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

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“Clunky” doesn’t readily come to mind as a beer descriptor, but that ungainly word may be the reason the world has yet another IPA in its clutches. It’s how the brewmaster of Wayfinder Beer, Kevin Davey, feels about International Pale Lagers (IPL)—specifically, that lager yeast strains fermented at cooler temperatures emit flavors and aromas that don’t jibe with loads of American hops. Thus, Davey set out to develop a beer that’s more graceful than an IPL, has better execution than a dry-hopped lager, and is the arch nemesis of New England IPA (NEIPA). Who better to do so than a Portland, Ore., brewery that produces both lagers and IPAs?

Davey wanted to build a “Wester than West Coast” IPA from the bottom up—not from the top down, and definitely not shooting from the hip. The final product sits at the sweet spot between “crisp and sessionable” and “strong and sneaky,” and “has a magnificent hop aroma, clean assertive bitterness, and a bold, clean finish that makes the drinker crave another sip,” according to Davey’s tell-all published in New School Beer last March and his conversation with Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine Podcast. This brewer is so passionate about his brainchild, Wayfinder Beer’s Relapse IPA, that he went practically everywhere to set the record straight about how it’s made: add rice or corn to a Pilsner malt base (because what’s more American than brewing with adjuncts, Davey jests), throw in just enough bittering hops, and ferment with a lager yeast at ale temperatures. This prevents excess sulfur dioxide and esters that can clutter the palate (“clunky,” remember?). Next, dry hop with tons of American hops at krausening so the yeast scrubs oxygen and biotransformation occurs. That’s when the yeast basically “wingmans” the hops to bring out the best in them (yeast can be pretty sweet friends).

At about 7% ABV, filter until clear, and voilà: a straw-yellow, crispy, boozy, and bitter yet highly drinkable hop bomb. Consumers are lapping it up. Rated an 88 on BeerAdvocate, Wayfinder’s Relapse IPA lives up to the hype. Naturally, others had to give Cold IPA a go.

More Brewers Try the Chill Trend

Joe Steinfelds, head brewer of Alibi Ale Works in Lake Tahoe, Calif., makes a great point when he jokes, “try calling a Kölsch-style beer a ‘Hot Helles’ or an Altbier a ‘Hot Dunkel’ and see how many you sell.” He’s not wrong (although, Hot Helles sounds kind of fun).

Cold IPA connotes crispiness and crushability; Alibi brewed one to celebrate its wintry 7th anniversary in December 2021. Steinfelds was truly inspired by Davey’s conceptualization of the style —“exploring the American lager tradition and taking it in a new direction” in Steinfelds’ words—and Alibi followed Davey’s recipe almost 100 percent. The result? A “super aromatic yet crisp hop delivery vehicle exuding complex flavors of juicy tangerine, fresh-cut pine, overripe pineapple, and long hikes in wet forests,” according to Alibi’s description of its first-ever Cold IPA.

Still, Steinfelds is not convinced that Cold IPA is its own style. As a German-trained beer sommelier and graduate of the Siebel Institute’s Master Brewer program, he identifies as a “style cop,” but only about classic beer styles. “My training just would never let me call a dry-hopped lager a Helles. Call it a dry-hopped lager.” Beyond that, the freedom to be creative with recipes and processes is what he loves about craft beer—“that we can put our twist on a beer style and make it something special.” From Steinfelds’ professional point of view, if a beer sells better as a Cold IPA than it does as an IPL, then for goodness’ sake, it’s a Cold IPA (even if he still doesn’t see how it’s not an IPL).

What’s cooler than cold? A Cool IPA, of course. While Fort Point Beer in San Francisco refrains from explicitly using the term “Cold IPA,” its new addition to the family, a cold-fermented IPA called Cool, was developed from the R&D program after head brewer Mike Schnebeck was introduced to Upright Brewing’s Supercool—an IPA open-fermented with a saison strain at lower temperatures to subdue the yeast’s typical estery and phenolic profile (are you getting the gist yet that there are infinite ways to brew a beer?). Cool is not exactly what Wayfinder’s Davey outlines for the Cold IPA trend, but the sentiment holds true: play with your yeast.

“Yeast have personalities just like people, and if you focus on how they actually respond and adapt to their environment—things like pressure, temperature, types of sugars—you’ll discover that you can get more out of them,” Schnebeck philosophizes. By fermenting with a California ale yeast at around 58 degrees Fahrenheit, Fort Point discovered a smoother IPA with bright citrusy character that, in turn, became a year-round release and even led to this mildly poetic description: “Like the simple pleasure of meandering through San Francisco on a cool, clear night, this IPA is a reason to fall in love with what was there all along.” Apparently, crisp IPAs pair well with walking.

While Schnebeck doesn’t see how an IPA brewed with lager yeast at ale temperatures isn’t just a hoppy steam beer (sorry, Davey), he appreciates that a brewer’s process is what makes a beer unique. “There’s so much focus placed on ingredients that the role of process is often overlooked,” he says, which is how brewers make their mark on a beer. Schnebeck adds that beer styles are useful to an extent, such as recognizing history, and continues: “If styles and names are too rigid, things aren’t fun, but if they get too whimsical and inventive, no one knows what the hell is going on anymore.” (So, an Imperial Session IPA isn’t a style?). As for Cold IPA, it certainly tastes great, but the name itself may be a little too bold for Schnebeck’s palate.

Yes, There Are Beer Style Guidelines. No, You Don’t Have to Follow Them.

So, Cold IPA is a new style, right? Well, officially, no. Every year since 1979, the Brewers Association (BA) publishes its Beer Style Guidelines “as a reference for brewers and beer competition organizers” and which form the basis for the Great American Beer Festival^® (GABF) and World Beer Cup^® style descriptions—the two most renowned beer competitions in the United States.

Take a quick peek and you’ll find “Cold IPA” nowhere. That’s because it can take years for new styles to stick and the BA would rather not go through the hassle of outlining details for, say, a Brut IPA when they could simply lump it into the Experimental India Pale Ale category. At first glance, that may read like a misfit catch-all, but according to the Brewers Association guidelines, “Beers in this category recognize the cutting edge of American IPA brewing.” Sounds like a fine place for Cold IPA to hang out for now.

For perspective, Hazy or Juicy IPA wasn’t officially added as a category until 2018—the same year it stole American IPA’s crown as the most-entered beer style. The BA knew at that point that Hazy IPAs were kind of a big deal—not “only a passing fad [that] is quickly forgotten,” which is a reason why “the addition of a style or the modification of an existing one is not undertaken lightly”—and gave it a room of its own.

Beer style guidelines are a common language brewers and consumers use to get on the same page. CraftBeer.com writer Kellan Bartosch addresses the usefulness of styles from a consumer standpoint: “Each brewery’s Baltic porter will be slightly different, but once you know a few basics about what a Baltic porter is like, you will have expectations, just like you would after ordering a chimichanga.”

He also points out that “once you really know styles, only then do styles matter less.” Beer styles are dynamic and for most great brewers, they’re a jumping off point. The breaking, bending, or stretching of existing styles is how breweries express creativity and showcase expertise. These nuances can be tiny indicators like the familiarity of a house yeast strain, or as obvious as the difference in appearance between filtered and unfiltered IPAs.

“The task of creating a realistic set of guidelines is always complex,” the Brewers Association states in its guidelines. Adding a new style takes years of “research, consultation, and consideration,” and is often driven by the artistic license of brewers. So, I guess the only question left is: If Cold IPA is brewed in the forest and no one is around to officially categorize it, is it any less delicious?

The post Is Cold IPA Really a New Beer Style (and Does that Even Matter)? appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

The rules for pairing beer with pizza aren’t as definitive as the ones that apply to domestic pizza styles (e.g., Detroit, St. Louis, and Old Forge, Pa.), but, analogous to the craft beer movement improving the quality of beer, pizza has been vastly improved by access to better ingredients: 00 flour, tastier tomatoes, and locally made cheeses.

