It seems as though the celebrity products are popping up everywhere these days. They offer up their names to endorse all sorts of products from make-up, to clothing, to restaurants, to fitness regimens. It only seems fitting that they would get into the craft beer industry too and who can really blame them? They like drinking good beer, they want to learn more about the process and they have lots of money…seems like a solid plan. Here are five celebrities with skin in the craft beer game along with average beer drinkers opinions on the whether or not the beers are worth trying…
1. Hanson Brothers – Hanson Brothers Beer Company
Sure these three count for one on our list, but they seem to operate as a unit both in and outside of music. This trio from the 90’s is responsible for the infectious pop song, MmmBop which was stuck in your head pretty much all of 1997. Though they never found that same sweet success of their first album, in more recent years these brothers have been trying their hand at brewing. Hanson Brothers Beer Company is based in Tulsa, OK, and the boys take their brewing seriously. Their flagship beer is beautifully named, Mmm Hops Pale Ale, has been around for a few years now and they are recently expanding their beer line to include Inland Porter.
The Skinny:
According to Beer Advocate reviewers this 7.2% American Pale Ale scores a 79 and receives an “Okay” rating. For comparison, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale received a 91 on BA. Comments include, “Tastes of sweet malt, slight hops, pale malt, and a hint of yeast. Overall, poor appearance, weak aroma, weak body, and poor blend.” and “If you don’t like the flavor of IPAs but want to drink them anyways, this is the beer for you. Super malty–hits the mouth like a bottle of soy sauce.”
2. Adrian Grenier – Churchkey Can Company
Best known for his role as Vincent Chase in HBO’s Entourage, Adrian Grenier branched off into craft beer in 2012 when he founded brewery, Churchkey Can Company with a good friend and they tapped a couple of home brewers to bring their beer vision to life. The whole deal there at this Seattle brewery is that their beer comes in a flat-top can which has to be opened with a metal component called a churchkey. This uber-hipster opening method is definitely something that fell by the wayside once can pop-tops were invented, but Churchkey Can Company is intent on bringing it back with the tagline, “It’s worth the effort.”
The Skinny:
Their flagship beer (aka the only beer they brew) is called Churchkey Pilsner Style Beer and it received a 81 on Beer Advocate, garnering it a “good” rating. Comment for this beer include, “Overall kind of an average pilsner out of a novel can.” and ” Taste is smooth clean and very straightforward. Very decent for a pilsner. And loving the church key open method.”
3. Wil Wheaton – Stone Farking Wheaton W00tstout
Wil Wheaton is best known for his late 80’s role in Stand By Me and a bunch of movies/TV after that you probably don’t remember. He’s always held a certain fan-boy style fame, wielding his nerd crown all around cyberspace, interacting with fans on sites like Reddit, regularly. Let’s get down to the beer though. This self professed “beer geek” partnered together with Drew Curtis and Greg Koch of Stone Brewing and together they came up with Stone Farking Wheaton Wootstout. This beer has been brewed every year since 2013 with the 2015 batch being a barrel aged version.
The Skinny:
This 13% ABV beer gets rave reviews on Beer Advocate, getting a sweet 90 rating from beer reviewers. Comments range from, “A flavorful and powerful stout, although the very high ABV is evident throughout, at least until it kicks in and you go numb,” to “Simply bitter and sweet together in perfect harmony. Full coating of gorgeous black tar. Too bad it isn’t an every day brew.” The moral of the story for other celebrities looking to get into craft beer is to start out partnering with a great brewery and move on from there.
4. Tom Green – The Tom Green Beer
We might be really stretching to call Canadian talk show host, and former Mr. Drew Barrymore a celebrity, but we still have love for this weird dude. Green collaborated with Canadian brewery Beau’s to bring you this namesake milk stout. This quote pretty much tells you everything you need to know…
‟This is The Tom Green Beer,
It’s not The Green Tom Beer,
This is my favourite beer,
Because it is my beer.”
– Tom Green
The Skinny:
This milk stout receives a solid 84 on Beer Advocate with critics saying, “Good creamy stout that showcases a dark velvety foam, chocolate coffee flavor balanced by the lactic sweetness,” and “Overall, I like this beer. Worth checking out, maybe even getting a twelve pack of, but not a case; unless that case is cheap.”
5. President Obama – White House Honey Ale
Yes, we consider President Obama something of a celebrity. With those dazzling, pearly whites being flashed all around, one might forget that he is, for the moment, the leader of the free world who is also the first president to brew beer in the White House. White House Honey Ale was brewed with honey from the White House hives, in their kitchen with a home brew kit that Obama bought in 2012. He hasn’t wasted any time with other styles either, and has brewed two more styles with his home brew kit, White House Honey Blonde Ale and White House Honey Porter.
The Skinny:
Since this was never commercially produced we don’t have a Beer Advocate score to go by, however we do have the recipe for you here if you want to try out this presidential brew yourself…
