Doing Good by Drinking Beer

By James Reddicliffe

There a lot of reasons people love breweries and beer makers. They make delicious beer, they bring people together and they are often places where people can be themselves. But in addition to producing a favorite beverage and giving people a place to gather, many breweries also make an impact philanthropically. Maine Beer Company is famous for being a member of 1% for the Planet, the organization that helps companies donate 1 percent of their profits for environmental causes. The organizations they’ve given to include Allied Whale, Maine Audubon and The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund to name a few. Maine Beer's motto is “Do what’s right” and they embody that ethos while making excellent beer.

Russian River Brewing, of the legendary Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger IPAs, brew “Framboise for a cure” once a year. It is a sour raspberry beer made to benefit the Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation and its breast cancer research. In the past 10 years they have raised more than $600,000 for the cause.

This doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of everything breweries are doing to help across the country but it does make you wonder; what are local Brooklyn breweries doing to help? As you might guess, they’re doing a lot.

In September of 2017 KCBC brewed an IPA in collaboration with the New York Audubon Society to raise awareness about the plight of birds in NYC, specifically the deaths caused by flying into windows. KCBC also does a recurring bottle share monthly to benefit a charity combatting sexual abuse. For $10 you get a ticket to the bottle share and your first draft beer is complimentary with all donations going to RAINN.

Recently, Threes Brewing brewed a special collaboration beer called “Courage My Love.” It's is a delicious, and bright pale lager brewed with lime zest to benefit the venerable ACLU. Ten Percent of the proceeds from the sales of Courage will be donated to help with the work the ACLU is doing across the country. And just this week, Threes announced they have launched People Power Beer. This initiative brings together more than 40 breweries nation-wide, to brew a beer of their choosing, with ten percent of proceeds benefitting the ACLU.

Admittedly, we’re huge fans of Threes' beer and this cause. Threes also recently held Whole Hog for a Cause. Threes' restaurant partner the Meat Hook roasted a whole pig and offered various ticket tiers to benefit the Brownsville Community Culinary Center, which is combatting food injustice in Brownsville. A standard ticket went for $75 and got you barbecue and two Threes draft beers. For double that price your beer and 'cue would be unlimited and there was even a VIP table option. Threes and KCBC both frequently hold events benefitting the community so be sure to check their calendars.

Sixpoint Beer for Beasts is held every year with all net proceeds going to the Humane Society of New York. Sixpoint brews specialty beers just for this event and has a variety of vegetarian food options for people’s eating enjoyment.

If you like drinking beer and making an impact, make sure to keep an eye on the event calendar at your local brewery. There’s a pretty good chance to drinking local beer is also doing good.