American brewery's new beer targets menopausal women

The Portsmouth Brewery unveiled Libeeration earlier this month (October) at a special release party where the beer was available on draught and in a limited bottle release.

Co-owner Joanne Francis hailed the brew as a breakthrough in a heavily male-dominated industry.

Disgust and horror

On the brewery’s website it stated that when she first mentioned the idea of a beer for menopausal women six years ago, the reaction from her staff was “nothing short of disgust and horror”.

But she didn’t give up and enlisted the help of head brewer Matt Gallagher. Francis said: “Let’s take the needle off the record. A whole world of women love craft beer and many more will discover it.

“For new consumers, this could be an awakening. But remember, many of us have been enjoying craft beer since the whole movement began in the mid-80s. We have purchasing power and we deserve this empowering elixir!”

Libeeration is described as a unique, gruit (German for herb) style ale, which is golden straw in colour with fruity, spicy, earthy flavours.

Menopausal help

It contains a combination of ingredients herbalists use to help women deal with hormone shifts that come with age such as motherwort; lemon balm; chamomile; stinging nettle; mugworth; rose; chickweed and damiana.

A small dose of Saphir hops in the secondary fermentation adds a tangerine note to the finish and can help with sleep, according to head brewer Gallagher.

He said: “I have always been intrigued with the concept of this beer, but it was only after having a daughter and beginning to view the world differently that I felt the importance of putting this ale on the front burner.

“This has been an amazing collaboration process and so much fun to work with a group committed to offering women something new and delicious.”