Beer isn’t always the answer to life’s problems, but sometimes it can help in unexpected ways.
After the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Marcus Baskerville, founder and head brewer of Weathered Souls Brewing Company in Austin, TX, wondered what he could do to help.
Enter the “Black is Beautiful” beer collaboration . What started as a single beer recipe has become a collaboration of more than 1,000 breweries across the country to help raise funds for police brutality reform and to increase awareness of the daily injustices faced by the BIPOC population.
Dozens of California breweries have signed on to lend a hand and brew their own version of the Black Is Beautiful stout and to donate 100% of proceeds donated to a deserving nonprofit. Each brewery is encouraged to take the basic recipe and get creative with it, so that each brew showcases one of the many different shades of black and brown that a beer can take.
There are also a number of events centered around the effort. On September 4th at 5 p.m., East Brother will be hosting its second Pride & Purpose Community Forum series, with Tamisha Walker Torres, Executive Director of the Safe Return Project, along with current and past men and women who have worked with the SRP. The conversation will focus on the criminal justice system, reintegration after incarceration, and how communities can foster forgiveness and support success. Join them on East Brother’s Facebook page.
Here’s a look at some of the participating local breweries, the unique approach they’ve taken with their own Black Is Beautiful beer, and the organization they’re supporting with the proceeds.
Imperial stout supporting Black Lives Matter and the National Black Farmers Association.
Imperial stout with peanut butter and cocoa nibs, supporting the Anti Police Terror Project .
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Cellarmaker Brewing Company believes deeply in the furthering of equality and inclusion for people of color and is committed to the amplification of black peoples’ voices. We are deeply honored to be a collaborator in the industry wide brewing of Black is Beautiful. @weatheredsoulsbrewing of San Antonio, Texas started Black is Beautiful to raise awareness for the injustices people of color face daily and raise funds for police brutality reform and legal defenses for those who have been wronged. Cellarmaker will donate 100% of the proceeds from the sales of Black is Beautiful to the Anti Police-Terror Project (@antipoliceterrorproject), a Black-led, multi-racial, intergenerational coalition that seeks to build a replicable and sustainable model to eradicate police terror in communities of color. They support families surviving police terror in their fight for justice, documenting police abuses and connecting impacted families and community members with resources, legal referrals, and opportunities for healing. Our version of Black is Beautiful is an original imperial stout recipe that leans heavily towards the realm of what we would call a Black Barleywine. The recipe is structured to highlight rich flavors of toffee, burnt sugar, molasses and milk chocolate which we believe is the perfect accompaniment to the adjuncts of peanut butter and cocoa nibs from @cruchocolate resulting in a silky, dessert-like beer reminiscent of Snickers bars, peanut butter cups and brownie batter. We encourage you to keep Black is Beautiful cold and DRINK FRESH. Black is Beautiful is available next week through mail delivery in California as well as pickup at our House of Pizza in San Francisco. Keep an eye out for this afternoon’s announcement of our weekly mail order online presale. #blackisbeautiful #equalityforall #justiceforall #weatheredsoulsbrewing #antipoliceterrorproject
A post shared by Cellarmaker Brewing (@cellarmakerbrewing) on Aug 13, 2020 at 2:48pm PDT
Imperial stout benefitting Legal Aid of Sonoma County and Peoples Breakfast Oakland .
Imperial Stout with notes of chocolate, coffee, roasted barley and classic English hops; supporting the Safe Return Project .
Imperial Stout benefitting the Anti Police Terror Project .
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🖤Black is Beautiful 🖤 We're thrilled to release Black is Beautiful Imperial Stout. This awesome worldwide collaborative effort, with over 1000 participating breweries, was spearheaded by @weatheredsoulsbrewing, a black-owned craft brewery in San Antonio, Texas. We're humbled to be able to contribute in our own small way to the ongoing fight for racial justice in America. Black is Beautiful weights in at 10% ABV, with sweet, silky notes of cocoa, dried fruit, and a robust coffee-like roast character. > 100% of the proceeds of our Black is Beautiful batch will go to @antipoliceterrorproject, an Oakland-based organization working to dismantle entrenched systems of institutionalized racism and state-sanctioned violence. > We've said it before, but it bears repeating: Black Dreams Matter Black Dignity Matters Black Prosperity Matters Black Imagination Matters Black Stories Matter Black Joy Matters Black Anger Matters Black Visibility Matters Black Health Matters Black Trans Lives Matter Black Futures Matter Black Lives Matter
A post shared by Ghost Town Brewing (@ghosttownbrewing) on Jul 23, 2020 at 6:05pm PDT
Imperial stout with pecans, blackstrap molasses, brown sugar and vanilla; supporting Black Lives Matter and the Anti Police Terror Project .
Stout aged in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels; benefiting Re:Store Justice .
Imperial stout supporting Play Marin .
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It's here! 🎉💪🏿 Our version of Black Is Beautiful is a sumptuous 10% ABV Imperial Stout. We're picking up roasty notes of coffee and toffee on the nose, and dark chocolate, tobacco, and black cherry flavors with each smooth sip. . The Black is Beautiful collaborative initiative was created by @weatheredsoulsbrewing to raise awareness of the injustices people of color face every day, and has impressively grown to over 1,000 participating breweries worldwide! We are so proud to be part of the effort and are donating 100% of profits to @play.marin, an organization right here in our community working tirelessly to bring about social change. Based in Marin City, their mission is to unite Marin through play, creating relationships and understanding through sports, making it a more integrated and inclusive place to live. . Order a 4-pack online for pickup today, or join us starting tomorrow at 3pm to enjoy this beer on our patio or sidewalk seating. Draft is very limited, so no Crowlers or growlers of this one – sorry! . #blackisbeautiful #blackisbeautifulbeer #equaljustice #keepgoing #blacklivesmatter #supportsmallbusinesses #drinklocal #craftbeer #independentbeer #westend #sanrafael #marincounty #marinlife #bayareabeer #northbaybeer #drinkbaybeer #drinknbbeer #pondfarmbrewing
A post shared by Pond Farm Brewing Co. (@pondfarmbrewing) on Jul 22, 2020 at 2:59pm PDT
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