Beverages that Give Back
Next time you #drinklocal, why not consider a business that also gives back to the community? Thanks to a number of craft breweries and distilleries in Northeast Florida, you can help support local nonprofits while imbibing your favorite adult beverages.
Intuition Ale Works, which recently celebrated its 11th anniversary, is one brewery that partners with a nonprofit in its neighborhood. In 2021, the company created Outeast Lager to help support the Historic Eastside Community Development Corporation (CDC), an organization serving Jacksonville’s Eastside, or Outeast, a historically African American neighborhood east of Downtown and Springfield. The Historic Eastside CDC is “the formal neighborhood organization that serves as the resource and liaison to preserve and transform the Eastside (Outeast) neighborhood through equitable community development by improving access to affordable housing, social services,” according to Suzanne Pickett, its President and CEO.
Brad Lange, Intuition’s COO, says the beer came about because “we moved to Bay Street in 2016 with the goal of being a catalyst for development in the area. Our five years downtown have been incredible in so many ways. But during the process of self-reflection, we realized that we hadn't done enough to give back to the Eastside neighborhood that we are a part of.”
“After some brainstorming, we thought it'd be great to brew a year-round beer that celebrated the deep history and vibrant culture of the neighborhood,” Lange says. “But just brewing a beer is easy. We wanted it to be something special that could raise money and awareness for a nonprofit that was making a significant impact in the neighborhood.” Outeast Lager is now available year-round in Intuition’s taproom, with the brewery donating $1 from every pint sold to the Historic Eastside CDC. Since launching it in June, Lange says the brewery has sold nearly 4,000 pints, making it one of the best-selling beers in its taproom. Intuition’s goal is to sell 10,000 pints in 2022.
Lange says, “our Outeast Lager will raise money, but just as importantly, I hope that it continues to raise awareness and help educate folks about the effort to revitalize the Eastside. Incorporating ‘Outeast’ into the city's lexicon and talking about the neighborhood positively is a really powerful way to change the way it is perceived. Since the beer has launched, our bartenders and staff have taken so much pride in telling taproom visitors about the neighborhood and what the Historic Eastside CDC is doing. To us the beer is several things: it is a celebration of the neighborhood's history, and a way to raise resources that can contribute to the large-scale effort to make positive change.”
Intuition is also planning to launch Outeast in the market in 2022, which would make it available in bars and restaurants around Jacksonville. Pickett says the funds raised by Intuition, which she calls a “great model for positive community engagement,” are being used to assist low- to moderate-income residents and families through social services provided at SHINE, the neighborhood’s community resource center. “It is important for businesses within the community to be a part of the community, a good neighbor,” says Pickett. “Communities thrive when we all work together towards a common goal.”
Intuition’s neighbor, Manifest Distillery, also launched an ongoing charitable program called Uplifting Spirits in 2021 with a rotating list of beneficiaries. David Cohen, Manifest’s President and Head Distiller, says that with the launch of their customer-facing venue,The Cocktail Room this past September, “it gave us the space – physical and mental – to formalize our longstanding relationship with our community. Since opening in 2015, we have partnered with many local nonprofits including Delores Barr Weaver Foundation, North Florida School of Special Education, Operation New Uniform and Jax Naval Ship Federation, but it has always been somewhat reactionary. Uplifting Spirits allowed us to formalize a program to spotlight charities in our community that are doing really important work for North Florida first.”
Since the program’s launch in September, Manifest has partnered with a different nonprofit each month, and donates a portion of sales proceeds to it from The Cocktail Room. The Distillery also donates use of its venue space to the selected organization for events and programming and highlights its mission both onsite and via social media.
Like Intuition, Manifest started close to home with LIFT JAX, a nonprofit composed of business and community leaders working to eradicate generational poverty in Jacksonville. Proceeds from The Cocktail Room supported LIFT JAX’s ongoing efforts to implement the Purpose Built Communities model in the Eastside, for which it partners with the Historic Eastside CDC.
Other beneficiaries of Manifest’s program include Jacksonville AIDS Memorial Project, the Jacksonville Naval Museum and the Florida Theatre. In 2022, the company plans to support Yellow House (January), White Oak Conservation (February) and Operation New Uniform (March), with more on tap.
Hope McMath, Director and Founder of Yellow House in Riverside, says she plans to use the funds from the Manifest partnership to “feed our Community Cart, a place of dignity on our front lawn that is a mutual aid space for giving and receiving. Every day it is populated by fresh produce from regional farms, art supplies, books, hygiene items and information on everything from vaccination sites to voting in local elections. So Manifest will help us be a place for sustenance in all its forms.”
By working with multiple nonprofits, Cohen hopes to expand the reach and scope of the partnerships he creates along the way. “Working with more than one charity for the year allows us to spread our resources across many,” he says. “As the program grows we hope to be able to partner with some of the same charities year after year.” As of December 2021, Cohen says the Uplifting Spirits program had raised just under $4,000, and that he hopes to raise $16,000 in 2022.
By no means are these types of partnerships limited to just Intuition and Manifest. Many other area breweries and distilleries support nonprofits in myriad ways, particularly by donating their venues for fundraisers and other events and products for auctions. Dog Rose Brewing Company in St. Augustine has even created a nonprofit of its own, Brewing a Community. So next time you’re in the mood to raise a glass, choose one that will make a difference in the community.
