Dingo Dog Brewing

Dingo Dog brews for love

any of us have a social cause we’re involved in or frequently donate money to.

Tim Schwarzauer and Billy Gagon of Dingo Dog Brewery have decided to take it one step further and have devoted their craft brewing business to saving the lives of animals — one beer at a time.

Dingo Dog Brewery is the “fundraising” arm of Dingo Dog Charitable Trust, which seeks to fund grants and donations to no-kill animal rescue and advocacy groups.

Tim said his commitment to animal rescue groups started in August of 2005, after Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Te history-making natural disaster spurred Tim and his family to get involved with national animal rescue groups in the area who were helping reunite animals and their owners and find new owners for abandoned pets. Te national animal rescue groups organized bringing strays and abandoned pets from the worst hit

Mareas to a temporary shelter at the state fairgrounds in Jackson, Miss. Tim said the national groups eventually moved on, but there was still a need to care for the large number of homeless animals in the area. Tim's family founded the Animal Rescue Fund of MS, a nonprofit, "no-kill" animal sanctuary. What began as a Katrina-related rescue has since grown into one of the largest "no-kill" sanctuaries in Mississippi. Tim and his large heart for animals eventually made their way to North Carolina. He said he and Billy Gagon began brewing together, and after a successful brewing competition and encouragement from friends and families, they decided to combine

Written by Jenny White Photography by Sarah Louya

“ “All the money the brewery makes goes into the trust for distribution to nonprofit animal welfare groups.

Summer 2018 | Carolina Brew Scene | 9

their passion for good beer and animal rescue and formed Dingo Dog Brewing. Te brewery is a revenue stream and fundraising source for the Dingo Dog Charitable Trust. All the money the brewery makes goes into the trust for distribution to nonprofit animal welfare groups.

Te brewery, with Tim’s 18-year-old rescue dog Dingo serving as company mascot and inspiration, operates a zerowaste brewing site in a rented barn on a Carrboro farm.

“Billy is the brewer and I try to take care of the paperwork, marketing and events,” Tim said. “As a very small business, we both pretty much just do what needs to be done.”

Dingo Dog Brewery offers its brews for tap-takeovers, fundraising events and festivals, with all proceeds going to partnering charities like Paws4ever, a no-kill animal shelter in Orange County.

Paws4ever Development and Communications Associate Emily Albert said Dingo Dogs Brewery has proven to be a great donor and partner for the Paws4ever organization.

“For three years now, Dingo Dog Brewery has brought their beer to our fall fundraising event, PawsFest. Tey set it up, pour it all day long and give all the proceeds to Paws4ever,” Emily said. “We are so thankful for their support for the mission of Paws4ever, and their financial support as well.”

Emily said Dingo Dog also donates proceeds from local tap-takeovers to Paws4ever. “We’re lucky to have them in our community,” she added.

Dingo Dog Brewery extends their social consciousness to the environment as well and operates the brewery as a zero-waste operation.

Te brewery is located on Plow Girl Farm, owned and operated by Sally Slusher.

“We rent a beautiful old barn as our brewing site and leave no waste in our operation,” Tim said.

“We compost spent grains, trub and hops residue. We collect and treat waste water and spray it on hay fields for irrigation. Everything else that’s left over from a brew is reused or recycled,” Tim added.

Dingo Dog Brewery also uses seasonal ingredients grown on the farm. Tim said Sally typically sells what is grown on the farm at the Chapel Hill Farmers Market, and the brewery gets anything left over. Sally will also grow something specific needed for a brew recipe.

“We recently brewed a beer using Shiitake mushrooms grown specifically for us on the farm,” Tim said.

“ “Dingo Dog Brewery extends their social consciousness to the environment as well and operates the brewery as a zero-waste operation.

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Dingo and the guys are currently working on a brewery taproom in downtown Carrboro, set to open later this year. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, work has started and Dingo will be serving beer and raising money for animal rescue groups, on a regular basis.

While Dingo Dog Brewery currently donates a lot of product for animal welfare fundraising events, the company looks forward to giving even more.

“We feel with the taproom, we’ll be better situated to make consistent and larger donations to organizations that will apply for grants to our Trust,” Tim said.

Dingo Dog Charitable Trust and its board of directors will soon offer opportunities for animal rescue nonprofits to apply for grants. Te trust will look to fund organizations that support animal welfare, education programs for increasing awareness

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