The term "craft beer" is typically considered white-adjacent. But thanks to a few black crafters dedicated to highlighting the diversity of brewing, Pittsburgh's first black beer festival was held recently.
Drinking Partners & @blackbrewcultur present #FreshFest '18! #Pittsburgh's FIRST #Black brew festival! Featuring Black brewers, collaborations, artists, & entrepreneurs from Pittsburgh & around the country! Hosted by @ThreadbareCider! Stay tuned for details! pic.twitter.com/5wEj2PG8US
— Drinking Partners (@Partnerspod) March 8, 2018
Started by Mike Potter, Day Bracey and stand-up comic Ed Bailey, Fresh Fest is a festival specifically for black-owned breweries. According to NPR, a dozen of these breweries traveled to Pittsburgh on Saturday, August 11, for the daylong event
The Brewers Association reports that only about 15 percent of craft beer drinkers are non-white. Porter, the creator of Black Brew Culture, estimates that only about 50 of the more than 6,300 independent U.S. breweries are black-owned.
"That's not a good number, especially when you consider again the consumption side of it, how many people of color actually purchase these beers," Potter said.
Bracey attributes systematic racism to why more black folks haven't gotten into the crafting business. Poverty, racial segregation and the brewing industry itself all play a part in the lack of brown faces present. Beer scholar Dr. J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham calls foul when it comes to the marketing of cheap yet potent malt liquor in African American and Latino neighborhoods.
"There is a pretty strong association of beer within black culture with malt liquor," she said.
Hence, why craft beer hasn't been a bandwagon everyone in black communities has been quick to jump on.
"If you were to go into any carryout in the inner city, you wouldn't see any craft beer being sold there," Chris Harris, founder of Black Frog Brewery and a Fresh Fest participant, said. "It's not the demographic [craft brewers are] going after."
Despite the need for more black breweries, Fresh Fest aims to highlight the ones that already exist.
"For there to be an all-black brewers' festival, it is just a huge milestone," Harris explains. "It would show a lot more people, you know, that there are people of color that [are] interested in craft beer."
