Beers Made By Walking is a program that invites brewers to go on nature hikes, and urban walks, and make new beer inspired by the edible and medicinal plants from the trail. The initial BMBW program took place in Colorado Springs in 2011. Since then we have worked with over 100 breweries to create unique beers that give drinkers a sense of place. The hope in the initial program was to simply get people outdoors, do something creative, and think about our local landscapes in new ways. Each beer is a unique, drinkable portrait of the landscape.
The initial inspiration for BMBW came during a week long canoe trip down the Yukon River in Canada. There BMBW founder, Eric Steen, was introduced to the Norwegian term ‘friluftsliv,’ which is translated as ‘Free Air Living.’ The term describes a way of living in which people make a habit of being outdoors on a regular basis. There are Friluftsliv conferences that host ‘walking lectures’ where attendees hike for a few days on end, stopping every now and again for a lecture and food.
This year marks the seventh annual festival in Colorado, celebrating beers inspired by the natural world. The event takes place during the week of the Great American Beer Festival, as countless beer lovers gather in Denver for the festivities. More than twenty of the beers available at this year’s event were made specifically for the festival by Colorado breweries that have spent time outside, either foraging for different ingredients or taking inspiration for a beer from various locations across the state. The other beers at the event come from a select group of breweries from around the United States that incorporate foraging and hyper-local sourcing into their daily brewing philosophy.
This year’s event marks the second consecutive year at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and all of the proceeds from the festival will benefit the Museum. The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is the Rocky Mountain Region’s leading resource for informal science education. The Museum envisions an empowered community that loves, understands, and protects our natural world.
Beers available at this year’s event will include ingredients such as dandelions, spruce, sumac, sycamore, apples, fresh hops, peaches, rosemary, strawberries, pumpkin, fig leaves, hickory, pine, prickly pear, honey, lavender, raspberry leaf and rose hips, among other offerings.
The Museum will be opening up an exhibit during the festival, have food available to purchase and all attendees will receive special glassware and unlimited access to beers until they run out. The event takes place on Tuesday, October 3rd from 6-9pm, tickets are available here and more information is available at beersmadebywalking.com.
