Drink Beer…. Help the Environment

Karl Strauss Brewers Take to the Stage for Charity

How often do you find two brewers rocking out on stage in front of 2,500 people for charity? Not very often—unless you’re at Karl Strauss Brewing Company’s annual Surfrider benefit: Beach to Brewery beer and music fest.

In its 5th year, Beach to Brewery will once again highlight good beer, local music, and raise money for a cause we feel very strongly about: the environment.

Two Karl Strauss brewers, Ian Young (keyboard) and Nolan Clark (drums) can usually be found in the brew house, but on May 10 they will be performing with their band Stranger. Hotel St. George, The Shy’s, and local favorite, Louis XIV will round out the line up. The event will feature 10 beers on tap, including limited release specialty beers such as our Triple, Saison, and Scottish Ale.

In addition, there will be five firkins filled with cask-conditioned ales that will only be available that day. Beach to Brewery is Saturday, May 10th from 2pm-7pm, with free shuttles provided from the Pacific Beach Library and Dusty Rhodes Park in Ocean Beach. The San Diego Bicycle Club is hosting a non-competitive bike ride to encourage people to bike to the event (the ride starts in Pacific Beach and ends at the brewery).

Pre sale tickets are $15, and $20 at the door. All proceeds from the event go to the San Diego Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. For more information, visit www.karlstrauss.com.

Karl Strauss is also getting ready for American Craft Beer Week, which takes place nationwide May 12-18. This weeklong celebration of the craft beer industry is sponsored by the Brewer’s Association and is a chance for breweries across the country to promote craft beer and beer culture. This year American Craft Beer Week celebrates brewers’ community citizenship.

The Brewers Association estimates that in 2007 over $20 million dollars was donated by America’s craft breweries to charitable causes. In addition to the $15,000 Karl Strauss raised for Surfrider last year, we donated $2,500 to the Karl Strauss Brewers Education Fund. We continue to support numerous local non-profits through event sponsorships, committing 1% of beer sales to charity on an annual basis. In 2007, that translated into backing more than 250 events with more than 4,000 cases of beer. In celebration of this year’s American Craft Beer Week, Karl Strauss Brewery Restaurants will be offering discounts on beer to go and a special beer and cheese pairing.

And don’t forget that If you are looking for a place in town to enjoy a pint of real ale, be sure to stop by one of Karl Strauss’ cask nights—this month the Brewery Restaurants will be pouring Balboa’s Vintage Barleywine. This barleywine is a strong, full-bodied, copper colored ale with rich and complex wine-like flavors. The finish is dry and slightly hoppy, and dangerously smooth at 8.4% ABV. Make sure you get to the Brewery Restaurants early—pints of the cask are $3.50 each and when they’re gone, they’re gone.

Karl Strauss Brewery-Restaurant Cask Nights:

Karl Strauss Downtown: Thursday, May 1st @ 5pm

Karl Strauss Brewery Gardens: Thursday, May 1st @ 5pm

Karl Strauss Costa Mesa: Thursday, May 1st @ 5pm

Karl Strauss Carlsbad: Friday, May 2nd @ 5 pm

Karl Strauss La Jolla: Friday, May 2nd @ 5pm