Austin Brewer's '$2.13' Beer Is A Hoppy Protest

AUSTIN, TX — Call this a sudsy insurrection, beer brouhaha or hoppy hubbub. A pair of Austin beer purveyors have created a brew named "$2.13 Pale Ale" as a not-too-subtle call to increase the federal minimum wage for tipped employees that's been unchanged since 1991.

A group called In The Weeds has teamed up with Oasis Texas Brewing Co. in recently launching the craft beer to call attention to the issue. It's meant in honor of those unsung service industry workers toiling under the $2.13 minimum wage, but also something of a pale malt protest.

This is right up the In The Weeds alley, which describes itself as "...an underground Central Texas-focused service industry forum" with more than 9,000 members. Revolutions, as we know, often emerge from underground environs.

"This collaboration beer is called $2.13 which is the federal minimum wage for tipped employees," officials explained in their website. "$2.13 is described as a Bantam Pale Ale, coming in at 4% ABV [Alcohol By Volume].

It's a sessionable ale with great flavor, its makers described. It's got a light hop aroma that will be "affordably priced," officials added, inferring the beer itself won't cost $2.13 but maybe higher than that. But the beer's creators vow the offering will rival the price of the "cheap beers of the world" with the high quality the beer makers offer year-round.

For those not among the cognoscenti, a "sessionable" or "session" beer is defined as one low in alcohol that can be consumed in large quantities without becoming excessively intoxicated. This usually means beers in the range of 3 percent to 5 percent alcohol by volume.

Also: $2.13 will be available in cans, officials noted.

In The Weeds founder Kc Hensley explains the inspiration behind the pale ale with inspired rhetoric one might hear as pub banter between client and bartender shooting the breeze on a slow day when such conversations usually ferment.

"A person who works for tips is a gambler," Hensley wrote, "wagering their smile, personality and hospitality to pay their bills. This beer is a salute to our industry, the people that risk making $2.13 an hour."

If you happen to be in Austin later this month, the politically infused pale ale will be introduced at a launch party at the Texas Brewing Co., 6550 Comanche Trail, at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26. Following the launch, the specially labeled pale ale will be available at local retail outlets with distribution by Ben E. Keith.

We'll drink to that. Beer lovers of the world: Unite!

>>> Photo by Paloma A. on Unsplash