BOZEMAN — At MAP Brewing Company, they’re talking about water. That's because of the Bozeman brewery's recent partnership with the Gallatin Watershed Council to create Earth to Beer, a hoppy blonde ale in honor of Earth Day.
“The campaign is called the Earth to Beer campaign. About 35 breweries are participating across the country, I think representing about 20 states. And it's basically a campaign to spread awareness and support the Earth Day initiative,” says Tucker Gill, marketing and events coordinator for MAP Brewing.
Breweries across the nation are partnering with local environmental organizations that celebrate Earth Day every day.
“The focus and the goal is to make sure all the ingredients that go into this beer are sustainable or locally sourced ingredients,” says Gill.
MAP Brewing’s Earth to Beer will be brewed with local malted barley from Gallatin Valley Malt and Montana Craft Malt, and certified Salmon-safe Citra and Azacca hops from Roy Farms. All these ingredients will create a hoppy blonde ale, which Gill describes as light and citrusy.
“As a brewery, we use so much water that we thought it was kind of a good partnership to pick an organization that focuses on watershed health in the area,” says Gill.
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According to the Montana Manufacturing Extension Center, Montana Breweries use around 139 million gallons of fresh water per year. MAP Brewing is aware of this and decided to partner with GWC, the Gallatin Watershed Council.
“The Gallatin Watershed Council guides collaborative watershed stewardship in the Gallatin Valley for healthy and productive landscape,” says Tess Parker, community engagement manager for GWC.
For 20 years, GWC has supported the sustainability and health of the Lower Gallatin Watershed through collaborative partnerships, community education, restoration efforts, and individual empowerment. Tess tells me members of this nonprofit cannot wait for the release of Earth to Beer.
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“We’re really excited about it. The staff got a tour of the brewery a couple weeks ago to see how the beer is made and get all of the science behind it,” she says.
On top of raising awareness for the GWC nonprofit, MAP is going out of its way to have Earth to Beer on tap for longer than other breweries to raise more money for this great cause.
“Most of the breweries that are participating in this are releasing the beer on Earth Day. We’ll have this beer actually all the way through June, which is awesome, and then we’ll be donating 50 cents for every pint we sell in the tap room to the Gallatin Watershed Council” Gill says.
This Thursday, April 4, MAP will host a release party for Earth to Beer. At the release party, a dollar for every pint will be donated to GWC to kick off their partnership.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for not only us to support a local nonprofit environmental organization but for the community to be able to come in and make a donation just by drinking some beer,” says Gill.
