Craft brewer Devils Backbone, based in Roseland, Virginia, announced their Heartland Initiative and Heartland Series, a new program the brewer is fostering in order to support philanthropy, partnerships and sustainability efforts.
The first beer in the Heartland Beer Series is called One Foot in the Black, a smoke black IPA concocted by brewer Erik Filep as a way of benefitting the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. Mr. Filip himself is a firefighter who works in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains of western Virginia, and the name references the safest place for firefighters to be standing while battling fires — the so-called “black” burned area.
“We are stewards on our farm and have channeled our standards throughout Devils Backbone as a community-centered, environmentally friendly business since 2008,” Devils Backbone founders Steve and Heidi Crandall said in a statement. “The Heartland Initiative is an exciting opportunity with a new full-time dedicated employee to further our mission and continue support for our Virginia community in impactful and sustainable ways.”
Devils Backbone will release a new beer per quarter to support other causes important to members of the staff. Fans of the brewery are invited to submit names and styles for new brews in The Heartland Series, and the brewery will donate 50 percent of sales of the beers to selected organizations.
The second in the series was pitched by Julianne Gunst, Devils Backbone HR generalist, and is called Survivors Double IPA. The cause for this beer is Free to Breathe, an organization dedicated to doubling lung cancer survival rates by 2022. (Ms. Gunst’s uncle succumbed to the disease in 2009.) Survivors Double IPA will be available at the Basecamp Brewpub and Outpost Tap Room beginning in June.
The special beers will be available only at the Devils Backbone’s Outpost Tap Room and Basecamp Brewpub.
• Eric Althoff can be reached at twt@washingtontimes.com.
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