SHAWNEE, Kan. — A Shawnee brewery is hoping to break the stigma surrounding mental health.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Transport Brewery in Shawnee will be selling an Indian Pale Ale (IPA) called "Things We Don't Say" for the month of May. Part of the proceeds will go to the local nonprofit Carl's House.
Carl's Cause was started by a local family that lost their son, Carl Specht in 2017 to suicide. He had struggled with mental illness. Now, his family is trying to change the future of mental health.
"Our thing with Carl, he was 27 when we lost him. This is something we could see him [drinking]. He would have been able to talk about it better if he was out with some buddies and the beer label came up. [Carl would've said] 'Hey, you know what I am struggling and I am feeling isolated. I am alone. I need some help.'" Kelly Specht, Carl's Mom said.
On the can, there is a list of resources someone can contact to get help from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Crisis Text Line, For Veterans and Trans Lifeline.
"You don't know where this can may end up. If it ends up in the hands of somebody that may need it, they have the resources right there. They may keep it on hand and use those resources and that's what we wanna do," Christie Merandino, Operations Manager at Transport Brewery said.
Merandino said this IPA project is happening within the micro brewery community across the country to bring awareness to mental illness.
This recipe for the IPA comes from Eagle Park Brewing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They created the recipe with hopes that breweries around the nation could easily make it. Because of the different geographic areas, the IPA is going to taste different depending on where it's made.
The brewery will start selling the IPA on Sunday.
