Summer is here, and so is the pre-order window for the sixth iteration of Veterans Blend! This year’s inspiring blend is comprised of:

·         Citra®

·         HBC 638

·         Talus®

·         Sabro®

The blend will lead with Citra® and HBC 638, allowing Talus® and Sabro® to play backup. Brewers can expect big citrus with zesty lime and grapefruit, followed by bright tropical notes, rounded out with herbal character, and finished with a suggestion of cedar. It promises to be a dynamic blend, adaptable to the preferred style of your brewery. The deadline to submit orders is Aug. 28th to allow for time to ship and brew by Veterans Day 2023!

 

Thanks to an outpouring of nominations from within the Veteran brewing community, this year Yakima Chief Hops (YCH) has partnered with Homes For Our Troops (HFOT), an impactful organization that builds and donates specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post 9/11 Veterans, enabling them to rebuild their lives.

To date, Homes For Our Troops has proudly built 360 homes in 45 states (with 70 projects currently underway), and it’s worth noting that they build where the Veteran wants to live. “These homes allow guys and gals to move forward and pursue college degrees, get trade certifications, start or grow families, pursue careers. A mortgage free specially adapted home is the supporting effort; it’s the foundation for our main effort, helping these Veterans to rebuild their lives” says Bill Ivey, Executive Director at HFOT. “We work very hard at keeping nearly 90 cents per dollar going to the mission. That slows our ability to spread awareness of our mission, but we owe it to our donors and supporters to spend the money on our mission”.

Learn more about Homes For Our Troops and the impact they have made within our nation’s Veteran community.

Impact of Accessible Homes for Injured Veterans (hfotusa.org)

Service Brewing owners, Kevin Ryan and Meredith Sutton have been participating with the Veterans Blend since its inception. With each new blend that is released, Service Brewing updates its Freedom Machine Juicy IPA to showcase the latest blend. “I’m excited to see Citra® in there”, he adds of this year’s combo.

For Service Brewing, a veteran-owned microbrewery in Savannah, Georgia, raising awareness and support for Veteran-focused non-profits goes beyond using the Veterans Blend. “We try to focus on smaller, efficient charities. Maybe charities that are less known, so we can use our platform to raise awareness on what they’re doing” says Ryan. “Homes For Our Troops is a charity we support at our brewery”. Deployed to Iraq in 2003, Ryan explains “One of my soldiers came home and developed multiple sclerosis, Homes For Our Troops built him a home. Anyone who can do anything to help Homes For Our Troops… it’s a phenomenal organization”. Over the years, Service Brewing has raised tens of thousands of dollars for local, regional, and national organizations that assist our Veterans, first responders, and their families. 

Danny Sample is an Iraq Veteran who owns Siluria Brewing in Alabaster, Alabama with his wife, Tammy. Brewing support for Veterans is a big part of who they are as community members. “We’re a small brewery in a small town, we try to focus a lot on our Veterans and our community, and using craft beer is a good way to get to them,” says Sample. This year, Danny was able to take part in the hop rub and blend selection process during the Craft Brewers Conference.  “The hop selections were tough; they all gave off some wonderful aromas that will work in any beer”. Sample was on the lookout for a blend that would deliver the citrus and floral notes that his customers have come to expect from Siluria’s IPAs.

Siluria Brewing donates a portion of its sales to non-profits working to support former service members, and their 82K Black IPA and Eleven 11 beers were inspired by a desire to represent the Veterans who have served our country. “82K Black IPA is a dark, brooding beer with a complex profile that reflects both the black POW/MIA flag and the struggles that families of POW/MIA Veterans face until we can bring their loved ones home. The Eleven 11 is a lighter, more refreshing beer that is named after the day World War One ended, what we now refer to as Veterans Day”. Their beers are well received by Veterans and non-Veteran alike, and he adds “We are proud that these beers have been the reason for Veterans and their families to come together, share their experiences, and build relationships in a place where they feel they belong”.

YCH encourages brewers to further their impact by coordinating with local Veterans for a brew day or draft release, donating a portion of sales to a Veteran supporting non-profit, or using their beer label or menu description to raise awareness about Homes For Our Troops or other Veteran-focused non-profits.