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.
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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!
Take a look at the set up of a Brew Fest just before the craziness begins.
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!
Mark your calendars for the 7th annual Art and Ales Festival to be held at The Wildlife Experience in Parker, Co. The event features musical entertainment and samples of the best food and beverages from local breweries and restaurants. Guests are welcome to peruse wildlife art and sculptures from around the world as well as The Wildlife Experience exhibits. New Planet Beer will be providing tastes of our Tread Lightly Ale and 3R Raspberry Ale, come tell us what you think and take home some fun swag.
When: August 20th 6-10pm
Where: The Wildlife Experience, Parker
The Colorado Brewer’s Guild hosts the 14th annual Colorado Brewer’s Rendezvous, featuring 35 Colorado breweries. New Planet Beer is a member of the Colorado Brewer’s Guild, a trade association dedicated to the Colorado craft brewing industry. All attendees will receive a collectible beer glass to commemorate the event. Come and join us in beautiful Historic Salida for a day of celebrating Colorado craft brews!
When: July 10th, 1-5pm
Where: Riverside Park in Historic Downtown Salida
We are excited to be participating in many beer festivals and other events this summer, including the Rocky Mountain Brewfest, Colorado Brewer’s Festival, and Denver Summer Brewfest. With all of these fun opportunities to sample beers from New Planet Beer and other Colorado breweries, we thought we’d share some of our advice as tenured festival attendees and fellow beer-lovers. To get the most out of a beer festival, follow these simple tips to have an enjoyable beer fest experience:
- Eat before the event: satisfying your hunger before you get there will help to lessen the effects of the alcohol in the beers you will be sampling.
- Stay hydrated: staying hydrated will help to minimize the effects of the heat and sun. Plus, sipping water between tastings will help to cleanse your palate so you can savor the individual characteristics of each brew.
- Use sunscreen: in the spirit of outdoor events, remember to apply sunscreen before arriving. If you plan on staying more than four hours, you should reapply throughout the day.
- Visit your top brewery selections first: research the breweries attending and sample your top selections first. The more samples you taste, the more fatigued your palate will become and the less likely you’ll taste all of the complexities and differences that make each brew great.
- Learn about the beers and breweries: to get the most out of your attendance, make your tastings educational experiences. Ask the staff questions, learn how they brew their beer and what makes them different from everyone else.
Don’t be afraid to try new things: Beer festivals will often give you the opportunity to try beers you’ve never sampled before. So don’t be afraid to enjoy that smoked porter, farmhouse ale, hoppy IPA or our specialty– gluten-free beer. You never know when you’ll find a new favorite.
Check out our events section for the most up-to-date listing of fun festivals and events that New Planet Beer will be participating in. Come see us, say hello and try our gluten-free beer – Tread Lightly Ale and 3R Raspberry Ale.
Remember to be responsible and have fun!
New Planet Beer is looking forward to attending the Rocky Mountain Brewfest, located in beautiful Estes Park. Join us at Estes Park Brewery for an afternoon of food, live music, and tastings from several of Colorado’s local breweries.
When: June 12th, 2010 12-5pm
Where: Estes Park Brewery, 470 Prospect Village Drive Estes Park, CO 80517
The Summer Brew Fest at Mile High Station, Denver, will celebrate craft beverages from around Colorado and other U.S. microbrews and feature; live local music, food, and other vendors. This event benefits Swallow Hill Music Association. New Planet Beer will be at the Festival providing samples of our gluten-free beer – Tread Lightly Ale. Come by and visit with us, tell us what you think of Tread Lightly Ale and score some free swag, like keychains and T-shirts.
Breckenridge Beer Festival presented by KSMT, “The Mountain” is celebrating Brews and Views with 25 breweries, live music and great memories on July 17th. New Planet Beer will be at the Festival providing samples of our gluten-free beer – Tread Lightly Ale. Come by and visit with us, tell us what you think of Tread Lightly Ale and score some free swag like keychains and shop for Tread Lightly Ale T-shirts.
Where: Main Street Station, Breckenridge, CO
