When most Christians observe Lent, the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter, they choose something (or multiple somethings) of personal import to forgo for the duration. Some people give up coffee or soda, while others might choose to quit smoking or drinking. For the third year in a row, a craft brewery owner in Ohio says he’s giving up everything for Lent - except beer - and he’s using his notoriety to raise money to help bar and restaurant employees in his area that have been hit hard by the pandemic.

Del Hall, 45, of Cincinnati, Ohio, says his doctor tried to talk him out of going through with his beer-only Lenten fast two years ago when he came up with the idea.

“She said ‘You’re an idiot if you do this,’ but she knows how strong-willed I am,” Hall said during an interview. “I filmed the whole thing kind of like a documentary, and once she knew I was determined to see this through, she recommended I take multi-vitamins, stay hydrated, and she told me not to do anything stupid.”

Hall gave up all solid food but augments his beer diet with black coffee, herbal tea and “about a gallon of water a day,” he said.

Hall said he was first inspired to undertake his Lenten beer-diet by the Bavarian monks of the 1600s who banished all solid food during their Lenten fast and replaced it with hearty dopplebock beer, rich in sugars and carbs.

“I wanted to myth-bust that legend and put it to the test,” Hall told me.