Wisconsin Brewery Honors Betty White With 'Beers For Betty'

Close up of a rack of different kinds of beers, dark to light, on a table.

Photo: Getty Images

A Wisconsin brewery is honoring the late Betty White in a way you wouldn't think of.

According to Fox News, Commerce Street Brewery in Mineral Point has been racking up beers for White and now, they will donate the money from the beers to local animal shelters.

Over the last four years, customers of the brewery could buy beers in advance for friends, Mike Zupke, owner of Commerce Street Brewery, told Fox News Digital. 

To keep track of who received a beer bought for them in advance, they kept a chalkboard with names on it. "They would say, 'I'm going to buy this person a beer for the next time they come in,' which is sort of common being in Mineral Point," Zupke stated. "And so we started writing names on the board." 

Around White's 97th birthday, Zupke brewed a blonde ale and named it "Blonde Betty." That is when White's name ended up on the chalkboard for the first time.

It was a "homage to our favorite 'golden girl,'" Zupke said. 

White visited Mineral Point a handful of times because her third husband, Allen Ludden, was originally from there and was reportedly buried at Mineral Point's Graceland Cemetery.

Zupke said White also traveled to Mineral Point a few times to visit her late husband's gravesite. "So we've always considered her … one of ours, by marriage anyway," he noted.

Patrons of the brewery began buying beers for White in hopes that she would one day return to Mineral Point.

"They're hoping if we bought her enough beers, well, maybe someday she'll come back," Zupke added. "Our love for Betty White is really sincere here."

The brewery had about 40 beers waiting for her to claim. Then after White's passing on December 31, patrons began buying more beers for her, filling the chalkboard up with tally marks.

Now, it's "almost entirely taken over by beers for Betty," Zupke said. 

As of Tuesday (January 11), the brewery has 396 beers donated in White's honor, totaling roughly $1,980.

Zupke says because of White's love for animals, he decided to donate the beer money to local animal shelters.

He also noted that they are still accepting donations through January and are calling the contributions "Beers for Betty."

"It amazes me how many are not from here. It's people on both coasts and everywhere in between," Zupke told Fox News. "It's been just remarkable to me." 


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