Save the world with beer!

Dave Rathkamp

In Marble Falls, Texas, Dave and Quynh Rathkamp are attempting to save the world, one mug of beer at a time.

The couple, who met at Tulane during their medical residency, spent vacation time visiting impoverished areas of the world. Dave loved to brew beer and Quynh loved to donate to charities so the two left medicine behind and started Save the World Brewing Company.

The makeup of Marble Falls, Texas, water is akin to Belgium, so Dave creates Belgium-style beer. Since both have a Christian calling, the beers reflect Latin names such as Agnus Dei Witbier, a wheat beer with orange and coriander hints that means “Lamb of God” and the Humilus Filius (“The Humble Son”) pale ale, what Rathkamp calls his “meat and potatoes beer.”

Visitors are welcome in the brewery’s tasting room on Fridays and Saturdays to enjoy standard and seasonal brews. Profits help Food for the Hungry, Habitat for Humanity and Meals on Wheels and the couple works hard to maintain a small carbon footprint. There are solar panels on the roof, they recapture greywater from the brewing process to use in irrigation, recycle about 40 percent of the breweries’ waste and use LED lighting. Grains used in the brewing process are donated to local farmers for livestock feed.

Want to read more? I wrote a story about the couple in Louisiana Road Trips magazine this month. Read it here.

Cheré Dastugue Coen is a food and travel writer living in South Louisiana who is the author of several Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire and the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.