In the early 2010s, Elk Valley beers made the rounds and won awards at national beer festivals as homebrew. At the time, craft beer enthusiast and Oklahoma native John Elkins was simply passionate about making beer he loved and found that others enjoyed it too.
With staple recipes like Magic Juice, a juicy and hazy double India pale ale; Tenkiller, a smooth, light lager with a hint of corn; and Latte Nemesis, a big imperial coffee stout, Elk Valley became a crowd favorite as craft beer was starting to trend in Oklahoma. Despite the success of these and many others, Elk Valley made the hard decision to close its taproom in OKC at the end of 2022, halting production. Since then, the team has been working on plans to see the beer revived.
Today, we are excited to announce that Oklahoma beer company, New Story Brewing in Tulsa, OK, has acquired the Elk Valley brand. In collaboration with founder John Elkins, New Story is working to revive many of the classic recipes, returning them to local bars, restaurants, and stores across Oklahoma soon.
‘We are honored to help revive a classic Oklahoma beer brand like Elk Valley,’ said New Story President James Schellhorn. ‘We all have fond memories of Magic Juice and so many other Elk Valley beers! The idea of combining our resources and taking part in sustaining such a quality, local brand was just too good to pass up. We’re excited to honor the original recipes and bring back the beer we all fell in love with.’
The idea of consolidating and sharing resources in the food and beverage industry is not new. Ghost kitchens and breweries are becoming more common across the US, allowing new products to be added more easily and legacy ones to have new opportunities to thrive. Elk Valley will be a product of New Story but will live on as a staple of Oklahoma craft.
According to James, Elk Valley beers should be reentering the market by the end of 2023. Fans of the brand are encouraged to look for updates coming over the next couple of months on their website https://newstorybrewing.com or Instagram @elkvalleybeer.
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