It can be fun, but drinking beer isn't usually considered a way to help others.

It can be, though, if the brew you choose is Homefront IPA. All proceeds from the India pale ale, brewed by Fremont Brewing Co. and nine other breweries around the country, go to nonprofit organizations that support soldiers, their families and veterans.

This year's Homefront, released Memorial Day in Fremont, benefits Soldiers' Angels, a Texas-based nonprofit that offers a variety of programs from care packages for deployed military to adaptive laptops for severely injured soldiers.

Homefront began at Fremont Brewing, where founder Matt Lincecum brewed the first edition in 2011 in cooperation with Chris Ray, then a Mariners' relief pitcher and an avid brewer.

Ray suggested a collaboration and Lincecum agreed - as long as all profits went to charity.

"We both wanted to focus on servicemembers and their families and particularly in this region," Lincecum said. "I don't need to tell you how important the military is and how lacking our treatment is once folks get back from military service."

The beer will raise between $150,000 and $200,000 this year, Lincecum said.

And each year, it's been offered by more breweries, including Ray's own. He left baseball and opened Center of the Universe Brewing Co. in Ashland, Virginia.

The program is administered through Hops for Heroes, which is seeking 501(c)3 status, and he hopes to hire some part-time staff to help run the program.

"It's not about us," Lincecum said. "It's not about the beer. The bulk of the attention should go to Soldiers' Angels to focus on the work that they're doing."

For beer fans, though, it will be - at least partly - about the beer. Homefront IPA is brewed with bitter orange peel and aged on new, unfinished Louisville Slugger bats. (The company donates the bats.)

"It's a really bright and vibrant and citrusy IPA that fits perfectly well in the summertime," Ray told MSNBC in an interview broadcast, Monday.

The bats add an element of novelty, but do they really add much to the taste?

"It does give it a little bit of maple-wood character," Lincecum said, "but it's not a huge contributor to the flavor."

The bats do add to the fundraising opportunities, though: Fremont auctions them off each year; those wanting to win a bat can buy  $1 raffle tickets at the brewery between now and July 4, when the raffle ends.

Freemont Brewing Company - Urban Beer Garden, 1050 N. 34th St., Seattle, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., freemontbrewing.com