US brewer only hires military veterans

Chicago-based brewery, the Veteran Beer Company aims to help those who have served their country and is only employing US armed forces veterans.

The US Department of Veteran Affairs reports the country’s unemployment rate for veterans is 20%, but for wounded vets that number jumps to 88%. Brewery founder Paul Jenkins, a retired navy pilot, said he wanted create a company that would be able to help people who had served.

Jenkins told Fox News: “The idea was to come up with a company that could hire as many veterans as possible, as quickly as possible.

“I want the private sector to realise that the US military veteran is the greatest human resource asset in this country.”

All the 45 people who work at the beer company are former military personnel, and the beer company ultimately hopes to employ 3,500 veterans within five years.

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Daniel Acosta, who was wounded in Iraq, is a brand ambassador for the beer and he told Fox News: “We want to bring those guys out of any slump they may be in after serving hard time in the military and maybe getting injured or disabled.”

There are two beers currently available from the Veteran Beer Company, the Blond Bomber Ale, which is a 5% abv blond ale “with a gentle flavour profile and a pleasing texture”. The other beer is the Veteran Lager, which is another 5% brew. Jenkins told Fox News that he hopes to sell 200,000 cases of beer next year. He added that he believes a lot of people will buy the beer out of patriotism, but the key for success is repeat orders, and for that the beer needs to be good.