Crowdfunding campaigns launched by New Albion Brewing, GrassLands Brewing

Crowdfunding — is it right for your brewery? Two more craft brewers have answered yes to this question: GrassLands Brewing Co. and New Albion Brewing Co.

The New Albion Brewing Co. is seeking to continue its renewed production by launching a crowdfunding campaign. New Albion Brewing Co. was originally founded in Sonoma, Calif., in 1976 by Jack McAuliffe, known as the “father of craft beer” in the United States. The first post-Prohibition microbrewery, New Albion was built from the ground up by McAuliffe, who longed to taste the beers he came to love while serving in Europe in the Navy in the 1960s.

New Albion Ale was revived in 2013 by Jim Koch and Boston Beer Co., who brewed and distributed the beer nationally for a limited time. Koch had bought the trademark for New Albion years before to protect it from being misused by mass-market brewers, but decided to pursue brewing the beer only after he finally met McAuliffe in person. After that single batch of pale ale, Koch gave the trademark back to McAuliffe, who then chose his daughter Renee DeLuca to continue the legacy. DeLuca is seeking to continue production in 2014, working with CrowdBrewed to raise funds that will go directly toward beer production.

New Albion will offer some unique rewards to their crowdfunding donors, including New Albion swag, the homebrew recipe for New Albion Ale, and even an opportunity to have a beer with the father of craft beer, Jack McAuliffe.

GrassLands Brewing, based in Tallahassee, Fla., is a brewery-in-planning set to launch in Fall 2014. The company officially launched its crowdfunding campaign last week. The Grasstacular Fundathon! is designed to offer supporters of GrassLands Brewing Co. level-specific rewards from merchandise to tailgate packages to brewing experiences in exchange for a financial contribution. Its 40-day campaign goal is $30,000.

GrassLands will utilize funds from its campaign to assist in offsetting the costs of a future pilot system, brewery and taproom build-out, and equipment integral to the company’s successful operation. The campaign also introduces the “GrassHoppers Membership Club,” a loyalty program that provides consistent benefits to GrassLands’ patrons such as access to special release brews, merchandise and special events.

The Grasstacular Fundathon! and New Albion Brewing’s campaigns are both hosted on CrowdBrewed.com, an online crowd-funding platform for craft beverage makers and industry affiliates who want to raise money for their operations, to add new products to their catalog, pitch a product and to spread the word to the “crowd”. Craft beverage makers and industry affiliates can create fundraising campaigns that tell their story and pitch their campaign to a crowd of donors in exchange for a reward or product. CrowdBrewed is also a place to discover new beverages, learn about brewing and show your passion for the industry by getting involved.