We’re excited to announce that we’re going to release Mosaic Promise, an ale brewed with a single malt and a single hop, this September. Proceeds from the sale of this new ale will benefit ArtPrize, the world’s largest art competition that takes place annually in Grand Rapids, Mich. Mosaic Promise will be sold in Michigan, Wisconsin, greater New York City and greater Chicago both on draft and in 12 oz. bottles with a suggested retail price of $9.99 per 6-pack.

In April 2013 we inked a deal with ArtPrize that made us the official brewery of the competition for the next five years. The premier leadership sponsorship deal included offering our beer at all official ArtPrize events, signage, promotion, merchandise, specialized glassware and other items. It also included permission for us to use the ArtPrize identity marks (logo and graphics) on any co-packaged items, including beer. We plan to release a new beer for each year of our five-year partnership with ArtPrize under the name “Artist Series”. This is year two. Last year’s release was Inspired Artist Black IPA.

“Making a unique beer in honor of ArtPrize has become a fun challenge for our brewers,” said Dave Engbers, our co-founder and vice president of brand and education. “This year’s release just fell into place. Ninkasi—a stained glass ArtPrize submission that showed in our taproom last year—became a permanent part of our taproom when we purchased it last year. We knew right away that it would make a perfect label for Mosaic Promise, a beautifully simple beer that we had been experimenting with for some time.”

Mosaic Promise showcases a single malt—Golden Promise—and a single hop—Mosaic. The traditional barley’s depth of flavor and the versatility of the hops’ bittering, flavor and aroma characteristics are the strong pillars that comprise the structure of this clean, rich, golden beer. We can brew complex beers with the best of them, but we recognize that there’s also beauty in simplicity. The beer clocks in at 5.5% ABV and 50 IBUs.

Proceeds from the sale of Mosaic Promise will support the future programming of the ArtPrize organization. ArtPrize is an international art competition, open to any artist and decided by public vote. Its mission is to promote critical dialogue and collaboration through new, creative ideas among a large and diverse population of people. As an innovator in redefining what beer can be, we believe that experimentation is central to the human experience—whether one experiments with grains and hops or colored glass and light—and that sharing one’s creation with the public is a brave act worth celebrating.

“Founders is an iconic brand producing a sublime range of exquisite beers in our own Grand Rapids,” said Christian Gaines, executive director of ArtPrize. “We’re honored and elated to count Founders as the ArtPrize Official Brewery and to include Mosaic Promise as the latest special release beer—one that’s emblematic of our strong partnership and shared commitment to art, artists and community.”

More than 400,000 people are expected to attend ArtPrize 2014.

We also partnered with ArtPrize to launch ArtPrize on Tap, the newest ArtClub membership perk. From the patios of the Centennial Room, our private second-floor entertainment space, ArtPrize on Tap offers ArtClub members the opportunity to connect year-round and stay on the ArtPrize insider track, while enjoying Founders food and beer. We will premiere Mosaic Promise at the August installment of ArtPrize on Tap. Held on the third Wednesday of every month, ArtPrize on Tap is free for ArtClub members, and friends of ArtPrize and Founders can join for $10. To learn more, go to artprize.org/artclub.

Mosaic Promise will be available for a limited time starting on Sunday, September 14, across our Michigan, Wisconsin, metro NYC and Chicagoland distribution footprint. It will be released in our taproom on draft and in bottles starting on Tuesday, September 16. There will be an event in our taproom featuring the artists and introducing the beer from 4:30-6:30pm that day. One-of-a-kind Mosaic Promise posters will be given away, while supplies last. Mosaic Promise will also be featured at official ArtPrize events.

This year marks the sixth edition of ArtPrize, which will take place Sept. 24–Oct. 12, 2014. Our taproom will be a venue for the sixth year running.

Artist Description

Grand Rapids artists Matt and Elizabeth Kolenda, Adrianne Hollemans and Maria Orr make up Kolenda Art Glass. They submitted the stained glass piece “Ninkasi” as an ArtPrize 2013 entry that showed in the Founders taproom. Ninkasi is the ancient Sumerian goddess of beer, and Kolenda depicted her with traditional mouth-blown antique glass that was both painted and stained in vibrant colors. In their artists’ statement, they said, “Just as new, creative brewers everywhere are challenging the age-old custom of brewing beer, ‘Ninkasi’ puts an exciting spin on the common perception of what stained glass form is and was ‘supposed’ to be.”

The Founders Family fell in love with Ninkasi and purchased the piece. She’s now a permanent installation in our taproom.