Everything You Need to Know About Hop Culture x Samuel Adams Queer Beer Festival

An evolution of Hop Culture’s women in craft beer festival: Beers With(out) Beards, Hop Culture x Samuel Adams Queer Beer Festival aims to capture the unique, vibrant, diverse, and thriving voices of the queer community in the industry.

In 2018, Hop Culture’s Head of Partnerships Grace Weitz launched BW(O)B as a part of her graduate school thesis capstone project at NYU. Over the last three years, this revolutionary festival has attracted over 3,000 attendees and 50 women-led breweries. In the same period, the fest has featured 30 events aimed at celebrating the achievements of women across all aspects of the alcoholic beverage industries.

Building on the success of BW(O)B, Weitz — who identifies as queer — conceptualized Queer Beer as a way to represent an often underserved community in beer. Additionally, Weitz wanted to showcase the LGBTQ+ drinkmakers and tastemakers, express stories of empowerment from top queer-owned breweries or breweries actively supporting the queer community, and build a stronger culture of inclusivity in the beer industy.

For our 35th beer festival, we teamed up with Samuel Adams as our presenting sponsor for this inaugural festival taking place on Jun. 5th, 2021.

Samuel Adams is not only one of the world’s leading independent craft breweries, but also a longtime and passionate supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. Because of this, they made the perfect partner for our new event. Likewise, an inclusive network of Samuel Adams and Boston Beer Company coworkers, aptly named Labels Out, recognized the importance of the festival as part of their ongoing mission to support and encourage their peers as members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community.

In 2020, Samuel Adams announced its partnership with GLAAD, including a $100,000 donation to the organization committed to rewriting the script for LGBTQ+ acceptance in addition to a commitment to education and training for coworkers. The brewery launched Love Conquers All, a Pride platform created in partnership with GLAAD, inspired by Love Conquers Ale, a Blackberry Basil Lime Gose limited release brewed by and for the LGBTQ+ community. To introduce Love Conquers All, Samuel Adams created a powerful video series called Poetry of Pride, to illustrate the power of poetry as a medium and expression designed to unite communities and amplify voices. Filmed inside the historic Stonewall inn, the series featured original poetry written by Teddy Geiger and Richard Blanco, recited by notable Broadway members of the LGBTQ+ community.

All in all Samuel Adams has made huge strides to support the queer community and Hop Culture is honored to partner with this revolutionary brewery as a presenting sponsor for its Queer Beer Festival.

Starting at 12:00 PM EST on Monday, 4/5/21, you’ll be able to purchase a ticket to Hop Culture x Samuel Adams Queer Beer Fest that includes a box of 10 craft beers from either specifically queer-owned breweries or breweries that have demonstrated a dedication to supporting the LGBTQ+ community as allies such as Marz Community Brewing, Almanac Beer Company, Lady Justice Brewing Co., DC Brau, Collective Arts, New Belgium, Samuel Adams, and more. Plus, you’ll also get access to an entire day of live stream programming — we’re featuring a virtual cooking class with a queer chef, a panel on LGBTQ+ and BIPOC pioneers in craft beer, an artist gallery featuring four queer artists, and more. All digital content (including tastings, panels, and workshops) will be accessible to anyone and will be aired across YouTube on 6/5/21. Lastly, we’re thrilled to share that a portion of the proceeds from every sale goes to benefit the Transgender Law Center, the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures. Grounded in legal expertise and committed to racial justice, TLC employs a variety of community-driven strategies to keep transgender and gender nonconforming people alive, thriving, and fighting for liberation.

Tickets can be purchased here and we’ve tried to answer all questions below! If you have any questions feel free to shoot us a note via email to [email protected] or on Instagram at @hopculturemag. Any questions about your actual order? Please direct those to [email protected]

What is Hop Culture x Samuel Adams Queer Beer Festival?

Hop Culture x Samuel Adams Queer Beer Festival is a digital craft beer festival presented by Hop Culture Magazine and Samuel Adams dedicated to supporting the queer community in craft beer. There will be workshops and panels, a cooking class led by a queer chef, tastings, and more. This festival follows our mission to be a more equitable, just, and inclusive business in craft beer.

How Much is a Ticket For The Queer Beer Festival?

“Tickets” to Queer Beer Festival cost $109.99 and go on sale at 12 PM EST on 4/5/21 exclusively from our friends at Half Time Beverage. The ticket page is available here. That includes a box of 10 festival beers, direct-to-door shipping, and special Samuel Adams merch items. Access to all of the event programming on 6/5/21 will be free to stream on Hop Culture’s Youtube channel.

What Is the Schedule for Queer Beer Festival?

