Fight Like Hell
Mourn the dead, fight like hell for the living.
Our latest beer, our first DIPA, is one of the most meaningful we've ever brewed, if not THE most. Fight Like Hell is a beer we've brewed to observe and mark Trans Day of Remembrance, this coming Saturday. TDoR is the day the trans community and our allies remember and honour our siblings who lost their lives to anti-trans violence, and is a day that means a great deal to us, both personally and as a company. this release is about so much more than beer.
Our audience is a predominantly cis one; we wanted to use this beer as an opportunity to share the meaning behind TDoR, and to encourage you all to observe this day with us. A share of the profits from this beer will be donated to the Black Trans Foundation and one other trans-led charity—we're just finalising who this is.
Our hope is that you'll use this beer as an opportunity to observe and mark Trans Day of Remembrance, this coming Saturday. We wanted to put something out there that you can hold in your hand and take a moment to remember those we’ve lost.
TDoR is an incredibly important day regardless, but in the face of a steadily rising wave of transphobia, anti-trans sentiment, and anti-trans violence, it's not only imperative to remember those lost, but also to recognise the existential threat trans people have historically faced, and continue to do so today. This week is trans awareness week, which always feels uncomfortable: as a trans person my instinct is to say that we don't need awareness. We need increased vocal, tangible, and meaningful allyship, we need a healthcare system that isn't unfit for purpose, and we need systemic change.
But we do also need awareness raised in places it's sadly lacking. We need increased awareness that those most vulnerable within our community are trans people of colour, and specifically Black trans women. We need people to be aware that an increasing number of who purport to speak for the whole LGBTQ+ community, or for women and girls, do so whilst advocating for the removal of the rights of trans people, especially trans women. We need awareness that visibility isn't the endgame, that representation is a means to and end rather than the end itself; that whilst it is indeed 2021, the situation facing trans people is arguably getting worse, not better.
As we remember those we've lost, both to direct transphobic violence and to those we've lost as a result of the transphobia in all of our lives, let's use this as an opportunity to consider what more we can do.
Fight Like Hell is based on the recipe for Existence As A Radical Act, our core pale. To us, Existence represents that in a hostile society, simply existing as a trans person is a radical act of defiance. In the face of such sustained transphobia throughout the world—and here in the UK—we must all fight like hell for all trans people, and in particular trans people of colour.
The beer itself is a Double IPA that weighs in at 8%. As with Existence, it's hopped with Citra and Simcoe and fermented with Voss Kveik yeast. You get similar bursts of tangerine, lime, and mango, and touches of lychee. We're really proud of the beer itself, as well as all it stands for, and we hope you'll raise a glass with us on Saturday.
Strength and solidarity forever.
Team QB x