The festival was held on the waterfront of the Columbia River, ancient carver of the Columbia River Gorge, a canyon decorated with roaring waterfalls, babbling streams, lush rainforest, and breathtakingly scenic overlooks of the mountains and valleys—not to mention some of the best breweries in North America. The gorge is also something of a wind tunnel, and on that day, a crisp and steady early-October gust was pulling wetsuit-clad windsurfers and kiteboarders on the water, as well as blowing over trash cans and carrying off plastic tasting cups on the nearby event grounds.

The setting is more than just a backdrop for the legendary beer that springs forth from this place—it’s the source. Brewers here draw their water not from the river, but from the Hood River watershed, which comes from snowmelt in the 14,000-foot Cascade Mountains, filtered through volcanic basalt rock to create a soft, clean base rich with minerals. Throw in some of the freshest hops in the world from the nearby Willamette Valley and you have a formula for something truly special.

It’s no surprise, then, that the relatively tiny town, just over 8,000 strong, might have the most quality beer per capita of any place on Earth. Every day in Hood River is a veritable beer fest. Start just feet from this blustery riverfront at pFriem Family Brewers, a regional powerhouse that emerged from this Gorge in 2012. At their riverside tasting room, you can get fresh-hopped versions of classic styles such as their refreshingly floral and crisp Pilsner or a magnificently bready Czech Dark Lager. Just a few doors down, grab some gorgeous gorge views from the broad open-air deck at Ferment Brewing Company, a more modern brewery that uses a farmhouse technique to capture the local terroir, as they do to fruity perfection in their Lost in Fragaria sour ale made with Oregon strawberries.

A little farther up the bluff, visit downtown’s legendary Full Sail Brewing Co., an OG craft brewer that unfurled its mast in 1987. While you can still enjoy a Willi Becher pint glass of classic, malty-spicy Full Sail Amber Ale, the establishment has evolved with the times and produces on-par West Coast and hazy IPAs. Just around the corner sits Double Mountain Brewery, a Hood River institution since 2007, where I enjoyed a tuna melt washed down with a citrusy Fresh Hop (Strata) Iowa Bar Fight IPA.

Also downtown are two new additions to the scene. Opened in 2023, Hood River Brewing Company is a pleasant stop with an eclectic selection of brews. I opted for a rich Fiesta Mexican Amber Lager, with a smooth caramel finish. And in 2025, Kings & Daughters Brewery launched an elegant public house dubbed The Walled Garden, which offers a nice selection of hazy IPAs and lighter lagers.

But for (in my opinion) some of the best lagers in town, head to the top of the hill to Working Hands Fermentation. In addition to a renowned smash burger, this operation specializes in the bottom fermenters, and I could not say no to the Night Shift Schwarzbier, a light-bodied dark lager with a hint of smokiness.

All of this was packed into less than two full days in town—a brief but unforgettable experience before I followed the river west, through the Gorge, back to Portland.

The post Hood River: Where the Wind Blows and the Beer Flows appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Over the last decade, brewery owners have been getting creative with their brewery’s extended spaces, adding coffee shops and workspaces for patrons to come for extended periods; outdoor spaces welcoming campers and RVs; and even hotels.

But with pressure from both the economic climate and the need to stand out from the crowd, some brewers are redefining their brewery’s very concept and evolving its parameters.

Stronger Together

When Eliott Pernelle and Etienne Voinson decided to start Brasserie Les Semblables in Alsace, France, they were looking for a very specific place to settle. “We didn’t want to be alone, lost in an industrial area,” Pernelle explains. “We wanted to be part of a collective. That’s why we thought about a tiers-lieu.” A tiers-lieu (or “third place”) is a type of venue more common in the country, often run by an association with an educational, sustainable, or cultural goal.

After visiting a few places, Pernelle and Voinson chose Oasis Multikulti, a tiers-lieu settled on an old farm in the small Alsatian village of Mietesheim, close to the German border. Run by volunteers, the space offers a wide range of activities (writing, pottery, and knitting classes), a community garden, and a farmer’s market. The brewers installed their equipment in the former stables, with room to expand if necessary.  

This decision has its perks: Les Semblables benefits from a well-known location, where people visit to attend a course or buy something at the farmer’s market. “It’s a strength we would not have had if we had started from scratch,” Pernelle says. But the duo also has to roll up their sleeves and commit to some volunteer work to keep Oasis Multikulti up and running.

“We could just rent the space and do nothing to help the association, but that would be a bit unfair,” Pernelle says, as he volunteers his time to handle the tiers-lieu’s social media. “This is why we wanted to be in this type of community space in the first place: to do something together.”

The Heart of Community

Brewing has long been intertwined with the concept of community. Take the German tradition of communal brewing called Zoiglbier, where non-professional brewers share a communal brewhouse at the heart of their village. Five Bavarian towns still proudly maintain that centuries-old tradition, which has been recognised by UNESCO as part of Germany “intangible cultural heritage” since 2018.

In Brussels, Brasserie Witloof’s founder, Thomas Detourbe, took inspiration from the concept when he contacted Belgian microbreweries with a simple question: why not open a brewery where the equipment is shared between all of us? La Bagarre, Janine, and 1Bière 2Tartines responded, and CoHop opened in Brussels in 2021. La Flaque joined as the fifth brewery in 2025. 

“We were all contract brewing and wanted to have our own brewery, but it was too difficult economically. Sharing the space and equipment made sense in that way,” says Rémi Pequin, CoHop’s coordinator and founder of La Bagarre. “This also allows us to approach beer making more sustainably—we only need one brewhouse instead of five, if we had all settled separately.”

To make the project work, the team had to prioritize communication and organization. Every brewery has a predetermined mission: one is in charge of managing the brewing schedule, one takes care of ordering raw materials for everyone, while another deals with manners such as equipment maintenance. The taproom serves everyone’s beer and a restaurant onsite makes sandwiches with Janine’s bread—the brewery is also a bakery. 

“It’s a tough organization, but we didn’t want one brewer making the beers for everyone; every brewery has its own team and brewers,” Pequin says. “We’re sharing a lot but it’s important for us that each brewery keeps its own identity and diversity.”

Both Pequin and Pernelle don’t see their projects being successful any other way than amongst a collective. “It takes a lot of commitment, but if we were to do it again, we would take the same path,” Pernelle says.

“Managing a brewery with five teams is already difficult enough, considering the current economic climate,” Pequin adds. “Why would anyone want to do this alone?”

Focus on Fermentation

Reimagining what a brewery can become can also apply to what’s inside the fermenters. With beer, there’s always a new trend to follow, a pattern that emerges out of nowhere, or a lost tradition finding a new audience. This can also extend to beer styles as well as the names breweries choose to represent their brand and what they want to bring to the table. One concept that is popping up more and more is at the base of the brewing process itself: fermentation.

Fermentery Form makes co-fermented beer using winemaking techniques such as the Solera system in West Kensington, Philadelphia; Fox Tale Fermentation brews beer and kombuchas in San Jose, Calif.; l’Annexe brasserie-fermenterie in Belgium makes beer and fermented beverages with flowers; The Fermentorium in Wisconsin offers beer, apple ale, and cider; Fermenterie des Champs Marmo in France, which defines itself as “an experimental place for alternative fermentations,” produces beer, cider, kombuchas, and more. And the list goes on.

Lauren Price and Lauren Houston, co-founders of Mindscape Fermentations in Rocklin, Calif., say they wanted to “create something that went beyond the traditional definition of a brewery” and see themselves more as a fermentorium. “We saw it as a way to keep ourselves really interested and excited, because there’s a plethora of options to ferment, but also as way to diversify our clientele,” Houston explains.

“We kind of took a risk,” Price adds. “Because when you say ‘brewery,’ people know exactly what to expect. So we were a little hesitant to call it a fermentorium or fermentation, because we knew that that was going to be something that had to be more education based.”

Though they’re still passionate about beer, Price and Houston also see consumers looking for alternatives such as low-alcohol beverages (whether for health reasons, dietary restrictions, or simply the need to explore) and try to meet those needs “so that if beer declines, maybe it’s not a big deal because our kombucha may rise, or our fermented foods, or our seltzer, or something else.”

Even if they take a bit more time explaining their concept, Price and Houston believe their choice to explore the diversity of fermentation has only brought them a more diverse crowd in return. “Unlike most other breweries, I would say that we probably see double the amount of women, with a wide range of ages, too,” Houston believes. “I want us to have as diverse of a community as we can, and our mindset and focus on sustainability and health is how we speak to people.”

The post These Breweries Are Redefining Community, Collaboration, and Fermentation appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Growing up, it was difficult to find environments that gave me a sense of belonging. I have had to adapt to various situations that don’t have accommodations for me. For example, some places host music events, which can get a bit loud for me (no shade toward the musical acts themselves). It would be great to have a place to stand inside where the music is less intense. Also, some places are too small. I’m 6’2″ and feeling claustrophobic makes me feel sensorially overwhelmed. I don’t insist on having them everywhere I go, but comfortable accommodations are something that make the lives of autistic people easier. I often sacrificed my comfort for others, which drained me of any social energy I had outside of school and work—until I received a sign from the universe to give something new a chance.

About a year and a half ago, I got a text from a good friend inviting me to attend a trivia night at a local brewery. “You’re smart. Come hang,” he texted. I have a low social battery when it comes to new environments, because I use a lot of my energy masking any part of myself that could give away my autism. Given that I “pass” as neurotypical, it typically goes unchecked.

But when I walked into Aftershock Brewery in my hometown of Temecula, Calif., for trivia, I instantly felt at home. I don’t know how to describe it other than feeling like blocks had been placed into the right-shaped holes. Everyone at Aftershock was welcoming. I met the owner, Jean, who gave me the rundown of the beers on draught. I met my friend’s brewery buddies, who embraced me without hesitation. As the night went on, I felt freer to be myself. I discovered more about how confident I truly am in front of people, and this led to a wonderful friendship with the people there.

For the friendship to grow, I had to make observations. Those observations, rooted in my neurodivergence, led to a form of inner healing that opened me up to friendship.

Branching Out

I began splitting my time between Aftershock and another brewery called Relentless Brewing Company just a few miles away. Many of my friends go to both breweries, which makes it more comforting for me. According to Neurodivergent Insights, roughly 50 percent of autistic people deal with social anxiety. Personally, it’s a miracle that I’m able to socialize to this extent to begin with, but it’s not without reasons.

One of the intriguing aspects of socializing in breweries has to do with the design. I’m not an interior designer, but I do find myself attracted to colorful environments. At Aftershock, the walls are covered with gold California state-shaped designs, with the biggest one hanging on the wall. Their tap handles are shaped like California as well. At Relentless, the walls are decorated with an urban graffiti design that I’ve always found comforting. According to Embrace Autism, autistic people tend to mix their senses together. For example, I always associated California with gold given the Gold Rush that started in 1848. It regulates my reactions that way. People never understood why I did this. Associations are natural to me, and they are how I familiarize myself with any new space. When I look at the walls at Aftershock and Relentless, I feel connected to my childhood.

It’s not impossible for businesses to make their spaces more neurodivergent friendly. Just ask Brewability Lab in Englewood, Colo., which hires neurodiverse employees, and Perkiomen Valley Brewery in Green Lane, Pa., which offers a space that is “sensory and mobility friendly.”

‘Low Pressure’ Environments

Accommodations are personal, and it’s hard for autistic people to make themselves feel at home in unfamiliar environments. To do that, I had to continue looking into the child version of myself. This meant finding anything I could do to be comfortable, even small actions. Everyone—especially autistic people—“stims.” Stimming is the body’s natural way of self-regulating its emotions and physicality. This can look like cracking your knuckles, humming, tapping your fingers, and other fidgets. Given the high energy of the crowds in breweries, I played off of it, in part using the examples of stimming I would see neurotypicals do. I would write the answers for trivia questions for my team and doodle on the paper to center myself. I also tend to tap my fingers on my legs whenever there’s an awkward silence. According to the American Psychiatry Association, 44 percent of autistic people reported using stimming to regulate their emotions.

For me, I’ve taken what’s available in a taproom environment and used it to my advantage, such as the paper to doodle on. This juggling act of code-switching and honoring my needs has been introspective. I have noticed how emotionally freeing it has been to allow myself to unmask in these environments.

Another way I’ve made myself at home is by practicing my socialization skills. Quite frankly, a brewery is the best place to practice them. As a society, we see breweries as hangout spots, places to go to unwind after a long workday. Few people decide to bring their laptop and fill out contracts while sipping on an IPA, but people do come and sip on IPAs to celebrate the finalization of them. Breweries are, overall, low-pressure social environments.

Being Comfortable With Yourself

When it comes to socialization, autistic people have a hard time picking up on social cues and often feel the need to “play a role” when trying to make friends. If I had a dollar for every time I felt that way, I could buy the house rounds all night. I got tired of feeling inferior for being myself, so I decided to change my approach. I decided to drop the act. Dr. Michael Kitlowski, a psychologist in Temecula who specializes in treating autistic patients, says this is a solid way of building a foundation for your social life.

“People feel comfortable around you when you are comfortable with yourself,” Kitlowski says. “Being conditioned to behave a certain way makes you not comfortable with yourself.”

In part, the comfortability of being around my good friend was a good steppingstone. That connection helped ground me in the environment, thus making me more approachable to others. Plus, the comfortability of these new environments made me feel like it all was fitting like a glove.

“You’ve become more open, started to make more jokes, and are engaged a lot more,” my friend recently told me. With that said, I still have growing to do. It takes time to break down expectations placed on you by neurotypical people, but the rewards include lifelong friendships, a richer social life—and a bigger variety of beer options I wouldn’t usually partake in.

To any autistic person reading this, I implore you to approach this social scene with an open mind. Find out what works for you, and what doesn’t. The only person who can determine where you are welcomed is you.

The post I’m Autistic, and Beer Helped Me Come Out of My Shell appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Carson sees his return as a victory. He grew up there, along with all of his Albuquerque friends.

“You got a Black guy going back to his old neighborhood and upgrading a building,” Carson said. “You’d have to be crazy not to appreciate the fact that we’ve been able to redo an old building that’s historical to the Black community and see the faces of people within the community who used to go to that place.”

Carson owns two locations of Nexus these days: the Nexus Brewery & Restaurant and Nexus Blue Smokehouse in his former South Broadway stomping grounds. A third location, the Nexus Silver Taproom, shut down in December 2019.

Despite the closure, Nexus has thrived, but life in the food and beer business wasn’t always what Carson had envisioned for himself.

From Banking to Beer

A common thread in Carson’s life emerged years before opening Nexus: being the only Black person around.

It began in high school and followed him into the professional world when Carson worked his way through college at New Mexico State University as a federal examiner with the Comptroller of the Currency. He moved into banking locally and eventually found himself in a deputy director role, where he led the banking department for the entire state of New Mexico. He was appointed director when he was around 30.

After working his way up to bank president, he intended to retire after a successful career. But being on the wrong side of a shareholder fight meant his role as president was no longer tenable. And then came the financial crisis of 2007-08, otherwise known as the Great Recession, considered by many to be the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The bank began to lose money and business slowed.

“I started thinking, this bank’s gonna fail, I’m going to be unemployed,” Carson said. “During the financial crisis, an unemployed banker’s not going to get employed.”

The plan was to start another bank, but Carson thought better of it. Instead, his thoughts turned to a totally different pursuit: beer.

