Good Beer Hunting – Stephanie Grant details her taproom-hopping experience in Asheville, NC, one of the top beer cities in the US, but this is one story with nary a mention of what she finds in the glasses. Instead, Grant puts us in her shoes as a Black woman navigating all but one venue in which she’s the only person of color, and places the isolating experience in stark contrast to the more diverse beer scene she enjoys at home in Atlanta, GA. In solidarity with Black Lives Matter, GBH has also compiled a list of anti-racism resources, organizations to support, and Black voices within and outside of the beer community to follow.
Don’t Drink Beer – On June 24 Alex Kidd, founder of comedic US beer blog Don’t Drink Beer, announced a fundraiser for the families of Breonna Taylor and Elijah McClain, both of whom were murdered by bad humans disguised as police officers. It started modestly enough: donate at least $5, send Kidd a screenshot of the donation, and get an entry into a drawing for a 12-pack of fancy beers. Just four days later the prize pool had expanded to around 80 boxes of fancy beers—all donated by craft breweries from around the US—and in the end the initiative raised $67,900. Impressive and inspiring, to say the least, and a truly Herculean effort by one of craft beer’s most idiosyncratic voices.
Cloudwater Blog – There are many reasons I admire Cloudwater Brew Co. I’ve spent a lot of time in London over the past six years, and for my money Cloudwater may be the best overall craft brewery going in the UK, a company I personally feel good supporting (there are many others, of course). And you can always expect founder and managing director Paul Jones to speak his mind with heart firmly stitched to sleeve, such as in this Covid-19 manifesto of sorts he drops just days before the UK lets pubs and taprooms reopen amidst the ongoing pandemic. Equating Covid with the long list of “horrific events” Jones does here is a… stretch, but I think his intentions are good. For its part Cloudwater isn’t biting on the taproom front “for the foreseeable future,” and after some business/distribution updates (for which Jones has taken some serious heat on Beer Twitter), Jones ends by reminding us white people that Black lives still matter; that “we can not let this moment pass us by.” I’m not endorsing everything in this post, and maybe all these issues shouldn’t have been lumped into one catch-all post. But again, I think Jones’ intentions are in the right place, and there’s something to be said for putting yourself (and your brand) out there like this.
Diversify Your Palate – In craft beer you’ll have no trouble finding breweries, bars, and perspectives brought to you by someone from the white majority (of which I’m a member). For an alternative to that majority, Black Beer Travelers has compiled a nifty in-progress list of Black- and diversely-owned breweries, taprooms, wineries, and spirit producers around the world. Here “diversely owned” is defined as “ownership that includes representation not considered a caucasian male.” On the perspectives side, this also rounds up some non-white craft beer lifestyle brands, podcasts, and Youtubes. I hope to see this list expand exponentially.
Brewbound – I love the creativity here. Fresh Fest—the US’ first festival celebrating black-owned breweries—is moving online as Fresh Fest Digi Fest for 2020. Here in Singapore, Beerfest Asia’s virtual festival was greeted with a collective yawn, though to be fair the idea of a virtual beer bash is a tough sell anywhere in any format. Fresh Fest’s blueprint strikes me as one that’s about as good as it gets, however, and of course there’s meaningful motivation and goals for pressing on with the festival. On August 8 ticket holders get six online entertainment channels broadcasting brewing, cooking classes, art, and music. They’ll also have the opportunity to purchase four-packs of eight collaboration beers brewed by the eight participating black-owned breweries from Pittsburgh, PA. Brewbound’s reporting here includes further context on Fresh Fest and its co-founders.
Block 15 Brewing Co – And I love this move from Block 15 Brewing, which is located in Oregon’s famed Willamette Valley, one of the world’s most prolific Pinot noir and hops-growing regions. On June 16 the brewery announced that its seasonal IPA Red, White & BOOM!—originally brewed as a “slightly tongue-in-cheek ‘independent patriotic ale'”—would be delayed. Three days later on June 19 (or Juneteenth) Block 15 released the rebranded beer as Liberty & Justice for All!, saying it had “realized that a beer so enthusiastically celebrating our independence ignores the fact that freedom and justice has yet to be realized by so many people in our nation.” The IPA will now be released annually on Juneteenth, and will be accompanied by discussion and contributions to “efforts to bring Liberty and Justice for All—especially to those marginalized by the color of their skin.” This year Block 15 has donated to Color Of Change.
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Lead photo from Block 15’s Facebook announcement of Liberty & Justice for All!
“Six Pack” is our escapism series of beer- and travel-related stories that are on our radar and also belong on yours. Read (or write) something great? Drop us a line at brian at beertravelist dot com. This Six Pack was compiled to the sounds of Power Trip’s relentless Nightmare Logic.
