Scottish brewery Brewgooder, which calls itself the ‘clean water’ brewer, has brought in brewers from Australia and across the world to join its ‘Global Gathering’, a collaborative project intended to provide clean water for 100,000 people in developing countries.

Around 100 breweries across 11 countries have confirmed their involvement in the Global Gathering project. Eight Australian breweries have already signed up, and Brewgooder is in discussions with others to grow this number.

Included in the eight breweries representing the country is Modus Operandi Brewing. and the NSW brewery’s head of marketing Jonny Bucknall, explained that the project is one that is close to his heart.

“We’ve been following the inspiring work that Alan and the Brewgooder folks have managed to achieve in the UK, so when they approached us it was an absolute honour to be involved in next year’s Global Gathering. It wasn’t even a decision to make,” Bucknall told Brews News.

“As far as we’re concerned we have a platform in the category, with our brands and relationships, initiatives like this give us the opportunity to use them to really make a positive impact on people’s lives – in the case of Brewgooder, bringing thousands of people clean drinking water.

“Brewgooder is bringing together some of the world’s best craft breweries and that combined voice and effort will cause a real ripple effect throughout our relevant communities, ” he said.

The project officially launched on November 11th, with Brewgooder aiming to partner with 500 international breweries to brew unique, small-batch beers which will be released on World Water Day in March 2020.

Each individual collaboration brew will raise upwards of £500 ($943 AUD), contributing to a fundraising target of £250,000 ($469,000 AUD) for the whole project. All proceeds will be donated to The Brewgooder Foundation, to support its clean water projects.

Alan Mahon, founder of Brewgooder, said in a press release that the Global Gathering aims to bring “one of the most vibrant and passionate communities in the world” together.

“Breweries of every size have the opportunity to not only brew some amazing beers as part of a global movement but also have a very real impact on peoples’ lives around the world,” he said.

While collaboration is no stranger to the Australian brewing community, it continues to evolve and enable brewers to have the opportunity to make a genuine difference in the line of work they are passionate about.

Balter Brewing Co has also jumped on board with the project.

“[The collaboration is] a place where all egos are set aside to create something greater or different than what we could do on our own. We love it,” Stirling Howland, co-founder of Balter, said.

“We know it’s a privilege to make beer for a living and we feel very lucky that the community has got behind our dream.

“So to be able to give back to the community using beer as a catalyst to bring people together to spark positive change is something we get a real buzz out of. Brewgooder has just dialled up that community to a global scale and it’s really cool to be a small part of that and seeing all the breweries that are taking part,” he said.

Along with Balter and Modus, Sparkke has joined the initiative,

“Social equity is a core value of Sparkke, and access to clean drinking water is about as fundamental a human need as there is. It should be a right, and not a privilege. As a company we’re already watching UNICEF’s clean well water project in Burundi, and we understand the link between easy access to clean water and the ability for girls to attend school,” said Kari Allen, co-founder of Sparkke.

“So we jumped at the prospect of helping Alan and his team raise both funds and awareness around this issue, it’s just second nature to us. And of course, we’re brewers, so we think about water a lot. It’s all just a great natural fit – and we’re thrilled to be involved.”

The fundraising project will support Brewgooder’s projects in Malawi. These include well rehabilitation, new borehole construction, sanitation systems and water mapping to ensure the long term sustainability of well constructions.

The foundation has already supported over 132 clean water projects and positively impacted 64,478 lives, according to Brewgooder.

Brewgooder has partnered with Crisp Maltings to donate 20 bags of malt to each participating brewery for their unique brew, which Brewgooder says will help make it easier for brewers of all sizes to get involved.

Kegstar is also offering a 10 per cent discount on any keg used in the Global Gathering. Brewers should get in touch with their local Kegstar contact for details.

Gold Coast-based Lost Palms Brewing Co has jumped on board with the project, as their first official charitable collaboration.

“After researching a bit about the project and what the team wanted to achieve and also that the commitment on our end was easy to achieve we thought we’d get involved,” said Zak Nalder, sales and marketing at Lost Palms Brewing Co.

Packaging design colour palettes will be blue and orange, and once brewed, the beers will be released at selected venues on 20th to 22nd March 2020.

“Water is the basis of life, and all the good things life has to offer and there are far too many people around the world who have their ambitions, dreams and potential limited by lack of access to a safe source of it. With water kids grow up healthier, girls stay in school longer and people build better lives for themselves. I want the whole craft beer community to make that change for thousands of people this world water day,” Alan Mahon said.

“To have already received the support of 100 brewers in this campaign is incredible, our whole team is humbled by the willingness of so many incredible brewers to adopt our mission as their own, and we cannot thank them enough.” Mahon finished.

You can register your brewery and join the movement here.