BrewDog launches climate change protest beer
All proceeds from the brewery’s new Make Earth Great Again beer will be donated to 10:10 Climate Action – a charity lobbying for legislative changes to tackle climate change.
Everything about the new beer is designed to raise awareness and spark conversation around climate change. The water for the beer is sourced from melting Arctic glaciers, while the ingredients include endangered Arctic cloudberries.
The beer is a saison, a style that is fermented at a higher temperature than any other beer style – a nod to the effects of global warming, and its label features a polar bear fighting with a robot version of Donald Trump.
The brewery has also sent a case of Make Earth Great Again bottles to The White House, in an attempt to capture the attention of the US President, following America’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.
'Beer is a universal language'
BrewDog co-founder James Watt said: “Make Earth Great Again is a reaction to declining interest from notable world leaders to the biggest issues facing our planet and civilisation.
“Beer is a universal language with the capacity to make an impact the world over. We decided to make a statement and brew a beer that could have a direct, positive impact on climate change both through supporting an organisation making a difference and providing a vehicle for craft beer fans to make their voices heard by the establishment.”
10:10 Climate Action’s director of communications Alice Bell added: “At 10:10, we often say that one of the more powerful things you can do to tackle climate change is talk about it. And what better way to start those conversations than a bottle of beer?
“There is an odd silence when it comes to climate change. Perhaps, understandably, we don’t want to think about it too much. But this silence makes it harder for us know what the problems and solutions really are, and keeps the pressure off people who could help change things.”
Life-size polar bear
Beer fans can visit BrewDog’s bar in Shoreditch, east London, from 6pm on Wednesday 1 November to buy a schooner (2/3 of a pint) of Make Earth Great Again poured from a beer tap built into a life-size replica polar bear.
Bottles of the beer are available to buy at BrewDog.com and across the brewery’s bars around the world.
BrewDog has recently launched the fifth round of its record-breaking equity crowdfunding scheme Equity for Punks. The brewery is aiming to raise at least £10m with a stretched goal of £50m to fund ongoing growth and expansion.
Last week in an interview with The Morning Advertiser, co-founder James Watt defended the price of the brewery's beer in supermarkets, claiming it was "twice as expensive" as industrial beer, and suggested that pubs needed to up their game if they wanted to stay in business.