“I became a fan of breweries before it became popular,” Carson said. “In the 1990s, we were in Colorado a lot. It was kind of a habit and a hobby where I would go and hang out at breweries.”

At the time, Black brewery owners and brewers were rare, with Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery being the most prominent. However, Carson was not deterred. Despite an inauspicious start (his first batch as a brewer was “horrible”), he put together a business plan and knew he needed to find an experienced brewer.

While building out Nexus, Carson began to hear of a lot of other breweries trying to open. So he went against his plans and added a 10-foot kitchen hood. He wasn’t sure what it would be used for, but his first inclination was fried chicken and collard greens.

Combining food and beer became his mission.

A Soulful Beginning

“At the time I would say we were probably the only soul food brewery in the world, back in 2011,” Carson said.

A consultant tried to dissuade him from featuring fried chicken, citing the difficultly level. With a delay in construction and money running low, Carson let the kitchen advisor go. After hiring a brewer, Carson began researching what food would work best.

“I decided to do fried chicken anyway,” Carson said. He visited highly rated spots like the since-closed Gladys Knight’s Chicken and Waffles in Atlanta, Roscoe’s in L.A., and Lo-Lo’s in Phoenix. Each place was famous for chicken and waffles, and each had lines out the door.

Carson’s menu would be headlined by chicken and waffles, but he began incorporating New Mexican soul food using local red and green chiles. His mom’s greens and turnips were added to his hodgepodge menu featuring nachos, red beans, rice, gumbo, fried catfish, and fried chicken.

The eclectic menu caught the attention of Guy Fieri, who filmed an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives at Nexus.

“His comment was that he hadn’t had collard greens that good on this side of the Mississippi,” Carson recalls.

Brewing Award-Winning Beer in New Mexico

The food isn’t the only thing garnering attention for Nexus.

In 2017, the brewery was awarded a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) for its Imperial Cream Ale. In 2015, it won a silver medal at GABF for Honey Bear, a honey and chamomile wheat beer. More recently, Beam Me Up (Higher), Scotty won a silver in the Old Ale category of the 2022 World Beer Cup.

All three of Carson’s brewers have made award-winning beers. Carson said there really isn’t a method to hiring medaled brewers—it’s more of having them try to match the food quality and giving them the reins to do what they want in the brewery.

When first submitting beers to competitions, Carson looked to his customers for inspiration on what to enter from Nexus’ portfolio.

“When we won the first award, we just knew the beer was good and our customers liked it,” Carson said. “We just picked the strongest selling beers we had at the time. We were really surprised when we won an award.”

Carson thinks the bar is high for beer quality in New Mexico as well, but winning awards validates Nexus’ mission.

“We feel very appreciative,” Carson said. “It’s an acknowledgement that the quality of our beer is up there with everybody else. The staff is proud, I’m proud, our brewers are proud.”

Among the medal winners, Carson recommends the Imperial Cream Ale as it goes with just about anything on the menu.

“It’s very light, it doesn’t have a whole lot of hops or contrary flavors,” Carson said. “It just goes very smoothly with everything.”

What’s Next for Nexus?

As Carson continues to get everything dialed in for the original location, he’s also working on developing the Smokehouse, which he calls a work in progress despite sales doubling in the last five months. He has also signed a contract to serve beer in a local food hall.

When asked what advice he would give to other BIPOC looking to open a brewery, Carson said, “You just have to just keep fighting to do your best to accomplish your dream. There’s two things that I really love that I grew up with: barbecue and soul food. And that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

Recipe

Collard Greens

DINERS, DRIVE-INS AND DIVES

Nexus Brewery and Restaurant

Recipe author: Ken Carson

Serving Size:  8

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 6 bunches collard greens
• 1/2 large onion
• 1 Tbs. chopped garlic
• 2 crushed chile pods
• 1 small smoked turkey leg
• 2 teaspoons Frank’s Hot Sauce
• 1/8 cup bacon grease
• 1/4 cup diced bacon
• 1 Tbs. salt
• 8 cups water

Method:

Wash collard greens. Start by folding collard greens in half and de-stemming each leaf. Remove the large stem in the middle. Chop leaves at about 1 inch increments.

Boil turkey leg in a large pot for about an hour. Then place greens, onions, crushed chile pods, garlic, bacon, hot sauce, and salt in the pot. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 3 hours until turkey leg and greens are tender.

The post Soul Food and Cream Ale in Albuquerque appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

The Los Angeles County Brewers Guild counts 95 breweries around greater Los Angeles. Seventy-two of them opened in 2015 or after, most notably in neighborhoods and parts of L.A. historically and culturally associated with blue collar workers, immigrants, and people of color. This includes new businesses in the San Gabriel Valley (44.7% Latino, 25.7% Asian) and in the Inland Empire counties of Riverside (51.6% Latino, 8% Asian-Pacific Islander, 7.5% Black) and San Bernardino (55.8% Latino, 9.4% Black, 9% Asian-Pacific Islander), where the growth of breweries reflects their potential as community-builders and creative centers.

Boomtown Brewery in Downtown L.A., Brewyard Beer Company in Glendale, and Dragon’s Tale Brewery in Montclair are three greater Los Angeles breweries that represent this post-2015 craft beer surge. Open for less than a decade and with strong local followings, each brewery has established itself as a part of their respective neighborhood and the diverse communities they represent and serve. Together, these breweries unlock new ways of understanding the diversity found in local histories, cultures, ingredients, and values that influence craft beer production in greater Los Angeles.

Boomtown Brewing: Creating Space for Beer, Art, and History in Downtown L.A.

Every Wednesday night, Boomtown Brewery hosts Vegan Playground, a street-style food and craft festival that draws Boomtown’s largest weekly crowds. And during L.A.’s professional baseball, soccer, and football seasons, Boomtown becomes a supporters’ heaven, complete with fan camaraderie and games.

“We get the downtown city and federal workers stopping in for a post-work beer, Eastsiders hanging out, and that big vegan crowd on Wednesdays,” says Samuel “Chewy” Chawinga, Boomtown’s co-owner and head brewer. “Our Wednesday night is like a good Friday night. We regularly get 450 to 600 people throughout the evening.”

But the big parties happen when Boomtown drops a new can in its popular Artist Series. Every other month, Chawinga and staff brew between 30 and 60 barrels of a unique hazy double IPA inspired by a featured artist whose work decorates the collectible cans. One beer, Brighter Days Hazy DIPA, was made in collaboration with Russian-Polish artist Bunnie Reiss and featured fruity and herbaceous flavors to reflect the bold, colorful nature of her installation work and paintings. The release parties come alive with music, dancing, and beer flowing in the name of art by local and international street artists, DJs, tattooists, and muralists.

Another “Graffiti” series beer, featuring DJ Neff, remains Boomtown’s bestselling Artist Series can,  and the most-attended party to date honored L.A. graffiti artist Rick Ordonez, AKA “Atlas,” famous for his kitty-cat tags around the city.

The Artist Series is one reminder of Boomtown’s place at the geographical crossroads of urban development, local ancient histories, and the creation of sustainable artist- and community- driven spaces in downtown L.A.

Boomtown opened in August 2015 in a century-old building in a part of downtown hemmed in by railway lines, freeways, and the Los Angeles River. Its front entrance lies several hundred feet from the spot where an ancient sycamore tree grew for over four centuries, when it served as sacred meeting point for the Kizh-Gabrieleño tribe until early Spanish colonizers named it El Aliso. The tree remained an important landmark through L.A.’s Indigenous, Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. statehood eras—until two German immigrants chopped it down in 1895 to expand their brewery.

“It’s the first thing that comes to mind when I think about Boomtown and its location,” said lead brewer Amber Sawicki. “The Aliso Belgian Dark Strong ale names this history of the famous El Aliso tree. We get to know a place through beer.”

Boomtown’s brewery manager, Benjamin Turkel, mentioned the vineyards that once covered the land. “Vignes started wine cultivation right over there,” he said, pointing to the brewery’s main cross-street named for the Frenchman who made wine here in 1831. “We pay homage to these places and stories.” Whether through beers like Aliso Ale, their wine barrel aged saison, or Mic Czech, cleverly named to evoke the microphone as a versatile tool of artistic expression, Boomtown remains committed to its community- and place-based mission.

Sawicki and Turkel said their flagship Bad Hombre Mexican Lager best reflects Boomtown’s community identity. “Bad hombre” re-appropriates a term former president Donald Trump used to describe Mexican immigrants in 2016. The brewery joined many taqueros, bartenders, and others who turned Trump’s words against him in gleeful protest.

“Bad Hombre says the most about Boomtown,” says Sawicki. Beers like Aliso, Bad Hombre, and Chavez Ravine IPA, a reference to Dodger Stadium and its controversial beginnings, “get people talking” about place, time, and these not so past histories.

For Chawinga and crew, these local histories and cultural awareness remain key ingredients for their inspired beers and the diverse communities that enjoy them.

Ube Wan to the Rescue: Nothing Common about Glendale’s Brewyard Beer Company

Brewyard Beer Company sits under the Western Avenue bridge along the San Fernando Road “Craft Beer Corridor,” a 17-mile stretch of breweries north of Griffith Park, just east of the Hollywood Hills and a stone’s throw from Burbank’s famous Warner Bros., NBC, and Walt Disney studios. A restored 1936 Ford flatbed truck greets visitors to the taproom, its chrome grille the inspiration for Brewyard’s logo, a nod to head brewer and co-owner Sherwin Antonio’s former life as a master mechanic.

“He’s the mad scientist around here,” said co-owner and brewery manager Kirk Nishikawa of his childhood friend and partner in beer. When the pair opened Brewyard seven years ago, it was Glendale’s first craft brewery.

They specialize in California Common, or “steam” beers, a unique style with roots in the state’s Gold Rush days before refrigeration, when Germans from the East Coast realized they couldn’t properly cold-ferment lagers in the warm weather. “So they forced the lager yeast to ferment at higher temperatures more suited to ales,” said Nishikawa.

Their flagship, Jewel City California Common, is Brewyard’s most popular and awarded beer. But it was the Ube Wan IPA, made with the sweet purple Filipino yam, that saved the fledgling brewery from the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns of 2020.

“I grew up eating ube in meals and desserts, but I only thought to brew beer with it during the pandemic,” said Antonio.

“What is hard to relay is the overall excitement after we released that first batch of Ube Wan,” said Nishikawa. “Cans flew out the door at a pace that we never saw before. We were being tagged left and right on social media with images of our beer. I was able to catch up on a lot of bills that were stacking up.”

Ube Wan sold twice as much as Kalinga Pilsner, their second best-selling beer made with calamansi, a Filipino lime-orange citrus fruit. The two beers together comprise about 15 to 18 percent of beer sales in Brewyard’s taproom and about half their total distribution sales. “Keep in mind we brewed and sold 25 different beers throughout that year,” said Nishikawa, “so Ube Wan and Kalinga were pulling more than twice their weight in sales.”

With the pandemic success of Ube Wan IPA, Antonio made other beers that reflected the flavors he and Nishikawa grew up with as L.A. kids from Filipino and Japanese-American families. Enter Ube Macapuno Delight, inspired by an ube-coconut dessert and seltzers made with lychee and calamansi, all available at Seafood City, a Filipino grocery chain, and other Asian markets around the county.

“We weren’t prepared for the response to the ube beer,” said Nishikawa. “It seemed like the entire Filipino community in L.A. found us and wiped us out of all our cans. We learned how strong our communities would support us if we ‘went there’ culturally.”

In turn, Brewyard found ways to give back. The U.S. Census shows that Los Angeles County is home to 1.5 million Asians and over a half-million Filipinos, the largest Filipino population in the country. As one of the few Filipino co-owned and operated breweries in L.A. County, they understand the importance of reciprocity.

Antonio and Nishikawa have made beers to benefit organizations such as SIPA, a Pilipino American nonprofit, the Little Tokyo Community Council, and the Glendale YWCA. Their benefit brews are a testament to craft breweries’ valued presence in their communities and the possibilities of meaningful exchange through beer.

Five Years of Blue Beer and Dragon Tales at Montclair’s First Brewery

To celebrate Dragon’s Tale Brewery’s anniversary each year, head brewer Nikki Paternoster makes a beer she calls Errant Ale. She adds butterfly pea tea flowers to a Belgian wit-style ale, turning it blue. For interactive fun, customers can add citrus juice from local Bearss limes to turn it purple—a nod to the signature color of the dragon-themed brewery she co-owns and operates in Montclair with business partner Sousan D. Elias.

Errant Ale exemplifies Paternoster’s playful and creative approach to brewing unique and unexpected beers that pay homage to the region’s agricultural history as a citrus-growing hub, while harkening to a time when women were the primary brewers of styles that pre-existed industrialization.

“Women were the first ones to make beer, and a lot of changes to beermaking through the years were made by women,” said Elias. “It was a natural fit for us to open an all-woman owned and operated brewery,” added Paternoster.

They opened Dragon’s Tale Brewery in 2016, Montclair’s first microbrewery that paved the way for two more breweries to open since then in the relatively small (pop. 38,061) Inland Empire city just over the L.A. County line. Montclair borders the cities of Claremont, Upland, Ontario, Pomona, and Chino—areas most associated with private colleges, suburban sprawl, shopping malls, and a billion square feet of warehouses staffed by armies of workers.

Each of these cities also has at least one brewery, which means Montclair beer drinkers had to drive elsewhere. As longtime residents of Montclair, Paternoster and Elias often wondered why their hometown didn’t have its own microbrewery, so they did something about it.

Paternoster’s connection to the city goes back to the late 1970s, when she was around eight years old and her family moved to Montclair from Monterey Park, just east of downtown L.A. “Back then, it was a small town—just stop signs and citrus groves out here,” she said. Before developers turned it into shopping malls and subdivisions after World War II, Montclair was a 19th-century citrus settlement called Monte Vista.

Paternoster honors her hometown’s citrus heritage with her unique beers. She uses locally grown fruits and other natural ingredients like ruby red grapefruit, Valencia oranges, and wildflower honey. She’ll frequent area farmers markets for organic berries to use in her Mediev-ale Brut Gruit, a hop-less beer brewed with tea. And she’ll often make use of regulars’ abundant harvests from backyard fruit trees, a truly homegrown touch that connects Dragon’s Tale customers to the brews they love.

“Someone will come in with tons of lemons or kumquats and ask if we can use it,” said Paternoster. “It gives customers a chance to be part of the beer making process.”

Grapefruit Wit, Bloody Beerdless Wheat Ale, and Cal -52 Blonde are just a handful of beers on Dragon’s Tale menu that reflect the local terroir, whether it’s a neighbor’s jar of preserves, a basket of blood oranges, or herbs plucked from a home garden. Paternoster, who attended Serrano Junior High School in Montclair, also plans to make a beer using serrano peppers, widely grown and eaten in this area once home to the Maara’yam people who spoke the Serrano language. Through her use of ingredients, Paternoster’s beers become mini portals to another time and place.

“Breweries add something special to the community,” said Paternoster. “It’s really cool that we have people who come out and say they’re comfortable here. It’s a way for people to gather and be themselves.”

