Political stances are nothing new in the generally progressive world of beer, but as companies across all industries step deeper into the political fray leading up to the 2020 election, a new question arises: is taking action inevitable?
"We are more aware and more comfortable doing these things that show our ideas and values," says David Faris, an associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and host of the Electing to Drink podcast. "When the president himself gets involved in deeply divisive cultural-political issues and won't let them go, he forces people to take into consideration actions they never would have thought about before."
Whether it’s your social media feed or choice of cable news network, it’s not hard to see the political schism permeating everyday life. For the past decade, U.S. residents have increasingly drawn lines in their personal lives as a reaction to a tense political climate, and are proactively shifting away from interactions with those who hold differing viewpoints.
Meanwhile, polls show a decrease in Americans’ trust for each other, which the Pew Research Center reported as "a sign of cultural sickness and national decline" built from "a political culture they believe is broken and spawns suspicion, even cynicism, about the ability of others to distinguish fact from fiction."
For companies, wearing your stance on your sleeve is now part of business—a way to create trust among consumers by connecting to hot-button issues. Walmart ended sales of some gun ammunition, Nike acknowledged a mistake in using a Revolutionary War-era flag on shoes, all while at least one poll shows consumers prefer their companies to be more liberal.
In beer, taking bold political positions has become more prevalent since the election of President Donald Trump, with breweries creating protest beers or simply finding actual ways to protest the president, his party, and the Republican platform. This year's Great American Beer Festival Session India Pale Ale silver medalist even fit the bill: Cannonball Creek Brewing Company’s "Trump Hands” made fun of the president’s 2016 insistence that his hand size equated to the scale of his masculinity, and perhaps his penis.
On the other end of the spectrum, some breweries have faced significant backlash for mocking social causes or civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. Firestone Walker Brewing Company dealt with pushback about GOP political donations from a family trust, and Yuengling welcomed the Trump family with open arms in 2016.
This is not to say macro or craft beer operate on strict ideological lines, although some correlations have been found between party affiliation and purchasing decisions. But the culture around “craft beer” (however you want to define the term) generally shows a more left-wing leaning. And if companies are finding that outspokenly progressive campaigns are increasingly finding success, it follows that 2020 presents a pivotal opportunity for many beer businesses.
“While you have to balance an awareness of which communities you’re embedded in and what kinds of people you see,” Faris says, “there’s an increased weighing of the moral imperative as a business owner to take a stand even if it’s not popular.”
In many cases, breweries have aligned with broad political movements or campaigns. New Belgium Brewing Company has focused on environmental issues and helped launch the American Hemp Campaign. Various companies have made efforts to promote and support voting rights. In recent weeks, dozens of breweries have also voiced support for the Clean Water Act, as the Supreme Court gears up to hear arguments on a major environmental case.
"We have 100,000 Instagram followers and hundreds of people in our taproom every day, so if we need to say something, we should use those platforms," says Rob Burns, co-founder and president at Massachusetts’ Night Shift Brewing. "We don't want to be on a soapbox and offend anyone in either direction, but when it's right and something needs to be said, we should do it."
To Burns and members of his staff, what’s “right” has included supporting causes often aligned with progressive platforms. He notes that donating draft sales to Planned Parenthood or equal-pay organizations and promoting LGBTQ events aren’t decisions that offer a gray area—they’re about supporting people as human beings.
“It’s almost like I can’t believe there’s a conversation around this,” Burns says. “‘Men and women should not be paid differently’ shouldn’t be a controversial thing to say.”
Drinkers will also spot an "All Styles" neon sign in Night Shift's downtown Boston taproom, which further drives home the company's support for equality. Burns says it's a reflection of the business' internal culture, which encourages staff to speak out about issues important to them and recommend ways Night Shift might get involved, even if it might turn off some customers.
"Not everyone loves each fundraiser, but that's OK," he says. "We don't really play the political Republican-versus-Democrat game at all, but it's important to make sure people know 'All Styles Welcome' is something we take seriously. If that's not something that jives with you, this probably isn't the place for you."
