When most breweries open, they say they want to be a part of the community. And most do, donating beer to nonprofit events, hosting events in their tasting rooms and collaborating with one another to create a community of brewers.
As the Camp, Woolsey and Paradise fires devastated California, it didn’t take San Clemente’s Artifex Brewing Co. (919 Calle Amanecer, Ste. A, San Clemente, 949-429-7805; artifexbrewing.com) long to respond, posting on Facebook, “Donations will be accepted throughout the weekend or until further notice. Blankets, sweat shirts, socks . . . anything helps! Drop off at Artifex!”
A completely full van made its way north to where Global Empowerment Mission, a nonprofit that helps with emergency relief, could distribute necessities to residents of the town of Paradise, which was destroyed by the Camp fire.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (1075 E. 20th St., Chico, 530-893-3520; sierranevada.com), one of the largest independent and environmentally conscious beer producers, was so close to the flames it had to shut down operations. Founder Ken Grossman sent a note to craft brewers across the country: “We’re brewing Resilience Butte County Proud IPA and donating 100 percent of sales to Camp Fire relief. In addition, we’re also asking every brewery in America to brew Resilience and do the same.” He’s even working with malt and hop suppliers to provide raw ingredients to participating breweries. “We know that the rebuilding process will take time, but we’re in this for the long haul,” Grossman added.
Look for Resilience IPA to appear probably mid-December, as well as additional opportunities to donate your time or money to assist those affected by the fires.
Greg Nagel has been writing about beer since 2011, is an avid homebrewer of wine, cider, and beer, is a certified Cicerone Beer Server, level 1 WSET in Wine, a podcaster with the Four Brewers Show, and runs a yearly beer festival called Firkfest happening on June 29th in Anaheim!