It just occurred to me that I never shared the story of a beer that Georgetown Brewing introduced a few weeks ago. I just noticed it is currently on tap at the brewery, so this seemed like a good time to get off my butt and tell you about Ecotone Cold IPA before it’s gone.

When Georgetown Brewing introduces a new beer, there is often a backstory. Ecotone Cold IPA is one example. Also, when Georgetown Brewing introduces a beer to support a cause, it is more than a hollow gesture: they step up to support causes about which they actually care. Usually, that involves providing real financial support as well as raising awareness.

The story of Ecotone Cold IPA starts in the fields where the farmer grows the barley. Mainstream Malt is a Walla Walla-based supplier of grains to craft brewers, craft distillers, and other grain-using industries. The company says it does malt differently, encouraging its partnering farms to pursue conservation practices that help restore our region’s landscapes and waterways. Georgetown Brewing recently teamed up with Mainstream Malt to brew a salmon-safe designated beer: Ecotone Cold IPA. (What is a Cold IPA? See our previous posts about this emerging style.)

According to a post on Instagram, two of Georgetown’s brewers, Craig and Matt, along with the company’s Sustainability Coordinator, Caitlin, worked with Mainstream Malt to create Ecotone Cold IPA. The result is a beer “as clear as a salmon-friendly stream ought to be, and full of a wide range of aromas and flavors – citrus, tropical, piney, and herbal.”

The beer was brewed in collaboration with Three Magnets Brewing of Olympia. You’ll find it on tap there, too.

The story continues. All of the proceeds from Ecotone Cold IPA benefit Latino Outdoors, an organization that works to inspire, connect, and engage Latino communities in the outdoors. Learn more about Latino Outdoors’ programs and mission here.

Georgetown Brewing says, “100% of proceeds from the beer will benefit the local Seattle chapter of @latinooutdoors, @loseattlewa, whose mission is to connect and engage Latinx communities in the outdoors and embrace cultura y familia as part of the outdoor narrative. By helping to diversify the outdoors, they help to ensure that everyone has a seat at the campfire and feels comfortable taking their whole identity with them on the trail.”

The next chapter of the story involves the artwork. The design on the tap handle (pictured above) makes use of artwork from a local artist who happens to also work at the brewery’s taproom, @katarinamayu.

And finally, the story concludes with the salmon-safe designation. Salmon-Safe is an organization (U.S. ecolabel) that works to encourage farmers, breweries, and other industries to engage in practices that protect waterways and watersheds important to the local salmon population. For more information about the organization and what makes a beer “salmon-safe” visit salmonsafe.org.

So, yeah, Ecotone Cold IPA is a new beer from Georgetown Brewing, but it’s also a story with a happy ending: great beer in your glass. Get the beer on tap and in growlers at the Georgetown Brewing taproom.