The cause is just. The beers are many. The good times are all but guaranteed.

Day Drinking for a Cause is back at Canteen Brewhouse this Saturday from noon to close. This now annual, sometimes even biennial event, is designed to benefit a specific cause, in this case one close to the hearts and minds of the Canteen staff and the larger craft brewing community.

“Last year, we did it Doctors Without Borders to help in Ukraine,” said Canteen general manager Jamie Schwebach. “We did a dollar from every beer plus 100 percent from one particular beer. We brought it back in the fall, in August, for Mike (Thrall). For that we had breweries donate beer, we donated all of those sales, and a percentage from one or two of our beers.”

Mike Thrall is a longtime Canteen beertender and a fixture in the craft brewing community. Last year, he was diagnosed with cancer, and his fight against the disease continues. Day Drinking for a Cause is designed to raise some much-needed funds for Mike, his wife Marti, and their two young sons.

“What we’re doing this time is we’ve had (15) breweries donate a sixtel of beer,” Schwebach said. “One-hundred percent of those sales will be donated. We are doing 100 percent of our sales of High Plains Pilsner and Enthrall IPA. That’s what’s happening in the taproom as well that day. Then we’ll do $1 from all other beer sales that day as the guest beers run out.”

Music will be provided by Felix y Los Gatos from 1 to 4 p.m., and Nosotros from 5 to 8 p.m.

There will also be plenty of merchandise available, including special I Like Mike T-shirts and I Like Mike pint glasses.

Enthrall IPA is the special beer from Canteen that is now available on tap and in cans, benefiting the Thrall family.

“Enthrall IPA is actually the same recipe, it just worked last time,” head brewer Zach Guilmette said. “It’s a nice dank and light mango, orange zest (flavored) IPA brewed with 2 Row, but with additions of malted oats, flaked oats, and wheat. We feel it’s got a fuller, smooth mouthfeel that still finishes clean and dry. Lots of mango and dank notes on the nose. It’s 7.4-percent (ABV), 65 IBUs.”

Azacca, Mosaic, and Centennial make up the hop bill, Guilmette added.

In addition to Enthrall and the rest of Canteen’s tasty lineup, there are those other 15 donated beers. Boxing Bear, High and Dry, Lava Rock, and Rio Bravo are among the breweries donating for the first time.

“I love going to see other people at their breweries, it’s fun to look at their toys, see what they have, and what I’d like to add to my brewery,” Guilmette said. “But, it’s pretty cool when you see all these different great beers from around Albuquerque on tap here for a great cause.”

Here is the full list of donating breweries, with those beers that have been selected so far. It is a solid mix of lagers, pale ales, IPAs (West Coast and hazy), an amber, a Scotch ale, a breakfast sour, and even a cider for your friend or relative who isn’t into beers.

• Bosque: Mr. Melon Gose to Work
• Boxing Bear: New Mexikolsch
• Ex Novo: Really Tied the Room Together Hazy IPA
• High and Dry: Brunch Village Breakfast Sour
• La Cumbre: Sun Fade Hazy IPA
• Lava Rock: Pinche Cerveza Mexican Lager
• Marble: Pink Lemonade Lager
• Palmer: Pool Session Pale Ale
• Quarter Celtic: Kill or be Kilt Scotch Ale
• ReSource: High on Pino Amber Ale
• Rio Bravo: Alegorithm (Pale Ale)
• Santa Fe: Social Experiment
• Sidetrack: Everything Isn’t Everything (Helles)
• Steel Bender: Skull Bucket IPA
• Tractor: Blood Orange Cider

Overall, this looks like another fun way to spend some time on a Saturday afternoon, whether you’re heading to the New Mexico United game later, or just planning to kick back and listen to some tunes on the patio.

It is also another great sign of how New Mexico breweries support one another.

“I think it’s such a reiteration (of the fact that) we are lucky be in such a brewing community,” Schwebach said. “The breweries in New Mexico are amazing, they’re so kind and so generous. They really want to take care of the people in their community.”

A big thanks to Jamie and Zach for the interview (and lunch), and a big thanks to all the breweries donating beers. See you all on Saturday.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister