Collaborating for a Cause | New Image Brewing

It’s honestly baffling to come to the realization that it has been 17 and a half months since Alex Kidd’s shocking announcement that he had been diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic colon cancer. The beer community immediately rose to the occasion, raising over $400,000 for Alex and his family to help with his medical bills. Even after all this time, PorchDrinking still has yet to feature all of the breweries and their beers and/or releases dedicated to the man behind Don’t Drink Beer. That said, we started this journey back in June of last year with Horus Aged Ales’ Stay Strong Alex, and this is now the 23rd installment of Collaborating for a Cause. For this spotlight we zoom northwest of Denver, CO, and set our sights to New Image Brewing.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Relentless Perseverance

On July 9th, 2024, Odd Breed Wild Ales announced the impossible decision to close their doors at the end of the month. The logistics fueling brewery ownership have become increasingly difficult worldwide, and it’s seen some truly talented programs shut down as a result. Odd Breed owner and head brewer Matt Manthe is a true gem in the industry, emphasized by his incredible gratitude to all the support from loyal customers both near and far. In an effort to pay that generosity forward, he announced that the final bottle release that Odd Breed would conduct would be Relentless Perseverance, a massive barrel-aged barleywine created in collaboration with The Hallway Tap & Brew, in support of Alex Kidd and his family.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Narragansett Life Barleywine

It’s been nearly three months since the last installment of Collaborating for a Cause. This newest collaboration with Narragansett Brewing and their Life barleywine is the perfect place to pick the series back up, highlighting a very special beer that had two iterations bottled exclusively for PorchDrinking.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Alex’s Life

Our showcase for the Alex’s Life installment of this series has been a long time coming. A collaboration of six of the biggest names in today’s craft scene, this joint effort was an undoubtedly pure testament to the magnitude of togetherness exhibited toward Alex Kidd and his family as he endures this fight with Stage IV cancer. With additional thanks owed to craft beer marketplace Tavour as the outlet used to maximize the release’s scope, this Veil-headlined benefit still remains the largest fundraiser to-date for the Kidds.

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Collaborating for a Cause | For Alex

At the end of May 2023, Wax Wings Brewing pledged their support for Alex Kidd with a dedicated bottle release. This series has always looked to highlight breweries and the benefits they’ve conducted to help support Alex and his family as he continues to fight for his life. As we approach 20 installments to this series from breweries and meaderies all over the country – and even Norway! – we find ourselves back in Michigan to take a deep dive into Wax Wing’s For Alex release.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Wren House Life Barleywine

As this series continues to surge through the spring months of 2024, it’s amazing to note just how many of these recent installments were announced during just the first few months after Alex Kidd’s cancer diagnosis. As we continue to see outpouring of support for DDB and his family, it’s also important to continue to reflect back on some of the first breweries to release dedicated beers in an effort to raise money for the cause. This week we take a deeper look at Wren House Brewing and their Life Barleywine.

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Hair of the Dog | Don Barleywine: A Vertical for Alex

Every now and then, when speaking with—or collaborating with—brewery staff, a truly organic opportunity blossoms. Those who have followed Don’t Drink Beer for a long time know that not only has Alex Kidd always championed Barleywine, but he also took opportunities to highlight the beers and breweries that were years ahead of their time as industry trends evolved. One brewery in particular that has cemented its impact on craft beer history is Hair of the Dog in Portland, Oregon. In a tribute to Kidd as he continues to fight his ass off to beat cancer, we collaborated with Hair of the Dog owner and founder Alan Sprints on a special vertical tasting.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Cerebral Brewing

For this week’s installment of Collaborating for a Cause, we head to one of the Mountain states for the first time in this series. Cerebral Brewing, based out of Denver, Colorado, was quick to show their support for Alex Kidd, the person behind Don’t Drink Beer, and his family following his devastating cancer diagnosis. For Cerebral’s fundraiser, they re-released two high-gravity beers, donating 100% of proceeds from all bottles and draft pour sales to the Kidd family GoFundMe.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Strawberry Arabesque

Like many of the other fundraising efforts conducted for Alex Kidd and his family following the announcement of his cancer diagnosis, this benefit from Phase Three Brewing took place during the summer of 2023. On June 22 the brewery announced their newest Ambassador-exclusive release, Strawberry Arabesque. However in an unexpected move, they also stated that they would be donating a portion of all the proceeds from bottle sales, draft pours and an in-person raffle to the GoFundMe set up for the Kidds.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Lua Brewing

The outpouring of support for Alex Kidd and his family has been incredible over the last eight months. In particular, when backtracking to those first 30 days after he announced his Stage IV cancer diagnosis, it’s mind-blowing just how quickly so many breweries and individuals banded together to raise funds. Lua Brewing was no exception. Just four days after the unexpected announcement on Don’t Drink Beer’s social accounts, Lua organized a vintage sale offering full sets of their sought-after Destroyer Barleywine, with 100% earned going straight to the Kidd family. Read More

Collaborating for a Cause | Alex Reserve

In this week’s installment of Collaborating for a Cause, we switch gears from beer to mead. On Nov. 14 of last year, Alyson Schramm of Schramm’s Mead announced an upcoming release to represent their participation in GivingTuesday 2023. In an amazing show of kindness and generosity toward a craft beer and industry icon, Schramm’s donated 100% of profits from its Nov. 28 webstore sales to the Kidd family GoFundMe to go toward medical expenses and future needs. Additionally, Schramm’s conducted a pre-order for custom-labeled bottles of Alex Reserve, its limited-batch apple mead.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Fox Farm Copestone