Full of Flavor

Leah Scurto, an award-winning pizza chef and member of the United States Pizza Team, spent over 20 years working in the Bay Area at Pizza My Heart before moving to Sonoma County to open Pizzaleah in Windsor, Calif. She now stretches pies only a couple miles up the 101 from Russian River Brewery. Pizzaleah is in the vicinity of great beer, but without Scurto’s supreme dough recipe, it would be for naught. Her crust is crisp on the outside, chewy in the middle, and super flavorful, like an artisan sourdough—achieved by a three-day cold fermentation followed by baking in high-temperature electric deck ovens. “The press focuses mainly on my toppings,” says Scurto, “but there’s flavor in our dough, too, which in and of itself pairs nicely with a saison’s funkiness.” (HenHouse Brewing Company in nearby Santa Rosa makes an excellent example.) Even Scurto’s pan pizzas, though thicker than her rounds, have a light airiness to them, more akin to focaccia than a deep-dish.

More than anything, it’s the array and inventiveness of toppings that make Scurto’s pizzas stand out. “I never make one-topping pizzas. I have a persimmon pizza finished with burrata and finger lime gremolata—which sounds like a lot, but there’s always something on a pizza that you can pair with,” she maintains.

In this corner of Sonoma County, IPAs essentially sell themselves—four of Pizzaleah’s tap lines are dedicated to them. Though IPA’s powerful punch of hops may seem like it would overwhelm the subtleties of certain pies, it’s the palate-cleansing bitterness that enhances each bite. Bear Republic’s Racer 5 is a mainstay, as is a rotating tap from HenHouse—its Incredible IPA highlights a quintet of hops: Cascade, Simcoe, Mosaic, Belma, and Hallertau Blanc. Scurto often carries beers from Fogbelt Brewing too, such as its flagship Del Norte IPA with aromas of pineapple and citrus and a malty finish that she loves to pair with her Triple Threat pizza (red sauce, mozzarella, pickled peppers, pineapple, and pepperoni).

“I’m not going to deter someone from drinking their beer of choice,” states Scurto, “but I often point them to a pale ale.” Cooperage Brewing makes a lineup of offerings called Curt that are crisp, clean, and less hoppy than an IPA, but with enough bitterness to complement the pizza. But it’s often beers that fall outside the hop-forward realm that Scurto finds more intriguing when it comes to pairing with pizza. For pizzas with spicy toppings like Old Grey Beard, a red sauce-slicked pie with mozzarella, fontina, Italian sausage, Calabrian peppers, hot honey, and orange zest, Scurto recommends a Pilsner or something lighter to quell the heat. Seismic Brewing’s Liquifaction Kölsch from nearby Sebastopol accents the citrus flavors on the pizza.

Pizzaleah also pours an array of Alvarado Street sours, which play well with fatty and salty toppings mainly due to their acid, reinforcing the notion that pairing isn’t all about straightforward assumptions. Scurto’s most popular pizza is called Roo’s, a fontina and mushroom medley with fresh thyme, roasted fennel, parsley, and shaved parmesan. With this, she’ll suggest a dark amber lager from Barrel Brothers, or even the brewery’s Dark Sarcasm porter as it is full-flavored—just like her pizzas.

Waiting for Enlightenment

Down in Houston, Nicole Bean, president of Pizaro’s Pizza, has been changing the way Texans perceive pizza for a decade, and now she’s doing the same with beer. In 2011, her father, Bill Hutchinson, a lifelong oil and gas industry worker, wanted to replace his barbeque pit with an outdoor oven, and it sort of spiraled out of control— the family now owns two pizzerias in Houston. “I was in fashion merchandising, doing window displays, when he called me to open a second location. I said no—I didn’t want to be part of the family biz,” recalls Bean. Two years later, Bean attended Tony Gemignani’s International School of Pizza, forever changing the way she looked at dough.

“There was a lot of guff that the crust was soggy, too soft, doesn’t travel well, not enough toppings,” recalls Bean of her pizza school experience. She eventually got tired of telling people no and joined the family business. When their Neapolitan-only approach became too cumbersome, Pizaro’s introduced Detroit-style pizza for something more substantial, and eventually New York-style, too. But just like with pizza preferences, Bean found that beer drinkers were waiting to be enlightened.

Pizaro’s pours Fireman’s #4 from Real Ale Brewing Co. in Blanco, Texas, which Bean describes as a versatile blonde ale that plays well across pizza styles. She also likes Southern Star’s Bombshell Blonde, out of Conroe, but it’s Bean’s brother, Matt, who’s the real beer buyer, scouring the country for the “funkiest stuff,” as she describes

“He goes to Colorado just to bring back a six-pack,” Bean says half-jokingly, “or to New Orleans to bring in Moon Shoes (a New England-style IPA from NOLA Brewing),” attracting the rare-beer drinkers to the pizzeria. They may come in for a can or bottle, but while they’re there, they also get a pizza.

Though Pizaro’s Neapolitan Margherita pie is still their most popular pizza, a lot of pepperoni gets sold there too—almost a third of all orders have pepperoni on them. Pizaro’s carries regular pepperoni and cupping pepperoni (the kind that curls up when cooked), and their Death by Pepperoni pie uses both styles. Bean highly recommends a beer that can cut through all that fat. “Lone Pint’s Yellow Rose IPA out of Dallas is both strong and clean, and SpindleTap’s Houston Haze [IPA] works well too; it has a lot of citrus to counteract the intense meatiness.” Plus, on those 100-degree Lone Star State summer days, you need something cold and refreshing.

Local & Seasonal

Asheville, N.C. is a hot spot for the craft beer scene, with more than 50 breweries serving just under 100,000 citizens. It’s also home to All Souls Pizza, a pizzeria that got its start in grain. Owner David Bauer and chef/owner Brendan Reusing think of flour as a local, seasonal ingredient, especially since Bauer also operates Farm & Sparrow stone mill down the road.

While Bauer advises on the dough/crust, Reusing thinks about toppings year-round, leaning into more proteins in the winter and vegetables in the summer. “We make bresaola, guanciale, and bacon, but also our own sauerkraut and kimchi,” Reusing says. He admits that the restaurant tends to stock what he likes to drink, and he’s a light beer person, preferring a good Kölsch.

“There’s no expectation with a beer and pizza pairing like there is with wine,” insists Bauer. As he so poetically puts it, “Pizza is a convivial, social food—people steer toward what they want to have in that setting regardless of the food.” Bauer tends to think sours work well with the fermented flavors All Souls puts forth, but maybe not so much with the meaty/tangy offerings, like salumi and pickled menu items.

In the “everything local” vein, All Souls sources strong cheeses from Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery in North Carolina to pair with funky brews, but it’s the other fermentables on the table that are staples of the restaurant. With their meal, customers get small bowls of lacto-fermented red jalapeño, carrots, turnips, and fine olive oil, which they proceed to mash together and dunk their pizza crusts into. “Sometimes you need a mental break from all those flavor bombs,” concedes Reusing.

A large blonde wood-framed chalkboard at All Souls highlights the local beer offerings: Goldenrod Pilsner from French Broad Brewery; the latest releases from Wedge Brewing Co. and Hillman (most likely their Mommabeer Brown); Hi-Wire Brewing lager; Jape IPA from Foothills Brewing; TRU light; and Nebo Pilsner from Fonta Flora Brewery. Fonta Flora, about 35 minutes east of Asheville, integrates local fruits, vegetables, and wild-crafted products into sour ales for their bottle releases. Bauer has supplied them with grains over the years, and in turn, All Souls has provided them a place to savor their beer—with pizza, of course.

The Roo

By Leah Scurto, Pizzaleah, Windsor, CA

• 10 oz dough ball
• 4 oz whole milk, low moisture mozzarella
• ¾ oz fontina, small dice
• 10 g extra virgin olive oil
• 20 g roasted fennel, diced
• 1 cup mixed mushrooms (cremini, oyster, maitake), sliced (should yield approximately 70 g once cooked)
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 gram fresh Italian parsley
• 2 grams Parmigiano Reggiano

For the mixed mushrooms:

1. Preheat the oven to 450° F.
2. In a bowl, toss mushrooms together with a pinch of salt, then place on a sheet pan. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the liquid released has steamed off and the mushrooms just start to dry out.

