Severance Brewing Company, Sioux Empire United Way collaborate for new beer

Sioux Empire United Way is collaborating with Severance Brewing Company with a new beer to help drum up interest in its annual fundraising campaign.

Brewberry Way is a light-bodied wheat ale with a blueberry twist.

The idea came to fruition after Severance's owner met with the United Way earlier this summer.

"We sat down (with United Way) and started throwing around the idea of putting together a beer collab that would benefit both parties, I guess. Get some exposure from them and some additional fundraising money, and then for us, as well (it) kind of maybe introduces our brand to folks that maybe otherwise wouldn't have typically tried it," Severance Owner and Head Brewer Scott Heckel said. "(It's) kind of one of those win-win scenarios and giving back to United Way, which gives back to the community in numerous ways, so seems like a really good fit with what we'd like to try to do here at Severance."

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On Thursday, the brewery will be hosting an event from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. With each pint of beer purchased in that timeframe, $1 of that will go toward the Sioux Empire United Way – which serves four counties including Minnehaha, Turner, McCook and Lincoln. There will also be free food served by United Way's board of directors and volunteers.

"It'll be a really fun event. We're hoping that a lot of people come out for it, and we're excited to see some of our volunteers and donors and maybe some new faces as well," the organization's campaign director, Olivia Essig said.

United Way's new campaign's theme is "Power to Change a Story," with the organization hoping to reach more than a $9 million goal, according Essig.

For Severance owners Melissa and Scott Heckel, that theme rang true. In 2019, when the two opened the brewery, they gave up their "corporate America jobs," Scott said.

"Before we started the brewery, we always had a big push to help support United Way, and there, we really learned about all the impact that (United Way) have in the community. It's not just for one particular cause, I mean, they spread funds far and wide," Scott said. "... With the impact that they have in the community, (it) just seemed like a really good fit and kind of an alliance with what our mission is here."

The Sioux Empire United Way is a "central fundraiser," with the goal to raise dollars and give those proceeds to organizations in need, like Sanford Children's, the Sioux Falls School District,  DakotAbilities, Children's Inn and more. There's a total of 39 nonprofit agencies and programs underneath the Sioux Empire United Way.

"Our role is to raise the dollars and give the dollars to the organizations in need," Essig said.

The Sioux Empire United Way's goal this campaign is $9,601,778, according to Essig.

More about the Severance Brewberry Way beer

Typically, Severance Brewing Company "tries to stay away from something that's going to be aggressive," in terms of hops and sour beers, so in turn, they chose a wheat beer.

"Wheat beers are pretty approachable, so it's not too bitter, not overly sour or anything like that," Heckel said. "We started with that good wheat base."

Along with that wheat base, Severance Brewing Company used 200 pounds of blueberry to give it the twist, according to Heckel.

"It looks thick, but it actually has a very light crisp mouthfeel to it," Heckel said. "... (It's) kind of a really nice refreshing beer for these last few weeks of summer that we've got left."

Four-packs of Brewberry Way will be sold at local grocery and liquor stores, Scott said. With each four-pack purchased, $1 of that will go toward the Sioux Empire United Way. Scott expects the beer to last around October, based on how much they brewed.

"When you give to United Way, your money stays local. Ninety cents of every dollar goes directly to those agencies, so all non-profits within our area," Essig said.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Severance Brewing joins forces with United Way for new beer