For any company, choosing to potentially alienate customers is something of a political act in itself. The purpose of a business—by definition—is to make money, and potentially cutting into revenue could be seen as counterintuitive. But given the current climate, and a growing level of comfort surrounding political expression, it’s a strategy that may simply make sense.
"If it's year one and we launch without any reputation and just say, 'Hey, guess what we're supporting?' I don't think that's a viable way to do it," says Sean Buchan, owner and head brewer at Denver's Cerebral Brewing. "People need to know and understand you as a business, and it helps when you have enough of a following that if you lose a few customers, that's fine."
"Those are the customers we don't want supporting us in the first place," he adds. “They can go visit any other brewery in Denver and we won’t be mad about it.”
Like Night Shift, Cerebral has taken on efforts to support reproductive rights, releasing Hands Off My Fruit this summer to raise money for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. The brewery donated about $10,000 from its efforts. The cause is close to Buchan’s heart: as a former physician assistant, he cares deeply about reproductive rights, particularly since healthcare disparities are worse for women and minorities.
Buchan admits that taking more liberal positions as a business is easier in Denver, where active-voting Democrats outnumber Republicans almost four-to-one. But when he sees his peers around the country doing the same, he says it reflects a culture that's increasingly more comfortable expressing concerns about national issues that impact members of their communities.
"There's a way to state what you believe in, not shove it down people's throats, and show people they should feel good about where their money is going," he says.
It’s common to hear consumers and business owners alike talking about how people can “vote with their wallet” to show who and what they support. But as America gets further into its election season, buying beer and other goods can become an actual political act.
These decisions are occurring at a time when more Americans would avoid talking about Trump in favor of other controversial topics, including minimum wage, gun bans, and a border wall. The willingness of brewery owners to take on these issues through their businesses goes against a shift in Americans’ attitudes regarding public displays of opinion, but does connect to one important fact Faris says is key.
As part of his research around a forthcoming book, The Kids Are All Left: How Young Voters Will End Partisan Polarization and Unify America, Faris has found that future voting habits of adults under 35 could split as much as 2:1 for “decisively left-leaning values.” This counts even more in metropolitan cities, which may include residents with more progressive attitudes. It just so happens that those areas also tend to have a greater density of breweries.
“If your customers are mostly under 35 and these people are spending time and money on your product, you may want to take stuff like this into account,” he says. “It’s hard to imagine a brewery in a major city or metro area in the U.S. doing anything that would hint at right-leaning political values. That would be suicide.”
One example recently came from Chicago via Zack Judickas, founder of One Allegiance Brewing. While in planning since 2016, the company listed its slogan as "One Country, One Language, One Flag.” followed with “UNITED BY BEER.” The website was updated in October to remove the language, which references the original words of the Pledge of Allegiance from 1885.
The brewery’s slogan wasn’t meant to invoke nationalist sentiments or thoughts of a non-inclusive nature, Judickas says, but recognize that beer “has always been part of the American tradition.” The business wants to act as a way to unite Chicago and its neighborhoods, he says.
“People will see, come opening, that there is more than one side to the picture,” Judickas says. “We have been rebranding for some time now and will be running with the ‘United by Beer’ idea. Good people and good beer. Simple as that.”
Faris notes it’s not the best political climate to use a slogan like "One Country, One Language, One Flag.” and emphasizes that brewers need to “read the room” regarding the political values of beer drinkers.
“We’re adjusting to the reality that you can probably do some things as a craft brewery to express your values that you might not have 20 years ago,” Faris says, but being mindful of things like word choice and interpretation—especially the geography in which those acts may exist—is important.
In this case, breweries are promoting unity during a time of broader disunity, even though bold political stances could continue to raise national tensions. The position is made more difficult when considering the lack of trust and hardening convictions found among Americans.
“Most people are willing to accept it’s normal for individuals to promote Democrats or Republicans given personal beliefs,” Faris says, “and there’s a lot of strategic choices in years ahead for what that means for these businesses.”
Words by Bryan Roth