For the pizza:

1. Preheat the oven to 565℉.
2. Push 10 oz dough ball out to 12 inches.
3. Spread out mozzarella and evenly distribute the cubes of fontina.
4. Add mushrooms and fennel. Drizzle olive oil on top.
5. Sprinkle herbs over the pizza.
6. Cook at 565℉ for 7 to 8 minutes, or until dark golden brown.
7. Pull the pizza from the oven and place on a cooling rack.
8. Shave 2 grams of Parmigiano Reggiano on top and then sprinkle chopped fresh Italian parsley.
9. Cut and serve!

Pair with a dark lager or amber ale.

Cracker Thin Pizza Sauce

By Nicole Bean, Pizaro’s Pizza, Houston, TX

• 8 oz Stanislaus SuperDolce Pizza Sauce
• 2 T. red wine vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper, ground
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1.41 oz Stanislaus 7/11 Ground Tomatoes

Mix all ingredients together and puree.

Pairs beautifully with:

• Southern Star Bombshell Blonde
• Cigar City Guayabera Pale Ale
• SpindleTap Houston Haze

The post Pizza by the Pint appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Pliny the Younger Release, March 25–April 7 (Santa Rosa & Windsor, Calif.)

Beer enthusiasts have made a tradition of descending on Russian River Brewing Company each year for the release of Pliny the Younger ever since head brewer and co-owner Vinnie Cilurzo first tapped it. The beer, a triple IPA weighing in at 10.25% ABV, is celebrated throughout the beer world for its huge malt and hop presence. Tasting is believing when it comes to Pliny the Younger, and many repeat the pilgrimage to Sonoma County year after year.

SAVOR, June 24 (Washington, D.C.)

The Brewers Association’s upscale event features a wide assortment of craft beers paired with small plates to dazzle the palate. SAVOR showcases 100 craft breweries from around the United States, with Brewers Association Chef Adam Dulye assembling a culinary team to mastermind pairings for enthusiasts to muse over for the evening. Unlike festivals where the star of the show is beer, SAVOR showcases the magic and versatility of beer when thoughtfully paired with food.

Barrel & Flow Festival, August 13 (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

The Barrel & Flow Festival bills itself as “Black Arts on Tap” and aims to “continue to utilize the brewing industry to connect opportunity, accessibility, and artistry in ways that empower the Black community.” Barrel & Flow started off as a festival celebrating Black-owned breweries and has morphed into an event that melds music, visual art, and culinary arts. The result is a festival that is a “story of celebration, collaboration, and community.”

Great Taste of the Midwest, August 13 (Madison, Wis.)

Organized by the Madison Homebrewers and Tasters Guild, Great Taste of the Midwest assembles some of the best breweries in the American Midwest to pour their beer in one spot. 2020’s event saw 190 breweries and brewpubs pour more than 1,400 beers for attendees. Vintage beers, special releases, and stalwart core lineups will be on tap from 2nd Shift Brewing to Working Draft Brewing and 188 breweries in between.

Great American Beer Festival, October 6–8 (Denver, Colo.)

2022 marks the 40th anniversary of this landmark beer festival, so it’s a great opportunity to attend for the first (or next) time! With brewers flying in from around the country to share their latest creations with eager beer enthusiasts, the entire city of Denver and surrounding areas join in the fun to entertain guests attending the granddaddy of American craft beer festivals. Beer events, tappings, meet the brewer appearances, tap spotlights, bottle drops, and surprise events all take place during a few bustling days when the festival is in town.

Jester King’s SPON Day, TBA (Austin, Texas)

SPON Day is when Austin’s Jester King Brewery releases its three-year blend of spontaneously fermented beer and celebrates other favorite spontaneously fermented beers and wines. SPON Day 2021 featured a Barrel Room tour, special events with featured spontaneous beers, and panel talks about these uncommon styles of beer all set against the backdrop of Jester King’s Texas Hill Country brewery. SPON Day is accessible for enthusiasts who want to grab bottles to go as well as those who want to stay a while and hear talks, have a meal, or simply enjoy SPON in its natural setting.

Yazoo Brewing’s Funk Fest, TBA (Nashville, Tenn.)

Funk Fest founder Brandon Jones prides himself on an unconventional and all-inclusive beer festival, and Funk Fest is one of a kind. After attending many “lemonade-stand”-type festivals, Jones wanted to create an event that utilizes an entire festival ground and does not have a set schedule and pouring list. What this leads to is an intimate event with food and beer pairings, inspired brewers of sour, wild, and spontaneously fermented beers, and lots of surprises for attendees. Imagine Jones sitting on the back of a truck pouring beer from Brasserie Cantillon, Jester King founder Jeffrey Stuffings sharing a sought-after sour beer in Yazoo’s warehouse, or Side Project unveiling its limited sour beers when the spirit moves. Jones feels that this format rewards curiosity and doesn’t limit festivalgoers to doing laps or standing in long lines to find one particular beer.

Dark Lord Day, TBA (Munster, Ind.)

One of the first limited-release beer festivals in the United States, Dark Lord Day celebrates Three Floyds Brewing’s massive imperial stout that previously was only available one day each year. In order to try it, beer enthusiasts had to go to the event or know someone who went. As the event grew, so too did the beers and expectations. Three Floyds began releasing barrel-aged variants of Dark Lord and then versions of the beer with adjuncts like vanilla beans, cinnamon, espresso, and cacao nibs. While COVID forced Dark Lord Day into an online ordering and curbside pickup format, beer enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting the return of the festive event, or at least picking up an allotment of the coveted Dark Lord.

Festival of Wood- & Barrel-aged Beer, TBA (Chicago, Ill.)

Hosted by the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild, FOBAB is the festival for lovers of spirit barrel-aged beers. FOBAB’s beer list combines strong ales aged in spirit barrels with wild beers, Brettanomyces beers, and wild/mixed fermentation beers. Set against the backdrop of the Windy City in November, FOBAB sees some of the country’s most avant-garde brewers tapping some of their most experimental beers. Since 2003, FOBAB has delighted beer lovers with an evening of all wood- and barrel-aged offerings, growing in 2021 when more than 160 breweries from across the United States poured their liquid art for attendees.

Brasserie Cantillon’s Zwanze Day, TBA (locations throughout the U.S.)

One of Belgium’s finest producers of fruit lambic, Brasserie Cantillon used to release bottles of a limited beer called Zwanze each year on a specific day. When Cantillon owner Jean Van Roy discovered bottles of Zwanze being sold for outlandish prices on the secondary market, he transitioned Zwanze Day to a worldwide event and limited the beer to kegs tapped on one day around the world. Since lambic is a coveted style of sour beer, most host breweries and beer bars take this day as one to celebrate all manner of sours. The list of host breweries changes each year, so every Zwanze Day is unique.

Beer Weeks (around the U.S.)

There are so many beer weeks taking place across the country it would be impossible to name them all, but these events are the best way to get to know local and regional breweries and sample the best of their beers. From larger events like Philly Beer Week, San Francisco Beer Week, and Tampa Bay Beer Week, beer weeks have popped up all over the country with one aim: to promote the local beer community. Check to see if your local brewery is promoting American Craft Beer Week (May 16–22), an annual springtime salute to local beer and breweries.

The post Traveling the Beer World in 2022 appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Fast forward to today. Craft brewers are increasingly using their platforms—including beer labels, draught chalkboards, or stories told by staff—to remind their customers of beer’s ties to the past. Many modern craft brewers have chosen to restore and preserve the stories—and beers—of the brewers who have come before them.

Finding a Beer to Celebrate Indiana

For Upland Brewing, the brewery’s 15th anniversary was a reason to delve into Indiana’s brewing history. Upland Brewing director Patrick Lynch says that the brewery wanted to do something special for its home state, and their research pointed them toward a historical beer called Champagne Velvet from the former Terre Haute Brewing Company (THBC).

“Even if you don’t know anything about the Champagne Velvet story, when you see the name, it still catches your eye, catches your ear.” Lynch and the team at Upland thought reviving Champagne Velvet for their anniversary would celebrate their state and bring the community together.

In researching Champagne Velvet—a pre-Prohibition Pilsner whose tagline was “the beer with the million dollar flavor”—Lynch discovered that the beer was “the most successful brand to come out of Indiana.” It turns out that Terre Haute Brewing had a storied history in the Hoosier State, and there was already a movement to bring the beer back to life.

