Baseball Beer Roundup: Myrtle Beach Pelicans will grow hops, brew craft beer

If you’re planning a Myrtle Beach vacation between April and early September, consider checking out a Myrtle Beach Pelicans game. The minor league baseball team will celebrate its 15th season this year by (among other things) brewing its own craft beer. The Pelicans already serve and sell a nice variety of craft selections from Sam Adams to Founders Brewing Co., but now it plans to brew its own beer, as well as grow its own hops.

A hops garden has been planted down the right field side in an area of the ballpark they call Hops Heaven. Once the hops have grown, they will be taken to a local brewery, New South Brewery, to create a one-of-a-kind Pelican beer, which doesn’t yet have a name, said Vice President and General Manager Andy Milovich in this video. According to CarolinaLive.com (WPDE NewsChannel 15):

When the beer is ready this coming fall, a beer festival will be held to unveil the beer to the public in a celebration called Hops for Hospice. The proceeds from the event will go to a local hospice. This idea came from another baseball team in Clearwater, Fla. In the first year of that team’s event, they raised more than $20,000.

Milovich is excited about brewing their own beer and says “that doing it in a fashion that gives back to the community is really what it’s all about.” Since the beer will not be ready until the fall, the Pelicans still plan on using Hops Heaven this season to showcase craft beers. Every month, a craft beer will be paired with a new food item they’ll offer inside the park.