The COVID-19 crisis is killing craft beer businesses, but not the industry’s charitable spirit. There’s been a plethora of beers released with proceeds going to various causes since the pandemic shut the economy down, but this latest one gets extra credit for the unique sales approach and for all of the organizations teaming up to make it happen.
Online craft beverage marketplace CraftCellr will be the exclusive retail outlet for a new charitable collaboration beer benefiting service industry non-profit Bottleshare, conceived in cooperation with Good Word Brewing and Public House, Riverbend Malt House, White Labs Yeast, Yakima Chief Hops, Battle & Associates Packaging and artist Rachel Eleanor.
“It all started when Brent Manning from Riverbend heard about the soup kitchen we started after the restaurant shutdown and called about donating some malt,” explains Good Word co-founder and head brewer Todd DiMatteo. “We’d been trying figure out a way to work with Bottleshare for years, so when Brent got involved we all started calling some friends and the idea kind of snowballed. This beer is built on relationships, that’s really what it’s all about.”
The totality of sales proceeds from the new IPA will go to fund Bottleshare’s grant program, with materials donated free of charge and CraftCellr likewise donating all transaction fees.
“We love working with Todd and we’re always looking for ways to support the craft beer community these days, so when we saw what Good Word was up to we definitely wanted to help out,” adds Riverbend co-founder Manning. “Once we started talking about a charity beer and got all these great people on board, we knew it was going to be really cool.”
Brewed by DiMatteo and the team at Good Word, “Six Feet Has Never Felt So Far” is a 7.5 percent hazy IPA dry-hopped with Azacca, Sabro, Mosaic, and Galaxy, over 88 pounds of which were donated by Yakima Chief. Riverbend Malt House provided the entire grist bill, consisting of Pilsner, Pale, Wheat and both Malted and Naked Oats.
Other gifted contributions include yeast from White Labs, cans from Battle & Associates and label design from frequent Good Word artist Rachel Eleanor. CraftCellr will process all financial transactions and pass the resultant proceeds on to Bottleshare.
“It’s an absolute honor to be working with all of these awesome people, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to do something for the good of the community together,” says Christopher Glenn, founder of Bottleshare. “Something like Bottleshare is a need in the industry, not a want. Unfortunately, it took this pandemic to make that clear, so we want this beer to deliver a message of hope to the people affected.”
Online pre-sales for “Six Feet Has Never Felt So Far” are slated to begin on Wednesday, May 6 through the CraftCellr iOS and Android apps, with beer pickup available starting on Friday, May 8th at Good Word’s brewpub in Duluth, GA. More information on Bottleshare’s origins and charitable efforts can be found at thebottleshare.org.
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