Thank Brew – Raising a glass to community

A Brisbane based for-purpose beer company is brewing a new tipple to pay homage to the Queen and put a focus on community kindness.

Queensland social enterprise The Good Beer Co is running a UK campaign to brew a beer for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Along with partners at Adnams and Big Drop, the for-purpose beer company has crafted a limited 3.5 per cent and an alcohol-free Thank Brew in time for The Big Jubilee Lunch and Thank You Day over the big weekend (2-5 June).

All profits go towards three causes: the Together Coalition and its annual Thank You Day initiative; Eden Project Communities and its Big Lunch program; and Reset Communities and Refugees which is finding homes with UK families in communities across Britain for Ukrainian refugees.

Founder James Grugeon said the campaign was true to the social enterprise mission and values of The Good Beer Co.

“We were set up and we exist to do good with beer. Which means we work with good causes to try and amplify what they’re doing and to raise funds for them as well. And Thank Brew, is just another example of that,” Grugeon told Pro Bono News. 

“It’s all about bringing people together in local communities across Britain to celebrate what unites them and to promote kindness, connection and community.”

Line of Duty and Motherland star Anna Maxwell Martin pulls the first pint of Thank Brew at The Old Queen’s Head pub in London.

Since launching in 2015, The Good Beer Co has worked with a range of breweries, charities, and retailers to create six beers and run associated campaigns to raise funds for good causes in Australia and the UK.

This latest campaign builds on a previous partnership with historic beer brand Adnams, which has been around since the 1800s in the UK.

It follows a 2017 campaign that was held in honour of Labour MP Jo Cox – a close friend of Grugeon – who was murdered during the Brexit referendum. 

“Her husband, Brendan, who is also an old friend of mine, got in touch and said, ‘Hey, we’re doing this series of events that we’re launching across the UK called The Great Get Together to bring people together in local communities’ – really to kind of do something that was emblematic of what Jo stood for,” Grugeon said.

“We created a beer called The Great Get Together Pale Ale that raised funds for the Jo Cox Foundation, but also supported thousands of events across the UK that week, which was the anniversary of her death. 

“That was a collaboration of about 16 breweries and that was really a kind of blueprint for what we’re doing with Thank Brew.”

Grugeon said the latest campaign had really taken off, with 35 breweries agreeing to brew the beer across the UK, and lots of pubs taking part.

Closer to home, The Good Beer Co is also working with British High Commissioner to Australia Vicki Treadel to serve the brew as part of the Jubilee celebrations in Canberra at the National Arboretum on 8 June.

Grugeon said it was nice recognition for the social enterprise that it is able to deliver a really high profile and important campaign. 

“It’s a lovely campaign for an Australian, Brisbane born and bred social enterprise to be running,” he said.

“But the most exciting thing for me about all of this is that we have been able to, through the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, put a focus on community kindness and connection and raise funds for some really important causes.”