Big Lick Brewing Co. Casey’s Kölsch, Virginia

Love us some Dan! And we’re in luck. Big Lick Brewing’s summer seasonal, Casey’s Kölsch, features Dan Casey, columnist for the Roanoke Times, among a gaggle of other locals. 

Base Camp 2-Row makes up the majority of the grist, with a hand-ful of Chesapeake Pils thrown in for a bit of “biscuity” goodness and a touch of body and golden color. Casey’s is a light bodied, dry and malty Kölsch with a touch of yeast derived fruitiness for a beautifully balanced flavor profile.

Fireforge Crafted Beer 80’s Sax, South Carolina

The 80s are back, and Fireforge Crafted Beer’s 80’s Sax is the craft beer answer to that nostalgia.

This bready, malty and earthy pale lager is brewed with 100% Riverbend Base Camp 2-Row malt and German Tettnang hops, creating one of Fireforge’s lightest beers and adding a crisp, dry finish courtesy of the absence of any corn, rice, or sugar. It’s easy drinking and downright delicious.

Southern Growl RIGHT DOG RED, South Carolina

This Irish Red Ale has pleasant caramel and honey sweetness balanced by an elegant roast character and a bite of herbal hops.

Asheville Brewing Co. Perfect Day IPA, North Carolina

The most popular beer at Asheville Brewing Co., Perfect Day IPA is the ultimate blend of old and new school IPAs! This brew started as a limited release, but quickly became a year round beer thanks to all of its fans. Perfect Day IPA is also available in cans so you can have the perfect day anywhere!

You can expect citrus and tropical fruit flavors and aroma from big kettle and dry hop doses of Citra, El Dorado, Mosaic and Nelson Sauvin hops.

DSSOLVR The Hustle is Broken, North Carolina

This seasonal West Coast IPA by DSSOLVR is brewed with our Base Camp and Munich malts, and is packed with malt-forward flavor with some notes of grapefruit pith and blueberry muffins. The Hustle is Broken is also made with Columbus and Mosaic hops, along with DSSOLVR’s American Ale Yeast.

Lookout Brewing Co. Native Sun, North Carolina

Native Sun is a summer seasonal Pale Ale with slightly malty flavors, but with a bright base and white wine grape essence. This Pale Ale also contains Idaho Gem and Nelson Sauvin hops. Native Sun is the perfect beer for you next trip to the mountains!

Fonta Flora Brewery Lake James Rind, North Carolina

This humidity crushing, thirst-quenching beach lager is perfect for your backyard pool— or the shores of Lake James outside of Morganton, North Carolina. This unique beer boasts flavors of corn, lime zest, tajin, and watermelon.

2023 Great American Beer Festival 

Our first shout-out goes to Rock Solid Brewing Company for taking home the gold in the International Dark Lager category with their Midnight Trucker at last year’s Great American Beer Festival®!

We’ve always said that we’d make overalls for any GABF gold medal beers made with our malt! Fonta Flora Brewery and Barrique Brewing are the first two breweries to do this, followed by Rock Solid Brewing at the 2023 festival. Check out the overalls!

2023 NCCBC Awards 

The NC Beer Industry Awards Banquet is held each year during the NC Craft Brewers Conference; this year was the 10th annual event. Congratulations to Happy Valley Filling Station for being named Best New Brewery. 

For bringing home the gold, a big congratulations goes out to Archetype Brewing, who won with Cowboy Poet (American-Style Lager) and Talking to Plants (European Wheat Beer). Fullsteam Brewery reigned supreme with Coffee Is For Closers (Field & Spiced Beers), and Happy Valley Filling Station placed tops for Appalachian Aroha (Juicy or Hazy Style IPA).

In the Silver category, Fullsteam Brewery placed with Brumley Forest (NC Home-Grown), Riverside Rhapsody Beer Co. scored with Mountain Chain Kolsch (European Hybrid Styles), Cellarest Beer Project won with Cellarveza (Pale European Lager), and The Glass Jug Beer Lab placed with Tasman Bay (Other International Origin Styles). 

Bringing home the bronze, a round of applause for Whistle Hop Brewing Company for Ilaria (Smoke Beers), Lookout Brewing Company  for Native Sun Pale Ale (Other International Origin Styles), Hi-Wire Brewing Leisure Time Lager (American-Style Lager), and 1718 Brewing for Ocracoke Ramp 72 (Juicy/Hazy Pale Ale).

