10 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Local
breweries
do their
part to give
back to the
community
By DAN HAAG
There’s a lot of truth behind
the old saying “beer is proof
that God loves us and wants to
be happy.”
Beer has become a linchpin
of North Coast economies,
entire festivals are built around
it and it sustains the soul on
many a wet, windy winter
evening.
But for many of our local
brewers, the beer economy
goes way beyond fi lling and
serving pints. It’s an opportuni-
ty for them to give back to the
coastal communities that have
embraced and supported them.
The
Magnanimous Mug
SUBMITTED PHOTO
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Astoria’s Fort George
Jeff Daly won the Magnanimous Mug Award last year, raising
Brewery and Public House’s
$2,100 for Assistance League of the Columbia Pacifi c.
reputation for community
benefi ted North Coast Land
involvement is just as fi rmly
local giving.
cemented as the pub’s brewing Conservancy.
Brad Blaser, head of mar-
In November, Fort George
wizardry.
keting at Fort George, says the
On the last Tuesday of each will kick it up a notch by
inaugural event raised nearly
month, Fort George hosts a
issuing a challenge for others
$8,000 for six local charities,
Benefi t Night. It’s an evening
to raise money for their
including Assistance League
to support local charities and
favorite organization. The top
of the Columbia Pacifi c and
nonprofi ts, such
fund-raising person Clatsop Animal Assistance.
as the North Coast
is recognized with
“It turned out to be a huge
Watershed Asso-
the Magnanimous
night,” he says.
ciation, Astoria
Mug Award at the
Here’s how it works: Fort
For informa-
Visual Arts and
Nov. 28 benefi t
George takes nominees of
tion on this
The Harbor.
night.
magnanimous individuals;
years’ Mag-
All the eve-
Entering its
willing honorees choose a lo-
nanimous
nings’ proceeds
second
year,
the
cal nonprofi t to represent; and
Mug event
from food and
Magnanimous
the individual who raises the
or any of the
beverage sales at
Mug Award —
most money by 8 p.m. Nov.
Fort George’s
the upstairs pub go
named for the
28 receives the Magnanimous
Benefi t
toward supporting
brewery’s Magnan- Mug Award.
Nights, visit
the month’s fea-
imous IPA — has
“Anyone in the community
fortgeorge-
tured organization.
already proven to
who is good at raising money
brewery.com
October’s event
be a huge driver in and loves beer is eligible,”
Fort George Brewery’s Magnanimous Mug Award is named
after its Magnanimous IPA.
Blaser says.
The best part of the eve-
ning? Fort George matches the
largest donation of the night.
Blaser adds that while the
Fort George has always been
an active community donor,
the desire to establish a regular
program to strengthen that
giving has always been the
ultimate goal.
“It’s something more than
just growing a big beard (for
charity) or giving away gift
certifi cates,” he says. “This is
just a fun way to get everyone
involved in giving.”
Drink a beer,
save a fi sh
Sometimes helping a brew-
ery give back is as simple as
cracking open a cold one.
Such is the case with Peli-
can Brewing Company’s new
release, Five Fin Pilsner.
Released in October, Five
Fin invites beer lovers to
“drink a beer, save a fi sh.”
A portion of proceeds from
every barrel of Five Fun sold
will be donated to the Salmon
Superhighway, an effort to
restore access for salmon and
steelhead to almost 180 miles
of blocked habitat on Oregon’s
North Coast.
“When we think about
salmon, we think of the clean,
cold, crisp fl owing rivers here
and imagined Five Fin to
mirror that,” says Jim Prinzing,
Pelican Brewing’s CEO.
The Salmon Superhighway
project is an intensive effort
across a six-river landscape
to reconnect fi sh populations
with the habitat they need to
navigate and survive. Started
in 2014, the $35.8 million
campaign is expected to run
through 2024 to improve
the habitat for salmon in 93
different locations that feed
Tillamook and Nestucca bays
in Tillamook County.
Hundreds of barriers in
streams create bottlenecks in
Oregon’s coastal watersheds
— most are problem culverts
at road crossings that con-
tribute to fl ooding and road
damage, along with small
dams and tidegates.
The best part: Five Fin can
be found anywhere Pelican is
sold and distributed, including
Pelican’s Cannon Beach loca-
tion at 1371 S. Hemlock St.
Having been in the Oregon
Coast brewing game for 20
years, Pelican knows the
importance of impactful giving
on the communities it serves,
a fact not lost on Mary Jones,
co-founder and co-owner of
Pelican Brewing Company.
“We know we are more
than lucky to live and work
in a place as beautiful as
Tillamook County,” she says.
“At Pelican, we don’t take our
environment for granted.”
The Giving Back Tap
North Jetty Brewing
owners Erik and Michelle
Svendsen have been brewing
in Seaview, Washington,
Continued on Pg. 11