Life in the clouds...

I talked about this beer a couple of days ago, @collectivebrew has released a series of 4 new labels on their core DDH DIPA Life in the Clouds in support of Pride Month that featured work from 4 members of the Queer community. A portion of proceeds from the sale of these cans will be donated to @rainbowrailroad and that is also part of their newly set up charitable arm, @collectivemore.
While I loved all of the artwork, this part of @hellomynameiswednesday's design has stuck with me in the days since I first talked about this initiative. I grew up in a hetero normative family, blue collar, old school. I saw my parents love for each other as an extension of the world around me and felt the most normal thing in the world was to be just like them. Meet a girl, fall in love, get married and beyond. It never dawned on me that LGBTQ2+ people did not have this experience, in fact felt the polar opposite and encountered anger, fear and resistance to who they loved and who they were. It takes me back to think that it might be so many years of a person's life before they see someone who is just like them, who can confirm what they feel and experience and who can show them they are not alone. I cannot imagine the feeling because I do not have the experience, but it doesn't mean I won't try to learn and support anyone who needs it. There were times in my own life when I didn't know who I was, but I never felt the fear of coming out and facing rejection from those I love. My parents taught me that love is love is love and who you are a person mattered more than the colouring your skin or who you loved.
Are you good?
Are you kind?
Do you make those around you feel better?
These things mattered far more than anything else, we were taught to always see the world as bigger than ourselves but it took me more years and scars of my own to find that truth for myself.
This can is going on the wall of fame, it will continue to make me reflect and consider my words and world beyond myself....
Be good.
Do good.
Drink good.

Here I Am - Inspired by Merit Brewing

  I often ponder being Canadian. I used to say I was proud to be Canadian, our healthcare, while not perfect, was not dependent on having insurance or money. That we were better than our cousins to the south when it came to a whole host of  social issues and just that general smugness that comes from being part of the Great White North. Lots of learning as I get older and I know that I'd be more accurate to say I'm lucky to be Canadian. Lucky to have been born here to good parents, lucky to be a white male, that forgives a whole host of shit that would have had different outcomes if I wasn't just that and lucky that I have the opportunity to change how I see the world, how to make it better and use this platform to lift up other folks. It's a good time to change your perspective, the shades of Canada as a perfect place need to be raised and the institutional racism against people of colour and especially our shameful past and present treatment of the indigenous population needs to be laid bare, addressed and fixed in order for us to have some of that pride restored. This country is home to and was built by the hands and sweat of immigrants, on the backs of the people who were here first and with the labour of those forced by colour or race to do so.
  Just a little bit of my mind as I hold this new Merit Brewing release, Here I Am, in my hand and marvel at just how fucking lucky I really am. I get to drink some of the finest beers in the country and they come minutes from my home. I'm privileged to be able to afford them and this place and I know that and feel it every day. Merit does good stuff around Hamilton, Tej and Spinney bring heart and soul to everything they do and I am proud to call them my friends. The beer? A 6.3%  Hazy IPA with orange and grapefruit pith and dank pine on the back, it's damn good.
  Sometimes the beer inspires me, I hope I can keep that going. Cheers! 4.5/5

Not a beer review but still a beer review

My usual day consists of working 10 hours, coming home and drinking a few beers with a post on Instagram. For almost 5 years I've gone that. Today I will not put a beer review on that site, my most followed and perhaps influential social media portal.
Why? Well, it has everything to do with love and taking a stand on what can no longer be allowed. The systematic racism that pervades black lives all over the world is now being witnessed large and live on TV as the United States reels from the murder of George Floyd and the protests and marches that now enter their 8th day with little sign of stopping. Today on Instagram was about taking a pause, engaging with the community of black creators and amplifying their voices.
So that's what I did and while I'll drop my review here because I need it for my admittedly privileged reasons, it is but a little mental exercise for this old guy.
Inswrt weird beer review for my mental health...Forked River Interstalar IPA rolls into the Grotto at 6.5%, 55 IBUs and with a sunshine laden afternoon ahead, delight inside. A biscuity toasted malt body with light touches of caramel give way to pithy grapefruit and orange with a hint of dank and a resinous pine back. Bitter and harkening back to the classic west coast IPAs I love so much, I'm sold on this one. Cheers! 4/5

There you have it, I keep my decidedly silly daily bee review streak going, even though it means nothing at all in the grand scheme of the world today.
Stay safe, be kind and take stock of what you believe, time is now to stand up and be heard.