The festival will be live-streamed on Saturday, June 5, 2021 starting at 11:30 AM EST. You can find the link to the live-stream HERE. Or, simply tune-in to the video below.

WATCH QUEER BEER

You’ll find the full schedule of events HERE

TAKE ME TO THE FULL QUEER BEER SCHEDULE

How Did We Choose the Breweries and Beers Included in The Queer Beer Festival Box?

Before reaching out to any breweries we developed criteria to follow that we felt would best speak to our mission to create a platform for the queer community in the craft beer industry. To be considered for this fest, breweries had to fit in one (or more) of the following categories

• Queer owned and operated – breweries owned by queer folks or breweries with queer folks in prominent leadership positions
• Breweries making Pride beers that directly donate the proceeds to organizations that support the queer community
• Breweries with robust diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and with a commitment to social justice work.

For this event, we wanted to recognize breweries that are queer-owned along with breweries that may not be specifically queer-owned, but are still creating incredible change in the community and supporting LGBTQ+ organizations. Together each of these queer-owned and queer-supporting breweries are integral to moving the conversation of inclusion, equity, and justice forward in our industry.

Please note that due to timing, availability, and in some cases effects of the pandemic not everyone we reached out to could participate. We’re also continuously learning of new queer-owned or queer-supporting breweries and would love to hear your suggestions if we missed someone that you would like to see included next year. Please let us know by dropping a line to [email protected]!

What Beers Are Included In The Box For The Queer Beer Festival?

Below, you’ll find the most up-to-date list of the breweries participating in the Queer Beer Festival, as well as the beers they plan on sending. Please note that breweries and beers are subject to change. The breweries are listed in alphabetical order.

Almanac Beer Co.

Alameda, CA
Love Hazy IPA: Pride Edition Last year Almanac Beer Co. in Alameda, CA showed up in a big way transforming its most popular hazy IPA into a special edition can during Pride month. Brewed in the spirit of equity, inclusion, and justice for all people, Almanac said loud and clear: LOVE IS LOVE! In addition to swapping out the design for a vibrant rainbow colored can the brewery also committed to donating proceeds from the sales of the beer to support the Oakland LGBTQ+ Community Center, a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing and sustaining the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people through educational, social, health, and wellness-related activities, programs, and services. – 6.1% ABV

Brooklyn Brewery

Brooklyn, NY

The Stonewall Inn IPA – A revered gay bar in Greenwich Village in New York City, The Stonewall Inn is the site of the historic Stonewall Inn Riots, six days of protests and riots in response to the New York City police raiding the bar. Often recognized as igniting the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world, the Stonewall Uprising and The Stonewall Inn have become an integral part of queer history and the queer community. In 2016 The Stonewall Inn reached out to Brooklyn Brewery to see if they’d be interested in collaborating on a beer for the announcement and launch of The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative (SIGBI) whose mission is to bring critical needed education and financial assistance to grassroots organizations providing advocacy, guidance, and shelter to LGBTQ+ youth in mostly rural and underserved communities throughout the United States and abroad. Brooklyn Brewery immediately said yes. The Stonewall Inn IPA was first released on draft during Pride Month in June 2017.

Brooklyn Brewery describes The Stonewall Inn IPA on its website as, “a fearless IPA for all. With unabashed notes of citrus peel and grapefruit, the unapologetic and refreshing IPA reminds us of where we’ve been and celebrates where we’re going. This is a beer for everyone, no exceptions.” Each year Brooklyn Brewery brews The Stonewall Inn IPA to support SIGBI and the LGBTQ+ community. And, aside from their annual donation and direct support for SIGBI through their Stonewall Inn IPA, Brooklyn Brewery is implementing fundraising efforts, directing more donations to LGBTQ+ causes, and working to create a more inclusive and welcoming environment for LGBTQ+ people in the craft beer industry – 4.0% ABV.

Collective Arts

Hamilton, Ontario
Life in the Clouds Special Edition Pride Series New England-Style IPA Well-known for bringing together art and beer, Collective Arts made a priority last June to celebrate queer artists by releasing a series of special edition cans of their flagship Life in the Clouds IPA. This New England style IPA balances Simcoe and Mosaic hops to make a juicy explosively fruit-forward IPA in both taste and aroma while curbing any unbearable sweetness to make an extremely drinkable beer – 6.1% ABV

This year the Hamilton, Ontario-based brewery will continue the tradition planning to launch a similar limited series featuring artwork from Ethan Barry (Vancouver, CA), Matthew Willie Garcia (St. Joseph, MO), Gabriella Grimes (Philadelphia, PA), and Henri Campeã (São Paulo, Brazil). 