L.A. Brews Diversity

Brewyard, Boomtown, and Dragon’s Tale are just three examples of the growing diversity in the relatively new Los Angeles craft beer scene that in some ways has been there since its inception, when Ting Su and Jeremy Raub opened Eagle Rock Brewery in 2009. Because it’s newer—compared to the decades-old craft brewery cultures that go back to the 1980s and 1990s in northern California and San Diego—greater L.A.’s craft beer culture shows that diversity is already part of the brewing landscape, from the people who make the beer and drink it, to the ingredients, methods, and perspectives that inform each brewery’s mission. They not only check all the race-gender “diversity” boxes, but push L.A. craft beer drinkers to also think about diversity in terms of history, space, place, community, ingredients, styles, and other meaningful ways.

L.A.’s newest breweries, many of which opened during or after the pandemic lockdowns, continue to reflect the region’s demographic diversity through ingredients, styles, and products. Locally popular fermented drinks like tepache, kombucha, and natural wines dot brewery menus around L.A. Breweries like these and others in Los Angeles help to reshape expectations of who can make, drink, and enjoy craft beer. Dragon’s Tale, Brewyard, and Boomtown are part of the colorful beer landscape of Los Angeles, where beer speaks to locals and reminds us of our connections to time, space, and place.

The post Ube Yams and Dragon Tales: Finding Diversity in a New Generation of L.A. Breweries appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

These occurrences and more have been reported at various haunted breweries across the country. If you believe in all things paranormal, visit one of these breweries for your next pint of beer.

Dark tourism has been a popular sensation for ages, usually spiking in the month of October right before Halloween. Travelers flock to locations with haunted histories, longing to experience some paranormal activity for themselves. Many places embrace the influx of visitors, often providing seasonal tours alongside themed items or activities.

The craft beer world is no different. Breweries across the country have noted unusual occurrences, unexplained sounds, and otherwise strange happenings. And the older the original building of the brewery is, the more stories there are to tell, which is why you’ll find more haunted breweries along the eastern coast of the United States. These breweries all embrace the phenomenon in different ways. Some offer beers named in honor of the spirits and tours of the historic premises. Yet others shy away from the attention, hesitant to admit there may be unusual forces at play.

The Phoenix Brewing Company, Mansfield, Ohio

You wouldn’t expect to find a brewery housed in an old mortuary, but that’s exactly where The Phoenix Brewing Company found its home in Mansfield, Ohio. The Charles Schroer Mortuary opened in 1914 as both a mortuary and funeral parlor. Exactly a century later in 2014, The Phoenix Brewing Company opened its doors after the building sat vacant for 70 years.

The five-barrel pilot brewing system is located in what was once the embalming and preparation room. During construction to open the brewery, a few bones were discovered under the floor’s concrete and turned into the police. In honor of the departed, The Phoenix Brewing Company decided to name a series of wheat beers after them. John Doe is a standard American wheat, while Jane Doe, Barb Doe, and Juan Doe are infused with raspberry, rhubarb, and lime, respectively. Several other house beers reflect the history of the building.

In the eight years that the brewery has been open, both customers and staff have reported several unusual occurrences. Guests have said they’ve felt someone brush up against them or bump into their chair, only to find no one there. Many paranormal enthusiasts have discovered orbs in photos taken throughout the building. Professional ghost hunters have recorded EMF (electric & magnetic field) activity and voices. One even claimed to connect with a male spirit, stating that the entity does not like beer, but is happy to have people in the building again.

How many spirits could be in the building is unclear, but one is known for certain. Charles Schroer, the original owner and operator of the mortuary, was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Instead of waiting for the inevitable, he chose to take his own life inside the building. Add to that the many people who came through the building after their earthly lives ended, and there are bound to be lingering spirits.

To maximize customers’ interest in its haunted history, The Phoenix Brewing Company offers ghost hunts by appointment. Carmone Macfarlane, head of creative & marketing, admits, “Being ‘haunted’ is an attraction. It does bring in new customers, especially around Halloween.” Many people travel to the nearby Ohio State Reformatory and often visit other haunted locations—like the brewery—while in Mansfield. The staff also loves to listen to their customers share their own ghostly experiences with people who are visiting the brewery for the first time.

Taylor House Brewing Company, Catasauqua, Pa.

Named after Declaration of Independence signer George Taylor, Taylor House Brewing Company is overflowing with history, located in one of the buildings from the former Milson’s Coal Yard dating back to 1897. Catasauqua, Pa. was a birthplace of America’s Industrial Revolution, after all—and with history comes lots of ghost stories.

Customers and staff have reported a wide variety of odd things occurring at the brewery. People heard a guitar string being plucked when no one was near the guitar. Others watched glasses shake on the shelves. One time, it was reported that a glass came off the shelf on its own, as if someone had pulled it off. Staff members often hear whistling, fingers snapping, and footsteps when no one else is around. Lights have flickered on and off.

Across the street from the brewery is George Taylor’s summer house, built on an old Native American burial ground in 1768. Staff members posit that ancient spirits may have been angered by the construction. Both reenactors and visitors to the house have reported strange happenings. Additionally, Taylor’s stepson drowned near the property, leading to questions about his lingering presence.

To honor—and play nice with—the spirits present in and around the brewery, Taylor House has brewed a beer in their honor. Madame Fantome, a Belgian witbier, has been on tap since the brewery first opened.

Going forward, the brewery has plans to expand. Tours of the property are being considered, which would complement the other tours in Catasauqua nicely. George Taylor’s home even has regular paranormal investigations.

Saranac Brewery, Utica, N.Y.

With over 120 years of history, it’s no surprise that Saranac Brewery has some spooky stories of its own to tell. In 1888, Francis Xavier Matt established West End Brewing Company in Utica, N.Y. Over the years it’s held many names, including Matt Brewing Company and eventually Saranac, a Native American term meaning “cluster of stars.”

During Prohibition, the brewery was well known for its speakeasy—and for serving the first legal beer after Prohibition was repealed. Visitors to the brewery can step inside the former speakeasy on a tour of Saranac. Also on that tour is the portrait gallery, containing pictures of multiple generations of the Matt family. Staff members and customers alike report feeling uneasy while walking through the hallway, which is still decorated in early-1900s style.

Late night and overnight staff also report hearing strange sounds and seeing figures in the shadows when no one else is in the building. Some workers are known to run through a passageway after turning off the lights for the night. There have been talks of doing Halloween-themed events in the future, but for now, patrons can settle for a collectible Brewery Ghost stein. According to the company, “There have been sporadic sightings of these sneaky characters throughout the brewery for years.”

Other Haunted Breweries in the United States

These three are just some of the haunted breweries scattered throughout the country. Many more exist—if you believe in ghosts, that is.

Moon River Brewing Company in Savannah, Ga. is said to have a lot of paranormal activity. Their website claims that it is “One of the oldest, most historic, and genuinely haunted buildings in Savannah.”

Many paranormal enthusiasts claim that NewSylum Brewing Company in Newton, Conn. is an active ghostly site, with its history as an old psychiatric hospital. But the staff is hesitant to admit to the presence of ghosts, stating they are “unsure” if the brewery is haunted.

One of the most notable haunted breweries is Wolfden Brewing in Bloomingdale, Ill. Built in 1851, the property was a Civil War farmhouse where multiple people died. Now, folks at the brewery say there are strange things happening all the time. Batteries drain unusually fast, beer ingredients fall off the shelves, and shadowy figures are seen moving throughout the building.

Across the country in Denver, Colo., Wynkoop Brewery claims to have a handful of ghosts lingering in the basement of the century-old brick warehouse. According to workers, the spirits aren’t malevolent, but the “sort-of-annoying-but-harmless kind.” Customers have also reported feeling a ghostly presence in the restrooms.

The post Enjoy Both Sips & Spooks at these Haunted Breweries appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Washington, D.C., might be known for its politics, but locals know it has a strong craft beer scene. In May 2022, the city gained its first beer trail. The trail’s success shows how breweries and bars can partner with other organizations to create a destination and drive business.

Recognizing an Opportunity

In Summer 2021, metrobar partners and owners Jesse B. Rauch and John K. Groth noticed groups were arriving at the bar via the city’s Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT), an eight-mile-long paved trail for bicycles, pedestrians, and scooters. Groups were navigating the MBT for their own beer crawl—enjoying the trail and visiting some breweries and bars along the way. Rauch and Groth saw the potential to create something more official.

They reached out to some neighborhood breweries and bars to float the idea by them, including City-State Brewing Company. City-State had opened in June after years in planning, and CEO James Warner had talked with the metrobar owners in the months before opening the brewery. When he heard their idea, he was excited.

“For a new business, you’re out at sea and it’s nice to see other ships that are sailing in the same direction and smoothing out some sailing for you,” says Warner.

Finding Help

Metrobar and City-State are located near the 35-block neighborhood called NoMa, short for “North of Massachusetts Avenue,” through which much of the MBT runs. In September 2021, Rauch contacted the NoMa Business Improvement District (BID), a nonprofit organization created by the D.C. government to be a steward and champion of the neighborhood. Metrobar had rallied interest from other breweries and bars, and everyone was hoping NoMa BID could help.

“Part of our work involves bringing people to the neighborhood,” says Maura Brophy, president & CEO of NoMa BID. “When the beer trail idea came to us, it was completely aligned with our mission. We recognized it could put NoMa on the map and draw people to neighborhood businesses.”

NoMa BID staff got to work right away, aligning with metrobar to recruit businesses based on proximity to the bike trail. They assembled seven participants—three breweries and four bars—along a 2.2-mile section of the MBT.

Another participating brewery is Red Bear Brewing Co. Bryan Van Den Oever, Red Bear co-owner and director of marketing & events, says NoMa BID has been a huge resource to the brewery and was critical to connecting the businesses and getting the beer trail off the ground. “NoMa BID knows everyone,” he says. “They have the pulse on the whole community.”

Brophy’s team researched technology options to package the trail and allow people completing it to confirm their visits to each of the participants. NoMa BID selected Bandwango’s user-friendly, online passport program for the trail. There’s no app to download, and NoMa BID can customize and design the passport and access the data. Bandwango also offered expertise from similar trails they developed, including an ale trail in Bucks County, Pa.

Each brewery and bar can determine its own offerings, such as discounts, based on their business model and point of sale system. People check in at each participating location using the passport and can take advantage of any trail specials available. After participants check in at all seven locations, NoMa BID rewards them with a Metropolitan Beer Trail-branded T-shirt. Brophy’s team initially ordered 300 shirts and quickly purchased 300 more due to the trail’s success.

Launching the Trail

NoMa BID focused its marketing on social media and word of mouth. They also worked with influencers, offering them T-shirts and stickers. The breweries and bars promoted the trail through their own public relations, online, and onsite channels.

The Metropolitan Beer Trail launched on May 14, and 1,061 people signed up for the passport the first weekend. On the first day alone, 240 people completed the entire trail. Metrobar logged record sales that first day, and other participating locations were packed.

“We knew it was going to be big, but we’ve been blown away how the community has embraced this and is using the trail so far,” says Brophy.

People can complete the trail at their own pace—whether it’s over a day, week, month, or season—however many times they want. NoMa BID and the participating businesses all hope it encourages people to visit and return.

Some of the most effective outreach was an article in the Washington Post, published less than a week after the trail’s launch. “We think that was an important and big opportunity to introduce the trail to people outside of the neighborhood,” says Brophy.

She believes the beer trail could be a major destination for people visiting D.C. Her team plans to work with hotels and tourist offices to notify visitors about the trail. They also have plans for advertising. Marketing plans are a mix of hyperlocal, regional, and national promotions.

NoMa BID and the participating breweries and bars view this as just the beginning and hope it will grow. They’re working together on new ideas to attract more people and gain their return business. There’s also a new brewery in development near the trail that could be added.

Extending the Connection

Rauch and Groth are already talking with breweries and distilleries in other D.C. neighborhoods who want to replicate the Metropolitan Beer Trail’s success. They encourage other businesses to connect with each other. “Don’t be afraid to reach out to your fellow businesses,” says Rauch. “Coming together—especially in light of everything that’s going on in the world—is important. Maybe that one partner does something different than you and you can each help each other.”

Van Den Oever recommends beer trail locations remain in regular communication with whomever is organizing it as well. “Make sure everyone is clear on expectations and knows the process,” he says. “NoMa BID kept us all in line and moving forward.”

Participating locations have their own individual relationships with each other, but NoMa BID distributes a monthly email to keep them all connected, share information, and engage them in conversations around questions or specific issues. Sometimes participants will pose questions to the group.

Another key piece of advice that Van Den Oever, Rauch, Groth, and Warner all offer is having one entity manage the trail. Some believe the trail wouldn’t have been possible without NoMa BID’s involvement.

“Find a sponsoring partner who will view this as a way to bring retail, foot traffic, and prosperity to an area, and can facilitate you and others as a destination and generate economic prosperity,” advises Warner. “Right now, the trail is operating without much involvement from us, which is perfect.”

Proximity of participating locations is also important. Brophy says having a critical mass of establishments near each other makes the trail feel achievable.

“There are lots of ways to think about a brewery as not just coming to a facility,” says Warner, “but also coming to a neighborhood or an area and how that can be connected to other businesses. We can all work together to draw people in and grow the size of the pie.”

The post Metropolitan Beer Trail Increases Business for All appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

There are some excellent examples you can visit throughout the country. The following list is not exhaustive but illustrates a few breweries and brewpubs that have sought to celebrate the brewing process through their architectural design.

Blackstone Brewing Co. | Nashville

The taproom at Blackstone Brewing Co. is a long, somewhat intimate space with clear glazing along two sides which allows dramatic and tantalizingly open views into the more bright and lofty manufacturing floor. It lends itself to a rewarding interaction and successfully affords a discerning beer lover a full appreciation of the beer they are sipping.

At Blackstone, they have always maintained that the brewery should be an interactive experience for the customer. “We began as a brewpub. Our brewery was up front behind large plate glass. The serving tanks were out in the bar; close enough for customers to touch them. We had an open brewhouse policy. People thought that we were crazy putting everything so accessible to customers but in 20 years we never had anyone bother any of the tanks.”

(Related: 12 More Breweries in Historic Buildings: Reviving and Restoring the Past)

Goldwater Brewing Co. | Scottsdale, AZ

Dillon McClelland at Goldwater Brewing Co. spoke about going to taprooms that felt “like an office with a door at the back into the brewery,” and how the place behind the door was where he wanted to go drinking. For Goldwater, they wanted to create a blended experience for patrons so that they felt they were in the brewery as soon as they entered the taproom.

“When we found the spot it was pretty tight,” Dillon says. “Our idea was to use half the space as the brewery with the other half for serving beers we make. The city made us put up the glass but at least it wasn’t a brick wall.”

The spaces still manage to flow, quite literally, between each other with one of the exciting and truly immersive elements being that the beer in the taproom is poured directly into the glass from the brite tanks behind the bar.

 4 Hands Brewing Co. | St. Louis

4 Hands Brewing Co. in St Louis has expanded over time to 20,000 square feet and has been conscious of maintaining an open view from its tasting room into the production area since its early days. The ground floor taproom, in particular, creates a coziness with its use of exposed brick, wood beams and ceramic textures while allowing the industrial tanks to subtly draw curious attention to them.

“We thought it was important for our customers to feel connected to the brewing process,” says Director of Operations, Martin Toft. “We’ve had a lot of the same customers coming in since the day we opened and they’ve been able to watch what was once a completely empty warehouse fill up with tanks over the years. As a result, I think a lot of those customers really feel like they’ve been a part of that growth.”

Bluejacket | Washington, D.C.

