When a banking software company teams up with a brewery, hops happen.
 
Specifically, those hops are a defining element in Bankers’ Hours, a New England-style hazy India pale ale from Wilmington Brewing Co. that aims to do more than just slake the thirst of pale ale lovers. The brewery’s partnership in this IPA offering is nCino, and the goal is to benefit Nourish NC.
 
For each can or draft serving sold, $1 will go to the nonprofit, which feeds hungry children and their families in the Wilmington area.
 
“We did a 10-barrel batch and canned all of it,” said Michelle Savard, the brewery’s co-owner with her husband John. “We are sold out of the cans but it’s still available on draft at our taproom at The Venue.”
 
The hazy Bankers’ Hours brew has a definite citrus taste and is very different from WBC’s clear, West Coast-style IPA, called Tropical Lightning, Savard said.
 
The current initiative is a rematch, according to Dory Weiss, nCino’s vice president of sustainability and social impact.
 
“This is actually the second time we've done the Bankers’ Hours fundraiser,” she said. “Back in 2019 a member of our nCino family, Jonathan Counts, noticed that the WBC had partnered with other organizations around town and reached out to see if they would partner with nCino to create a charity beer. They loved the idea.”
 
Before settling on a brew, nCino polled its employees to determine what type of beer to create, what it should be named and which charity the effort should support.
 
“The Bankers’ Hours fundraiser in 2019 was incredibly successful, and we knew we wanted to do it again,” Weiss added. “Luckily, Jonathan was happy to coordinate this Bankers’ Hours reprise with WBC, and through nVolve [nCino’s philanthropic organization] we were able to run a very successful event.”
 
When the Bankers’ Hours tap runs dry at The Venue, that’s it, Savard said. Supplies are limited at the brewery, located at 824 S. Kerr Avenue.
 
The partnership with WBC to create and sell Bankers’ Hours is an example of how nCino employees work to benefit their community, according to Weiss.
 
“At nCino, two of our core values are ‘Do the right thing,’ and ‘Make someone’s day,’” she said. “nVolve, nCino’s employee-led and company-supported volunteer organization, is one important way we live up to those values alongside great ideas like Jonathan’s. We want to continue to demonstrate how much we care about our communities, and we love to empower our employees to bring proactive ideas like this one that enrich the way we're able to support the Wilmington community.”

Click here for details on the initiative.

Speaking of The Venue, a new structure that contains WBC's taproom and large indoor-outdoor event space, Savard said it will remain as her company's taproom. The brewery's original building, adjacent to The Venue, is being renovated as WBC's brewing space.

"It's coming along slowly but surely," Savard said. "We hope to offer brewery tours in the future."