This Earth Day, carbon-neutral idealists in Colorado stopped crying in their craft beers and started making bad beers, on purpose, as a way to illustrate to beer lovers just how awful things could get if we continue to avoid the climate crisis.
Fat Tire released Torched Earth Ale, a beer made with smoke-tainted water, dandelions, and drought-resistant grains – some of the less-than-ideal ingredients that would be available and affordable to brewers in a climate-ravaged future without aggressive action now to confront the climate crisis. The resulting dark starchy liquid with smokey aromatics is not likely to win any awards.
In addition, Fat Tire is launching a campaign asking beer drinkers to make a “Last Call for Climate” by demanding that their favorite brands adopt 2030 climate plans. To make it easy, Fat Tire has created an online tool allowing users to see which Fortune 500 companies have plans already – and which do not.
Presumptuous? For sure. And effective? Time and data will tell.
Virtue Sipping, It’s A Thing
Fat Tire commissioned Torched Earth’s apocalyptic label artwork from Kelly Malka, a Los Angeles-based artist and first-generation Moroccan immigrant who has experienced firsthand the devastating direct impacts of climate change, including worsening wildfires and air pollution, in her own community. For inspiration, Malka drew on neo-futuristic worlds in popular films and television to depict the iconic Fat Tire bicycle in an uninhabitable world swirling with flames.
Eight Tallboys for Forty Bucks
Fat Tire’s Earth Day edition “Torched Earth Ale” is now available through New Belgium liquid centers in Fort Collins, Colo., and Asheville, N.C., as well as in limited quantities online at newbelgium.com. Online orders will include two four-packs of 16-ounce cans for $39.99.
The Torched Earth initiative was created in partnership with creative agency Red & Co.
Mira Kaddoura, Founder of Red & Co., said, “We are so proud of our partners at Fat Tire for taking this big idea and making it come to life – brewing a real beer from a Climate-Ravaged Future. We love working with brands that align with our purpose of making a larger, more meaningful impact on society.”
