Reports of hop growth outside of PacNW base epitomized by look into developments in Indiana by West Lafayette's WLFI this week. Brand new Sugar Creek Hop Farm plans to start stringing up trellises to grow the bitter flower on a small scale for local brewers, but won't be "fully operational until 2016," according to report. It's one of 2 area farms planting hops in the state. Indy's Purdue University has also taken to researching varieties of hops that might grow well in the state's climate. A researcher working on an acre of hops at the school moved out from similar work at Oregon State University and is already working on public outreach to educate locals about the crop.  

Not quite as elegant as the Brewers Assn's "20 by 20" goal for craft market share in the US, but a big change nonetheless. Japanese giant Kirin announced plans to create craft-focused Spring Valley Brewery subsidiary, which will bring 2 small breweries with on-site pubs to market next March, Reuters reports. Kirin's volume dip has been even more precipitous than those seen by big brewers in the US and its larger competitor in Japan, Asahi. Kirin sales dipped 6.6% during 1st 6 mos of 2014, widening the gap between market leader Asahi by another 5 share. So Kirin will "go back to the basics of beer-making," prexy Yoshinori Isozaki said during press conference this week, as "it's time for a change in Japan's beer market." The co is shooting for its craft play to hit 3% of total domestic beer sales by 2020, somewhere around $148 mil in revs, per Reuters. "People say we are laps behind in the premium segment," Isozaki said, a segment that grew near 20% Jan-June this yr (and defined differently there than in US), "this is our answer." Take a gander at premium beer prices in Japan too: Kirin will offer 6-pks of 330 ml (11.1 oz) bottles of its first offering for equivalent of $29.50 at its online shop before the pubs open, "tweaking the taste according to customer feedback."

Scotch with Bite: BrewDog Plans "Spirits Division" Here's another small brewer heading down the distiller road, this time across the pond. Fast-growing Scottish brewery BrewDog plans to start distilling full-time at its new (and still expanding) Aberdeenshire brewery, according to the Drinks Business. Few details available outside of a job posting by BrewDog. The co already has a strong US presence aided by American Brew Dogs tv series, now in its second season on Esquire Network. And recall BrewDog imported to US by Anchor, also a distiller, which has a small ownership stake in the Scottish co.  

Large airports (and airlines) across the US have been responding to consumer demand for more craft options for a while, now trickling down to smaller airports. SC's Greenville-Spartanburg Intl Airport (GSP) is going big with two local brewery-branded dining options as part of current $125 mil upgrade. An RJ Rockers Flight Room just opened, with similar Thomas Creek Brewery spot soon to follow, according to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal. RJ Rockers opened as a brewpub in Spartanburg in 1997, transitioned away from the restaurant biz in 2002 and shipped over 8000 bbls last yr, according to BA stats. Thomas Creek from nearby Greenville jumped from less than 5000 bbls in 2009 to 13,500 last yr.  

Easing workload for small brewers and TTB alike, recent ruling from federal agency clarified by latest Brewers Assn Power Hour with McDermott Will & Emery/BA legal counsel, Marc Sorini last week. Recall, new rule exempts specific ingredients previously viewed as non-traditional in beer from requirement of submitting brewing "formulas" for approval with the TTB. This likely could create "major savings…in time to market for products," and "fairly substantial regulatory burden potentially for a lot of brewers," noted Marc. Gotta note, rule will likely save the TTB a bunch of time and paperwork too, now having to deal with entries from over 3,000 US breweries.

Rule also provides "more flexibility" allowing brewers to be as "broad" or "specific" as they choose with labelling the "class/type" of beers that use newly exempt ingredients. This flexibility afforded as long as brewers clearly indicate their beer "contains at least one of the exempt ingredients" (even if there are multiple) in "truthful and non-misleading" way. "In the past…you got a suggested 'statement of composition'" for how to label a formula beer's "class/type" from TTB, but now certain styles are deemed "known to the trade," and therefore given this leeway. Then too, brewers are not required to identify whether an ingredient is added "pre- or post-brewing…but brewers may state this in truthful manner."

