Sketchbook Brewing’s Freedomish 2026 backs immigrant rights with fruited wheat ale

Sketchbook Brewing Co. turned its annual Freedomish release into a clear civic statement in 2026, pairing a fruited American wheat ale with immigrant-rights fundraising and sending a portion of proceeds to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. The Skokie brewery announced Freedomish 2026, titled Respect Existence or Expect Resistance, on May 20 and framed it as a solidarity release for immigrant communities.

This year’s beer marked the fifth-year partnership with Jay Westbrook, known as The Black Beer Baron, in a series that began in 2021 as a Juneteenth tribute. Sketchbook said the collaboration was originally conceived to commemorate Juneteenth and the end of slavery in the Confederate states, but it has since grown into a beer-and-charity platform tied to human rights causes and local organizations. For 2026, the brewery said the release was aimed at supporting immigrant communities from Central and South America.

The beer itself was built to match that message. Sketchbook described Freedomish 2026 as a fruited American wheat ale brewed with dragon fruit, Andean blackberries, blueberries and raspberries, with the fruit lineup chosen to reflect the regions the project aimed to honor. The brewery said the 2026 release was more than a beer and that it was brewed in solidarity with immigrant communities, giving the seasonal release a sharper edge than a standard limited run.

ICIRR, which will receive support from the beer, says it works with more than 100 member and partner organizations and seeks policies that build a more equitable society rooted in dignity and respect. Westbrook said the Freedomish series had always been Juneteenth-forward and that its message remained that freedom must be collective, a point that has defined the collaboration as much as the recipe.

Sketchbook’s own history helps explain why the project carries weight in the local beer scene. The brewery was founded by home brewers Cesar Marron and Shawn Decker, opened to the public on November 21, 2014, and expanded to a second Skokie taproom in 2020. It was also named the 2024 Skokie Business of the Year by the village’s Consumer Affairs Commission. The Freedomish series has followed that same community-first path, with earlier editions benefiting Skokie United, the Evanston Reparations Fund, the Skokie Park District, Urban Growers Collective and Lost Boyz, Inc.

By the time Freedomish 2026 landed, Sketchbook had already turned the concept into a repeatable model: a beer release that helps fund local coalitions, signals where the brewery stands, and gives drinkers a direct way to take part simply by buying the bottle or pint.