Tennessee brewers are ready for the national spotlight. Last week, 20 brewers from across the state, all members of the Tennessee Craft Brewers Guild, gathered at Black Abbey Brewing to brew the commemorative beer for the upcoming 2023 Craft Brewers Conference. The national event is headed to Nashville in May, with brewers from across the country in attendance, putting the Tennessee craft beer scene front and center.
This year’s commemorative beer, Tri-Star Blonde, is a blonde ale made with 30% Tennessee-grown products including barley and corn. This beer is just one example of the brews that support the Guild’s Farm to Tap partnership with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, which promotes the use of locally grown ingredients in craft beer.
“Tri-Star Blonde captures the essence of Farm to Tap and the Guild,” said Sharon Cheek, Guild executive director. “From using Tennessee-sourced ingredients, to bringing brewers together from across the state, this ale spotlights our highly collaborative industry.”
Tri-Star Blonde also has the distinction of being brewed by an all-women team of brewers, this beer’s ingredients were donated entirely by industry partners including Hopsteiner, Prairie Malt, Country Malt and Riverbend Malt. Graphics and digital can printing were provided by DigiCan.
More than 12,000 cans of the Tri-Star Blonde will be provided to CBC attendees at the conference in May.
Sweetwater Triple Tail Tropical IPA returns
SweetWater Brewing Co.‘s popular Triple Tail Tropical India Pale Ale (IPA) is returning for a limited time as part of SweetWater’s spring seasonal lineup. Loaded with triple dry hop additions of Mosaic, Denali and Waimea hops, Triple Tail delivers a fruity hop burst of tangerine, papaya and pineapple notes with a clean bitterness and fluffy, fragrant head.
“Since last fall, we’ve re-introduced beers to our seasonal lineups that our customers have really missed, and Triple Tail IPA has been the most requested for us to bring back. With the weather warming up, we know craft drinkers will appreciate this super tasty tropical IPA, which is a fruity and refreshing blast that’s perfect for the beach, boat, music festivals, or any occasion when you need a cold beer to cool down.” says Nick Nock, SweetWater’s head brewer.
Triple Tail is now flowing at SweetWater’s flagship taprooms in Atlanta and Fort Collins, Colo. It’s also available in 12-ounce cans in Georgia, Tennessee, Minnesota, North Carolina and Pennsylvania at select retailers, including Kroger, Publix, Target, Total Wine & More and Trader Joes.
Dogfish Head’s 2023 Record Store Day beer is on the way
Dogfish Head has collaborated with the Record Store Day organization to produce The Official Beer of Record Store Day for eight consecutive years. This year’s release, Catchy Chorus, is a double dry-hopped double IPA, featuring Eureka, Bravo, Calypso and Azacca hops, inspired by the four “magic chords” (E, B, C#m & A) that make up many of the world’s most popular melodies.
“As a bunch of beer geeks with music problems, Record Store Day is always one of our favorite days of the year, here at Dogfish Head,” said Dogfish Head Founder & Brewer, Sam Calagione. “We are honored to continue our partnership with Record Store Day, working alongside them to bring together independent beer and independent music stores, and what better way to do just that than by brewing a beer rooted in the notes that collectively create so many top hits!”
To complement the launch of Catchy Chorus, Dogfish Head is teaming up Brooklyn Bowl to host Record Store Day-themed events in select cities across the country.
Lakewood’s GODDESS benefits Texas chapters of Pink Boots Society
Lakewood Brewing Co. has ushered forth a new divine beer, GODDESS – Hazy IPA. The brewery’s juiciest hazy yet, GODDESS is available statewide, with 5% of proceeds benefiting local Texas chapters of the Pink Boots Society.
“We always look for ways to give back to the community that support craft beer,” said Wim Bens, co-founder and President of Lakewood. “Pink Boots is a great organization that supports education in the craft beer industry and was a natural fit for this fantastic IPA.”
