonde, a portion of the proceeds from sales of the beer will go to CKFF for the benefit of military and first responder families.

In other Nine Band news, the company is now brewing at its location inside the Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma.


Toasty Bros. set to bring its brand of beer to market

The Denton-based company, Toasty Bros., will soon begin operations after entering into a joint proprietorship with Hop & Sting at Grapevine Craft Brewery. Founder Toast Tiensvold intends to brew small batches for sale at accounts in Denton, with the long-term goal of opening a taproom and brewery in the city. One of his beers, Maison Saison, was featured as part of Barley & Board's Home Brewers League program.

A TTB license has been approved for Toasty Bros., while a TABC application is pending.


Beard Science receives TABC approval

An entity to be known as Beard Science has obtained a brewpub license from the TABC. The venture is one of two in the works from Brain Storm Shelter, the company behind Twisted Root Burger Co. and Truck Yard. The brewpub is part of Truck Yard's upcoming site in The Colony, located in the Grandscape development at 5949-5959 Grove Ln. (east of Nebraska Furniture Mart off Destination Dr.).

Brain Storm Shelter is also working on By The Horns Brewing Co., which is going into The Backyard project in Mansfield.

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Image credits (top to bottom): Rahr & Sons Brewing Co., Nine Band Brewing Co., Toast Bros., Brain Storm Shelter.

North Texas scores six medals at 2018 Best of Craft Beer Awards

Image credit: Best of Craft Beer Awards.

Now in its fifth year, the 2018 Best of Craft Beer Awards competition was held this past weekend in Bend, Oregon. Five North Texas breweries were honored at the event, which resulted in area brewers bringing home a total of six medals.

Beer styles were evaluated against the 2017 Brewers Association Guidelines, the only exceptions being the addition of special categories for Northeast-Style IPAs and Fruited Berliner Weisse beers. Overall, 145 breweries from 35 states won awards this year, with medals handed out in 86 different categories.

This list of North Texas winners is given below, or you can click here for a complete rundown of the 2018 results.


Bitter Sisters Brewing Co.

• Gold for Family Trip Belgian Tripel in the Belgian-Style Tripel or Pale Strong Ale category.

Deep Ellum Brewing Co.

• Gold for Local Legend in the Sweet Stout or Cream Stout category.
• Bronze for Deep Ellum Lager in the Other Lager category.

Nine Band Brewing Co.

• Gold for Hoopsnake Hefeweizen in the German-Style Wheat Beer category.

Rabbit Hole Brewing

• Bronze for Rapture Fusion Brown Ale in the American-Style Brown Ale category.

Shannon Brewing Co.

• Bronze for Bourbon Barrel Irish Red in the Wood- and Barrel-Aged Pale to Amber Beer category.

Cheers and congratulations to all!

Deep Ellum, Nine Band medal at 2017 Best of Craft Beer Awards

Image credit: Best of Craft Beer Awards.

Winners from the 2017 Best of Craft Beer Awards competition were announced this week, with two area brewers being among those bringing home medals.

Judging criteria was based on the 2016 Brewers Association Guidelines, which represented a change for an event that had previously relied on standards set by the BJCP. This time around, a total of 1751 beers were submitted for evaluation, with 88 judges awarding medals in 82 different categories.

As for breweries from North Texas, both Nine Band Brewing Co. of Allen and the Dallas-based Deep Ellum Brewing Co. scored wins at this particular competition for the second year in a row.

This year's results:

Deep Ellum Brewing

• Silver for Rye Pils in the American-Style Lager or Light Lager category.

Nine Band Brewing

• Bronze for Toad Choker Barley Wine in the American-Style Barley Wine Ale or Wheat Wine Ale category.
• Bronze for Ghost Cow Oktoberfest in the German-Style Märzen or Oktoberfest/Wiesn category.

Cheers and congratulations to the winners!

North Texas continues winning ways at 2016 Great American Beer Festival

Photo © Brewers Association.

The 30th annual edition of the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is now in the books, and if you've been on social media at all of late you've probably already seen the list of winners. If by some chance you haven't, though, they are summarized below.

Prior to that, though, it's worth noting a few statistics related to the competition. This year, 7227 beers were judged, resulting in 286 medals awarded to winners in 96 categories covering 161 different beer styles. Over 260 judges participated in the evaluation of competition entries, which included an additional 88 in the growing Pro-Am division.

Style-wise, the American-Style IPA was once again the most-entered category, despite a small drop in entries compared to 2015. Other popular categories included Imperial IPA, American-Style Strong Pale Ale, Coffee Beer and Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer. The latter two were new to the top five this year, with American-Style Pale Ale, American Style-Sour Ale and German-Style Sour Ale categories landing in slots just outside the top five in terms of the rankings.

As for North Texas, local breweries had another good showing in 2016, winning five medals overall. In fact, this marks the third straight year that breweries from the Metroplex have won at least five medals at the competition. Among this year's honorees, Nine Band Brewing Co. and Revolver Brewing brought home GABF medals for the first time, while Community Beer Co., Grapevine Craft Brewery and Panther Island Brewing Co. were repeat winners. Pictures of medal-winning breweries, where available, are posted here for your perusal (ceremony photos © 2016 Jason E. Kaplan).

Panther Island Brewing Co./Clifton Ellis: Gold for Just Rye'te (Pro-Am). 

Revolver Brewing: Gold for Anodyne Wheat Wine (Other Strong Beer).

Community Beer Co.: Bronze for Witbier (Belgian-Style Witbier).

Not pictured:

Grapevine Craft Brewery: Silver for Sir William's (English-Style Brown Ale).

Nine Band Brewing Co.: Bronze for Toad Choker Barley Wine (Barley Wine-Style Ale).

For more on the 2016 GABF and the historical performance of breweries from North Texas, click the links below:

• Official press release from the Brewers Association, with a summary of festival statistics.
• Download a list of 2016 winners in .pdf form.
• View a historical chronicle of awards won by North Texas breweries at GABF and the World Beer Cup.

Local brewers among 2016 Best of Craft Beer winners

Six North Texas brewers are among the honorees recently announced for the 2016 Best of Craft Beer Awards.

Billed as "America's newest craft beer contest", the BJCP-sanctioned Best of Craft Beer Awards competition awarded its first medals in 2014, making this the third annual event for the Bend, Oregon-based organization. This year, 65 different styles of beer were evaluated, with gold, silver and bronze medals awarded in each category. Judging was carried out by professional judges and industry leaders, and it should be noted that some medals were not awarded in categories with limited entries.


Winners from North Texas include:

Bitters Sisters Brewery

• Silver for Busy Body Blonde Lager in the Helles or Helles Bock category.
• Bronze for Family Trip in the Belgian Tripel category.

Deep Ellum Brewing

• Silver for Wealth & Taste in the Specialty Wood-Aged category.

Grapevine Craft Brewery

• Bronze for NightWatch in the Oatmeal Stout category.

Nine Band Brewing

• Gold for Blue Lacy in the American Brown Ale category.

Rabbit Hole Brewing

• Gold for 10/6 in the English Pale or English IPA category.

Shannon Brewing

• Gold for Chocolate Stout in the Sweet Stout category.
• Silver for IPA in the English Pale or English IPA category.

Cheers and congratulations to all!