Skip to main content

This Brewery is Helping You Cope with 2020 in a Very Creative Way

How do you describe 2020? It’s hard no to be at least a little bitter. The year has been one gut punch after another, that’s for certain. But we have found innovative ways to persevere.

To be fair, there are quite a few silver linings. From the return of vending machines to cocktails delivered to your doorstep, it’s not all bad. But it has been stressful and sometimes you just need to vent. And venting can take a lot of forms, from meditation and exercise to running straight into the woods, kicking and screaming.

Related Videos

An Oregon brewery may have the best means of coping with the troubling year yet. Hop Valley is allowing people to freeze and destroy items that represent the off-the-hinges year. That could be any number of things — an ill-fitting face mask, a travel itinerary (for a trip that never happened), a bottle of hand sanitizer (keep using it, though), a gift from your ex. You can have it frozen and promptly smash it in unbelievably satisfying fashion. It’s like a futuristic version of this iconic Office Space scene.

“It goes without saying that 2020 has been a crazy year, so we wanted to help people ring in 2021 on a positive note and leave the bitterness behind,” said Megan McKenna, director of marketing for Hop Valley Brewing Co. “Our inspiration for Cryo Drops was our beer –  we use a special brewing process and Cryo Hops, hops that are frozen at subzero temperature, to create a less-bitter IPA. Now, we’re taking that same idea and freezing and extracting the bitterness from people’s physical objects that represent 2020.”

The brewery is utilizing the same technology it uses on some of its hop varieties on the belongings you despise and wish most to destroy. You simply mail in the thing you loathe from 2020 the most, and the brewery will do the rest. You can even watch as that water bottle or pair of sweatpants you associate with this wonky year is pulverized as Hop Valley will be streaming things later this month.

“We’re saying goodbye to bitter 2020 memories with the same technique we use to brew our beer and showing drinkers who we are and why we deserve a spot on their shelf next year,” McKenna continues.

What’s McKenna leaving behind? “For me, it’s my TV remote that represents all the hours I spent on my couch while stuck at home, but I’m looking forward to seeing the items we get sent and the stories behind them.”

Some years, you leave time capsules to document the mood. Other years, like 2020, you just want to get through, if not break a few things along the way. To partake or learn more about this healthy bit of chaos, check out this website. There will be a livestream of the many objects being obliterated on New Year’s Eve, a fitting way to say farewell to 2020. The hardest part may just be picking a single object for the job.

Editors' Recommendations

The 7 best CBD-infused drinks we tried in 2023
These tasty CBD-infused drinks will have you feeling calmer in no time
Cans o RisEau cbd drinks.

Cannabidiol, or CBD, has been hot for a while now, making its way into everything from CBD teas to a variety of CBD coffee brands. If you're wondering "what is CBD?" — it's a naturally occurring compound present in cannabis plants. According to the World Health Organization, it's not addictive, has a solid safety profile, and won't get you high. In clinical trials, it's been effective in the treatment of epilepsy and shows promise in treating a number of other conditions.

In addition to CBD-infused water, tea, soda, and seltzer, another growing trend is CBD-infused nonalcoholic spirits and cocktails. The adult beverage market is flooded with CBD products promising to help you relax, sleep, destress, and mellow out, all without the hangover you'd get from booze (CBD is considered a controlled substance and can't be legally added to booze, at least not yet). We've rounded up a few of our favorite CBD-infused drinks below, from CBD cocktails to CBD water, so you can work your relaxation into your daily routine no matter where you are.

Read more
Here’s how to make a margarita, according to top bartenders
The only margarita recipes you'll ever need
margarita tequila cocktail lime strainer

The best margaritas do not grow on trees, nor do they show up in a can (although there are some tasty canned drinks these days). No, the tastiest version of the tequila classic is made fresh, with love and care and some wisdom from a couple of top bartenders.

It's a balancing act, for sure, but when it's dialed-in, the margarita is one of the best and most refreshing cocktails ever devised. The classic mix of agave spirit, lime, salt, and a touch of sweetness is great alone or with any number of dishes, especially within Mexican cuisine (the nation where the drink was born).

Read more
Bubbly? Full-bodied and red? Zesty and white? Your favorite wine types, explained
All the primary types of wine (and everything you need to know about them)
Glasses of different kinds of wine

Trying to understand everything about wine all at once is an impossible endeavor. Wine is a beautifully complicated, ever-changing quiddity, and even the most decorated and prestigious wine experts in the world often find themselves confounded by its constant little surprises.
That isn't to say that, if you care to, you shouldn't become educated on the subject of wine. It's a hobby and a passion that's tremendously fun to pursue, and there's much to learn on the matter.
If you find yourself in the beginning stages of your wine education, just as in everything, you'll want to start with the basics. It's possible that up until now, you haven't put much thought into the several different kinds of wine there are, except for, say, red and white. But while there are obviously exceptions within every hard and fast rule, for the most part, wine can be broken down into roughly nine categories. Here we'll take a minute to break those categories down, explain what they mean, which wines fall into them, and, our favorite - how to drink those wines.

Sparkling wine

Read more