To further clarify, Marc broke down exempted ingredients into 3 categories: fruits, spices, and "other" ("mostly" ingredients used for dark beers). For the most part, the list includes "most popular fruits (spices, and 'other') for brewing in the craft world." Some particularly "significant exemptions" include coriander and orange peel, used in almost every Belgian White style brew, and pumpkin, cinnamon & nutmeg, used in many fall/winter seasonals. TTB viewed exemption of these ingredients for formula approval as "too drastic" and "unusual" back in 2006 when BA initially lobbied for rule change, Marc pointed out. But this is only the beginning; BA "does intend…to submit a follow-up" proposal with the TTB to add more ingredients to the list, sez BA's Pete Johnson. BA is currently "putting that information together," and Marc urged suppliers to petition for exemption with the TTB, providing "description," "evidence," and "explanation" of why certain ingredients should be considered. "Commonplace" is a better word to use than traditional, thought Marc; demonstrate "how common" these ingredients are/were, many of which can be traced "back to ancient times." Tho it likely will be a lengthy process, it would appear TTB "certainly looking to try to streamline this," added Marc.  

Coupla new executive directors appointed at small brewers guilds in Wisc and Ga this week. In the midwest, the Badger State's brewers association hired Mark Garthwaite to lead its current 56 members, largely in event coordination, according to Wisconsin State Journal. The Wisc Brewers Guild already runs 3 fundraising beer festivals throughout the year and is planning a fourth, organization of which should be aided by Mark's past as chairman of the Great Taste of the Midwest. Down south, Nancy Palmer takes the reins as the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild's first exec director after a couple of years as development veep for the org.  

What will be the fourth HopCat location was announced in Ann Arbor this week with expected $2+ mil investment for bar with 100+ taps and 300+ seats in 8600 sq ft, Ann Arbor Journal reports. That spot should open in early 2015, after locations in Indianapolis (opening set for next month) and Detroit (this fall) have come online. Original Grand Rapids location brews some of its own seasonal brands in addition to offering wide array of other draft options. HopCat looks toward 10-15 more outlets, with focus on other Midwest college towns.  

NC breweries have now reached 110 with 40 more registered and in planning stages, director of NC Brewers Guild, Margo Metzger told CNBC. NC craft production trended higher than most states in 2013, up nearly 66%, over 100K bbls to 263,488 total, according to Brewers Assn. Asheville's been the most buzzed about beer scene in NC, now with 18 operating breweries and 3 major out-of-state brewers building 2nd facilities in the area (including #2 and #3 largest). Highland Brewing, leading the local charge, is expecting 38,000 bbls in 2014, President Leah Wong Ashburn told paper, up from 34,300 bbls in 2013 according to BA. But a whole lotta up 'n comers in NC too including 3 breweries that reached regional status in the last yr - Foothills Brewing, Natty Greene's, and Red Oak. Foothills currently in process of "adding several 300-barrel fermenters…which will allow Foothills to expand capacity to about 55,000 barrels," from 40K bbls at recently-purchased (in June) $1.8 mil, 48,000 sq-ft building it previously leased, reported Triad Business Journal. "The first of those [tanks] arriving next week."

CNBC points to Charlotte and the Triangle as areas "gaining ground" in craft beer, with breweries like NoDa Brewing expecting production to reach 8-9000 bbls in 2014, up from nearly 5000 bbls, co-founder Suzie Ford told paper. "Number would be even higher" if they could get their hands on more Citra hops, she added. There's a long list of NC breweries from all over the state growing at a fast double-digit clip too, including LoneRider (+20%) and Aviator (+150%) each on pace to reach regional status in 2014, and Olde Mecklenburg (+42%) could finish not too far behind. Most recently Big Boss Brewing announced expanding to its 1st outta state mkt, SC, after adding capacity that will help them grow to approx. 12K bbls (+50%) in 2014, owner Geoff Lamb told Triangle Business Journal. And the list goes on.  

Showing level of backing for a small beer biz rarely seen before, NY Senator Chuck Schumer announced his "full support" of Empire Brewery's plans to establish the state's largest farm-based brewery in Central NY. Empire applied for $200K US Dept of Agriculture Value-Added Producer Grant to build a Farmstead Brewery outside of Syracuse, where it's operated a brewpub for 20 years. The co shipped about 4500 bbls last yr, according to release, brewed at the Syracuse brewpub plus some brands contracted with Greenpoint Beer Works in Brooklyn (largely producing brands for Heartland chain in NYC and KelSo). A new 28K sq ft brewery, expected to be commissioned by next yr, should bring all production in-house and have capability to produce up to 20K bbls initially. Four of the 22 acres the brewery will sit on will be devoted to growing hops, helping satisfy requirements for using state-grown ingredients that comes with NY's farm brewery license. The farm is already operational, and ground should be broken on the brewery this fall and be open to the public for visits next spring, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard.

