Texas’ Lone Star Brewing is holding a statewide michelada contest with a $5,000 top prize (deadline June 1!)

It’s inching towards summer, which in the beverage alcohol industry means the rise of hard seltzers, RTD cocktails and beer cocktails. Considering the latter, Lone Star Brewing Co. is specifically interested in expanding on its michelada creations. What’s a michelada exactly? A question that someone from Ohio might ask. A michelada is a Mexican drink made with beer, lime juice, assorted sauces, spices, tomato juice and chile peppers, served in a chilled, salt-rimmed glass. Sounds fun, right?

Lone Star Brewing is looking for recipes for its Rio Jade brand, a Mexican-style lager. For its Riochelada contest, participants are encouraged to submit their very own michelada creations using Rio Jade Beer and whatever spices and garnishes they choose. Registration for the contest is open starting now until 11:59 P.M. CST on June 1, 2021. Finalists will have their “Riochelada” tasted by a panel of special guest judges on June 17, 2021.

The first place winner of the inaugural Riochelada Contest will take home $5,000, second place will take home $1,500 and third place will receive $100 and Lone Star swag. The contest is open to any resident of the state of Texas of legal drinking age and there is no fee to participate. Once participants have perfected their Riochelada recipe they must register it online HERE and post a picture of their creation on their Instagram account and tag @lonestarbeer and use hashtags #riochelada, #riojade and #contest. The Instagram post needs to be available for public viewing until June 17, 2021.

Eligible submissions will be judged and scored on presentation, creativity and x-factor, originality and appeal of recipe name. The three highest scoring Riocheladas will move on to the final stage of the competition to be held on Thursday, June 17, where they will be tasted and judged by a panel of qualified Texas guest judges including local foodies, bartenders, and more. Finalists do not have to be present to win, as their creations will be made for the judges by a guest bartender. For a full list of contest rules and requirements, click HERE. According to the press release:

“We are very excited to launch this contest in our second year in market with Rio Jade, our Mexican inspired lager,” said Daniel Crawford, Brand Manager for Lone Star. “We noticed Texans rushing to make their own Texas Chelada/Micheladas at home with Rio Jade so we thought we’d give them the chance to show off their skills. Everyone is always debating who makes the best version, so we’re going to crown a recipe and give someone some serious bragging rights.”