Champagne Velvet in Its Prime

Lynch and the Upland team investigated Champagne Velvet’s past and discovered that the beer had enjoyed two heydays in Indiana and beyond. The story of Champagne Velvet is tied to the Terre Haute Brewing Company, originally founded in 1837. By 1880, Terre Haute Brewing was brewing 30,000 barrels of beer—double what the team is producing today at Upland.

By 1902, when the brewery released Champagne Velvet for the first time, THBC was producing more than 100,000 barrels, making it one of the leading U.S. breweries before Prohibition. Following Prohibition, the brewery reopened with new owners, this time in the boom days of World War II. THBC saw a revival after Prohibition and quickly grew to more than 500,000 barrels per year. In 1943, THBC was the 25th largest brewery in the U.S. Champagne Velvet had quite a following, it seems.

As Lynch and the team at Upland explored how to revive the brand, they discovered that someone already owned the rights to Champagne Velvet. Terre Haute historian and beer enthusiast Mike Rowe wanted to open a bar that paid homage to the THBC brewing history. Rowe had purchased the rights from Pabst Brewing, which had owned THBC beers previously. However, Upland and Rowe were able to come to an agreement. “[Rowe] wanted a caretaker for Champagne Velvet who would have the passion to continue the legacy and stay true,” said Lynch. “He was looking for someone to take Champagne Velvet to the next level. We were able to form a nice partnership with him: we’re able to brew the beer, and he’s happy to see the beer still being brewed.”

Bringing Champagne Velvet Alive for Modern Drinkers

With Rowe’s help, Lynch was also able to obtain the vintage recipe to brew Champagne Velvet. “[Rowe] was flipping through a textbook that Terre Haute brewer Walter Braun owned in the 1900s, and a little slip of paper fell out with handwritten notes for what was clearly a beer recipe,” Lynch recounted. “That’s what we have turned into the Champagne Velvet recipe as best we can.” The note mentioned “the water-to-grist ratio and the corn-to-barley ratio, the starting gravity, and some information about what this beer would be. It didn’t mention hops or yeast, so that’s where the combination of staying true to that handwritten note and historical research played into each other.” With the recipe as a guide, Lynch and the Upland team brewed the Pilsner and released it for their anniversary, adding pre-Prohibition malt from a local malthouse north of Indianapolis

Although Upland is based out of Bloomington—about 60 miles from Terre Haute—Lynch said the local community has embraced the beer, and Champagne Velvet has gone on to limited national distribution.

“Champagne Velvet is what national markets are clamoring for,” said Lynch. “It’s our number two brand right now, behind our Dragonfly IPA. It’s great seeing the response from our customers—the name grabs your attention, the story grabs your attention, and then the beer holds your attention once you try it.”

Florida’s Coppertail Brewing Turns a Midnight Purchase into a Florida Special

Coppertail Brewing owner Kent Bailey has a soft spot in his heart for Florida’s historical breweries, often scouring the internet to learn more about his state’s brewing past.

As his Tampa-based brewery was seeking to develop a new brand of light lager perfect for enjoying the Florida lifestyle—whether at the state’s beaches, rivers, the Daytona Speedway, or at Raymond James Stadium—branding from a beer that had come and gone decades prior resonated with Bailey. That’s what led him to purchase the rights to Florida Special, a brand from the former Southern Brewing Company. The historical brewery was born in Tampa after Prohibition and operated until the industrial beer consolidation of the 1960s.

Acquiring the brand rights to Florida Special was the beginning of a project, according to Coppertail’s chief operating officer, Ken Foutch. Bailey ended up purchasing the rights to Florida Special, including the entire branding from post-Prohibition start to 1960s finish.

The team combed through the different logos from Southern Brewing Company, deciding on which iteration of Florida Special to choose from, said Foutch. Southern Brewing had been “in business for 50 years and it’s fun to look at their brand specifically in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s—you can see how it evolved,” said Foutch. “At one point, it kind of had a World War II vibe from that era. At another point, the brand looked like Lone Star looks today, so we took some pieces from their world and then looked at nostalgic brands, some that hardly exist anymore.”

Since the purchase of Florida Special’s rights did not include a recipe, Foutch and his team got to work on shaping their Florida lager. Foutch remembers, “The beer [that would become Florida Special] started out as a beer called Dock Beer—brewed just for employees and when they’re getting off work.” Coppertail’s team loves its IPAs and their special American Trippel, but the appeal of Dock Beer was universal. “We all love crispy, light lagers for having one or two after work.”

With the rights to Florida Special and the recipe for Dock Beer, Coppertail would craft a brand of light lager that would anchor the brewery’s core beers.

“It all evolved from Dock Beer,” says Foutch. “And even since the inception of Florida Special, it’s still changing. We’re still seeking the perfect recipe for this beer.”

The brewing team recently changed the yeast strain to reduce sulfur, and as a result, “It’s a little crisper and cleaner. We’re sticking with noble hops and still trying to stay traditional.” Florida special checks in at 3.8 percent alcohol by volume.

“It’s one of those crispy boys, a beer-flavored beer—that’s my favorite way to put it,” said Foutch. “It’s great to drink whether you’re finishing cutting the grass, out on the golf course, or anywhere in the Sunshine State.”

Gerst Amber Brings Back Memories of Tennessee’s Largest Brewery

For Yazoo Brewing, restoring a piece of Tennessee’s past is a source of pride for owner Linus Hall: the production of storied brand Gerst Amber has returned to Nashville.

The Gerst Brewery was one of the largest in the South at the beginning of the 1900s. “It’s hard to find actual production volumes, but I believe at its heyday, it was producing around 250,000 barrels a year,” said Hall. “The brewery in Nashville occupied four city blocks.”

Ultimately, the Gerst Brewery closed in 1954, and the Gerst family turned to running a restaurant to continue sharing its German heritage with Nashville. When they closed the Gerst Haus in the 1980s, the family sold the rights to local restaurateurs Jim and Jerry Chandler. The Chandlers contracted with brewers in Pennsylvania and Indiana to make Gersts’ beer, but one brewery closed and the other was inconsistent with the beer.

Hall remembers that time. “We were moving Yazoo’s brewery from our original location at Marathon Motorworks to a much bigger building in the Gulch area of Nashville,” he recalls. “With more space and a new, bigger brewing system, I approached them with the idea of bringing Gerst beer back to Nashville.”

Once he worked out an arrangement with the Chandlers, Hall and the Yazoo team began bringing the Gerst recipe into the 21st century. Hall recalls, “We did not have any recipes, and in any case, modern malts and hops are much different than what brewers back then were using. Even if we had an original recipe, I am not sure we would have produced the same beer.”

Modernizing  the recipe took “many 10-gallon test batches on my old homebrew system,” and attention to detail in each one. After producing each batch, the team tasted, critiqued, and adjusted.

“In the end, we made a light-bodied amber ale, with German Munich malts and a touch of flaked corn, as many U.S. brewers were using at the turn of the century.” All of this was accomplished with no written recipe—just recollections of how the beer looked and tasted.

Gerst Amber Springs to Life Again

In the end, when Hall and the Yazoo team had nailed down the final recipe, Gerst Amber returned to the Gerst Haus with fanfare and celebration. “‘I’m very proud of bringing it back to being brewed in Nashville again,” Hall said. “When we tapped the first ceremonial keg, we invited the mayor and all the local media. I had a German beer stein with Mayor Karl Dean’s name engraved on it, and when I offered the first beer to him, he made a short speech to commemorate the occasion, making reference to tying the future of Nashville brewing to its famous past.”

That final recipe is available year-round through Yazoo. “Nashville beer drinkers have really taken to Gerst Amber,” Hall said. “It’s now one of our consistent bestsellers.”

Brewing Team Brings Happy Hops and Velvet Glow Back to Russian River

When a young Vinnie Cilurzo moved to Santa Rosa, Calif. in the 1990s, he heard stories about an area beermaker called Grace Brothers Brewery. At one point, the brewery had a presence in both southern and northern California, brewing in Los Angeles as well as Santa Rosa, Cilurzo recalls.

Cilurzo had begun working for Russian River Brewing until the brewery’s owner, Korbel, decided to exit the beer business. Vinnie and his wife, Natalie, formed a team that purchased the rights to Russian River Brewing, opening a small brewpub in Santa Rosa.

