Australian craft brewers are getting on board with a global beer project designed to show solidarity with war-torn Ukraine.
The initiative kicked off last year, spearheaded by Ukrainian-born Naz Drebot, who helped start a brewery in the US in 2015 and now runs his own 2085 Brewery in Kyiv.
When Russia invaded Ukraine last year, more than 30 brewers in the US, UK, Poland, and Hungary banded together to a brew a special Kellerbier (a cloudy German-style lager) that Drebot had helped create the recipe for (called the Resolve Freedom India Pale Kellerbier), with proceeds going to humanitarian efforts in the war-torn country.
Now, in conjunction with the Adelaide Beer and Barbecue Festival (ABBF), which made contact with Drebot and his 2085 Brewery, Aussie craft beer outfits Little Bang Brewing Company and Mismatch Brewing Company from South Australia, Co-Conspirators Brewing Co from Victoria, Batch Brewing Co. from New South Wales, and Range Brewing from Queensland are getting in on the act through the Resolve Collab Series.
Each will create their own take on the Resolve Kellerbier – using Drebot’s recipe as a starting point – for next weekend’s Beer and BBQ Festival at the Adelaide Showground, and to be available to the general public after that.
According to ABBF director Gareth Lewis, all profit from sales of Resolve beers at the festival go directly to benefit the Global Empowerment Mission, which provides emergency aid inside Ukraine to the fighters and families who have stayed behind, as well as humanitarian aid to the women and children trying to cross the border into Poland.
“There is a movement within the beer industry to make these beers and raise awareness with what’s happening in Ukraine and this was a really good opportunity to be involved in it,” says Jacqui Sacco, director of marketing and PR at Co-Conspirators. “Being independent brewers ourselves, we are all about collaborating – that’s where our name came from.”
Sacco says that the Co-Conspirators creation – a dry-hopped take on the Kellerbier, which features a cartoon version of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on the can – reflected the company’s broader approach.
“We like to hop things pretty aggressively and we do a lot of hazy pales and IPAs,” she says. “We’ve called ours The Freedom Fighter, which we are pretty happy with.”
Sacco says that she and her colleagues had hoped to create the beer alongside Drebot, who was due to fly into Melbourne in May. Sadly, the ongoing war has meant that he hasn’t been able to leave Ukraine – some of his staff have been called up to fight and others of fighting age remain on standby ¬ and the brewery has had to be moved from the capital to escape the constant bombing.
“It’s just inconceivable thinking about them having to down tools and fight for their country so they weren’t able to leave Ukraine,” says Sacco. “That was really upsetting – we really wanted to meet them. We’re just a little brewery in Brunswick and we’re extremely lucky not to have to think about not being able to leave the country because you have to fight for it. It puts a lot of things in perspective and that’s the main reason we wanted to be involved.”
For Lewis, the ABBF initiative is not just about raising money for Ukraine, it’s also about showing solidarity in the face of adversity.
“ABBF believes this series really does highlight the power of unity and solidarity behind the principal of democracy, one that Ukrainians are fervently defending against odds every day,” Davis says.
“2085 … is passionate about brewing and about their country. They have not stopped brewing since the war begun in early 2022 and their resolve to continue to collaborate and spread the word through the medium of beer is beyond admirable. Personally we can’t wait for a time that it is safe to visit our Ukrainian mates and are proud to be supporting and educating in the small way that we are able.”
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Originally published as How drinking beer can help war-torn Ukraine thanks to Aussie craft brewers’ outpouring of sympathy