The entire taproom and brewing facility at Bluejacket in Washington, D.C. is a soaring and dramatic space. It uses a healthy measure of glass in its facade to flood the space with natural light and illuminate the tanks and the taproom. Everywhere in the triple-height space there are reminders and parts of the brewing process proudly displayed and functioning. It creates an elegance while remaining true to brewing’s industrial nature.

Beer Director at Bluejacket, Greg Engert, spoke about how they deliberately sought out a place with “high ceilings precisely because we wanted a strong connection between the brewhouse and taproom. The idea was to elevate the brewery and fermentation spaces above the taproom so that the guest could feel immersed in the brewing experience while drinking our beers. We were also inspired by the late Victorian Tower breweries of England, where the stages of the brewing process flow downward, by gravity, through multiple levels. By mimicking this setup above our taproom, we arrived at the immersive experience we were after.”

(More: Epic Craft Beer Road Trip: Breweries Along the Great River Road)

Almanac Beer Co. | Alameda, CA

Located on Alameda Island just a block away from the shores of San Francisco Bay, Almanac Beer Co. wanted their taproom to feel connected to the brewery itself so that guests could feel fully immersed in the Almanac ethos.

The repurposed warehouse building retains an industrial feel. Its exposed, clear span truss roof allows for an uncluttered sense of openness whereby you really start to feel you are on the brewhouse floor. In effect, you become the end-point of the artisan process while enjoying a beer in the beer hall.

Workhorse Brewing Co. | King of Prussia, PA

Workhorse Brewing’s slogan is “Beer Made Right.” It is a bold statement which they double down on with a brand and ethos that is all about creating “meaningful connections to their customers.” These concepts delightfully manifest themselves in the layout for their bright and airy taproom which feels like a genuine extension of the brewing process as the u-shaped bar extends proudly from the brewhouse behind.

“We didn’t want our slogan to just be a marketing gimmick,” says co-founder Dan Hershberg. “We didn’t want to open our doors and not showcase our work on the backside, as well as showing our commitment to the brand and the quality. Our goal was to make sure that the space was commensurate with that product. We had to make sure the experience would resonate with people and that it was a place they would feel comfortable in.”

Corridor Brewery & Provisions | Chicago

Where many venues on this list let the taproom become part of the manufacturing facility, Corridor Brewery & Provisions in Chicago feels more like the other way around. It looks and feels like a cozy bar or restaurant initially but reveals the secret of its operation pretty quickly on entry with the brewing equipment celebrated as a shining contrast, yet still an integral part of the otherwise rustic decor.

Greg Shuff is brainchild and proprietor behind Corridor and also Dryhop Brewing, both of which are in the Lakeview area of Chicago. He has been a homebrewer since his college years, and his vision for both breweries was for them to feel like “hanging out in a brewery; feeling connected to the craft brewing world; and most importantly, feeling a personal connection to a community of craftsmen.”

(Related: 7 Offbeat Places for People Who Like Craft Beer)

pFriem Family Brewers | Hood River, OR

Situated at the confluence of the Columbia, White Salmon and Hood Rivers in Oregon, pFriem Family Brewers (pronounced “freem”) take much of their influence from the beers of Belgium and their location in the Pacific Northwest.

For the layout of their brewery, they felt it was important that beer lovers were afforded the opportunity to “see, feel, and smell the craftsmanship that goes into pFriem beer.” They wanted to establish a strong connection between the customer and the brewing process.

Founder Josh fPriem spoke about the effort that went into making that vision happen: “I would say the biggest change in doing it the way we have is making sure that safety to the guest is our first priority. In the customer-facing part of the brewery, we do all the work in that area before guests arrive to the brewery. We have also had to put a great deal of work into our HVAC system. A brewing environment and a dining experience are very different when it comes to heating and cooling. This was no simple task to get this where we wanted it to be.”

Banded Brewing Co. | Kennebunkport, ME

Banded Brewing Co. features minimal separation between the brewhouse and taproom. Owner and Brewmaster Ian McConnell spoke about how he “personally finds industrial things beautiful, especially that a lot of the beauty is in their function.” Accordingly, he has always found brewing equipment interesting and believed others would too.

The brewery’s name comes from the sense of community it’s looking to evoke by “banding together.” This was an important idea that Ian wanted to foster by sharing the process through the design of the brewery and taproom so that the product could be enjoyed communally.

“It is about opening our space, our equipment, and our experiences to others,” he says.

Trillium Brewing Company | Boston and Canton, MA

The brewing facility sets the backdrop for the bar in Trillium Brewing Company in Boston and is very much the focal point for the taproom experience. Marketing Director Jonathan Tompkins spoke about how the team at Trillium is naturally curious. They expected others would feel the same way and would appreciate the exposure to their creative method. “If we can provide a glimpse into the process it helps us share our story and show the heart and soul of Trillium,” he says.

(Find a Brewery Near You)

“It’s pretty cool to watch beer being packaged that you’re drinking fresh in the taproom! Fans who visit our taprooms regularly comment that being able to see and smell the day’s brew makes for a memorable experience. We get a lot of great feedback from guests that love the sights and smells of an active brewery, which creates a memorable full sensory experience.”

Connecting with Craft Brewing Through Architecture

Visiting a brewery is, in effect, a visit to a factory. There is an innate satisfaction in seeing how things work, how a beer is crafted, and in enjoying a sample at the end of the production line. Being able to easily observe that operation from the taproom offers a special opportunity to celebrate and engage with the craft in a uniquely satisfying way.

The post Form & Function: Brewery Visits with an Architect appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

WASHINGTON

Bale Breaker Brewing

1801 Birchfield Rd., Yakima (Brewery Taproom)

826 NW 49th St., Seattle (Bale Breaker & Yonder Cider Taproom)

The best way to get to know a brewing interest’s beers is by venturing to the source. Perhaps no brewery offers such comprehensive insight into its liquid wares as Bale Breaker, a brewery situated smack dab in the middle of a fully operational, fourth-generation hop farm. It’s from this fertile acreage that 100 percent of the hops for the company’s beers are grown.

Hops are in this nine-year-old operation’s DNA, and its portfolio reflects that. In addition to a septet of flagship beers highlighted by the Simcoe-, Citra-, Loral- and Mosaic-laced Topcutter IPA, Bale Breaker offers a Clarity Rarity series of experimental hazy IPAs and Homegrown Beers made with 100 percent estate hops and barley. Increased stylistic variety comes in the form of a year-round Pilsner and breakfast stout, plus collaboration beers released as part of Bale Breaker’s Frenz Series.

Any time of year is ideal for enjoying a Field 41 Pale Ale in the middle of the hop-saturated plot it’s named for, but Bale Breaker recommends visiting during the September hop harvest. That’s when guests can learn the most about the company’s unique farm-to-glass methodology from the comfort of a kid- and dog-friendly tasting room adjacent to a grassy outdoor area. Al fresco imbibing is also encouraged at Bale Breaker’s fire pit-equipped Seattle taproom, which it shares with Yonder Cider. That partnership is another first-of-its-kind setup from a truly one-of-a-kind business.

Pro Tip: Ask your bartender for the freshest beer from Bale Breaker’s Imagination Station five-barrel pilot brewhouse. These beers are unique and often unavailable anywhere else.

Hours of Operation

Yakima: Tu.-Th., 3-9PM; F-Sa., 12-9PM; Su., 12-6PM

Seattle: Tu.-Th., 12-9PM; F-Sa., 12-10PM; Su., 12-9PM

Reuben’s Brews

5010 14th Ave NW, Seattle

Variety is the spice of life at Reuben’s Brews. Located in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, this family-owned brewery fashioned 150 different beers in 2021 alone, 87 of which were available in cans or bottles. That awe-inspiring quantity was marked by verifiable quality, with 30 of those beers—ranging from English to Belgian to German styles—medaling at numerous brewing competitions, including

the prestigious Great American Beer Festival (GABF).

Reuben’s Brews refers to its recipe-composition MO as “glass backwards,” meaning the brewing team first focuses on the desired result, then works its way backward. The process is different from brew to brew and style to style, but the excellence across vastly different styles is a constant. The most challenging aspect of a visit to Reuben’s Brews’ tasting room is taking in the massive, 26-tap beer list, but friendly staffers guide guests through menu subsections—wild, sour, lager, pale, West Coast IPA, hazy IPA, Belgian, dark—to find beers (some served via beer engine or lager faucet) to match their palates.

The term “something for everyone” is often thrown around, but here popular hoppy ales, quaffable lagers, and high-octane barrel-aged stouts share space with Brett saisons, roggenbiers, and even the occasional house-made cider. Monthly “Thank You Thursday” events supporting local non-profits and beer releases benefitting charities through the Reuben’s Brews Foundation provide more reasons to pay this insatiably creative suds spot a visit.

Pro Tip: This August, Reuben’s Brews will celebrate its 10th anniversary, but throughout 2022, 10 special collaborations beers will be released to help keep the party going all year long.

Hours of Operation

Daily, 11AM-10PM

OREGON

Little Beast Brewing

3412 SE Division St., Portland (Beer Garden)

11517 SE Hwy 212, Clackamas (Brewery Tasting Room)

After decades spent plying his trade at Oregon ops Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, Full Sail Brewing, and Deschutes Brewery, brewer Charles Porter and his wife, Brenda Crow, established a PDX mom-and-pop in 2017. Dubbed Little Beast, it draws on Porter’s multifarious experience with craft beers—both clean and funky—and offers them at a tasting room installed within a quaint, Craftsman-style home complete with a lawn, shaded porch, patios galore, and Kansas City-style BBQ produced in-house.

Little Beast’s sours have proven to be a source of particular acclaim, and Porter splits them into two categories: long-fermented barrel-aged beers, and “quicker-turn beers.” The latter differ from traditional kettle sours due to a proprietary process and exhibit a more balanced tartness that makes for more approachable beers, such as the passionfruit-infused Mr. Nice and strawberry-lemon summertime sipper Electric Sunshine. Standout examples of Porter’s slower-burn creations include fruited (peach, nectarine, apricot) mixed-culture Golden Stone and the 100-percent Brett-fermented Fera saison.

Little Beast’s clean beers include its bestselling West Coast IPA and American premium Pilsner, as well as a wide breadth of lagers (helles, dark, German, and Czech Pilsners), Belgian-style ales, and hazy IPAs. It also offers confection-inspired beers from the Maker’s Series, in which Porter mimics local artisans’ creations in beer form as he did with Salt & Straw’s salted, malted, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. It’s another example of this seasoned vet continuing to innovate.

Pro Tip: Visitors to Little Beast’s brewery may get to sample rare offerings from the Guardians of Funk bottle club, including spontaneous beer and bold barrel-aged strong ales.

Hours of Operation

Portland: M-Th., 1:30-9PM; F, 1:30-10PM; Sa., 12-10PM; Su., 12-9PM

Clackamas: Th.-F, 3-8PM; Sa., 12-8PM

pFriem Family Brewers

707 Portway Ave., Ste 101, Hood River

Old World inspiration drove the establishment of pFriem Family Brewers. A decade ago, long before the American Pilsner renaissance, founder Josh Pfriem designed a brewery ideally suited for crafting that style. It has gone on to become the company’s biggest award winner (right behind its GABF silver medal-winning IPA) and fits in perfectly with pFriem’s similarly to-style German, Belgian, English, and American beers, all of which are served in proper glassware at this cut-above brewpub. A four-time winner for Best Brewpub at the Oregon Beer Awards, pFriem Family Brewers has a choose-your-own-adventure appeal.

Replete with reclaimed wood from the Columbia River Gorge, the main dining room gives way to The Bear’s Den with its underground Belgian beer bar décor. From there, guests can gravitate toward an open-air patio or ascend to the Library space to enjoy views of Hood River’s waterfront. No matter one’s seating choice, a menu stocked with seasonally driven, European, and PNW-inspired fare such as moules frites, Flemish beef stew, and a pimento cheeseburger awaits, along with an eclectic draft list more than 20 taps strong.

To date, pFriem has brewed nearly 150 different offerings, from hop-forward ales to balanced lagers, farmhouse and mixed-fermentation beers, spirit- and wine-barrel-aged specialties, and just about everything in between. They also delve into trendy styles, but at the heart of it all this is a brewer’s brewery honoring time-tested styles and techniques of the Old World from an inspired New World locale.

Pro Tip: Often (especially on the weekends) pFriem is at capacity, but there are numerous spots to have a beer while you wait, including a family-friendly park across the street.

Hours of Operation

Normal Hours: Daily, 11:30AM-9PM

Summer Hours (Memorial Day to Labor Day): Daily, 11AM-10PM

Boss Rambler Beer Club

1009 NW Galveston Ave., Bend

It takes a lot to draw a consistent crowd with the original 10 Barrel brewpub just a block away and Bend favorite Sunriver Brewing next door, but such is the allure of Boss Rambler Beer Club. Established in 2019, this newcomer has built a fast following behind a portfolio of beers reflective of modern-day tastes, particularly those of younger beer drinkers. That of-the-moment appeal extends to its tasting room, which is naturally lit, accented by pastels, and flush with old-is-new artistic appeal.

Until this year, Boss Rambler’s beers were contract-brewed, but husband-and-wife owners Matt and Kate Molletta recently acquired their own brewery. Now that facility supplies the company’s après ski-ready taproom with heavily dry-hopped IPAs both hazy and clear, lagers (including hoppy and Mexican varieties), pastry stouts, and super-fruited quick sours. The latter are split into two lines—the cocktail-inspired Chill’r series and the Purée Vida family of extra-thick delights—and released throughout the year.

While beer traditionalists (read: older drinkers) could mistake Boss Rambler as exclusively Gen-Z, its inviting indoor-outdoor space draws drinkers of all demographics. Part of that phenomenon likely has to do with the openness and non-conformity of Bend’s populace, but beers with wider appeal like those of the Stokes classic lager series and IPAs with brilliant tropical, citrus, and stone-fruit bouquets and flavor profiles to match are the primary attraction for all who frequent this impressive up-and-comer.

Pro Tip: In addition to beer, Boss Rambler offers “boozy slushies” such as a POG (passionfruit, orange, guava) Rosé cooler, scoring major points with fans, especially on hot days.

Hours of Operation

M-Th., 1-8PM; F-Su., 12-9PM

The post 5 Pacific Northwest Breweries to Please Any Palate appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

When the pandemic hit its stride last year, and travel came to a screeching halt, it became painfully obvious that my storytelling needed a bit of diversification in order to sustain such a career dependent upon tourism. Sharing my hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee, with others felt like the most viable addition. In a town of 150,000, Clarksville boasts seven independent breweries and is expecting a couple more to hit the scene by 2022. So, I did what any writer worth their salt does in the beginning. I started with what I knew. “You have a captive, dedicated audience, which has already bought into the idea and wants to try something new,” says Dustyn Brewer, co-owner of Clarksville’s Kings Bluff Brewery. “That’s part of the ethos of a brewery in the first place. It also introduces people to the fabric of our community.”

An invaluable community member, he champions the idea of bringing such tours to Clarksville saying, “We know who and what we are, and that goes right in line with offering more craft beer amenities to the community. So, for beer tourism it makes sense to be involved. The more the merrier.” Brewer worked diligently with local lawmakers to pass Tennessee bill HB1085/SB1022 allowing individuals to walk in the downtown entertainment district with a semi-sealed open container on specified occasions.

The bike culture in Clarksville also seems to be catching wind with its rolling hills and picturesque landscapes. Just as hops and barley go together, so does cycling and beer. Such affinity proved most evident with the first year of Tour de France in 1903 which was a literal picnic on wheels where the beer and wine consumed were for merely nutritional purposes, wink wink.

