Ahead of the Global Climate Strike, the Good Beer Co have announced they’ll be bringing people together over beer to help raise money for the Great Barrier Reef. The fundraising brewing company is one of more than 1,500 businesses across Australia to have signed up to the “Not Business As Usual Campaign” run by Future Super.
Good Beer Co was launched with the aim of protecting the national icon and, following the strike on September 20, they're putting on karma kegs with founder James Grugeon keen to see others in the beer industry get involved too.
His intention is to recapture the goodwill he witnessed during Australia’s marriage equality plebiscite in 2017. That saw Good Beer Co collaborate with Bright Brewery to brew Love²; proceeds from that beer went to the Australian Marriage Equality Campaign, with the brewing companies also launching the “Toast 2 Love” campaign in every capital city.
“It was really just about bars putting the beer on and doing a karma keg for people to just come and have a beer with their mates,” James says.
In Brisbane, Good Beer Co has teamed up with The End. James will be there after the city’s rally finishes and all proceeds from the karma keg will go to the charity campaign Fight For Our Reef. James is planning to put on other karma kegs of Great Barrier Beer and hopes other breweries will be involved too – and that venues can provide a place for strikers to debrief with beer in hand.
“This is confronting stuff and we want people to be able to feel like there are lots of other people who share their concerns and want to see urgent action,” he says.
“We’re just saying put a beer on and people who want to can come and wind down after the climate strike, have a chat and we can raise some money as well.”
Last week, The Crafty Pint joined forces with Jessie Jungalwalla of Craft Instinct to call for the beer industry to support the global call for action on the climate crisis under the No Beer On A Dead Planet banner. You can read more about that here.
For more info on Good Beer Co's event at The End, head here.
You can also download Jessie's No Beer On A Dead Planet artwork to show your support:
Will Ziebell is a history graduate who knows more about The Wire than he does about beer. He was awarded the AIBA Best Media trophy for 2018; HBO have told him to please send his fan mail elsewhere. He can be found on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
The beer(s) or moment(s) that turned you on to good beer:
Spending time living in the UK (and backpacking across Europe) when I was 21 certainly gave me a better understanding of the beer and different styles of the world. But I'd say it was a holiday to the High Country a little while later when lunch and a tasting paddle at Bridge Road Brewers created an obsession with Australian breweries and locally made beer.
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
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Boatrocker's Miss Pinky: It's a raspberry-packed Berliner Weisse that neither looks or tastes the way many people conceive of beer.
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Bad Shepherd Hazelnut Brown: A luscious mix of chocolate and hazelnut that can appeal to the sweet tooth within us all.
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Stone & Wood Pacific Ale: As the father of my oldest friend once said to me: "It's the perfect refreshing pint that smells like they've loaded it with the God's herb."
The last beer you enjoyed:
Garage Project's DFA while sitting at the bar at Miss Moses as the sounds of The Rolling Stone drifting in the background.
Three things that represent you:
- Bruce Springsteen
- Ken Burns
- The State Library of Victoria
