So imagine this: a beer festival. But not just any beer festival, a summertime beer festival. With tropical feels and steel drums. And sand — lots of sand! — to give off some beach vibes. Also, and how about we truck in some pools, fill them with water and lots of floating rafts to chill on? And maybe a swim-up bar? Oh, and how about a beer lineup that’s exclusively lagers?
This was, I suppose, once a figment of the imagination for the folks at Wibby Brewing in Longmont, Colorado, before it became a reality in the form of Hooplagers, their annual lager celebration that first took place in 2018. I was there for that first iteration, and I was there again last weekend for its third iteration after a two-year pause for Covid. It was an absolute blast, and while the logistics of it sound like an absolute nightmare, I’m so glad they throw this event.
Among the highlights: sitting in a pool in the blazing sun sipping Wibby’s first Cold IPA, Wibby Jibby, drinking likely my last taste of Spencer Brewery’s Vienna Lager, thousands of small inflatable pink flamingos dropped from 30 feet in the air, and the generally good vibes that came with people who spent less time trying to cram beer down their throat and more time enjoying sitting on a raft in cool water.
Look, I’m not going to say this festival should be replicated closer to home, because Wibby is one of my favorite Colorado breweries (they’re great people who were way ahead of the lager craze that’s happening today). But if you’re a city-dweller like me who doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to sip beer by a pool, this is your reminder that you should find a way to do it before the summer is over. Highly recommended.
It’s a Pizza Party! Kills Boro fest returns to Staten Island
Staten Island’s Kills Boro Brewing Company is hosting a pizza party, and you’re invited. The brewery’s annual Pizza Party festival is next Saturday, July 30th, on the lawn of the Snug Harbor Cultural Center in New Brighton. It’s the second iteration of this event, which celebrates beer from across the region and slices from pizzerias across Staten Island. Last year’s Pizza Party was on a picture-perfect Saturday and included plenty of delicious beer and pizza by the slice, both included in the ticket price.
Among the breweries expected to pour this year are Brix City, Kings County Brewers Collective, Two Villains, Wild East, and many more from across the Tri-State. As far as the pizza goes, you’ll find acclaimed spots like Pier 76 and DOUGH by Licastri, along with legendary bar pie joint Lee’s Tavern. Each ticket includes unlimited beer tasting and a slice from each pizza spot in attendance — that’s more than enough pizza to soak up the suds.
Pizza Party runs next Saturday from noon-4pm. Tickets are $65 through Eventbrite, and proceeds benefit the host venue, the Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden.
The venue, notably, is just steps away from Kills Boro’s new brewery, currently under construction on Richmond Terrace.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 2,737
Total breweries visited in 2022: 208
Total breweries visited in England: 138
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #2728, Double-Barrelled Brewery, Reading, England (Visited 9-Jul-2022)
On a Saturday that started with a brutal 5:30am wake-up call in Riga, Latvia, I found myself about twelve hours later at this gem of a brewery about forty miles outside London, sitting under a tent in a parking lot sipping on their Ding, their refreshing flagship Kellerbier that honors the nickname of the city where they brew. Double-Barrelled opened less than four years ago and sustained through the pandemic, and they’re far more visible in London than when I last visited the region back in 2019, and rightly so — the beer is delicious, and the lineup runs across the spectrum of beer styles.
Their other core beer, the Parka Pale Ale, is a Citra lovers dream, dry-hopped for a juicy citrus finish, and weighing in at a delicate 4.5% ABV. The Punnet, their fruited Kettle Sour, was just mildly tart and tasted like a berry cake, with sour cherry, blueberry, and vanilla. And because a brewery can also be judged by the company you keep, I enjoyed collaborations that Double-Barrelled had done with other UK breweries I respect: 95 Windows, a West Coast IPA with Bristol-based Left Handed Giant, and Three Day Vacation, a Margarita Gose with Drop Project, a well-respected brewery in South London.
Most notable was Double-Barrelled’s dedication to making everyone feel welcome — quite literally through following The Everyone Welcome Initiative, and through their friendly, welcoming staff and signage in restrooms to support customers’ safety. I love when a brewery makes me feel good about giving them my money.
Social Post of the Week
Let’s all hear it for the table beers.
Long Read of the Week
I want to keep shining a spotlight on the absolute nonsense that’s happening in New Jersey right now, where brewers got screwed by the state’s regulatory body for alcohol, who put their thumb on the scale for restaurants and bars by creating a web of ridiculous restrictions for brewery taprooms. It’s shameless, it’s awful, and it’s going to put breweries out of business. Richard Cowan at NJ.com has the latest. By the way, there’s now this handy form that you can fill out to send a message to your elected officials if you live in New Jersey, or if you don’t, share with your friends and family that do.
One Last Thing
Some personal news: my local, KCBC, has a side-pour faucet now, so my typical Wednesday evening editing of this newsletter will be fueled by lots of lager in the future. Here’s the Infinite Machine Pilsner that got me through yesterday evening:
Cheers,
Chris