Taste the rainbow!
A Gowanus brewery will launch a new beer called “Gender Neutral” with a gay Pride party on June 22. The socially conscious beer makers say that the queer beer name is a playful way to get people thinking about gender issues while enjoying a drink, said one of the co-owners.
“We tend to have fun with the names, and want to make a broader societal point to maybe get people thinking while they relax with a beer,” said Gowanus resident Joshua Stylman. “Human rights and [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer] rights are important to us. We think it’s ridiculous that they’re still ‘an issue’ in 2017, so we want to leverage the beer to create some awareness.”
The creative brew dudes behind Threes Brewing have previously cooked up whimsically named beers including Bad Wallpaper, Atomic Swerve, and Unreliable Narrator. Their latest concoction, said Stylman, was inspired by the controversy over the 2016 North Carolina “bathroom bill,” that required transgender men and women to use the bathroom that corresponds with the sex on their birth certificate — a bill has since been partially repealed.
“With everything that was going on, we were sitting around the brewery talking, and thought, ‘Gender Neutral would make a great beer name,’ ” said Stylman. “We kind of held back until Pride, where we thought it would be a good intersection.”
Gender Neutral is a pale lager with a citrus zest — a traditional summer style of beer — which was chosen because Pride comes during June.
The brewers hope the crafty craft beer name provokes some discussion among beer guzzlers, without sending a message that shoves more than beer down their throats, unlike some pro-gay beverages.
“We tend not to be too obvious with the names — we want to make a commentary on society,” he said. “And with the launch — we are really trying to do this as an event to raise awareness for a great cause.”
The Gowanus brewpub, which boasts seven gender-neutral bathrooms, will launch the beer with a Pride party on June 22. “Gender Neutral” will be poured fresh into its rainbow-colored cans on the day before the party, and Pride-full partiers will be able to snag glasses and tote bags decorated with the can art. Brooklyn DJ Kandylion will pump up the jams, and a portion of the proceeds from the event — and from all sales of the beer — will go to the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ civil rights advocacy group.
“Human Rights Are Gender Neutral” party at Threes Brewing [333 Douglass St. between Third and Fourth avenues in Gowanus, (718) 522–2110, www.three