Saint Arnold Brewing Company the oldest craft brewery in Texas, presented checks to Operation Homefront Texas totaling more than $100,000 Thursday night, July 5, 2012. The funds were raised through the sale of Saint Arnold Homefront IPA, a special single-batch beer released prior to Memorial Day as part of ‘Hops for Heroes.’ The initiative brought together six craft breweries, suppliers and distributors – all of whom donated good and services – to produce and market a collaborative beer to support Operation Homefront.
Saint Arnold presented a check for $100,000 and was joined by representatives of Silver Eagle Distribution and The Bottle Shop, each of whom presented additional checks for $10,000 apiece. The online auction of a Louisville Slugger baseball bat used in the brewing process brought in an additional $1,111.
“I could not be more proud to participate in Hops for Heroes,” said Brock Wagner, founder/brewer of Saint Arnold Brewing Company. “I knew it would be fun to collaborate to make good beer that does good things, but the outpouring of support we have experienced says a lot about how much the entire community values and appreciates the important work Operation Homefront is doing and the men, women and families they serve.”
Operation Homefront provides emergency financial and other assistance to the families of U.S. service members and wounded warriors.
Suppliers donated everything from malt, hops and labels to bottles, branding and boxes. Several distributors also agreed to donate their profits from the sale of Homefront IPA, including Del Papa Distributing who donated $1,000. Other participating organizations included:
• Action Box
• Ben E. Keith Company
• Brewers Supply Group
• Capitol Beverage Co.
• Hops Direct, LLC
• Inland Label
• L & F Distributors
• Louisville Slugger
• Mark Trece, Inc.
• Mike Hopkins Distributing
• O-I
• Primer Grey
• Rahr Malting Group
• Silver Eagle Distributors
• The Bottle Shop
“These funds are a blessing and will have a major impact in helping our military families here in Texas,” said Jennifer Cernoch, president, Operation Homefront Texas. “It was wonderful to be able to involve the community so everyone could participate and make a difference on bottle of beer at a time.”
Saint Arnold produced approximately 40,000 bottles of Homefront IPA, most of which sold within a day or two of the Memorial Day weekend release.
For information about Operation Homefront Texas, visit http://www.operationhomefront.net/TEXAS/ <http://www.operationhomefront.net/TEXAS/>
About Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Saint Arnold Brewing’s 13 brews are made and sold by the company’s staff of 41 dedicated employees. Ranked 43rd on the Brewers Association list of top craft breweries, Saint Arnold was listed by USA Today as one of the “10 great places to see what’s brewing in beer,” and Smart Meetings magazine named it among the “Top 5 breweries to host an event.” Saint Arnold is located at 2000 Lyons Avenue and its brewery tour and tasting is offered every weekday at 3:00 P.M. and Saturdays starting at 11 A.M. For more information on Saint Arnold’s five year-round and five seasonal beers as well as root beer, log on to www.saintarnold.com <http://www.saintarnold.com> .