Even when he had the new brewery up and running, “Grace Brothers Brewery kind of hung there in the back of my mind,” said Cilurzo.

He researched more about the brewery and discovered a brand called Happy Hops. “It has that great artwork—that’s one of the coolest things about these retro brands.” After additional research into Sonoma County’s past—the area used to be one of the hop-growing capitals of America before the Pacific Northwest emerged as the epicenter—and coming across the rosy-cheeked hop adorning the Happy Hops label, Cilurzo knew he wanted to incorporate that beer into the Russian River family.

As with many other historical brands, Happy Hops (and eventually Velvet Glow Pilsner, another Grace Brothers brand) had no official recipes that came with the branding. This was no surprise to Cilurzo.

“You have to think back to that era which is both pre- and post-Prohibition,” said Cilurzo. “These beers were around post-Prohibition, but there wasn’t anything else but industrial lager.”

He looked further into the brewery’s history and found that, “Grace Brothers had 50 or 60 labels, but there wasn’t much to really build with recipes.” Cilurzo knew the brand would tell a story, but the liquid had to speak for itself.

Bringing Happy Hops Back to Life

Cilurzo and his team rolled up their sleeves and got to work. “We brewed a beer called Happy Hops, probably in 2009 or 2010, with 100 percent experimental hop HBC 369, which eventually became Mosaic. Happy Hops was an all-Mosaic pale ale to start.”

After trademarking the assets and artwork from the historical beer, Cilurzo and the Russian River team eventually decided to make changes from that first batch in 2009. Around 2015, Happy Hops morphed from a pale ale to an IPA. After all, Cilurzo says, “a beer with a name like Happy Hops should have an even more expressive hop note to it. So I started bringing in other hops into the mix. Instead of being just Mosaic, it’s got Strata, which at the time was an experimental, some Simcoe, Centennial, Brewer’s Gold, Amarillo, and a handful of others. That’s where it is and now Happy Hops is a year-round beer.”

Reminding the Next Generation of Beer Drinkers

Happy Hops IPA and Velvet Glow Pilsner both have a solid place in the Russian River Brewing lineup. Cilurzo said he loves “the history and referencing an old brand and keeping a bit of Sonoma County’s history alive. We have two brewpubs and two gift shops and it’s a nice way to tell some cool historical stories. I feel like it’s our duty as brewers to keep the history going—to remind the next generation of the beer drinkers and brewers who came before us.”

The post Telling Today’s Craft Beer Drinkers the Story of Yesterday’s Breweries 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.

They need us to step up and order a pint, fill a growler, and stock the fridge. Let’s heed their call! Inside, outside, or curbside … join us in supporting these main street businesses that give our hometowns their unique flavor and keep our glasses full of delicious craft beer.

Traveling? Use our handy Brewery Finder to locate a brewpub or taproom near you. Stay for a pint or grab and go!

Be sure to tag @IndieBeer_on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter in your posts so we can share your #SmallBrewerySunday funtivities.

The post A Big Day for Small Breweries: Celebrate Small Brewery Sunday This Nov. 28 appeared first on CraftBeer.com.

Back then, it never occurred to me that Corona was only one type of beer—that it was a Mexican Lager. And while I’m not certain why it was my family’s beer of choice, I have to posit that, as Cuban-Americans living in Miami, we chose this beer because it was marketed towards us in some capacity. When I asked my mom about it, she was surprised by the observation; it was never something she registered. 

If so, it would hardly be the first time that Latinx people were targeted as one large bloc. Much in the way that my past self saw Corona as representative of all beers, most magazines, journalists, marketers—anyone who’s talking to consumers—still tend to think of Latinx people as a single, homogenous group. As of this writing, Latinx folks make up 18% of the U.S. population, representing 33 distinct countries between Central and South American and the Caribbean, and account for 52% of the total population growth. Despite that range, just one style of beer, the Mexican Lager, has seemingly been nominated to represent us all, our backgrounds and countries of origin notwithstanding. 

Painting in Broad Strokes

In applying such simplification to Latinx people, we invite assumptions about a vast group whose common threads are poorly understood and sometimes fabricated. (Even “Latinx” is an imperfect term that can be exclusionary of Black and Indigenous people.) This poor synthesizing has led to a muddled sense of what Mexican Lagers are and, more importantly, who they’re for.  

Mexican Lager isn’t a recognized beer style according to the Beer Judge Certification Program, and without that direct guidance, brewers are often left to their own interpretations. Ray Ricky Rivera of Norwalk Brew House in Norwalk, California points out that it was German and Austrian settlers who came to Mexico and brought their own brewing techniques. This includes early variations of lager and pilsner.

“So, technically the Lager does not originate in Mexico,” Rivera said. “Some argue that Mexican Lager is not a real thing, while others argue that it definitely has its own style and characteristics.”

What is clear is how Mexican Lagers, made by white-owned craft breweries and multinational corporations, are so often marketed. Even if a brewery doesn’t employ a potentially appropriative or simplistic image—like a sugar skull or a sombrero—many ads and labels borrow imagery from a few predictable places: a beach, the Mexican flag, an umbrella. To pretend the style has no clear-cut stance is to ignore the ways non-Latinx people in the United States perceive—and flatten—Latinx culture. 

Adding to the confusion is the success and growth of Mexican-style Lagers over the last few years. Despite the style not having its own category in the Great American Beer Festival (GABF), Lone Tree Brewing in Colorado produced a Mexican Lager that won gold in the American-Style Pilsener or International-Style Pilsener category in 2017. Two Mexican Lagers—True North Ale Company’s Cerveza and Cannonball Creek Brewing Company’s Let’s Talk About Mex!—won silver and bronze, respectively, at the 2020 GABF in the American-style Cream Ale category. 

For the rise in prestige and recognition of these beers over the last few years, that goes against decades where the typical beer drinker—and the typical beer brewer—was not Latinx. In a 2020 Brewers’ Association (BA) report on craft beer consumers, BA chief economist Bart Watson showed that even when Hispanic Americans’ income rises, they don’t consume craft at the same percentage rates as White Americans. Likewise, breweries tend to open in neighborhoods that are predominately white. 

“Craft beer in general has largely left out the Latinx consumer,” says Rivera, noting that this could change as more and more Latinx brewers enter craft—although many entrants have only found space in the craft beer scene in the last few years. “Today, Los Angeles now has 10 Latinx-owned breweries. Four of those opened in 2019.”

For those breweries that aren’t Latinx-led, Rivera has noticed some high-profile partnerships attempting to align with and appeal to Latinx consumers though celebrities like comedian George Lopez and actor Danny Trejo, or using marketing that borrows from Latinx culture, like  Dia de los Muertos.

“My belief is that what we’re seeing now with both big beer and independent craft beer is a scramble to catch up,” he said. “In short, beer needs the Latinx consumer if it’s going to continue to grow.” 

Politics and Beer Collide

This rhetoric—that the Latinx consumer must be appealed to in times of need, and that they can be marshalled to rescue the beer industry’s future (a struggle familiar to other marginalized groups)—is one we’ve seen play out in the political sphere. 

“For years, Latinos had been talked about as a constituency that could help Democrats create a durable political majority at the federal and state levels, but the party had struggled to effectively engage them,” wrote Stephania Taladrid for The New Yorker. During the 2020 United States presidential election, Latinx people were either written about as a demographic who could step up and to help deliver victory for Democratic candidates—or as a confusing voting bloc too complex to understand. “Hence, the last-minute ‘Despacito’ mirage tactics that characterized Biden’s appeals to Latinx voters, relying on the Hispandering view that trotting out a hit song at a Hispanic Heritage Month event is all it takes to reach Latinx voters, or that focusing on television ads rather than community building is enough,” writes Arlene Dávila for Vice. 

The last-minute “Hispandering” of Latinx voters that Dávila describes can be seen in beer, especially when we look at the rising popularity of imported Mexican Lagers over the last few years—in 2013, 1.8 trillion liters of beer were imported through Mexico. By 2020, that number was 3.1 trillion. As imported Mexican Lagers grow and prove their staying power during times of crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, more brewers are taking notice, and attempting to add Mexican-style Lagers to their own tap lists to meet a growing demographic need—one that is perhaps long overdue. 

