Beers without Beards | Brave Noise Mission

You must have seen them around with their white and blue label. Brave Noise is a collaboration program which aims to advocate for safe space and inclusive environments within the beer industry.

To be eligible for the collaboration, breweries must be transparent with their policies, commit to long-term work, and of course raise money for an organisation that share Brave Noise mission.

I’ve been admiring the work and activism of Brienne Allan and Ash Eliot, the leaders behind Brave Noise since start. And I was over the moon when Jon at Spookton Brew Co. contacted me a few months ago, asking if Beers Without Beard and Women in Beer would accept to be the recipient of his own Brave Noise sales.

I must admit it was the first time I was hearing about the cuckoo brewer, but after a bit of research and a chat with Jon, I was impressed by Spookton’s ethos and convinced we were sharing the same values.

For his interpretation of the famous collab, Jon opted for a Citrus Zest Pale Ale. He removed the acidulated malt and reduced the pH with an acid addition as it was a small amount of malt that was required. He switched the Pilsner for Pale Malt due to personal preference in this style of beer. And went with Citra rather than Sabro in the dry hop as Sabro can be a bit divisive and he wanted this to meet universal approval.

He added Citra in a whirlpool addition too, to give some bitterness and hop compounds for the yeast to work on during active fermentation.

The zest additions were to give a fragrant, summery feeling. The goal was not to make a sour, but we wanted there to be some citrus on the nose and in the aftertaste, without turning this into something other than a pale ale.

About the collab Jon said

I’ve been a big fan of the campaign for a while now, and so was delighted when Brave Noise welcomed us on board! We donate money to charity for every pint or can we brew and up to this point the charities that we’ve supported haven’t been directly connected to the beer industry, so this seemed like a nice opportunity to combine the two. We were already following the work of Beers Without Beards, and I saw this as a chance to directly support their work. I feel strongly that we all have a lot of work to do to make craft beer more welcoming for everyone and I see BWoB’s initiative as being at the forefront of that.

Thanks to suppliers sponsoring the beer (including Crisp Malt), Jon will ensure a maximum of the proceeds will go to our cause.

But what exactly will the proceeds of the beer be used for?

Part of Beers Without Beards activities are dedicated to supporting women working in the beer industry, like the Women In Beer Festival. Following the latest edition of the festival and the feedbacks from either our guests speakers and attendees, I had decided to go a bit further in trying to help women work and build a career in the beer industry.

In June this year, we are launching a mentorship program dedicated to women of all sectors of the industry (from hospitality to brewing, marketing, chemistry, etc.).

The objective is to give women starting either their career or a project in beer, a chance to be paired with a more experienced women who will be able to give them skills, advice, network etc.

Why is this kind of scheme important?

We all know it; our industry lacks female representation in leadership roles. In a workplace where women are a minority, they often feel isolated and support like this is often desperately needed by people from underrepresented group like women.

A Mentoring program will provide role models for other women in the industry. Women who have been mentored acquires experience and essential skills for their professional lives.

As much as they’re essential for the industry, funding this kind of project is difficult and we can’t thank Jon and Spookton enough for helping us making it a reality.