300 Suns makes up for lost time

Longmont’s 300 Suns is making up for lost time this weekend, with a party for all the holidays they missed celebrating during the pandemic. 

The Grand-Anni-Paddy-Gras-Hallow-Mas-Fever-Bee starts at noon on August 28, but 300 Suns has been planning it since the pandemic started. According to owner Jean Ditslear, when COVID shutdowns started in March 2020 the brewery had to cancel their annual St. Patrick’s Day festivities. 

Not knowing how long the shutdown would last, the Ditslears and their staff decided they would celebrate as soon as they were allowed. As the shutdowns and capacity restrictions lasted longer and longer, more holidays wound up folded into the mix.

“We thought, what if we have this day where we celebrate everything at once, to make up for all the days we missed and fun stuff we like to do?” Jean Ditslear said.

The packed day starts with a St. Patrick’s Day Sing-Along and rolls right into Mardi Gras an hour later. Following that is the adults-only Speed Drunken Spelling Bee, an ugly holiday sweater contest, mid-anniversary small batch beer release and Halloween costume contest. Closing out the night’s festivities will be the Cabin Fever Games, where teams will compete in games of brains, brawn and beer for fun and prizes. 

For the ugly sweater and Halloween costumes, 300 Suns will have craft supplies on hand along with superhero masks to decorate. Contestants are invited to reuse their ugly sweaters in the Halloween competition, according to Distlear. 

In addition to the missed holidays and bar games, Saturday’s festivities also mark a pair of anniversaries. 

The seventh anniversary of 300 Suns passed in the spring of 2021, so the Ditslears are throwing a mid-year anniversary beer into the mix. The Coconut Oatmeal Latte IPA is a unique creation from owner Dan Ditslear, inspired by one of 300 Suns staff members.

“I’ve been wanting to make a coffee IPA forever and one of our bartenders loves coconut oatmeal lattes,” said Dan Ditslear. “So we married the two together.”

The supply of the mid-year anniversary beer is limited, so the brewery will only be serving tasting pours until the keg is tapped.

August also makes two years with Scratch Kitchen finding a permanent home in the brewery. The relationship with 300 Suns and the Ditslears has been fantastic, opening up plenty of opportunities according to Chef Nate Say. To celebrate, Chef Say is serving up a New Orleans-style shrimp po-boy with cornmeal-fried shrimp and scratch-made remoulade.

“This weekend will be all the community events that we couldn’t for obvious reasons, so we’re just going to cram them all into one day and see what happens,” Dan Ditslear said.

The brewery is located at 335 1st Ave, just off Main Street.

Update/Correction: The brewery address was added for clarity.