Drink Outside the Box
Überbrewers put culture in a keg
BY Aimée van Drimmelen
Photography by Jenna Marie Wakani
Organizing free political film screenings, publicizing the impacts of Wal-Mart coast-to-coast and campaigning against polluting ad trucks are just a few examples of what überculture, a non-profit collective committed to reclaiming culture from corporate clutches, is up to. Perhaps a result of all this thirsty work, a new initiative has them teaming up with local microbreweries to produce Canada’s (and North America’s) first political beer, überbrü.
The all-natural hemp ale was launched last fall in Montreal as a non-corporate alternative to an industry dominated by a few large multinational corporations. “People now recognize that when you buy a cup of coffee there are international, economic and political connections. For us, beer is no different,” says überculture co-founder Rob Maguire. “We want to take the whole concept of fair trade coffee and apply it to beer.”
Word of mouth has already made überbrü a popular staple at Reggie’s, a Concordia University bar, and at a growing number of Montreal locations. It’s also grabbing attention in Vancouver, where it has been available since January, and there are plans to introduce the beer to other cities.
To cut down on environmental costs from transportation, and to support small-scale breweries, Maguire says überbrü will be made locally in any city it bubbles up in. Profits from the sales are split roughly down the middle, giving local microbreweries a fair cut, and the rest providing what Maguire hopes will one day be sustainable funding for überculture’s activism.
“We’re not deluded in thinking we’re going to put a dent in Molson’s sales by ourselves, or overnight,” says Maguire, “but we’re hoping that this will be a drop in the bucket, so to speak.”