Lakewood’s GODDESS uses loads of US grown hops resulting in a tropical fruit-forward bouquet and soft pallet, making it an incredibly drinkable 6.7% beer.
“As a woman in the brewing industry, I have loved helping introduce more women to craft beer – on both sides of the bar,” said Brenda Busch, co-founder of Lakewood Brewing. “We do this in two ways, by tailoring our flavors to appeal to a wide range of both devoted and developing beer drinkers, as well as through organizations like Pink Boots that help support and empower others on their brewing career and educational journeys.”
Sloop Brewing goes easy drinking with Premium Lager
Sloop Brewing Co. is releasing Sloop Premium Lager, a crisp, easy drinking, American lager. An initial soft launch will be followed by a summer marketing campaign and sales team push in the Northeast. The beer will be available exclusively in 12 pack stickered cans, with printed cans to come later this year after market testing.
“Lagers represent the epitome of clean, careful brewing,” said Justin Taylor, Sloop’s co-founder and chief product officer. “There’s nothing to hide behind – you can really taste any flaws or imperfections. With Sloop Pils and our line of rotational lagers, we’ve always tried to really live up to what a lager should be, and Sloop Premium Lager is an extension of that ethos and a beer we’re honestly pretty proud of. Sometimes you just want something clean, simple, and easy drinking at the end of a long day or for a neighborhood gathering, and we think Sloop Premium can perfectly fill that niche.”
“Craft lagers have been trending,” said Joe Turco, director of sales. “You can see it in Nielsen data, you can see it in stores and bars, you can see it in BA survey data, and we can see it in our own sales. We’re aiming to provide consumers with a crisp, classic, sessionable beer at a reasonable price point.”
This is Sloop’s third entry into the 12-pack format, behind Juice Bomb and the Bomb Box hazy IPA variety pack.
“Given the price point we’re aiming for and the beer itself, we think the exclusive 12-pack format makes a lot of sense – whether you’re stocking your fridge, shopping for a backyard get together, or looking for a solid 12oz can of lager at your local bar,” Turco says.
Square Mile Imperial Hard Cider
Square Mile Cider is introducing the brand’s latest release: Imperial Hard Cider, made with the inspiration that life is a bit more delicious when you treat yourself. Medium bodied with fruity notes, Square Mile’s Imperial Hard Cider features prominent notes of juicy apple skin and citrus. Coming in at an ABV of 8.4%, this medium bodied, crisp and bright cider is made from Pacific Northwest apples and tastes like a cider that is close to half of its ABV with a sweet finish.
Tröegs adds LolliHop to year-round lineup
Tröegs Independent Brewing is adding LolliHop Double IPA to its year-round lineup of beers. The inspiration for LolliHop begins in the hop fields of Yakima Valley, Washington, during the brewery’s annual pilgrimage for hop selection. Like many of its beers, LolliHop worked its way through Tröegs’ small-batch Scratch Series, starting with an IPA hopped with two of the brewery’s favorite varieties: Citra and Mosaic. The brewing team discovered that this combination delivers notes of melon, grapefruit, and orange.
“There’s only a handful of beers that have an ‘a-aha’ origin, and LolliHop is one of them,” says John Trogner, Tröegs brewmaster and co-founding brother. “Hop selection is key in finding the right Citra hops, and we build upon that with Azacca’s bright pear and melon notes.”
LolliHop utilizes a grain bill of Pennsylvania-grown rustic pale malt and a portion of wheat and oats to lend a silky-smooth texture. For LolliHop’s new 12-ounce can design and 6-pack wrap, Baltimore-based artist and Art of Tröegs alum Devin Watson returned to refresh the whimsical Wonka-esque candy forest he originally created.
“With the refresh, I played with the color palette and decided to add some soft yellow as a cue to the pear, melon and citrus fruit flavors of the beer,” says Watson.
Coinciding with the release of LolliHop is the annual Art of Tröegs contest, which encourages fans to create artwork inspired by the brewery and its beer.
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