Beer, snow, and art.
It might sound like the recipe for a good time in Squamish, but it’s also the ingredients for Backcountry Brewing’s collaboration beer with the environmental charity Protect Our Winters (POW) Canada.
This year marks the sixth year the local brewery has released a collaboration beer with a charity—featuring art from the late and much-loved Chili Thom. While the early years benefited the BC Cancer Foundation, last year Backcountry decided to partner with POW.
“We’ve done a whole bunch of work on our end [with sustainability],” said Ben Reeder marketing director at Backcountry Brewing. “I wanted to support an organization I thought was making a difference … The people who care about the backcountry—that’s our people. It seemed to fit really well.”
The organization’s mandate—which brings together professional athletes, industry brands and outdoor enthusiasts to advocate for climate change and policy solutions—was also in Thom’s purview. (He passed away in 2016 after a battle with cancer and wanted his art to benefit cancer research and the environment.)
"Chili was such a master at capturing the feeling of being out in nature and transferring it to his canvases," Reeder said, in a news release. "As we continue to see wilder weather events every year, it makes sense to raise funds in his name for a charity fighting to protect all those incredible natural environments Chili loved.”
While a winter landscape—made up of Thom’s distinct dreamy clouds and trees—adorns the cans for this fundraiser, people can also purchase prints, beer labels as stickers (without the words) and forthcoming merch to support the cause.
“We donate $1 from every four-pack to Protect Our Winters, then $0.50 from every sleeve, as well as every keg we sell to restaurants, we donate $50,” Reeder said.
In total, over the last five years they’ve raised $62,000 for charity.
This year’s charity beer saw head brewer Peter Charles tweak the pale ale, layering “Mosaic, Simcoe and a new hope varietal Krush for a tropical and stone fruit bonanza! Big juicy citrus flavours follow with a subtle dank hop finish,” according to the release.
“We’re really happy with it,” Reeder added. “A second batch is coming up in mid-January.”
They’re expecting the limited-time beer to last through the winter until March.
Another way—besides imbibing—to help the cause?
“We’re trying to encourage people to sign up to the Protect Our Winters newsletter and become members,” Reeder said. “It’s free to become a member. You get email updates on where to go and support them.”