Here in the states, brew brands such as New Belgium Brewing have taken this perfect pairing and ran (or pedaled in this instance) with it. Yet, while having an accident on a bicycle might not be the ticket you want, and it may even become the butt of your friend’s jokes, it’s something to consider. That’s why designing tours with safety top priority is so important.

In the state where big is always best, “Texans are used to using vehicles to cover a lot of ground. A big part of establishing the city tours is the awareness of how safe and fun cycling is,” says Bronwen Gregory, the previous visitor experience director for Visit Fort Worth. “While former Mayor Betty Price and now Mayor Mattie Parker are extremely bike-friendly, both have been happy to support anything in a healthful way.” Each year the city promotes a special Tour de Fort Worth to coincide with Tour de France, and also presents a rolling Town Hall.

Visit Fort Worth chose not to design a cycling craft beer tour, per se. Instead, Gregory says she’s designed all sorts of self-led tours that are ale trail themed so that tourists can go at their own pace with rented bikes through the Ft Worth Bike Sharing, upon which Gregory serves on their board. Gregory has been in the tourism business for more than twenty years and says that “There’s a growing appreciation with educational experiences either on their own time, or guided experiences that are human powered.” Especially in a time when the pandemic seems to refuse to give up the fight, she adds, “It really gives people a chance to explore a neighborhood without being separated by glass. Get them on a bicycle and it takes decades off their lives. They’re like kids again.”

Still, if you want a guided bike and brew tour, 6-Pack Trail coordinates craft brewery bike tours in Fort Worth on the 2nd Saturday of every other month. Led by a knowledgeable beer guide, participants travel 10 miles and visit seven of Cowtown’s inventive craft breweries, including five that are part of the Craft Brewers Guild: Rahr & Sons, Martin House, Wild Acre, HopFusion and Funky Picnic. At each stop, beer enthusiasts receive one 8-ounce beer, concluding with dinner at female-owned and operated, Funky Picnic. A fun portable stein, bottled water and general bike maintenance are complimentary.

Like Gregory, Troy Daily of Kayak, Bike, and Brew in Traverse City, Michigan, errs on the side of caution when it comes to beers on his experiential tours. Daily emphasizes that his tours are more about the outdoor recreation, and is pretty firm on the one beer per brewery stop. “We want to give them a tease about it,” says Daily. “We want them to go back and do business with the breweries.”  A pedal, paddle pub crawl allowing 24 people per 4-hour tour through Traverse City’s urban TART bike trails, Boardman Lake and River, and West Bay.

“The people are happy. They are always excited. Whenever they come in they are in a good mood, even if it’s misting or raining. It’s infectious. The guides are really good and in control. They are the reason the people are in a good mood. They are fun and informative,” says Russ Springsteen of Right Brain Brewery, one of the three to four stops in the craft forward town on Lake Michigan.

Using roadways and waterways for commerce to the public, Daily believes in “keeping it cleaner than we use it,” encouraging conversations while on the tour about environmental impact, and routinely welcoming river and roadway clean-up days. The tours are ADA compliant, and routinely sell out on the weekends. Two-weeks in advance weekend reservations are recommended, with regular weekday availability. “You are going to get wet. You’re going to meet other people. So, to be able to be social is important. And, if you enjoy your ride, tip your guide,” says Daily.

While peddling and paddling trend with craft tourists seeking to explore their destination, so has the Certified Cicerone designation for some tour operators.

Amy Beers (yes that’s her real name) of Indianapolis-based Drinking with Beers says, “It all boils down to what’s walkable,” and she weaves history, good product, and service into all of her neighborhood walking brewery tours. When she first started out in 2018, Beers began with her love for beer and travel, and felt that these affinities were a perfect pairing. But, when she hosted a booth at the fair showcasing her newly curated tours, she remembers a lady asking what qualified her to teach about beer.

Less than a year later, Beers received her Certified Cicerone, making her one of nearly 4,300 worldwide. “I like to educate, but also have fun,” says Beers. “It’s a great way for them to feel connected to Indianapolis.”

Her Taste of Europe tour of Mass Avenue Arts District walks attendees to three separate breweries including St. Joseph Brewery and Public House. Located in an old Catholic church, she focuses on Belgian style ales at this stop because of its connection to trappist ale. Here she offers a two-part YouTube video to give you a taste of her style. There’s also a tour of three Fountain Square breweries, along with the self-guided tour which you can download for a $10 fee. Because of the promotional discounts offered at some of the included breweries, she says this inclusive self-guided tour pays for itself on a single visit.

Gary Glancy also acquired his Certified Cicerone designation, and offered his first craft beer tour in Greenville, S.C., called The Brewery Experience in 2016. And, like Beers, Glancy uses multimedia to make his tours unforgettable.

After he left the newspaper business as a full-time journalist in 2012, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, and Oskar Blues all had announced their plans for new South Carolina locations. So, Glancy took a solo trip across America stopping at the breweries’ flagship locations along with a smattering of other breweries and National Parks, while also attending the Great American Beer Festival in Denver for the first time.

But, what makes Glancy’s tours so unique is a parody of Forrest Gump entitled Gary Gose Gump that he shot with little more than a GoPro camera, a beer bottle, and remote access to his producer, A.D. Weighs, while on that solo trip way back when. “It was a beast. A whole year of my life,” Glancy says. Now offering brewery tours in Greenville, South Carolina and neighboring Asheville and Hendersonville North Carolina, tourists hop aboard a passenger van where the opening scene of Glancy’s take on the 1994 award-winning epic story involves a Quest Brewing Company beer bottle rolling across America, as opposed to the original white feather. The beer theme continues throughout the 40-minute parody that entertains his guests between brewery stops.

Garnering extensive back-of-the-house knowledge working as a beerkeep for Catawba  in Asheville, Glancy says that his tours wouldn’t be possible without such experience coupled with the relationships he’s made with the breweries.” From the largest brewery at Thomas Creek to somewhere like Straight 8,” he explains, “People want to meet the owners. Once they feel like they bond with the owners, they’re more likely to buy product.” As his tours wrap up the credits roll from Glancy’s movie showing at the front of the van. “It’s fun to watch complete strangers bond over 3.5 hours and are the best of buds by the end,” he says.

I’m still in the design process of my Clarksville tours. But, if I’ve learned anything from the tour operators I’ve met along the way, it’s that everything hinges upon human relations, which could be said for most any successful venture, really. Back at King’s Bluff, Brewer told me once when I landed on offering tours as my side hustle, “Exclusivity never did anything but put you on an island without a boat.” The design of my new venture is taking longer than I expected. But, one thing’s for sure: Inclusivity will mean everything if I plan to stay afloat.

The post The Components of a Successful Experiential Beer Tour appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

The post Yeast, A Romance Story appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“Once we got curbside takeaway operations established, our next focus was on coming out with as many can releases as possible to keep the ‘brew-thru’ refreshed. Our brewers had plenty to do on that front, but curbside ops didn’t demand as many hours for our front-of-house crew,” reflects Virginia Beer Co. Taproom Manager & Business Developer Luci Legaspi. “We had to brainstorm how to keep our team’s hours up without a taproom – so deep cleans, improvement projects, and renovations became a big part of our weekly routines.”

What started as an internal effort utilizing the skillsets of various Taproom Team members has turned into a complete overhaul of The Virginia Beer Company’s 10,000 sq. ft. space. From rejuvenating tables and chairs with fresh finishes to building new wooden stage platforms for future live performances, and erecting fixtures to string lights in the beer garden, the Virginia Beer Co. team worked together to begin touching up normally bustling taproom & beer garden spaces that were suddenly closed to the public.

“Our rationale was that not only did we want to keep our teams busy & engaged, but we wanted to make sure our brewery experience was even better than our guests remembered when it was safe to host them again,” comments Virginia Beer Co. Co-Founder Robby Willey. “Our building was built in 1960 and the brewery opened in 2016, so this was as good a time as any to reinvest in our home.”

———

As do-it-yourself projects were completed and the atmosphere allowed for limited on-premise service in the brewery’s 2,000 sq. ft. beer garden, The Virginia Beer Company’s management team decided to keep ongoing renovations as a major focus. As long as limited service of some kind was still a part of the new reality during the latter half of 2020, the brewery was committed to getting its space ready to welcome everyone back in an even bigger & better way in the future.

“We’ve had a growing wish list of things we’d like to do with our taproom in particular,” notes VBC Co-Founder Chris Smith. “We were fortunate to receive an immense amount of community outreach and support during our curbside-only operational phase…so not only were we able to keep our entire team working together, but we’ve more confidently been able to focus on how to reinvest in our space while we can’t fully utilize it.”

In all, projects completed during 2020 included:

·      Sound dampening panels hung in the taproom

·      Hand-built wooden merchandise display station built & installed

·      New taproom flooring project completed

·      Indoor stage area constructed

·      Taproom ceiling fans installed

·      New garage door (connecting taproom to beer garden) installed

·      Touchless amenities added to doors and in all restrooms

·      Beer garden lighting additions completed

·      Outdoor stages constructed/renovated

·      Beer garden tables & chairs sanded, sealed, & painted

·      Beer garden umbrellas installed

·      Plexiglas ordering station built & installed for COVID protocols

·      New taproom mural completed

———

 “What began as a few in-house projects really blossomed into a complete rejuvenation and expansion of our existing public spaces,” reflects Luci L. “The flooring project was by far the biggest undertaking – completely removing the former top coat of the floor and cutting down to the original composite to create a more colorful foundation that’s also better suited for wear & tear going forward. And the most exciting project was the taproom mural!”

During the 2020 holiday season, The Virginia Beer Company teamed up with a muralist out of Richmond, VA known as The Night Owl to completely re-envision the visual identity of their 2,000 sq. ft. taproom.

“We went from very broad strokes color schemes – red floors with white walls – to wanting to incorporate five years of can releases, visual graphics, and personal experiences into our taproom,” says Chris S. “We’ve incorporated shapes, colors, and imagery from our logos and our history of recipes (with a healthy dose of input from our team) to add a ton of life to our walls that better complement the story developing here on Second Street.”

———

The Virginia Beer Company continues to operate at reduced capacity in adherence with protocols put in place by the Commonwealth of Virginia and best practices recommended by the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild. As the brewery maintains safe operations and continues to focus on retaining 100% of its staff, a commitment to doubling down on the ability to share even more rounds in the future is a top priority in 2021.

“In our efforts to maintain social distancing we’ve already expanded our service areas in the taproom and beer garden, so it’s a natural progression that if we’re adding more space for our guests we need to make the new experience flow for a future when we’re back to 100% capacity,” says Luci L. “We’re doing our best to make the public-facing spaces as safe as possible while remaining engaging. People have been really excited to see the ongoing additions, and the work coincides nicely with our upcoming 5-year anniversary in March.”

Next Up:

·      On the production side, the brewery is undertaking a complete restructuring of its production floors in order to prepare to bring in more fermentation vessels, with increased demand for export along with domestic distribution territory expansions into Western and Eastern Virginia on the immediate horizon.

·      In the beer garden, the brewery will be adding more concrete surface area along with additional fire pits (to complement the three already in operation), and constructing an enclosed fencing structure with bar tops to increase the allowable outdoor service area.

·      For the façade, the brewery will again be working with The Night Owl to envision a mural for the exterior of the brewery’s 61-year old building to better welcome guests to the newly named Edge District in Williamsburg where the brewery operates. 

———

“We’re in the business of sharing beers & cheers,” says Robby W. “2020 definitely made it more difficult to focus on the ‘cheers’ part of the equation, but we pride ourselves on positivity and we feel that we’ve made the most of a difficult time. We entered 2021 with a complete team, an expanded on-premise experience, and new ways to showcase our particular brand of craft beer here in Williamsburg and around the world. All things considered, we’re as ready as we can be for the rounds yet to come.” 

More information about The Virginia Beer Company’s brewery, taproom, and beer garden can be found at VirginiaBeerCo.com. 

The post Virginia Beer Co. Completes Brewery Expansion Projects Ahead of 5-Year Anniversary appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

The post Virginia Beer Co. Receives Top International Recognition appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

The post 30% off $30 All Weekend @ Woods Boss Brewing appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“Since the first winter we were open back in 2016, Evil Santa has been one of our most sought after recipes,” reminisces Co-Founder Robby Willey. “The branding is playful, the time of year is festive, and the style is perfect for a cold winter night.”

Evil Santa – a 7.0% abv Spiced Milk Stout brewed with Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice, and Milk Sugar – was originally released as a draft only release during the brewery’s first holiday season in 2016. The recipe was so popular that the brewery brought it back the following year and added a can release to the festivities.

“This is the fifth year we’ve brewed Evil Santa and the fourth that it’s been available in cans,” notes Director of Sales Michael Rhodes. “The past few years we’ve added some limited variants to the annual release. Some draft-only, some in cans, and a fan favorite in bottles.”

Limited variants from year’s past include Vanilla, Peppermint, Hot Pepper, and Mocha. For 2020, the brewery will be releasing four variants, including two brand new recipes: Vanilla Latte and Hazelnut Truffle. The most popular variant – Double Evil Sana – was first released in 2018.

“Since this is our take on a Winter Warmer, we figured why not amp it up a notch,” laughs Co-Founder Chris Smith. “Our Brewmaster decided to brew an Imperial version of Evil Santa in 2018 and we aged it in Bourbon Barrels for 6 months before releasing it on Black Friday that year. Since then it’s always been available in 500 ml bottles annually starting on Black Friday, and this year we’re mixing it up by releasing it in 16 oz. cans.”

This year’s Evil Santa releases include:

Evil Santa

Style: Spiced Milk Stout
ABV: 7.0%
Description: Evil Santa only comes ’round but once a year. And each year he brings a fleet of 16 oz. cans for all the good girls & boys to enjoy! With hearty additions of flaked oats + lactose, and dashes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, this warming stout is smooth with a hint of spice + everything nice on the finish. Sure to be enjoyed throughout this festive season…whether you’ve been naughty or nice!

Vanilla Latte Evil Santa

Style: Spiced Milk Stout with Vanilla Beans & Espresso
ABV: 7.0%
Description: Even Evil Santa yearns to make the Nice List from time to time. Vanilla Beans soften the spice of our smooth & creamy seasonal Milk Stout, and locally sourced coffee from our neighbors at Column 15 provide a pinch of perk. While this version of Evil Santa may not be spicy enough to kick you down the slide, it still has enough mischief mixed in to give Billy Bob a run for his money.

Hazelnut Truffle Evil Santa

Style: Spiced Milk Stout with Hazelnuts & Cacao Nibs
ABV: 7.0%
Description: Evil Santa has quite the list to check (twice, even) and when he’s done, he needs more than milk and cookies to reward that hard work. The sweet, nutty, and chocolate flavors in this limited Spiced Milk Stout variant help to get the job done — Hazelnuts and Cacao Nibs blended together are perfectly suited to create a smooth and decadent winter warmer perfect to enjoy before settling in for a long winter’s nap.

Double Evil Santa

Style: Imperial Spiced Milk Stout
Release Date: 11-29-2020
ABV: 11.3%
Description: Since 2016, Evil Santa has been coming to town once a year to ring in the holiday season. In celebration of the annual return of this seasonal Spiced Milk Stout, we ask our jolly friend to stick around for multiple variant releases culminating in the return of DOUBLE EVIL SANTA on Black Friday. Double Evil Santa is an Imperial Spiced Milk Stout with a 11.3% ABV suited for the coldest of winter nights. A stronger version of our Evil Santa Spiced Milk Stout that has been aged in Bourbon Barrels for six months. Nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice are complemented by the caramel and vanilla notes that arise from extended barrel aging. Available in cans for the first time in 2020! 

