Florida Brewery Making Three Custom Beers To Celebrate Great Apes

Tripping Animals Brewing, a craft brewery in Doral, Florida, is brewing three special beers to raise funds in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Center for Great Apes, a sanctuary for orangutans and chimpanzees in need.

“Because, why not?” says Ignatio Montenegro, co-owner and CMO of Tripping Animals when asked why his brewery will end up donating over $10,000 to the Center. “We like to get involved with amazing people doing amazing things.” It is this continuous association with amazing things that helped Montenegro be named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 2022 – Food & Drink.

“If we can use our platform to help others and create conversations, we may as well do a whole project around it,” says Montenegro.

Tripping Animals will brew a double dry-hopped hazy IPA featuring artwork by Bubbles the chimpanzee; a lager, featuring artwork painted by Keagan the orangutan; and a mango sour ale, featuring artwork painted by Jacob the chimpanzee. The beers will be available in the 26 states where Tripping Animals distributes (AZ, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, MA, MD, ME, MN, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, SC
SC
, VA, TN, TX, WA, WI) as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. A portion of the proceeds from the beers brewed by the five-year-old brewery will be donated to the Center for Great Apes, amounting to a sum over $10,000.

It costs approximately $27,000 per year to provide sanctuary for one great ape, so the Tripping Animals support is appreciated by the Center.

“It’s great to have a wonderful brewery support us with their great beer,” said Diane Beatty, director of development of the Center. “We were very excited to work with them. Ignacio and his team came to meet the apes that did the paintings used in the label art so they could get to know them and reflect their personalities a little bit on the beer labels.”

In addition to the fund-raising beers, to celebrate its 30th anniversary, the Center for Great Apes has planned three art shows featuring works painted by the sanctuary’s resident artists:

• October 6, 2023 at Books & Books in Coral Gables from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
• November 10, 2023 at Tripping Animals Brewing in Doral from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
• December 7, 2023 at Wirtz Gallery at First National Bank in South Miami from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Each of the three events will feature artwork created by six great apes with different paintings at each event. The original, one-of-a-kind paintings will be available for sale along with some limited edition prints. As is the nature of all great art, supplies are extremely limited, so collectors are advised to arrive early lest they be left empty handed.

The Center will also host a fundraising dinner on October 20, 2023 at Ghee Indian Kitchen in Kendall, FL.