On Thursday evening (February 22), Beer Star in White Center hosts a gathering of Washington’s black-owned breweries. Beer Star, which is itself a black-owned business, invites you to come enjoy some beers and show your support. At the event on Thursday, enjoy beers and meet representatives from 23rd Ave Brewery (Seattle), Métier Brewing (Seattle, Woodinville), and Sage Brewing Company (Tri-Cities). Update: According to the National Black Brewers Association, this list should also include Black Label Brewing in Spokane.
Underrepresentation is a real thing in the craft beer industry, not just here but across the nation. Washington is home to more than 400 breweries. Just three of those are Black-owned breweries. Nationwide, just 1% of breweries are Black-owned.
Enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion is a valuable and worthwhile endeavor in its own right, but for the craft beer industry, it is a component of future success. It’s part of the road forward if we want the industry to advance in a positive direction. Creating greater diversity within the community of craft brewers will help increase the diversity, and thus the size, of craft beer’s audience. Beer is inclusive, not exclusive, and craft beer needs to do a better job of welcoming everyone to the party.
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This Thursday’s event offers me a great opportunity to introduce you to the National Black Brewers Association, a non-profit organization founded in 2023. Also, a local organization, Mosaic State Brewers Collective, which was founded in 2021.
The motto of the National Black Brewers Association (NB2A) is: We Celebrate Those Bringing Culture to the Cup. “Less than 1% of craft breweries in the U.S. are owned by African Americans,” says the NB2A website. “There is no single entity to help African American brewers and brewery owners with their specific needs and issues.” The NB2A is working to change that. Visit the website.
There are about 9,500 breweries in the U.S. and only about 100 are Black-owned. The National Black Brewers Association intends to change that. Among other things, the NB2A aims to increase the number of African Americans working at all levels of the brewing industry. Also, to foster an understanding of the history and legacy of African American brewing in the United States.
A similar effort is underway here in Washington. The establishment of the Mosaic State Brewers Collective in 2021 was driven by Grace Robbings of Reuben’s Brews and Dreux Dillingham of Métier Brewing Company. The mission is to inspire and empower underrepresented people to build careers in the beer industry. To develop future leaders in the brewing industry reflective of the nation’s diversity, MSBC has developed a mentorship program with three levels of educational programs. To learn more about Mosaic State Brewers Collective, visit the website.
Check out the Washington Beer Blog’s events page for more beer-related events around Washington.
