If beer fairies were real, would they live in Bamberg or Gaithersburg? And would they hang around in caves sprinkling attenuation on barrels of underfermeted lager or would they drop off small care packs to frontline workers? In the case of Jen and Josh Bienstock, the latter.
The Gaithersburg-based parents of two have dubbed themselves The Beer Fairiez and have started a campaign to show beery gratitude to essential and frontline workers in Montgomery County. Working with Downtown Crown and Wine and Happy Orange Project, the couple have recruited brewers’ help in the project with Denizens, Elder Pine, Silver Branch, and True Respite signing on.
The idea is simple, you make a donation–smash that button–and let the Beer Fairiez choose a local first responder or essential worker, or elect to choose your own.
“Our 3-year-old daughter helps us assemble the drops and takes pictures of them,” Jen told WTOP. “She gets very excited when we go to make the drops on the weekends … it’s been a great way for us to spend time as a family and show our kids the value of making other people happy.” The campaign will run a month in total, from August 18 to September 18. According to the Bienstocks, “we’ve raised funds to thank 200 frontline workers, and we have a goal of thanking 1500 people.”
If you do the math, and we have, 4 packs for 1500 workers amounts to 250 cases (of 12 oz cans). That’s equivalent to 2.5 pallets (assuming 12 oz cans with 24 cans per case with 100 cases per pallet). Certainly not a small amount of beer and you’d be hard pressed to find a brewery (or winery or cidery) that wouldn’t want to fill an order for 6,000 cans.
Breweries continue to take a hit during this pandemic, so go support some of our favorite locals; help them say thank you to those putting their lives on the line for a brighter future.
