Save the Black Warrior 2011

SweetWater Brewing Company Completes 2011 Edition of Save the Black Warrior

Annual Campaign Raises Money & Awareness for Black Warrior Riverkeeper in Alabama

Birmingham/Tuscaloosa – SweetWater Brewing Company has completed the 2011 edition of its Summer “Save the Black Warrior” campaign in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. Since the annual program’s launch in 2008, Save the Black Warrior has raised more than $35,000 to support Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s non-profit river patrol and clean water advocacy.

Alabamians visited their favorite restaurants and bars throughout the program to purchase paper fish for $1, $5 or $10, or a custom-made “Save the Black Warrior” shirt. Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s website (http://blackwarriorriver.org/shop) lists venues still selling the limited-edition T-shirts. Patrons signed or decorated their paper fish for display throughout the businesses. Awareness for Alabama’s Black Warrior River increased considerably through educational and promotional posters and fliers that SweetWater created pro-bono for display at more than thirty participating businesses.

The top Birmingham-area fundraising location was The J. Clyde, followed by Rojo. The top Tuscaloosa fundraising location was Egan’s, followed by Mellow Mushroom. These leading fundraisers won Black Warrior Riverkeeper patrol boat trips and SweetWater Brewery tours. To see the complete list of establishments involved in Save the Black Warrior, visit www.savetheblackwarrior.com. That event website also featured a contest to win an Arc’teryx jacket donated by Mountain High Outfitters, who sponsored “Save the Black Warrior” along with Silverock Cove.

“We are always grateful to have such strong fundraising and outreach support from the SweetWater team, particularly right after the American Rivers organization selected the Black Warrior for its 2011 list of Most Endangered Rivers due to coal mining,” said Charles Scribner, Executive Director of Black Warrior Riverkeeper.

SweetWater Brewery runs similar river protection collaborations with other Waterkeeper Alliance organizations in the South, including French Broad Riverkeeper, Mobile Baykeeper, Neuse Riverkeeper, and Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. This season, SweetWater also launched a new Waterkeeper Ale, a hefeweizen brew created specifically to bring awareness to the Waterkeeper organizations, their mission and the campaigns at hand. This and other award-winning SweetWater varieties will be featured at Little Savannah’s SweetWater beer dinner, a Black Warrior Riverkeeper fundraiser on Monday, August 8.

“We value our relationship with the Black Warrior Riverkeeper and think it is a necessity to unite beer drinkers and continue to educate, promote and protect our rivers year after year,” adds SweetWater’s Big Kahuna, Freddy Bensch. “SweetWater fans are loyal and great activists, we can’t thank them enough for giving of their liver to help save the river!”

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SweetWater Brewing Company is an Atlanta-based craft brewery specializing in aggressive West Coast style beers. SweetWater’s brews are unpasteurized and designed to be consumed fresh so distribution is limited to the Southeast. The award-winning lineup of year-round brews includes SweetWater 420, IPA, Blue, Sch’Wheat and Georgia Brown. SweetWater also features a Catch and Release series of beers available on a limited basis throughout the year, and an experimental, one-time-only Dank Tank series. SweetWater Brewery is open for tours every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2:30 p.m., is located at 195 Ottley Dr NE, Atlanta GA 30324. For more information about SweetWater Brewing Company, please visit www.sweetwaterbrew.com. Contact: Tara Murphy, 360 Media, Inc: 404-577-8686, [email protected].

Black Warrior Riverkeeper (www.blackwarriorriver.org) is a citizen-based non-profit organization whose mission is to protect and restore the Black Warrior River and its tributaries. A member of Waterkeeper Alliance, Black Warrior Riverkeeper won Alabama Environmental Council’s 2007 Conservation Organization of the Year and American Canoe Association’s 2008 Green Paddle Award. Nelson Brooke, Riverkeeper, won Alabama Rivers Alliance’s 2010 River Hero Award. Contact: Charles Scribner, Executive Director: [email protected], 205-458-0095.