GREENSBORO, N.C. — There's no denying that this pandemic has hit bars and breweries especially hard. SouthEnd Brewing in downtown Greensboro is no exception. The brewery and kitchen is relatively new to the city but they are already leaving their mark on the community.
Despite the restrictions and fewer patrons, South End's newest beer won't be sold for profit. Instead, owner Seth Kevorkian says they're giving the proceeds to the Out of the Garden project.
"This has been a difficult year for everybody, small business owners, and food service in particular have been hit but others have been affected even more," Kevorkian said. "We're still here, we still have our jobs and there's plenty of people who don't. Other people wonder where they're going to get their next meal and really struggling to make ends meet and now it's more important than ever for everybody to pull together and support our local communities and look for ways to help those who are in a more difficult position than we are."
Their new White IPA will be available tomorrow. It's from their small batch line - where they try out new recipes. But what to name the new brew?
"You know, at the inauguration, you had the Bernie Sanders meme with his mittens that was pretty popular so we said, 'You know, that's a trending thing,'" Kevorkian said. "And what Bernie did with his brief minute of fame there is put it on a T-shirt, sell it and donate the proceeds to charity so we figured we'd do that as well."
Yes, it is called Bernie's Mittens. Kevorkian says the small batch beers are only available until they run out - about a week. Again, all proceeds benefit the Out of the Garden project, that makes sure kids and families in Greensboro don't go hungry.