Floridians will soon be able to pop a cold one to support the Division of Emergency Management’s “Halfway Full, Halfway There” storm-safety campaign.
Just don’t do it while in the process of evacuating.
Proof Brewing Co. in Tallahassee has taken up an offer by the division to help promote the disaster-preparedness campaign by crafting a beer that bears the “Halfway Full, Halfway There” name.
“The opportunity to help and make beer at the same time I think is just phenomenal,” said Byron Burroughs, owner and founder of Proof Brewing. “The general idea of this beer is to raise awareness during all storm seasons throughout the year, especially the hurricane season, and draw people’s attention to the fact that they can go to the emergency-preparedness site and be safer.”
The beer was on display Wednesday at the Capitol as part of Emergency Management Day. It is expected to become available next month at the company’s tasting room in Tallahassee before going to market, which for Proof stretches from the Panhandle to Orlando.
The brew, described by one imbiber at the Capitol as “light, not hoppy,” is an opportunity to get the message of storm planning out in a different way, said Alecia Collins, emergency-management communications director.
“We put it on Twitter all the time,” Collins said of the campaign name. “The director says it every five minutes from the podium. But we had to figure other ways to get the messaging out.”
Just as important, the beer “didn’t cost us anything. It’s their dime,” Collins said.
Proof crafted the beer and designed the can, which is intended to cast a Florida image. The state’s contribution is the division’s logo and a QR link on the can that sends people to the division’s website.
A “Halfway Full, Halfway There” six-pack could be another item for people’s disaster-plan checklists.
“No one is saying drink and drive,” Collins said. “We’re saying, keep your gas tanks at least halfway full throughout hurricane season to avoid being stuck in the long gas lines that are inevitable when you evacuate.”
This article appears in Feb 16-22, 2023.
