My picks of beer news from around the web that you need to read and my two cents on the topics.  Most of the time it’s Hawaii beer news topics, but every once in a while you’ll find other general beer related topics.

New School Beer – It’s Fall so that means pumpkin beers, yay! I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest pumpkin beer fan…it’s the overuse of cloves that kills me. But, that’s just me. If you’re looking for a great pumpkin beer be on the look out for Coronado’s Punk’in Drublic which should be hitting the shelves this week or next. 8%, real pumpkin and all of those pumpkiny spices. http://bit.ly/1G8tkg8

Star Advertiser – A brand new national beer chain is slated to open early next year in the former He Hing Plaza. Growlers USA has multiple locations on the mainland and has secured a franchisee here in Hawaii to open the location on Kapahulu. I’d never heard of the brand before this, but it appears to be similar to a Yard House, featuring 100 taps and upscale pub food. Growler USA owners claim they “use the most sophisticated beverage delivery system that’s been created to date.” Not entirely sure what the heck that is, but I’m doubtful they are using a Flux Capacitor like Torst or Beachwood. Oh, and yes, they will fill growlers.  http://bit.ly/1LOVF7z

Brewbound – Don’t need to say much about this. Alpine Pure Hoppiness – 6 packs – nationwide distribution in limited amounts. Thank you Green Glash! http://bit.ly/1VVN6mf

Good Beer Hunting – Here’s a really thought provoking article about high end beer pricing. How expensive is too expensive? Are breweries charging too much just because a beer has a shit ton of hype? Michael Kiser tries to explain why we the consumer should better understand high end beer pricing and that we should support it. I look at it a little differently. I don’t always need to fully understand why certain products are more expensive than others. Some products are considered luxuries and hence demand a higher price. If you’re wiling to pay it, then great. If not, then you won’t buy it. Uber high end beer prices are not very different than high end wine. A small, passionate group is willing to seek out and pay a lot of money for certain beers/wines. It’ll always be a niche. http://bit.ly/1X80oJq Be sure to also read Jeff Alworth’s very thoughtful counterpoint here.

Fortune – Sell out isn’t a term I like very much. The craft beer crowd loves to throw this around when talking about the various breweries that have sold to larger mega breweries over the past couple of years. It’s a harsh term and most of the time, we the public have zero clue or insight into why the owners of these businesses decided to sell. Not everyone wants to run their business until they die and sometimes an exit is needed. There’s a whole lot of talk about how these mergers are bad for “craft” brewing. A few mergers and acquisitions won’t have that big of an effect on the market place. There are over 4,000 breweries in the US right now…they can’t buy them all. http://for.tn/1PkCZmu The real danger to the beer industry is mega mergers like the one between AB InBev and SABMiller. http://bit.ly/1Pwcp9c

MarketWatch – Kona Brewing announced plans a few months ago that they were looking to build a new Hawaii brewery to help supply the demand on the islands. Yesterday, Craft Brew Alliance CEO Andy Thomas announced the new brewery will be able to produce up to 100,000 barrels a year. That’s a big brewery. Just for scale, Kona’s current brewery in Kailua Kona maxes out around 12,000 barrels per year. Maui Brewing Company’s brand new brewery in Kihei has a max capacity of around 45,000 barrels per year. http://on.mktw.net/1X81RPS