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Beer to the Rescue raises $50,000 for Lupus Foundation

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b2tr_01 In 2014, I was diagnosed with lupus after several years steadily suffering wide-ranging symptoms of this auto-immune disease. Being a chronic condition, I continue to struggle with it, but 2015 offered uplifting rays of hope courtesy of nearly 40 breweries contributing to the Beer to the Rescue campaign. And thanks to the immense efforts of those brewing companies and the many people who helped local lupus sufferers simply by drinking some amazing beers, nearly $50,000 was raised in the program’s inaugural year. That money went directly to the Lupus Foundation of Southern California (LFSC), a non-profit organization assisting lupus victims in San Diego and Imperial Counties. Funds raised will help support day-to-day operations, continue its existing local support and education programs (all of which are provide to lupus sufferers free-of-charge), fund lupus research and establish a scholarship grant.

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Oceanside Ale Works had custom glassware created for its beer-release fundraiser

I came up with the idea for Beer to the Rescue shortly after receiving my diagnosis. I was determined to do more than let this little-known, under-researched disease take from me without attempting to do something positive to help myself and others in my shoes. The idea was to reach out to San Diego County breweries and gauge their interest in brewing special beers to help raise funds for the LFSC. If there’s one thing I know about our local brewers it’s that, in addition to making exceptional beer, they have proven time and time again how enthusiastic they are about jumping in and helping worthy causes. I just hoped they’d view Beer to the Rescue as a worthwhile endeavor. To the great pleasure of myself and the LFSC, many did. Over 90% of the breweries that I contacted agreed to participate. More than that, once news got out about the campaign, a number of additional breweries got in touch with me and graciously offered to take part. This year saw more than 45 events support this campaign. Many were release parties for the specialty fundraising beers that were created for Beer to the Rescue (many of which were spotlighted in Beer of the Week coverage via West Coaster), but businesses’ generosity didn’t stop there.

b2tr_05Unable to fit fundraising beers into its brew schedule, Societe Brewing Co. made Beer to the Rescue its Charity of the Month for June, contributing a portion of proceeds earned each Tuesday of that month to the LFSC. Port Brewing Co./The Lost Abbey/The Hop Concept was in the same boat, so they simply wrote a check. Urge Gastropub contributed proceeds from a two-day tap-takeover, The Patio Restaurant Group held a special promotion during San Diego Beer Week and Quad Ale House held a special Beer to the Rescue-themed BeerNerdz pairing event. Meanwhile Stone Brewing Co. contributed a dollar from every tour at its Escondido brewery during the third quarter of 2015 and gave Beer to the Rescue its very own booth at the Stone 19th Anniversary Celebration & Invitational Beer Festival (the West Coast’s largest annual beer festival). Similarly, the campaign was given a spot at both the East County Craft Beer Invitational and San Diego Brewers Guild’s Rhythm and Brews fest.

But like so many things in San Diego, it was mostly about the beer. The following is the extensive list of widely varied and, often, experimental-to-the-point-of-courageous brews created or utilized to raise funds for Beer to the Rescue.

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Toolbox Brewing Co. bottled a blueberry sour, Brettanomyces-fermented beer and named it -X- Lupus after the government denied the name “X-Out Lupus,” accusing the brewery of claiming the beer was a cure for lupus (rest easy, feds, there’s still no cure for lupus)
The line for one of the bottled Beer to the Rescue beers
The line at the release of -X- Lupus

We made an attempt to explore as many styles as possible over the course of the campaign. Orange peel was an oft-used ingredient throughout the year because orange is the LFSC’s official color for lupus awareness. On a personal note, it was both an honor and privilege to be allowed to be deeply involved in so many of these beers. Most brewers asked what I wanted them to make (so some of those odd-balls, though successful, can’t be blamed on the pros), many let me help name them and some even let me spend a day at their facility creating the beer.

As a result, I have so many memories I’ll treasure for life: graining out in the bitter cold of Julian while watching the Chargers and brewing with Tom Nickel at Nickel Beer, learning the ways of Pizza Port’s unique OG brewhouse on a rainy day with Devon Randall, turning every valve and giving the mill a righteous polishing on command of Colby Chandler at Ballast Point’s Little Italy brewery, selecting just the right hops from Green Flash’s cooler with Chuck Silva, sampling passion fruit at Stone Farms, lugging 500 pounds of assorted fruits up a ladder and into the fermenter at Stone’s Liberty Station brewery-restaurant, breaking down palettes of fruit with LFSC volunteers at Council, being asked my thoughts on the spice blend for a Christmas beer at AleSmith, and so many more including all of the events. Each included its own mixture of friendly faces, be they brewers, amazing tasting room workers, smiling volunteers, long-time friends or strangers who became friends over the course of the year. Good people, good beer and good work done for a good cause. It just doesn’t get much better than that and I’m so thankful that so many came together to turn a simple vision into something extraordinary.

Adding hops to the Beer to the Rescue beer at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens - Liberty Station
Adding hops to the Beer to the Rescue beer at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station

That said, lupus is a cruel mistress with a hair-trigger. Physical exertion and stress are the main causes of lupus flare-ups, which are both painful and debilitating. Beer to the Rescue was a huge undertaking, due mostly to my ambition to make it as extensive as it eventually became. Handling most organizational aspects of it and doing all the brewing that I did was exhilarating and rewarding, but actually hurt my health more than anything in 2015. (And keeping up with two demanding full-time jobs didn’t help, of course.) That fact is as depressing as it sounds. It has become abundantly clear that, as much as I love what this campaign has accomplished, I will need to scale Beer to the Rescue back or leave the bulk of the work to the LFSC and the brewers. A number of the breweries that participated this year have volunteered to go again this year, and breweries that are opening this year have thrown their hats in the ring. So the show will go on, but at this time, it’s a little unclear exactly how. But I’ll figure it out, because it’s worth it even if it is detrimental in the short-term.

b2tr_06Bottom line is the LFSC and I owe all of this year’s headway and success to the magnificent members of San Diego’s brewing community, all of whom are too humble to take credit for doing all they did for us. But I have no problem making sure they get the credit they so richly deserve. And thank you to all of the kind people who supported this cause, be it at one event or 30. An extremely big thanks to those die-hards who made it their mission to attend so many events…that sort of dedication left us in awe. You made a difference that will be felt and appreciated by myself, the LFSC and lupus victims everywhere for a long time to come. Cheers to the positive impact, camaraderie and love that are some of the best fringe benefits of being involved in the San Diego craft beer community.