Seattle, Washington brewery Reuben’s Brews has teamed up with OOLA Distillery to create a hopped Gin based canned cocktail called Greyhound Spritz. Combining the fruity, citrusy notes of hops with the bright, aromatic character of gin botanicals. 

Reuben’s Brews has always been a forward-thinking brewery, and the movement of craft breweries to explore the “beyond beer” segment which includes cider, seltzer, kombucha, "hard” anything, and perhaps most significantly canned ready-to-drink cocktails which are booming. Reuben’s has experimented with natural fruit hard seltzer in there FruitFuzz lineup, and small batch NA beer, this collaboration lets them try out the RTD canned cocktail market without investing in a distillery and an entirely new market. Plus, it keeps one foot in the beer world with the use of hops citrusy and slightly spizy hops and Reuben’s seltzer techniques with OOLA’s gin botanicals and grapefruit puree for a refreshing take on a classic cocktail.

“Gin cocktails have always been a favorite with our family,” says Thor Stoddard, innovation manager at Reuben’s Brews. “They were at every get-together, vacation, party, etc. And here at Reuben's we've brewed with citrus quite a few times now. Ultimately we thought something with gin botanicals and citrus flavor would be perfect for the warmer months.” 

The collaboration with OOLA began last year when the distillery expressed interest in partnering with a local brewery. Excited to connect with another craft beverage business, Reuben’s eagerly responded. And once Thor and a few others from the brewery had the chance to tour the OOLA Distillery in SODO, they all started to get really excited about the possibilities of what they could dream up together. After kicking a number of ideas back and forth and then trialing a few different variations, the Greyhound Spritz was born.

“Being a part of this collaboration has been a blast,” says Kirby Kallas-Lewis. “They have such a talented and creative team at Reuben’s—from the label design to the Greyhound Spritz itself, they knocked it out of the park. I believe if people try this once they will be back for more!”

Greyhound Spritz is officially launching on August 3rd, each 12-ounce can has an 8.4% alcohol content by volume and will be available for purchase at both Reuben's Brews taproom locations in Ballard and Fremont and at OOLA Capitol Hill.