Green Bench Out In The Wild
Spring and Summer are a busy time for the Green Bench team, partially due to the festivals and collaborations our team hits the road for. In addition to the robust events that the team puts on at the brewery and hosts out in the Greater Tampa Bay market, there are myriad events across the country that we are so grateful to be invited to.
Here’s what we’ve been up to:
Little Beer IV
Hosted by Good Word Brewing and the City of Duluth, Georgia
“Little Beer in Duluth was awesome - the weather was wonderful, the food at Good Word Brewing was great, and their beers were very impressive. We had a lot of fun mingling and catching up with other brewer friends, and the team and Good Word were very accommodating.” - Khris Johnson, Co-Founder and Founding Brewer
Taste The Rarity 2024
Hosted by Wiseacre Brewing Company
“Wiseacre's Taste the Rarity is one of my favorite festivals every year. Not only do I get to spend time at one of my favorite breweries, but being a Memphian, I get to go home and visit with family and friends.” - Khris Johnson, Co-Founder and Founding Brewer
Firestone Walker Invitational
Hosted by Firestone Walker Brewing Company
“Traveling to Firestone Walker for their invitational this year was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had in Beer. The level of hospitality they show is second to none. From the get-go they rent out an entire water park for everyone, with all the 805 Cerveza you could want and plenty of food, then follow up with a brewers welcome where again food, beer, wine, spirits, and company are all on point. And if that’s not enough, each night they had something going on if you were camping on the grounds, and the Sunday after the fest they rented out 2 separate wineries. But seriously the best part was seeing behind the scenes at their brewery in Paso Robles, listening to their Brewmaster go over some of the challenges they face and realizing they are the same issues we face just on a bigger scale. 805 Cerveza is one of the best beers, so glad we have something similar with Lime Life – both beers just slap.” - Coleman Berra, Sales Director
“Firestone Walker Invitational is a premiere event for us each year. Considered one of the best (at least in my opinion) beer fests in the world, it's truly an honor to be invited to pour amongst the greatest breweries the last 3 years. The hospitality of Firestone Walker for industry peers is so special. This year we brought 12 offerings to the fest and patrons really seemed to enjoy having so many options. A highlight for me was seeing how excited everyone was to try our beers. We had a line from beginning to end. And based on the conversations I had during the event, I think people really get a kick out of seeing East Coast breweries in West Coast places. An extra special moment was having Saison De Banc Vert be the first beer wiped out. It's a style that generally does not get enough love and it warmed my heart to see folks amped for an offering of it.
Some standout beers that I tried at the festival were Gold Dot Helles by Heater Allen, Sardonic IPA by Ghost Town Brewing, and Hexen - a Petite Saison brewed with elderflower - by Oxbow Brewing. It all goes by so fast and there's never enough time to try all the beers I'm excited about, but the best part is connecting with fellow beer lovers and industry friends.” - Micki Lenza, Director of Marketing and Communication
“The Firestone Walker Invitational is a very special event with extremely gracious and dedicated hosts. The festival itself is run extremely well and the caliber of beers is incredible. The events planned before and after the festival are some of the most fun and relaxing that I've ever experienced at a beer festival.” - Khris Johnson, Co-Founder and Founding Brewer
Forever Lager ‘24
Hosted by Notch Brewing
“Notch's Lagerfest in Boston was an expertly curated group of beers from like-minded breweries, and the people attending the festival participated in the conversations about the beers being poured with us. Those kinds of gatherings are very important and they continue to provide fuel to all of us lager fans.”
Later this year, you can expect to see Green Bench team members at Florida Brewers Conference, Halfway There Beer Fest, FemAle Brew Fest, Snallygaster 2024, Great American Beer Festival, Savor St. Pete, and more!
In addition to the events we’ve attended, we’ve also been busy brewing collaborations with some of our industry partners and friends. Khris Johnson notes what he’s looking forward to. “I've been very excited about a few of the collaborations we've participated in this year. Exquisite Gold, our Export Lager collaboration with Hercules Brewing, although brewed near the end of last year, has quickly become a staff favorite. At the beginning of the year, we made a super good Cold IPA with Stillwater called Chillwave, hopped with Anchovy. There was a great American-style Pilsner that we brewed with Threes Brewing in Brooklyn that made its way down to Florida. Also, earlier this year we brewed a batch of Pale Lager Beer with Johann from HVG in Germany, using hops that he selected, and we brewed another batch of Bus Beer with a group of friends that I went to the Czech Republic with a couple of years ago. With HVG we also had them select additional German varieties of hops to put into a Weissbier collaboration with Fermentis and Jack's Abbey. There is an Italian-style Pils, Paisano Pilsner, that we brewed in collaboration with Intermezzo here in town. We just brewed this year's Greetings From Florida beer with Barriehaus, a Czech-style Summer Lager, and also a Festbier collaboration with Magnanimous Brewing. Also, we re-brewed Spark, our Smoked Marzen collaboration with Bierstadt, and they re-brewed All the Hype, our Smoked Helles collaboration. In addition, next week we'll be brewing another collaboration with Bierstadt, a Czech-style Pale Lager.”