Beer Release Date: May 13, 2021
A few weeks ago, I met up with Brick West Brewing Co. to throw in some El Dorado® hops for the Things We Don’t Say IPA. Hope For the Day, a non-profit organization focused on encouraging discussions around mental health experiences, teamed up with Eagle Park Brewing, Hollingbery & Son, Inc. Hop Company, and Malteurop Malting Company to craft a recipe for brewers to help raise awareness for mental health.
Breweries worldwide have brewed this special beer for release in May 2021 coinciding with Mental Health Month. The name of the beer is to help encourage people to talk about the experiences and emotions associated with mental health, acknowledging the things we don’t often say to each other.
"I think seeing this campaign exist with over 185 breweries in 7 countries in the first place demonstrates how important and how necessary the conversation about mental health in craft beer is," said Joel Frieders from Hope For the Day. "My love of craft beer isn't just because of my love of liquids after an exhausting work week, I love how inventively resourceful and supportive of the surrounding community and gleefully excited everyone is to get back to work every day."
"If we keep bottling things up, we build up pressure, and we eventually explode. By addressing the importance of talking, especially in an industry that's wrought with toxic masculinity that's 100 years old or more, maybe we can start cracking the other tough nuts like overconsumption, alcoholism, sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, you name it!"Frieders said.
The recipe created by Eagle Park Brewing, features El Dorado®, Azacca®, and Cashmere hops, though some breweries have put their own spin on the recipe. Brewers Sam and Scotty from Brick West Brewery crafted their version of the Things We Don’t Say IPA which features El Dorado® along with the Southern Hemisphere hops Galaxy™ and Rakau™. Whole leaf El Dorado® from Yakima Valley Hops were used in the hopback with some pellets going into the dry hop.
“For both Scotty and I, this beer is meaningful because it is an opportunity for us, and the brewery, to use our platform to call attention to all mental health issues that many people are suffering from in silence. I think we can agree that no one should ever have to suffer through these issues alone, so the more that we can do to create awareness and support for mental health will go a long way. Hopefully, this is just the start of the conversation and can inspire people and groups to reach out a hand and help those around them,” Sam Milne, head brewer at Brick West Brewery.
The beer will be released May 13, 2021, at the Brick West Brewing location in Spokane, WA.
Also at the brew day were Matt Hollingbery from Hollingbery & Son, and Jesse Clark from Malteurop Malting Company, as representatives from some of the suppliers who partnered with the cause.
“The brewing community is exactly that, a community, and we feel fortunate to be a part of it.," said Steve Frith, Midwest Sales Representative for Hollingbery & Son. "We joined this project to help encourage conversations among the industry as we are not meant to go through life’s ups and downs alone. We can’t thank the participating breweries enough for supporting the project and Joel Frieders for caring about the well-being of people."
"I'm hoping that this sort of project leads to a better understanding of the blatant need to talk about the things we don't say, and I'm hoping that by having people address the challenges they're facing head-on, we learn that talking actually helps us get these things off of our chests and there's a physical release when we open up," Frieders said.
Other breweries have taken their own spins on the beer as well. WellBeing Brewing and 4Hands Brewing collaborated to make a non-alcoholic beer dry-hopped with El Dorado® called Liquid Rain to support the Things We Don't Say campaign.
If you’re a brewery wanting to participate, head to the Hope For the Day website for more information about recipes, those involved, and more behind the mission of this campaign.
You can follow the Things We Don't Say IPA campaign on their Instagram at @craftbeerformentalhealth, Brick West Brewing at @brickwestbeer, and Hollingbery & Son at @hollingberyandson to see more breweries involved.
Claire Desmarais is a marketing and brand manager for CLS Farms and El Dorado® hops. She can be reached at @claire@clsfarms.com. Feel free to reuse and share this content! We'd love to see it on your site or posted to your social media.