When Antonio Sanchez moved to San Diego in 2018, he decided to dip his toe into the city’s stand-up comedy scene. He really liked it, enough that he felt inspired to bring an air of humor to his nine-to-five as a brewer in an effort to help himself and his contemporaries deal with common workplace frustrations. Seven years later, Sanchez is known throughout the brewing industry by the social-media persona he’s created, Wort Wrangler. Working primarily via Instagram, where he has amassed well over 30,000 followers, he crafts comedic content that resonates with brewers throughout the country.
“I was a salty brewer expressing frustration through memes,” says Sanchez. “It has since turned into comedy events, emo nights, beer collaborations, merchandise, meeting and making content with my beer-industry heroes and, eventually, led to me focusing full-time on media for the industry rather than brewing. The page I created has evolved quite a bit and taught me a lot about the industry and myself.”
Invitational Beer Festival
Sanchez learned perhaps his most poignant and meaningful lesson about the craft-beer industry two weeks ago, when members of that faction mobilized en masse to assist him in his hour of need.
Sanchez suffers from lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease that affects roughly 5 million people globally. There is no cure and its negative impacts are wide-ranging. It wasn’t until his late-twenties that Sanchez began experiencing symptoms, but those rashes, fevers, fatigue, arthritis, kidney complications and severe bouts of physical pain have been constant ever since. This year has been particularly difficult for him. He has been in and out of the hospital on numerous occasions, including a recent stay in the ICU due to an intense fever, high heart rate, dangerously low blood pressure, and his kidneys leaking proteins into his bloodstream.
It was during his time in the ICU that friend and fellow beer satirist Andrew Smith (who runs the Pilsnerish Instagram account) set up a crowdfunding campaign for Sanchez via online platform, GoFundMe in order to help his friend and colleague pay for mounting costs associated with hospital stays, medications and ongoing treatment. Donations to the campaign will also help Sanchez, his wife and 14-year-old daughter cover basic living expenses, as he has been unable to work of late due to his condition.
To date, the campaign has raised $18,008. Those donations have come from individuals, breweries and beer-appurtenant organizations contributing anywhere from $5 to $1,000. On top of that, friends from within the craft-beer industry made the pilgrimage to Sanchez’s hospital room to visit him. The outpouring of caring and assistance has left Sanchez feeling incredibly grateful.
“The kindness and beauty of the community is forever engraved in my heart. I randomly cry at times thinking about how fortunate I am to have them by my side,” says Sanchez. “I don’t remember much from my time at the hospital, but I remember the visits and that they were there listening to me while I was terrified. I want to emphasize that I couldn’t do this on my own. They are a major part of my foundation.”
That support base isn’t going anywhere any time soon. A number of fundraising initiatives are currently in the works to help not only meet, but surpass the GoFundMe campaign’s $20,000 goal.
A fundraiser will be held at Mason Ale Works’ Barrio Logan taproom from 5 to 9 p.m., Monday, May 26. That event will feature a raffle for gift baskets filled with items donated by local brewing companies as well as live entertainment. Additionally, all cash tips will be donated to the crowdfunding campaign.
Specialty beers are also being brewed. Locally, Oceanside’s South O Brewing is planning to release a juicy West Coast IPA produced in collaboration with suppliers RahrBSG and Crosby Hops. All proceeds from that beer will be donated to Sanchez. Meanwhile, Brujos Brewing in Portland, Ore., Vice Brewing in Vancouver, Wash., and Evans Brewing in Corona, Calif. are also working on beers to support the cause.
There will also be a charity aspect to an event of Sanchez’s devising, the fourth-annual The Brewer Games. A joint venture with the San Diego Brewers Guild, the event involves teams of professional brewers from local and out-of-town companies competing in an array of light-hearted events with Sanchez commentating throughout. This year’s affair will take place on Saturday, July 19 in the parking lot in front of Ballast Point Brewing’s Miramar bar and restaurant.
Sanchez also plans to release some new limited-edition Wort Wrangler merchandise later this year. Since he does everything from design to shipping, he first needs to recover to the point where he is able to take that on. But for now, he has his existing t-shirts, stickers and more available online. He also has the support of many on his side; people who appreciate and care about him and the sense of community he has helped foster within the brewing industry.
To donate to Antonio Sanchez’s crowdfunding campaign, visit GoFundMe.com