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Craft brewers scramble to find aluminum cans

Mar 14, 2022
Manufacturer Ball Corp. reporting unprecedented demand for its cans during the pandemic, raises its minimum order fivefold.
Denver Beer Co. founder Patrick Crawford stands before a mountain of cans inside his production facility in the city's Sunnyside neighborhood on Feb. 8.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

Washington apple farmer is "optimistic" as workers get vaccinated

“They are on the front lines of the food production industry in this country," said Patrick Smith, who runs Loftus Ranches.
"I’m really hopeful that when we get to our harvest season, globally, things are really looking up," says Patrick Smith, whose family runs Loftus Ranches, an apple and hops farm in Yakima, Washington.
Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images

From farm to glass: How hops are priced

Dec 26, 2016
Hops provide the bitter taste beer drinkers love, but who says how much these fragrant little flowers are worth?
"Beer is still good business," says Patrick Smith, CEO of Loftus Ranches in Yakima, Washington. Above, fresh hops from a California farm.
Katherine Garrova/Marketplace

Nanobrewing: Craft beer's hot start-up trend

Dec 12, 2012
Breweries that make only a few kegs of beer at a time are growing, as demand opens doors for home brewers to turn their hobby into businesses

Craft brewers bet on growth

Jul 4, 2012
In the business of beer, the big brewers keep getting bigger -- almost 90 percent of beer sold in the U.S. comes from just two conglomerates. But smaller craft breweries are also growing.