Amid a looming water crisis and the first-ever water restrictions for the state, Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. today announced the launch of This Beer Saves Water, a pale ale designed to raise awareness about water use and showcase the market-based decisions brewers and other businesses can make to help keep our rivers flowing.
“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the water supply in the Southwest is not doing well,” says Arizona Wilderness co-founder Jonathan Buford.
Ongoing drought, increased demand, and the effects of climate change have reduced the amount of water in the state’s largest reservoirs—like Lake Mead, which supplies much of the water Arizonans use—to crisis levels. In January, federal restrictions will limit water use in Arizona for the first time ever. So Arizona Wilderness set out to create a beer that both brought attention to the water crisis and offered a possible solution: This Beer Saves Water.
How can beer help save water, you ask? This Beer Saves Water is made using barley from Sinagua Malt. Based in Arizona’s Verde Valley, Sinagua works with local farmers to shift from traditional summer crops like corn and alfalfa to barley, a late winter/spring crop. This crop-switching results in less water diverted from the Verde River during high-demand, low streamflow periods, leaving more water for people and wildlife. Since 2019, Sinagua’s efforts have kept more than 425 million gallons of water in the Verde River. Every Arizona Wilderness beer uses Sinagua Malt as a base; This Beer Saves Water is made with 100% Sinagua.
To drive the water-conservation point home, This Beer Saves Water is also made with Sabro and Zappa hops, both of which are relatively drought-resistant.
“We actually sat down and did the math: Every pint of This Beer Saves Water—and, in fact, every Wilderness beer—helps offset more than 50 gallons of water for Arizona’s waterways,” Buford says. “Our hope is that the beer inspires people to start thinking about how they can save water and support the businesses that are being proactive about sustainability. As the water crisis in the Southwest worsens, it’s only going to become more important.”
Each can of the beer features a QR code drinkers can scan to learn more about Sinagua Malt and Arizona Wilderness’ water-saving efforts.
Firestone, WeldWerks, Our Mutual Friend collaborate on their specialty: the IPA
Three breweries, spanning a variety of sizes and offering different specialties, have come together to brew a style of beer that has earned them each acclaim independently: IPA.
For years, WeldWerks Head Brewer Skip Schwartz and Our Mutual Friend Brewing Head Brewer Jan Chodkowski have been friends in the brewing industry, collaborating on beers from time to time, including #Umbrellabeer, a fruited sour and Juicy Times, a mashup of OMF’s house West Coast IPA and WeldWerks’ Juicy Bits.
In 2018 Firestone Walker Brewer Brent Soutar was pouring beer at the inaugural WeldWerks Invitational where he met Skip, then with Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales, and Jan. The brewery pals kept in touch over the years hoping to make a beer. Luckily for IPA fans, that time is now.
Knock the Froth Off is a collaboration West Coast-Style India Pale Ale that releases at WeldWerks’ Greeley taproom and at Our Mutual Friend Brewing in Denver on Friday, January 7.
“West coast IPA has taken a slight backseat to new styles like hazy IPAs in recent times,” says Soutar. “We all brew in the western part of America and I’m from even further west in Australia, so we thought it was a fitting style.”
Named after Australian slang for ‘drinking beers,’ Knock the Froth Off is a 6.2% ABV beer that is one of the cleanest and clearest West Coast IPAs coming off of the WeldWerks Brite Tank to date. Brewed with Cascade, Chinook, Citra and Mosaic hops, this old school IPA has lots of citrus notes followed by pine and resine and a lingering bitterness that will sit on your tongue.
“West Coast IPAs are a proven style that both brewers and non-brewers alike still reach for over the years,” says Chodkowski. “It was fun to get together and brew a style that we all love.”
Monday Night Brewing goes low-cal to kick off 2022
Achieving your health goals and enjoying a beer don’t have to be at odds with one another. As frequent craft beer drinkers who also want to look good naked, Monday Night Brewing created Lay Low: a 90 calorie, 3.2% ABV IPA that tastes delicious and is the ideal post workout chug.
The name of the game? Aim High, Lay Low.
