Admittedly, it has been quite a while since the last news round-up. That is partially due to a somewhat slow news period around the holidays, but I was also waiting for February to come around so that I would have content to post during my dry time. Anyway, I have plenty to write about, so let's get started!

The Walt DIsney World Resort in Orlando, Florida is always looking for an angle to draw more guests to their theme parks and hotels--that's just plain capitalism. The main play at the Epcot theme park has been to add to and expand on their group of festivals held around the park. The latest is being called the Epcot International Festival of the Arts. Tom Corless and crew at WDWNT has full festival details, if you are interested, but what caught my eye were the beer offering at two of the food and drink kiosks set up around the park. The Cuisine Classique kiosk has a wonderful trio of beers: one of the iconic pale ales of the last generation-plus (Sierra Nevada Pale Ale), one of the top breweries in America right now (Bell's Two-Hearted Ale), and one of the best Milk Stouts I've had (Duck-Rabbit). The beers from the Painter's Palate are less revered, but given the creative angle the Epcot folks were going for, the choices of 3 Daughters Strawberry Nitro, Breckenridge Nitro Vanilla Porter, and Young's Double Chocolate Stout are just fine choices. Find all the details of those specific booths in the respective links. The festival runs Fridays through Mondays at Epcot through February 20th.

I first mentioned this back in November, when it was backed by the Brewers Association trade group, but Senators Ron Wyden or Oregon and Roy Blunt of Missouri have reintroduced the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act for the Senate side of the 115th Congress, which began its legislative work earlier this year. The bill reduces excise taxes collected for smaller-scale breweries. Representatives Erik Paulsen of Minnesota and Ron Kind of Wisconsin introduced the House version of the bill, as well. The Brew Studs have all the details on the bill.

The Smithsonian Institution has hired a beer historian for the National Museum of American History. Theresa McCulla will soon receive a doctorate from Harvard in American Studies, which includes a doctoral dissertation on New Orleans cuisine and racial influences of said cuisine. For the National Museum of American History, "McCulla will research America’s brewing history and share her findings with the public," according to the article from Brewed Culture.

Because nostalgia seems to be all the rage right now, Bud Light has resurrected legendary 80's advertising canine Spuds McKensie for an ad in this weekend's Super Bowl.

Guinness beer will soon be brewed in America for the first time in over 60 years, according to this article from Brewbound. Diageo Beer Company, USA will be opening a Guinness brewery and visitor center in Maryland that will brew traditional Guinness and develop experimental styles for U.S. markets.

Delaware's Dogfish Head Brewery has teamed with Annapolis, Maryland's AC Beverage to create a straight-from-the-barrel draft beer system. The system allows nitrogen to be fed into oak barrels, and has an inline set of equipment from the barrels to cool and pressurize the beer for service. Beer Street Journal has all the details.