Craft Brew News # 50 - Beer in the Smithsonian and Clean Maine Water

Craft Brew News 10/25/2019
(Courtesy of Brewbound – www.Brewbound.com)
Smithsonian to Open Beer Industry Exhibit
A new exhibit that the Smithsonian National Museum of American History will highlight beer and its history in the U.S. “Brewing a Revolution” will join the museum’s permanent “FOOD: Transforming the American Table” exhibit on Friday, October 25.
According to a press release, “Visitors will see artifacts, archival materials and photographs that originated in the homebrewing and microbrewing movements of California and Colorado in the 1960s through 1980s — the beginning of the craft beer ‘revolution,’
Key artifacts on display include the coveralls of former Anchor Brewing owner Fritz Maytag’, a homebrewing spoon that belonged to Brewers Association founder Charlie Papazian, and a travel notebook that belonged to New Belgium Brewing co-founders Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch.
The opening of the display will be showcased in November during an event for Smithsonian Food History Weekend. “The Last Call: Brewing History After-Hours” takes place on Friday, November 8 and features Maytag, Papazian, Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman, and University of California, Davis professor emeritus Michael Lewis.
Braxton Brewing’s Vive to be Official Hard Seltzer of the Indiana Pacers
Braxton Brewing Company’s Vive Hard Seltzer is now the official hard seltzer of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers, a move that brings the brand into Indiana and continues its string of sponsorships of professional sports teams.
The product will be available in 16 oz. cans at the Pacers’ arena, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, in Indianapolis. Cans will be available at off-premise retailers in Indiana in early November.
In addition to the Pacers, Braxton has struck partnership deals for Vive with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals, the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets and MLS’ FC Cincinnati.
“With a fast upward trajectory, Vive continues to establish itself as a leader within the hard seltzer category,” a press release said.
Ex-BrewDog CEO Launches CBD Beverage Line
Former BrewDog USA CEO Tanisha Robinson will launch a line of sparkling, CBD-infused drinks, according to a report from Columbus Alive.
BrewDog founders James Watt and Martin Dickie will invest in Robinson’s new company, W*nder.
Robinson was tapped to lead the Scotland-headquartered craft brewery’s U.S. operations in 2017.
W*nder plans to donate 4% of profits to investments in entrepreneurs in communities that cannabis prohibition has harmed, according to the outlet. It will launch with four flavors with pop culture-inspired names: Breakfast Club, which has blood orange, mint and ginger; Born to Run, which has lemon and rosemary; Fast Times, which has cucumber, mint and lime; and Night Moves, which has blueberry and basil.
Allagash Brewing Company Pledges to Help Keep Portland’s Drinking Water Clean
Allagash Brewing Company has announced a pledge to donate ten cents for every barrel of beer brewed to Sebago Clean Waters (SCW), a collaborative effort of nine conservation organizations working to protect water quality, community well-being, a vibrant economy, and fish and wildlife in the Sebago region through voluntary forestland conservation. At an amount of approximately $10,000 per year, these funds will go directly toward helping SCW preserve the quality of the drinking water in Sebago Lake.
Portland draws its water from Sebago Lake, located just northwest of the city. One out of six Mainers (more than 200,000 people) and Maine’s fastest growing businesses depend on Sebago Lake for their drinking water. The lake supplies 22 million gallons of clean drinking water per day.
That clean water is largely due to the forests that surround the lake—84% of the 234,000-acre Sebago watershed is covered by forests. The goal of the SCW and Allagash partnership is to conserve more forests surrounding the lakes, streams, and rivers that feed Sebago Lake. Currently, only 10% of Sebago watershed forests is permanently conserved.
Paul Hunt, the Portland Water District’s Environmental Services Manager said “Sebago Lake is so pure that it is one of only 50 public surface water supplies in the entire country that require no filtration before treatment. “The forests are the natural filtration plant for Sebago Lake. Keeping it clean and naturally filtered like this means that our water is safer, less expensive, and tastes better than if the lake were degraded and we had to filter it artificially.”
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