Robin Shepard
Madison-area brewers gathered at Working Draft to discuss plans to "Brew for Ukraine."
Representatives from nearly all Madison breweries came together for a quickly convened meeting at Working Draft Beer Company on March 9, to discuss what they could do to help their brewing colleagues in Ukraine. The meeting was prompted by the Brew for Ukraine effort, born at the Pravda Brewery of Lviv, Ukraine.
The brewery invited brewers around the world to take its recipes and replicate them in a global show of support against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The brewery offered five actual recipes of its beers along with label art and images for brewers to work with. Pravda brewers say they will be hosting live discussions online and virtual brewing sessions.
“Everyone sitting around the table feels the war isn’t right, and we want to help by doing what we do best,” says longtime brewmaster Kirby Nelson. “We want to support our Ukrainian brewing colleagues and Ukraine overall.”
The Madison-area group’s plan is to brew at least five beers based on Pravda’s recipes in what’s being called the Victory Series. Local breweries will make different beers in the series over the next month and release them together at a beer festival on April 24 at Wisconsin Brewing Company in Verona, with proceeds going to Ukraine relief efforts. Those brews will also be available at participating breweries and in bars.
The beers include a wheat ale called Frau, a dry-hopped golden ale named Putin, Red Eyes American red ale, Syla Belgian tripel, and a “Ukrainian” imperial stout (as opposed to the usual Russian imperial stout, although the recipes are similar if not identical). Most likely for greater ease in making them worldwide, the recipes suggest commonly used malts and hops.
On the Brew for Ukraine website, the Pravda brewers write that “Brewing in Lviv now sounds like a non-priority. The city is bracing for a fight.” But even so, “Brewing now — like giving birth or a marriage — is hope. Beer takes several weeks to be ready. We hope we win by then.”
Participating local breweries include The Great Dane Pub and Brewing, Wisconsin Brewing Company, Working Draft Beer Company, Vintage Brewing, Giant Jones, Karben4, Delta Beer Lab, Starkweather Brewing and Funk Factory. Others are expected to also join that list as planning continues.
Over the next week, the Madison breweries will be working together to divide up the five beer recipes, collaborate among themselves, and start scheduling brew days so the beer is ready for the festival, if not sooner. The beers will be available on draft and some are expected to be offered in cans and crowlers.
A number of other well-known breweries from throughout the U.S. have indicated they too will be making beers from the Victory Series, including Final Gravity Brewing in Michigan, Russian River Brewing in California, and Oxbow Brewing in Oregon.
What makes the Madison effort different is that the community of local brewers has come together to make all five beers and offer them at a festival. Nelson adds that his Madison colleagues are working with Wisconsin Brewers Guild members to further share the recipes and turn this into a statewide show of solidarity.
Ticket details and times of the Madison’s Ukrainian Beerfest are still being worked out and will be posted on the Wisconsin Brewing Company website. Participating breweries will be providing updates on their brewing plans and taproom releases through social media.
