I wish I had understood what this event was going to be like before it happened, but when the Fifty West Punch Out kicked off on July 9th at their new Production Works – I’m not sure that even they knew how big of a hit the event was going to be with drinkers here in Cincy.  Had any of us really known I might have had a chance to make sure to tell every one of you to make sure you make it out there.  You all could have had a chance to see how the Fifty West Punch Out has upped the ante for what bottle releases can look like.

What Was The Punch Out?

I suppose that I should hit all the bases, here.  If you didn’t make it to the event, the Punch Out was a boxing event put on by Cincinnati’s FIfty West Brewing Company.  They teamed up with breweries across the greater Cincinnati area who then spent some time training with local boxing gym “The Punch House” before donning the gloves under the bright lights at the FIfty West Production Works.  All the while, we yahoos drank their beer and cheered them on.

I can’t say that the event went perfect… there was a period of time where the beer outside sort of “ran out”… if only for an hour, though it kept flowing indoors at the Production Works bar.  But at the same time, I have never been to a festival where the beer nearly ran dry and seen as large of a crowd of drinkers just sort of shrug it off.  Most people were having enough fun that it wasn’t even upsetting… they knew that before too long the folks at Fifty West would have the taps flowing again.  Sure enough, a voice over the loudspeaker made people even happier with the announcement that “Beer is flowing again!”

It was a beer festival, a boxing event, an excuse to go hang out in the sunshine and drink with your friends… but it was also a rethinking of what a bottle release can look like too.  You see… the event was actually all about Punch You In The EyePA.

Rethinking The Bottle Release

When Fifty West Brewing Company decided to build their production facility, they also upped their ability to share their vision with us.  When you talk about Branding, and a brewery’s identity, I know that a lot of people check out sometimes…only concerned about beer.  Please, though… hang with me for a moment.

Fifty West is about building stories, or sharing stories, all revolving around the fantastic beers that they brew.  When the production works opened it’s doors it enabled them to not just share, but help create the stories right in their own backyard.  It has led the team to rethink everything that they are doing.  We now find ourselves in an exciting time as Fifty West fans, where we now see events that fit with the idea of who Fifty West is more than they have ever been able to before.

That’s how all this Punch Out stuff came to be.  They needed to get their new bottles of Punch You In The EyePA into our hands, and wanted to do it in a fun way.

Why not?

How else to bring ‘Punch You In The EyePA’ to life than to convince other local breweries come, hang out for a day and punch each other in the face?

What Does This Mean From Here On Out?

The big take away for me from an event like this, is that from today on… things are going to be a little different for events at Fifty West, and around the entire beer community here in Cincinnati.  They are right on the cusp of this year’s ‘Fifty Fest’ and planning has already began for next years Punch Out Event.  The brewery is telling me that both of these will be bigger and better than ever (I’ll have more information about Fifty Fest very soon for you…)