Each year, Buoy Beer Company works to raise awareness and money for the LGBTQIA2S+ community, and Pride Month is quickly approaching. For the first time this year, they will be brewing a special Pride IPA for the benefit of Lower Columbia Q Center and Astoria’s Lower Columbia Pride.
Both the LCQC and New Avenues for Youth are non-profit organizations that offer programs and services to the LGBTQIA2S+ community.
Both the LCQC and New Avenues for Youth are non-profit organizations that offer programs and services to the LGBTQIA2S+ community. LCQC’s events and support groups focus on outreach, education, and charity for individuals and families in the Lower Columbia region while New Avenues for Youth focuses on the prevention and intervention of youth homelessness.
New Avenues INK, a screen-printing company that also offers career guidance, will be responsible for producing the 7th edition of the Buoy’s Pride Tee. Another notable initiative by this company involves managing the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shop in Downtown Portland, which contributes to the provision of internships and vocational training opportunities for young individuals.
Proceeds from Buoy’s Pride Tees will support LCQC, while sales of Pride IPA will benefit Avenues for Youth.
The IPA Pride, as part of the June Beer Series Benefit, will also be featured at all three locations of John’s Marketplace. The IPA will be available in kegs and cans at local Seattle and Oregon bars, as well as independent grocery stores. Additionally, you can find it at the Buoy’s taproom located at the Hub Food in Astoria.
Amy Still, the Quality Assurance Lead at Buoy, affirms that fostering diversity and inclusivity at Buoy and in our community is a positive move towards progress. As a result, a local organization that supports queer youth benefits from the sales of the beer. This engagement encompassed conversations about the can art and design, the media coverage, and the allocation of the profits. Members of the Buoy team who also identify as part of the LGTBQIA2S+ community were encouraged to take the lead in the creation of this Pride IPA, if they felt comfortable doing so.
Buoy brewers wanted to create a perfect and fruity, balanced beer for this year’s event, using pine and lemon notes followed by grapefruit and tropical fruit aromas, with moderately bitter and gently sweet flavors that elevate their West Coast-style IPA, IPA Pride.
Lauren McGrath, the Portland Sales Representative for Buoy, expresses that she is proud to contribute to the realization of this courageous and delectable innovation, especially as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. “We aspire for it to ignite discussions, nurture relationships, and contribute to a society that embraces diversity.”