Beer for our Troops!

USCGC Unimak, the boat my dad served on

Now days, it seems we are constantly being hit up or propositioned to help out people in need of support. We can’t walk out of a supermarket without being asked to buy Boy Scout popcorn (which I did buy some yesterday by the way), Girl Scout cookies, or asked to put change in a jar to help this person or that, or getting called during dinner to give to this cause or that cause. It’s hard; most of us don’t have enough money to contribute to every cause or event we would like, so we have to pick and choose carefully who gets our support. Many of us find a cause that is close to our hearts, that has some sort of personal connections to us, and concentrate most of our time, energy and money on that cause. Be it breast cancer, the environment, helping special needs children etc. One cause that I seem to be drawn to is helping support the veterans and families of our military. Never having served myself, I am a huge fan of Naval and Military Aviation history, and I do come from a Navy / Coast Guard family. My dad, a lot of my uncle’s, and grandfather, even my father in law all proudly served in the Navy and Coast Guard. I just feel organizations like "Wounded Warrior Project" do great work, for very deserving people.

How does this relate to beer? Well, I sort of stumbled onto this by accident. I have heard of some breweries making special brew’s that portions or all of the proceeds go to helping these causes. A friend of mine told me about "50 Back" beer over the summer, and since then, I’ve been keeping an eye out for a beer in my area (she is in Mass, I am in Arizona). I hadn’t really searched to long, or honestly, all too hard for one as of yet, but it was something I was thinking about. The other night, I was at Whole Foods, and noticed a Christmas Brew in the sale bin. I saw a great label on a beer; and it was marked at only $4.99 (anyone that has ever shopped for beer at Whole Foods will know this is a bargain!). Christmas beer is among my favorite seasonal style of beer, so I snatched it up. A few nights later, my wife and I opened it up, and I poured us each a glass. I was checking out the label, when I noticed that the label stated that the profits of this product go to support Veterans groups of Iraq and Afghanistan. I was pleasantly surprised. This one almost literally fell into my lap, and I couldn’t have been happier about it.

However, I was even more pleasantly surprised when I tasted it! This was a great beer; it had a great spicy nose to it. It was a very balanced, enjoyable beer. With a generous dose of both hops and malt, and a great mix of spices, it is a great Christmas beer! It’s listed as an American Brown Ale, however, it does drink a little heavier than a standard brown ale, and has a slightly sour, Belgian funk to it, that for me, made it very interesting. I was surprised, and a little disappointed to see it score only a B- on Beer Advocate, since this does drink and taste like a very well crafted, balanced beer to me.

Some High and Mighty Brews

I did a little looking into the beer, and I learned it is made by High and Mighty Brewing Company; the beer itself is brewed at Paper City Brewery), in Holyoke Mass. I am not familiar with this company at all, so I can’t offer up any info on them, however, I can tell you they do have a very enjoyable, albeit limited website. Seems like a fun company, that I would like to learn more about, and try some more of their product.

So please, seek this beer out, or 50 Back, and enjoy them, often, they are very good beers, that go to a great cause. I do ask a favor, if anyone out there reads this, and knows of other beers that contribute to veterans organizations, or any other organizations that are near and dear to your heart, please drop me a line, and let me know about them, I would love to learn more, and try more of these beers. What better way to help a good cause, then by doing something we love to do on a regular basis.