ABOUT US
Beer is for Everyone is a grass roots project that was born from the need for more diverse bodies, spaces, and voices within the craft beer community. As an ever-growing industry, it is of the utmost importance to be critical of our growth along the way. We believe that more diversity in the craft beer community will ultimately create greater diversity within the beers, themselves. Every one of us has unique perspectives, ideas, and experiences that we bring to the beer conversation. Now, more than ever, it is time that we encourage everyone to have a seat at the table.
As a space that is primarily dominated by a certain hegemonic group, it can frequently be an uncomfortable place for people who do not fall within the demographic. What’s worse – many people often feel invisible. Furthermore, they are not represented within the imagery of craft beer. This is inherently problematic because this creates an environment where people do not feel welcome. Therefore, people are being excluded from the experience and enjoyment of craft beer. Diversification needs to happen at all levels of beer – from theory to practice to content creation to production to consumption. Beer is for Everyone looks to encourage the inclusion of all people who love craft beer.
This project has four foundational pillars of Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Justice. One of the ways we hope to build upon them is to enact and encourage change throughout our community through education. We believe that a good starting point for disrupting the status quo is by creating awareness around these issues. From racism to environmental impact, we strive to create and continue the conversations around these topics to encourage a better future for us all. In order for change to occur, there needs to be a significant number of people who dedicate themselves to making sure it happens. This project hopes to serve as a gateway to furthering this agenda.
We stand on the shoulders of giants. We recognize and acknowledge that we would not be where we are today without those who came before us. In the past, there have been many leaders who have pioneered a better future for all of us. Furthermore, in the present, there are advocates of change who are working tirelessly to continue the good work. From this, we are able to extend the journey toward a more diverse, inclusive, equitable, and just community. Our gratitude and respect are with them, as we walk into the future.
While working towards change can often be uncomfortable, we believe that it will be meaningful and valuable for all. It is a slow process, but we are seeing worthwhile impacts of it. We need to actively be advocating for change. So, we started by creating an Instagram that reposted and featured all types of craft beer drinkers, regardless of their similarity or likeness to the “norm”. We noticed that many of the other repost accounts were heavily saturated with only a few types of selfies – ones that were often focused on the sexualization or commodification of its contributors. Not to mention, they excluded many categories of people. For many, the feeds of these industry-leading accounts were not representative of the craft beer community as a whole. While we entirely respect their choices, we felt it was necessary to create a new space where everyone was visible and represented. Since then, the project has grown to be a news and information hub with the goal of future expansion as we progress. From a one-woman operation, we have expanded to a collective of people who are striving to make a difference. Learn more about these creative souls that are making this project run on our Contributors page.
We are deeply grateful for you, as we venture on this journey of advocacy together.
