In the City of Philadelphia, there certainly is no shortage of local beer distributors, but some brands seem to stick out more than others. Take Workhorse Brewing Co., who is considered one of the newbies when it comes to producing suds, but in terms of quality and variety, nothing about this brand is amateur.
With the slogan “Beer Made Right,” Workhorse has been paving its own way in the City of Brotherly Love’s brewpub scene by dedicating time “to craft a top-notch experience in all phases of the operation.” The company started that mission in King of Prussia with the opening of its first taproom, but also made the move to Center City recently by opening up a collaborative venue with Spread Bagelry in the 2401 Walnut Street building in the fall of 2019.
In the age of coronavirus, Workhorse—like everyone else—had to close down their dine-in taprooms and make the switch to offering take-out only. However, the company has not only been fortunate enough to remain operating successfully on the financial front, but also has taken the time to start their own charitable initiatives to help others during this precarious time.
With #Raiseyourglass, Workhorse is working towards supporting those on the front lines and benefitting a trio of organizations while also launching a new beer, the Workforce IPA, with proceeds from that brew directly supporting the restaurant industry affected by the pandemic.
To support their new cause, Workhorse has started Community Support Mondays where every Monday, $1 for each 4-pack ($6/case) sold out of its King of Prussia location (for pick-up or delivery) will be donated to local organizations in the community supporting those in need.
According to the official website, the organizations include: the Upper Merion Township Foundation who provides continuous support to at-risk Upper Merion residents in need of assistance, specifically at-risk youth, persons with disabilities and/or chronic diseases including veterans and seniors; the Laurel House, who is the only comprehensive Domestic Violence Agency in Montgomery County and is dedicated to the vision of ending domestic violence in each life, home and community; and the MONTCO Anti-Hunger Network (MAHN), who provides food and resources that help community pantries feed more than 15,000 households per year.
On top of helping those three organizations with proceeds from Community Support Mondays, Workhorse also has committed to match dollar for dollar, meaning for every $1 raised, the brewing company will also donate $1 to help support the meaningful causes. The initiative launched this week on May 4, and already nearly $500 has been raised.
Community Support Mondays will run every week until Workhorse’s taprooms are back open for business.
But it doesn’t need to be the first day of the workweek for you to help support Workhorse’s new charitable ingenuity. By purchasing Workhorse’s new WorkForce IPA, Philadelphians can directly benefit the food and beverage service industry just by placing an order. According to the official site, $1 from every 4-pack sold of the new IPA will go directly to the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation—an organization supporting individual workers and nonprofits serving restaurant workers during the crisis.
Doing good has never tasted quite this good either—the new brew uses the same grain base as Workhorses’ popular New England brew, but instead is loaded with citrus and stone fruit character hops rather than dry-hops. The finished taste rounds out to bring notes of pineapple and pear for this 6.7% ABV brew. The label itself is also meaningful with a design showing bricks being laid, which Workhorse says is an indication that the rebuild is very much a work in progress—as they continue to re-brew future editions of the beer, they will both add layers of bricks and refine the label design, making it closer to “whole.” The new Workforce IPA can be purchased at both the King of Prussia and Center City location for take-out.
The company also recently released a video that pays tribute to those working bravely on the front lines. The video and more information on Workhorse and their #Raiseyourglass charitable initiatives are available at workhorsebrewing.com.
