VENTURA, CA – Craft beer pioneers, New Belgium Brewing, and botanical brew experts, Flying Embers, have unveiled today their exciting collaborative project, Oh, Hi!, just in time for summer. The innovative partnership marries New Belgium’s extensive sour beer program with Flying Embers’ groundbreaking Kombucha fermentation techniques to create a refreshing, limited-edition session sour beer.
Inspired by the place Flying Embers calls home, Ojai, California, Oh, Hi! stemmed from a shared commitment to sustainable practices and giving back. New Belgium is a certified B-corporation and recently announced their flagship, Fat Tire Amber Ale, as the first carbon neutral beer in the country, while Flying Embers carbonates their beverages with their own recaptured CO2 and donates a portion of all proceeds to support first responders. Although the traditional opposing brewing processes for beer vs. kombucha make the two brewers unlikely partners, both companies sought a collaboration in support of wildfire relief, after each of their home states were ravaged by wildfires. Together, they are donating $10,000 to the Embers Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which will benefit the Colorado Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed, and the California Fire Foundation.
Oh, Hi! features Flying Embers’ “Original Essence” Kombucha hard tea blended with New Belgium’s wood-aged golden sour beer, and is finished with Ojai, California pixie tangerines and a touch of Colorado sage. With its light and bright flavors, it’s a unique session sour at 6.5% ABV, appealing to both beer and kombucha drinkers alike.
“Oh Hi! is the enchanted result of a combined love of all things funky and fermented,” said Lauren Limbach, Wood Cellar Director and Blender at New Belgium Brewing. “To create Oh Hi, we combined each of our bases so that both cultures would shine and added a hint of a signature ingredient from each of our geographical regions. When you close your eyes and take a sip, it’s like having the windows rolled down on a road trip from Ojai to Fort Collins.”
“New Belgium’s sour program is world class and getting to pair their Golden base sour with our Flying Embers Kombucha core base is an opportunity to create something really unique for both craft beer and hard kombucha fans to enjoy, “ added Tom Ryan, Senior Director of National Accounts at Flying Embers. “You always know that you are going to get the highest quality product when you try a New Belgium or Flying Embers product.”
Oh, Hi! will be available in select premium retailers across California and Colorado, including Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, Total Wine and Bevmo.
About Flying Embers
Flying Embers is on a mission to cultivate conscious living by changing the alcohol paradigm. In a 100-year-old wine cellar in Ojai, California, the company’s founder had a vision to blend his passion for organic winemaking and the ancient alchemy of fermentation to create modern botanical brews rooted in age-old knowledge and traditions. Today, the company handcrafts Hard Kombuchas, Hard Seltzers, and various beverage innovations. All of their bold and imaginative flavor combinations are fermented with organic ingredients, whole plant botanicals, superfruits and adaptogens. Launched in the midst of the 2017 Thomas Fires, and humbled by the experience that made them, Flying Embers donates a portion of proceeds to first responders.
About New Belgium Brewing
New Belgium Brewing is recognized as a leader in sustainability and social responsibility. Founded in 1991 in Fort Collins, Colorado, the company expanded to Asheville, North Carolina in 2016, Denver, Colorado in 2018, and San Francisco, California in 2021, and is now the 4th largest craft brewery in the U.S. Dedicated to proving that business can be a force for good, New Belgium is a Certified B Corp and was the first brewery to join 1% for the Planet. The brewery has donated over $29 million to charitable causes since 1991. New Belgium is famous for its flagship beer, Fat Tire Amber Ale, along with year-round favorites like Voodoo Ranger IPA, Sour IPA and La Folie Sour Brown Ale; as well as an award-winning wood-aged sour program and innovative limited release beers.