It would be impossible to prove this definitively without better information about breweries that make Mexican-style Lagers (Watson mentioned there were no stats on this), but a quick peek at IRI-tracked data shows a number of Mexican-style Lagers joining brewery portfolios across the nation in the last few years. Some of the beers show up in breweries in California and Texas, which have the first- and second-largest Latinx-American communities (Revolver Brewing in California and Saint Archer in Texas both added Mexican-style Lagers to their lineup in 2019) but they also pop up in breweries in Alabama (Good People Muchacho Mexican Style Lager in 2018), Kentucky (West Sixth Cerveza Mexican Style Lager in 2018), and Wyoming (Melvin Heyzeus Mexican Style Lager in 2017). 

More Latinx people are coming to the United States, they’ve proven their buying power through dominant Mexican-import sales, and, as Rivera mentioned, breweries are starting to notice. But is that what’s really happening? 

The use of language has shaped how we view Latinx communities in the United States. The idea of a word to define people of Latin American descent was only formally codified in the 1970s. “Despite the long history of Hispanic residents in the United States, there was no systematic effort to count this group separately in the census until the late 20th century,” the Pew Research Center shares in a report on the history of the word ‘Hispanic’ on the United States Census. The Census Bureau didn’t introduce the word “Hispanic” on forms until 1970, asking participants to answer the question: “Is this person’s origin or descent: Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, Other Spanish?” It wasn’t until 1980 that the question of Hispanic identity appeared on all census questionnaires, and even though the exact question has changed and evolved, it still tends to skew toward grouping people together. 

A Double-Edged Sword

In the face of this flattening of identity, a growing number of Latinx brewers are opting to produce beers that speak to their backgrounds and communities with more clarity and specificity.

“Every single beer has some type of reference to either my culture or to someone else’s,” Jess Fierro, founder of Atrevida Beer Co. in Colorado Springs, said about her own tap list. Her menu is varied, borrowing not just from her own cultural touchpoints of growing up in a Mexican-American household, but collaborating with friends and colleagues to build beers with a story and a statement. “I make a beer to honor Juneteenth, a beer to honor Pride called Christopher Street, and beers to honor my friends.” 

And yet, the fact that she’s of Meixcan heritage still invites stereotypical questions about the types of beers she should be brewing. “I’ve had folks come in and—it took me forever to make a chili beer because that’s what everyone wanted. ‘Oh, you’re Mexican, where’s the chili beer? Where’s the mole beer?’”

Fierro opened her brewery in 2018, and it wasn’t until a year later she brewed a Mexican-style Lager, which she named Dolores Huerta, after a labor leader who was the co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association. The Dolores Huerta Lager was part of a series of beers Fierro made that were all true-to-style, and in a way a response to comments she said she heard about her beers. “The rumor that was going around was that Jess—meaning me—was getting all this hype because she’s playing the Latina card, she’s playing the woman card. She makes all these beers, but they’re spiced. They’re fruited. Can she make any true-to-style beers?”

The dichotomy of expecting certain things from Latinx brewers—like mole and spiced beers—and then admonishing them for not following a set of rules deemed necessary to be considered legitimate is a reality people who occupy any marginalized identity must endure. And it’s a reality Fierro has always faced directly. 

“They want to put me in this box. And they can’t because I refuse to stay in it,” Fierro said. “I wake up as a woman and a Latina every day of my life. I don’t get to play those cards. That is who I am.”

Reclaiming Identity with Specificity

Some Latinx-owned breweries are also looking to move beyond the near-ubiquitous “Mexican” appellation. The Tank Brewing Co. in Miami is reverse engineering the process with Padron, a beer that it calls a Cuban-American Lager. Miami, like Los Angeles, is a city where the majority of the population not only identify as Latinx, but also identify as being from one particular country. 

Initially, Tank Brewing Co. had set out to make a beer inspired by Mexican-style Lagers, but also wanted to acknowledge that its main demographic would be Cuban-Americans. Its beer is designed for the audience it serves, rather than based on a perceived trend. It’s especially poignant that it labels the beer “Cuban-American” rather than “Cuban,” further acknowledging its particular customer base.

“I wanted to introduce a maltier, sweeter, less hoppy Lager to our portfolio. We had made a Mexican-style Lager, so I started thinking, ‘Maybe we could call this a Cuban Lager,’” says Moh Saade, director of brewing operations for The Tank Brewing Co. (and a lifelong Miami resident). “I didn’t really like the idea because it didn’t feel like it hit home like for us. But then I was like, ‘Well, you know, this is Miami, everybody’s Cuban, but they’re really Cuban-American.’”

The beer evokes a retro vibe, which makes sense—because of embargoes placed on Cuba by the United States, Cuba is known for its classic cars—but it also speaks to Miami residents without being predictable or overly simplistic. “What we’re trying to do is to create meaningful stories behind the beer,” Saade says. “It’s not just like, ‘Oh, let’s put a Cuban flag on it and let’s speak Spanglish.’”

Saade’s effort shows there are ways to evoke identity and speak to a specific audience without lumping people together. At The Tank, it was as simple as looking at the customer base around the brewery, and being intentional when addressing that audience. 

What Would We Be Drinking?

I’m not sure that, if The Tank had been brewing these beers when I was a kid, they would be something my parents gravitated towards. But it is interesting to see children who grew up seeing brands like Corona in their homes and grocery stores reclaim what a Mexican Lager can be. “These are the beers we’d see everywhere—you’d see them in corner stores but then you couldn’t find fresh produce because the community is a food desert,” says Alex Ruiz of South Central Brew Co. in Los Angeles. 

Ruiz teamed up with two of his childhood friends and hopes to reclaim beer culture in their neighborhood, including using a tagline for their business of “Making it happen in our hood before them developers do,” a callout to the harm of displacement and gentrification.

South Central’s beers highlight tangible people, issues, and ideas within Ruiz’s community. Los Vendors, a wheat beer with pineapple and mango, calls attention to street vendors and proclaims on the label that they should be legalized. A second iteration of that beer, Los CarWasheros, donates proceeds from sales of the beer to car washers, who have been severely impacted during COVID-19.

If Ruiz were brewing in Miami, his beers would be different. If The Tank released Padron in Los Angeles, it’d likely have a different name. Identities are personal, varied, and hard to simplify, and that’s what breweries who co-opt imagery of wrestlers and piñatas are missing. No one wants anyone to stop brewing or enjoying Mexican Lagers. But a nuanced look at what you’re brewing, how you market it, and who you consider your audience is key to brew respectfully and in a way that welcomes a diversity of drinkers. 

The Brewers Association and Craftbeer.com are proud to support content that fosters a more diverse and inclusive craft beer community. This post was selected by the North American Guild of Beer Guild Writers as part of its Diversity in Beer Writing Grant series. It receives additional support through a Diversity and Inclusion Grant by the Brewers Association Diversity Committee and Allagash Brewing Company.

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National Independent Beer Run DayOpens in new window, observed annually on July 3, is dedicated to supporting and celebrating independent beer in advance of Independence Day.

#BeerRunDay is for stocking up on local favorites for a Fourth of July gathering. It’s also for enjoyment right at the brewery, surrounded by friends and family. The most sublime beer runs involve both scenarios: sipping at the brewery and then leaving with arms full of fresh craft beer for later.

“For small and independent breweries, the Fourth of July period is like Black Friday,” says Bart Watson, chief economist for the Brewers Association. “It’s easily one of the biggest beer holidays for to-go sales, and is a huge driver of on-premise sales as well.”

No surprise there. Craft beer is a natural complement to picnics, barbecues, family reunions, cookouts, and camping trips. When it comes to essential shopping-list items for Independence Day, independent beer is right up there with charcoal briquettes, sparklers, and sunscreen.

Get Involved

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“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. 

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“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).

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Boulder, Colo. • October 16, 2020 — The Brewers Association (BA) awarded 272 medals* to 240 breweries across the country during the 2020 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) competition awards ceremony. The best beers in 91 beer categories covering 170 different beer styles (including all subcategories) were awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals during a virtual ceremony hosted on The Brewing Network.

