Looking back is always one of our favorite things to do each year - and 2017 was another great trip. We were all over the US once again, with stops in Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan; and most importantly the Broadway Brews Project powered forward, with the release of Brews number two and three, with more to come! Get ready for 2018, and “Craft Beer for Good” with us. CHEERS!
A visit to The Alchemist: Family.
Time to re-learn two very important lessons this holiday season: Good leadership is vital, and family is all.
Jimmy and Kristen made their way through Vermont this last summer as part of their pre-Jake 'babymoon', and when in Vermont, one must BEER in Vermont - so it was time to drop in on our old friends at the Alchemist. We've known these folks since the 'oughts', and have watched them grow through some pretty unimaginable challenges. And though they make some of the best beer in the world, when you hang out with them, you realize that what's first in founder / owners John and Jen Kimmichs' hearts a leadership style that makes some of the happiest beer people we've ever met.
Join us for a peek at the Alchemist Family. Happy Holidays, and CHEERS!
Broadway Brews Project, Phantom Brew: The Naming Finals!
This is it folks: The contest to name the Phantom of the Opera Broadway Brew has entered The Final Round. Time to pick a winner!
We've gotten many excellent suggestions from all of you - thank you for your suggestions - and after discussion with the cast members and brewers, we've narrowed your best down to this list of finalists:
Lot 666
Pint of No Return
Drink of Me
Darkness Stirs
Wishing You Were Somehow Beer Again
Phantom's Lair Lager
Chande-beer
And once again, WE NEED YOUR HELP! Leave us a comment on the website, send us an email at info@thehappyhourguys.com, comment on facebook, or tweet us (@happyhourguys) with your vote.
We'll be in Virginia at Hardywood this weekend creating this beer with cast brewers Ali Ewoldt, Paul Schaefer and Rodney Ingram, and it's going to be truly fantastic. We'll also be announcing the charitable organization that this beer will - forever - be raising money for, soon!
But for now -- let us know your favorite name. And remember, there will be prizes for whoever submitted the winning name (and a random winner chosen from all who vote!)
Broadway Brew #4: Let's play the name game!
What do you think a Phantom beer should be named?
The Broadway Brews Project rolls on! The Happy Hour Guys are assembling yet another team to create the fourth in our Broadway Six Pack lineup, with none other than - PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!
And this Majestic Brew will be created by cast members of the Broadway company, collaborating with the craft wizards of Hardywood Park Craft Brewery in Richmond, VA.
Very soon we'll be gathering the cast together to talk about what kind of beer they're going to make, and which charity this beer will raise money for.
HERE'S WHERE YOU COME IN:
WE NEED A NAME. What should a Phantom of the Opera beer be called? Share your entries with us in the comments here on the website, our Facebook page, or our Twitter feed. If we choose your idea, there will be goodies in it for you. One rule: Phantom of the HOPera is already taken!
GOOD LUCK and off we go!
Bring on the gelato! At South County Brewing.
Mark takes a jaunt to southeastern PA and finds some of the tastiest, juiciest, haziest IPAs out there, along with a host of other great beers as well. Happy Hour Guys don't drive hours out of their way frivolously, so rest assured that terrific awaits at South County Brewing in Fawn Grove. Pennsylvania has rapidly become a hotbed of craft brewing and the mad scientists of Fawn Grove are brewing 'to style' and 'against style' in ways that will bend your mind. Click on for more details - and special thanks to capture jockey Andy Kindig, and 'assistant taster' Rob Bigley!
Stopping in for Blues, Brews and Botany!
With Summer stretching far into Fall here in New York City and the temps still happily warm, is there a better way to spend a beautiful (and warm!) Saturday than sipping some cool suds at a beer festival?
Yes. Yes there is. New Yorkers, do you know just how stunningly beautiful the Bronx is?
And now it features a yearly festival with beer, music...and BOTANY?
Mark and Jimmy had a chance to take in BLUES, BREWS AND BOTANY last weekend at the New York Botanical Garden, and what an afternoon it was.
Now for those of you with serious FOMO at the moment, FEAR NOT: This is a yearly fest, so you can start making plans for next year. Also, it's looking like there might just be more ways to get your bev-adventure going at NYBG this year. Read on!
We had the privilege of asking a few questions of one of the organizers, Thomas Mulhare, Director of Public Education at the NYBG.
Is this the first time that NYBG has hosted a beer festival?
This was the second annual Blues, Brews, & Botany at The New York Botanical Garden.
What made this event ‘not your normal beer fest’, in your eyes?
Alliteration aside, the botany aspect of our beer festival is on an equal footing with our beer sampling. The Botany of Beer, a talk about the history and science behind brewing beer by one of the Botanical Garden’s senior scientists, tells visitors about the plants that have been used to make beer over the centuries and helps them understand the complexities of brewing. The idea is to give our visitors the opportunity to learn while having an amazing time.
We loved that the event seemed like a hybrid - in that, we mean that the crowd was not your ‘typical’ (read: male) craft beer fest crowd. There was a large spectrum of people, average age 30ish we would guess, male and female. Do you feel an event like this is a ‘value add’ for the audience you already have, or are you looking for a younger demographic?
Thank you! We are always interested in adding diverse and interesting programs that will not only engage people who already know and love the Garden but also attract new visitors.
If you do this event again, how will it be the same (or different)?
We do aim to host our third annual Blues, Brews, & Botany next autumn. Stay tuned for details!
We noticed that many of the breweries featured all use the same distributor. Was this intentional, either from you or from the distributor?
The Garden partnered with Manhattan Beer Distributor in creating this event.
Anything else you’d like to tell us, or The Happy Hour Guys’ audience?
The Garden is proud to host a wide variety of programs all year long. For example, with CHIHULY Nights, we have a nighttime viewing of illuminated Dale Chihuly sculptures every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night through October 28th, with a rotating lineup of performing artists and musicians, and food, beer, wine and Avión Tequila cocktails available for purchase.
We are excited to offer festive programming during our Bar Car Nights (What? BAR CAR NIGHTS, you say?) on selected evenings during the upcoming Holiday Train Show® (November 22, 2017–January 15, 2018). We also have another beverage event called Daffodil Celebration & Wine Weekend scheduled for April 28 & 29, 2018.
So there are plenty of events for the adventurous drinker upcoming - New York, man! Its wonders just never cease. And while we would have loved to have seen a larger variety of beers offered at this particular event, here's hoping that NYBG will bring in more than one distributor's offerings next year. We can't wait to see if that will be the case.
Thanks so much to the NYBG for a truly amazing day! Now get yourself to NYBG. You will not regret it.
The Waitress Broadway Brew is ready. Let's party!
The Broadway Brews Project rolls on with the release of the third beer in our lineup, brewed by cast members of the musical Waitress in collaboration with Sixpoint Brewing, to benefit the Adrienne Shelly Foundation.
It's time to taste "It's for Adrienne" Cherry Cream Ale - but good heavens! We're missing one brewer, the beer has been poured, and we can't taste until the entire team is present. How long will we the torture continue? Click on, find out, and enjoy a terrific night full of brews an Broadway, with special guests from up and down the Great White Way.
Special thanks to lensers Dane Agostinis, Kristen Beth Ludwig and Jennifer Evans, and as always, the good folk at Rattle N Hum West! Cheers!