Captain Jack is the protagonist of this unusual and moving story. Dick Leinenkugel first heard that name in an email thread. This email, was from a former Marine Corps colleague who wanted to launch a project to raise funds for a national Gulf War memorial. The goal was to brew a beer called Captain Jack, conceived by the daughter of a fallen Marine.
“I was immediately intrigued,” said Leinenkugel, president of Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. and a Marine Corps veteran. Edwards flew helicopters for the Marine Corps and served in the Gulf War. He was flying a medevac mission over Saudi Arabia on Feb. 2, 1991, when his AH-1 Cobra helicopter malfunctioned and crashed, killing him and his co-pilot, Maj. Eugene McCarthy. Edwards was one of 375 U.S. service members killed during Operation Desert Shield or Operation Desert Storm.
Thirty-one years later, his daughter Hodges, who owns a brewery with her husband, heard about efforts to establish a Gulf War memorial in Washington, D.C. Immediately, she thought of her father, and how selling a beer with an open source recipe could help the memorial meet its goal of raising $40 million in funds.
Months later, Bold Republic came out with a recipe for a Helles bock, called it Captain Jack and pledged to donate the proceeds to the National DesertStormand From there, the real work began. A genuine effort to recruit other brewers to the cause, the brewery collaborated with the memorial organizers to make the recipe available to any brewery that would pledge to support the project. So far, at least four breweries have already donated more than $19,000 to the cause.
BROOKLYN BREWERY DEBUTS CRAFT BEER BREWED WITH ANCIENT WEST AFRICAN GRAIN
AUSTRALIA’S COOPERS BREVERY REDESIGNS ITS MYTHICAL BEER CAN
DIAGEO ANNOUNCES £40.5 MILLION INVESTMENT IN BEER PACKAGING FACILITY
ARRIACA INTRODUCES ITS NEW RANGE OF REVERSE CANNED BEER
LEINENKUGEL LAUNCHES ITS NEW CANNED BEER JUICY PEACH
