Sacramento Zoo Celebrating New Brew Inspired By Animal

WEST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Boxes of beer are being brewed to help raise money for the Sacramento Zoo and you can help by coming out for a taste.

It's called Animals On Tap, a new fundraiser teaming up local craft breweries with the zoo.

"Hopefully we can keep this going and raise a lot of money," said Rob McGorley, CEO of Yolo Brewing in West Sac.

The company leaped at the chance to help.

"It's quite feasible that in our lifetime there will be no more lemurs left except for the ones held in captivity," he said.

Every three months a new brew is inspired by an animal at the zoo. The latest features lemurs called Lemur Alone.

"The Lemur Alone is kind of saying, leave me alone, stop tearing down my habitat," said Andrea Haverland, a primate keeper at the zoo.

The special blend has a hint of the endangered animal's habitat.

"We used specifically fruits from Madagascar so we put in pineapple and mangos," McGorley said. "We ordered a bunch of Madagascar vanilla beans and we scraped the vanilla into it a few days ago."

The last limited-edition zoo brew featuring Red Pandas sold out and raised several thousand dollars for conservation efforts.

"Conservation is exceptionally important and it's important that we bring attention to them because their numbers are dwindling in the wild," Haverland added.

Future editions will feature giraffes and snow leopards.

"We really want to get as much money and recognition as possible on this, there are three breweries that are also participating so hopefully, we can keep the momentum going," McGorley said.

The zoo also hopes this special blend of critters and craft beer will boost awareness for endangered animals.

"They've been looking for an opportunity to collaborate with the zoo, so we reached out to some local breweries and they were really excited about the idea," Haverland said.

No, the lemurs don't get to drink the beer, but they'll get to have some of what's in it.

"We will give them some mango and pineapple just to give them a taste of what's in the beer," she added.

As for you, there's one event this Saturday from 1 to 7 p.m., and in the coming weeks, you'll even get it on tap at the zoo.

It's at the Yolo Brewing Company at 1520 Terminal St.in
West Sacramento 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.

For more information:
https://www.saczoo.org/support/animals-on-tap/