New Association for Black Brewers Launches
A group of Black brewers and brewery owners has formed the National Black Brewers Association, or NB2A. Making the announcement at the Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville, the group aims to correct the underrepresentation of Black people in the industry, noting that only about 1 percent of nearly 10,000 breweries in the United States are Black-owned. The association says it aims to promote and encourage more Black involvement at all levels of the industry, especially as owners and brewmasters.
The group appointed Kevin Asato as its first executive director. The inaugural board of directors includes Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery, Marcus Baskerville of Weathered Souls in San Antonio, Celeste Beatty of Harlem Brewing in New York City, Rodney Hines of Métier in Seattle, Chris Harris of Black Frog in Holland, Ohio, Khris Johnson of Green Bench in Tampa, Florida, and several other prominent Black brewers and brewery operators. Among other activities, the group says it will sponsor the Barrel & Flow Fest in Pittsburgh on August 12 and the Peoples Jubilee Beer Fest in Sacramento, California, on October 14.
Founders Shuts Detroit Taproom
Grand Rapids, Michigan–based Founders Brewing announced the closure of its Detroit taproom on May 2, citing “the struggle to regain foot traffic” after the pandemic. However, on the same day, a former employee at that location filed a racial discrimination complaint against the company in U.S. District Court alleging an “objectively racially hostile” workplace, according to local news reports. Founders also faced a high-profile racial discrimination suit in 2018, eventually settling with a former employee the following year. In a May 3 statement, the brewery says it was unaware of the new complaint when it closed the Detroit taproom. “We take these claims very seriously, and we are conducting a thorough internal investigation,” the statement says. “Since 2019, we have instituted mandatory bias, discrimination, and harassment training throughout our organization. We have reexamined our policies and enacted new policies, along with implementing new procedures for the reporting of workplace concerns. … As to the pending lawsuit, we are sorry that this individual did not have a good experience with us, and to the extent it was due to our actions or inactions that contributed to that, we are deeply sorry.”