We’ll be featuring the work from each of these artists during a feature panel at our Queer Beer festival. Additionally, a specific design from Henri Campeã will be showcased on a limited edition tumbler that will be for sale prior to the fest. We’ve only ordered 480 of these, so once they’re gone they’re gone! All of the net proceeds from the sales of this exclusive glass will be donated to Queer | Art, an organization launched in 2009 to support a generation of LGBTQ+ artists that lost mentors to the AIDS Crisis of the 1980s. They offer mentorship, exhibition opportunities, funding and other supports to LGBTQ+ artists. Stay tuned for more information from us when these limited-edition tumblers go on sale in May. 

DC Brau

Washington, D.C.
VOTE Kristallweizen The brewery in our country’s capital has become a powerhouse for promoting change. VOTE has a simple, but powerful message – get out and exercise your right to vote. A German-style ale, VOTE is essentially a filtered take on hefeweizen. This year the brewery has committed to donating proceeds from the sales of VOTE to SMYAL, the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League that creates opportunities for LGBTQ+ youth to build self-confidence, develop critical life skills, and engage their peers and community through service and advocacy. – 5.2%

It’s an organization the brewery has also supported through the years with the release of its Pride Pils. Every June the DC-based brewery rebrands its flagship Brau Pils to Pride Pils, collaborating with the Washington Blade, America’s oldest LGBTQ+ newspaper that originated just a few months after the infamous Stonewall riots in 1969. All proceeds from the sale of the limited-edition beer benefit also benefit SMYAL and The Blade Foundation that funds enterprise journalism projects focused on LGBTQ+ and other underrepresented communities. Over the last two years through the Pride Pils project, DC Brau has raised over $40,000 for these organizations.

Dorchester Brewing Co.

Boston, Massachusetts

O.F.D. Gay-owned Dorchester Brewing Co. has become a staple in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. So, it makes sense that the brewery named this Double IPA “Originally from Dorchester” to reflect the brewery’s roots. Busting with Mosaic hops, O.F.D delivers big citrus flavor and aroma. Well-balanced with a big personality, this beer is O.F.D. to the core.  – 8.3% ABV

Lady Justice Brewing Co.

Aurora, Colorado 

Sandra Day IPA Queer- and woman-owned and Latina-founded Lady Justice Brewing Co. in Aurora, CO set out with the goal to make beer for a better world across all genders, nationalities, races, and sexualities. To date the brewery has raised $32,000 for over 30 organizations across the country from sales of its beers such as Sandra Day IPA with Centennial, Citra, and Warrior hops – 6.7% ABV

Mountains Walking Brewery

Bozeman, Montana
Sweets – Cherry Chocolate Head Brewer Lewis McCallister, who identifies as queer, brewed this Smoothie Sour with brown sugar and lactose before fruiting it with tons of tart cherry puree and conditioning it on copious amounts of organic cocoa nibs and Tahitian vanilla bean. – 6.5% ABV

New Belgium Brewing

Fort Collins, Colorado
Dominga Mimosa Sour Fruited Sour Ale Golden sour with the sweet, detoxifying juice of Calamansi Oranges – 6% ABV.

A stalwart in the craft beer industry, New Belgium recently received recognition as one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality from the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Equality Index, with a perfect score of 100. They’re the only brewery to be awarded this distinction in the industry. Additionally, the brewery recently hired Patrice Palmer, a black, queer, trans intersection leadership educator as its Diversity and Inclusion specialist. We’ve been so impressed with Palmer’s work to create and manage programs, projects, and lead initiatives on diversity and inclusion within the brewery that we actually named Palmer our most important voice in craft beer in 2020. One of Palmer’s revolutionary programs  included releasing Biere De Queer last year to celebrate National Coming Out Day, an annual LGTBQ+ awareness day observed annual on October 11th.

Provincetown Brewing Co.

Provincetown, Massachusetts
TBD Founded on progressive ideals and activism as its ethos, PBC brews beers that highlight a cause or organization they care about. From LGBTQ+ rights to conservation and more, charities receive a percentage of sales from each product sold. People from far and wide come to Provincetown and love it for its unique character. PBC is the taste that will take you back to Provincetown year round.

