Flash flood warning (beer news)

In the spirit of the summer thunderstorms, I hereby unleash long pent-up beer news:

The Brewers Association reported craft beer dollar sales rose 12 percent during the first half of 2010, while brewing volume rose 9 percent compared to the same period last year.

Total beer volume sales were down 2.7 percent, indicating the macro-lagers continue to stagnate while craft beer sales grow.

Ska Brewing Co. announced via Twitter that its sales rose 36 percent, an astonishing number. The brewery's spectacular growth has been driven by increased capacity at its two-year-old plant and the market success of Modus Hoperandi IPA and other canned beers.

In other Durango craft-beer news:

Durango Brewing Co. has released its seasonal Blueberry Wheat ale. I'm usually not a fan of fruit beers, but this one is worth checking out.

Steamworks Brewing Co. currently has a barrel-aged brown ale on cask at its Durango brewpub.

Carver Brewing Co. has a new limited-release beer, Cornerpocket Pale Ale, on tap. I'll let Carver's head brewer, Erik Maxson, tell you about it:

"Cornerpocket is yet another in our summer long river themed pale ales. It was designed and brewed by my assistant Jeff Albarella. It is a single-hopped pale using all German Northern Brewer hops (from bittering all the way through to dry hopping). The malt profile comes from English Maris Otter and some German Pale Ale and just a hint of caramel malt. ABV is 5.7%, 40 IBUs."