2024 Good Food Awards finalists

The Good Food Awards are committed to honoring exceptional crafters who produce quality beer while demonstrating a deep commitment to sustainability, environmental, and social responsibility. Each year, they receive more than 2,000 entrants from all over the United States. We could not be happier to celebrate Fullsteam Brewery’s 11th year of this nomination, this year for their Dark Lager, Bethania. Way to go, Fullsteam! 

The 2024 Good Food Awards winners will be announced this month!

2024 South Carolina Brewers Cup

The South Carolina Brewers Guild (SCBG) hosted this year’s SC Brewers Cup Awards Ceremony on March 1, and plenty of Riverbend supporters came home with hardware. 

In the gold category, congratulations are in order for Plank Owner Brewing for John Paul Jones (Brown Ale) as well as their Gravity Storm (Belgian Ale). Fire Forge Beer claimed the IPA category with Spirito Santo, New Groove Brew placed for Wheat Chin Music (Specialty & Alternative Fermentables), and Low Country’s Regional Collab, Top 5 Hazy Pale Ale, grabbed the gold in the Collab Beer category. 

The Southern Growl brought home three medals, scoring silver with Quad Bless Your Heart (Belgian Ale) and Dog Left Lager (Standard American) and bronze for Made My Family Disappear (Spiced). Kite Hill Brewing scored silver twice, once with Latitude Change (IPA) and again for Amplitude Modulated (Strong American). Pangea Brewing brought home the silver for their Rhinos Love Pumpkins (Spiced), and they placed bronze for Clever Girl IPA (Strong American). Tideland Brewing placed silver for Banana Hammock (German Wheat), and New Groove Brew grabbed the silver with Pageantry Pils (Specialty & Alternative Fermentables).

2024 Florida SMaSH Festival 

For the Florida SMaSH festival, our Avalon Pilsner malt was chosen as the featured single malt. ⁠We were beyond excited by the brilliant expressions of Avalon we tasted from so many different breweries at the festival!

In the People’s Choice awards category, Tactical Brewing placed gold. Little Wekiva Brewery scored the silver, and Intracoastal Brewing Company went home with the bronze. For the Judge’s awards, Gatlin Hall Brew grabbed the gold, Homestate Brewing Co snagged silver, and The Ravenous Pig Brewing Co. won bronze. Congrats to all; you honor us with your creativity and style!

2024 Florida Brewers Ball

The Florida Brewers Ball is always a great bash, and this year, we were proud to sponsor the event and announce the Small Brewery of the Year award! Barriehaus Beer Co. in Tampa took home the honor, with Suncreek Brewing in Clermont scoring first runner-up and Magnanimous Brewing, also of Tampa, earning second runner-up! 

There were also plenty of Riverbend customers who came home from the event with hardware. Gatlin Hall Brewing scored the Gold for Rye Beer and Belgian-style Quadrupel with Tribute and Quadrupel Bogey, respectively. Grand Central Brewhouse grabbed gold in the American-Style Light Lager with their St. Petian. Alga Beer Co. placed gold in Contemporary American-Style Lager for their Hickory Creek, and The Hourglass Brewery won gold with Wee Peaty in the Unpeated Scotch Ale category. King State & Magnanimous took gold with their collab brew, Venue, in the German-style Koelsch beer category.

Other winners include silver hardware for Redlight Redlight Brewpub, with Side Pull Pils 10º (Bohemian-Style Pilsener), and collab brew Bored Games, a The Ravenous Pig Brewing Co. & Redlight Redlight collaboration scored the Bronze in the Other Hoppy Lager category.

2024 Prowein

International wins are so exciting, and we are thrilled to congratulate End of Days Distillery for their International Gold Award for Survivor’s Cut Bourbon! It just scored 95 points at the 2024 Prowein in Dusseldorf, Germany.

We are so honored to support the makers of some of the world’s finest beers and spirits!

HAS YOUR BEER #MADEWITHRIVERBEND WON A COMPETITION? LOCAL, REGIONAL, NATIONAL, OR INTERNATIONAL— WE WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT! SUBMIT YOUR BEERS HERE TO BE FEATURED.