When launching a campaign, you never know whether it will take off, particularly if it's being launched just as the world as you know it is waking up to the enormity of a once-in-a-century pandemic and the industry you work in is being brought to its knees.
That was certainly the case with Keeping Local Alive. Will anyone use the hashtag or even read the story explaining why we've been compelled to go down this road? In this case, it certainly took hold, with the logo now adorning t-shirts on scores of people across Australia (and making it onto the TV news in WA) and appearing on beer releases, and the campaign spawning Beer Swag Day too.
Modus Operandi and Eagle Bay are featuring the campaign logo on the former's Modus Beer and the latter's Single Series. The hashtag and messaging appeared on Cheeky Monkey’s #dontdrinkalone session ale. And, sticking with the theme of linking Keeping Local Alive with Brewing Sessionable Liquids, it's inspired Boatrocker’s latest release, Local Lager.
What’s more, the launch of the beer includes a "Local Hospo Helper" raffle to raise funds for the Keeping Local Alive campaign, with an impressive haul of Boatrocker goodies up for grabs for the winner. A $10 ticket gets you the chance to win two cases of Local Lager, two more of your choice of core range Boatrocker cans, four Roger Ramjets, three bottles of Boatrocker wild ales, a bottle of Boatrocker Gin, a tulip glass and a tasting experience for ten with head brewer Matt Houghton at the Boatrocker Barrel Room. It’s worth $750 in total and there’s also cases of Local Lager for five runners-up.
Boatrocker marketing manager James Renwick says they wanted to launch the new beer in a way that could provide some support for the industry around them. The team had discussed ways to support hospo workers who had lost work but wanted to work directly with the wider beer industry.
“Our venue has been shut and hit pretty hard; we had to stand down our bar manager for a few months and our other staff,” he says.
“We know how it is and it’s obviously a harder for a lot of other people who don’t have the backup of being able to produce beer and spirits.”
As explored in this article published yesterday, while venues are reopening across the country the future of the local beer industry remains unclear and fragile. For James, who spent years running the marketing for Mornington Peninsula Brewery before switching over to travel (one industry even harder hit than beer) he says times remain challenging for both the venues that Boatrocker supplies and their fellow brewers.
Having started at Boatrocker a few months ago as venues were closing, James says there is still ongoing concern for the future of venues and breweries, particularly after JobKeeper ends and rent, excise and other bills need to be paid.
“There’s places that can’t open and are just going to get forgotten about,” he says. “The more that we can try and buffer that with supporting Keeping Local Alive and getting people to go to their local brewery, just to pick up a six-pack or something like that if they can’t be open [the better].
“Go and buy whatever they can from their local. That will hopefully save a few businesses from having to shut up shop.”
The Local Helper Hospo raffle is running from now until June 10 and you can buy tickets here.
As part of the #keepinglocalalive campaign we're running Postcards from the Edge stories, highlighting the ways in which people are adapting to survive. If you've got a story you think is suitable – or have something to add to the campaign resources online – get in touch.
Please note: any funds donated to the Keeping Local Alive campaign – thus far from Lallemand Brewing, profits from the t-shirts from Short Batch and this raffle – are being used 100 percent to cover campaign costs, such as graphic design, website design, postage and so on. The Crafty Pint team is donating time to the campaign for free.
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
