New Belgium heads to Massachusetts, Bell’s names home brewing winners, and Upland sends their sours to Boston. The election is over and chances are, you’ve been drinking heavily. We’re not here to stop you, we’re just here to educate you about the fine breweries that have been keeping you sane for the past few months. Keep reading to catch the details of these stories and more, in this edition of the Weekly Growler Fill.

Winners of Bell’s 7th Annual Homebrew Competition announced

Bell’s Brewery has been holding a homebrew challenge for the past 7 years. This year, 146 homebrewers submitted entries into the contest, and eleven of those homebrewers were able to place in the awards. First place was awarded for a hoppy Saison with peaches, brewed by Evan Monroe. If you’re thinking ‘Damn, that sounds delicious,’ you may even be able to try his creation. Monroe will get to brew his recipe at Bell’s original brewery and the beer will be subsequently tapped at the adjacent Café. He will also head to the 2017 Great American Beer Festival in Denver as a guest of Bell’s and compete alongside a Bell’s brewer in the Pro-Am Competition. As for the other winners, second place went to brothers Chad Hutson and Daryl Hutson for their Belgian Double IPA and third place went to Jay Vanbuskirk for his Black IPA. The runners up are listed below (in no particular order):
·         Ross Winter – Imperial Stout w/bourbon soaked oak chips
·         Steve Morren – Sour Brown Ale
·         Kevin Kolk – Hibiscus and ginger fruit beer
·         Andy Akers – Belgian Wit/American Pale Ale hybrid
·         David Cohoe – Golden Ale with a roasty character
·         David Lyman (2013 competition winner) – IPA
·         Stephen Hardy – IPA
·         David Nowell – Grape Saison

[Read full article]

---

Upland Brewing Co. Expands Sour Program to Boston

Upland Brewing of Bloomington, IN is taking their goods east as they expand their sour program into Boston. After building the ‘Wood Shop’, a facility dedicated to barrel-aging, back in May, the brewing company has been able to increase production enough to expand into new regions. “We decided to start with Boston because it’s a great city with an exciting beer scene, and we’ve developed a strong partnership with Massachusetts Beer Alliance,” said Dusty Howe, Upland’s Sour Beer Brand Manager. Upland brews included in the initial east coast launch are Hopsynth (hoppy and tart) and Revive (tropical ale aged with pineapple and chamomile). They can be found now in select bottle shops and bars in Boston and throughout Massachusetts, in addition to the Midwest. [Read full article]

---

Firestone Walker named, ‘Brewery of the Year’ by Wine Enthusiast

Firestone Walker’s beer is so good, they won an award from a wine magazine. Wine Enthusiast recently named Firestone Walker the 2016 Brewery of the Year. Maybe it helps that Firestone is located in the wine-loving region of central California. Or maybe it helps that they constantly partner with wine makers in the region to blend their brews in beautiful wine barrels. Either way, when beers wins, we all wins. Congrats, Firestone Walker! [Read full article]

---

New Belgium Brewing Announces Massachusetts Wholesale Partners for 2017 Launch

People of Massachusetts, prepare for Fat Tire! New Belgium Brewing announced that they will begin distributing their brews into the Bay State starting in February, 2017. Just in time to get your honey a beer-gift for Valentine’s day, New Belgium will officially launch on February 13th. The first beers to head into MA include Fat Tire, Ranger IPA, Citradelic IPA, seasonal releases and sour beer offerings like La Folie. Massachusetts marks the 46th state to be added to New Belgium’s distribution footprint. [Read full article]

---

Tour de Fat Raised More than Half a Million in 2016

Tour de Fat is so fun, sometimes we forget its all for a good cause. Let me remind you: proceeds from beer, merchandise sales, donations in each city where Tour de Fat is hosted go to local nonprofit organizations focused on making communities a better place to ride a bike. This year’s Tour de Fat was the 25th year this raging, bicycle-advocacy, costume party went down. It traveled to nine cities between May and October, attracting 88,000 beer and bike enthusiasts. All in all, the event was able to raise a total of  $514,947 for local non-profits. In addition to donating cash, New Belgium also worked with local sustainability partners in each city to divert waste from landfills, encouraging beer and bike fans to think twice about recycling. Fundraising breakdown by city can be seen below:

Tour de Fat Breakdown City-by-City
Total Funds Raised: $514,947 (not including auctioned car proceeds)
Attendees: 88,000

• Washington, D.C. – May 21
  Total Funds Raised: $26,454
  Attendees: 3,000

• Durham, NC – June 25
  Total Funds Raised: $29,093
  Attendees: 4,000

• Chicago, IL – July 9
  Total Funds Raised: $61,651
  Attendees: 10,000

• Boise, ID – August 13
  Total Funds Raised: $62,232
  Attendees: 12,000

• Ft. Collins, Colo. – September 3 – highest attendance
  Total Funds Raised: $96,905
  Attendees: 25,000

• Denver, Colo. – September 10 – most money raised
  Total Funds Raised: $98,035
  Attendees: 15,000

• San Francisco, CA – September 17
  Total Funds Raised: $33,168
  Attendees: 6,000

• San Diego, CA – September 24
  Total Funds Raised: $31,249
  Attendees: 5,000

• Tempe, AZ – October 1
  Total Funds Raised: $76,160
  Attendees: 8,000

[Read full article]

 

---

Can't visit the site everyday like us? Bummer! No worries, we've got you covered. Submit your email below to receive our monthlyish newsletter on reviews, tours, events and more!

Email address:

Leave this field empty if you're human: