Upslope Brewing Company is all about the great outdoors. That means brewing quality craft beers you can take on your hike, but also preserving the environment for your next great adventure.

We consider the folks at Upslope to be kindred spirits. 

When the Upslope team got in touch with us about supplying Strata for a new beer in their Lee Hill Series, we were excited. Here’s what Boulder, Colorado-based Upslope is brewing and why we’re thrilled to help them out.

Changing the World One Beer at a Time

Ask anyone at Upslope what sets them apart and they’ll tell you it’s their obsessively high standards. While their passion for quality starts with the beer, it doesn’t end with the can.

Upslope is committed to leaving the world better than they found it. As part of their 1% For Rivers campaign, they donate 1% of all Upslope Craft Lager sales to local chapters of Trout Unlimited, to keep freshwater streams clean and safe. Everything they do, from brewing to canning, is sustainable and energy-efficient.

Upslope knows that the best way to maintain a sustainable business is to work with sustainable suppliers. So when they needed Strata for their next great brew, they reached out to Crosby.

While the folks at Upslope love our hops, they contacted us specifically because of our shared commitment to sustainability. Crosby is a Salmon-Safe, and GLOBALG.A.P.-certified hop grower. We love giving back to the community by showing brewers how to build sustainability into their business practices. We’re happy to partner with and educate any business that’s looking to do good in the world.

Upslope wanted to use the limited-edition release to showcase this winning partnership between two socially conscious brands. To celebrate the magic that happens when sustainability meets craft beer, Upslope is featuring Crosby’s logo on the can alongside their own.

Adventure in a Can

Upslope had a clear goal in mind for their limited-edition beer: adventure in a can.

As part of their Lee Hill Series, Upslope cans a new and innovative beer each quarter. Each limited release is a cellar keepsake that reflects the brewery’s continued commitment to experimenting and crafting small batches of beer.

For this release, Alex Meyer, Head Brewer at Upslope, was inspired to dry-hop a sour beer. Typically, Upslope’s sours feature a sprinkling of hops for slight bittering. But Alex sought to use Strata to elevate this limited-edition sour, adding another layer of depth to the beer.

Developed by Indie Hops in 2009, Strata is popular for its rounded tropical flavors anchored by a unique dried chili cannabis funk. Usually, brewers combine several hop varieties to achieve that tropical flair. But with Strata, you get it all in one hop, and more. There’s no single hop, or combination of hops, that achieves a taste quite like Strata. And with a 19.2-ounce can as their canvas, Upslope looked to use Strata in a whole new way.

This limited edition release features Uplsope’s foeder-aged golden sour blended with a selection of their favorite mixed-culture sour barrels. "To further amp up the base citrus character, we conditioned the aged beer on yuzu zest for several months, and then added nearly three pounds per barrel of delicious Strata ^® hops from our friends at Crosby hops" said Alex. "The result is a delicious blend of pineapple, guava, pomelo, Meyer lemon, and mandarin orange accented by balanced acidity and a dry, quenching finish. The sizeable hop addition adds a really nice mouthfeel to the beer, and provides some structure for the plethora of citrus flavors to ride on."

When it comes to dry hopping, there’s no room to hide; the hops are the star of the show. To create the best beer possible, Upslope wanted to work with a grower that shared their obsession with quality. Our strong relationship, core values, and common vision made Crosby and Upslope natural partners.

The Power of Community

At Crosby, we’re all about community. We love collaborating with the craft beer community, learning about what brewers are doing, and participating in the conversation – especially while enjoying a beer together. Whenever we get to work with people who share our vision for the future, everyone wins.

We’re big fans of Upslope and excited to taste their new brew. Check it out for yourself when it hits the market in May!