It may well be a year most want to forget yet, despite all the hardship, there’s been plenty of moments in which people and businesses have found inspiring ways to support those in need.
Maybe those of us in the midst of if wear rose-tinted spectacles but the craft beer industry does seem particularly adept in this area, whether it's uniting behind those devastated by bushfires at the start of the year, or the many networks created to support people impacted by COVID-19.
In an industry in which many promote positive agendas, whether through sustainable practices or myriad social causes, there's no shortage of beers you could pull together to help make a difference. And that's exactly what the team at Melbourne’s Local Brewing Co have done: curating some of that excellent work into one box full of good beer in the shape of Social Tinnies.
The Christmas gift pack features 16 beers from ten different breweries, with Local Brewing’s co-founder Nick Campbell saying the packs were created as a way to showcase what many beer businesses are up to.
“As a brewery that’s always played in the social impact space, we really want to be able to showcase other breweries that are trying to make a difference,” he says.
While the economic reality of this year means fewer people are in a position to donate, it can mean businesses who focus on social causes need to work harder to find support.
“I think it’s up to us to look at more innovative ways to raise money and get behind businesses that have a social conscience," Nick says, "and we think beer is a great vehicle to do that.”
Since launching close to 18 months ago, the brewing company formerly known as A Local Beer have regularly connected with other breweries who share a similar ethos; so here they wanted the case to include a mix of breweries that focus on a range of causes.
Some, like Local Brewing’s partnership with SecondBite to provide meals to those in need, or Brewmanity's long-running fundraising for the fight against Motor Neurone Disease (MND), focus on specific causes. For others, such as Bright Brewery, the focus is on brewing beer as sustainably as possible.
“There are other breweries where it’s not part of their key messaging but they’re doing some incredible activities,” Nick says. “Like Stomping Ground with their men’s health angle.”
Every brewery involved is independent; joining Local Brewing are Stone & Wood, Stomping Ground, Hop Nation, Hawkers, Urban Alley, Bright Brewery, Brick Lane, Brewmanity and Good Beer Co. In April, Good Beer Co partnered with various independent breweries to launch the A Good Beer Always Helps campaign to put four-packs into the hands of essential workers, which later morphed into its own fundraising beer pack with the support of craft business-accelerator Founders First.
For Local Brewing Co, Social Tinnies caps off a busy few weeks. Last week, they completed their rebranded from A Local Beer with a new look and core range featuring the Sunset XPA, Pacific Paradise and Runaway IPA. Nick says they’ve also been looking for a home for the company, ideally in the postcode of 3121 which takes in Richmond, Cremorne and Burnley.
Largely, their brewing is done at Burnley Brewing’s production site, but Nick says they hope to find the right location for their own home soon.
“We all live here, we started the business here, and our office is here, so it’s pretty important to us to keep within the same suburb.”
Social Tinnies are available from today from here and will run until December 14, to ensure the beers have plenty of time to make it into stockings. Local's latest collab in support of SecondBite is the Watermelon Crush brewed with Burnley, which you can read about here.
Members of our beer club, The Crafty Cabal, can also try to get their hands on a Socials Tinnies case in our latest beer ballot. Log in (or sign up if you're not a member) here, where you'll also be able to save 10% on the cases too if you want to get behind the cause!
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
