The first batch of Sun & Stone lager, a collaboration between Palestine’s Taybeh Brewing Co and Glasgow-founded B Corp Brewgooder, has sold out in less than a week. Local community spaces and bars have led the charge.
Alan Mahon (left) and James Hughes, of Brewgooder, with Madees Khoury, of Taybeh Brewing Co
Venues across Glasgow have signed up to stock the beer, including The Glad Café, Café Buena Vida, Ryan’s Bar, Mono, The 78, Dram, and McChuill’s.
A mural by SureSigns Glasgow has been unveiled at Park Lane Market in the city’s Southside, showing solidarity with Taybeh and helping to raise awareness of the brewery’s story.
Madees Khoury, Taybeh’s brewmaster and the only female brewer in the Middle East, appeared on community-run station Radio Buena Vida, broadcasting from Café Buena Vida on Victoria Road, and joined an event attended by more than 100 people to celebrate the launch and show solidarity.
Ahead of its nationwide launch in 1,600 Co-op stores from this week, Brewgooder is opening up stockist enquiries to pubs, bars, venues, and shops across Scotland and beyond.
“This collaboration has meant the world to us, and it’s been incredible to have Madees here in Glasgow to celebrate and see the support first-hand,” said Jamie Hughes, co-founder of Brewgooder.
“The response from the city’s venues and communities has been a powerful reminder of why this partnership matters, and of the way great beer can bring good things to life.”
Suz O’Neill and David Fleming, co-founders of Café Buena Vida, said that, as a community organisation working to find practical ways to support the people of Palestine, and as fans of good quality beer and women making waves in the drinks industry, it was “an absolute no-brainer” to stock the beer.
“We’ve loved working with Brewgooder in the past and selling their beers in Café Buena Vida, so we are really excited about this new collaboration. Good beer. Good people. Good cause!”
The support marks a groundswell of solidarity from Glasgow’s independent businesses and communities, backing Taybeh as it continues to brew in the occupied West Bank despite severe restrictions, checkpoint delays and escalating violence.
Profits from Sun & Stone will provide Taybeh’s village with vital income and support the Disasters Emergency Committee, aiding conflict-affected communities across the Middle East, including Gaza.
• Venues and shops looking to stock Sun & Stone can get in touch with Brewgooder via eebriatrade.com from Monday.
