For the inaugural Hop Culture x Samuel Adams Queer Beer Festival, we’re seeking a talented individual to design some art. We want you to decide what it looks like to be a powerful queer person participating in the craft beer industry or culture. Is it a special beer brewed for Pride? Is it people coming together to brew a beer? Or, is it just a colorful expression of drinking? It can be a design, illustration, or even an inspiring poem. For the Hop Culture x Samuel Adams Pour Out Your Pride Design Contest show us your best stuff to help us celebrate a resounding, yet often unrepresented community in craft beer*.

From the submissions, the Hop Culture and Samuel Adams teams will choose five semi-finalist winners to have their design featured on 100 limited-edition prints. And, one grand prize winner will additionally have their design featured on 300 limited-edition, exclusive YETI Colsters generously donated by YETI. Known for their coolers built for the wild, YETI is also active in supporting a more inclusive and equitable industry. Both the posters and Colsters will be sold to the public with all proceeds donated to GLAAD, an organization rewriting the script for LGBTQ acceptance and tackling tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue.

Additionally, the final winner will be featured on Hop Culture’s Instagram (@hopculturemag) and profiled in an exclusive editorial piece on HopCulture.com.

The Story Behind Hop Culture’s Queer Beer Festival

The Hop Culture x Samuel Adams Queer Beer Festival is an evolution of Hop Culture’s women in craft beer festival: Beers With(out) Beards. In 2018, Hop Culture’s Head of Partnerships Grace Weitz launched the festival as a part of her graduate school thesis capstone project at NYU. Over the last three years, this revolutionary festival has attracted over 3,000 attendees and 50 women-led breweries. In the same period, the event has featured 30 events aimed at celebrating the achievements of women across all aspects of the alcoholic beverage industries.

Building on the success of BW(O)B, Weitz — who identifies as queer — conceptualized Queer Beer as a way to celebrate the unique, vibrant, diverse, thriving, and often underserved queer community in beer. Additionally, Weitz wanted to showcase LGBTQ+ drinkmakers and tastemakers, express stories of empowerment from top queer-owned breweries or breweries actively supporting the queer community, and build a stronger culture of inclusivity in the beer industry.

Samuel Adams and Hop Culture Collaborate on the Pour Out Your Pride Design Contest

Samuel Adams is not only one of the world’s leading independent craft breweries, but also a long-time and passionate supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. Because of this, they made the perfect partner for Hop Culture’s new event. An inclusive network of Samuel Adams and Boston Beer Company coworkers, aptly named Labels Out, recognized the importance of the festival as part of their ongoing mission to support and encourage their peers as members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community.

In 2020, Samuel Adams announced its partnership with GLAAD, including a $100,000 donation to the organization committed to rewriting the script for LGBTQ+ acceptance in addition to a commitment to education and training for coworkers. The brewery launched Love Conquers All, a Pride platform created in partnership with GLAAD, inspired by Love Conquers Ale, a Blackberry Basil Lime Gose limited release brewed by and for the LGBTQ+ community. To introduce Love Conquers All, Samuel Adams created a powerful video series called Poetry of Pride, to illustrate the power of poetry as a medium and expression designed to unite communities and amplify voices. Filmed inside the historic Stonewall inn, the series featured original poetry written by Teddy Geiger and Richard Blanco, recited by notable Broadway members of the LGBTQ+ community.

All in all, Samuel Adams has made huge strides to support the queer community, and Hop Culture is honored to partner with this revolutionary brewery as the presenting sponsor for its Queer Beer Festival.

So, what does the Hop Culture x Samuel Adams Pour Out Your Pride contest look like? Here’s what you need to know.

What is Hop Culture x Samuel Adams’ Pour Out Your Pride Contest?

The Hop Culture x Samuel Adams’ Pour Out Your Pride Contest is a competition asking people to submit a design, illustration, drawing, or poem that represents what it means to them to be a powerful queer person in craft beer.

Who Can Enter?

This Contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States or DC, age 18 or older.

Although Hop Culture is more than happy to take submissions from anyone, we respectfully ask for understanding around the idea that only those who identify as queer will be eligible to win. LGBTQ+ allies and friends are an incredibly important part of our community, but our goals for this contest are to amplify queer voices and provide a platform for a marginalized community.

How Do I Enter?

To submit your design, simply post it on Instagram with the hashtag #pouroutyourpride and #contest. Then follow @samueladamsbeer and @hopculturemag to see the winners. The five-semi finalists will be announced on April 5th, 2020. The final winner will be announced on April 19th, 2021, at which point we’ll be in contact for the art files. And that’s it!

How Long Will the Pout Out Your Pride Contest Run?

March 15th to March 31st at 11:59 PM EST – First round entries will be accepted. From there, a representative panel from Hop Culture and Samuel Adams will choose five semi-finalists.

April 5th – The five semi-finalists will be announced via Hop Culture’s Instagram page (@hopculturemag). Each of the five semi-finalists will be contacted through Instagram and sent an additional questionnaire and art release.

April 14th – Semi-finalist questionnaire due.

April 19th – Hop Culture and Samuel Adams will announce the final winner.

May TBD – The posters with the winning designs from all semi-finalists will go on sale with all proceeds donated to GLAAD!

May TBD – The YETI Colsters with the final winning design will go on sale with all proceeds donated to GLAAD!

What Do I Win?

Five semi-finalists will have their submissions displayed on Hop Culture’s Instagram (@hopculturemag) and printed on 100 limited-edition 18×24 posters that will be sold online. All proceeds from the sales of these posters will be donated to GLAAD, an organization rewriting the script for LGBTQ acceptance and tackling tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue.

And, one lucky finalist will additionally have their winning design showcased on 300 exclusive limited-edition YETI Colsters (generously donated by YETI) that will be sold to the public prior to the festival. All of the proceeds from the Colsters will also be donated to GLAAD. Additionally, the final winner will be featured on Hop Culture’s Instagram (@hopculturemag) and profiled in an exclusive editorial piece on HopCulture.com.

Are There Any Rules on My Pour Out Your Pride Submission?

In order to meet the specifications of the YETI Colster, please note that the final winning design will be printed in a single color. We still encourage you to submit a full-color design because all five semi-finalist designs will be printed in color. However, please know that while we can represent the integrity of your design in full color on social media and on the semi-finalist winning posters, we will only be able to print on the Colster in a single color.