Alltech bringing back Race Day IPA in bottles

Alltech’s Lexington Brewing and Distilling Co. is bringing back its fruity, citrusy Kentucky Race Day Session IPA in time for the spring meet at Keeneland in April and the Kentucky Derby in May.

And the horse-themed beer will benefit an equine charity, too: Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farms. A fire Jan. 22 destroyed the Georgetown farm’s hospital barn, which had just been renovated. No horses or people were hurt in the fire.

Founded in 2003 by former Boston Globe film critic Michael Blowen, the nonprofit Old Friends cares for more than 150 former racehorses, including Kentucky Derby winners Silver Charm and War Emblem, and Breeders’ Cup champions Alphabet Soup and Amazombie.

“We were in the midst of finalizing our planning for the spring package release of Race Day when we heard about the fire at Old Friends,” said Jonathan Lang, Alltech brewing’s marketing manager.

A portion of proceeds from sales April 1 through May 8 will go to Old Friends to help the farm rebuild, according to Alltech.

“How could I resist a campaign that combined my two favorite things, horses and beer?” Blowen said in a news release. “We are incredibly grateful for the amazing community support we have received since the fire. We’ve had a long and wonderful relationship with Alltech, and we are happy to be continuing that tradition with Kentucky Race Day.”

All of the donations received will go toward building a fire-safe barn to replace the one destroyed and to updating and fireproofing a second barn on the property, Blowen said.

Race Day IPA is a lower-alcohol beer (it has less than 4.5 percent alcohol by volume) and is available now on draft. Six-pack bottles are scheduled to hit store shelves March 28.

This year’s version is brewed with Cascade and Calypso hops from the Yakima Valley in Washington state, and dry-hopped with Hallertau hops from Germany.

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 12:03 PM with the headline "Alltech bringing back Race Day IPA in bottles."