As the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, we are bombarded with images of civilians being targeted as Ukrainians defend their country. Those who cannot fight are attempting to safely flee the country, which is leading to a Ukrainian refugee crisis.

Countless people in our region are watching this horrible story play out and want to help. The question is what can we do? Well, a Wisconsin brewery came up with a way to help while also bluntly troll Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Lakefront Brewery, which is located in Milwaukee, created a special label that could be placed on a crowler. A crowler is a 32-ounce aluminum can that can be filled with a beer of the customer's choice.

They announced the campaign recently on their Facebook page:

“When you purchase an anti-Putin labeled crowler from Lakefront, $10 will be sent to the refugee fund, the National Bank of Ukraine’s Humanitarian Assistance to Ukrainians,” said Lakefront Brewery President, Russ Klisch. “The crowler will cost folks $5 more than normal, and we will put in $5 as well to help Ukrainians though this awful time

Lakefront Brewery Facebook
Lakefront Brewery Facebook
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They add that the name, Putin is a Dick, was inspired by a Ukrainian craft brewery that Lakefront has brewed two collaboration beers with in the past. Pravda Brewery in Lviv brewed a popular beer with the same name, Putin is a Dick.  Lakefront not only has a connection with Ukraine via brewery partners, but they have exported beer to Ukraine for the past seven years.  So, not only is this campaign beneficial to Ukrainian refugees, but it's personal for the popular Wisconsin brewery.

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Needless to say, the sales of these special crowlers has been incredible. Lakefront Brewery quickly sold out of the first batch of labels. They have since ordered more, which became available late Tuesday. 

We just received our order for 5000 more Putin is A Dick crowler labels! Sales are back on again at Lakefront Brewery Beer Hall beginning at 4pm today. Choose any of our tier 1 beers and we'll fill and seal it up for $16 (tax included).

Lakefront Brewery Facebook
Lakefront Brewery Facebook
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Even better, they announced on their Facebook page that others could use their Putin is a Dick artwork for their own Ukrainian fundraiser. Perhaps we can get a Northland brewery to run with this idea!

Those interested would just need to reach out to them directly or through their Facebook page, where you can also keep up with this campaign. It's off to a fantastic start so far and the goal is for it to continue to grow well beyond Milwaukee.

15 Ways You Can Help People in Ukraine Right Now

As Americans watch events unfold in Ukraine, many wonder how they can help. Below is a list of organizations responding to the crisis in Ukraine along with information on how you can support their various missions. 

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To find the best beer in each state and Washington D.C., Stacker analyzed January 2020 data from BeerAdvocate, a website that gathers user scores for beer in real-time. BeerAdvocate makes its determinations by compiling consumer ratings for all 50 states and Washington D.C. and applying a weighted rank to each. The weighted rank pulls the beer toward the list's average based on the number of ratings it has and aims to allow lesser-known beers to increase in rank. Only beers with at least 10 rankings to be considered; we took it a step further to only include beers with at least 100 user rankings in our gallery. Keep reading to find out what the best beer is in each of the 50 states and Washington D.C.

 

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