Watermelon Ale now in Bottles!
Just in time for backyard barbecues and warm summer nights, Watermelon Ale is now available in convenient and cooler friendly bottles!
Watermelon Ale is on sale at stores in CT, MA, PA, with NY coming soon.
It was just days after Watermelon Ale made its debut last year that loyal hooker drinkers started begging us to bottle it. Well Watermelon fans, your prayers have been answered, just make sure you stock up once you find it at your local store because early reports indicate the refreshing summer is flying off the shelves!
More big news for Watermelon Ale: Playboy has named it one of their top summer brews! Check it out in the June issue on newsstands now.
More Watermelon photos:
Supporting the Village
You may have heard that a portion of the proceeds from every open house and from special events like our homebrew contest go to The Village. To learn more about our partnership with The Village and the special connection to President Curt Cameron read this news article.
Max Amore Beer Dinner
Here’s all the details for the delicious 5 course Max Amore Beer dinner 3/31, see you there!
Win free entry to the April 3rd Open House
Free Open House Contest
Want to get in free to the April 3rd Open House? Heres how:
- Post a review of the brewery on google maps, yelp, yahoo, or insiderpages
- Send an email to contests@thomashookerbeer.com with a link to your review and/or the username you reviewed under
- We’ll choose two entries at random for VIP entry to the April 3rd Open House
Haven’t been to the brewery? Stop by at a Saturday tasting March 21st or 28th to get material for your review! Good luck!
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update 3/26: the Google maps reviews are back up! You’re safe to submit there again. With one week left only 3 entries so far, you guys can do better than that!!
update 3/23: It appears Google has deleted some of the reviews submitted to our Google Maps listing! We he contacted them to get your reviews back up! For now maybe it’s best to use Yelp or Yahoo.
We’re Open through the Holidays
The perfect family trip!
We will be open as usual for Saturday tastings and Friday Open house events through the holiday season. So if your inlaws are getting on your nerves, or you just can’t take another glass of damn eggnog, come on down! You can even take home a growler fresh hooker beer and spread the joy! Also check out our new hoodie, beanie, and long sleeve at the gift shop if your looking for a very affordable last minute present.
Upcoming events:
- December 19: Friday Open House 5-8pm
- December 20: Saturday Tasting 12-6pm
- December 27: Saturday Tasting 12-6pm
- January 2: Friday Open House 5-8pm
- January 3: Saturday Tasting 12-6pm
Hooker Day Parade
In case you haven’t heard the Hooker Day Parade is back baby! That’s right the wacky parade is returning to Hartford this Sunday after a six year hiatus! Brilliant move by the city we say! Originally started in 1991 by Mayor Mike Peters the Hooker Day Parade was created to honor Hartford and it’s founder Thomas Hooker and bring some excitement into downtown.
“We wanted to shake up the buttoned-up insurance professional part of downtown,” Hartford City Clerk and Hooker Day Parade co-founder Dan Carey said.
The parade somewhat mimics the journey Thomas Hooker took with his 100 followers when they left Boston and wandered through the woods ending up at Hartford. Except in this version people dress up in crazy costumes, only walk a few blocks and generally make fools of themselves!
Hooker Parade 2001
Unfortunately Thomas Hooker Brewing won’t officially be present. Our request to have the Hooker Beer trailer in the parade was denied. It was a last minute decision by the city to even have the parade so you can bet we’ll be pushing hard for more involvement next year. We’re encouraging all of our loyal fans to dawn their Hooker shirts and hats and take to the streets anyway!
We’d also argue that there’s no better way to pre-party or post-party a Hooker Parade than with genuine Thomas Hooker Ales and Lagers! Show our founder some respect! Pick up a six pack at your local package store, stop by the brewery on Saturday and get some growlers to go, or stop by at a bar afterward.
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When: This Sunday October 26th @ 3pm.
