Thanks to all the patrons who attended 2023 Smyrna Craft Beverage Fest for a very successful event last Saturday. We sincerely appreciate your support, along with event host How Do You Brew; our volunteers but especially music director, Tony LaBoy; the generous craft beverage vendors for their time and products ; the musicians who treated us to great tunes; the food trucks for the delicious eats; and the Town of Smyrna for their support. We hope to see you again next year at the 3rd Annual Smyrna Craft Beverage Fest in 2024.

If you missed the event, stay tuned. We’ll have an announcement soon about another craft beverage festival on August 12 supporting Restore the King.

Join in the statewide event Tuesday, April 11 as Delaware celebrates its vibrant craft beverage scene on the Diamond State’s fourth annual King Gambrinus Day.

Over the last quarter century, the First State’s craft beverage industry has developed into a significant cultural, economic, and social driver, worthy of a day of recognition. What better day to celebrate Delaware’s bringers of good cheer – our craft producers – than April 11, the day dedicated to the mythical inventor of beer, Gambrinus?

Contact your local brewery to ask how they are celebrating the day in their tap or tasting room.

We also invite you to join Restore the King for the annual statewide toast to Delaware’s craft beverage producers and King Gambrinus on April 11, 7 p.m. at Twisted Irons Craft Brewery. The toast will be simulcast via Facebook Live on the Restore the King’s Facebook Group page.

So, here’s to King Gambrinus. And here’s to Delaware’s breweries, cideries, meaderies, distilleries, and wineries! Thanks for all that you do in bringing the public good cheer!

Check out this Delawareonline.com column detailing the effort behind Restore the King.

Saturday 3/4: Brewers Reserve Rare Beer Tasting (5-7 PM), Iron Hill Brewery, 620 Justison St., Wilmington, DE 19801

Enjoy charcuterie and rare beers along with a fascinating 20-minute story on the history of brewing in Wilmington by John Medkeff, author of Brewing In Delaware. This Wilmington Beer Week special event will be held upstairs in Iron Hill Wilmington’s upstairs banquet room.

Featured beers include:

• Wilmington Brew Works – Flanders Style Red, a Flemish-style Sour Red Lager with light caramel notes, and a tart, acidic bite
• Wilmington Brew Works – Surprise Beer…You’ll just have to attend to find out what they’re pulling from the cellar.
• Stitch Brewing Co. – Barleywine, a strong, malty English-style barleywine
• Autumn Arch Beer Project – Ranch Water, an imperial blonde ale brewed with agave, lime, and sea salt
• Iron Hill – St Malty of the Rum, Belgian quadruple aged in Rum barrels
• Iron Hill – Grand Inquisitor Imperial Stout, aged in bourbon barrels for a year
• Iron Hill – Old Ale vintages (2011-2014), a vertical of English-style old ales bottled and aged for a decade or more
• Iron Hill – St. Malty the Rum, a Belgian-style Quad Aged in Rum Barrels for one year
• Iron Hill – Surprise Beer… You’ll just have to attend to find out what they’re pulling from the library.

Tickets:  $50. Includes 6.5 oz. pours of all beers with accompanying charcuterie board.

Click this link for tickets.

Partial proceeds benefit Restore the King.

Tickets for the January 28, 2023 Delaware: A Brew Story event at Alapocas Run State Park are now officially sold out.

Thanks to those who purchased tickets to support Restore the King and our partners at the Friends of Wilmington State Parks. We look forward to seeing you at the event.

Beer and history lovers, get your ticket now for the seventh annual Delaware: A Brew Story, Wilmington’s premier annual craft beverage tasting event, taking place Saturday, January 28, 2023, from 5-9 PM inside Blue Ball Barn at Alapocas Run State Park. Brew Story is known for its unique spin, mixing a Delaware-centric craft beverage tasting with a local beverage history theme.

Enjoy unlimited samples from several of Delaware’s finest craft beverage producers.

Raffle baskets filled with brewery merchandise, gift certificates, tasting vouchers, and more will be up for grabs. Food will be available on-site for purchase.

This year’s Brew Story presentation examines the remarkable rise, fall, and reemergence in the popularity of canned beer. Beer historian John Medkeff and collector Matt Del Pizzo will offer a brief show-and-tell talk, followed by a special showing of “Beer Can: A Love Story,” the docu-comedy short by Del Pizzo and Wilmington filmmaker Gordon DelGiorno.

Ticket prices are $40 for general admission (includes access to the event, unlimited beverage samples, and a SiliPint tasting glass) and $10 for designated drivers (includes access to the event and a reusable water bottle). You must be at least 21 to attend this event.

All proceeds from ticket sales and raffles benefit the Friends of Wilmington Parks and Restore the King, the effort to save Delaware’s King Gambrinus statue.

Chase the winter blahs away and treat yourself to an evening of fun at Delaware: A Brew Story.

Click here to purchase your advanced ticket before the event sells out.

You can help restore Delaware’s King Gambrinus statue while you shop online without it costing you a penny, all courtesy of Amazon’s generous AmazonSmile program.

Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases to our charitable organization. You pay no extra charges; Amazon donates directly to Restore the King.

In order to qualify, you must use this link and click the START SHOPPING link to select the Friends of Gambrinus as your designated charity.

This offer is available not only this holiday season but throughout the year.

Thanks for helping Restore the King. Wishing you and yours best wishes this winter season.

Listen here as Friends of of Delaware’s Gambrinus Statue president John Medkeff sits in with Beer Mighty Things podcast host Kyle Rheiner to discuss the Restore the King project.

Thanks to our donors’ generosity, the Friends of Gambrinus is pleased to announced that we have officially met 30% of Restore the King’s fundraising goal as of August 1, 2022.

As we continue to move forward towards the ultimate goal of returning Delaware’s King Gambrinus to public display, we need to ask the public’s continued support. Restore the King is 100% publicly-funded campaign. The project can only be a success with your help.

There are several ways for you to join the King’s Court and help Restore the King.

1. Click here to offer either a one-time or recurring monthly donation.
2. Purchase a ticket to the Delaware: A Brew Story 2022 event on Saturday, October 29 at Blue Ball Barn (details forthcoming on this website).
3. When shopping at Amazon, use this link to automatically generate a donation to Restore the King via AmazonSmile’s charitable program – all at no extra cost to you!

In the coming days, we’ll be inviting our King’s Court supporters to an exclusive meeting and Q&A session, where we’ll discuss details, answer questions, collect input about the Restore the King project. Donate now for a chance to join in the discussion.

We’ll also be unveiling additional exclusives for King’s Court members in the weeks and months ahead.