Support Asheville Breweries with Higher Calling Hazy IPA

Almost fifty breweries call Asheville and the surrounding Western North Carolina area home. From production facilities for giants like New Belgium and Sierra Nevada to critically-acclaimed darlings like Fonta Flora and Burial, Asheville has one of the most robust brewery scenes in America. Unfortunately, this Mecca for beer drinkers was devastated by torrential rains and flooding from Hurricane Helene in October. Critical infrastructure, homes, and businesses are still recovering from the damage and destruction of the storm. As the spate of recent closures in Austin demonstrate, craft brewers are constantly in a precarious economic position. Breweries are also especially dependent on water infrastructure. As recently as a week ago, a majority of Asheville’s water supply was still non-potable, forcing brewers to invest in expensive filtration equipment, pay high rates for truckloads of potable water from elsewhere, or risk closure.

The national craft brewing community has a long and successful history of banding together to support communities in the wake of disaster. Enter “Higher Calling,” a collaborative fundraising project for the North Carolina Brewers Guild led by Asheville’s DSSLVR Brewing. Participating breweries can brew the Higher Calling Hazy IPA recipe using discounted ingredients and packaging materials.  In exchange, Higher Calling asks that all net profits from the beer be donated to the NC Brewers Guild, which will allocate the funds as disaster relief to member breweries. More information, including a base recipe and label design, are available on the fundraiser’s website.