‘Wrock’ & roll: Celebrating Lexington’s 250th birthday with a new lager

When organizers for Lexington’s celebration of the city’s 250-year history approached Country Boy Brewing about making a special beer for the spring events, the brewery surveyed the city’s history for inspiration.

The result was a beer perfect for drinking during the 250Lex spring and summer events, said Pete Weiss, Country Boy’s marketing director. And since the theme for April during 250Lex is music and the written word, the brewery dug deeply into the music scene.

“We put our heads together and started thinking about all the fun venues from the past in Lexington that we grew up with and even some that were before our time,” he said. “And we stumbled upon the Wrocklage music venue, which was on Short Street back in the day.”

Between October 1988 and November 1996, the Wrocklage at 361 W. Short St. was the venue for Lexington’s local music scene.

In addition to showcasing local acts, it hosted many national acts as they were up and coming, such as Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, the GooGoo Dolls and the Flaming Lips.

“The Wrocklage was such an important venue to the Lexington music scene in the 90s,” said Nate Coppage, co-founder and brewer for Country Boy.

“It cleared the way for Busters, The Dame and Cosmic Charlie’s and led to our current spots like The Green Lantern, Al’s Bar and even Manchester Music Hall.”

The brewery wanted to create a beer reminiscent of something like a springtime bock beer, Weiss said. Styled after German festival beers, Weiss described Wrock Lager as malt-forward with a crisp, clean finish.

“What we wanted to do was brew a beer that everybody could enjoy,” he said.

“There are a lot of people who still are not fans of IPAs, and there’s still people that say they’re not a beer drinker because they’re used to some of the macro beers out there. We wanted to brew something that had big, bold flavors but was approachable for anybody that wants to enjoy one.”

The beer will make its official debut between 4:30-6:30 p.m. March 22 when the 250Lex commission announces its lineup of musical events for April.

Country Boy Brewing’s taproom at 436 Chair Ave. will host the event that Weiss said will feature a special surprise guest. He said he couldn’t name names but left hints about an up-and-coming local artist with country, Americana and rock roots.

In addition to Wrock Lager’s debut, 250Lex officials will be on hand to give away tickets to shows during April, as well as tickets for Railbird.

Wrock Lager is available at all of Country Boy’s taprooms and will be available soon in six-packs at retail throughout the city.