Boulder Beer Company
All the News that's fit to drink.
March 19, 2008
Not getting graphics? Click here: http://www.boulderbeer.com/NewsMarch08.htm
Green Beer? Saving the planet one beer at a time
Homebrewers: Start your engines
New U.S. distribution for Boulder Beer
Straight Talk on the Hop and Grain Shortages
Save the Date for 2nd Annual Scavenger Hunt
Online Friends with Boulder Beer
Happenings at the Boulder Beer Pub: Sweaty Betty's back!
Green Beer? Saving the Planet, one beer at a time.
With St. Patrick’s Day right behind us, beer lovers everywhere were looking at the world through green colored glasses. Boulder Beer Company, however, is seeing green all year long. Located in the ecologically progressive Boulder, Colorado, commitment to environmental sustainability is an integral part of the company’s mission, vision and values.
“We’re doing our part to protect the planet, one beer at a time,” said brewery spokesperson, Tess McFadden. (Sometimes we call her Director of Fun, but this is serious stuff, so today she's a spokesperson. In fact, except for that last sentence, she wrote this. So who's having fun now? The webguy. "Work smarter, not harder," I say.)
Dedication to reducing their environmental impact is evident throughout all departments of the brewery. Recently, the pub completed the steps necessary to become a PACE Certified business (Partners for a Cleaner Environment) through the City of Boulder. A few of the many steps taken for certification include the installment of heat and water saving dishwashing equipment, switching to all recycled or compostable to-go containers, composting food waste, and recycling used fryer oil for bio-diesel through Rocky Mountain Sustainable Enterprises.
Other areas of the brewery making green strides are the brewing and production departments. An average of 130 tons of spent grain is reused as livestock feed supplements by local farmers every month, and all leftover yeast is used as pig feed by another local farmer. To save energy on refrigeration, the brewery’s large walk-in cooler uses economizers that bring in outside air to cool the warehouse during the cold months of the year.
As a manufacturing facility, earth friendly printing and packaging are of top concern as well. Boulder Beer has started printing their 4 and 6-pack carriers on 100% recycled paperboard instead of the standard virgin timber board used for many carriers. The ink to print their beer labels is made from 100% vegetable oil (no petroleum), which is the safest and most environmentally friendly ink in the printing industry. Disposable event keg cups are made from corn and completely compostable.
In 2007, Boulder Beer Company recycled 24,530 pounds of materials. This saved 1273 gallons of oil, 85,855 gallons of water, and prevented 12.27 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Paper recycling alone helped to save 122 35’ trees, and aluminum recycling saved enough energy to power a television for almost four years.
Environmental responsibility is also seen in the company’s commitment to alternative transportation. All employees receive an RTD Eco-Pass, allowing them to ride the regional and city buses free of charge. Additionally, many members of the staff regularly commute to work on their bikes.
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Speaking of Biking to Work...Some of us will bike from work ... and back again! On Saturday, May 17, Boulder Beer will be the start and finish line for the Road To Victory Bicycle Classic. Benefitting the Davis Phinney Foundation, this 64 mile loop features a few challenges and a lot of fun for a good cause. Dedicated to improving the lives of those living with Parkinson's Disease and to eliminating the disease, the Davis Phinney Foundation will benefit from a great event. Our Pub will be open to participants and their families, friends and support crews that day -- we'll even throw in a free beer to all the riders. For more information and registration, head to www.road2victory.com
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Homebrewers: Start Your Engines. Our 2nd annual homebrewer competion will be taking place again this summer. In recognition of our roots as homebrewers done good, we hold a contest in the spring open to the public to submit their best homebrewed beers. After extensive, intensive and subjective judging by our expert panel of brewers, we'll choose a winner and they'll brew it here with us for tapping at our annual anniversary celebration, The Goatshed Revival!
Deadline for submissions this year is Friday, July 11, so now's a great time to fine-tune that recipe. Good luck!
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The South rises again: Boulder Beer is now available in South Carolina, and coming in the next few weeks to Georgia and Virginia, and we're filling in the blank spots in Florida. Not sure where to get it or if it's where you are or where you're going? Check our "distribution" map on the BoulderBeer.com website. Just roll the mouse over a state and it'll give you a pop-up with the local distributor contact info.
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What's with the rising price of beer? We get asked this quite a bit these days. As I'm sure you've noticed, it isn't just Boulder Beer that's jumpin' up on the shelf. In a weird way, like just about everything else, we can blame it on subprime mortgages and climate change, among other things.
