Chicago brewery teams up with zoo to feed red panda
Digital Reporter
Friday, April 25, 2014, 3:28 PM -
If you're in Chicago anytime soon, knocking back a pint of a particular ale will not only slake your thirst, it'll ensure at least one red panda won't go hungry.
Chicago's DryHop Brewers and the Lincoln Park Zoo are collaborating on a specially-brewed beer to raise funds for the bamboo supply for one of the zoo's two red pandas, 11-year-old Tarrei.
Called "I'm Not A Racoon," the brew is a 6.0 per cent Red Saison, officially slated for launch at a fundraiser next month at the brewery's Chicago location. One dollar from every pint sold will go toward Tarrei's annual $4,500 bamboo bill.
Appropriately, the beer is partly brewed from bamboo and mulberry, reflecting the red panda's chief diet.
RELATED: Icelandic brewery under fire for beer brewed from whale meat.
Despite its name, the red panda is not related to the more famous panda. Native to the Himalayan areas of China, India and Nepal, they are considered a vulnerable species.
Beer and zoo animals seems to be Chicago's speciality.
In 2012, the city's Shedd Aquarium teamed up with microbrewery Revolution Brewing to produce a special ale out of hops grown on the aquarium grounds, with $1 from each purchase going to conservation programs.
