New Trafalgar Beer Brewed For Charity

Oakville’s Trafalgar Brewing has just released White Oak Weissbeer, a new beer that will raise money to help save the Great White Oak, an historic oak tree in Halton that is in danger of being cut down. The beer is available at the brewery and Oakville area LCBO outlets. The full press release appears below.

TRAFALGAR BREWING COMPANY JOINS THE EFFORT TO SAVE LOCAL OAK TREE
OAKVILLE, ONTARIO: A historic local oak tree threatened by road construction in Halton is starting to receive a lot of attention. A fund raising effort is underway which could save the Great White Oak, and local craft brewer Trafalgar Brewing Company has created a special edition White Oak Weissbeer to help the cause. The Oak, which stands next to Bronte Road at the crest of the ravine bordering Bronte Creek, has been estimated at between 250 and 300 years old, making it older than the town itself.
Population increases in the area have resulted in increased traffic flow, and a decision was made in 2002 to widen Bronte Road. A side effect of this process will be the destruction of the landmark tree. The impending peril of the Oak did not escape the attention of Town and Regional Councillor Alan Elgar and Town Councillor Renee Sandelowsky who, along with others, have formed an organization called the Woodlands Oak Tree Preservation Committee, dedicated to saving the Oak. Upon investigation it has been determined that the road widening can be accomplished without threatening the Great White Oak, but at an added cost of $343,000.
Conversations between the local brewer, Trafalgar, and the Woodlands group began in June, and the result is White Oak Weissbeer. The Weissbeer is a special edition beer craft brewed and affixed with special labels, which prominently feature the tree itself. For every bottle sold, Trafalgar will donate 50 cents (almost 20% of the sticker price) directly to the Woodlands Oak Tree Preservation Committee. The White Oak Weissbeer will be available not only from the brewery itself, located at 1156 Speers Road in Oakville, but also at all five Oakville LCBO stores.
The program will hopefully draw public attention to the cause to save the landmark tree, as well as raising a significant amount of funds with the beer itself. Trafalgar Brewing, a small craft brewer currently operating with a full complement of six staff members, has been working hard to get the beer ready for the public.
“There’s been some extra expense,” according to Trafalgar Brewing owner and operator Mike Arnold, “getting the new labels and packaging together, altering our production schedule, and some added logistics getting all the local stores involved, but it should all be worth it in the end. Trafalgar has been around in Oakville for fourteen years now. We like to think of ourselves not just as a local business but as part of the community. We also appreciate the assistance of the LCBO which has agreed to allow Trafalgar to donate the cost of the in store space to the fund.”
For more information on the campaign to save the tree, please visit www.halton.ca/savethetree, and for more information about Trafalgar Brewing Company, visit www.alesandmeads.com.