Drinking beer to help feed neighbours — it sounds like it’s too good to be true, but that’s exactly what Regina brewery Pile O’ Bones Brewing Company is doing with what they call their Community Lager.
The limited edition beer was created to help raise funds for the Regina Food Bank.
Community Lager will be served on tap at Pile O’ Bones and at all Leopold’s Tavern and Victoria’s Tavern locations in Regina. Cans of the special beer will be sold at Sobeys Liquor stores in Regina, too.
Customers will find that the beer resembles the famous Campbell Soup can design. However, Pile O’ Bones general manager Glenn Valgardson said the meaning behind it is based on community.
Valgardson shared during Thursday’s launch that he approached the food bank with the idea through conversations and connections within the community.
He mentioned that they brought Leopold’s and Victoria’s on board because of their community-minded mentality, adding it was a natural fit for all parties involved.
“We were able to produce a beer with barley from Saskatchewan, hops from Saskatchewan, and then use all of that revenue created from that product to help feed our surrounding communities again,” said Valgardson.
All net proceeds from beer sales will support the food bank with each pint sold providing 24 meals and each can providing 15 meals.
Regina Food Bank CEO John Bailey said it’s a significant help, considering their organization provides food to thousands of people every month.
However, the demand increases in the winter with 1,000 to 2,000 more hampers beginning in December.
“People are facing a ton of financial pressures with the holidays looming as we sort of work through the school year and other factors,” he suggested.
“People’s dollars aren’t going as far as they used to.”
According to the food bank, they provide food to over 9,000 people each month, with 43 per cent of their users being children.
Bailey said the fight against hunger is relentless — especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re seeing more a plateau effect where numbers are coming in at 9,000 to 10,000 (users) every month,” explained Bailey.
“December we’re still seeing more of an uptick, but we are not seeing it start to recede. At least we haven’t been for the past two years through the pandemic.”
Organizers say total sales of Community Lager will raise 90,000 meals for the food bank, which will support users in Regina and approximately 30 communities across southern Saskatchewan.
This particular lager will be available for a limited time until their batch runs out.