Burgeon Beer planning a truly worldly event

While a quality beer can significantly improve one’s mood, day or outlook on life, craft-beer as a medium also serves as fuel for good-doing. Many are the stories of brewing companies assisting charitable causes and organizations by raising funds to support their humanitarian missions through sales of beers or tickets to their events. A local company that has done both since debuting in Carlsbad in 2016 is Burgeon Beer Co. Recently, a member of their team reached out to tell me about the company’s plans to take things to the next level by not only assisting an environmental nonprofit but making climate education and preservation the theme of Burgeon’s upcoming anniversary beer festival, “World of Change”. Her enthusiasm over the next-level undertaking was in keeping with her long-standing passion for making a difference, enough that I invited her to tell this chapter of her brewery’s story via our Voices of San Diego Beer guest-article series. The following is information on this event as well as the underlying company culture driving such efforts and initiatives straight from the source, presented by the numbers (read: footnotes) by Burgeon’s own Mackenzie Kline.

Taking on a world of change at Burgeon’s 7th Anniversary Invitational

By Mackenzie Kline, Marketing Director, Burgeon Beer Co.

Does a bear sh*t in the woods?¹

Oops, wrong order. I intended to begin with, “Should businesses lead the charge in response to the planet’s climate crises?”² And I work for a brewery that is accepting the challenge with our upcoming anniversary event.

There is an urgent call to undress—ahem—address climate change in a fresh and dynamic way, ranging from the choices we make in our personal lives (enter: buzzy topics like plastic straws, e-vehicles, composting at home) to at-work initiatives like a company-wide transition to biodegradable hand soap, commitment to using paper towels made with 50% post-consumer materials, recycling bins… 

Are you on the edge of your seat yet? 

I don’t think so.

And neither does some person on X who wrote in July of this year, “Would the marketing team of Barbie please join the climate movement?³ By this I mean we need to move ‘climate’ out of its environment bubble and inject it into every facet of society.”

I read “Barbie” but heard “Burgeon,” and this comment sparked an idea within our team to align our biggest event of the year – our brewery’s annual Anniversary Invitational – with a climate-focused initiative that’d change the game and show our customers that we give a sh*t in a whole new way. 

Our community consists of our people – folks who love the coastal, mountain and desert climates that we San Diegans are lucky to have access to, and who want to protect the flora and fauna in those ecosystems. Folks who relish a quiet hour on the porch as much as they appreciate an hour-long hike in the hills. Folks who enjoy a well-crafted beer. There’s a direct relationship between carbon-aware, proactive business strategies and the well-being of our local and global climate zones, whether we’re talking blue, brown, white, or green.

We would have never imagined that the color pink would spark new energy into our efforts, but hey Barbie, let’s go party!

Burgeon’s 7th Anniversary Invitational will take on a world of change by partnering with SeaTrees by Sustainable Surf to support the nonprofit’s mission to reverse climate change by restoring coastal blue carbon ecosystems globally. They develop coastal restoration projects, also known as “blue carbon projects”, across five ecosystem types: mangrove forests, kelp forests, seagrass meadows, coral reefs and coastal watersheds.

“We’re stoked to be the beneficiary of Burgeon’s 7th Anniversary Invitational,” says Sustainable Surf Partnership Director Haley Jain Haggerstone. “This marks our third consecutive year collaborating with Burgeon. Our journey together started with Reclaim the Sea IPA, which supported kelp restoration and research in California. In 2024, we’re excited to join forces once again, this time helping Burgeon wipe out its carbon footprint by protecting a coastal watershed in Cambodia and planting mangroves in Kenya.”

Yes, we’re thrilled to put our money where our mouth is through climate action with this awesome partnership, but now let’s get to the tasty stuff. 

The event will feature unlimited pours from 39 guest breweries⁴ from across the country, a limited-edition commemorative tasting glass, local food vendors, thematic events like axe-throwing and more. I can count the number of remaining tickets on my hands, so if you’re interested in joining us for the celebration, this is your sign!

SDBN founder Brandon Hernández asked how my ecological, conservational and other values sync with those of Burgeon (they do!) and about my ideological connection as well as my personal and professional history working with Sustainable Surf.

The gravitational pull of mission-driven brands has shaped my career immensely. Before joining the Burgeon team in June 2019, I partnered with U.S. and international brands to deliver branding, marketing, online sales, design and digital strategy services. Along the way, I discovered that the projects that fueled my fire the most were clients whose products or services made a positive impact on people and/or the environment. 

In my first conversation with Burgeon co-founder Matthew Zirpolo when interviewing for the company’s open marketing position, I felt an instant connection to the brand and I was inspired by his vision to do right by the planet through craft beer.⁵ Now, here we are! Burgeon is a small but mighty team that collaborates closely on everything from experimental beer recipes to 1,000-person festivals like the Anniversary Invitational, so everything that we put out there is a representation of each awesome individual on our crew. We are proud to support Sea Trees’ groundbreaking work in blue carbon ecosystems across the globe, and they continue to be exemplary partners in every way.” 

Earlier this year, on a car ride back from an off-site marketing retreat, our small team posed a question to ourselves. While we’re thrilled at the community and environmental impact we’ve been able to achieve so far⁶, we wondered how we could go even bigger. The warming planet is frankly scaring the sh*t out of us, so how can we leverage our work making beer to inspire action and change? 

Get the answer to that question and more⁷ at Burgeon’s 7th Anniversary Invitational at Burgeon’s Carlsbad brewery and tasting room on January 20 from 12-4 p.m. 

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1. If the woods haven’t disappeared due to climate change, then yeah, that’d probably be the bear’s first choice. ↩︎
2. SeaTrees Brand Partners ↩︎
3. Thelma Young Lutunatabua ↩︎
4. The largest number of guest breweries we’ve ever invited! Don’t worry, we ordered extra restrooms this year. ↩︎
5. At the time, Burgeon’s Reclaim the Wild IPA was busy planting trees with the National Forest Foundation. ↩︎
6. $150,000+ in community donations, 25,000 trees planted in US National Forests, restored 2,500 square feed of California kelp forest, donated over $20,000 to the San Diego Brewer’s Guild, supported over 200 local charities. ↩︎
7. Scratching your head at all the puns throughout this write-up? We are flush with excitement to share even more craft beer & climate action news in the weeks ahead. Nature is calling, so keep your eyes peeled on Burgeon’s social media pages for details on our response coming soon. ↩︎