More than 1,200 breweries in less than a week stood up when Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. asked the brewing community for help following the devastating wild fires that recently ravaged parts of northern California. The brewery not only decided to brew a beer and donate 100 percent of the proceeds to those in need but also officially published the recipe of their Resilience Butte County Proud IPA and asked other brewers to follow the example.
Earlier this week on “Giving Tuesday,” already one thousand breweries around the country had announced to follow the positive example and started brewing the beer. The beers will soon show up in pubs and on supermarket shelves and the breweries hope that people across the country will also support the initiative. Sierra Nevada Brewing posted a list of all breweries and their locations on its website.
Sierra Nevada Brewing is based in Chico, part of Butte County, California, just 15 miles west of Paradise, the town that was devastated by the camp fire. Ken Grossman, founder, owner and president of Sierra Nevada, said in a letter addressed to the other brewers: “We are working with malt, hop and yeast suppliers to provide raw ingredient donations to all participating breweries and are asking those breweries to donate 100 percent of their sales to the fund, as well.”
He said that he hoped "to get Resilience IPA in taprooms all over the country to create a solid start for our community’s future." But the reaction of his fellow brewers might have even overwhelmed him. In an act of solidarity, which was never seen in the industry before, over one thousand breweries, including such big names as Bell’s Brewery,Blue Moon Brewing, Goose Island Beer, Kona Brewing, New Belgium Brewing, Oskar Blues Brewery and Stone Brewing, have pledged to make their own batches of Resilience Butte County Proud IPA.
“Since 1996, we’ve been tremendously proud to be a part of this incredible community known as craft beer, and that is especially true on this #GivingTuesday as we join our compatriots in the industry to help those impacted by the #CampFire in Northern California,” posted Stone Brewing on Twitter.
Also Goose Island Brewery responded the call immediately: “We are answering the call started by our friends at @sierranevada and brewing #ResilienceIPA to support the Butte County community.”
"This is a great idea spearheaded by a great indie craft brewing pioneer supporting a great cause," said Sam Calagione, co-founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery.
"I’m quite sure that it’s both the largest-ever collaboration and the biggest industry charity ever," said Garrett Oliver, brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery.
For those, who still want to join the initiative, here is the recipe, which was downscaled for a 5-gallon (19 l) batch:
Sierra Nevada Resilience Butte County Proud IPA
ALL-GRAIN
- Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
- OG: 1.065 (16°P)
- FG: 1.016 (3.9°P)
- IBUs: 64
- SRM: 11
- ABV: 6.3%
MALT/GRAIN BILL
- 11 lb (4.99 kg) Rahr 2-row (90%)
- 1.25 lb (567 g) Crisp Crystal 60L (11%)
HOPS SCHEDULE
- 1 oz (28 g) Centennial hops at 80 minutes (33 IBU)
- 1 oz (28 g) Cascade hops at 15 minutes (8.5 IBU)
- 1 oz (28 g) Centennial hops at 15 minutes (15.5 IBU)
- 0.5 oz (14 g) Cascade hops at whirlpool (2.6 IBU)
- 0.5 oz (14 g) Centennial hops at whirlpool (4.7 IBU)
- 0.5 oz (14 g) Cascade hops at dry hop (0 IBU)
- 0.5 oz (14 g) Centennial hops at dry hop (0 IBU)
YEAST
- Imperial Organic Yeast (A24 Dry Hop) or an American ale yeast of your choice
DIRECTIONS
- Mash the grains at 152°F (70°C) for 60 minutes. If you are including a mash-out step, raise the temperature to 168°F (76°C) and hold for 10 minutes. Sparge with 168°F (76°C) water to collect 6.53 gallons (24.7 liters) of wort. Boil for 80 minutes, following the hops schedule. At flame-out, stir the wort to cool slightly and add the whirlpool hops. Let rest for 20 minutes before chilling the wort to slightly below fermentation temperature. Aerate the wort with pure oxygen or filtered air and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 60–62°F (15–16°C).
- Add the dry hops toward the end of active fermentation, when the SG is about 1.020–1.024. Let rest for 4 days or until fermentation is complete. Cold crash to drop the hops out of solution. Rack to secondary or keg.
- Extract Option: For the 2-row, substitute 8.5 lb (3.85 kg) of pale liquid malt extract or 7 lb (3.2 kg) pale dry malt extract. Steep the crystal malt in the brew pot for 20 minutes at 167°F (75°C).
- After steeping, remove the specialty grains and bring the water to a boil. Add the malt extract. When adding malt extract, it is recommended that you turn off or remove the heat so as not to scorch the extract on the bottom of the pot.
