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Hockey Day in Minnesota Just Got Its Own Special Beer

Hockey and beer simply pairs well together, especially up north and in Canada. That’s why Mankato Brewery has created a new beer for Hockey Day Minnesota.

The brew company made the beer to celebrate the annual Minnesota event. Hockey Day Minnesota (HDM) is a yearly event that helps bring recognition to the sport and encourages more people to get involved with the game.

The next annual event won’t occur until early next year. It will be the first time HDM will take place in southern Minnesota. From Wednesday, Jan. 19 through Sunday, Jan. 23, the 2022 HDM event will be held in Mankato, Minnesota, which is about an hour and a half southwest of Minneapolis.

Local beer makers, Mankato Brewery, are already gearing up for the 16th annual hockey festival in their hometown. In fact, they’ve already brewed a new beer specifically dedicated to next year’s HDM. However, locals can already test out the new beer before next year’s event.

Mankato Brewery’s new Cross-Czech Pils will debut this Thursday night at Pub 500 – a local pub/restaurant. Beer drinkers can also find the new Czech-style pilsner in stores across Minnesota beginning next week. Mankato Brewery calls the new pilsner a traditional brew with a hint of biscuit.

The annual HDM event will receive a portion of all sales as well. In a recent statement, SAP America vice president Michelle Schooff spoke about the new beer created for HDM.

“We have really pivoted to make it a week of programming with a lot of exciting firsts. One of the firsts is launching a beer to help with fundraising efforts, and we are so grateful for the opportunity to launch this beer, especially coming after a really, really strong upset with the Mavericks out at UMass this weekend,” Schooff explained.

Annual Beer Festival Announces All the Winners From 2021 Awards

Just last month in September, The Great American Beer Festival announced this year’s winners at the Denver, Colorado event. Breweries from all over the country showed entered their beers to see how they stack up against the competition. During the 2021 event, the festival’s judges awarded 290 medals to 265 breweries that participated.

According to Craft Brewing Business, the event had 97 beer categories that 2,191 breweries entered with 9,680 beers up for judging. Considering that’s way too many winners to cover in full, here are some of the highlights from the winners at the 2021 beer competition.

Arguably the most popular new brew style in recent years is a juicy or hazy IPA, which garnered 427 entries to this year. DESTIHL Brewery from Normal, Illinois won with their TourBus IPA – part of their DeadHead IPA Series.

Additionally, the American-style IPA category had 404 entries, but Volatile Substance IPA from Von Ebert Brewing took first place. Fall River Brewing Co. out of California won top prize in the fruited sour category with their Sherbert Drip entry. And finally, Meanwhile Brewing Co. from Austin, Texas came out victorious in the German-style pilsner category.