Joining All Together IPA and Black Is Beautiful among recent open-invitation collaborations to raise funds and awareness for a cause, a new effort—called Things We Don’t Say IPA—aims to do the same for mental-health issues.
Milwaukee’s Eagle Park Brewing, Malteurop Malting, and Yakima-based Hollingbery & Son Hops recently announced the project, in cooperation with Hope for the Day, a Chicago-based nonprofit that focuses on suicide prevention and mental-health education.
The organizers are inviting any interested breweries to join the project, “a call to empower breweries from around the globe to use their platforms to stand up for those who suffer in silence with their mental health, be it with anxiety, depression, or other mental illness.” More than 110 breweries in four countries have signed up so far.
Participating breweries can brew a version of Things We Don’t Say IPA, based on a recipe from Eagle Park—however, it’s not obligatory, and breweries participating in the campaign can brew a beer in any style they choose. Both Malteurop and Hollingbery & Son are offering discounts on ingredients for the project. A release is planned for May 2021, Mental Health Awareness Month, in conjunction with Hope for the Day’s Shake the Stigma awareness campaign.
The first Things We Don’t Say beer came from Wandering Soul Beer in Beverly, Massachusetts. Brewery owner Matt Smith released the beer, a hazy double IPA, in 2019 after the stillbirth of his daughter. The idea was to call attention to the stigma against talking about the trauma of loss. “In the true spirit of collaboration, we are proud to share the name with Wandering Soul,” the organizers say on their website.
Eagle Park’s base recipe, a beer label that can be edited, other assets, and much more information are available on the website, thingswedontsay.beer.