Who’s in for a round?
With the war continuing in Ukraine, brewers around the world are finding ways to help.
To do their part, Vancouver-area brewers gathered in late March to brew a special beer, a Ukrainian Golden Ale. The group, organized by PoCo Brothers Brewing’s head brewer Rick Dellow, tackled beer with a direct link to Ukraine.
“Rick from PoCo was instrumental in setting this up and putting the team together,” says Vancouver’s Main St. Brewing owner Nigel Pike, which also participated. “We’re really proud of what he’s done.”
It’s not just a style of beer that the group brewed, it’s a specific recipe from a brewery in the Ukrainian city of Lviv. Pravda Beer Theatre uploaded some of their best-known recipes for other breweries around the world to make and encouraged them to use the sales to make donations.
And that’s just what’ll happen with the locally brewed version. Proceeds from the Metro Vancouver brew will go to the World Central Kitchen (WCK), which is supporting and providing food to people in Ukraine during the war.
“They were struggling to find someone to translate it because all they got was this brew sheet and half the words didn’t make sense,” he says. “They managed to narrow it down.”
He notes that the interpretations will make for a Vancouver version of the beer now being brewed globally.
“It’s like recreating a dish from another country,” Pike says. “It’s always going to take on its own little unique style; Rick’s a good brewer, he’ll do them proud.”
Dellow is getting a lot of help along the way. Joining PoCo and Main Street either in brewing or other ways are R&B Brewing and Brassneck Brewery from Vancouver; Boardwalk Brewing and Tinhouse Brewing from Port Coquitlam; Deep Cove Brewers and Distillers in North Vancouver; and Five Roads Brewing Company out of Langley.
“We like to do these collaborative things with the other breweries,” says Pike. “We’ve been able to raise a lot of money for different causes over the years; that’s one thing about the brewing community, it comes together nicely and works together as a team.”
Soon the public will be able to do their part by buying pints of the golden ale at the breweries’ tasting rooms. Each of the participating places is ordering four kegs from PoCo brothers, with proceeds from that going to the donation. On top of that, when the beer is purchased at the breweries, an additional $2 per pint will be donated.
Pike estimates they’ll raise $1,400 per brewery, plus the proceeds from the kegs, meaning over $11,000 will likely be donated. He notes there are talks going on about a second round, but they’re not sure who would have room for the batch.
“We’re thinking (it’ll be on tap) the third week of April, depending on how it turns out,” he adds.
