Save the Reef one beer at a time
It's always been thirsty work rallying friends for a cause you believe in. So we decided to make it easier for everyone to make a difference. We made a beer that helps fund the good work of the Australian Marine Conservation Society to protect The Great Barrier Reef.
Our aptly named mid strength session IPA, Great Barrier Beer, was crafted for us by Bargara Brewing Company in Queensland.
It’s been selling really well across the state but now we need your help to choose the next style of Great Barrier Beer and ensure the rest of Australia can grab some glory.
We want to launch in Melbourne, Victoria, Sydney and New South Wales, so lots more beer drinkers can enjoy a good beer that gives back, and we can do a lot more good for our charity partners.
That's where you come in. By supporting this campaign you'll help us to sell our good beer across Australia (and you'll get first dibs on a carton or more of our next brew and some great rewards).
The Story So Far…
Australia’s first social enterprise beer company The Good Beer Co, was launched in November 2015 to make it easy for Australians to help solve the world’s problems one beer at a time.
The concept is really simple: we work with Australian craft brewers to brew good beers that profile good causes. We donate at least 50% of our profits and a clip of each beer sale to our charity partners and put them in front of a whole new audience.
Over 250 good people gathered at The Triffid in Brisbane to help launch our original crowd fund campaign for our first good beer that gives back - Great Barrier Beer. We voted with bottle tops on two different styles of beer and together we chose the branding.
After a long night of good beer sampling and voting, the result was a crisp and refreshing mid strength session Indian Pale Ale (IPA) and the bottle features an awesome label with artwork from street artist Fintan MaGee.
In February 2016 the first 500 cartons and 36 kegs of Great Barrier Beer were brewed in Bundy overseen by Jack Milbank, owner and Andrew Clark, Head Brewer, at eco friendly Bargara Brewing Company in Queensland.
We served up the first 5 kegs at the Sustainable Living Festival in Melbourne and quickly followed up with a Great Barrier Beer launch at the iconic Brewski Bar in Brisbane, where owner and local craft beer legend, Matt Emerson, said it was the fastest two kegs of beer he’d ever sold.
Since then we’ve been taste tested by the Prime Minister, launched by the Queensland Minister for the Great Barrier Reef, used to promote the Reef as a tourist destination at events in Los Angeles and London and ranked one of the best craft beers to come out of Queensland.
Great Barrier Beer has been stocked in 100 BWS stores and over 30 amazing independent pubs, bars, bottle shops, restaurants and hotels across Queensland from Lady Elliot Island 80 km out on the Reef to Esquire restaurant in the heart of Brisbane’s CBD.
We've come a long way since we brewed our first batch of Great Barrier Beer. But it’s not enough.
To make a real impact, we need to sell a lot of beer. That means we need to be stocked in bars, pubs, bottle shops, hotels and restaurants across the whole of Australia.
So how do we do that?
We launch in Melbourne and Sydney, to bring our beer to hundreds of thousands of new beer drinkers.
And we create more beer - different styles of Great Barrier Beer for every occasion.
And this is where you come in!
We need your support to get our good beer that gives back into pubs, bars, bottle shops, restaurants and hotels across Victoria and New South Wales.
We'll use your donation/funds we'll brew the next Great Barrier Beer.
And we need you to help choose the next style of Great Barrier Beer, and the label that goes with it.
We’ve worked with our awesome craft brewery partners for Great Barrier Beer, Bargara Brewing Company, to come up with three amazing choices for our next beer.
Each of our 3 options is backed by a superstar chef who all want this to happen so much they’re competing for your vote:
Vote Spencer Patrick: Vote Kolsch
Backed by award winning chef Spencer Patrick, owner of Harrisons restaurant in Port Douglas. At 4% and 20 IBU it starts with a light straw, almost floral nose. As it warms up, the melon honey sweetness persuade your palette that there might be some ripe melon notes as they start to peek through, though there is no noticeable hops in the aroma. It has a nice, light biscuit/grainy flavor and a light sweetness with a sharp but delicate hop bitterness and flavour to back it up. It is bubbly and light, and leaves you with a mild sweetness of summer and a nice bitter bite on the tongue. Honey will be collected direct from the melon fields of the Bundaberg Region.
Vote Ryan Squires: Vote Blonde
Backed by award winning chef Ryan Squires, owner of three hatted Esquire restaurant is the Antipodean Blonde. Vote for Ryan and the Blonde and we’ll brew a beautiful Antipodean Blonde beer. At 4.2 percent and 25 IBU the NZ Motueka hops exhibit a very subtle lemon and lime tone derived from it’s saaz origins. Australian Pale malt provides a smooth base to this dry Antipodean style Blonde.
Vote Ben O' Donoghue: Vote Cider
Backed by legendary Aussie chef Ben O’Donoghue, former co-presenter of Surfing the Menu and owner of Billy Kart is the Cider. Vote for Ben and the Great Barrier Cider and we’ll brew a dry crisp 4.4% apple cider. A refreshing change from the often too sweet ciders. It’s dry, but you can drink it in the sunshine!
All you need to do now is:
First, choose your reward, pre order a carton or more and be one of the first in Australia to drink our next Great Barrier Beer for the Reef.
Then check out The Good Beer Co Facebook page: facebook.com/goodbeerau and click here to vote for Spencer’s Kolsch, Ryan’s Blonde or Ben’s Cider.
And remember, good beer that gives back makes a great Christmas gift — it’s the gift that gives twice!
If you can’t make it to one of our exclusive launch events in Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney, don’t worry.
We’re working with our good friends at Sendle, a BCorp and Australia’s first carbon neutral delivery service. They’ll get your beer to your office, home or gift recipient safe and on time!
Our launch events are planned for early December 2016. They’ll take place once Bargara Brewing Company have brewed the first winning batch!
So donate now and make yourself an #unlikelyhero!
