There are few people on this planet (none, I would hope) that would consider pediatric cancer to be anything but truly horrendous. Having the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation supporting a beer to raise funds in every state to fight this scourge is laudable to say the least.
In operation, there are some little differences from other known charitable beers. Instead of trying to get as many breweries as possible to participate, they only permit one brewery per state.
There’s a solid reason for that, as the hops and malt are being graciously donated by Yakima Hops and Country Malt Group. Obviously they can’t donate to every single brewery in the country, so Rising Hope tends to be limited in materials and, as a result, creation.
It doesn’t mean that it can’t be distributed far and wide, and there’s even a program to allow breweries to take current beers, switch it out to a special National Pediatric Cancer Foundation tap handle, and raise funds that way.
That being said, there’s nothing in the rules stating that breweries can’t collaborate on this beer. That’s what you got for Florida’s iteration of Rising Hope (IPA, 6.5% ABV, 40 IBU), an IPA collaboration that had started with Cigar City and originally Brew Bus Brewing.
By the time I got this second incarnation, Brew Bus had gone from the craft beer scene (for a while) and only Florida Avenue Brewing remained.
Whereas the previous Rising Hope had a wide variety of fruits, this iteration used solely white peach. I had never really seen anything that had used white peach before, especially in an IPA, and it was a fantastic combination.
The IPA’s bitter qualities are somewhat muted and somewhat juicy, almost like dipping a toe into hazy territory but not going all the way forward.
It tends to be a soft and juicy fruit, almost like the lactose of pitted fruits. And when you put that on a moderately fruit-forward hop bill with a nice mellow grain to back it up, it really helps the beer punch forward. It’s flavorful, it’s approachable, and excessively sessionable to an almost dangerous degree.
And I guess that’s the point of this beer, wanting it to be so good that you can’t help but purchase it and give money towards a fantastic cause. Cigar City and Florida Avenue definitely did just that, and my hope is that this beer has accomplished all of those goals to help the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation accomplish all of theirs.
Drink Florida Craft,
Dave
@floridabeerblog
floridabeerblog@gmail.com
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