Six things that have consumers buzzing in the world of beer, wine and spirits this week:
1) Will Beer Drinkers Decide the Next President? It's 53 days until the presidential election. The rhetoric is heating up, the airwaves are blanketed with ads and polls are being watched with more urgency. But Don Russell of the Philadelphia Daily News, aka “Joe Six Pack,” may have cracked the code on which candidate will win the election. According to Russell, the fate of this election lies in the hands of … craft beer drinkers. Russell has sifted through all the important data, like the states with the most breweries per capita and crossed referenced it with some less exciting data, like the 2008 election results and electoral college votes. Among his findings: Eight of the nation's 10 swing states rank above the median number of breweries per square mile and that’s something that the home brewing President Obama should be happy about. Here is Russell’s beer-soaked analysis.
2) Hey Philly — This Round Is on Yuengling! Earlier this year, it was announced the growth of Pennsylvania-based Yuengling Brewery had pushed it into a the Boston Beer Company for the title of “largest American-owned brewery.” To celebrate, Yuengling is showing some brotherly love to the city that helped put it on the map — Philadelphia. The brewery is giving away 10,000 bottles of free beer to over 250 bars across the five-county Greater Philadelphia region.
3) Happy Hour With Mickey and Minnie. For the last 41 years, visitors to Disney’s Magic Kingdom were out of luck if they wanted to have a beer or glass of wine. But the Mouseketeers have spoken and they want something more than a soda after a ride Space Mountain. In November, the Orlando theme park will begin serving beer and winein a new restaurant opening as part of a Fantasyland expansion.
4) This Beer Goes to Eleven: Michigan-based Bells Brewery is celebrating its 11,000th batch of beer and to mark the occasion they are turning to the topsy-turvy world of Rock ’n’ Roll. “This One Goes to 11 Ale” is an Imperial Red beer with 11 percent alcohol-by-volume. The name presumably references a famous line from the Rob Reiner Rock ’n’ Roll mockumentary staring Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest and Michael McKean called “This is Spinal Tap.”
5) Beer and Bikes: Oskar Blues Brewery is well known as the original craft beer in a can. But founder Dale Katechis also has a love for mountain bikes. Now, the brewery will be combining the two in a new restaurant/bar and bike shop in Longmont, Colo. The space will serve beer and food and sell Reeb Cycles, the bike company also started by Katechis.
6) It's Groupon to Get Your Brew On: Discount websites like Groupon and Living Social are all the rage. Now, a site called BevBucks.com is applying the concept to alcoholic beverages. The website offers deals with local bars and restaurants and focuses only on alcoholic beverage deals. As of now, it’s only in select parts of the New York City area.
-By Tom Rotunno, CNBC Senior Editor
Questions? Comments? Email us at consumernation@cnbc.com. Follow Tom Rotunno on Twitter @tomrotunno.
