The beer biz in Tucson continues to thrive. Borderlands Brewing (119 E. Toole Ave.) is a fine example.
On the brewing side, they have taken their Horchata Ale from seasonal to year-round production. Co-founder Myles Stone said the light cinnamon and vanilla beer is their most popular. Stone said the demand for their brews has resulted in a 500 percent increase in wholesale sales over the last year and a half.
Borderlands has been canning their Noche Dulce vanilla porter for some time. Stone said there are plans to can a second brew within the next six months. Their canned beer is available at such places as Tap and Bottle, Plaza Liquors, 1702, BevMo and Total Wine.
As a confessed hophead, I was pleased to learn Borderlands has developed a new India pale ale (IPA). Stone said they resisted brewing an IPA and wanted to concentrate more on local ingredients. However, the demand for an IPA caused Borderlands to spend six months developing one. It features Cascade hops and comes in around 70 international bitterness units (IBU). Because they were kind of forced into making an IPA, Stone said they may name it “Ok, fine.”
In addition to the expansion of their brews, Borderlands is expanding the tasting room. The original facility on Toole could accommodate 50. An expansion into what was the parking lot will create an outdoor area that will seat 150. Construction is underway with shade structures and tree plantings. On top of that, they’ve created an “event room” in what was neighboring space to seat up to 90 people. This space will be used for weddings, meetings, etc.
I asked Stone how he felt about more breweries starting up in Tucson. It’s good news, he said, noting that the more people who are exposed to good beer, the better for all the brewers in Tucson. He thinks Tucson could support twice as many brewers as there are now.
For the first time, the volume share of craft brewers is in double digits. The Brewers Association reports that in 2014 craft brewers accounted for 11 percent of the beer sold in the U.S., up from 7.8 percent in 2013. The top U.S. craft brewers (by volume) are Yuengling (Penn.), Boston Beer, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium and Gambrinus (Shiner, Bridgeport, etc.).
While craft brewing is experiencing remarkable growth, not so for the big guys. The Wall Street Journal reports the top four sellers in the U.S. all experienced declines: Bud Light — 1.8 percent, Coors Light — 3.3 percent, Bud — 4.4 percent and Miller Lite — 1.6 percent. No wonder Anheuser-Busch InBev is buying craft brewers.
I’ve written about the amazing growth in the popularity of India pale ales (IPA). They are the most popular craft beers in America. As an outgrowth of the popularity of IPAs, we’re now seeing session IPAs. Session beers have less alcohol than their big brothers. A number of the bigger craft brewers are selling session IPAs. Both Stone and Firestone Walker have good examples of the type. They make for good sipping on a weekend afternoon.
