Many contributors here at GBH have long been outdoorsy folks. From camping to fishing to trail running—we’re an active bunch.
In the past couple years, like many people, we found particular solace in the outdoors. If we couldn’t get together, we could at least get out there. Something about the upending of society has a way of reshuffling priorities.
Photo by Bryan Roth
I’ve been going to the forests around Chicago to volunteer in restoration efforts—cutting down invasive trees, letting in the sunlight on the forest floor, and bringing back native species. Jamaal Lemon has been chartering boats and teaching his boy to catch big saltwater fish. Stephanie Grant is joining a Black camping project to reclaim this country’s land and her right to access, explore, and celebrate it.
Olly Olly was the name of GBH’s party in the woods going back more than six years. It operated as our company picnic—a kind of “corporate retreat” for a very loose collation of collaborators, contributors, and colleagues. Many of our best and longest relationships were formed and embodied by this experience, with brewers, chefs, winemakers, coffee roasters, filmmakers, and other creative types all joining in and taking part. There’s no denying that it was the falling away of the apparatus of daily life, facilitated by the outdoors, that sparked the opening of our minds and hearts.
Photo by Michael Kiser
So today we’re announcing a new partnership in our reimagining of Olly Olly as both an experiential opportunity and a storytelling platform.
Oskar Blues was the first craft brewery to help outdoorsy folks take their beer along for the ride when Dale’s Pale Ale—one of the U.S.’s iconic craft beers—was packaged in aluminum cans. Now, together with Oskar Blues, we’re getting outside, taking on new challenges, making our own fun. The Olly Olly series is all about the sense of freedom that comes from pursuing a passion with a great beer in hand. Build a bonfire, find a peak, coast a river—live life like a summer camp—Olly Olly, all run free.
If you’ve got a story to tell about getting outside and running free, you can pitch us at ollyolly@goodbeerhunting.com
Grab a Dale’s. Stay tuned for adventure.
Words by Michael Kiser
