The six Grand County breweries that participated in the collaborative East Troublesome Pale Ale initiative were able to help raise $34,000 for the Grand Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps people who were evacuated, displaced or lost their homes to the devastating East Troublesome wildfire last year. And 27 home brewers who entered the East Troublesome home-brew competition were also part of the fundraising effort.
Root Shoot Malting, alongside Colorado Hop Company and Propagate Labs, donated ingredients to the breweries for the beer; the recipe and ingredients were then made available to the home brewers, who were encouraged to brew their own version of the benefit beer, Root Shoot says.
“I’ve seen it go for twice of what the auction price went for,” said Liquor Max co-owner Hal Rogers. “Most of the price is driven by scarcity. It’s supply and demand. It’s an old, reputable distiller, and we get it in maybe once a year. On the shelf it would go for $600 or $700.”
Maybe part of that high-dollar figure is the price of bragging rights, Rogers said. “A lot of people collect these things. And if they give it as a gift, it might create a bigger bond, and they’d get a bigger thank you.”
The Tourvilles planned to drink it, however. “It’s aged well, with a better aroma and a deeper taste. It’s a sipping bourbon,” said Randy Tourville, adding that they’d try not to think about the price of each sip.