Snail Ale
Tents the size of football fields decorated with lights, garlands, and Alpine scenery. Thousands of people elbow to elbow eating giant pretzels, Bratwurst, and Steckerlfisch. Hours of non-stop music, dancing, and entertainment. A sea of lederhosen and dirndls. And most importantly, beer. Lots of beer.
Alas, the annual Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany — started in 1810 to celebrate the wedding of Crownprince Ludwig to Princess Therese, and continued for two centuries (and counting) to celebrate Bavarian culture — has been cancelled this year. As have Oktoberfest-inspired events across the world, perhaps even at a brewery near you.
While you can’t have beer in giant tents with thousands of other people this fall, you can still have beer. In fact, you can have beer that makes you feel better about all the cancelled festivities. Not just because it triggers that happy feeling in your brain — because it helps the planet.
Take the new endangered species ale produced by Critz Farms in Cazenovia, New York. The brewery will donate a portion of proceeds from beer sales to support recovery efforts for the Chittenango ovate amber snail.
“We are so excited to have Critz support the Chit!,” said Robyn Niver, an endangered species biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s New York Field Office. “Local partnerships are essential for endangered species conservation and you can’t get much more local than this one.” The entire known population (approximately 100 individuals) of this thumbnail-size invertebrate is found at Chittenango Falls State Park, just eight miles north of the brewery.
Other beers help raise awareness about environmental threats, like the invasive species stout produced by First Magnitude Brewing Company in Gainesville, Florida, which features an image of a Burmese python on the label. These exotic snakes have wreaked havoc on the native mammals in the Everglades by swallowing them whole. Gulp.
Some beers focus on the big conservation picture. Alaskan Brewing Company in Juneau, Alaska, donates one percent of sales from their Icy Bay IPA — brewed with glacial-fed water — to a program that supports clean waterways and ocean health.
Craft brewers across the U.S. are going above and beyond to support conservation through fundraising, outreach, advocacy, and even structural changes to make their facilities more sustainable.
Why? Partly because it’s in their best interest: good beer requires good water. And like wine, beer can have terroir — flavors characteristic of underlying geology or local ingredients, and an identify defined by a particular place. Think Sierra Nevada.
For many brewers, this reliance on high quality-natural resources and strong sense of place amount to a conservation mandate. And they recognize that their product offers a unique conservation opportunity. Beer brings people together at festivals, but it can also bring people together around a cause.
Here is just a taste of the many brew-gooders around the U.S. who are using their craft to support fish, wildlife, and their habitats. This Oktoberfest, raise a glass to them. Ideally, a glass full of beer that helps some kind of critter. Prost!
Eastern U.S.
Allagash Brewing, Portland, Maine
One of the founding members of the Maine Brewshed Alliance, a coalition of brewers and the Natural Resources Council of Maine committed to protecting waterways, Allagash pledged to donate 10 cents for every barrel of beer sold to Sebago Clean Waters, a partnership focusing on watershed health through forest conservation in the most densely populated region of Maine.
Cisco Brewers, Nantucket, Massachusetts
This brewery based in the epicenter of whaling history launched an “Ales for Whales” program to support the nonprofit Whale and Dolphin Conservation through all of its retail sales. Cisco has also paired up with a OCEARCH, a nonprofit that collects data on ocean processes and life, to produce the Shark Tracker Light Lager to raise money for research on these misunderstood marine predators.
Full Pint Brewing, North Versailles, Pennsylvania
A pint of Full Pint’s Little Brown Ale raises awareness and funds to support the little brown bat, which like many populations of hibernating bat species, has declined due to white-nose syndrome.
Highland Brewing Company, Ashville, North Carolina
For more than a decade, this brewery nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains has donated a portion of proceeds from its seasonal release parties to the Southern Appalachians Highlands Conservancy, and organized partner hikes to celebrate each season.
First Magnitude, Gainesville, Florida
First Magnitude has produced several beers in partnership with the Florida Museum of Natural History to support butterfly conservation, including the Frosted Elfin New England-Style Session Pale Ale. Their beers also raise awareness about invasive species, like the Foreign Extra Stout featuring a Burmese python on the label, and threats to water quality, like the Saltwater Intrusion Gose.
Central U.S.
Metazoa Brewing, Indianapolis, Indiana
Their motto sums it up: Drink Beer. Help Animals. The brewery donates five percent of profits to animal and wildlife organizations, ranging from an exotic animal rescue center in Northern Indiana to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee.
Zipline Brewing, Omaha, Nebraska
Zipline has supported wildlife conservation by raising awareness through its Zoo Brews series — featuring Rock Hopper Boch, Snow Leopard Wit, and African Elephant XPA — developed in collaboration with Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.
Flyway Brewing, North Little Rock, Arkansas
Not only is the brewery named for the largest bird migratory route in the Americas, the Mississippi Flyway, it helps protect stopover sites for birds along this corridor by raising money and awareness, including through its Audubon Happy Hours.
Upslope Brewing, Boulder, Colorado
“Last time we checked, when it comes to places to fish, hike, or crack a craft beer, there is no planet B,” notes this brewer on its website. That’s why Upslope donates one percent of its Craft Lager can sales to local chapters of Trout Unlimited to support their work to conserve, protect and restore cold-water fisheries and watersheds.
Western U.S.
Pelican Brewery, Pacific City, Oregon
Pelican donates a portion of proceeds from every barrel sold of Five Fin West Pilsner directly to the Salmon Super Highway Project, an effort to restore access to almost 180 miles of blocked aquatic habitat throughout six major salmon and steelhead rivers of Oregon’s North Coast.
North Coast Brewing, Fort Bragg, California
North Coast is intent on making the world a better place “one pint at a time.” Or sometimes, one case at a time. For every case or keg of North Coast Steller IPA sold, the brewery makes a contribution to the North Coast Marine Mammal Fund, which is directed to organizations that focus on marine and marine-mammal research.
Night Lizard, Santa Barbara, California
Named after a lizard found on the Channel Islands that was once on the federal endangered species list, this brewery is dedicated to educating the public about environmental challenges facing the central coast one pint at a time. Each beer is named after a species of concern in the region, from the Callipe Kombucha, for the Callipe silverspot butterfly, to the Fairy Shrimp Smash IPA, for the vernal pool fairy shrimp.
Alaskan Brewing Company, Juneau, Alaska
This brewery in the state with more miles of coastline than any other (6,5000) supports its coastal resources by donating one percent of sales from their Icy Bay IPA to the Coastal CODE program, which focused on healthy oceans and waterways.
