From time to time, current world events — and their impact — extend into our little pocket of North Florida.
And sadly, the ongoing attack lodged by Russia on their peaceful neighbor Ukraine is one of those times.
The good news, however, is that our local craft beer community can help.
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Proof Brewing, which just celebrated its 10-year anniversary in Tallahassee, has joined forces with breweries worldwide to brew a collaboration beer with Pravda Brewery in Ukraine to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, promote peace and end the war. The initiative is called “Brew For Ukraine.”
As a result, Proof brewed a Ukrainian Imperial Stout recipe provided by Pravda and plans to release the beer at its Brewpub in about two weeks. The beer recipe features smoked pears and prunes and it’s called “From San to Don” (referring to two rivers, in western Ukraine and central Russia).
But here’s the best part: Proceeds from ALL beer sales — by Proof and every brewery around the world that has chosen to participate in this initiative — will go to humanitarian relief aid in Ukraine.
“What’s happening is very tragic, and we want to do our part locally to support fellow brewers and the Ukrainian people,” Proof co-owner and co-founder Byron Burroughs said. “This collaboration beer is an excellent opportunity to invite our community to join the cause and raise humanitarian relief funds for Ukraine.”
The breweries participating in the Brew For Ukraine program actually had an option to brew four other recipes from Pravda: Syla, a Belgian tripel; Red Eyes, an American red ale; Frau Ribbentrop, a Belgian witbier; and a dry-hopped strong ale, but we can’t print the name (or its translation) in this column that pokes fun at Russian President Vladimir Putin. Although, we encourage you to look it up!
Proof is the only local brewery taking part, but there are hundreds of breweries around the country and world that have signed up. The movement began after Pravda’s co-owner Yuri Zustavny announced on social media two weeks ago that his brewery has stopped production of beer and was switched to mixing and bottling Molotov cocktails – small homemade explosives thrown by hand – in repurposed beer bottles to help repel the Russian army.
When the brewery can get back to brewing its own beer is unknown — if it’s even able to, Zastavny told National Public Radio in a recent interview. When the war began, Pravda was gearing up to host its 10th annual Craft Beer & Vinyl Music Festival, which attracts roughly 20,000 people across the weekend every year.
But that event, of course, was postponed.
“We will have to hold off on that (this year) and do important things first,” Pravda told NPR. “Like, clean the country of the enemy, come back to normal life, rebuild the country.”
This isn’t the first time breweries of the world have banded together for a cause in recent years either. Per Food & Wine Magazine, “While macro-breweries constantly battle over market share, craft breweries have shown a remarkable willingness to work together.
And what began as a culture of collaboration brews has sometimes evolved into national and global initiatives where groups of breweries make the same beer to raise money or awareness. Prominent examples include Sierra Nevada Resilience IPA for Camp Fire relief, Other Half’s All Together to support the hospitality industry during the pandemic, and Weathered Souls’ Black Is Beautiful for Black Lives Matter awareness.
Jason Goldstein, owner and brewmaster at New Jersey’s Icarus Brewing, told NJ.com his brewery had to change their entire brewing schedule to make room to participate in Brew For Ukraine — but the cause was beyond worth it.
“Every single person jumped right on it anyway,” he said. “I hope this really just brings awareness to people and encourages them to help out. Whether it is by buying the beer or donating online, whatever it is. Hopefully it opens those eyes and opens those checkbooks.”
Stay tuned to Proof’s social media — Facebook, Twitter & Instagram — for the beer’s release date!
Beer fest season is here
The first of three beer fests over the next month and a half is happening this weekend, and it’s setting the stage for a busy next 45 days.
The Big Bend Brewfest goes down Saturday, March 19, at Rosehead Park in Perry from 5-8 p.m. For $30, you can get unlimited sampling of local, regional and national craft beers, or for $40, you can choose the VIP option and get in an hour earlier at 4 p.m. Locals like Proof, Lake Tribe, Oyster City and Halpatter Brewing will all be featured at the event, which is an annual benefit for the Perry Rotary Club and the city’s “Shop With A Cop” holiday Christmas program.
The Big Bend Brewfest, which was started in 2018, was postponed in 2020 and 2021 due ongoing concerns about the pandemic.
One week after the Big Bend Brewfest comes the Panacea Craft Beer and Oyster Fest, which takes place March 26 from 1-4 p.m. at Woolley Park in Panacea. General admission is $25, Early entry tickets are $35 — which gets you in an hour early at noon — and VIP tickets are $50. With VIP, you get in an hour early, plus get access to the VIP tent, which will have food and select special beers you can’t get in the main festival area.
The event is an annual fundraiser for the Florida Wild Mammal Association, and like the Big Bend Brewfest, hasn’t been held in two years due to the pandemic.
And lastly, mark those calendars for April 23 and the 5th Annual SGI Brewfest. The annual fundraiser for the Franklin County Humane Society is finally back after two years of cancellations and postponements, and it’s moving to the center of St. George Island to accommodate another expected sellout crowd. We’ll have more on that event as it gets closer — but if you’re thinking about going, do NOT wait to buy your tickets. In its previous four years, it’s sold out weeks in advance every time.
Four big days of Beer Society news
Last week, we held a social media countdown to #4DaysOfBigBeerSocietyNews, and unveiled our announcements one by one.
The first was the debut our first-ever TLH Beer Society Membership Card that gets you deals and perks at 30 different breweries, craft beer bars, restaurants and bottle shops across North Florida and South Georgia. A portion of proceeds from the card benefits the Leon County Humane Society and as of last weekend, the first wave of those who purchased already have their cards in hand!
It’s a great initiative and one we worked hard on to launch, and we hope you’ll consider grabbing a card of your own. It’s a thick, mat-black metal card with a built-in bottle opener, and we wrote all about it in last week’s column.
The second piece of news was the announcement of our first-ever charity poker tournament April 9 at the Red Shed BBQ Restaurant. The event is being established in honor of fallen TLH Beer Society member Josh Vanderpool, who died unexpectedly Feb. 9 at the age of 35. The Josh Vanderpool Memorial Charity Poker Tournament will be held from 6-10 p.m. on April 9 and will feature beer being donated by Tallahassee’s next brewing-in-planning, Amicus Brewing Ventures. The game being played will be Texas Hold ‘Em, and the cost is $55 per person.
The third piece of big news was the launch of our first one-off Drink Tallahassee Beer T-shirt. The “St. Patrick’s Day” themed shirt is green with yellow lettering and features a good luck clover on the front under “Drink Tallahassee Beer” and on the back inside our logo. You can purchase tickets for the charity poker tournament or the shirts at our website.
And the final piece of news was the re-launch of the Tallahassee Brew Bus, which has been grounded since March 2020 due to the pandemic. We have entered into a partnership with local tour company Five Star Limo to curate brewery tours around the Big Bend, and you can get information about those types of tours by emailing us at info@tallahasseebrewbus.com.
Check it all out at tlhbeersociety.com, and we hope you’re excited as we are about all these cool things happening right now!
Danny Aller is the co-founder, along with Matthew Crumbaker, of the TLH Beer Society. Reach the Beer Society on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or email: tlhbeersociety@gmail.com.
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