BrewDog wants patrons to drink to diversity with a new brew that it calls "transgender beer," using non-binary hops.
November 04 2015 10:16 AM EST
November 04 2015 6:27 AM EST
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BrewDog wants patrons to drink to diversity with a new brew that it calls "transgender beer," using non-binary hops.
A brewery which will soon have roots in Columbus, Ohio, is giving new meaning to the term gender fluid, creating what it calls the first-ever transgender beer.
The beer, called "No Label" is made by BrewDog, a craft brewery in Scotland, and its owners say they plans to begin selling bottles this Friday in London.
And lest anyone think this is simply a marketing ploy to cash in on transgender acceptance, the company says it's donating all the profits from "No Label" to an LGBT cause.
BrewDog says it is quickly expanding to spread its message of inclusivity overseas. "No Label is the world’s first ‘non-binary, transgender beer’ designed to reflect the diversity of the area and champion inclusivity," according to the company's website.
Coincidentally, its Ohio brewery will be located on Gender Road. Yes, that really is the road's name.
Beer, the company said, may naturally lend itself to discussions of non-binary identity. Hops, which are a key ingredient in many types of beer, are known to have different genders. BrewDog's website explains it this way:
"This 4.6% ABV Kölsch has been brewed with hops that have changed sex from female to male flowers prior to harvest. We have used these to emphasize that, just like humans, beer can be whatever the hell it wants to be, and proud of it."
To create the Kölsch style beer, BrewDog said it uses Jester hops, a variety naturally prone to altering sex while growing. The brewmakers say they brew No Label "with 20kg that have undergone this change and grown male flowers; to add diversity, rather than restrict it."
The brewery described its new beer as a concoction that "blurs boundaries between the binary worlds of lager and ale. The beer draws parallels with individuals who identify themselves in a similar ‘non-binary’ way, as neither exclusively male nor female – a community of people that is still largely under-acknowledged by society," the company wrote on its website.
And in support of the community, BrewDog says all proceeds from sales of the beer will be donated to the LGBTQI+ organization Queerest of the Queer, a UK-based group, to support charities for transgender youth. Cheers to that!