DRAFT Magazine

The Associated Press reports that the divers searching a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea who discovered what is likely the world’s oldest drinkable Champagne say they also found bottles of two-centuries-old beer. The wreck is believed to be from the early 19th century. [via AP/CBS]

This week, Monarch Beverage Co. released SUDSoku, a free iPhone app that merges the brainy Japanese puzzle game of Sudoku with our favorite beverage. Instead of filling in a nine-by-nine grid with digits, players drag beer bottle caps into squares. Sharpening your noggin with the help of beer: we always knew it was possible. Dowload the app from iTunes or learn more here.

Inc. Magazine just released its annual Inc. 500 and 5000 lists of the nation’s fastest growing companies, ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2006 to 2009. Nine breweries made the list, with Michigan’s Short’s Brewing ranking highest at No. 720 with a three-year revenue growth of 422 percent, up to $2.4 million in 2009. No. 3482, Colorado’s New Belgium Brewing, reported the highest revenue in 2009 of the listed breweries with $127.6 million. Oskar Blues, Stone Brewing, New Holland Brewing, Narragansett Brewing, Brooklyn Brewery, New Glarus Brewing and Harpoon Brewery were also ranked.

ESPN college football reporter Jenn Brown will promote the MillerCoors beer brand Icehouse through December 2011, Sportsnewser reports. That blog and others are debating the ethics of the endorsement, as much of Brown’s audience is under 21.

[Photo: Elizabeth Caren]

Encouraged by the steady increase in sales from its craft brands Blue Moon and Leinenkugel’s, MillerCoors announced this week the launch of Tenth and Blake Beer Co. Named after the locations of two MillerCoors facilities—the company’s 10th Street Brewery in Milwaukee and the Blue Moon and Sandlot brewery on Blake Street in Denver—the new beer company will utilize MillerCoors’ vast network of operations to develop and produce new brands of craft-style beer, as well as import beer from abroad.

“With the added focus on our craft and import brands and the talent within our brewing network, Tenth and Blake Beer Company has the opportunity to make an impact and continue to help grow this segment. We’re made up of passionate brewers and merchants of the world’s finest specialty brews, and we look forward to celebrating the joy of beer with beer drinkers throughout the U.S.,” says Tom Cardella, the company’s CEO and president.

What styles can you expect from this new venture? We’re not sure, but feel free to send suggestions on the company’s new Facebook page.

Two former Anheuser-Busch employees will carry on the St. Louis brewing tradition with Urban Chestnut Brewing, which will debut in the city’s Midtown Alley neighborhood later this year. Bavarian-born brewer Florian Kuplent—who learned the trade at Germany’s Brauerei Erharting, helped launch London’s Meantime Brewing and most recently revamped Michelob’s lineup—will helm the tanks, while David Wolfe, who’s directed the marketing efforts for European A-B brands like Stella Artois and Leffe, will manage sales and marketing.

Situated in a 1920s-era building that had a previous life as a garage, the brewery will boast an Old World-style tasting room and an authentic German-style biergarten shaded by chestnut trees. A dozen or so taps will pour the brewery’s wares, plus suds from other St. Louis outfits. Urban Chestnut also plans to bottle its beer for sale on shelves throughout the city.

Kuplent says his brewery aims to blend American beer innovation with European brewing tradition in a “revolution meets reverence” ethos. “I have a traditional European brewing background, but I also worked on the American craft side, so it’s a little bit of both,” Kupulent says. “We’re trying to bring traditional styles to our area and experiment with ingredients and styles—tweak some things, make them new.”

Kuplent’s keeping mum on the brews, but he told DRAFT, “We’ll start off with two, and one will be a Germanic lager. We’re still tweaking the recipe a bit.”

Raise a frosty pint, bottle or growler in celebration of International Beer Day. Established in 2007, this intoxicating holiday brings together beer enthusiasts for appreciating the breweries and bars that craft and pour the suds we’ve come to love. What better way to spend this most glorious of days then by spreading its basic tenets: Drink with friends, enjoy worldly beers and thank the hard-working brewers and bartenders that make it all possible.

[Image: Tatiana Jimenez]

Alcohol consumption among U.S. adults slightly increased this year, according to a new Gallup poll. Sixty-seven percent said they have an occasional drink; most prefer beer, followed by wine then liquor.