LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- It’s 5 o’clock somewhere, and it’s also that time of year for Louisville’s annual Beer Week.
A team of self-proclaimed beer nerds, including John Ronayne, is organizing Louisville Beer Week 2020 to showcase the local craft brew talent.
“I kind of think everybody needs a beer right now,” Ronayne said. “It’s been a hectic year, especially for people in the service industry, and that includes all of our breweries. So we tried to work on the theme of resilience. It’s been hectic and chaotic, and everybody’s had to adapt on the fly.”
This year, 17 craft breweries were paired up to collaborate on a clever beer for the week. Customers are encouraged to come out and try one of the breweries in person, and all the breweries have social distancing measures in place. Or customers can pick up cans of the special collaboration beer to take home.
Customers can also buy a custom passport online that lists all the participating breweries. If you collect 10 or more stamps in that booklet, it can be returned for a chance at a reward. You do not need to purchase a beer in order to get a stamp from the brewery.
Here is a list of the breweries participating:
- Mile Wide Beer Co. + Holsopple Brewing
- West Sixth NuLu + Gravely Brewing Co.
- Atrium Brewing + Against the Grain Brewery
- Gallant Fox Brewing + False Idol Independent Brewers
- 3rd Turn Brewing + Apocalypse Brew Works
- Falls City Brewing Co. + Akasha Brewing Company
- Goodwood Brewing + Lagers Homebrew Club
- Old Louisville Brewery + Wild Hops Brewery
- Monnik Beer Co. + TEN20 Craft Brewery
This will be the third year Ronayne has put together a Beer Week, but this year will be special because it also launches the group’s new Louisville Ale Trail. Ronayne describes it as the brewery equivalent of the Urban Bourbon Trail.
So the Ale Trail passport works as a tour guide to help people explore local breweries well beyond Beer Week.
“If you haven’t gotten into the craft beer community before, or you’re craft brew curious, come out and see us and have a beer," Ronayne said. "It’s an invitation to everyone."
All the clever, crafty collaborations are helping breweries survive — and for some, launch — in a tough year. Even with a pandemic, Ronayne said four new breweries opened in 2020.
Craft beer is tapping into bourbon territory.
“Sometimes, you think that Louisville beer might have the little brother syndrome to Louisville bourbon,” Ronayne said. “But beer is growing up right behind it.”
While the amount of craft breweries in Kentucky might pale in comparison to other states, data from The Brewers Association shows the number of craft breweries in Kentucky has doubled in the last five years. Last year, craft breweries made $872 million impact in the commonwealth.
“My personal take is that I really like how much Louisville leans into that,” Ronayne said about Kentucky’s beer-bourbon rivalry. “You see so many bourbon-barrel-aged beers coming out of here, something that you really are not going to be able to get anywhere else at this quality.”
The Ale Trail passports go on sale Friday. Beer Week 2020 runs Oct. 23-30.
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