Outpost Brewing Launches Tropical IPA to Support Global Women's Initiative

The reviews started coming in fast once the first pints landed at Outpost Brewing's taproom on April 4: "fruity," "delicious," "has bite." For co-owners Chelsey and Dan Borgstrom, the reception confirmed exactly what they had designed.

The Coeur d'Alene brewery released "Who Run the World IPA" as part of the Pink Boots Society's annual Collaboration Collective, an international fundraising event that funnels brewery sales into scholarships, training grants, and educational programming for women and non-binary professionals in the fermentation and brewing industries. Outpost's contribution was a limited-run IPA built on a light pilsner malt base, with a hop selection sourced deliberately: the Borgstroms chose hop and grain suppliers who each donate a percentage of their own sales back to the Pink Boots Society, creating a layered funding structure that starts at the supply chain before a single pint is poured.

The hops in question align with the Society's annual blend, created each year by Yakima Chief Hops in partnership with PBS members. The current blend features HBC 638, El Dorado, Ahtanum, and Idaho 7, chosen for their berry and citrus character with floral and peppery depth. Chelsey translated that into plain language for anyone skeptical of hop nerd taxonomy. "You should taste notes of bubble gum, tropical fruit and Fruit Loops," she said. Last year's PBS hop blend alone returned $137,565 to fund women's education and programming across the brewing industry.

At the taproom release, Kerry Kieres put the beer in the context of the cause it was representing. "This beer emulates everything the Pink Boots Society stands for," Kieres said. "It's bright and showcases the beauty of the hops. The flavor profiles that come out are not simplistic, and it showcases the individual flavors as the beer warms up and you take sip after sip after sip."

The Pink Boots Society was founded in 2007 and has since grown into a global network with chapters participating in collective brew days every year, each contributing to a scholarship pool for industry professionals who otherwise face structural barriers to advancement. For the Borgstroms, that broader mission maps onto something they see reflected in Coeur d'Alene itself. "This community is overflowing with talent in our industry," Chelsey said. "So much passion, intelligence, kindness and like-minded people who constantly come together to help one another out and lift each other up."

The Who Run the World IPA is a limited release. The Borgstroms expect it to move through local draft accounts and packaged retail quickly, with tasting events tied to the donation campaign still to come. For homebrewers curious about the recipe, the publicly available PBS hop blend and a pilsner malt base offer a replicable framework: the candy-ester character is largely yeast and hop-driven, making this style of cause beer one of the more technically accessible targets to recreate at small-batch scale while still putting dollars toward a scholarship fund.