Art of the Brew returns Saturday

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Bitch Beer Blog in Beer Events, Breweries, Choose your Bitch Beer, craft beer // 0 Comments

After a successful first year, Co-Lab Projects’ Art of the Brew is becoming a tradition mixing visual art with beer that’s returning with an even bigger second edition on Saturday.

Co-Lab Projects likes to offer beers at gallery openings year-round with the Mug Club membership, but Art of the Brew specifically focuses on local breweries.

Thirteen local artists and breweries have paired up to create a piece of art, whether it’s a sculpture, drawing or painting, that in some way is inspired by or reflects the brewery. They will show off the finished product inside the Co-Lab space in East Austin from 3 to 10 p.m. Saturday while participating breweries will offer samples of their beers on the lawn.

The Co-Lab directors Chris Whiteburch and Austin Nelsen have always been as enthusiastic about beer as they have been about art, seeing many parallels between the two (which you can read about here in our post last year about the first event), and didn’t hesitate about resurrecting Art of the Brew for another year.

“We had an incredible amount of positive feedback last year from brewers, artists, and attendees, and personally we had a lot of fun putting the event together, so it seemed natural to bring it back for year two,” Nelsen said. “We take both beer and art very seriously and the combination of the two is almost a must for any gallery opening, so why not incorporate them on a deeper level? The event has potential to help both of these communities/industries reach new audiences, as well as raise awareness for Co-Lab Projects and our mission within our community.”

Plus, Co-Lab Projects has been incorporating beer into every gallery opening anyway with the Mug Club, a Co-Lab membership that allows people to donate money to the art space and to receive, in return, a personalized mason jar mug that they can use at any Co-Lab visit (except for Art of the Brew, it’s worth noting).

“We pride ourselves in serving craft beer and cocktails at nearly all of our openings,” Nelsen said, adding that those mugs come in handy so that visitors don’t have to walk around the gallery with plastic cups.

The Mug Club is $50 per year. Co-Lab holds onto the mugs throughout the year, cleaning them after use; once it’s up, the mug is yours to keep.

At Art of the Brew, there will be plenty of beer, as well as live music and food trucks. It’s free to attend, although the Co-Lab directors ask for a $15 donation that will help them cover the expenses of the event.

Here’s the list of participating artists and breweries/brewpubs: