With the Beer Mile World Championships fast approaching, the Flotrack staff is proud to announce Hops & Grain Craft Brewery as the official beer sponsor of the competition. The Austin-based brewery will be providing beer to spectators and offering a specially crafted beer mile brew for race participants.

“We are incredibly excited to be able to showcase our beer to a crowd of folks who share two of our biggest passions, running and beer.  We’ve long been devotees of the beer mile and hosting the world championships in Austin is an absolute dream come true!” said Hops & Grain founder Josh Hare.

A competitive runner himself, Hare’s brewery features six different brews that are hand-crafted in Austin, Texas. Hops & Grain is a partner that not only specializes in brewing delicious craft beer, but also understands the importance of beer mile-specific qualities that include lower carbonation and brews that are above five percent alcohol by volume.

Hops & Grain’s “ALT-eration” brew was used by Chris Kimbrough to shatter the women’s world record in the beer mile by 13.4 seconds on Nov. 2nd. “ALT-eration,” the 2012 World Beer Cup Gold Medal winning brown ale, is brewed using high quality German malts and noble hop varieties.

While Hops & Grain Brewing identifies “ALT-eration” and “Zoe,” a traditional German lager with an “extra layer of complexity,” as some of their best stock beer offerings, Hare and his brew team are working on crafting a special beer mile brew for the competition set to begin Dec. 3.

Not only does Hops & Grain produce a wide variety of local beer, but they also make dog biscuits using left-over malted grains from the brewing process. The brewery gives one percent of its annual revenue to local environmental non-profits to help support community growers and producers.

To gear up for the Beer Mile World Championships and learn more about Hops & Grain Brewery, visit their website at HopsAndGrain.com.