A huge congrats to Boulder’s Mountain Sun and especially to head brewer Brian Hutchinson, who was crowned “Alpha King” last Friday in Denver. His “Hop Vivant” Imperial IPA took first place in the 2009 Alpha King challenge — recognizing the best “hoppy” beer in America. This is a major big deal in the beer world, and all the more amazing that this is the first Colorado brewery to win the accolade. According to Kevin Daly, owner of Mountain Sun, four hops are used, including the whole flower, to create the brew. Vermilion’s Josh Hill, who was with a big Vermilion gang at the fantastic Great American Beer Festival this past weekend, (put on of course by our client the Brewers Association), and who was taking copious notes on all of the 40 beers he tasted, rated it by far his favorite. Of course, it was the last beer he tried!

Founded in 1994, the Gill Foundation has been fighting and scrapping and kicking deadbeats in the shins for fifteen years working for LGBT equality. Their just-published annual report, part of a completely new Vermilion-produced  website, chronicles the events of the past 15 years in an interactive timeline that puts their efforts in perspective with significant national events of the time. There’s also a short video that shows the start/stop, step-by-step process of change over the past couple years, and popup maps that provide a picture of the changing national legal structure on marriage recognition, nondiscrimination laws, and the like. It’s nice to see someone like Tim Gill, whose foundation at last count has given out close $100 million in grants, stand up for his convictions and make a difference in our society.

Last night Vermilion launched IZZE Connect, a much-awaited social media website that lets users “generate a sparkle” and send to it to their friends through Facebook or email. Pick a flavor, build a message, and send it off. When recipients accept the sparkle, users get sparkle points that can be used to redeem merchandise. “It’s all about connecting,” said Paul DesRosiers, Vermilion’s creative director. “It’s a community hub where IZZE fans can link to everything IZZE and communicate with each other.” The social media campaign is paired with a traditional ad campaign breaking today in a number of national media, including GQ, Details, People, InStyle, and Entertainment Weekly. The “You’ll Love What’s Inside” theme shows the signature clear IZZE bottles with fresh fruit inside, depicting the pure natural attributes of the brand.