HofBrauHaus Buffalo Announce Grand Opening This August

After a number of false starts and setbacks, HofBrauHaus Buffalo, an authentic German beer hall located at 190 Scott Street inside the former Upstate Milk building, has announced that they plan to open this August. The brewery revealed that after ‘clearing a major financial hurdle,’ their remaining brewing equipment will arrive from Bavaria in about 8 weeks and that construction will resume in the meantime. “It is with a confidence tempered by the patience and prudence learned over the last year that we officially announce: Hofbrauhaus Buffalo will be opening in August 2019!” They will be hiring new staff soon.

Riverworks Brewing Teams with Buffalo Sabres Legend on New Beer

Riverworks Brewing have partnered with NHL Hall of Fame goalie and Buffalo Sabres legend Dominik Hasek on a special new beer, The Dominator Czech Pilsner, which will be released on May 23 at 3pm. $1 from the sale of each can will be donated to Hasek’s Heroes, which gives kids under 15 the opportunity to learn to skate and to play hockey, free of charge. The beer is brewed with Czech Saaz and Tettnang hops, which impart a malty body, light hops, clean finish and subtle spice. The beer is available at Riverworks and will retail for $14.99 per 4-pack.

Tickets on Sale Now for 2019 Buffalo Brewers Festival at Canalside

Tickets are on sale for the 2019 Buffalo Brewers Festival, June 22 (2-6pm) at Canalside. Thanks to a partnership with the New York State Brewers Association, the festival will be a little different this year, as a number of NYS breweries, including Finback, Prison City and Singlecut, will join all your favorite local breweries. Tickets, which are available at EventBrite, are $35 (Advance General Admission), $55 (Advance VIP Ticket) and $15 (Designated Drivers). VIP tickets include one hour early entry (2pm) and access to exclusive VIP beers. There will also be food trucks and pint sales immediately after the festival.

Big Ditch to Release New Belgium Collab, Folly IPA, This Week

Big Ditch Brewing will release Folly IPA, a new collaboration with New Belgium Brewing, on May 24 at noon. The latest entry into Big Ditch’s Lock IPA Series features Appalachian Wheat from Riverbend Malt House in Asheville, NC, New Belgium’s second home, in addition to Galaxy, Amarillo, and experimental HBC-522 hops, which yield a drinkable IPA with tropical, stone fruit, and citrus. This beer celebrates the presumed folly of people with great vision, including New Belgium co-founders Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch and those behind the original plans for the Erie Canal. Folly was brewed May 2 at Big Ditch.

Brian Campbell is a co-founder/Brand Manager of the BNBA’s enthusiast arm, Buffalo Beer League, and writes the weekly Buffalo Beer Buzz column. If you have beer news that should be included in the Beer Buzz, Brian can be reached at buffalobeerleague@aol.com, on Twitter (@buffbeerleague), Instagram (@buffalobeerleague), Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague) and www.buffalobeerleague.com.

The post Buffalo Beer Buzz: HofBrauHaus Buffalo to Open, Riverworks Teams with Sabres Great, Brewers Festival Tickets on Sale, Big Ditch, New Belgium Collab Release appeared first on Buffalo Beer League.

Big Ditch Brewing Company announced that it will debut Folly, a collaborative IPA, alongside New Belgium Brewing, the fourth largest brewer of craft beer in the United States. New Belgium’s brewer, Kelly McKnight, traveled from Fort Collins, Colorado to Buffalo on Thursday, May 2nd to brew the beer, which will be available in time for Memorial Day weekend and celebrate the folly –“foolishness”– of having great vision. The beer is a part of Big Ditch’s Lock IPA Series, which includes limited amounts of canned IPAs that explore the range of fantastic flavors found in hoppy beer.

“Buffalo today is a city reborn, in the same way it was after the opening of the Erie Canal, a project that was deemed a foolish endeavor and one that would never materialize,” said Matt Kahn, president of Big Ditch Brewing Company. “We brew our beer to celebrate the strength, pride and ambition it takes to execute great vision, and are thrilled to collaborate with New Belgium, pioneers in our industry who looked folly in the face when starting their business.”

This special collaboration between New Belgium and Big Ditch celebrates the presumed folly of people with great vision, including New Belgium co-founders Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch and those behind the original plans for the Erie Canal.

“Building a business is always risky and some would even see call it a crazy or foolish idea,” said New Belgium Brewing’s Upstate New York Sales Manager, Ryan Kurtz. “But well before New Belgium began selling our wonderful beer in all 50 states, what was once seen as folly was realized to be an awesome vision. The Erie Canal was an impossible project and one that required a lot of risk, and that resonates with us. We join Big Ditch in their call to ‘Celebrate Beer,’ and now add a second rallying cry: ‘Follow your Folly!’”

New Belgium is currently the fourth-largest brewer of craft beer in the United States and the eleventh largest brewery. A 1988 bike trip through Belgium inspired a young couple to launch New Belgium Brewing, bringing the flavors of centuries-old Belgian beer styles to the college town of Fort Collins, Colorado. By 1991, co-founders Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch had installed brewing equipment in the basement of their home. In 2018, New Belgium sold 844,937 barrels of beer. The 100% employeeowned company now employs more than 700 individuals and has two locations, in Fort Collins, Colorado and Asheville, North Carolina.

Big Ditch Brewing Company pays homage to the Erie Canal, a project that skeptics never thought would materialize. They jokingly referred to it as ‘Clinton’s Big Ditch’ after Dewitt Clinton, the New York State governor who championed the project. But when it was filled with water in 1825, the ‘Big Ditch’ changed Buffalo forever by connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Hudson River.

Beginning May 24th, Folly will be available in four-packs at Big Ditch Brewing Company in Buffalo, and retailers in both Buffalo and Rochester. The IPA starts with Appalachian Wheat from Riverbend Malt House in Asheville, NC, New Belgium’s second home, and adds in Galaxy, Amarillo, and experimental HBC-522 hops, to yield a creamy yet drinkable IPA that is equal parts tropical, stone fruit, and citrus. The beer is 7.2%.

The post Big Ditch Brewing Partners with New Belgium Brewing on Folly IPA appeared first on Buffalo Beer League.