America loves its beer. From the big conglomerates to the small microbreweries, beer innovation has been growing. While there is a decent amount of attention paid to Black owned wineries, Black owned Beer companies and breweries are a bit more rare. To solve that and bring some awareness to you, Buy Black Main Street has a list for you for National Beer Day this April 7th. As always if you don’t see what you like here, you can check out our listings for more.
Crowns and Hops Brewing
Teo Hunter and Beny Ashburn founded Crowns and Hops as a way to extend their reach and continue to share their love of the world of craft beer. In 2015, the duo formed a lifestyle brand, Dope & Dank, which aimed to expose the under served black community to the world of craft beer by bringing the tap room experience to them. Right now, the pair contracts with other breweries for their beers, but plans are in the works to build their own brewery and tap room in Inglewood. While it is available in California, you might need a friend in the state to get you some if you’re elsewhere like us. But the brand has big plans to grow ahead.
Weathered Souls
Marcus Baskerville is the founder of San Antonio based brewery, Weathered Souls. Over the past year, he also spearheaded the Black is Beautiful campaign, which is his effort to unite the brewing community and prove that it can be inclusive to people of color. Breweries who are included in the Black is Beautiful campaign make a commitment to support inclusion and police brutality reforms. In return get the stout base (the building blocks of the brew) and from there, are allowed to put their own spin on it. Don’t let be the only thing that you know about the brand however. Weathered Souls was just named the best brewery in the U.S. for 2020. If you love beer and are in the San Antonio area, you need to go past the tap room and get some food and of course try some Beer.
Sankofa Beer Company
Sankofa Beer Company is a black owned beer company from Washington D.C. . The founders use their West African heritage as inspiration for their brewing. Since 2018, the company has grown from their initial brew to add more varieties to their offerings. You can find their beers at various locations and stores around D.C..
Rhythm Brewing Co.
Rhythm Brewing Company is a brewery that is owned by a Alisa Bowens-Mercado. Rhythm was the first brewery owned by a black woman in Connecticut and at the time was only the 4th in the entire country. Right now the brand features 3 different varieties, 2 Lagers and 1 Porter. If you live in Connecticut, you can find this Black Woman owned Beer at plenty of stores. Check them out and be sure to find out if your local store can get this brand carried if you live outside of that area.
Patuxent Brewing
Located in the city of Waldorf, MD, Patuxent Brewing isn’t just a black owned brewery but the area’s first brewery period. Their contributions are way larger than just some drinks, though they have plenty of those for you when you visit. They also host a podcast and according to a recent Maryland Road Trips article by Kara Fritz (find it here) , will have ” QR codes linking patrons to oral history from long time Charles County residents.” . This brewery is one that is well on its way to embedding itself into the DNA of the region.
Spaceway Brewing
Briana Brake started home brewing while a student at NC Central University. Now she operates Spaceway Brewery, a brewery whose themes and aesthetics are grounded in Afro-futurism. With some help from celeste Beatty of Harlem Brewing South, Briana Brake has been working with the Rocky Mount Mills Brewery Incubator on her brews and brand. While the pandemic has slowed some of her plans, she is still soldiering on and her Spaceway can be found in Food Lion and Whole Foods in the state of North Carolina.
Cajun Fire
Cajun Fire is a Louisiana based Beer company and Brewery. The Family founders of this company chose to put their brewery in and under developed area of East New Orleans to help to revitalize the area. The founders of this company have also raised over half a million dollars for the communities in New Orleans as well.
67 Degrees Brewing
This Massachusetts based brewing company is made up of a group of people who consider themselves as family. They make over 15 different varieties of craft beer and are known as one of the most creative breweries in the Northeast.
Alematic Artisan Ales
Located in Huber Heights Ohio, Alematic Artisan Ales offers up several unique brews including a rotating cast of fruit flavored drinks along with more traditional lagers and ales. Co-owner Jerrod Fisher along with his partners Greg Cason and Mike Meholichik opened the brewery in 2019 which also has some great pizzas on the menu.
Novel Strand Brewing
The seeds of Novel Strand Brewing began in 2012 when Ayana Coker, Chantel Columna, and Tamir Danon first began contemplating the idea in upstate New York. Four years later, now in Colorado, the plans were put in action. They came with a simple goal, to brew the best beer that they can. And they did. You can visit them when you head to Denver where can find their tap room in the Historic Baker Neighborhood.
