Beer Geeks brew social awareness at Jopen

Beer’s image has undergone a dramatic revamp over recent decades.  The loutish, laddish perception is no longer applicable.  Beer has a social conscience.  The preferred beverage for modern, socially conscious consumers.

Beer remains at the heart of much social interaction.  Its relationship with drinkers, however, has taken vast, broad-minded steps.  Yesterday’s blue-collar beer is unrecognisable today.  Contemporary artisanal, craft beer is champagne for the masses.

And it’s not just the physical product.  Beer acts as the glue binding together influential groups, communities and causes.  It not only quenches thirst, but it also quenches society’s natural instinct to make a difference.  Beer’s modern role in highlighting and supporting worthwhile causes is admirable.

Beer marketing’s former inclination to oft-bawdy, archaic double entendre and casual sexism is unwelcome.  Raising awareness to what really matters is triumphant.  Beer as social billboard and community soapbox prevails.  Thank goodness.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neurone disease, is one such cause benefitting from beer’s relationship with progressive drinkers in the Netherlands.

By uniting its love of beer with a thirst to make a real difference, Beer Geeks, the large and well-respected Dutch Facebook community, has demonstrated how strong convictions reap huge social awareness.  After losing one of its members to ALS, Beer Geeks engaged with the nation’s brewing industry to create awareness of the disease and raise money for an ALS charitable foundation.

And it was a huge success.

Hoping for a record-breaking number of participating breweries, Beer Geeks is once again brewing a collaborative beer for ALS in December.  Many top Dutch breweries will gather at Haarlem’s Jopen brewery to cooperate in brewing another success story.  The beer’s release in early February is expected to raise significant funds for scientific research that may one day eradicate ALS.

With a dedicated group of beer enthusiasts at the helm, beer’s role in saving future lives is vast.  Beer as the platform to increase knowledge and raise awareness is ingenious.  Beer Geeks as the bringers of hope and inspiration is astonishing.  And remarkable.

Beer Geeks Beat ALS!

Update: 19 December 2019

And so it happened.  A beautiful winter’s day saw around 80 Dutch breweries — a record number — collaborating to brew an extra special beer.  Spurred on by brilliant sunshine, brewers from among the best in the land gathered in Haarlem to perform their magic at Jopen’s colossal brewery.

The “Road To Nowhere” begins here.  An 8% Smoked Porter brewed in aid of Stichting ALS, which promotes care, knowledge and scientific research into Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

And it’s all thanks to Beer Geeks and its incredible “Beer Geeks Beat ALS 2019” campaign.