Judges for the 34th edition of the celebrated competition evaluated 8,806 entries from 1,720 breweries from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. Socially distanced judging took place in 35 sessions over 18 days with strict safety measures in place. The awards ceremony was held virtually on Friday evening, kicking off the two-day online programming portion of the Great American Beer Festival.

“This year’s GABF competition may have looked a little different, but the beers entered into the competition were as impressive and innovative as ever,” said Chris Swersey, competition manager, Great American Beer Festival. “This has arguably been one of the most challenging years breweries have ever faced, so we hope these awards serve as a symbol not only of brewing excellence but also the resiliency of the craft brewing community as a whole.”

View the 2020 winners or download a PDF of the winners.

GABF Competition Statistics

• 34th edition of the GABF competition
• 8,806 beers judged
• 1,720 breweries in the competition from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C.
• 115 judges from 21 states
• Average number of competition beers entered in each category: 97
• Category with the highest number of entries: Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale (377)
• 272 total medals awarded
• 240 medal-winning breweries
• 337 first-time GABF entrants
• 19 first-time GABF winners

Most-Entered Style Categories

The winners of the top five most-entered categories were:

Category 58: Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale (377 entries) – Sponsored by The Cincinnati Insurance Companies

GOLD: Spellbinder, Wren House Brewing Co., Phoenix, AZ

SILVER: Yojo, Moonraker Brewing Co., Auburn, CA

BRONZE: Wicked Pawesome, Metazoa Brewing Co. – Stringtown Production Facility, Indianapolis, IN

Category 57: American Style India Pale Ale (355 entries) – Sponsored by The Ardagh Group 

GOLD: IPA, Perry Street Brewing, Spokane, WA

SILVER: Updrift India Pale Ale, Pelican Brewing Co. – Tillamook, Tillamook, OR

BRONZE: Nothing Noble, Von Ebert Brewing – Pearl, Portland, OR

Category 39: German Style Pilsener (200 entries) – Sponsored by Micro Matic

GOLD: Sprockets, Gravely Brewing Co., Louisville, KY

SILVER: Prost Pils, Prost Brewing Co., Denver, CO

BRONZE: Pils, Kansas City Bier Co., Kansas City, MO

Category 28: Wood & Barrel-Aged Strong Stout (199 entries) – Sponsored by BeerHole

GOLD: A Night to End All Dawns, Kane Brewing Co., Ocean, NJ

SILVER: Ruckus, Melvin Brewing – Thai Me Up, Jackson, WY

BRONZE: Grasp of Oak, Moksa Brewing Co., Rocklin, CA

Category 60: Juicy or Hazy Imperial India Pale Ale (192 entries) – Sponsored by The Alison Group

GOLD: The Hopsplainer, Burke-Gilman Brewing Co., Seattle, WA

SILVER: Not A Scientist, Cloudburst Brewing, Seattle, WA

BRONZE: Sugar on My Tongue, Highland Park Brewery, Los Angeles, CA 

Most Medaled Breweries

The most medals won by individual breweries included:

Sun King Brewery – Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN – 4 medals 

GOLD – Afternoon Delight, Category 26 – Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer

BRONZE – Cherry Busey, Category 30 – Fruited Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer

BRONZE – Pachanga, Category 34 – Light Lager

BRONZE – Sunlight Cream Ale, Category 49 – Golden or Blonde Ale

Cannonball Creek Brewing Co., Golden, CO – 3 medals

GOLD – Featherweight Pale Ale, Category 53 – American-Style Pale Ale

BRONZE – Vladimir Brutin, Category 18 – Experimental India Pale Ale

BRONZE – Let’s Talk About Mex, Category 37 – American-Style Cream Ale

Chuckanut Brewery – North Nut, Bellingham, WA – 3 medals 

GOLD – Chuckanut Maibock, Category 47 – Bock

SILVER – Chuckanut Chuck Lite, Category 34 – Light Lager

BRONZE – Chuckanut Rye, Category 12 – Rye Beer

Riip Beer Co., Huntington Beach, CA – 3 medals

GOLD – Tangible Passion, Category 82 – Belgian-Style Specialty Ale

SILVER – The Riizzo, Category 10 – Coffee Stout or Porter

SILVER – Black the Riipper, Category 69 – American-Style Black Ale or American-Style Stout

• 23 individual breweries won 2 medals
• 213 individual breweries won 1 medal

Brewery and Brewpub of the Year Awards

See criteria here.

Packaging Breweries

Very Small Brewing Company of the Year – Sponsored by Brewers Supply Group 

<1,000 barrels produced in 2019 

Five Branches Brewing, Tarpon Springs, FL; Jerry Brown

Small Brewing Company of the Year – Sponsored by ABS Commercial

1,000 – 14,999 barrels produced in 2019

Big aLICe Brewing Co., Long Island City, NY; Big aLICe Production Team

Mid-Size Brewing Company of the Year – Sponsored by MicroStar Logistics

15,000 – 6,000,000 barrels produced in 2019

Lost Forty Brewing, Little Rock, AR; Lost Forty Brewing Team 

Brewpubs

Small Brewpub of the Year – Sponsored by Briess Malt & Ingredients Co.

<750 barrels produced in 2019

The Good Society, Seattle, WA; Phil Cammarano & Nick Berger

Mid-Size Brewpub of the Year – Sponsored by Brewers Supply Group

750 – 1,500 barrels produced in 2019

Monkless Belgian Ales, Bend, OR; Todd Clement & Chris Dinsdale

Large Brewpub of the Year – Sponsored by Ska Fabricating

Over 1,500 barrels produced in 2019

The Freehouse, Minneapolis, MN; The Freehouse Team 

Large Breweries and Multiple Location Breweries

Brewery Group of the Year – Sponsored by Live Oak Bank

Over 6,000,000 barrels produced in 2019 or multi-location breweries wishing to compete as a group

Three Creeks Brewing Co., Sisters, OR; Team Three Creeks 

Editor’s note: Photos for media use are available on the GABF website.

*Out of a possible 273 medals in 91 beer style categories, 272 were awarded. The bronze medal was not given in Category 20, Gluten-Free Beer.

The 2020 Great American Beer Festival was made possible in part by the generous support of its sponsors.

Media contact: Jenelle Scott (on behalf of the Brewers Association): jenelle.scott@backbonemedia.net, 970.963.4873 x224

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About the Brewers Association

The Brewers Association (BA) is the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. The BA represents 4,800-plus U.S. breweries. The BA’s independent craft brewer seal is a widely adopted symbol that differentiates beers by small and independent craft brewers. The BA organizes events including the World Beer Cup^®, Great American Beer Festival^®, Craft Brewers Conference^® & BrewExpo America^®, SAVOR^™: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience, Homebrew Con^™, National Homebrew Competition and American Craft Beer Week^®. The BA publishes The New Brewer^® magazine, and Brewers Publications^® is the leading publisher of brewing literature in the U.S. Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com^® and about homebrewing via the BA’s American Homebrewers Association^® and the free Brew Guru^® mobile app. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Brewers Association is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital/familial status. The BA complies with provisions of Executive Order 11246 and the rules, regulations, and relevant orders of the Secretary of Labor.

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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!

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“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

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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.

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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.

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“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

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Known for brewing true-to-style German beers, Fretboard will be serving up steins full of their fan favorites like ‘Rockin The Rhein’ Oktoberfest and the World Beer Cup winning ‘Vlad’ Pilsner, alongside food from in-house BBQ joint Smoked Out Cincy BBQ. A special menu from Smoked Out will be available during ‘OkousticFest’, including beer brats, sauerkraut balls, a pork schnitzel sandwich, and more. Leading up to the big performance from The Cincy Brass, numerous local musicians will take the mic throughout the afternoon including, Tyler Strittmatter, 2nd Hand Smoke, Josh Ferreira, St. Mary St. Michael, Kyle Hackett Trio, Michelle Hemmer, Anna Applegate, and Chandler Carter.

