BLUE ASH, Ohio — On Sunday, March 1st, Fretboard Brewing Company is set to release their third seasonal beer, ‘S23’ Session IPA, in celebration of the life of Honorary Officer Caleb Haven. This year for the release of ‘S23’ the brewery & Behind The Badge will be holding a benefit for Caleb, who lost his fight with brain cancer on December 24th, 2019.
During his eighteen years of life, Caleb dedicated himself to helping others and working toward becoming a police officer. He trained with an Explorer program and was recognized as an Honorary Officer once it was realized his time was running short. Caleb had a deep passion for helping others and upholding the law, and while his time here on earth was short lived, it was filled with purpose and immensely impactful.
The celebration of Caleb alongside the release of ‘S23’, on March 1st, will feature live music from Fretboard’s own house band (comprised of ownership and staff beginning at 4pm) and run all day from noon until 8 pm. A portion of the proceeds from beer sales will be donated to Caleb’s family to help lighten the burden of expenses. Fretboard and Behind the Badge encourage all members of the first-responder community that Caleb so deeply respected, to come drink a pint of ‘S23’ and help make a difference to a family in need.
‘S23’ bears the badge number of co-founder Joe Sierra’s late brother, Eric Sierra, a former Cincinnati Police Officer in District 3. In November 2014 Sergeant Sierra passed of an unexpected brain aneurysm and ‘S23’ was brewed as a means to donate back to the family for expenses. At the time, Fretboard had yet to become reality and Joe was homebrewing with friends Brad Plank and Jim Klosterman. Taking one of their favorite homebrew recipes, a low-ABV IPA, they pitched the idea of brewing a larger batch to Rhinegeist Brewing in hopes of generating more funds for Sgt. Sierra’s children’s fund.
With the help of Rhinegeist and the Cincinnati community ‘S23’ was a huge success and propelled the three friend’s passion to begin their own brewery. Since it’s inception in fall of 2017, Fretboard has continued the release of ‘S23’ in Eric’s memory and donates portions of every sale back to Behind The Badge, a Covington based non-profit who helps first responders & their families in times of need.