"What these USDA grants are supposed to do is help rural areas create new kinds of jobs," Sen. Schumer told the crowd gathered at Empire's brewpub for the announcement this week, WRVO reports. "I will be calling Secretary of Agriculture [Thomas] Vilsack personally to tell him this should be a priority," he added, per Central NY Biz Journal. Recall Secretary Vilsack was "blown away" and "captivated" by GABF in 2012, according to Colo Gov. Hickenlooper's account. NY state is now home to over 160 breweries, 45 of which operate under a farm brewery license (creating an imperative for more and more NY-grown goods over time). There are about 100 breweries in planning in the state, the Post-Standard reports.

Captain Lawrence Expands Space; 2 More NY Brewers Get New Homes: Yonkers, Flying Bison Downstate, growing regional brand Captain Lawrence will expand into space next door, making room for a much-larger barrel-aging program, the co told fans via its blog/newsletter. Another near 5000 sq ft (adding to current 19K) will make room for about 500 oak bbls and a new bottling line, largely to be used to expand production of sour brands. About 20 minutes south, new Yonkers Brewing just leased property in namesake town just north of NYC. The 4700 sq ft spot will be home to a small brewing operation and tasting room as Yonkers continues to contract with Thomas Hooker Brewing in Ct for the majority of production; the co plans to build its own larger production facility within the next 5 years after firmly taking root on the Yonkers waterfront. New startup Sarene Craft Beer Distributors handles the brand in metro NYC. Elsewhere in the state, Flying Bison is shuttering doors of current location in Buffalo in preparation for move to new, much-larger spot. Now a fully-owned subsidiary of FX Matt, Flying Bison has outgrown current location that limits production to just over 3000 bbls, according to Buffalo News, while new 12,500 sq ft spot will have expected capacity around 10K bbls. The move will also broadly expand retail shop/tasting area at Flying Bison, from just 80 sq ft at current location to about 2000 sq ft.  

 Tho competition growing like a weed in dense Colorado market, the state's largest craft brewers still found ways to build shipments at home during first 6 mos of the year. Each of top 4 in-state brewers, New Belgium, Oskar Blues, Odell and Left Hand - over a mil bbls all in last yr - reported healthy first halves across total biz and in home state to CBN. All of the 3 largest posted shipments trends around +30% Jan-June for their total biz: New Belgium +29%, Oskar Blues +33%, Odell +30%. Left Hand growth no slouch either, +19% same period. Recall each has entered new markets so far in 2014. Indeed, Texas has already become Odell's 2nd largest market after a Feb launch and hitting the co's targets so far, mktg/branding mgr Amanda Johnson-King told us. But Colo remains about 60% of Odell's total biz, and +25% for 6 mos thru June. Left Hand up around 20% in home state. New Belgium +8% and Oskar Blues +15% in Colo.

Oskar Blues posting same +15% for flagship Dale's Pale Ale in Colo mkt thru June, spokesman Chad Melis shared. Dale's doing even better outside of Colo tho, +28%, ahead of Mama's Little Yella Pils, +25%. Odell flagship 90 Shilling also running +19%, but IPA growing faster: pkg +31%, draft +34%. Digging down even more local, combo of Coloradans and visitors spending more money at these breweries' on-site taprooms. Sales at Left Hand's Longmont taproom +16.5% thru end of June, ops veep Chris Lennert told us. In nearby Fort Collins, Odell's taproom biz up about 10% and New Belgium's up around 5% to about $600K vs first 6 mos of 2013. All of in a state that's home to close to 250 breweries, according to release summarizing growth of Colorado Brewer's Festival. The recent fest brought together 18K attendees, 20% more than avg attendance over the last 25 years. Those larger-than-expected legal pot sales in Colo don't seem to be cutting too deep into these brewers' bizzes, do they?