In a nutshell: the price of grain has more than doubled in the last year because a) demand for ethanol in the U.S. makes it more profitable for farmers to grow corn than craft beer barley -- or even wheat for your bread or feed for what will eventually be your dinner; b) there have been several droughts worldwide that have decreased supply of grains and hops; and c) the falling value of the dollar in international markets has made U.S. crops -- both barley and hops -- cheaper to foreign brewers who are taking advantage of the situation.
AND
The price of hops has gone up 400% in the last year due to decreased supply;
The price of fuel to deliver supplies to us and beer to you...well you buy gas.
The price of glass has risen significantly.
THE GOOD NEWS: Because we at Boulder Beer have been around so long and developed good relationships with our suppliers, we will still be able to make beer, and our Brewmaster has been able to secure contracts on hops for the near future.
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Save the date for this year's Second Annual Pearl Street Scavenger Hunt: It's April 26. Fun. Really, really, fun.
I don't know WHAT this was...but it was on the Scavenger Hunt list.
More info to follow in April.
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Everybody's always happy at a beer festival! The season is starting to roll, and like a snowball heading downhill, it's just going to build until it can't be stopped! This photo was taken last weekend at the Great Arizona Beer Festival, while 2500 miles away 10,000 beer fans were getting Hazed in Atlantic City.
In Boulder in April we've got a couple of classics: The Strong Ale Festival at Harpo's on April 11-12 (an angry little bird told me there will be some hard to find Killer Penguin on tap), and at the Boulder Theater on April 25th will be the annual beer bash Microbreweries for the Environment.
But the great news: Boulder Beer will be flowing at the Boulder Creek Fest during Memorial Day Weekend. They say almost 100,000 people dip their Teva's in The Creek over those three days, and we're glad to offer our beers to them again. (No, we don't get the water for our beer from the Boulder Creek, so don't get grossed out!) If you're running in or supporting someone that's participating in The Bolder Boulder, head down from the stadium afterwards and quench that thirst.
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What's happening at Boulder Beer Co. Brewery & Pub:
March 31 and April 4: Celebrate the Opening Day(s) of the National League Champion Colorado Rockies at our Pub with Jamie's famous baseball special: vienna beef sausages, fries and a beer.
(If you're lucky enough to have scored a ticket to Opening Day, be sure to get Hazed! We've got Hazed & Infused and Singletrack Copper Ale on draft inside Coors field, just behind 3rd base on the main concourse.)
April 3: Sweaty Betty Blonde Wheat Beer makes her graceful return with a rollout party beginning at 4 pm. $2.00 pints and bring your best blonde jokes for a chance to win prizes.
April 7: Prohibition Repeal Anniversary Party. Celebrate 75 years of (in)sanity with us. Twenty-five cent glass of beer with any entree from open to close.
April 14: Join our Masters of Beer Answers class as we "Taste Beer Like a Pro." Learn the ins and outs of beer judging, as well as how to spot off-flavors in beer. Plenty of sampling for only ten bucks. Contact webguy@boulderbeer.com if you'd like to sign up for this size-limited class.
And, our Wednesday Night Team Trivia is still going strong every week at 7 pm. If you know that the frisbee was originally called the Pluto Platter, then you would ROCK.
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Click on this link to sign up for our Boulder Beer NCAA tournament pool.
http://www.marchtourney.com/madness/site420618/
Grand prize is a free keg to the winner. During the tournament, everybody wins! Once you've filled out your brackets, just print it out and bring it in to our brewery and you'll be able to purchase pints for only $3 and pitchers of our Boulder Beer brews for a mere nine bucks.
Brackets must be filled out by Wednesday night, March 19 at midnight!!
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Saving the best for last: We're excited to announce that beginning August 1, 2008, travellers coming to and from Denver, as well as those dropping them off or picking them up, will be able to stop into a bar in the main terminal at Denver International Airport that's going to be called ...drumroll please:
Boulder Beer Taphouse. That's right, hanging out next to the security lines never sounded so good.
And for those of you travelling before then, you can enjoy our beers at the Red Rocks bar in the main terminal, as well as throughout the other concourses at the Lefty's and the smoking lounges upstairs. Happy flying!
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Webguy is looking for friends...online.
Bi-monthly newsletters not enough for you? (Don't answer that!) If you're looking for Boulder Beer news online and want to be alerted, feel free to join our friend lists at MySpace and Facebook. Our myspace page also has a bunch of photo albums, if you'd like to check us out and see more than you can on our website: just go to www.myspace.com/boulderbeer and if you're on Facebook, just look up and friend us at webguy@boulderbeer.com
We've also got a fun 30 second blurb on youtube that you can find with a quick Boulder Beer in your search query.
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"Colorado's got a lot of people willing to work for no money but drink free beer."
-- An answer given to the question: "Why are there so many craft breweries in Colorado?"
Cheers!
- Dan the Webguy
