Drinking Beer to Support a Good Cause

The summer of 2020 will be remembered for the pandemic, of course, but also for a renewed focus on social concerns. Across the county, people sought to end racial inequality, promote civil rights, fight hunger and homelessness and increase voter participation.

Happily, it was possible to support all those causes just by drinking beer.

There has been a growing trend among craft brewers to use their brands to raise awareness and money for charities, said Mary MacDonald, executive director of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association.

“Craft brewers tend to be passionate, creative people who are immersed in the communities where they operate their businesses,” she said. “As such, many are drawn to do what they do best—brew beer—while simultaneously contributing to a cause that aligns with their mission and passion and supports a worthwhile community effort.”

Local beer drinkers could find a wide variety of causes to support through their purchases this year. Here’s a sampler.

EVERY VOTE COUNTS

One of the most unusual awareness campaigns in craft beer this year was launched by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who asked brewers for their help to increase voter registration and election participation. Nearly 50 Ohio breweries signed up to make a beer called Every Vote Counts.

Each brewer could choose the type of beer to release, but all shared a common label design contributed by Rhinegeist Brewery in Cincinnati. The labeling listed the Oct. 5 voter registration deadline and directed consumers to VoteOhio.gov for information. The effort was widely hailed as a smart move to reach a younger demographic that is less likely to vote but very likely to drink craft beer.

“You can state your opinion, you can share it on social media, or you can go to public demonstrations, but unless you register and vote you are missing an important part of the civic process,” LaRose said.

At the press conference to kick off the campaign, Seventh Son Brewing co-founder Collin Castore said breweries “are not just bars and taprooms, we’re also community centers—and voting is a great way to emphasize community.”

Seventh Son released a pilsner as its Every Vote Counts beer. Some of the other participating breweries in Central Ohio were BrewDog (wheat ale with mango), Land Grant (hazy double IPA), Lineage (New England IPA), Wolf’s Ridge (American wheat) and Zaftig (orange IPA).

BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL

Many local brewers also joined in a national project launched in June by Marcus Baskerville, founder of Texas-based Weathered Souls Brewing, during protests over the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police.

Baskerville created Black Is Beautiful Stout, with all proceeds going to groups that support racial equality. Then he released the recipe and label free for any brewers who would make a local variation of the beer to support the cause in their own communities. Nearly 1,200 breweries representing all 50 states joined the project.

Among local examples, Olentangy River Brewing in Lewis Center added caramel malt to the base recipe and supported the YWCA Columbus. Nocterra Brewing in Powell added coconut and vanilla and donated to the Black Queer & Intersectional Collective. Seventh Son infused the stout with Brazilian coffee from local Black-owned coffee shop Upper Cup to raise money for the NAACP and The Godman Guild. Land Grant chose to send proceeds to the community health organization Mozaic Ohio.

In a separate campaign, BrewDog partnered with Crowns & Hops Brewing Co., a Black-owned business in California, to brew and distribute a pilsner called 8 Trill Pils as part of an effort to achieve racial equity in the craft beer industry. The name comes from a report by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation suggesting that the U.S. economy would be $8 trillion larger by 2050 if the country eliminated racial disparities in health, education and employment.

OTHER CHARITY CAMPAIGNS
 

• As part of the national People Power beer campaign to support the American Civil Liberties Union, Seventh Son Brewing released a West Coast IPA as its People Power beer this year, while Wolf’s Ridge Brewing joined in with a peanut butter porter.

• In November, Wolf's Ridge Brewing released a hazy IPA as its Ales for ALS beer for 2020. The brewer has been an annual supporter of the national Ales for ALS campaign that has raised $2.5 million for research into the disease, which has no effective treatment or cure.

• North High Brewery released a Kolsch-style beer—Suds for Sustenance—to raise money for the Mid-Ohio Food Collective, which has seen demand spike during the pandemic.

• Also supporting the Mid-Ohio Food Collective is Columbus Brewing, which will donate the proceeds of its Tracksuit Santa holiday ale being released in December.

• Trek Brewing in Newark released a new IPA—called Smash: Homelessness—in August and pledged to donate $1 per pint to the nonprofit Licking County Coalition for Housing.

• BrewDog teamed up with drag superstar Nina West, releasing a wheat beer called Nina Weisse to raise money for the Nina West Foundation in support of LGBTQ causes.

• Land Grant released its Four Pillars Ale on Memorial Day to raise money for the National Veterans Memorial and Museum, whose four guiding pillars are to honor, connect, inspire and educate.

• Combustion Brewery and Taproom in Pickerington continues to sell its Pelotonia Pilsner that was launched in 2018. A dollar from every pint goes to Pelotonia, the cycling event that raises money for cancer research.

The most recent economic impact study by the craft brewers association showed that in 2018 Ohio breweries contributed $1.15 million and 13,000 volunteer hours to charitable causes.

Going forward, MacDonald said, you can expect to see craft brewers finding more new and interesting ways to give back to their communities.