Samuel Adams

Boston, Massachusetts
Love Conquers Ale Brewed by and for the LGBTQ+ community this limited release Blackberry Basil Lime Gose is just one piece of Samuel Adams’ work in the LGBTQ+ community. In addition to forming its own internal diversity and inclusion group called Labels Out, last year Samuel Adams started the Pride platform Love Conquers All in collaboration with GLAAD, donating a $100,000 to the organization committed to rewriting the script for LGBTQ+ acceptance. – 4.9% ABV

You can hear more about all of Samuel Adams work during our keynote and LGBTQ+ BIPOC panel during our Queer Beer festival on June 5th, 2021. Additionally, we’ve created a limited-edition run of 100 posters and 300 YETI Colsters (generously donated by YETI) that will feature designs from queer artists. The sales from each of these items will go directly to GLAAD. Stay tuned for more information from us when these go on sale in May.

More to be announced…

Are You Making Any Festival-Specific Merchandise?

Yes! We have two great collaborations with our festival partners that include specific Queer Beer Fest merch.

Exclusive Limited-Edition Hop Culture x Samuel Adams x YETI Colster – During March 2021 Hop Culture hosted a unique design contest called Pour Out Your Pride, asking for a talented individual to design some art around the question: What does it look like to be a powerful queer person participating in the craft beer industry or culture? As a part of this special design contest one winning queer artist’s design will be chosen to feature on a limited run of YETI Colsters (generously donated by YETI). Only 300 of these will be made. The Colsters will go on sale to the public in May with all of the proceeds donated to GLAAD, an organization rewriting the script for LGBTQ acceptance and tackling tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue. Stay tuned for more information on the official release day and check out this article for more information on our Pour Out Your Pride design contest.

Exclusive Limited-Edition Hop Culture x Collective Arts Tumbler – Well-known for bringing together art and beer, Collective Arts made a priority last June to celebrate queer artists by releasing a series of special edition cans of their flagship Life in the Clouds IPA. Collective Arts showcased four different queer artists from across the globe including Wednesday Holmes (London, UK), Lisa Rose (Bristol, UK), Patricia Shim (Lisbon, Portugal), and Tim Singleton (Toronto, CA). Proceeds from the can sales were donated to Rainbow Railroad, an organization helping LGBTQ+ individuals around the world escape from persecution by relocating to safer environments.

This year the Hamilton, Ontario-based brewery will continue the tradition planning to launch a similar limited series featuring artwork from Ethan Barry (Vancouver, CA), Matthew Willie Garcia (St. Joseph, MO), Gabriella Grimes (Philadelphia, PA), and Henri Campeã (São Paulo, Brazil).

We’ll be featuring the work from each of these artists during a panel featured during our Queer Beer festival. Additionally, a specific design from Henri Campeã will be showcased on a limited edition tumbler. We’ve only ordered 480 of these, so once they’re gone they’re gone! All of the net proceeds from the sales of this exclusive glass will be donated to Queer | Art, an organization launched in 2009 to support a generation of LGBTQ+ artists that lost mentors to the AIDS Crisis of the 1980s. They offer mentorship, exhibition opportunities, funding and other supports to LGBTQ+ artists.

Stay tuned here for more information from us when these limited-edition tumblers go on sale in May.

Is Shipping Included In the Cost of the Queer Beer Festival?

Yes!

What States Can Receive Beer Boxes For The Queer Beer Festival?

Beer boxes are available for shipping to select zip codes in AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, IA, ID, IL, IN, LA, MA, NE, NH, NM, NY, NJ, NV, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, TX, VA, WA, and WI. If you live in another state and want to participate, we suggest ordering a box to a friend in one of the eligible states and arranging a pickup from them. Unfortunately, for legal reasons, we’re unable to ship to any states NOT listed above.

If you have any questions about which zip codes we’re able to hit in a given state, just put in your shipping info on the ticket page. If the order doesn’t go through, we’re unable to ship to your zip code. We suggest trying to ship to a nearby friend!

Do I Need To Sign For The Beer Box?

Yes. Please make sure someone 21+ is available to sign for the beer box when it arrives.

What If My Box Of Beers Shows Up Damaged?

Please contact [email protected] or call 845-462-7899 for assistance.

If I Live Near a Half Time Location, Can I Pick Up My Box In Person?

Yes! If you’d like to pick up your box in person, you’ll still need to purchase it online. Once your order has been placed, please email [email protected] to coordinate your pickup and receive a refund for your shipping costs ($24.99). In your email, be sure to indicate whether you will pick up at the Poughkeepsie or Mamaroneck store. Please note that you MUST email Half Time prior to May 8, 2021 and you MUST pick up your box between May 22nd and June 4th.

When Do Sales End For The Queer Beer Festival?

Ticket sales will end on May 5th, 2021. However, we expect to sell out much earlier.

Can I Get a Refund?

All sales are final. Please order carefully!

Liked this article? Sign up for our newsletter to get the best craft beer writing on the web delivered straight to your inbox.