We’ve made it to the end of 2017 and what a year it has been!
We feel so proud of everything we have accomplished this year, but we couldn’t have done it without the Avery community. Thank you for your support and for sharing your stories, feedback, and ideas. We love hearing from you. Keep it coming!
Here’s a look back at what we accomplished in 2017 and a sneak peek of what the next year has in store for us. Thanks for letting us brag a little. Settle back with a cold White Rascal… this might be a long one. Cheers!
2017 was a big year for beer (but that’s why we’re all here, right?!) The Real Peel IPA hit shelves in May and was a huge hit. We dosed this IPA with real tangerine peel and the result is a bright and refreshing beer to be enjoyed every day of the week! We also launched three more year-round barrel-aged beers: Apricot Sour, Coconut Porter, and Ginger Sour, making our Botanicals and Barrels series six-deep! We have a few more surprises up our sleeves for the coming year. Expect to see some exciting new beers from Avery over the coming months, including Go Play IPA and Bug Zapper. You can also expect to see existing beers in new configurations. (Did someone say six-packs of Maharaja?)
In 2017, we were as committed as ever to our barrel-aging program. In addition to Botanicals and Barrels and our Annual Barrel Series, we made eight new “one and done” gold-foil beers in our Barrel-Aged Series. About half of these beers were small-batch experiments shared from the brewery only. We put a great deal of effort into growing our barrel-aging facility. At its peak this summer, our barrel warehouse was home to 4000 barrels! We sourced these barrels from as far away as Madeira, Portugal for number 46 in our Barrel-Aged Series, Promiscuus, and Islay, Scotland, for several Scotch barrel-aged projects. Some of this year’s barrel projects weren’t even entirely from this year: Tap Room Rarity Eremita X was a blended sour that included a twenty-three month aged Zinfandel grape-grain hybrid!
Pulling nails — an essential element of barrel tasting and blending
Along with our core lineup of delicious beers, our brewers get to work with some truly unique ingredients! This year, they used juniper tree branches, Buddha’s Hand citrus, wormwood, and monastic yeast carried over from Italy by Avery’s resident beer archaeologist, Travis Rupp. We also feature unique and particular ingredients for our Tap Room Rarities, special beers that find their home in our Boulder Tap Room. Over the course of 2017, they brewed 138 beers just for visitors to the brewery!
Next year, our barrel program will continue to grow and our barrel warehouse will become a full-fledged production facility. This will allow us to provide wider distribution and availability of our barrel-aged beers. Our noted Ales of Antiquity series will return with eight new additions and our Tap Room will see even more rarities than last year! 2018 will be an exciting year for barrel-aging and experimentation!
Travis Rupp, Avery Brewing Co’s resident Beer Archaeologist
Continuing in our pursuit of the best beer, we invested in new equipment to increase the quality and consistency of our craft. In March, we acquired a new spice-dosing vessel, lovingly dubbed Sputnik, to improve the infusion of special ingredients into our beers. With this vessel, every adventurous ale you drink from Avery is as bold and delicious as the last. Take a sip of that Coconut Porter and thank Sputnik for the smooth, sumptuous flavor!
Over the course of this year, we worked with some amazing partners both locally and across the country. We partnered with Matchstick Productions, eTown, and Freeskier Magazine here in Colorado this year. With these friends, we created amazing experiences around music and the great outdoors, two of our favorite pastimes. Our community partnerships allow us to exhibit our intrepid spirit — and we are so happy we get to share that with you! In the coming year, we are excited to bring the Avery experience to more fans across the nation!
In November, we announced our new partnership with Mahou. We are so excited to move forward with this like-minded partner, continuing our relentless pursuit of the best beer possible and our growth as a world-class brewery.
Our Botanicals and Barrels series, completed this year!
Working with charitable partners was a huge part of our year as well. In 2017, we donated over $128,197! Every Avery festival benefits a different charity; this year, we worked with GOALS, American Rivers, Harvest of Hope, and Attention Homes. We also had several weekends of draft-line donations to different charities, including Drink for Pink, Access Fund, and many others! We look forward to providing even more support for nonprofits in our community in 2018. Keep your eyes peeled for tickets to the Avery Invitational — bigger, sourer, and hoppier than any festival we’ve held before!
A small peek at our barrel-aging warehouse
Sustainability is built into what we do here at Avery. Over the last few years, we partnered with the City of Boulder on water treatment. The city used our weak wort to reduce nitrogen levels during treatment. This project helps protect aquatic wildlife and improves the quality of drinking water for the whole city of Boulder. We also continued our partnership with EcoCycle this year, with the ongoing goal to lessen our impact on the local environment and reduce overall waste. As we grow, we are always looking for ways to streamline and reduce our impact. We have been recognized for our sustainability efforts and are a Colorado Environmental Leadership Program Bronze Achiever.
We have plenty more to look forward to in 2018, but chances are, you’ve finished your beer by now! Keep in touch with us via our social networks (here, here, and here).
Thanks for supporting us through another amazing year!
Cheers to many more years and beers!
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