2011: A Year in Review!
It’s that time of the year, where everyone starts to reflect on the year that has (so quickly) gone by, and we are no exception. 2011 marked our 25th anniversary and as the year comes to an end, and we all become a year older (and wiser), we’d like to recap some of the most memorable parts of the year for us here at the brewery. So crack open a Harpoon IPA and put on your walking shoes because we’re taking a stroll down Harpoon’s memory lane.
Clearing the roof of the brewery off!
In January, we kicked off celebrating our 25th birthday with a tribute to the Catamount Brewery, by brewing our 100 Barrel Series #35 Catamount Maple Wheat beer! In 2000, Harpoon purchased the former Catamount Brewery in Windsor, VT. The beer was delicious, and I won’t confirm or deny that it paired perfectly with a stack of pancakes.
Winters in New England can be tough, and both Boston and Windsor got some heavy snow during the early part of 2011. For those near Boston, you might remember getting a TON of snow in February. One of the best parts of working at Harpoon is that you are truly part of the team. So in true Harpoon form, everyone helped clear the snow from the roof of our Boston building. The best reward for shoveling snow? Harpoon IPA. Trust us. We know.
Once the snow melted, we really got the party going. In May we celebrated our 25th birthday in style at HarpoonFest, where Rich Doyle and Dan Kenary unveiled their 100 Barrel Beer – 100 Barrel Series #37 Rich and Dan’s Rye IPA. We randomly put on “25” on our bottle caps, in order to share our excitement with everyone who was enjoying some delicious Harpoon beer. I know I have a pretty big collection of these…
Rich Doyle and Dan Kenary brewing their 100 Barrel Series beer!
Production wise, we also got a few new toys to celebrate with. We started using our brand new racker (aka keg-filling machine). The double storied machine (complete with elevators) can fill a keg about every 15 seconds. Yeah. It’s pretty awesome. Our warehouse got a revamp as well, with new storage racks in order to make getting beer out to you just a little bit easier. We also got some new 500 barrel tanks delivered, along with installing a 10 barrel pilot system – which means more space to develop some delicious limited edition beers!
Other summertime activities? Our Harpoon sporting events! Across four events (Harpoon 5 Miler, Brewery to Brewery, Point to Point, Octoberfest Road Race) we raised $391,000 for charity!
As the summer turned to fall, we threw our LARGEST party ever… Harpoon Octoberfest. We saw over 18,000 people that weekend… the biggest Harpoon Octoberfest that our Boston brewery has seen! Windsor also saw thousands of people, on Columbus Day weekend for Octoberfest and the Octoberfest Road Race -Thanks for coming out and partying with us, I know I had a great time with everyone who came!
Our Harpoon Helps Grateful Harvest Beer-B-Q was also a great success – 300 Bostonians came to enjoy a deliciously prepared barbecued Thanksgiving meal to raise money for the Greater Boston Food Bank. Harpoon Helps donated over $20,000, which was enough to buy more than 1,000 turkeys for families in the Boston area. Did I mention that I got to eat an amazing meal AND feel good about doing something good?
Harpoon Helps Grateful Harvest Beer-B-Q!
In December, Harpoon Helps Spreads Holiday Cheer definitely got everyone in the holiday spirit, as more than 600 volunteers came together to decorate more than 40 shelters, food banks, and community centers in our distribution area.
So as we come to the end of our stroll, please join me in raising a glass of your favorite Harpoon beer – because without you we could not have had the year that we had. Thank you!
Cheers everyone! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Love Beer. Love Life. Harpoon. 