Written by Andy

Drinkers for Ukraine

One of our favourite collaboration experiences as a brewery has been with Vasyl, Lana and Igor from Varvar Brew. They flew over especially to brew with us in 2018, when we brewed MAVKA for the first time. The name of the beer traced back through Ukrainian mythology, and the inspiration for the beer was a recipe mashup between our ‘Shattered Dream’ and Varvar’s ‘Caribbean Dream’ porter.

It’s since had multiple releases in Ukraine, and we brought it back in 2020 for a very special release in cans, one of the best beers of the year for us. The Varvar team were the only brewery to visit The George & Dragon with us, long before we’d taken ownership.

Along with her involvement with Varvar, Lana is a writer, translator, educator and Ukraine’s first ever certified Cicerone. Working with various beer industry representatives, she has now launched the #DrinkersForUkraine campaign. This is a worldwide fundraising effort as a direct response to the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.

In Lana’s words, “the craft beer community is one founded on care, compassion, and comradery, so there is ample potential to help within our ranks if we can find a way to mobilise our collective desire to help.”

In the summer of 2014, Vasyl, founder of Varvar, along with his family, fled from occupied and war-torn Donetsk to Kyiv. They were left with nothing, a beautiful 3 storey, destination taproom among what was left behind. Having now done such a fantastic job in building their renowned brewery in Kyiv, their future, along with so many, is under direct threat once more.

Mavka 2022

Next Friday we will be brewing Mavka again. All proceeds from these cans will go towards the #DrinkersForUkraine campaign, their current efforts are to support the Red Cross. In order to start funds moving as quickly as possible, the product will be available as a pre-order. Pre-order now in packs of six or twelve with the option of adding on an additional £10 donation to #DrinkersForUkraine. All monies donated in this way will be passed on in their entirety.

There will also be a #DrinkersForUkraine fundraising live stream on March 26th. Hosted by media figures from the drinks industry, the online event will feature interviews and videos from brewers and people from the beer community in Ukraine. Click here for more information.

Further Donations

For those wanting to begin supporting the campaign immediately, we’ve also created a new way to do this through our website. Click here to visit the donation page. You can contribute in £10.00 increments. All monies donated in this way will be passed on in their entirety. We will be gifting a very rare magnum of Maiden 2014 to one person who chooses to donate in this way. If you would rather not be included in the draw, please contact us. Please note that we can only deliver the magnum to a UK address.

Click the image to head through to the donation page: 

Thank you in advance for your support of this incredibly worthy cause. Our thoughts are firmly with all those impacted by the horrific invasion we are witnessing.

Mavka 12 Pack

Buy Now
Share