Evil Santa and associated variants can be enjoyed on draft in Williamsburg at the brewery’s taproom. In addition, limited draft and 4-packs of 16 oz. cans will be made available throughout Southeastern Virginia, Central Virginia, and Northern Virginia at purveyors of fine craft beer throughout much of the Commonwealth.

“And for the first time ever, Evil Santa will be making a trip across the pond as part of Beer52’s advent box, making its way throughout the United Kingdom starting in December,” comments Co-Founder Robby W. “2020 has been a tough year, so we figured whey not expand the Nice List as far as we could.”

More information, including where to find Evil Santa, can be found at www.VirginiaBeerCo.com. For more details, please reach out to Robby Willey (social@virginiabeerco.com).

The post Virginia Beer Co. Releases Four Evil Santa Spiced Milk Stout Variants appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Making a name for themselves since opening in 2018, Branch & Bone was quickly recognized by USA Today as a “10 Best” Small Brewery in the country. Fretboard’s Director of Operations, Kevin Moreland, has a storied history with breweries in Cincinnati and had been paying close attention to the incredible liquid being brewed by Brett Smith, co-founder and head brewer of Branch & Bone. The two met in February this year at the Ohio Craft Brewers Conference in Dayton and the brainstorming for a collaboration quickly began. Both Kevin & Brett share a love for lager beer, and brewing traditional styles not commonly found in the market. After a months-long hiatus in communication, as both breweries managed business under new guidelines, the two saw Fall approaching and landed on a beer neither had ever brewed; a dark Czech lager.

On brew day, Smith sat down with Moreland for an episode of Fretboard’s interview show, FretboardTV, and explained how they landed on the name, “Dark Throne”. Inspired by a Norwegian black metal band by the same name, Smith went on to add, “We do like heavy metal a lot in our brewery. It gets us through the work day sometimes. Buckles us in.” Both sides agreed that a dark beer deserved a dark name, and with a release in October, it only amplified the spooky theme.

“Dark Throne” is a full-bodied lager, with notes of caramel, toffee, dates, and bread. The perfect transition from Marzen and Festbier for cool Fall nights. Craft beer fans can expect to find this limited release on draft and in 6-packs throughout greater Cincinnati, and in select stores in Dayton. Those who live in Ohio, but outside of the distribution range, can order the beer online (order.fretboardbrewing.com) to be shipped directly to their door.

Stay up to date with Fretboard Brewing and Branch & Bone by following them on Instagram. More big things on the way before this crazy year comes to an end!

The post Fretboard Brewing and Branch & Bone Artisan Ales team up for “Dark Throne” Collaboration appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“Timing has not always been on our side with regards to fresh hops,” laughs Virginia Beer Co. Director of Sale Michael Rhodes. “We plan to brew Wet Powder — a wet-hopped Double India Pale Ale — every year, but Hurricane Season 2018 delayed then ruined our delivery of fresh Citra hops for Wet Powder. We ended up creating Overnight Sensation Strong Ale out of the original Wet Powder brew day. Quite a different result! And we did end up brewing a different one-off wet-hopped beer a little later that year, but the weather disruption really highlighted the uncertainty of planning a wet-hopped brew day from Williamsburg.”

This year, the Virginia Beer Co. Production Team decided to plan for two drastically different styles of wet-hopped recipes.

— Wet Powder: 8.0% Double IPA brewed with 100% wet Citra hops from YCH; bursting with juicy Citra flavor and prominent hop aromas.

— Harvest Pils: 5.3% Kellerbier brewed with 100% wet Cashmere hops from Hop Head Farms; smooth, unfiltered, and swirling with an ambrosia of refreshing hop flavors.

“With everything going on this year, we figured why not shoot for the moon and try to plan two different wet-hopped recipes,” notes Michael R. “We had to push back the brew day for Wet Powder a couple times to stay in line with ever-changing shipping projections for the Citra, and one of our Co-Founders had to drive to Richmond to pick up a delayed pallet of Cashmere hops to get them here in time for the Harvest Pils brew day…but at least we didn’t have to face down a hurricane too!”

—–

Wet Powder is Virginia Beer Co.’s wet-hopped version of Fresh Powder 100% Citra Double IPA, brewed once per year during harvest season with fresh Citra hops flown in from across the country by hops providers YCH. These “wet” hops are then used the moment they arrive to create an incredibly fresh-tasting Double India Pale Ale bursting with juicy Citra flavor and prominent hop aromas.

“Needless to say that Wet Powder DIPA is ‘all year’ in the making, relying on a good yield and hinging on one overnight delivery of freshly harvested whole cone hops to make it happen,” remarks Co-Founder Robby Willey.

—–

Harvest Pils — an ambrosial, zesty, unfiltered wet-hopped Lager — is Virginia Beer Co.’s brand new, limited wet-hopped recipe for 2020.

“[Harvest Pils] Cashmere Wet-Hopped Kellerbier. Four and a half years and some 250+ unique beers and this is hands down my favorite beer we’ve produced,” reflects VBC Brewmaster Jonathan Newman.

This super smooth, small batch Kellerbier — brewed with fresh Cashmere hops flown in from Hop Head Farms less than 24 hours after harvest — was brewed to showcase how fresh hops can be applied in two very different styles to highlight the flavors and aromas of freshly harvested hops.

—–

Both wet-hopped releases can now be at The Virginia Beer Company this fall. Wet Powder draft and 4-packs can also be found on tap and in coolers at purveyors of fine craft beer throughout the brewery’s distribution networks in Southeastern, Central, and Northern Virginia. Harvest Pils is a small batch, taproom-only release.

For more information on how to find Virginia Beer Co. beers, visit: https://www.virginiabeerco.com/in-the-wild

The post Virginia Beer Co. Celebrates Harvest Season With Two Wet-Hopped Recipes appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Wiley Roots Brewing Company was founded by Kyle Carbaugh and Miranda Carbaugh in Northern Colorado back in 2013. The brewery has been awarded medals at the Great American Beer Festival in 2018 for Mixed-Culture Brett Beer (Silver), 2017 for Mixed-Culture Brett Beer (Gold), 2015 for American-Style Wheat Beer (Gold), 2013 for American-Style Wheat Beer (Bronze), and 2017 for Bracket or Braggot (Silver) at the Mazer Cup International.

Hailstorm Brewing Company was founded the same year by Brandon Banbury and his partner Chris Schiller. The brewery has been awarded medals at the Great American Beer Festival in 2017 for American-Style India Pale Ale (Gold) and Bock (Silver) and in 2015 for Bock (Silver).

Hailstorm’s current assistant brewer, Steve Miller, will be taking over brewing operations at Hailstorm Brewing. Bandon Banbury will sell his ownership to co-founder Chris Schiller.

Hailstorm Brewing and Wiley Roots brewing produced a collaboration beer in 2019, around the Great American Beer Festival, called “That John Denver is Full of Peanut Butter”, a Rocky Road Imperial Stout with Peanuts, Marshmallows, Chocolate, and Milk Sugar inspired by a quote from the movie Dumb and Dumber.

“Last year we had such a great time brewing that John Denver collab with Brandon and his team that we kept in touch after the beer was made. When the opportunity came up for us to hire a Production Manager, I reached out to a few friends in the craft beer industry to see if anyone was looking or knew anyone interested in the position. It just so happened that Brandon and his family were looking for a change and had always wanted to move to Colorado. The rest just fell into place.” said Kyle Carbaugh.

“It’s exciting for sure. A lot of things need to be done before we make the move, but everyone here has been supportive of our decision and I feel like Steve is going to do a great job. It’s bittersweet, but I am confident that Hailstorm will continue to be the same incredible brewery everyone loves and I’m excited to join Wiley Roots to grow my experience and make some great beers with my new team.” said Brandon Banbury.

###

About Wiley Roots Brewing Company

Wiley Roots Brewing Company believes beer should be unique, crafted from the highest quality ingredients, and brewed with a sense of responsibility to the craft and to the surrounding community. We believe that brewing craft beer is an art and that it should be grounded in the core values of honesty, integrity, hard work, and the belief in one’s ability to create and share. We are a small, independently owned brewery with a unique focus on mixed-culture, barrel aged, and spontaneous beers in downtown Greeley, Colorado. Our beers have been awarded medals at the Great American Beer Festival in 2018 (Silver), 2017 (Gold), 2015 (Gold), 2013 (Bronze), and 2017 (Silver) at the Mazer Cup International. Wiley Roots Brewing Company was founded by Kyle Carbaugh and Miranda Carbaugh and opened in the summer of 2013.

The post Wiley Roots Announces New Production Manager from Hailstorm Brewing appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

The post Passionfruit Fruit Shake Smoothie Sour/Barrel Aged Tears of Our Enemies Beer Release appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“You can now find Virginia Beer Co. cans and draft throughout NoVA thanks to our new partnership with Premium Distributors of Virginia,” remarks VBC Co-Founder Robby Willey. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to finally bring beers & cheers from Williamsburg to NoVA.”

“We’ve been gazing longingly northward for quite some time,” jokes VBC Director of Sales Michael Rhodes. “One of our co-founders [Robby] grew up in Herndon, went to high school in Falls Church, and worked in Arlington before moving back to Williamsburg to help open VBC.”

Look for cans of The Virginia Beer Company’s core four – Saving Daylight Citrus Wheat, Free Verse India Pale Ale, Elbow Patches Oatmeal Stout, and Liquid Escape Tart Ale – and limited drops of small batch Workshop Series releases in 16 oz. cans at Northern Virginia bottle shops, craft beer bars, and grocers with good taste. More limited cans and kegs will be heading north in the Commonwealth via Premium Distributors soon.

“From beer runs at Norm’s Beer & Wine to bites & brews at galaxy hut to lunches at Lost Dog Cafe, happy hours at Westover Market Beer Garden and rounds at Rustico Restaurant & Bar — we’ve long enjoyed the NoVA craft beer scene and we can’t wait to be a part of it,” says Robby W. “Cheers from Williamsburg to all of our NoVA peeps — we’ll be joining you for a socially responsible round of beers from the ‘Burg soon!”

The Virginia Beer Company now distributes its beer in Southeast Virginia (via Chesbay Distributing), Central Virginia (via Premium Distributors of Virginia – Richmond), Northern Virginia (via Premium Distributors of Virginia), New York (via TapRm), Japan (via Cardinal Trading), France (via Brothers Loving Beer), Western Europe (via USA Beer), and the United Kingdom (via Beer52).

To find Virginia Beer Co. beers, please visit: https://www.virginiabeerco.com/in-the-wild

The post Virginia Beer Co. Signs With Premium Distributors in Northern Virginia appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“We released Canyons Stout — which we named for the ocean canyons — a while back, and it was so popular that we reserved some of the beer to age in Basil Hayden’s barrels,” explained Matt Patton, director of operations for SoDel Concepts. 

Patton oversees the beer program for the hospitality group, which owns Thompson Island Brewing Company and 11 other restaurants in coastal Delaware.

One of the variations features cacao nibs and AWAKE, a popular single-origin coffee roast from Lewes-based Swell Joe Coffee.

“We used AWAKE to condition the beer before kegging,” said Jimmy Valm, the head brewmaster at Thompson Island. “The medium-roasted Guatemalan bean has notes of cherry, brown sugar and milk chocolate.”

Locals and visitors to the beaches often ask Swell Joe’s owners about coffee stouts, “perhaps because Swell Joe is smack dab in the middle of so many wonderful craft breweries,” said Karen Johnson, co-owner of the coffee roastery.

“We are especially stoked about our collaboration with Thompson Island Brewing Company,” said Johnson, whose team will participate in the first pour on Sept. 12. “This is a special limited-run stout, so we plan to get to the brewpub early.”

The other three Canyons Stout variations:

• BBA Canyons (aged in Basil Hayden’s barrels for eight months)
• Double BBA (made with Basil Hayden’s-soaked oak chips)
• Vanilla Bean

The limited-edition stout is only available at Thompson Island Brewing Company. 

SoDel Concepts’ 12 restaurants are open for dine-in service or carryout. For more information about SoDel Concepts, visit sodelconcepts.com.

About SoDel Concepts

Based in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, SoDel Concepts is a multifaceted, award-winning hospitality group with 12 coastal restaurants: Fish On and Matt’s Fish Camp in Lewes; The Clubhouse at Baywood in Millsboro; Crust & Craft, Bluecoast Seafood Grill + Raw Bar, Thompson Island Brewing Company and Lupo Italian Kitchen in Rehoboth; Matt’s Fish Camp and Bluecoast Seafood Grill + Raw Bar in Bethany Beach; NorthEast Seafood Kitchen in Ocean View; and Catch 54 and Papa Grande’s Coastal Taqueria in Fenwick Island.

SoDel Concepts’ divisions include Haley/Kammerer, a hospitality consulting firm, and Highwater Management, a hospitality management company, as well as SoDel Films, Matt’s Homemade Soda Co., a line of artisanal sodas, and SoDel Salts, a line of chef-inspired gourmet seasonings.

Chef Matt Haley, the recipient of the James Beard Foundation’s 2014 Humanitarian of the Year Award, founded SoDel Concepts in 2004. After his death in 2014, Scott Kammerer, president of SoDel Concepts, started the SoDel Cares Fund in his honor. The nonprofit supports local organizations that assist children, at-risk youth and adults, and the elderly. SoDel Care’s primary mission is to contribute in a positive way to the communities in which SoDel Concepts does business. For additional information, visit sodelconcepts.com.

The post Thompson Island Brewing Co. Features Swell Joe Coffee in Basil Hayden Barrel-Aged Stout appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Owner, Craig Nargi, along with other members of Central Virginia’s Stable Craft Brewing team, presented Jeff Ramsey of Staunton’s Byers Street Bistro with a check for $10,000. This money was raised at a successful benefit Stable Craft hosted on Sunday, August 22, on behalf of Byers Street Bistro and other Staunton flood victims.  

Already facing a difficult year due to the Covid virus, Byers Street Bistro and other Staunton businesses recently experienced a devastating flood. This story of restaurants helping restaurants is the type of uplifting story we need during these trying times.

The majority of the proceeds will be donated to the Byers Street Bistro for flood recovery clean-up and the remaining balance will be given to the Staunton Creative Community Fund to distribute among other affected businesses.

According to Stable Craft owner Craig Nargi, “During difficult times like this, it’s important we find ways we can help support our friends.  We want to thank all of the people that came out to Stable Craft Brewing this past weekend to help support our benefit to raise money for Staunton’s flood victims.”

Jeff Ramsey said, “We are grateful for Craig and his team at Stable Craft Brewing for offering to organize this event in support of our restaurant and the Staunton Creative Community Fund. Words can’t express our gratitude for their tremendous support.”

Stable Craft Brewing’s rural location offers acres of open farmland with multiple covered and uncovered outdoor locations to keep guests physically distant while enjoying craft beer, cider, wine, food, and cornhole golf.  Several other safety measures have been implemented to provide guests with a safe and fun experience while complying with Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s guidelines. 

For hours of operation and directions, visit www.stablecraftbrewing.com or follow on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stablecraftbrewing/.  For more information, call 540-490-2609.