Happy New Year! When we began this series last year, we had no idea what to expect. No one was quite prepared for the sheer magnitude of support Alex Kidd and his family would receive after his cancer diagnosis, but it’s been incredible to watch unfold. This series powers ahead into the new year, beginning with Fox Farm Brewery in Salem, Connecticut.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Westum Hjemmebryggeri

Back in May, immediately after hearing the news of Alex Kidd’s cancer diagnosis, PorchDrinking helped to organize a razzle with the Barleywine is Life Facebook group to raise money for his recovery through donations to his GoFundMe.  On the 19th we published an article outlining how breweries could get involved with rare bottle contributions for the razzle, and then on June 6th officially announced the packages up for grabs. For every $10 forwarded to his recovery fund (with emailed proof), donors would receive one entry. Submissions closed at Midnight EST on June 18, with winners selected live on the morning of Tuesday, June 20 by Stephen Loh and Michael Gabriel of Malt Couture on Instagram.

One brewery donation in particular came all the way from Norway, contributing two special iterations of home-brewed, high-gravity ales that were randomly added to three winning boxes from the PorchDrinking razzle. We had the privilege to talk with Espen Westum extensively about his passion project, Westum Hjemmebryggeri, as well as the inspirations provided by Alex Kidd and what’s led him to this point in his brewing journey. Additionally, we were able to review and share the very exclusive charity releases Westum sent stateside to support the Kidds.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Life Jacket

As 2023 nears its conclusion, many families and businesses feel the strain and chaos of the holiday season and the deadlines associated with the final months of the year. Fortunately, the support for Alex Kidd and his family has not even considered pumping the brakes, and we are happy to welcome Revolution Brewing to this week’s installation of Collaborating for a Cause.

(Read: Collaborating for a Cause Series)

Adjusting the spotlight to a beer that Alex himself helped co-create with the Revolution team, this well-known Chicago brewery organized an incredible gesture spanning the month of November involving their Life Jacket Barleywine.

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Collaborating for a Cause | DDBIL

This week, Collaborating for a Cause sets its sights on Florida, where Hialeah-based brewery King Fox joined forces with Shōjō Beer Co. and Odd Breed Wild Ales to release DDBIL, a special beer to support Alex Kidd. This is unbelievably the tenth installment in this series, with more to come. We can only hope that by highlighting the immense generosity from the Industry through these dedicated releases that we’ve not only inspired others to contribute help, but also motivated people to get checked regularly and learn the importance of monitoring their bodies.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Timber Ales’ Stay Strong Alex

This series has been a humbling experience. Not only have we had the opportunity to cover more participating breweries than we ever thought, but we have also seen endless generosity both in support of these installments and, more importantly, in support of Alex Kidd as he continues to fight for his life. Timber Ales is the next feature in Collaborating for a Cause, and we had the privilege of talking with Owner and Brewer Jason Stein about his iteration of Stay Strong Alex and the impact that Don’t Drink Beer has had on his own journey.
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Collaborating for a Cause | Altar of the Orc Lord: DDB Edition

Those who have followed Alex Kidd since the beginning know him to be a long-time supporter of Modern Times. His reviews of their products have contributed to the growth of their barrel program and special projects, and the news of his cancer diagnosis back in May really hit the team in a personal place. Less than a month after Alex shared the news on social media, Modern Times had already organized a release in an effort to help cover his hospital expenses. We had the opportunity to work briefly with the Special Projects team at Modern Times to gain more insight on the beer itself and Alex’s impact on their development.

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Collaborating for a Cause | ALEX KIDD IS LIFE!

While Mikerphone Brewing out of Chicago is the latest brewery in this series, they were one of the first to take action in support of Alex Kidd and his family following the news of his cancer diagnosis. Just like what we saw most recently with Bob D’Angelo and Esker Hart Artisan Ales, Mikerphone Brewing was founded from a passion for homebrewing. Now, eight years since their first commercial beer, Mikerphone has become a Chicago beer staple and Owners Mike and Lisa Pallen have been fortunate enough to travel the world making and sharing beer. Upon hearing Alex’s devastating news, they knew they wanted to do what they could for him and his family during this unprecedented time. We were able to talk briefly with Mike and discuss a little more about the special single barrel English-style Barleywine released for the man behind the Barleywine is Life movement.

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Collaborating for a Cause | Bear: Stay Strong Alex

The Stay Strong Alex initiative continues this week with a special iteration of Esker Hart Artisan Ale’s Bear series. With his first full-production location slated to open in early 2024, Bob D’Angelo started his brewing journey nine years ago. Early support from Alex served as a huge kick start to what has now become Esker Hart, and in the wake of his unanticipated cancer diagnosis, Bob knew that he wanted to honor and dedicate this second Blend of Bear to him in support of the long road ahead. We had a chance to talk with Bob and learn more about his history with Alex as well as the beer itself and the special raffle that was set up to help raise money for the Kidd family.
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Collaborating for a Cause | 2 Live Gran Kidd

In a continually impressive showing of togetherness for a shared cause, Stay Strong Alex and similar initiatives have been raising an incredible amount of money to support Alex Kidd and his family as they navigate the road ahead following his Stage IV cancer diagnosis. This week we look to Pennsylvania and Voodoo Brewing Company. Having just celebrated the 10th anniversary of its original Arch Street Brew Pub last year, these guys are no strangers to the industry. The devastating diagnosis of the satirical beer icon resonated heavily with the team in Meadville, and we had the opportunity to speak briefly with Voodoo CMO Tom Guzick to gain some insight about the most recent release in their famous Barrel Room Collection series dedicated to Alex Kidd.

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