Photo by Maegan Tingling / Liquid Bread Magazine
Breweries using their beers to combat social injustices are on the rise. For Half Moon Bay Brewing Co., its new Not For Sale Saison is its way of contributing toward the fight against human trafficking.
The brewery teamed up with San Francisco-based non-profit, Not For Sale – also the namesake of the beer – to produce the saison. Clocking in at 5.5 percent alcohol, the saison is brewed with a Peruvian herb called Cat’s Claw, honey, ginger and Hibiscus flowers. The resulting saison takes on a peach-like hue. Belgian saison yeast gives the beer a final kick of spice.
Not For Sale is an international organization that works to protect people from human trafficking. According to Not For Sale’s website, the organization works with individuals in the Bay Area affected by human trafficking or at high-risk to exploitation. It provides a four week job training course and connects’ participants with potential jobs and internships.
The Not For Sale Saison is being released in bottle and draft form throughout the Bay Area this month. Bars that carry the beer are Amsterdam Cafe, Cato’s Ale House, Lightning Tavern, Lanesplitter and The Mint Leaf. Bottles can be found at Liquid Gold Bottle Shop, Arcangeli Store in Pescadero, Sun Valley Market in Pacifica, Alliance Gas Station and Cunha Market in Half Moon Bay, and Costanoa Store in Pescadero.
The bottle label for Half Moon Bay Brewing Co.’s new beer, Not For Sale Saison. Image provided by Half Moon Bay Brewing Co.
According to Craig Carroll, Half Moon Bay Brewing’s director of beer sales, the brewery is donating $25,000 per year to the non-profit until the sales of the Not For Sale Saison exceed $1 million. Once the sales exceed that, the brewery will donate 2.5 percent of the beers gross sales to Not For Sale.
“This donation is specifically for building supply chains from countries where human trafficking is prevalent.” Carroll said. “By increasing the supply of products such as the Cat’s Claw and honey this donation in turn allows us to purchase more ingredients from Not For Sale and therefore add more revenue than simply the donation. This is fundamental to the mission of Not For Sale to become a self-sustaining non-profit,” Carroll said.
On December 4, 2014, the brewery featured its Not For Sale Saison, as well as its new Calf-eine Coffee Milk Stout, during a tap takeover at San Francisco’s Amsterdam Cafe. The event, organized by Bay Area Beer Socials, gave proceeds from the sale of both beers to the Not For Sale non-profit.
Photo by Maegan Tingling / Liquid Bread Magazine
“It’s baby steps,” Shane Aldrich, Half Moon Bay Brewing Co.’s head brewer, said. “You have to start small, you have to start organically, you have to start local, and you have to build that foundation and once you build that foundation you can stand on it and grow further,” Aldrich said.
The Calf-eine Coffee Milk Stout featured at the Amsterdam Cafe tap takeover features a local flavor. The beer is brewed with 15 gallons of Guatemalan medium roast cold brew coffee supplied by the Dogpatch-neighborhood coffee bar, Dignita. The Stout has a creamy, rich texture brought by the lactose and gives off a balanced roast aroma with slight bitterness from the coffee. The Calf-eine, which is currently only found at Half Moon Bay Brewing’s restaurant, will be bottled and available throughout the Bay Area this summer.
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