                                                                                ###

The post Restaurants Helping Restaurants Through A Pandemic & Floods appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Create the Design of its NEW Fruited Sour Ale

Minneapolis (August 27, 2020) –Able Seedhouse + Brewery in Northeast Minneapolis is releasing Not Quite Forever, a new fruited sour ale perfect for sipping as summer winds down.

“It’s refreshingly crisp and deliciously tart,” says Bobby Blasey, Able Head Brewer. “I started with our base blended sour, which is extremely versatile, flavorful, and clean. Then we added a bunch of really tasty lime and raspberry puree.  It tastes like a tart version of a summer slurpee.  The lime comes through with its bright and lively notes and the raspberry is there to back it up with its delicious and decadent flavor.  It’s a fantastic combination.”

Not Quite Forever also highlights a unique design process. This spring Able partnered with Samantha Sather, a graphic design instructor from Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC) who curated a semester project for her students dedicated to the full design of the Not Quite Forever can and subsequent marketing for the beer’s release.

“I was so grateful for this collaboration with Able as it reflected a real-world client relationship and process for our designers,” says Sather. “The students produced such a diverse array of style and approaches.”

Able’s designer helped choose the winning entry of assets from student Sarah Rusch who based her design inspiration partly on her day job. “I work at the Textile Center in Minneapolis, so I am very inspired by pattern and surface design,” Rusch explains. “For this project I wanted to use bright colors and design that would pop to reflect the punchy flavor of the beer.”

The collaboration between MCTC and Able Brewery took place this spring. The original plan, before COVID-19 set in, was to showcase all of the student’s designs in an art show at the brewery. Instead, a tribute on social media will help highlight the unique partnership behind the Not Quite Forever release.

Able encourages guests to stop by the brewery or local liquor stores to check out Sarah’s winning can design and try Not Quite Forever. This light magenta fruit soured ale features a 4.8% ABV and 5 IBU. You can find Not Quite Forever at local retailers starting Monday, August 31 or in the ABLE taproom and to-go window starting Wednesday, September 2^nd .

ABLE Seedhouse + Brewery

Founded in 2015, Able Seedhouse + Brewery is a community of creative, hard-working and thoughtful people dedicated to building locally inspired and ultra-fresh beer. Every concept, piece of art, package, design, and beer poured at Able are the result of a very curious group of people and the community supporting them. ABLE is located in the Arts District of Northeast Minneapolis at 1121 Quincy St NE. ABLE is also home to Animals Barbeque Company. To learn more, go to: www.ablebeer.com.

DO THINGS. FIND STUFF. BE ABLE.

###

The post New Release from Able Seedhouse +Brewery Showcases Collaboration with Minneapolis Design Students appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Migration Brewing is the first tenant in the new Canvas at Press Blocks building. Completed in August, this brand new, nine story high-rise is Phase I of a development project led by Urban Renaissance Group and Security Properties on the former Oregonian printing facilities site. The rooftop patio came to life through an ongoing partnership with Urban Renaissance Group and the desire to provide customers with a contemporary, socially responsible craft beer experience.

“Providing guests with a safe, yet fun, new experience was essential to us,” states Brand Manager, Avery Harris. “Patio spaces are where guests feel the most comfortable and this was an awesome opportunity for us to provide guests just that. Our partnership with Urban Renaissance Group has been ongoing for the past year, and we thought this would be the perfect project to launch together right now” explains Harris.

All seating at Migration Brewing’s Rooftop at Canvas are outside and appropriately spaced to adhere to established social distancing guidelines. As with their other two pub locations, COVID protocols and customer safety are of the utmost importance. The rooftop patio is open 1PM-10PM Thursday through Sunday to guests 21+. Beer, wine, cider, and non-alcoholic beverages are available, as well as a simple food menu. Migration Brewing Rooftop at Canvas is located at 817 SW 17^th Ave, Portland, OR. 97205.

###

Migration Brewing started in 2010 when four friends came together over a passion for craft beer and a dream of opening a brewpub. With a lot of bootstrapping, and a little luck, they have since opened three pub locations within Portland. As an award-winning brewery, the Migration team takes great pride in producing world-class beers that embrace innovation while respecting classic styles. For more information please visit one of the Migration brewpubs or email info@migrationbrewing.com.

Interview opportunities available. For more information, visit migrationbrewing.com

The post Migration Brewing Opens Rooftop Patio appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Across much of the country, that’s not possible right now. But, skipping the restaurant and limiting the number of friends doesn’t mean you have to forego the fancy bottle, too. 

To make finding that perfect pour for your celebration a little easier, the team at Firestone Walker has released some of the most sought after barrel-aged Dark Beers and effervescent oak-fermented Wild Ales from their legendary barrel program! 

This release — happening from coast to coast through online retailer Tavour — marks the last time many of these rare bottles will be available outside of California! 

Whether you’re a serious rare-beer collector, or a casual fan looking for a bottle to elevate an already special night, you’ll find what you’re looking for in this limited collection.

For the hardcore connoisseur looking to add a special bottle to their own cellar, there’s Firestone Walker’s 2016 Velvet Merkin. This 100% Bourbon Barrel-aged Oatmeal Stout is replete with flavors of rich dark chocolate and roasty coffee. And, after four years in the brewery’s carefully controlled cellar, it’s even smoother, richer, and fudgier than it was on release, with flavors of date and toffee rising to the forefront.

Other Dark Beer offerings from Firestone Walker available through Tavour include: Velvet Merkin (2018), the Mexican Chocolate-spiced Molé Merkin (2019), Helldorado Barrel-aged Barleywine (2016), Sucaba Barrel-aged Barleywine (2018), and Stickee Monkee Belgian Quadrupel Style Strong Ale (2016). Plus, a small supply of the brewery’s 23rd Anniversary Strong Ale — a highly sought after blend of several other Barrel-aged beers from the brewery’s catalog.

What’s more, Firestone Walker’s Barrel-Aged Stouts are carefully crafted so they can age up to 10 years, becoming more complex with each passing day. Open one now to toast a milestone, or stash one away for a celebration down the line. Either way, any of these beers will make a memorable day that much more special.

Assuming they’re cellared correctly, of course. The brewery keeps their cellar at a consistent 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and recommends a MAXIMUM of 55 degrees for long term storage.

For something lighter, the brewery has also released several of their Barrel-aged Wild Ales through Tavour’s app-based platform. These light, effervescent brews can be stored for up to 20 years, with younger beers displaying bright, fruity, flavors, and more mature Ales exhibiting more influence from the wild yeasts used to ferment them. 

Krieky Bones Batch 5 (2018) is an excellent example of what these beers offer. The wild yeast culture used to ferment the brew creates a puckeringly tart base, which spends over a year in French Oak before the brewers ferment the beer for a second time on a heap of Montmorency Cherries. The tart and fruit bright red brew is an ideal accompaniment to a gourmet meal, and a unique substitute for the usual champagne on any festive occasion.

Other oak-aged Wild Ales available through Tavour in this Firestone release include Bretta Tangerine Berliner Weisse-style Ale (2018) and Bretta Blanc American Wild Ale (2019).

With quarantine restrictions in place, it can be hard to celebrate life’s big events — burgers around a picnic table just doesn’t feel as festive as white linen and popping corks. But, any of these rare bottles will help make the next big occasion feel a little more special.

For a chance at snagging one, download the free Tavour app from your app store of choice, or visit Tavour.com for more information.

The post How to be Fancy When You’re Socially Distant appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard, MA and East Falmouth, Cape Cod, MA – (August 20, 2020) – Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery announced that it has hired Bryan Link as new Head Brewer, opened the ‘Mellow Meadow’ Wildflower Beer Garden in East Falmouth and introduced delicious summer beer flavors made with the finest local ingredients, all brewed with hand-picked wild grape leaves grown on Martha’s Vineyard.  

The Company hired Bryan Link as new Head Brewer because of his vast experience and expertise in beer production, award-winning recipe innovation, creativity, and quality control.  Link previously worked as Production Brewer at the 37,000-barrel Lord Hobo Brewing Company in Woburn and before that as Head Brewer at Stark Brewery and Adventure Brewery. 

Bad Martha freshly brews, cans and kegs all its own beer in East Falmouth and also brews its own beer on premise on Martha’s Vineyard for consumption there.  Bad Martha is the only brewery in Cape Cod to have its own state-of-the-art canning line to enable expanded production capability and product availability throughout the mainland and Island.  Bad Martha currently has combined brewing production of 22-barrels between the seasonally open Martha’s Vineyard’s 7-barrel system and the year-round 15-barrel system in Falmouth.

“We are excited to welcome Bryan to our Bad Martha team and look forward to incorporating his expertise and creativity as we continue to grow,” said Josh Flanders, Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery General Manager.  Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery is recognized for its distinctive, award-winning, craft beers that have won twelve international medals since 2014 and was voted the Top 2 Brewery in Massachusetts by Boston Magazine in 2018.   

“I am thrilled to join Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery because of their reputation for innovation, attention to quality, passion to use local ingredients and their values.  I’m proud to work for a company that believes in doing good, giving back and supporting the local community,” said Bryan Link, Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery Head Brewer. 

Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery locations on Martha’s Vineyard and in East Falmouth are currently open daily from 11:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.  Both brew houses are surrounded by beautiful landscaping, flowers, native plants, hops, and herbs and have lush, beer garden atmospheres.  The family-friendly venues are also dog friendly. 

There is live music with popular local musicians weekdays plus other fun events at both locations.  The Bad Martha Summer Music Bash at Falmouth features live music from great local musical artists every weekday from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. Check the Bad Martha website for updated events.   

New ‘Mellow Meadow’ Wildflower Beer Garden

“We’re constantly thinking of innovative ways to delight our guests and are happy to unveil our beautiful new ‘Mellow Meadow’ Wildflower Beer Garden that provides a picnic-style brewery experience with plenty of outdoor space for guests to enjoy their favorite Bad Martha beers,” said Flanders. 

The Wildflower Beer Garden is a full-service extension of the brewery.  It also has a delightful walking trail that winds through the wildflowers beyond the seating area. The new space is ideal for families and dog owners.

Two eye-catching and whimsical sculptures are now dancing in the Wildflower Beer Garden.  They were created by the iconic West Tisbury artist, Thomas Maley (1911-2000) who was known for his whimsical sculptures that represent the human spirit and are joyful odes to life.  The sculptures are from the Field Gallery that he founded in 1970 in West Tisbury.   

Yet another unique feature of the East Falmouth ‘Mellow Meadow’ includes special events with local pop-up vendors such as Kured, a Falmouth-based Company known for delicious charcuterie with a creative presentation flair.

New Summer Craft Beer Flavors Join Line-up of All-Time Favorites

The Company has launched new thirst-quenching beers that capture the essence of summertime, including Orange Creamsicle Wheat Beer, Shark Bite Jalapeno Cucumber Lager and Tattooed Lady Grapefruit Wit among others.  The new beers join the line-up of Bad Martha’s ever popular beers including Vineyard Summer Ale, 508 IPA, Martha’s Vineyard Ale, Double Hoppiness and others. 

Bad Martha selects the freshest and finest ingredients from local farms and makers including fruits and berries (cranberries, blueberries, beach plums, wild cherries, and strawberries), Organic honey, chocolate, oysters, and roasted coffee beans, among others. All Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery beer is uniquely brewed with hand-picked wild grape leaves grown on Martha’s Vineyard, so there is a piece of the Island’s soul infused in every sip. 

Guests can enjoy a rotating selection of up to 16 different beer styles that span light, fruity, hoppy, spicy, dark, and malty.  From light to amber and brown ales, to IPAs, lagers, English Special Bitters (ESB), porters and stouts, there is something to please all tastes.  Visitors can purchase brew by the glass or a flight paddle and even take home a growler (64 oz. glass container) or a crowler (32 oz. can) or 4-pack, 16 oz. cans of select styles. 

The Company offers on-line ordering for take-away and curbside pick-up. 

“We want thank our valued customers for their continued support and hope they enjoy all the new elements we have on tap for them,” said Jonathan Blum. CEO, Founder, and sole owner of Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery, based in Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard, MA.  “We also appreciate the extraordinary efforts of our team and their passion to provide a welcoming and enjoyable experience for our guests.”  The Company has worked hard for months to transform the business to meet new guidelines and create a safe environment for customers and staff.

Bad Martha re-opened its outdoor dining in Falmouth and Edgartown in June, followed by East Falmouth’s new ‘Mellow Meadow’ Wildflower Beer Garden.  The Company was able to re-hire prior employees, add new team members and donate beer to a local distillery that turned it into alcohol to make hand sanitizer when supplies were scarce.

Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery Menu

The Brewery Chefs at each location offer a food menu that is perfectly paired with the hand-crafted beers and includes highly popular Pizzas, Vegetable and Charcuterie Meat Platters, Farm-Local Cheeses, and Light Snacks.  The pizzas are hand-made 18-inch Brick Oven Thin-Crust and have been received with glowing reviews.  Pretzel Torpedoes with Beer Mustard and Beer Cheese make for a delicious light snack option.  Menus are updated daily and can be viewed on the website.

Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery Beer Flavors Rotate Regularly – visit website to see updated offerings, such as:

Vineyard Summer Ale – Blonde Ale.  4.8% ABV. Wild Vineyard grape leaves, premium pilsner malt and Saaz hops give Vineyard Summer Ale a bright golden glow, a clean pilsner malt flavor and subtle Bartlett Pear aromatics.  The beer’s refreshing, light body makes it the perfect ale for a lazy day on the sand.

Orange Creamsicle Wheat Beer – Witbier. 5.6% ABV.  A perfect summertime beer with a sweet taste and refreshing finish.  A Belgian-style Wit made with sweet orange peel, vanilla bean, and dextrose sugar to make this beer taste just like an orange creamsicle from when you were a kid!

Shark Bite! Lager – American Light.  5.6% ABV.  This light lager packs a big bite but finishes off smooth.  The first sip starts with a jalapeno burn that quickly cools off with a fresh cucumber finish.  With a very light body and so much flavor you will come back for sip after sip.

Tattooed Lady Wheat Beer – Witbier.  4.5% ABV.  A traditional Belgian Wit made with lots of wheat for a medium body and aged on grapefruit and sweet orange peel for a delicious fruity flavor.

Campfire Lager – Smoked Beer.  5% ABV.  A traditional German Rauchbier brewed with smoked beach malt, gives this beer a very smokey aroma and flavor.  Very light body with a dark copper color.  

Seconsett Island Session Ale IPA – Session/India Session Ale.  4% ABV.  An easy drinking light ale dry hopped with local Cascade hops. Low alcohol and a light hop flavor make this beer very drinkable.

508 IPA – American.  7% ABV.  The 508 is an American-style IPA brewed with Motueka and Idaho Gem hops for refreshing notes and aromas of grapefruit and caramel.

Double Hoppiness IPA – Imperial/Double New England. 7.5% ABV.  Made using Mosaic, Warrior and Columbus hops, this hazy heavy hitter has notes of papaya and tangerine.

Big Bad Belgian Quad – Belgian Quadrupel. 10% ABV.  Brewed using Belgian candied syrup, the malt-forward body with hints of plums starts off with a rush of flavor and finishes off with sweet nectar flavor.

Falmouth Ale – Brown Ale – English.  5.3% ABV.  A medium-bodied, unfiltered ale brewed with English Hops.

