Charlotte breweries join global movement with Brave Noise beer

Right now you can find Brave Noise on the menu at six Charlotte breweries— Divine Barrel Brewing, NoDa Brewing Company, Pilot Brewing Company, Protagonist Brewing, Resident Culture and Town Brewing Co.

Why it matters: The beer industry is a male-dominated world, with few protections for female brewers and employees who experience sexual harassment in the workplace. Often, female employees find themselves out of a job, because they’ve been harassed by a fellow employee— or worse, an employer.

• It’s a trend Brave Noise founder, Brienne Allan, found more common than she expected.

Flashback: Last summer, Allan was bored at home in Massachusetts and randomly posted a story on her Instagram asking the question “Have you ever experienced sexism in the beer industry?”

• Almost immediately, she was inundated with responses from people across the beer industry, detailing traumatizing first-hand experiences of abuse.
• She shared the responses on her Instagram and the more she shared, the more she got.

The number of people who reached out inspired her to speak up for women in the beer industry and ultimately create Brave Noise, alongside fellow activist and beer lover, Ash Eliot.

• The original responses to Allan’s post are still on her Instagram. But today, people can submit their anonymous stories to Embolden Act Advance— on it, you can scroll through hundreds of stories from survivors around the globe, from Georgia to Canada.

“It’s sad that [you have to] pour your heart out and your uncomfortable traumatic situation online for it to be noticed,” local beer connoisseur and influencer Lindsay Hayes tells me.

• Hayes is committed to bringing Brave Noise to every brewery in Charlotte.

Context: Hayes has worked at several local breweries—behind the bar and as social media manager. Her Instagram account, @HoppyHayes, has more than 20k followers. Needless to say, she has some pull. “I was like, okay, I can’t just sit back anymore,” she told me.

• She emailed 31 breweries in Charlotte, asking them to consider brewing Brave Noise.
• In her proposal email, Hayes explained what Brave Noise is and offered to help them write a Code of Conduct if they didn’t have one. And since she’s a level one Cicerone (like a sommelier in the beer industry), she even offered to brew the beer.
• “I’ve received nothing but positive feedback,” she said. “The Protagonist owner called me before I even sent him his email.”

How it works: In order to get the Brave Noise Pale Ale recipe, a brewery must submit a code of conduct, publish it for staff and customers to read, make a donation to a relevant charitable or nonprofit organization and commit to making their spaces inclusive and safe environments for their staff and customers.

• The pale ale is the base recipe, Eliot explained in an interview with Vine Pair. 
• Breweries can put their own spin on the recipe.
• So, the Brave Noise you try at Town Brewing might not taste the same as the one you have at Resident Culture.

What they’re saying: “It was a no-brainer for us to take part,” co-owner of Divine Barrel Gavin Toth tells Axios. “[Change] can’t happen overnight, but initiatives like Brave Noise are monumental for steering the conversation and change in a promising direction,” he added. 

The next time you walk into Protagonist, notice the code of conduct posted in the taproom. “Every single person that is in our building must adhere to it,” Protagonist’s co-founder Mike Salzarulo said. He added that the process of applying for the pale ale “helped us shape our code of conduct in a more intentional and thorough way.”

What’s next: Hayes says at least 10 more breweries in Charlotte have committed to brewing Brave Noise so far. She hopes the beer and cause will spread throughout the rest of the state as it has across the globe.