News and notes from a handful of California’s craft breweries…

[3/23 Update: From Jack Curtin via Beernet… “Anchor Brewing has absorbed Preiss imports, which bring Scotland’s BrewDog and Australia’s Coopers to these shores, and is now the official importer of those brands; Preiss was owned by Anchor’s new owners, Keith Greggor and Tony Foglio.”]

[Ed. note: The Craft Brewers Conference may seem like an obvious omission here but it will be covered separately soon.]

…Stone Brewing announced another upcoming collaboration beer: “Congrats to Jason Fields and his friend Kevin for winning our 2011 competition! We’ll be brewing their Cherry Chocolate Stout on our brew system, look for it in bottle and on tap soon.” Check out the photos on Flickr. A side note for Texas readers: “Stone Old Guardian Belgo Barley Wine is approved and shipping to Texas.”

…There’s actually another brewery (the first being Sun King) that’s ahead of Ninkasi’s growth rate and that’s Hangar 24 Brewery in Redlands, California. CBD reports, “HANGAR 24 is likely the fastest growing microbrewery in the Pacific region for the past two years. Case sales for the food channel at the 52-week period ended Jan. 23 were up 528.6%. Not bad, considering they sold their first keg in March 2008, and in that first year of business, sold 1,100 barrels. Skip to 2009, and it was just under 5,000. Last year they sold 10,024. This year, they plan to double that. Founder Ben Cook says their accountant has never seen a company grow that fast, ever.”

…Draft Magazine says that Anchor Brewing is bringing back Our Barrel Ale: “Currently, the team’s aging Liberty Ale, Anchor Bock, Anchor Porter and Old Foghorn in its various toasted and charred whiskey barrels, and plans to blend the result by the end of this summer. Although no hard release date has been set, the culmination, Our Barrel Ale, is definitely slated to hit the market later this year. Look for its release in kegs and 22-ounce bottles.”

…The Bruery set a release date for its third anniversary party. Mark Sunday, May 29th, on your calendar. This is presumably when Cuir will be released to the public.

…Finally, North Coast Brewing announced on Facebook yesterday that it has a new logo (shown above).