I ❤️ Willy Street Autumn IPA Fundraising Beer

As you probably know, it's been a hard few months for the Williamson Street community. Corey Ruiz was shot and killed during an encounter with the police, leading to anger, sadness, confusion, and many other emotions.

The protest that sprung up in response to the shooting was chaotic, energetic, brought some together, allowed others to start healing, and so many other things. It also showed us that there are communities in Madison that we are not doing enough to help, including people with mental illness and the unhoused.

Once Willy Street was opened back up after a couple of weeks of being blocked, our beloved neighborhood has been trying to find some sense of normalcy, which is difficult in the best of times. We’re still as a community having conversations about police reform; about how we can help the vulnerable and those on the margins; about how the local businesses can stay afloat and bring people back to our vibrant and eclectic neighborhood.

The solutions to these issues and the healing of these wounds will take a long time with a lot of effort from a lot of people. And while none of us can solve these things immediately or alone, we are not completely without agency.

When thinking about what we could do, we decided to keep it simple. What can we do to bring attention to what’s going on here and help out, just a little bit? What we do best. Bring people together and forge connections around delicious beer.

So we made I ❤️ Willy Street Autumn IPA. We wanted to make a beer that reminds people that the Willy Street neighborhood is still the fun, funky, and lively place filled with lovable people that we've always been.

And while it's just a drop in the bucket, we will donate $1 for every 4-pack equivalent sold of this beer, whether it's in the taproom or cans or kegs out in the wild, split between the following organizations:

Williamson-Marquette Business Association, which supports locally owned businesses in the Willy St community
Social Justice Center, which provides space for nonprofits to succeed in their pursuit of social justice

I ❤️ Willy Street Autumn IPA is an amber colored IPA. Made with 2-Row Brewers, Munich, and Caramel 40L malts, it’ll have more of a malty, bready, and caramel backbone than our other IPAs.

We bittered it with a hop extract, added Sultana and Strata hops during the whirlpool (post boil as the wort starts to cool before going to the fermenter), and then dry-hopped it with Chinook, Strata, and Sultana hops post fermentation. These hop additions combine to impart notes of pine, grapefruit, and pineapple.

We love this beer for a couple of reasons. First, how it drinks. Hoppy beers are good year round, but as the weather changes and temperatures drop, you need something a little richer and heartier.

This is the perfect beer for that transition. Just enough malt to create a fuller base. The sharper, pine- and citrus-focused hop character helps balance the added malt complexity and keeps the beer from becoming too flabby or sweet. This is exactly the kind of beer we want to drink around a campfire on a cool fall night.

And second, it feels great (and is a little humbling) to be able to give back to a community that has embraced us so well. Like we said, this is just a drop in the bucket, but with enough drops, the bucket eventually fills up.

Want to be another drop in the bucket? See below for links to purchase gift cards from different Willy St area businesses, links to different organizations providing social services, and more ❤️

Willy Street Business Gift Card Info

Note: This list was quickly prepared to try and aid small businesses that have been impacted by the street closure at the intersection of Williamson and Baldwin.

What is this for? Many businesses on or near Willy street have been closed or effectively closed. Those businesses may (or may not) philosophically and morally agree with the aims of the protest and gathering, but unfortunately, scheduled costs cannot be paused or deferred: rent is due; paychecks need to go out; suppliers need to be paid; etc.

We don’t want the small business community and the protest to be on opposite sides of a complex and evolving situation. Community alliance and alignment is important to the ends and goals expressed at the protest!

Furthermore, we believe that our community should also come together and support the organizations, charities, and social services that work on the issues and injustices – both acute and chronic – that are expressed by the protest. Please also consider making donations to these organizations. This is a both-and situation!

This list is for those who have the means to spend in advance, or make donations. It is entirely up to you who you may or may not wish to support with gift cards or other ‘virtual’ business. If you do NOT have the means, please try encouraging your neighbors, friends and colleagues to support Willy street and the community as they are able.

Finally, most Willy street and area businesses are still open.The streets are now open; there is plenty of parking, and it is safe to visit. Please come to Willy street and patronize your favorite open businesses. (Maybe stop by and meet the protesters too; see for yourself what is going on and who is speaking and what they are saying!)

The order of places below implies no priority or allegiance at all; we wanted to err on the side of urgency and completeness over curation ❤️‍🩹

Social Service Organizations

These organizations were selected quickly for their mission’s alignment with the protest, AND because they have representatives on the Police Oversight Civilian Board. Let us know if we are missing relevant organizations!

Urban Triage - https://www.urbantriage.org/donate

Freedom Inc - https://freedom-inc.org/index.php?page=Support-Us

Social Justice Center - https://socialjusticecenter.org/

YWCA - https://www.ywcamadison.org/ways-to-give-individuals

For the Workers Impacted

“Madison Worker Cooperatives” is seeking and distributing funds to workers who are impacted by the business closure and slowdown. Please also support the workers with a donation (or a big tip in person!)

https://secure.givelively.org/donate/madison-workers-cooperative/willy-street-impacted-workers-fund