Yesterday, Center of the Universe released details about where you can try their edition of Homefront IPA leading up to this Memorial Day weekend starting Thursday May 23rd at the Flying Squirrels game at The Diamond.  Baltimore Orioles closer Jim Johnson will serve as Hops for Heroes‘ ambassador for Homefront IPA and will be in attendance at the game as well.  Here is the posting from their blog; one of those bats might make someone a nice Father’s Day gift:

We’ve got a great line-up of patriotic events leading up to Memorial Day to celebrate the release of Homefront IPA!

Homefront IPA is a West Coast style IPA, brewed with orange peel and aged on Louisville Slugger bats donated by none other than Louisville Slugger. After the beer is brewed, the bats will be dried and auctioned off. 100% of the proceeds for the beer and the auctioned off bats will go to Operation Homefront. Last year, with the help of 6 participating breweries and other organizations that donated the hops and grains used to make the beer, Hops for Heroes (the name of the organization in charge of planning and coordinating everything for Homefront IPA) was able to raise $165,000 dollars for Operation Homefront. [Read more about the beer here].

Because this beer is baseball themed, we’re releasing it on Thursday, May 23rd at the Flying Squirrels stadium in Richmond followed by a tasting on Friday at Whole Foods and an official party at COTU on Saturday. Here is our line-up of events.

Homefront IPA Release at the Diamond

Date: Thursday, May 23rd
Time: game starts at 6:00 pm
Location: The Diamond, 3001 N. Boulevard

Details: Homefront IPA will be on tap at the Taste the Local stand. There are also fireworks scheduled for that night, and there will be some military presence to help celebrate. [More details here]

Homefront IPA BBQ and tasting at Whole Foods

Date: Friday, May 24th
Time: 4pm-7pm
Location: Whole Foods Glen Allen, 11173 W Broad St

Details: Meet us at Whole Foods for BBQ, live music and a Homefront IPA tasting. Bottles of Homefront IPA will be available for purchase that day. More details here.

Homefront IPA Party at COTU

Date: Saturday, May 25th
Time: 4pm-9pm
Location: Center of the Universe Brewing Company, 11293 Air Park Rd.

Details: Live music from Tristan Thorndyke and his band, and food trucks (Curbside Creations and Slideways Mobile Bistro).

Homefront IPA is a collaborative beer brewed for the sole purpose of giving back. All of the ingredients needed to brew Homefront IPA, as well as bottles, labels, tap handles, and other supplies were graciously donated. This beer is being brewed by a total of 9 breweries nationwide and 100% of the proceeds will go to local chapters of Operation Homefront – a military charity that gives back to military families in need.

Want to know the story behind Homefront IPA and the other 8 breweries participating? Check out the Hops for Heroes website here.