Farewell, Prince: All of us at the Brooklyn Brewery are upset by Prince’s untimely passing. Many of us finally caved and downloaded Tidal. The man was as much an icon as an iconoclast, and we’ll deeply miss his sheer presence. And for the handful of y’all wondering where the beer tie-in is here, kindly consider the possibility that you’re missing the point on the whole “joy” thing in your life. Rest in Purple, Prince.
Oh Those Clever Russians: On a much, much lighter note, a Russian man achieved Internet fame this week when he convinced a brewery in his apartment building to run a serving line directly to a faucet in his apartment. We like to think this is a new, radical approach to reducing the amount of packaging in beer. Just pipe it directly to everyone’s houses and favorite bars! If the Internet is tubes, why can’t beer travel down those same tubes? If you don’t think about it too hard, it could totally work.
Everybody’s Getting Into Scotch These Days: The GlenWyvis Distillery, currently in planning for operation in the Black Isle area of Scotland, has announced a call for community-level investors to help get off the ground. The distillery plans to be 100% investor owned and completely powered by green energy. Locals can buy in for as little as £250 ($357), but outsiders have to pony up £100,000 ($142,794.) If anyone would like to discuss forming a offshore fund, please contact your trusted author.
Come On, South Africa: The South African government gave the go-ahead for the pending AB-InBev and SABMiller merger that has been subject to worldwide review recently. The $69 million deal includes a no-layoff guarantee, as South Africa was primarily concerned with unemployment under the new model. The merger still has quite a few more hoops to jump through, but it’s not a bad time to dust off your copy of Evil Empire by Rage Against the Machine.
Tower of Terror Bar Announced: The Tower of Terror, Walt Disney World’s tribute to elevator phobias everywhere, will be getting its own bar sometime soon, allowing park attendees to soothe their nerves on the ground floor of the Twilight Zone themed mansion. Soon, even people with a justified fear of heights will be able to slip into the frame of mind of ol’ Pooh up there before hurtling 199 feet straight down. No word on whether the park expects more vomiting on the ride given its proximity to the bar, but we think it’d be wise for the House of Mouse to stock up on sawdust.
Holy Hamilton, Batman!: If you’re reading this and haven’t heard of either Gun Hill Brewery or Broadway smash Hamilton, we’re honestly not sure how you learned to work a computer. For those who don’t live under a rock, local beer journalist Niko Krommydas did you a favor and went behind the scenes for the brewing of the official Hamilton beer at Gun Hill. The beer, called Rise Up Rye, will be a limited edition release, but will still be easier to find than tickets to Hamilton in this decade.