Brewing up something good, Iowa beer-makers support Camp Fire victims with Resilience IPA

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - (CBS2/Fox28) — A California beer company affected by the Camp Fire put out a call for help -- and got 1,400 answers from across the globe.

California's Camp Fire, one of the deadliest in U.S. history, destroyed nearly 160,000 acres in northern California's Butte County. It also nearly destroyed Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. Flames came dangerously close to the Chino facility's doors ; some employees lost their homes.

That's where something as simple as beer and the internet combine like barley and hops to make something amazing.

"What we do is make beer and it seemed like a great opportunity to kind of help with the cause," Quinton McClain says of Sierra Nevada’s post-fire plea.

McClain is the director of brewery operations at Lion Bridge Brewing, one of thousands of breweries now joining together to support Sierra Nevada.

"They wanted to do something to give back to their community and they rallied the brewing community," Haley Flenker, owner of Thew Brewing, says.

Resilience IPA, Sierra Nevada's pale ale with a purpose, will benefit victims of the fire. Thew and Lion Bridge are two of the over 30 Iowa breweries that answered the call.

"We only have, I think there's 90 licensed breweries in the state,” McClain says. ”So we reached, what is amazing, like about 30% of the active breweries in the state.”

Across the globe, 1,400 other breweries are also making batches of the brew, each with their own unique takes on the single recipe provided by Sierra Nevada.

"It's a very tight-knit community,” Flenker says of craft brewing. “Even now, nationally, you can see."

For every pint of Resilience IPA that's poured, 100% of the profits go back to the Camp Fire relief fund.

Quinton says a big collaboration like this is just reflective of the brewing community as a whole. "Something that's kind of pervasive through the industry is, like, help."

As a craft community comes together to brew up something special, the helping hand extended beyond the breweries themselves. Many of the hops, grain, and other ingredients were donated by local companies.

Quinton says they may be competitors, but for this cause, it’s not about the sales. "You know we're all on the shelf together, we're all trying to sell beer but at the end of the day, we are friends, we are colleagues, we are peers."

In Iowa, more than 30 breweries are taking part:

• SingleSpeed Brewing Co., 325 Commercial St., Waterloo
• Boone Valley Brewing, 702 Keeler Street, Boone
• Lion Bridge Brewing Company, 59 16th Avenue SW, Cedar Rapids
• Court Avenue Brewing Company, 309 Court Avenue, Des Moines
• Toppling Goliath Brewing Company, 1600 Prosperity Rd, Decorah
• Fenders Brewing, 212 W Van Dorn St, Polk City
• Iowa Brewing Co., 708 3rd Street SE, Cedar Rapids
• NoCoast Beer Co.1407 17th Ave East, Suite B, Oskaloosa
• Exile Brewing Company, 1514 Walnut Street, Des Moines
• Worth Brewing Company, 835 Central Ave, Northwood
• Limestone Brewers, 518 Main Street, Osage
• Confluence Brewing Company, 1235 Thomas Beck Rd, Des Moines
• Jubeck New World Brewing, 115 W 11th St., Dubuque
• Jackson Street Brewing, 607 5th Street, Sioux City
• Fox Brewing, 103 S 11th St, West Des Moines
• Peace Tree Brewing Co., 107 W Main Street, Knoxville
• Great River Brewery, 332 E. 2nd Street, Davenport
• 515 Brewing Company, 7700 University Ave, Clive
• Millstream Brewing Co., 835 48th Ave, Amana
• Reclaimed Rails Brewing Company, 101 Main St SE, Bondurant
• Second State Brewing, 203 State St., Cedar Falls
• Contrary Brewing Co., 411 W Mississippi Dr, Muscatine
• River Ridge Brewing, 118 N RiverviewBellevue
• Brightside Aleworks, 480 Center Place, Altoona
• Thew Brewing Company, 301 2nd Ave SW, Cedar Rapids
• Backpocket Brewing, 903 Quarry Road, Coralville
• Kalona Brewing Company, 405 B Avenue, Kalona
• 5 Alarm Brewing Co, 211 W Main, Lake Mills
• Jefferson County Ciderworks, 1839 200th Street, Farifield
• Dimensional Brewing Company, 67 Main St.Dubuque
• Big Grove Brewery, 1225 S. Gilbert Street, Iowa City

Learn more about Resilience IPA here.