By J.T. Thompson, Portsmouth Brewery

When the Portsmouth Brewery celebrated Kate the Great Day at its downtown locale on March 7, it took all of 7 hours to exhaust the near 700 gallons of the famous brew.

But unlike the potent Russian Imperial Stout itself, the goodwill from the day’s festivities managed to extend far beyond the brewpub’s Market Street walls, and into the coffers of two local nonprofit organizations.

The Brewery recently announced it has donated $20,000 to two conservation groups: the Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire – an Exeter-based concern – and the Center for Wildlife, located in York, Maine.

The donation funds were generated by the sale of 10,000 scratch tickets, of which only 900 were “winners”. Each winning ticket allowed the holder to purchase one 22-ounce bottle of Kate the Great, with some lucky enough to score two or more of the brews. Tickets were gone just 27 hours after going on sale January 29th.

“We printed scratch tickets as a fun way to pre-sell all 900 bottles, in part because the lines that formed each release day congested sidewalk traffic in downtown,” said Peter Egelston, owner of Portsmouth Brewery. “We had to make a changes for the 2011 Kate release, but we discovered very early in the process that we could make a difference beyond downtown Portsmouth.”

Named ‘The Best Bear in America’ and ‘2nd Best Beer in the Universe’ by Beer Advocate in 2006, the strong stout rarely lasts more than 8 hours after its semi-annual restaurant tapping, with frenzied fans lining up as early as midnight the night before just to taste the lauded libation.

The Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire aims to conserve the significant land and natural resources of Southeastern New Hampshire. Since their 1980 founding, the group has helped conserve more than 6,000 acres of land.

Since 1986, the Center for Wildlife’s mission has been to rehabilitate and provide sanctuary for sick and injured wild animals, while promoting respect for wildlife and the environment. Since their founding, they’ve cared for over 19,000 animals, successfully releasing 9,000 back into the wild.

Needless to say, both organizations were thrilled to be the beneficiary of such a unique partnership.

"I think I can speak for both organizations when I share our happiness and gratitude for what this creative promotion has provided for us," explains Brian Hart, Executive Director of the Land Trust. "The funds from the sale of the Kate the Great scratch tickets will support our work of conserving the special places of the Seacoast and the creatures that inhabit them."

While neither organization has decided exactly how they will use the proceeds, the Brewery’s awareness of its own impact on downtown has created an interesting parallel with the goals of the non-profit partners.

As Karen McElmurry, director of the Center for Wildlife points out: “we’re all trying to be better citizens of the Seacoast.”

Governor John Lynch cited the charitable donations as part of a proclamation naming March 7, 2011 Kate the Great Day in the State of New Hampshire.