New Belgium hosts 25th birthday party and CLIPS Beer & Film Festival August 26 and 27

Birthdays are best celebrated with friends! Join New Belgium Brewing at their new brewery in Asheville to celebrate their 25th birthday with a party on August 27. Hosted by Saturday Night Live’s Nasim Pedrad with musical guests Mucca Pazza, Dark Water Rising, and award-winning headliners, The Naked and Famous, New Belgium is celebrating their 25th birthday with a day-long celebration that will showcase Tour de Fat acts, unique beer offerings, amazing eats and treats, and some exciting surprises. 

Public tours of the Asheville brewery start Friday, September 2.

Party guests can hang with New Belgium brewers and Fat Tire & Friends collaboration brewers: Allagash, Avery, Hopworks, and Rhinegeist. Musical and carnival-like entertainment and birthday surprises will make for an epic adventure at the new brewery along Asheville’s French Broad River. Tickets are $50, include three beverages and are available at http://www.newbelgium.com/birthday-bash. Children under 12 get in free. Ashevillians can be entered to win a pair of tickets to the 25th Birthday party by participating in the www.WestAshevilleHistory.org Scavenger Hunt through August 13. Details are on that website.

Clips Beer & Film Tour – Friday, August 26
On their birthday party eve, Friday, August 26, New Belgium Brewing kicks off the weekend with Clips Beer and Film Tour, a free event featuring short films and a selection of small-batch beers with proceeds benefitting non-profits in communities nationwide. In its seventh year, all proceeds from beer sales go to local nonprofits Asheville on Bikes and Asheville GreenWorks. Since its inception in 2010, Clips has raised $659,000 for nonprofit organizations, including more than $150,000 last year. Bring your blankets and lawn chairs and cozy up for some fun on Roger McGuire Green in downtown Asheville. The event opens at 7:00 p.m. and films start at 9:00 p.m. New Belgium’s more common and unique beer offerings, including sours and Hop Kitchen series, will be ready for the tasting. Local food trucks will be on hand with delicious eats.

New Belgium Starts Brewery Tours in Asheville—Friday, September 2
Annually, New Belgium estimates they will give 8,000 public tours, hosting 200,000 people for tours, between both breweries. In an effort to host locals for the first tours, New Belgium invites you to come by the Liquid Center, Monday, August 29 – Thursday, September 1 after 11 a.m. to sign up for a day-of tour. Tours, for this limited time, will be booked in person on a first-come, first-served basis, and for that day only. Each tour accommodates up to 25 people, and runs for 90 minutes leaving the Liquid Center on the half hour starting at 11:30 a.m. and ending at 4:30 p.m.

Can’t make it the week of August 29? Starting Friday, September 2 in time for Labor Day weekend, the best brewery tour in the business can be reserved at www.NewBelgium.com/AshevilleBrewery. New Belgium’s free tours run daily on the half hour and reservations are necessary.

“Public tours are a huge component of the New Belgium experience,” says Tyler Foos, Asheville Liquid Center Manager. “The Liquid Center is where you can choose your own adventure, with access to all the brands we have available. The Tour is the second half of that journey, where you get to peek behind the curtain and learn more about what our
brewery culture and business is all about; a snapshot into all the areas that make up New Belgium. Get ready for lots of good times and hi-fives.”

New Belgium Brewing started in a Fort Collins, CO basement 25 years ago and has grown into a two-brewery craft icon, with close to 800 coworkers nationwide. Known for uncompromising beer quality and innovative and sustainable business practices, the employee-owned brewery revived an urban brownfield with a rich history in the process of
building their Asheville facility. Work from regional artists and materials from the site’s history are highlighted along the tour, as well as the brewing process and the company’s quarter century commitment to sustainability and progressive work place practices.
 
Aligning with their long-time commitment to support local communities and create unforgettable experiences for their guests, the brewery worked closely with more than 15 Asheville-based designers and artists to build the brewery and Liquid Center tasting room to make it “feel like home.” Ninety percent of those artists have shops or studios within five
miles of the brewery. Asheville-based film makers Industrious Productions help share those collaborations in this three minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqhwsj6bIiw&feature=youtu.be