Local breweries join others to create 'Resilience' IPA to help Camp Fire victims

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The grains and hops used to make this special brew were all donated.

The recipe for the 500 gallon batch inside this fermentation vessel at Tioga-Sequoia Brewing in downtown Fresno was shared across the U.S.

Like everyone else, Brewmaster Kevin Cox was stunned by the images of the Camp Fire.

"We decided heck yeah, we're in. Obviously very devastating for that community and anything we can do to help as a group of local and national brewers it's a pretty cool cause," said Cox.

As the spent grains are removed, the brew is boiled and hops are added.

The beer is called "Resilience Butte County Proud IPA."

Chico-based Sierra Nevada Brewing started the fund-raising push and asked other brewers to help raise money for the Sierra Nevada Camp Fire Relief Fund.

"It's a very personal effort for us. Our community has obviously been hugely impacted and then 15% of our employees lost their homes as well," said Robin Gregory, of Sierra Nevada Brewing.

Over 1,000 breweries around the country were making Resilience beer on this day.

All proceeds from this brew will go to fire victims. Cox figures their donation should come out to about $9,000. The grand total is expected to top well over a million dollars.

"Sense of community is huge in the brewing community. We all help each other. It's about the least cut- throat you could ever imagine. We all share ingredients, share information. We're all in this sort of together," said Cox.

The Resilience beer on draft should be available at Tioga-Sequoia in mid-December.