CHESAPEAKE, Va. - One Chesapeake brewery is using beets to help fight the war in Ukraine.
Yes, the vegetable.
Volunteers at The Garage Brewery arrived at 6 a.m. Friday morning to peel and cut beets to make a special Ukrainian Golden Ale.
The profits from that beer are going to help in the fight against Ukraine.
The owner of The Garage Brewery, Ulyana Wingard, is doing everything she can to help those defending themselves in Ukraine, including her brothers and parents, who are still in her hometown of Lviv.
"Lviv was bombed 4 days ago," she said. "But my family is safe right now. They stay together. They keep their eyes open... My heart hurts for my country."
Wingard says her family cannot leave because her brothers are of fighting age.
Since she can't be there herself, she's fighting the Russians with beer.
"I want to do something and this is something I can do," she explained.
And she's not doing it alone.
The special Ukrainian Golden Ale recipe comes from Pravda, a famous Ukrainian brewery that recently made global headlinesfor making Molotov cocktails.
A brewer from Pravda made a special trip to Chesapeake to help make the Ukrainian Golden Ale by peeling beets and starting the fermentation process.
"[The beer] is so special to Ukraine itself so I was like, let's do it, let's make it happen," said Cory McGuinness, a brewer from Pravda Beer Theatre who currently lives in New York City.
Wingard and McGuinness say the taste of the beer will be a bit sweeter than usual, but mostly you'll see the change in the color, as the beets give the beer a rich red hue.
"It's going to be surprising, to say the least," said Wingard.
The Ukrainian Golden Ale will be debuted in two weeks at The Garage Brewery's Glory to Ukraine Festival.
The features the special beer, Ukrainian food, games and a DJ.
"I want the community to know what Ukraine is all about, what our traditions are, what kind of people we are," said Wingard.
A portion of all sale proceeds will go to help Ukrainian hospitals and refugees.
