In mid-August New Planet Beer journeyed to beautiful Telluride, Colorado to participate in the annual Telluride Festival of the Arts Grand Tasting. This event provided New Planet Beer the unique opportunity of sampling our beer to event attendees with refined palates who usually favor wine to beer. Although we participated in such an event with some trepidation, New Planet Beer is pleased to announce that Grand Tasting attendees gave us a warm-welcome and lots of positive feedback. Many people said they enjoyed the refreshing, fruit-forward taste of 3R Raspberry Ale. They also were pleased to learn more about New Planet Beer’s mission to do good things for the planet by donating a portion of proceeds to local environmental restoration and conservation programs. We will look forward to participating in future events in Telluride and are pleased to announce that New Planet Beer can be purchased in numerous locations in the southern part of Colorado. For more information on where to find us in Telluride and the surrounding area, check out the ‘Where to Find Us’ section on our website.
Fort Collins Brewery just opened their new state-of-the-art brewery, restaurant and shops. Take a tour of one of the most innovative brew houses today.
This summer has been a momentous one for New Planet Beer. After our initial success in bringing great-tasting gluten-free beer to our fans in Colorado early last year, we decided to start joining the fun by visiting beer festivals and other events throughout the state. In doing so, we’ve been able to enjoy a closer interaction with new and existing fans of New Planet Beer. We’ve had a lot of fun and learned some valuable lessons for future events in the process. So without further ado, we give you the top 10 things we learned in our first eventful summer!
The Good, The Bad, and the Funny: New Planet’s First Summer of Events
- Give them pretzels! Did you attend any of the numerous Colorado beer festivals this summer? If you did, we’re sure that you caught at least one glimpse of a gluten-free pretzel necklace-adorned New Planet Beer fans. That’s because we know that spending several hours in the summer heat tasting beer can stir up an appetite. At future events we’ll continue our practice of supplying gluten-free pretzel necklaces to gluten-free festival goers.
- We need more swag. Festival and event-goers love to pick up swag. While supplies lasted, we were happy to provide New Planet Beer bottle openers made from recycled materials to people who visited our booth. Next year we plan on expanding our offerings with stickers as well! Also, look for more great New Planet Beer t-shirt and hat designs, soon to be available for purchase on our website.
- Pretty decorations sometimes backfire. Not every event location is conducive to having a decorative set-up. Case in point: the Fort Collins Colorado Brewer’s Festival, where our beautiful 8-foot standing banner repeatedly toppled onto our interns in the wind. Moving forward, we’ll reserve top-heavy decor for indoor venues.
- New Planet Beer tastes like beer! Please allow us some lighthearted joking at the expense of our fans. It was quite entertaining when someone new (especially gluten-free folks) tasted Tread Lightly Ale and remarked, “Wow! This tastes just like beer!” Thank you. Though an obvious statement, we are delighted that our fans are recognizing the fact that New Planet Gluten-free Beer is, in fact, beer.
- Volunteers melt in the sun. In addition to making us more visible over the crowd of event-goers, having a tent next year will prevent our volunteers and interns from overheating, sunburning, or otherwise looking miserable in the Colorado summer.
- More S,M, and less XXL That’s right. New Planet Beer t-shirts were all the rage when we initially passed them out for free and started offering them for a nominal price at events. The only problem: we didn’t anticipate how many of you would want one! We’re sorry for the t-shirt shortage and we’re working on a solution that will allow us to have more sizes and colors available in the future.
- The possibilities are endless. We participated in 14 fantastic events this summer and had the opportunity to participate in many more. Doing so allowed us to offer samples of New Planet Beer to over 18,500 thirsty event-goers. Future event planning will include a wide variety of venues and types, with a focus on those that promote planet-friendly practices or donate to environmental programs we support, in keeping with the mission of New Planet Beer.
- We can’t read chicken-scratch. Having our email sign-up sheet at events allowed many of you to receive this monthly newsletter. Unfortunately, some folks are not reading this because we couldn’t read their handwriting. We are exploring the possibility of making our email sign-up sheet digital as an alternative to having our interns study ancient and lost languages.
- Kegs are heavy. Fortunately, volunteers and staff at other breweries were friendly and let us borrow their hand-trucks. Otherwise, our interns would have rolled away with our kegs on more than one occasion. Live and learn: hand-trucks are on our shopping list.
- We love our fans. The absolute best part about being at events was meeting you, hearing your stories, and enjoying some cold New Planet Beer as friends. Thanks for supporting us at events this year! We look forward to continuing to brew great tasting gluten-free beer for you!
New Planet Beer interns, Ryan and Chelsea, learned how to master the techniques of pouring the perfect beer by attending beer festivals and tastings this summer. Watch their video and learn how to pour the perfect beer yourself.
Learning to Pour the Perfect Beer
When attempting to pour the perfect beer, there are many things to consider. Although it may sound like the obvious, it’s important to start with a clean glass. When soap or different oils are present on a glass, the head and flavor of the beer may be ruined. As mentioned in the video, you want to pour roughly three quarters of beer down the side of the glass, then the last quarter of the beer down the middle to create a head that should be anywhere from a one half inch to a full inch and one half depending on the beer. Don’t be scared to pour your last quarter of the beer with some height as some beers are harder to create a head then others. When a head is created, the aromatics of the beer are released, and thus, the beer head is created. With some beers, the yeast will settle to the bottom of the bottle and may come out when you pour your beer. Some people prefer it, others do not.
