SweetWater’s Waterkeeper Hefeweizen is back!

Although water is one of the most vital resources on the planet, waterways continue to decline in quality and quantity in virtually every part of the world. Earth is home to one billion cubic kilometers of water, yet only 2.5 percent is fresh water. Of that, less than one percent is clean and accessible, leaving more than one billion people living without safe drinking water.

SweetWater Brewing Company realizes the importance of protecting these vital water sources and has once again teamed up with the Waterkeeper® Alliance, and Charleston Waterkeeper – a local non-profit working to protect the community’s right to clean water – for their Save Our Water campaign, supporting the conservation of the Southeast’s most threatened rivers, streams and coastlines. The cause is near and dear to the brewery as clean water is also vital to the creation of their tasty brews.

Kicking off July 4 and running through Labor Day, SweetWater’s Save Our Water campaign encourages patrons to “give of your liver to save the river” by enjoying SweetWater’s seasonal Waterkeeper® Hefeweizen ale, purchasing campaign t-shirts, and making paper fish donations at participating restaurants, bars and retail accounts where the beer is sold across the Southeast. Locally, patrons can find the ale at Triangle Char + Bar, Bohemian Bull, Crafty Draught, Sesame Burgers & Brew, Closed for Business, Molly Darcy’s, Taps Brew, Obrion’s Irish Pub, Smoky Oak Taproom and Bay Street Bier Garten. Additionally, supporters can visit waterkeeperbrew.org to donate online, or purchase co-branded merchandise.

In 2011 SweetWater launched Waterkeeper® Hefeweizen, a beer with a cause, helping to spread the campaign’s crusade right on the beer label. Now, as part of their seasonal Catch & Release line-up, the unfiltered brew made its return to shelves and draft taps earlier this June.

SweetWater founded the Save Our Water program in 2006 with its local Chattahoochee Riverkeeper in Atlanta, and efforts grew larger as the brewery did. Since the inception of the program eight years ago, SweetWater has raised more than $700,000 for the cause, with a whopping $150,000 raised in 2013 alone. Today, the Save Our Water campaign supports more than 35 Waterkeeper® members in Southeastern cities where the brewery distributes beer including Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana and Virginia.

“Waterkeeper Alliance is excited to partner with SweetWater for the Save Our Water campaign,” said Pete Nichols, National Director of the Waterkeeper Alliance. “It’s always refreshing to see the business community step up in the protection of clean water and we’re grateful for their support.”

For more information on the Save Our Water campaign, upcoming events or to donate online, visit http://www.waterkeeperbrew.org.