Calgary’s Pride Festival is still a few weeks away but a local brewery is getting a hop on the event.
On Friday, Toolshed Brewing launched a new craft beer, called 'Protest Pale Ale', which pays tribute to a pivotal moment in the fight for LGBTQ rights, the June 1969 Stonewall riots.
"The fact that we are all celebrating Pride is amazing but Pride started as a protest and it remains to be a protest for a lot of people," said Kevin Learning, the brewmaster at Tool Shed who came up with the idea. "So I really want to keep the emphasis on where we started and why it’s still so important we have it."
Seven breweries collaborated on the project, which has activist Marsha P. Johnson on the can. Johnson played an important role in the Stonewall protest by throwing the first brick of the riot.
Learning hopes people enjoy the beer and are inspired to look into the story behind it.
"It’s important to remember well we are allowed to celebrate we still have to remember and keep working, we aren’t done yet."
