Sanford brewery joins 'Brew for Ukraine' movement to support shuttered Ukrainian brewery
A Sanford brewery is one of a few in central North Carolina adding a beer to its menu to show support for the Ukraine breweries that aren't able to operate due to the ongoing war with Russia.
John Calcagni, a co-owner of Wild Dogs Brewing on Steele Street, heard about the project from a popular beer-oriented YouTube channel.
The 'Brew for Ukraine' movement has breweries and home-brewers throughout the world honoring those can't practice their passion.
Pravda, based out of Lviv, was one of the first craft breweries in Ukraine. They're can't produce any products right now due to the war. In fact, the sale of alcoholic beverages is currently prohibited in Lviv.
In response, Pravda owners shared their recipes online to keep their spirit alive during a tumultuous time. Pravda asks that participating breweries brew one of their beers, use their graphics, collaborate with them for online brewing sessions or donate directly to humanitarian efforts.
Calcagni grew up in Cary and currently works as a director of software engineering out of Durham. On nights and weekends, he's a brewmaster at Wild Dogs. He got the gig when co-owner Craig Krause tried some of Calcagni's home-brewed beer.
Wild Dogs opened in July 2021 after purchasing the space on Steele Street in 2019.
"What we were seeing in Cary and Apex was getting anywhere where we could get walk-up traffic was just astronomically expensive when you added in a brewery and a tap room," Calcagni said. "When we saw that in Sanford, it was like 'hey, this is the right place for us.'"
Wild Dogs focuses on German and English-style beers, so they've branched out for Syla, a Belgian Style Triple Ale that's nine percent alcohol.
"We added spices to this beer and it's the first time I've ever brewed with spices," Calcagni said. "I'm really trying to reach out of my comfort zone to help support this cause."
The collaboration with Ukraine hits home for Krause, who has a relative serving with Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne and deployed in Poland.
Wild Dogs buys most of their grain from Epiphany Craft Malt out of Durham, whose owner also made a nice gesture when he heard about what was going on.
"I told the owner that we were doing this beer to help support Ukraine and he was interested in being on board as well," Calcagni said. "He ended up donating half of the grain for this batch."
The beer was brewed earlier this week and won't be available until May, when Wild Dogs plans to hold a special night to unveil it.
Clouds Brewing and Trophy Brewing in Raleigh are also joining in on the "Brew for Ukraine" effort. Clouds is donating some proceeds to the Red Cross of Ukraine and Trophy is introducing a Belgian ale to its lineup - Putin Huylo.