Along with the festivities scheduled, Fretboard has also teamed up with their brewing neighbors, March First, and Ultra Marathoner, Andrew Suski, to raise funds for Cincinnati-based charity, ‘Neediest Kids of All’. Andrew will begin a 100 Mile run in the late hours of Friday, September 18th, on the Little Miami trail-head in Yellow Springs, passing by numerous breweries on his path to the finish line at March First in the early evening of Saturday. Fretboard will help raise awareness, and funds, for Andrew’s chosen charity, ‘Neediest Kids of All’, by donating $1 from every pint of ‘Mellowship’ India Session Pilsner sold during ‘OkousticFest’. We encourage patrons to cheer on Andrew as he passes by the brewery, and raise a cold pint of ‘Mellowship’ for a great cause! For more information on set times, please visit Fretboard Brewing’s event page on Facebook.

Neediest Kids of All’ Mission: Neediest Kids of All is a passionate not-for-profit dedicated to fighting childhood poverty by providing basic necessities, supporting mental wellness, and funding educational experiences to underprivileged school aged children in the Cincinnati Tri-State area.

About Fretboard: Brews in Tune. Located at 5800 Creek Road, Cincinnati, Fretboard Brewing Company is truly a prideful part of the Blue Ash community. An award winning brewery with 3,500 square feet of socially-distanced taproom space, and new patio & temporary beer garden, weekly live music, BBQ, and rental spaces for private events – it’s a safe bet for a good time just 15 minutes north of downtown Cincinnati.

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Tickets for the Denver Rare Beer Tasting XII: Distanced Yet Together are $60 and now on sale. Tickets include a commemorative tasting glass and t-shirt shipped to your home; a code to download the app to attend the three day online event; access to watch all of the content post event for up to a year; and special VIP status for next year’s in person Denver Rare Beer Tasting on Oct. 8, 2021 in Colorado. While the ticket price does not include beer, beer fans can find special release brews at various locations that benefit the Pints for Prostates campaign.

Craft breweries are planning special beer release events across the country as part of the weekend. These include:

• August Schell Brewing, New Ulm, MN, Starkeller Peach
• The Ale Apothecary, Bend, OR, TBD
• Burns Family Artisan Ales, Denver, CO, Prince Of Lichtenstein Oenobeer Imperial Amber Ale
• Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA, 2019 Baltic Porter
• Cloudburst Brewing, Seattle, WA, This Is A Dramatization (Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout), Like Sunshine (Gin Barrel Aged Pilsner) and Dripping, Soaking IPA (Wet Cascade IPA)
• Crane Brewing, Raytown, MO, Beet Weiss
• Crank Arm Brewing, Raleigh, NC, Fullsteam/NoDa Collaboration
• Departed Soles Brewing, Jersey City, NJ, Bacon Maple Black is Beautiful Gluten Free
• Flying Fish Brewing, Somerdale, NJ, Barrel-Aged Exit 3 Blueberry Braggot
• Fullsteam Brewery, Durham, NC, Crank Arm/NoDa Collaboration
• Funky Buddha Brewing, Oakland Park, FL, Coquito
• Garden Path Fermentation, Burlington, WA, The Whole Sum Parts.
• Gigantic Brewing, Portland, OR, TBD
• Great Divide Brewing, Denver, CO
• Joyride Brewing, Edgewater, CO, Barrel Aged Coconut Baltic Porter
• NoDa Brewing, Charlotte, NC, Crank Arm/Fullsteam Collaboration
• Olde Hickory Brewing, Hickory, NC, Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
• Ozark Beer, Rogers, AR, Ozark BDCS 2020
• Prison City Pub & Brewery, Auburn, NY, Escape from Alca’razz
• River North Brewery, Denver, CO, Barrel Aged Mr. Sandman variants, Maple Bourbon, Fruited Bourbon and Coconut Bourbon
• Rowley Farmhouse Ales, Santa Fe, NM, Prostator Smoked Doppelbock
• Stereo Brewing, Placentia, CA, TBD
• Stoup Brewing, Seattle, WA, TBD Barrel Aged
• Sun King Brewing, Indianapolis, IN, King’s Reserve
• Verboten Brewing, Loveland, CO, Double Vanilla Speck of Light
• Von Seitz Theorecticales, Smithville, TN, Deputy Blueberry, a collaboration with Evil Twin Brewery brewed for cancelled Blaeber Day celebration at Himmeriget in Copenhagen
• Weathered Souls Brewing, San Antonio, TX, TBD Collaboration
• Westfax Brewing, Lakewood, CO, TBD Barrel Aged and Passion Fruit Sour 
• Wild Minds Ales, Minneapolis, MN, Marzen (2020)
• Wolves & People Farmhouse Brewery Newberg, OR, Jersey Devil
• Wormtown Patriots Landing, Foxboro, MA, Port Barrel Aged Decade Dance

Beer fans should check for social media and website announcements by these breweries to get information about beer release specifics. You do not need a Denver Rare Beer Tasting ticket to buy beer at one of the special brewery releases. If you are unable to make it to one of these locations, through a partnership with The Rare Beer Club, beer fans can order a special beer created by Garden Path Fermentation in Washington exclusively for Pints for Prostates, The Whole Sum Parts. The beer is a “Skagitonian Montage” hoppy blended amber ale made from four base brews.

COVID-19 has forced the cancellation of scores of beer festivals. The theme for this year’s Denver Rare Beer Tasting is “Distanced Yet Together,” recognizing that while the in-person celebration of beer passion cannot take place, brewers and beer fans can join to fight prostate cancer.

The prostate cancer awareness event traditionally is held during the Great American Beer Festival weekend. Because of the pandemic the event has shifted to a virtual format that still allows the brewing community to help reach men through the universal language of beer.

Yakima Chief Hops is an official sponsor of this year’s Denver Rare Beer Tasting. The100 percent grower-owned network of family hop farms traces its roots back to 1869. Yakima Chief’s mission is to connect family hop farms with the world’s finest brewers, with the goal of being a global hop supplier of choice, focused on sustainably produced, innovative hop products.

“The Denver Rare Beer Tasting was born out of adversity as a way of urging guys to take charge of their health. We’re devastated by the lives lost to COVID-19 and the economic damage suffered by craft breweries,” said Rick Lyke, founder of Pints for Prostates. “We initially considered canceling this year’s event, but data emerging about the significant drop in diagnostic screening activity – as much as 80 percent fewer early warning tests are being conducted for various diseases – tells us the demand for the free men’s health events we sponsor will be significant during the next 12 months. The Denver Rare Beer Tasting has always been about raising awareness and the funds it generates have enabled us to provide free health tests to thousands of men over the years.” 

The Denver Rare Beer Tasting XII will feature three engaging elements:

• A live online experience with more than 11 hours of content spread across three days, featuring panels on craft beer topics, meet and greets with brewing luminaries, virtual bottle shares and brewery produced videos.
• Brewery hosted beer release events at locations across the country. These socially distanced events will follow all local and state health and safety regulations. Breweries are producing special collaboration beers or releasing rare beers from their cellars, with a portion of the proceeds donated to Pints for Prostates.
• The Beer Lovers Online Auction, featuring a collection of bucket list beer experiences and impossible to find brewery collectibles.

Some additional breweries may join the event in the coming days. Sponsorship packages are available for companies that wish to take part and support the 501(c)3 charity.

“We launched this event in 2009 with the idea that the Denver Rare Beer Tasting would be a special experience for beer fans and brewers. After 11 straight sellouts we never expected to have to hold an online event,” said Lyke. “We’ve always worked to make the Denver Rare Beer Tasting one of the best craft beer events in the U.S. and our hope is this unique version will bring people together for a good cause — even at a distance.”

Pints for Prostates is a 501(c)3 non-profit charity and all net proceeds from Denver Rare Beer Tasting go towards the group’s awareness mission and help to fund the education and support programs of the Us TOO International Prostate Cancer Education and Support Network, and free prostates cancer screening programs provided by the Prostate Conditions Education Council.

About Pints for Prostates

Pints for Prostates reaches men through the universal language of beer to encourage them to take charge of their health. The group was founded by prostate cancer survivor and beer writer Rick Lyke in 2008. The grassroots effort raises awareness among men about the importance of regular men’s health screenings by making appearances at beer festivals, brewery and pub events and on social media. According to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 191,930 new prostate cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2020 in the U.S. More information is available at www.pintsforprostates.org. Pints for Prostates also has a presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@pints4prostates).

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