Wicked Coffee Porter – American.  5.2% ABV.  A freshly roasted coffee porter brewed with local roasted coffee beans.  Aromas and flavors of dark chocolate, caramel, and rich coffee.

Full Moon Milk Stout.  6.7% ABV.  Brewed at midnight under the Full Wolf Moon of January, this wickedly delicious stout is made using lactose and chocolate malt to give it a right chocolate flavor and a smooth creamy body.  A nice heavy body and the flavors of a chocolate milkshake, you will be surprised you are having a beer and not an after-dinner dessert.

Chocoberry Stout.  6% ABV.  Sweet stout made with chocolate and freshly picked strawberries.  A heavily bodied beer that is dessert in a glass.

About Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery

Jonathan Blum, CEO, Founder, and sole owner of Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery, resides on Martha’s Vineyard.  He decided to retire early after 23 years as a senior executive at Yum! Brands and PepsiCo to follow his dream and focus on building Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery into a successful craft beer brand.  He launched Bad Martha beer in 2012 at Boston’s Baseball Tavern and opened the flagship Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery in 2014 in Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard with a second location in East Falmouth in September 2019.   

The first Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery in Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard quickly became a top destination for thousands of craft beer fans annually.  The early success led to product expansion into bars, retail locations, festivals, and events on and off the Island and a second location that opened in Falmouth, MA. 

Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery uses the freshest and finest local ingredients from surrounding farms, making about 50 different craft beers throughout the year so there is always something new and exciting to enjoy.  There are generally up to 10 beer varieties on tap in Edgartown and 16 on tap in Falmouth. 

Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery Social Mission

Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery mission from day one has been to create excellent craft beers and be a socially responsible company that puts community first by donating the first portion of profits to hunger-relief charities located where our beer is served.

Since the Company began in 2013, Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery has donated substantial profits to Island food relief programs, including Martha’s Vineyard Boys & Girls Clubs, the Island Food Pantry along with a number of other charitable donations to many Island organizations. 

In addition to donating to hunger-relief charities, Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery helps the community by purchasing as many local ingredients as possible from Island farms and makers to create their award-winning craft beers.  The Company also give local farmers their spent grains for livestock feed.  Giving back through a variety of ways is the ‘Do Good’ part of the Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery ‘Get Bad.  Do Good.’ Company motto. 

Locations

The flagship Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery on Martha’s Vineyard is open seasonally from May through Columbus Day and is centrally located at 270 Upper Main Street, Edgartown, MA 02539. (508) 939-4415.  

Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery and the “Mellow Meadow” Wildflower Beer Garden in East Falmouth is open year-round and centrally located at 876 East Falmouth Highway, East Falmouth, MA 02536.  (508) 444-6571. 

Both locations have bike racks plus ample parking and the buildings are handicap accessible.

Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery Earned 12 Beer Industry Awards Since 2014; Voted the Top 2 Brewer in Massachusetts (Boston Magazine 2018)

Gold Awards

Martha’s Vineyard Ale (ESB Category) – Two-Time Winner

Martha’s Vineyard Export Lager (Dortmunder Category)

Martha’s Vineyard Pumpkin Pie Bock (Fruit & Spice Lager Category)

Silver Awards

Cucumber Jalapeno Kolsch (Fruit & Spice Lager Category)

Silver for Bad Martha’s Vineyard Summer Ale (Light Ale-Golden Category)

Bronze Awards

Martha’s Vineyard White IPA (Belgian Witbier Category)

Martha’s Vineyard, Tim’s Beach Plum Ale (Fruit & Spice Belgian Category)

Martha’s Vineyard, Roscoe’s Brown Ale (Brown-Porter Category)

Martha’s Vineyard Belgian Blonde (Belgian-Saison Category)

Pumpkin Pie Bock (Fruit & Spice Belgian Category)

Bourbon Barrel Aged Strong Ale (Old Ale/Strong Ale Category)

About Bad Martha’s Lore

In 1602, mischievous winds drove Bartholomew Gosnold’s ship to Martha’s Vineyard.  As legend has it, he scoured the Island for ingredients to brew ale for his crew.  Alas, he found none…and he fell asleep on the shore one evening.  Under the light of the moon, he awoke to a sensuous mermaid with jet black hair and a devilish grin.  Sitting at water’s edge, she beckoned to Gosnold.  The closer he got, the further she swam away – tempting him to follow.  So, he did.  Finally, he found himself in a field brimming with lush Island grapes.  These would be perfect for wine, he thought.  But nay, he was a good Englishman, so these grapes became the secret ingredient for a robust, refreshing beer.  Gosnold never saw the mermaid again.  He went to his grave wondering if he ever saw her at all.  Today, we brew every handcrafted beer as Gosnold did, with grape leaves harvested on the Vineyard and a splash of mermaid mischief.  Naturally, we had no choice but to name our beer after the elusive siren who started it all.  Bad Martha. 

###

The post Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery Hires New Head Brewer, Opens ‘Mellow Meadow’ Wildflower Beer Garden, Introduces Summer Beers appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

“Socially Distance Oktoberfest Festbeir Release” Along With Special Food Menu To Pair With It

WAYNESBORO, VA – (August 18, 2020) – Stable Craft Brewing has announced its Okoberfest beer lineup and release dates starting with the release of its popular FUmpkin Ale.  The release date for FUmpkin Ale is slated for August 28 and will be available in draft and bottles.

FUmpkin Ale is 5.8%ABV 21 IBUs featuring an amber color with a beautiful white frothy head on the pour with hints of caramel, crust, and spice on the nose. Beer drinkers will detect crust, pumpkin, and spice in the taste, reminiscent of pumpkin pie.  FUmpkin Ale is best enjoyed on a cool, fall night next to a cozy fire. 

The brewery kicks off its stable of Oktoberfest beers with a Labor Day Weekend “Socially Distance Oktoberfest Festbeir Release” along with a special food menu to pair with it.  The Oktoberfest menu will feature  delicacies such as Schweineschnitzel, a quintessential, traditional German dish, made with pork and served perfectly breaded, fried, crispy and delicious, along with a complement of sauces and mustards, Rotkhol, German braised cabbage with apples, braised white cabbage and an abundance of Bratkartoffein, German-style potatoes.   

While their chefs are working their outdoor kitchen to serve up traditional German fare, guests will want to leave room for Stable Craft’s special brand of funnel cakes, a sweet and crispy fried confection that are guaranteed to put a smile on your face.  To wash it all down, in addition to its Festival of Beers, Stable Craft will also offer its farm-made ciders, known as Apfelwein in Germany.

Festbier Lager ABV 5.4% is a delicious example of the Marzen style lager, featuring a beautiful orange color. This malt-forward authentic German lager is perfect for celebrating Oktoberfest!

Cavallo Imperial Barrel-Aged Stout  ABV 12.5% is aged in Catoctin Creek whiskey barrels for 365 days. Cavallo features notes of rye, vanilla, caramel and chocolate mix with a distinct oak character and a mild fruitiness. Cavallo is slated for release on Friday, November 6th with three variants.

Stable Craft is also looking to bring back its popular “Winter Warmer” in late fall, early winter.

All beers will be available at Stable Craft Brewing at Hermitage Hill at the agri-pub style restaurant as well as for weddings, receptions, private parties and corporate events.   

Stable Craft Brewing’s rural location offers acres of open farmland with multiple covered and uncovered outdoor locations to keep guests physically distant while enjoying craft beer, cider, wine, food and cornhole golf.  Several other safety measures have been implemented to provide guests with a safe and fun experience while complying with Virginia’s Governor Northam’s guidelines. 

For hours of operation and directions, visit www.stablecraftbrewing.com or follow on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stablecraftbrewing/.  For more information, call 540-490-2609.

                                                                     # # #

The post Stable Craft Brewing Announces Oktoberfest Beer Lineup & Release Dates appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

WAYNESBORO, VA – (August 15, 2020) – Central Virginia’s Stable Craft Brewing at Hermitage Hill, an authentic working farm brewery and winery, is announcing a special promotion to benefit Staunton restaurant flood victims on Sunday, August 23 from 12 pm – 9 pm.  The majority of the proceeds will be donated to the Byers Street Bistro for flood recovery clean-up and the remaining balance will be given to the Staunton Creative Community fund to distribute among other affected businesses.

Guests attending the event can take home a “Social Distancing Champ” Bigfoot campfire mug with any beverage purchase for their support of the fundraising effort, while supplies last.  

According to Stable Craft owner Craig Nargi, “Our friends at Byer Street Bistro suffered devastating loss from the flood as did other businesses in Staunton.  This has already been a difficult year for restaurants due to the Covid virus but this flood has been one more blow to our friends in Staunton. During difficult times like this, it’s important we find ways we can help support our friends.  We hope people will come out, enjoy some great food, beer and cider, take home a mug and raise money to help Staunton’s flood victims get back on their feet.”

Jeff Ramsey, owner of Byers St Bistro, said “We are grateful for Craig and his team at Stable Craft Brewing for offering to organize this event in support of our restaurant and the Staunton Creative Community Fund. Words can’t express our gratitude for the people of Staunton that have reached out in support.”

Stable Craft Brewings’s rural location offers acres of open farmland with multiple covered and uncovered outdoor locations to keep guests physically distant while enjoying craft beer, cider, wine, food and cornhole golf.  Several other safety measures have been implemented to provide guests with a safe and fun experience while complying with Virginia’s Governor Northam’s guidelines. 

For hours of operation and directions, visit www.stablecraftbrewing.com or follow on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stablecraftbrewing/.  For more information, call 540-490-2609.

                                                                                             ###

The post Stable Craft Brewing At Hermitage Hill Announces Benefit For Staunton Restaurant Flood Victims On Sunday, August 23 appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Fortunately, the crew at Martin House doesn’t shy away from a little weird — they’ve released beers made with squid ink, a pizza-flavored brew, and a Sour Ale that tastes just like pickles.

Their latest foray into baffling beer weirdness is — you guessed it — a brew made with actual Cheetos! And to really amp things up, they used the spicy ‘Flamin’ Hot’ kind!

The lava-hued beer is called Fiery Crunchy Cheesie Bois, and it tastes, oddly enough, exactly like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

On release day, fans lined up out the door for this taproom exclusive!

The first batch is already sold out, but they say they MIGHT make it again someday. Maybe that next release will show up on Tavour so adventurous craft beer fans outside of the Lone Star State can get a shot at it. 

The app-based retailer has carried plenty of other unusual Martin House offerings in the past, including their Best Maid Spicy Pickle Beer (which tastes EXACTLY like a real spicy pickle) and their Peanut Butter Pretzel Stout, made with actual peanut butter and pretzels.

In fact, Tavour is the only place to consistently find Martin House beers outside of Texas! They also carry a host of other oddities, like Midtown Dew from New York’s Evil Twin which is bright green because it’s made with actual Mountain Dew syrup! And AON Pecan Mud Cake Barrel Aged Stout from Sweden’s Omnipollo. It really does taste like pie, and that’s just the tip of the Dessert Stout iceberg!

What’s next for Martin House? They have a Bananas Foster beer in the works, and something called Puppy Chow that they promise will not contain dog food. And when they released Fiery Crunchy Cheesie Bois, one fan asked if they’ve ever made a Mac & Cheese Beer. Another suggested a beer that tastes like ‘well seasoned taco meat.’ 

Will they really make those strange brews? When we prodded them for an answer, they said “there’s always some truth behind every rumor.” So who knows?

Whether you’re heading to the brewery’s Texas taproom, or keeping an eye out on Tavour, those beer drinkers with a taste for adventurous brews have a friend in Martin House. A weird friend, who makes Cheeto-flavored beer!

The post You’ve Had Beer Cheese, Now Try Cheese Beer appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – (Aug. 11, 2020) – Nashville’s Tennessee Brew Works has partnered with the Tennessee Women’s Suffrage Committee, The Hermitage Hotel and businesses across Tennessee to commemorate the historical ratification of the 19^th Amendment here in Tennessee, 100 years ago, with a special release ale and event on Aug. 16.

The project is led by an all-female team which includes Tennessee Brew Works Brewer Stephanie Smith, Sales and Marketing Associate Alyssa Gayle and Event Coordinator Mara Hines. The label was created by local illustrator Erica Berhow.

Persistence Peach Ale, Fruited Ale, 5.4% ABV: A Bellini cocktail-inspired beer loaded with real peach and pomegranate.  Commemorating the centennial of the 19th Amendment’s ratification, this one-of-a-kind beer pays homage to the decades of activism and persistence that led to women’s suffrage.  We are proud to celebrate that Tennessee was the 36th and final state needed for ratification.

The release will be extremely limited in both draft and 12oz bottle 6-packs.

Cheers to 100 Years! begins at 11am on August 16 with the release of Persistence Peach Ale at the Tennessee Brew Works’ taproom, 809 Ewing Ave. in Nashville. Live music from Nashville female artists starts at 2:30pm with Hadley Kennary and Friends. Then at 4:45pm, guests will participate in a special suffrage toast, along with a brief history from Laura Franklin of the Tennessee Women’s Suffrage Committee. The music continues at 5pm with artist Lady Couch performing.

“With all the challenges in the world right now, it’s nice to take a moment and acknowledge the country’s advancements. It is also important to recognize that these advancements were born from struggle: decades of protest and activism that have shaped our history and rights as women,” said Tennessee Brew Works Brewer Stephanie Smith. “We hope to see people drink this beer in celebration of a historic moment in Tennessee and our national history.”

The Persistence Peach Ale will be showcased at The Hermitage Hotel’s Capitol Grille and Oak Bar, within The Hermitage Hotel, during their Suffrage-themed events.

“The Hermitage Hotel is honored to partner with Tennessee Brew Works on its Persistence Peach Ale” said Managing Director, Dee Patel. ” We look forward to raising a pint to the trailblazing women of the Suffrage movement who held a strong, clear vision for the future of women and democracy in the United States.”

This beer will also be featured in establishments across middle and east Tennessee including:

Nashville Area: Red Spirits and Wine, Red Dog Wine and Spirits, Picnic Tap Farmers Market, Picnic Tap Hunter Station, Filling Station East, Filling Station 12th S, Sinkers Beverages, Homegrown Taproom & Marketplace, Midtown Cork and Dorks, Stones River Total Beverages, Mount Juliet Beer Company, Providence Wine & Spirits.

Chattanooga Area: Riverside Wine & Spirits, Sigler’s Craft Beer & Cigars, Chattanooga Wine and Spirits, Pruett’s Market.

Knoxville Area: Total Wine, Bearden Beer Market.

About the TNWoman100

The Official Committee of the State of Tennessee Woman Suffrage Centennial was created in April 2019 following the Proclamation of the Tennessee Woman’s Suffrage Centennial by Governor Bill Lee. The Tennessee Woman Suffrage Centennial Year spans August 2019 to August 2020. Visit TNWoman100.com.

About Tennessee Brew Works

Tennessee Brew Works was founded in 2013 with a mission to create high quality craft beer that pays homage to the land, traditions and culture of Tennessee. They brew beers using only natural ingredients and source them from local farms whenever possible. Tennessee Brew Works is owned and operated by folks in Tennessee. They are guided by their motto: “We work hard to create high quality craft beer that makes Tennessee proud. Our culture places importance on family, friends, and community, and we hope you’ll be a part of it.” To learn more, visit Tennessee Brew Works at tnbrew.com.

The post Tennessee Brew Works Releases Beer Commemorating Centennial of the 19th Amendment appeared first on CraftBeer.com.