Small and independent craft brewers across the country have created a special beer in honor of American Craft Beer Week (ACBW), May 16-22. The campaign, hastag #MakeSmallBeerBig, aims to celebrate the week with the Biggest Small Beer Ever Made, which was made by participating brewers in all 50 states using the same ingredients and recipe, according to Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers Association (BA).

Portland, Ore.-based Craft Brew Alliance Inc. (CBA) and Pabst Brewing Co. (PBC), Los Angeles, announced that the two companies have entered into a brewing agreement that supports strategic growth objectives for both companies. PBC’s subsidiary Rainier Brewing Co. will begin brewing Rainier Pale Mountain Ale among other Rainier brands at CBA’s brewery in Woodinville, Wash. this spring, the companies say. As part of the agreement, PBC has been granted an option to purchase the Woodinville facility at any time during the next three years, they add.

Anyone who knows me well knows my affection for documentary films. Almost every weekend I can be found combing through Netflix to find something new to learn. Just recently a 2011 documentary titled “Ken Burns: Prohibition” caught my eye.

Coronado Brewing Co., Coronado, Calif., has been working to increase the efficiency and capacity of its brewery during the past few months. The current brewery will be expanding its capacity to 65,000 barrels due to its multi-million dollar renovation plan including the addition of four 240-barrel fermenters at the end of August, the company says. In addition to the fermenters, the brewery has been adding and upgrading some key components to help increase efficiency, it adds. 

From a small brewpub that opened in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood in 1988, to large-scale brewing operations in Chicago and St. Louis, Goose Island Brewing Co. has made a name for itself in the beer market.

The craft brewing industry has continued its strong growth in the first half of 2015, according to new mid-year data released by the Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small, independent American craft brewers. American craft beer production volume increased 16 percent during the first half of the year, it says. 

Casks, oak-barrel aging and complex full-bodied flavor is synonymous with wine. But craft brewers are changing that. Today, craft beer brewers are doing more with exotic ingredients and time-honored processes typically reserved for grapes.

Craft beer has revolutionized the beer category and is moving out of microbreweries and into the main market. According to the Brewers Association, Boulder, Colo., there were over 3,200 brewers in the United States as of November 2014. The trend shows no signs of slowing.

Crown Beverage Packaging North America is once again helping to make Memorial Day memorable for members of the U.S. military, veterans and their families for the second year.