Good morning and happy Friday!
The NFL season is now underway (cheers to our Seahawks and 49ers fans out there), and you know what that means: Sundays are now officially reserved for football and beer. Hit reply and tell us who you're rooting for!
In this week's issue:
The one thing spas have ben missing all along
The Top Gear crew does more than just drive cool cars
Breweries across the nation banding together to protect public lands
[ 01 // THE FLIGHT ]
Our faves from this week
🪩 Make the friendship bracelets & join 4 Hands Brewing for a live TS Midnights cover show Sept 12. Karma is beer + pop-culture.
🎧 Bell’s Brewery celebrates the re-release of their Oberon Eclipse Citrus Wheat in (quiet) style with a silent-disco launch party.
🛁 Grab your robe and cucumbers and get ready to relax at Denver’s Oakwell Beer Spa; A unique combo that has us ready to kick our feet up.
🚗 James May truly does it all. In addition to driving cool cars and hosting hit TV shows, he also runs a pub in England that released a 3.8% ale called The Spanner.
🧋 Our award for weird beer experiment of the week goes to Alpha Acid Brewing for their boba beer. 60 grams of boba in every can.
[ 02 // THE PINT ]
Pints supporting our Parks
Saturday, September 26 is National Public Lands Day, the biggest single-day volunteer effort for parks, forests, and trails in the country. How does this relate to beer you ask? We’ll get there.
Since 1994 this day has been less about awareness and more about getting real work done. Thousands of people show up to pull invasive plants, clean out trash from rivers, and fix up hiking trails.
A growing number of breweries have realized they have a role to play in that work. The clean water flowing through public lands is the first and most important ingredient in the beer they brew.
Shout out Florida for their most recent contribution. This month the Florida State Parks Foundation launched Pints for Parks, a partnership with eight craft breweries across the state. Each one brewed a parks-themed beer or cider, or created a new label for the project. Proceeds go back to the foundation. The project debuts this week and builds up to National Public Lands Day itself.
Even the big name breweries are getting involved. Sierra Nevada spent this spring putting six national parks on its Pale Ale cans and bottles, from Great Smoky Mountains and Yellowstone to Joshua Tree and Zion. The labels feature a direct link to donate to the National Park Foundation.
When one of the most recognizable beers in America turns its labels over to public lands, you know it’s serious.
And finally, we look to Oregon (go Ducks, btw). Seventeen breweries across the state collaborate through the Brewshed Alliance on beers that fund watershed protection and advocacy.
Their brewers say that clean water and healthy forests are the foundation of every pint. The coalition has also grown more heated recently, saying that recent federal efforts to roll back the Roadless Rule and weaken Northwest Forest Plan protections are direct threats to the water they depend on.
But these aren’t the only brewers fighting the noble cause for public lands. In Nevada, Las Vegas Brewing sends five percent of every four-pack to the state parks foundation with a specialty beer for each park.
In Colorado, Odell Brewing teamed up with Protect Our Rivers for a South Platte cleanup and a 4.5% Crispy Lager.
We will always be inspired by the unique and creative ways that the beer industry shows up to support important causes. We will take any reminder that each of us has a role, too.
PS: Find a National Public Lands Day event near you at nps.gov! Work hard for a good cause and reward yourself with a local beer on the way home.