Virginia Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery to Release Limited Edition Secretariat Beer
VIRGINIA LICKINGHOLE CREEK CRAFT BREWERY TO RELEASE LIMITED EDITION SECRETARIAT BEER
Debut in Conjunction with Meadow Event Park’s Birthday Celebration Weekend Festivities
DOSWELL, VA (Mar. 8, 2017) – Meadow Event Park, birthplace of 1973 Triple Crown champion Secretariat, will be the site of the much-anticipated debut of Virginia’s first Secretariat–themed craft beer on March 24.
Produced by Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery of Goochland, Va., the limited edition beer will be called “Secretariat’s Meadow,” in honor of Meadow Stable where the Thoroughbred legend was born and raised. The beer will preview at the Virginia Horse Festival’s annual Secretariat Birthday Celebration during a special event called “Barn Appetit,” a farm-to-fork dinner showcasing local foods and beverages. Guests can lift a glass along with members of the Secretariat Team, who will be onsite for many of the weekend festivities.
The “Secretariat’s Meadow” beer is an Imperial Red India Pale Ale with a color reminiscent of the champion’s rich chestnut coat and his nickname of “Big Red.” It will be the first in a series of Secretariat beers offered by Lickinghole Creek; the three remaining beers will be released individually during 2017.
“The Secretariat beer is not only an important addition to our offerings at the brewery, but it brings my family’s horse racing legacy full circle,” said Lisa Pumphrey, co-founder of Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery. Her grandfather, David P. Reynolds, won the Preakness and Belmont in 1994 with Tabasco Cat, who was sired by Storm Cat, a grandson of Secretariat.
“Lickinghole’s modern-day tribute of Secretariat as a Virginia favorite son is an honor for my family and me,” said Mrs. Penny Chenery, Secretariat’s owner. “The beer is a delightful way to celebrate The Meadow’s glory days as well as the area’s rich and storied agricultural heritage.”
Lickinghole Creek is named for the creek that meanders through the rolling hills of the 290-acres farm in the heart of the Virginia, where the brewery grows hops and barley to produce its award-winning beers. The brewery has won honors at the World Beer Cup, Great American Beer Festival and the Virginia Craft Brewer’s Cup. Eight of Lickinghole Creek’s beers are listed on Beer Advocate’s Top Rated Beers of Virginia.
Public sales of “Secretariat’s Meadow” beer will begin at Lickinghole Creek’s official launch party Sunday, March 26, at the brewery.
Pumphrey will share more information about Secretariat beer series at the Barn Appetit preview event, where several members of the Secretariat Team are also expected to be on hand: Charlie Davis, Secretariat’s exercise rider; Otto Thorwarth, jockey and actor who portrayed jockey Ron Turcotte in the Disney film “Secretariat”; and Kate Chenery Tweedy, daughter of Penny Chenery. Tweedy and Leeanne Meadows Ladin, the Secretariat tourism manager at The Meadow, co-wrote the award-winning “Secretariat’s Meadow – The Land, The Family, The Legend.”
The Barn Appetit series is a collaboration of The Meadow Event Park, chef Jason Alley of Pasture Restaurant and Richmond Magazine. Each dinner will offer a unique thematic tasting experience along with a narrated tour of Secretariat’s birthplace, now a historic landmark. Proceeds from Barn Appetit will go towards the restoration of the original 1930s barns where Secretariat was born and raised.
