Brewing Benevolence is a series of articles and interviews with breweries that are committed to more than just brewing beer in their communities. In this edition, I talked with John, the General Manager of Anderson Valley Brewing Co. (AVBC) in Boonville, CA.  AVBC has founded their own charitable organization (Bahl Hornin’) and throws one of the best brewery parties on the west coast. Read on to learn more about both.

You founded your own charitable organization – Bahl Hornin’. First of all, what was the inspiration behind the name ‘Bahl Hornin’ and what does it mean?

Bahl Hornin’ is the Boontling for “Good Drinking.” Before the brewery, Boonville’s claim to fame was a local language that started in the hop fields.

Why did AVBC decide to start this organization and how are the values of AVBC reflected in the work that Bahl Hornin’ does?

The organization formally incorporated in 2006, but the Legendary Boonville Beer Festival was started 14 years ago as a fundraiser for local community organizations. Craft brewing is very community oriented and the people involved are more about the lifestyle than the money.  AVBC is a country brewery and we who work here are about the great lifestyle we get to enjoy – none of this would be possible without our local community.

The Legendary Boonville Beer Festival is your largest charity event. What all does the event entail and how has the community repsonded to the event?

The Legendary Boonville Beer Festival is almost an entrely volunteer generated event.  The organizations who recieve funds all put together teams to handle all the logistics and duties to put on a 6,000+ event with over 80 breweries.  The brewing community rallies by  making the trek to donate their time and beer to make one heck of a good time.  The greater community is very supportive in allowing over 6,000 people to take over the town.

How has the event grown over the years?

The event started on the brewery grounds and quickly had to move to the fairgrounds a mile down the road.  In the past five years the space for required for breweries has doubled.

How does your brewery balance planning the event with all of the day-to-day tasks associated with operating a brewery?

The fact that the community has come together for the past 14 years to make this happen makes it easy. Everyone knows what to do and it takes little effort from brewery staff to coordinate. All brewery staff donate their time to make the event happen.  It also helps to start early so our first meetings are occurring now.

Which charitable organizations has AVBC supported either through monetary or product donations?

AVBC, through the Bahl Hornin’ Foundation had given over $375K ($65K last year alone) to local organizations:

Anderson Valley Lions Club

AV Parent/Teacher Org

AV Elderhome

AV  Education Foundation

AV Sports Boosters

AV Animal Rescue

Mendocino County Fairgrounds

AV Senior Center

AV Historical Society

AV Fire Dept

AV Volunteer Fires Assoc

AV Ambulance

Mendocino County Sheriff’s Dept K-9 Unit

Kimmies of Codgy Mosh

Acorn School

Navarro River Resource Center

California Small Brewer’s Assoc

Has AVBC recognized any benefits from supporting these charities?

AVBC gets credited for throwing one of the best camp-out parties on the west coast.  Plenty of press and other accolades give us exposure and we foster greater community amongst craft brewers, as we try and make sure that they have a good time.

How has AVBC chosen which organizations to support?

The Bahl Hornin’ Foundation’s purpose is to provide charitable distributions to organizations in and around Anderson Valley, CA, that provide educational, cultural and community benefit, and to perform educational grant making activity to students of the Anderson Valley Unified School District. If they fit that definition and help out with the festival they receive support.

Why is it important for AVBC to support charitable organizations?

Anderson Valley is a small community which provides for and nurtures the employee and their families. The organizations that we support help to create the great life we get to lead here in our community. AVBC has had great success over the past two decades and it is important to help those who may need it most.

Thanks again to John from Anderson Valley. Make sure you check out their website here.