So, exactly what are aromatics? We could go into all kinds of information regarding beers and the relationship between different chemical reactions, but that information can become boring so I will give you the quick version. During the brew process, the yeast eats up glucose thus creating heat, ethanol (alcohol) and carbon dioxide. Most of the Co2 is removed during the brew process, but some gas will not be released until the pour. Beer, unlike humans, releases gas that will tickle your nose and satisfy time and time again. Try it yourself with a bottle of Tread Lightly Ale today!
Take a look at the set up of a Brew Fest just before the craziness begins.
New Planet Beer is now being brewed in the new Fort Collins Brewery.
Fort Collins Brewery (FCB) just opened their new state-of-the-art brewery, restaurant and shops. This exciting facility is located on the northwest corner of Lemay and Vine in Fort Collins, CO. A visit is worth scheduling, as this is one of the most innovative brew houses today.
FCB moved its existing 15 barrel brew house over to the new digs, but will be supplementing greater production with the latest in automated 50 barrel systems in the near future. Since New Planet Beer will now be brewed in this larger capacity facility, we can ensure an endless supply of gluten-free beer. 
The new brewery also utilizes the most current thinking in sustainable, green technologies. FCB is most proud of their water waste system which is not connected to a public sewer, but rather recycles waste water on to farmlands. This is very much in-line with New Planet Beers efforts to strive to reduce environmental impact so we thankful that Fort Collins Brewery has taken extra steps in making this happen.
New Planet Beer will have the honor of being available in the new restaurant and on tap in the tasting room, so all of you who are eager to visit a brewery with a great tasting gluten-free beer, Fort Collins Brewery is the place to go.
Check out these videos and be one of the first to see the new Fort Collins Brewery and New Planet Beer coming of the production line…and soon to a store near you.
This year, New Planet Beer was able to attend the Denver Summer Brew Fest that benefited Swallow Hill Music Association. Swallow Hill serves a large community with instruction and performance of musical art forms such as folk, blues, bluegrass, Celtic, jazz, world, roots, and dance while focusing on preserving cultural roots and heritage in music. On July 23rd , the festival was held at the Mile High Station with over 35 plus craft breweries, 90 plus brews, and live music to satisfy over 1200 people. From brew festivals to wedding receptions, Mile High Station’s beautiful venue works for any event.
At the event, the New Planet Beer Booth featured two beers, our Tread Lightly Ale and our 3R Raspberry Ale. Festival attendees were excited to learn about New Planet Beer, as well as sample both of our beers. If you did not get a chance to make it to the Denver Brew Fest, keep an eye out for future New Planet events on our events page. We look forward to seeing you soon!
See how David Roche, a competitive triathlete, discovered his intolerance to gluten, maintained his competitive edge and celebrated with New Planet Beer.
It was Christmas. Or, if not the 25th, it was around that time in late December when walking into a department store would lead to post-traumatic stress disorder if anyone ever had a bad experience with silver bells. There was a 10km race that morning–I don’t remember the details anymore. Anyway, I was fortunate enough to win–but what happened next is why that day changed my life. Stomach pains became progressively worse until, incapacitated by pain, a friend took me to the hospital.
Three months later, I was getting weaker every day. After the Christmas Celiac diagnosis, my weight was dropping rapidly—and not in a good, yellow polka-dot bikini type of way. No, it was getting to the point that the slightest gust of wind had me doing impressions of the cow in Twister. At the first race back, I had nothing–no strength, no motivation, no energy. So I DNF’d. I always say life is amazing, but those three months made me question that. I was withering away, physically and mentally.
That was the spring of my junior year at college in New York City. The education was worth a bit of suffering, but I hated Manhattan. It was so impersonal. Why did no one ever smile!? With the big-city resentment fresh on my mind, and still struggling after learning I needed to be gluten-free, I traveled out to Boulder for research that summer. Stepping foot in Colorado for the first time, it was as if a light bulb suddenly illuminated. Everything changed. The people were uniquely awesome; the environment was a priority; and gluten-free was a healthy lifestyle choice embraced by the community.
Over the next few months, I learned how to be a gluten-free athlete. On my first long training run, two top-level triathletes told me the secrets–then, in an awesome tradition that epitomizes Boulder, we continued the conversation over rounds of New Planet Beer. Below is an attempt to paraphrase their wisdom:
1. Nuts and fruit provide great energy that you can munch on all day.
Speaking of nuts, I bet this beer would go great with some almonds. New Planet Beer is crisp, with a subtle sweetness that sets it apart from anything I had before going gluten-free
2. Don’t shy away from healthy carbs. Before workouts, cereal like Nature’s Path Peanut Butter Panda Puffs or Mesa Sunrise provide delicious energy. Multiple Ironman winners have a pre-race meal of gluten-free cereal. At the same time, reward yourself with potato chips, or chocolate.
What about beer? That’s a good reward, right? Because New Planet Beer is probably the most awesome drink I’ve ever had. They are an environmentally friendly company too, so I can justify a few more as part of my duty as an environmental scientist.
3. Protein and good fats should be the staples of your diet. Salmon, tuna, and free-range chicken are great; if you are a vegetarian, eggs are a great option, along with a whey protein supplement. Don’t shy away from olive oil, and cook for yourself! Make sweet-potato fries by tossing them with oil/spices. Make a delicious stir-fry with tons of veggies, rice, and eggs–add some flax for a nutty flavor.
Most of all, experiment.
Moving on to law school this year, back on the east coast, it is clear how important the last 2 summers in Boulder were to me as a person. I learned how to be a successful gluten-free athlete, sure, but meeting amazing friends over a few New Planet Beers was even more meaningful. Now, I know that I want to use my education to make a positive difference in the future of the natural world. Hopefully I can go back to Boulder for good at some point, but either way, I owe everything to my time on the trails, in the lab, and yes, in the bars, of Colorado.
