KJRH
TULSA – TULSA – Beer drinkers and music lovers came by the thousands to downtown Tulsa this weekend for the first ever Hop Jam Beer and Music Festival.
Hanson, the well-known band of brothers, helped organize the event to appeal to more than just fans of their music.
The brothers not only headlined a free concert for the public, but they also let people sample beer made by 15 different craft brewers from across Oklahoma. The brews on tap Sunday included the trio’s own brand.
“Our flagship beer is called Mmmhopps inspired by our first kind of debut song, and it’s a pale ale,” said Taylor Hanson.
“This is a beer that you drink, and then you go I didn’t even know beer tasted this good,” he said, “and then you realize there’s so much other beer.”
The Mmmhops beer has proven as big of a hit as the song that inspired the name. Taylor Hanson says it just won a gold medal at the World Beer Championship, and fans have given it their stamp of approval, too.
“We love Hanson,” said longtime fan Brittany Stout. “We love their beer, and it’s exciting to come to Tulsa to celebrate that.”
The Hanson brothers hope to have an encore next year and make the festival a national event highlighting craft beer as well as different music. Taylor says the two have more in common than one would think.
“Craft beer really goes back to people making things and making them in a community,” Taylor said, “and musicians are the same way.”
The brothers can at least count on their loyal fans to support the event again next year.
“They go above and beyond what they really have to do for us because there’s an equal love,” said Alycia Folkerts, who got her first Hanson cassette tape in 1997. “We give them love, and they give it back.”
“We’ll probably be coming every time until they decide they’re done,” said longtime Hanson fan Nicole Sell.
Organizers say they may have to make some changes for the Hop Jam festival next year since most of the craft brewers ran out of beer about two hours after the gates opened Sunday.