Rebellion Brewing Company has launched a new, special edition beer in honour of International Women’s Day (March 8).

Vanessa Owen is a brewmaster and brewery manager at Rebellion Brewing Company.

She said the brewery does the beer every year and this year the beer is showcasing Pink Boots hops.

“Pink Boots Society is a non-profit organization that supports women in the brewing industry, the proceeds in buying those hops goes to scholarships within the industry,” Owen said. “So we get that and we showcase the hops in just a really crushable 4.5 per cent beer.”

Owen describes the beer as smooth and having a mild citrus “tea like herbal quality”, she added that it would be really nice for the upcoming spring weather.

The proceeds from the beer, named Pink Solo Crush, will go to the YWCA of Regina.

Patio's open! All day long ????

The Pink Boots Solo Crush combos are almost all sold, be sure to get your pre-order in before they are all gone.https://t.co/Syh3FVfRDl

Proceeds from the sale of this beer will go to @YWCARegina pic.twitter.com/njEItawLlT

— Rebellion Brewing Co (@RebBrewRegina) March 5, 2021

“When we first started doing this years ago, I wanted the proceeds to go to a locally based [organization] to go to women in our community and the YWCA was the first place I thought of,”

Owen said this is the fourth or fifth time Rebellion Brewing has partnered with the organization and last year the company raised $20,000 for the non-profit.

Melissa Coomber-Bendtsen is the CEO of the YWCA in Regina.

She said the partnership with Rebellion Brewing has spanned over the last couple of years and in addition to the beer, the two partner in raising awareness of gender equity.

“We do lots of education programming and advocacy work with them throughout the year,” she said.

In terms of International Women’s Day, Coomber-Bendtsen said the day is important to the YWCA for many reasons.

“Our organization focuses on gender equity and looks at it from the intersectionality of vulnerabilities that affect women and children particularly,” she said. “I think International Women’s [Day] is an opportunity for all sectors, businesses and organizations to have conversations about what are the barriers that are still affecting gender equity in our community.”

She said the day is a chance for other sectors to voice their concerns about gender inequality and the YWCA helps amplify their voices.

https://twitter.com/YWCARegina/status/1368961971375271938

Owen said March 8 also marks International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day, where people from all over the globe are brewing beer collaboratively.

“It’s kind of a really amazing feeling to know that we’re all brewing together,” she said.

When it comes to being a woman in a male dominated industry, Owen said she feels supported.

“I do find that sometimes it has been a struggle but I also feel really connected,” she said. “Being a part of this global movement makes me feel really connected to other women who are brewing.”

Owen said International Women’s Day is important to her and the company because there is an ongoing fight for equality.

“It’s not a secret that women have had to fight for everything that we’ve had,” she said. “We want to support people who want to support the fight.”