Beer brings people together. From the ancient Sumerians drinking beer through straws out of clay pots, to friends and neighbors discussing the day’s events at the local pub, to local breweries gathering together to support another brewery through a devastating loss. Beer brings people together.

Back on March 25th, Common Roots Brewing Company, in South Glen Falls, NY, had just broken ground on a new expansion, beer was flowing in the taproom and the business was growing. But a little after 7pm a fire broke out in a corner of the building and suddenly everything changed. Luckily, the employees and guests that were there that night were able to escape without injury, but the business suffered major losses.

This is where the story takes a turn for the better. Almost immediately there was an outpouring of support from the local community and specifically from other brewers around the South Glen Falls area and NY state. Breweries like Big aLICe Brewing in NYC, who were scheduled to brew a collaboration beer, decided to continue with the brew and donate the profits to Common Roots family. Singlecut Beersmiths, having recently opened their new taproom in Clifton Park is organizing a festival with money going to the employees of Common Roots, who were left without jobs after the brewery burned.

There are over 7,000 breweries in the United States now. One would think that competition between breweries would be at an…