Fundraising beer brewed in B.C. from Ukrainian recipe to support those displaced by war

Port Coquitlam, B.C. -

A special fundraising beer is now available at eight Metro Vancouver breweries, with proceeds going to a non-profit organization helping provide meals for those affected by the war in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Golden Ale was brewed from a recipe shared by the Pravda Beer Theatre in Lviv to raise awareness and help generate donations and support. 

Poco Brothers Brewery brewmaster Rick Dellow said he received the call to action from a contact in Alberta’s brewing industry, and connected with other brewers in the Lower Mainland about collaborating.

“Everyone, almost without exception, wanted to be involved,” Dellow said, and added the first step was to translate the recipe, with the help of Wikipedia and a translation app.

“That took a little while … There’s a common language of brewers, so we figured it out and got the beer done.”

Dellow said the pub in Ukraine has been making Molotov cocktails, and this particular brew was named “Putin is a d***.”

“I did have to adapt the recipe a little bit,” he said. “The one the Ukrainians drink, being the tough, brave people that they are, was probably eight or nine per cent alcohol. So we detuned it a little bit for our taste, and it has coriander seeds in it to give it a nice, citrusy freshness … It’s a really nice beer.”

Dellow said the collaborative effort produced 24 kegs, which were sold at a discounted rate to the participating breweries, and that money will also be donated to the cause.

“The breweries … are donating at least $2 a pint of the beer sold,” Dellow said. “I don’t know if there’s ever been a simultaneous launch of a beer across eight breweries before in B.C.”

Deep Cove Brewers and Distillers head brewer Byron Jacome said everyone was excited to take part in the charitable initiative.

“It was just a flat yes. Everyone was immediately on board, ‘Let’s just do this one,’” he said. “It is a tight-knit community. We all try to work together as much as we can. It’s extremely great to work together on something like this … I just think it’s a great cause.”

Jacome said they’ve been working to promote the launch, in the hopes of raising as much money as possible.

“We also had our chef create a special food menu with traditional Ukrainian dishes, as well,” he said, and added he’s hoping more fundraising collaborations will be coming.

“Even within the eight of us that brewed it, if we could kind of keep moving it along and splitting up the kegs, we’re very interested in helping and doing that.”

Proceeds from the sales will go to World Central Kitchen. Dellow said with his brewery attached to a local pub that also serves food, it was a natural choice. 

“They’re doing great work feeding the displaced people of Ukraine,” he said. “I only want to try and emphasize the fact that some other breweries should be doing this, so let’s get a groundswell going and have every brewery in the province involved somehow.”

Ukrainian Golden Ale is available starting Thursday through these eight breweries:

• Poco Brothers Brewing in Port Coquitlam
• Deep Cove Brewers and Distillers in North Vancouver
• R&B Brewing in Vancouver
• Brassneck Brewery in Vancouver
• Tinhouse Brewing in Port Coquitlam
• Five Roads Brewing in Langley
• Main Street Brewing in Vancouver
• Boardwalk Brewing in Port Coquitlam 

Dellow said a keg has also gone to Kozak Ukrainian restaurant in Vancouver.