CCB Brews Rising Hope 2021
Cigar City Brewing is proud to once again partner with Brew Bus Brewing and the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation (NPCF) in the Brewing Funds The Cure initiative, a national fundraising project created in 2017 to help fund pediatric cancer research. The centerpiece of Brewing Funds The Cure is the release of Rising Hope IPA, a fruited IPA designed by CCB Brewmaster Wayne Wambles and Brew Bus Brewing’s Head Brewer Kevin Butler, with proceeds going directly to the NPCF. The 2021 version of the Rising Hope IPA will be available in 12-ounce cans and on draft exclusively at CCB’s Spruce Street Taproom for a limited time beginning on Giving Tuesday—Nov. 30, 2021.
The partnership between our brewery and the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding research to eliminate childhood cancer, began in 2015 with the Cut For The Cure fundraising event. This initiative asked brewers around Florida to raise funds for NPCF by shaving their beards during a marquee event at our Spruce Street location, a meaningful gesture in a beard-centric industry. From there, we joined forces with Brew Bus Brewing to amplify fundraising efforts for the NPCF by releasing the inaugural Rising Hope IPA in 2018. The leadership at NPCF recognized the potential in expanding the Rising Hope project, and under the guidance of our team and the folks at Brew Bus Brewing, we developed the Brewing Funds The Cure initiative to bring other craft brewers into the fold in 2019.
With the expansion of Rising Hope IPA’s scope, Brewing Funds The Cure now offers a recipe developed by Wambles and Butler, along with brewing materials donated by Yakima Chief Hops, Country Malt Group, and Amoretti Craft Purée, and packaging and point-of-sale assets donated by Taphandles, Boelter, and Blue Label Packaging Co. to a single craft brewery in each US state. Each brewery is invited to put their own spin on the CCB/BBB recipe to help contribute funding to NPCF and to raise visibility of courageous children and their families. In two years of the expanded Brewing Funds The Cure initiative, craft brewers across the country have raised more than $325,000 for pediatric cancer research.
“Cigar City Brewing and Brew Bus Brewing are the reason we created the Brewing Funds the Cure program at the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation,” said Chris Geib, Chief Corporate Development Officer with the NPCF. “Starting with the original collaboration of our signature Rising Hope IPA in Tampa, CCB and BBB have been instrumental in helping make the Rising Hope release a national program. They were able to introduce partners like Country Malt Group and Yakima Chief Hops to the foundation, which has helped us expand the Brewing Funds The Cure initiative. We are excited to have CCB and BBB not only design the new Rising Hope recipe, but to also be our Florida representatives for Brewing Funds the Cure.”
The 2021 version of Rising Hope is a Hazy IPA with additions of passionfruit, orange, and guava to complement Eukanot, Azacca, Loral, Centennial, and Simcoe hops. The beer’s straightforward malt profile fashions a clean palate where vibrant tropical qualities of guava, mango, and passionfruit play on the palate. A pronounced bitterness and bready maltiness bring this assertive beer into balance while allowing each ingredient to shine. Clocking in at 6.5% ABV, this fruit-forward hoppy ale can satisfy the most discerning drinkers of IPAs, fruit beers, and fine craft beer in general.
“The hop varieties that we have selected provide a tropical element that heightens the fruit choices we have made this year, while also creating biotransformation byproducts that will supplement the citrus character orange and passionfruit,” said CCB Brewmaster Wayne Wambles. “It’s been an honor for us to brew hop-forward fruited beers for the NPCF each year, and this 2021 is no exception.”
The Cigar City Brewing/Brew Bus Brewing iteration of Rising Hope IPA will be released in CCB’s Spruce Street Taproom on Nov. 30, 2021 to coincide with Giving Tuesday, an initiative that has grown into “a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity,” per the initiative’s website. All proceeds from cans and kegs of Rising Hope IPA will go to support the National Pediatrics Cancer Foundation’s efforts to find less toxic, more effective treatments for pediatric cancer.
We couldn’t be more proud to work with our friends at Brew Bus Brewing to help shine a light on the amazing efforts of the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation, and we encourage anyone looking to help kids in need to check out the NPCF website.