Local brewery creates turtle confection to "make a difference"

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) - A little love, a little beer and we can "make a difference."

A local brewing company has combined with the Greater Cleveland Aquarium to produce a beer that hopes to raise $5,000 to help northeastern Ohio's spotted turtle.

Terrestrial Brewery Company has championed the effort to boost the number of spotted turtles by producing a new beer "I Love It When I Save the Turtles Porter." The brewery has partnered with the Greater Cleveland Aquarium and the Splash Fund, the Aquarium's non-profit arm, to donate one dollar from every pint sold of the "turtle confection."

The brew is a chocolatery caramel and pecan porter with a hint of coffee.  On Thursday, April 26, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Terrestrial will kickoff sales at their Cleveland location. "You can consume to help conserve," says Ralph Sgro, Terrestrial's Co-Founder and Chief Brewing Officer.

"It just seemed appropriate," said Ralph Sgro, one of the owners of Terrestrial Brewery said. "There's the turtle candy. We're saving turtles, why not use the most delicious candy, possible ever made."

"We recognize that we share this planet with other creatures and highlighting the positive and negative impact people can have on a co-inhabitant's struggle to survive is something the whole team here could really get behind," Sgro said in a press release earlier this month. The lakeside brewing company hopes to raise awareness and between $2,500 and $5,000.

Greater Cleveland Aquarium curator Stephanie Whiter said the mission was to Increase diversity and save the population by raising spotted turtles and releasing them into the wild to help the numbers grow. The spotted turtle is "Vigorously protected" by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. Declining water quality, loss of habitat, illegal black market poaching and an increase in natural predators have all led to the decline of the terrestrial turtle.

The brewery plans three events this summer where they will offer the brew. The kickoff, Thursday, April 26. "I think our fan base can't wait for this release," Sgro said. "We just wanna make a difference."

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