Where: Starts at High and Allyn streets and ends at Mayor Mikes restaurant. Guess who happens to carry Hooker Beer….Mayor Mikes!! If they’re too packed just cruise over to the Pourhouse or the Pump House. Check out the hooker beer locator for more hooker beer friendly post-party locations (mayor mikes zipcode 06103).
Anyone can jump in the parade and crazy costumes are encouraged!! There’s also going to be live music by the Hartford Arts Council and lots of goodies and giveaways. Take pictures and send them to us and we’ll put them up on our website!
For more details and history on the parade check out this article from the Hartford Advocate
Thomas Hooker Homebrew Contest Winners
The results are in from the 1st Annual “So You Think You Can Brew” Thomas Hooker homebrew contest. We received a ton of quality homebrews and anyone who sampled the entries at the Thomas Hooker Brewfest can attest to that.
Our panel of BJCP certified judges chose Patrick Marsh’s Dry Imperial IPA as the Grand Prize winner. Patrick will assist with the brewing and bottling of a 20bbl batch of his delicious IPA which will then be sold at select retailers throughout Connecticut (we’ll keep you posted on that!). Patrick also fattens his wallet with $1,500 in cash! Runner up goes to Timothy Phelps and Mike Eyre’s Roggenbier. They take home $500 in cash for their award winning rye beer. The attendees of the Thomas Hooker Brewfest voted for Marco Tirillo and Dave White’s “Dirty Water Brown Ale” as the winner of the $1,000 People’s Choice prize. The people have spoken!
- Grand Prize: Patrick Marsh - Dry Imperial IPA
- Runner Up: Timothy Phelps & Mike Eyre - Roggenbier [Hillside Brewing]
- People’s Choice - Marco Tirillo & Dave White - Dirty Water Brown Ale
Grand Prize - Patrick Marsh (Dry Imperial IPA)
Runner Up - Timothy Phelps & Mike Eyre (not pictured) Roggenbier
People's Choice - Marco Tirillo & Dave White (Dirty Water Brown Ale)
Thanks to everyone who entered the contest and attended the brewfest. We had an awesome time and can’t wait to make it even better for next year (stay tuned).
For more photos of the brewfest visit the album over at the Hooker Gallery
Thomas Hooker rated best Octoberfest by the New York Times
NY Times Interactive Oktoberfest Gallery
A panel of beer tasters at the New York Times just rated Thomas Hooker Octoberfest the best of the 24 Oktoberfest/Marzen style beers they sampled! It was an impressive sampling group that included seven German beers and four of the six traditional beers found at Oktoberfest in Munich.
In a double win Hooker Octoberfest also won for best value!
Excerpt:
“The No. 1 beer, Octoberfest from Thomas Hooker, was beautifully balanced with each flavor component melding into a delicious, refreshing whole. If you ponder each sip, as we did in our tasting, you might remark on the malt aromas or the way the bitterness of the hops contributes to a clean, crisp feeling in the mouth after you swallow. But if you are polishing off a bottle at a party, or simply having a conversation with a friend or watching a ballgame, you would simply notice how enjoyable the beer was and reach for another.”
Look for our Octoberfest out in stores and on tap now. Come by the brewery for our open house this Friday to taste it fresh off the brew tanks and talk with our brewer about what makes the Hooker Octoberfest so special.
Links:
Fox 61 Morning Show Live at Thomas Hooker Brewery
Fox 61 Morning Show Live at the brewery
Fox 61 was at the brewery all morning filming live segments for their morning show. Check out all four segments below:
Brewery Tour : Curt gives a quick tour of the brewery
Community involvement : Curt discussing the brewery’s community involvement
Beer Lineup : Curt gives a rundown of our beer offerings
History and Hops : Curt talks about the history of the brewery and our hop farm
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RT @BurrStBrewBlog saw your Irish Red reviewed in Draft magazine. Top rated for the category. Picking up some good press.
Watermelon Ale fans rejoice, the refreshing summer brew is now available in bottles! http://bit.ly/PR3YH
