5 Craft Breweries That Give Back to the Community
Craft brewers can be a wonderfully giving community, with many breweries donating to charity or operating as a non-profit. Giving to causes is a hallmark of the industry and almost all breweries I know do some sort of community service from donating a portion of their proceeds to charities to brewing collaboration beers that bring awareness of certain issues or donating their spaces for charities to hold events. Embracing the ethos “Drink Beer, Do Good,” tasting rooms in 2023 have become community centers that go way beyond connecting with others over a simple pint.
Here are some breweries that show what a wonderful, inclusive, and generous society the beer community can be.
1. Lady Justice
Aurora, Colorado based Lady Justice (or Lady J as the cool kids call it) give 100% of their profits over cost to a host of charities and causes. Founded by Betsy Lay, Kate Power, and Jen Cuesta in 2014, their charities they usually choose benefit women, the LGBTQIA+ community and charities that focus on equity. To date they’ve donated over $30,000 to over 30 charities. I really enjoyed their Oktoberfest lager when I went in October of last year on my way to the Denver airport and look forward to a visit again this fall.
2. Ex Novo
Joel Gregory of Ex Novo
Ex Novo started in Portland, OR by Joel Gregory in 2014. Gregory has turned the humble taproom into a powerhouse of giving with the motto “Better Beer for the Greater Good.” So far the brewery has donated $100,000 to charity and has opened two more locations, one in Beaverton, OR and one in Gregory’s hometown of Corrales, NM. Ex Novo partners with a rotating cast of nonprofits to make sure their money goes to good causes from helping the planet to food insecurities including Oregon Wild, Friends of the Children, and MercyCorps.
Potosi Brewing originally started as a brewery in 1852 (!!) in Potosi, WI which is near the Mississippi River and was revived in 2008. The brewery is owned by the Potosi Foundation and 100% of their profits go to economic development in and around the town and to help local charities, everything from the local humane society to the local boy scout troop. They also run the National Brewery Museum and a transportation museum in addition to the brewpub. Sounds like a fun place to visit!
4. Finnegans Brew Co
Finnegans, based in Minneapolis, was, according to their website, the first beer where all the profits went to charity. Founded in 2000 and based on the Newman’s Own philosophy, Finnegans was a single beer style with sales focused on poverty and then food pantries and alleviating hunger in its surrounding communities. In 2018, the full brewery was born and now has brewed over 100 beer styles. Still focused on food pantry assistance throughout the Upper Midwest and helping break the cycle of poverty as main goals, Finnegans has donated over $2 million dollars since its inception.
Even the British get involved when it comes to not-for-profit breweries. Case in point, South London’s Ignition Brewery. Ignition goes a bit beyond the non-profit model as it also houses a training program for people with learning disabilities to teach about all facets of brewery operations from brewing to tasting room to packaging and they pay every apprentice staff member a living wage. Their taproom is a tasting room but it’s also a community center where they host a variety of meet up nights for everyone from people who also have learning difficulties to new parents and they even turn their tasting room into a disco on occasion.