Lay Low is dry hopped with Citra, Idaho 7, and Sultana, creating the oh-so-classic citrusy notes of an IPA. “Typically, when you set out to make a low-calorie, low-alcohol craft beer, it turns out watery and bland—which makes sense, because water also happens to be low-calorie and low-alcohol,” says Brewmaster Peter Kiley. “We struck the ideal balance of flavorful and sessionability.”
Since Lay Low debuted in 2020, Monday Night has practiced Aim High, Lay Low as a dry-ish January ritual, but this year, they’re partnering with actual real life fitness buffs to bring a whole new physical component to the initiative.As such, Monday Night is partnering with On Running, West Stride, Run Social, Orange Theory, and Vesta Movement for Aim High, Lay Low this year.
- Purchase a pair of On Running shoes at West Stride running store through February and receive a $10 Monday Night gift card.
- When you pick up a 6-pack anywhere Monday Night is sold in Metro Atlanta throughout January, look out for a chance to win a pair of On Running shoes in celebration of Aim High, Lay Low. No purchase necessary.
- Sample Lay Low as the official beer of the 2022 Run Social race series. Run Social is renowned for their events that combine exercise with exciting events in the community.
- Participants of Orange Theory’s Dri-Tri challenge at South Buckhead and Howell Mill locations will receive a swag bag of Lay Low goodies and a grand prize for winners.
- Sweat Sundays kick off January 9 at Monday Night’s West Midtown taproom. Every Sunday in January, Vesta Movement will offer free classes in kickboxing and HIIT at Monday Night West Midtown. Afterwards, all participants will receive a free Lay Low, which happens to have less calories than your favorite sports drink and tastes a heck of a lot better.
Tröegs Nugget Nectar features limited edition, cool art
Tröegs Independent Brewing announces the release of its once-a-year cult classic, Nugget Nectar. Excessively dry-hopped, this Imperial Amber celebrates the arrival of “fresh-off-the-bine” Nugget hops from the brewery’s annual trek to Yakima, WA, for hop selection. Simcoe chimes in with hints of ripe mango and creamsicle, and it’s all balanced with enough kilned malt to add body and a touch of sweetness.
To celebrate the release of Nugget Nectar, Tröegs has re-initiated its popular First Squeeze events, where fans can enjoy fresh Nugget Nectar on draft and take home limited-edition glassware and illustrated art prints from a variety of local and regional artists. A handful of events will also feature Double Nugget Nectar on draft.
Look for creative takes on Nugget Nectar from these artists:
- Joshua Noom, the designer and illustrator who helped Tröegs reimagine both Troegenator and The Mad Elf
- Tristan Bond, the Harrisburg artist who designed the 2021 Fresh Fest collaboration label art
- Devin Watson, the Art of Tröegs alum who designed LolliHop and Hop Cyclone
- Chris Piascik, doer of daily drawings for more than 10 years
- Lauren West, illustrator, muralist and unapologetic Nugget lover
Braxton Brewing’s Smoothie Seltzer inspired by Graeter’s Ice Cream
During a time when many consumers are traveling, enjoying time spent with family and friends and visiting home, Braxton’s Graeter’s Smoothie Seltzers are offering a new way to indulge in nostalgia. Braxton Brewing Co. announced the launch of a new adult beverage inspired by Graeter’s Ice Cream’s classic smoothie recipe. The spiked smoothie marries America’s love for hard seltzers to a classic indulgence to reveal the first-of-their-kind Smoothie Seltzers.
The one-of-a-kind beverages give consumers permission to enjoy the Midwest’s most beloved ice cream company, Graeter’s, in a new and inventive way. Meanwhile, refreshing hard seltzer flavors are given a new avenue by which to delight hard seltzer drinkers. Both Sunrise Sensation and Island Blast Smoothie Seltzers are a decadent adult treat, or holiday gift, with a velvety taste and complete decadence in each 12 oz. can.
“Consumers consistently want more out of hard seltzers, and this is a unique drink experience that gives them just that. Graeter’s smoothie has truly allowed us to take the consumer seltzer experience to new heights, and carve out a new niche within the highly competitive hard seltzer category,” says Jake Rouse, Co-Founder and CEO of Braxton Brewing Co. “Our hard seltzer has such a smooth mouthfeel and is so well formulated that it gives us a perfect base with which to work. Drinkers can expect something similar to what you would drink at a scoop shop, expertly blended with the ingenuity they would expect from Braxton.”
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