Mon, 26 Jun 2017 18:50:00

“Silence like a cancer grows…”
Paul Simon, “Sound of Silence”  

We lost two good citizens recently. Another was seriously hurt. All three were bludgeoned in a Portland MAX light-rail train when they stood up to a lunatic’s hate, bigotry and hostility.Rick John Best, age 53, an army veteran and the father of four, and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, age 23, a recent Reed College graduate, died. Micah Fletcher, age 21, is now recovering from his knife wounds.Three ordinary Americans who did something that seems extraordinary in these tumultuous times: they stepped in to protect two young women who were being attacked ostensibly because of their religion and nationality.

• 

• 

• 

Each intervening citizen was a hero. Not because two died. Not because one was badly injured. They were heroes because when they saw acts of escalating intolerance they simply could not tolerate looking the other way. They acted, out of an impulse to protect two perfect strangers, despite the danger. They saw a clear and present danger – a cancer growing – and said: "this aggression will not stand."

They were not silent. And neither must we. We must not forget these three ordinary citizens, their courage, their bravery, their conversion of ideals into action.

Don’t let this horror deter you from being a good citizen. Drink and think soulfully. Imagine a world without lunatics, a world in which acts of valor were not necessary. All profits from the sale of Good Citizen Big IPA will be donated to the families of the victims. Whatever the profit is, Worthy will double it and donate it, proudly.

The beer? It’s fantastic. It’s big, bold and delicious. As an imperial, at 8.0% ABV, it’s on the lighter side. At 70 IBUs, it’s well within the boundaries of a hop packed West Coast IPA.

We happily brewed with exuberant amounts of Azacca, Cascade, Crystal, Citra, Simcoe and Meridian hops. A smooth tropical fruit aroma with a mouth-dancing pineapple sweetness.  Savor, ponder and re-pledge your allegiance to doing the right thing.

Good Citizen, another gem from our Heart & Soul Series, is a small batch beer that is only available at our pub.

Worthy raises its pint glass to good Samaritans: may you continue to treat others as you would be treated, and protect others as you would want to be protected.

RGW
6/25/17

A few days after his attack, Micah Fletcher posted the following poem:

I am alive.
I spat in the eye of hate and lived.
This is what we must do for one another
We must live for one another
We must fight for one another
We must die in the name of freedom if we have to.
Luckily it's not my turn today.