For the third year in a row, Reformation Brewery, with locations in Woodstock, Canton and Smyrna, will brew a beer in support of Shepherd’s Men, a local veterans advocacy group.
This year’s beer, known as Shepherd’s Men Clarity lager, will also be available at more than 20 other metro area outlets.
The small-batch seasonal release is a clean, easy-drinking rice lager flavored with lemondrop hops. For each pack purchased, $1 will be donated to the Shepherd’s Men ATL organization.
Travis Ellis of Marietta is the co-founder of Shepherd’s Men, which raises money for Share Military Initiative programs, an organization that focuses on the assessment and treatment of U.S. military veterans who have sustained mild to moderate traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
“So often in military communities, you have that mindset to put your head down and press on,” Ellis said. “Well, that doesn’t work with these types of brain injuries.”
The relationships he has built through the Shepherd’s Men program have evolved into partnerships, including with beer companies. “Any way we can project the mission forward, we’re certainly open to that,” Ellis said. “Through those relationships, we came up with an idea to raise some awareness and fund this program.”
Gary Herber of Douglasville has been a Shepherd’s Men team member since 2017 and has traveled the country with his colleagues to raise money and awareness for the program.
“I served in the U.S. Army as part of 10th Mountain Division,” Herber said. ”I was injured on my very first deployment to Afghanistan in 2009. The truck I was in encountered one of the roadside bombs.”
Herber was awarded a Purple Heart, but life didn’t go back to normal for him.
“Looking at me, you wouldn’t realize how the injury affected my life,” he said. “What they call a mild traumatic brain injury is one of the signature wounds of the global war on terror, and I learned that the hard way.”
Herber took a medical retirement from the Army in 2012 and spent the next four years trying to navigate the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system for chronic pain and a condition called cluster headaches.
It was a daily battle dealing with the chronic headaches, he said. “In 2016, I received care at the Shepherd Center and that really turned my life around. Not only did they help me with the physical pain, but they took it a step further and helped me put together a plan to live my life with purpose.”
Herber said the partnership with Reformation Brewery “is just incredible. They have taken up the torch and joined us on our road to wellness for others.”
Helping to brew this year’s Clarity lager at Reformation was Hop City Beer & Wine owner Kraig Torres, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard.
“I served for three years, and it was a formative experience for me,” Torres said. “It definitely made me sympathetic to the stress that comes with that service. I got to meet Travis a couple of years ago, and it’s been very important for me to contribute to this cause.”
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