The Charlotte area’s collaborative and community-minded breweries will be releasing a new version of Court Shoes Only – a city-wide collaborative beer benefiting ACEing Autism – on Saturday, April 2, 2022.
Introducing Court Shoes Only Night Session. Built from a collaboration between two of the city’s most highly regarded brewers, Ben Dolphens of Divine Barrel Brewing andTJ Creighton of High Branch Brewing, this year’s base recipe is an imperial stout; a style that provides generous freedom for breweries across the city to express their personality and creativity within their variant.
Like the first Court Shoes Only beer recipe, brewers are free to deviate from the base recipe with adjuncts, additions and even style variations. The only ask of participating brewers is to make a beer that is dark in color to match the “night session” tennis theme.
“The Charlotte region’s brewers and beer fans aced last year’s Court Shoes Only and the results were incredible for ACEing Autism awareness, engagement and donation activity,” said Nils Weldy, Regional Program Director for ACEing Autism southeastern program locations. “To be asked by brewers about plans for the next Court Shoes Only is another example of how committed our local breweries are to programs and organizations that benefit the community, and the reason why this very special beer is returning this year,” Weldy added.
The Charlotte Independent Brewers Alliance (CIBA) returns as presenting sponsor of Court Shoes Only, providing the resources necessary to promote and support the campaign and its participating breweries. Brewery contributions from sales of Court Shoes Only, which totaled over $23K in 2021, will again benefit the ACEing Autism program locations in the Charlotte area serving South and metro Charlotte, University and Lake Norman.
This year’s Court Shoes Only beer release date of April 2 is significant because it is also recognized as World Autism Awareness Day; an important date for increasing understanding and acceptance of individuals with autism across the globe.