'Tis the season’s most rewarding ale

More than 40 local breweries tap hallowed brewer’s recipe for fire relief

Author

By Ian Anderson

Publish Date

Dec. 19, 2018

Cover versions of this Sierra Nevada IPA will be served by local breweries this winter. Photo courtesy Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

If you’re a San Diego beer fan visiting breweries this winter, you may notice the same beer keep showing up on tasting room menus: Resilience Butte County Proud IPA.

Your eyes do not deceive you. No fewer than 43 San Diego breweries are brewing the same beer recipe, with good reason: to raise money for victims of November’s Camp Fire, the most destructive in state history. In doing so, they’re following the lead of venerable craft brewery Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Sierra Nevada’s Chico, California brewery sits only ten miles from Paradise, the town decimated by the fire. Homes of brewery employees were among the estimated 14,000 destroyed, and Sierra Nevada was quick to respond with support for evacuees, including provision of free meals and beers in the fire’s aftermath. It's working directly with FEMA and the government of Paradise.

But it’s the business’s decision to fundraise for fire victims with beer that has become a nationwide phenomenon. In addition to distributing Resilience IPA in cans, Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman penned an open letter to American brewers, offering to share the IPA recipe in return for fundraising efforts. “We’re inviting you to brew a version at your brewery,” he wrote, “and sell it at it your Pub or Taproom, with 100% of the proceeds going to support those impacted by the Camp Fire.”

He expected about 200 breweries to participate. Thus far, 1482 have committed to brew Resilience: roughly one in five of the nation’s more than 7000 breweries. Sierra Nevada now expects donations from the beer to top $10 million, and reach as high as $15 million. A Sierra Nevada spokesperson stated that the "funds raised will go to organizations that help people who have been directly impacted."

In San Diego, the 43 breweries that have already committed to brewing the beer represent nearly a third of our county’s beer brands. For industry watchers, there’s little surprise seeing brewers jump at the chance to fundraise. “Last year alone in San Diego, craft brewers donated $4.9 million to non-profits,” notes Matthew Zirpolo, slated to serve as president of the San Diego Brewers Guild in 2019. "I think it just goes along with the culture."

Zirpolo is a co-founder Burgeon Beer Company, which will serve its own version of Resilience. As a San Diego native, he’s experienced several wildfire evacuations. When he and his Burgeon partners heard about Sierra Nevada’s campaign, they didn’t hesitate to get involved. “There was never really a question.”

The mix of local breweries brewing the beer include the county’s oldest and largest, and several of its smallest and youngest. Even San Marcos brewery Double Peak Brewing, currently a permit away from opening for business, plans to serve Resilience in the new year.

In the near term, Sierra Nevada is promoting a nationwide Resilience Day, tomorrow, December 20, to publicize the beer’s release. In San Diego, brewery release dates vary.