Within the craft beer industry, between brewers, we are a lot like schoolmates: interacting with each other as colleagues, collaborators and competitors, depending on the situation. In this analogy, one of the upperclassmen, who we all look up to, is Sierra Nevada. They are one of the guys who shows the underclassmen what they might aspire to and who set the standards by which everyone that follows them will be measured. In my brewing career, I’ve been fortunate enough to interact with this formidable organization, in all of these contexts, and my respect and admiration have only grown through the years.
So, you might be able to imagine that when you get that call, that one of your own has been profoundly impacted by disaster and is asking for your help, how you might react. You immediately pick up the line and ask, ‘How can I help?’ It hit pretty close to home for me, having been through the High Park and Waldo Canyon fires of 2012 while living and brewing in Colorado. Having witnessed the destruction, displacement and death that these massive blazes can bring into your community. It’s a long and painful recovery process.
As you may have heard, hundreds of craft breweries across the country, of all sizes and stripes are stepping up in a similar fashion. It’s a collaborative brewing project of, well, Sierra Nevadian proportions: everyone brews the same recipe, with the same name and donate all the proceeds to support rebuilding efforts. Baxter is proud to have joined those ranks and continue our tradition of using our platform of beer to support the causes we believe in. Stay tuned as this beer makes its way through our brewing system and out to our taps for release and special event information.
Andrew Sheffield, Director of Brewing